Money Management

When you’re swimming in a sea of volatility, it may be time to play it safe. 

When times were good in crypto, people’s annual watchlists were filled with new and exciting projects as investors chased the next big thing. In 2021, Solana (SOL), an Ethereum alternative, jumped over 11,000%, while play-to-earn crypto Axie Infinity (AXS) increased by 17,000%, according to CoinMarketCap data. Both are now down more than 90% from their all-time highs.

Some die-hard crypto enthusiasts think the market slump is a good time to pick up quality cryptocurrencies at bargain prices. They may be right, but if 2022 taught us anything, it’s that these are risky assets. Even popular projects can fail, get hacked, or both. That’s why I’ll be sticking to well-established cryptos in the coming year. There are no guarantees, but they have the best chance of surviving continued market turbulence.

Here are the three cryptos I’ll be watching in 2023.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is the grandaddy of cryptocurrencies, and its market cap accounts for almost 40% of the total value of all cryptos. Bitcoin has already survived several crypto winters and, so far at least, it’s always gone on to reach new highs. There are no guarantees, particularly as regulation could transform the way we all buy and sell cryptos and we don’t have that long of a track record to judge by.

All the same, some believe that Bitcoin has the potential to become the currency of the internet. Others, like Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood think Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030. Ark Invest thinks the lead digital currency could take a share of the global remittance market, play a role as a currency in emerging markets, and gain traction as a form of digital gold.

On the other hand, Bitcoin critics such as Warren Buffett say that it has no intrinsic value and dismiss the whole industry. Others worry that Bitcoin is too slow and clunky to function as a currency, and question whether a volatile asset can ever replace traditional money.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is the second-biggest cryptocurrency on the market. It pioneered smart contract technology, which are tiny pieces of code that live on the blockchain. This transformed the project into a whole ecosystem as it means other cryptocurrencies and projects can be built on Ethereum’s network.

The downside? Transactions on Ethereum are slower and more expensive than its competitors. Ethereum is in the process of a series of upgrades, designed to make it more scalable and sustainable. But it’s taking years to deliver and in the meantime, there’s a risk that Ethereum will lose market share to its faster counterparts.

3. Cardano (ADA)

Like Ethereum, Cardano is a programmable cryptocurrency where developers can build applications and cryptocurrency projects. Cardano stands out for its dedication to testing — it takes a slow-and-steady approach to development that may give it a stronger chance of surviving long term. Cardano has also developed a number of real world partnerships, particularly in Africa where it says it has a mission to use blockchain to solve local problems.

However, Cardano has its fair share of critics. Some feel that it has moved too slowly and still doesn’t offer as much utility as other Ethereum alternatives. According to DefiLlama, there’s over $25 billion locked in projects on Ethereum’s network, while Cardano only has around $50 million.

Buying crypto in 2023

As pundits move from talking about a crypto winter to a crypto ice age, it’s hard to know when cryptocurrency prices will recover — if ever. Many crypto investors are severely underwater on their investments, meaning their assets are worth less than they originally paid for them. Indeed, a lot of the people who bought crypto during the frenzy of 2021, aren’t wondering which cryptos to buy, rather whether they should sell the crypto they already own.

If you’re considering buying crypto this year, do a lot of research and only invest money you can afford to lose. Sure, if the crypto market recovers, you could be positioned for some sizable returns. But that doesn’t justify gambling with money you need for other financial goals. There is a good chance that crypto prices could fall further and many more projects could fail before the crypto winter is over. If this happens, the surefire way to make sure it doesn’t damage your financial security is to limit the amount you buy.

Finally, think carefully about which crypto exchange you want to use and how you plan to store your crypto. What we saw this year is that investor funds can get tied up in bankruptcy proceedings or lost altogether if platforms collapse or mismanage their funds. Some exchanges have FDIC insurance on U.S. dollar deposits, others have third-party insurance against crime. But if you hold your crypto in a non-custodial crypto wallet, you’re in control and won’t be impacted if your crypto exchange fails.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Emma Newbery has positions in Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, JPMorgan Chase, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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It’s solid advice worth heeding. 

When it comes to buying life insurance, you have choices. You could opt for a whole life insurance policy, which will cover you on a permanent basis and accumulate a cash value over time. Or, you could get a term life insurance policy, which will only cover you for a preset period of time and won’t accumulate a cash value at all.

While there are certainly benefits to getting whole life insurance, term life insurance can be far more affordable. Or, to put it another way, many people who buy whole life insurance end up struggling to make their payments and risk having their coverage lapse as a result. So in many cases, term life insurance really is the better choice because you don’t tend to run into as many affordability issues.

Meanwhile, it’s common to buy life insurance in order to protect your kids financially in the event of your passing. But since term life insurance runs out after a period of time, it’s important to secure the right amount of it. And to that end, financial guru Suze Orman has some great advice.

Make sure your kids are covered through young adulthood

Choosing the term of your life insurance policy can be tricky. The lengthier that term, the more you’re apt to pay. But if you choose too short a term, you might end up leaving your children in a troublesome spot if you end up passing away while they’re still relatively young.

That’s why Orman says it’s best to set up a term life insurance policy that will remain in effect until your children reach early adulthood. In fact, in a recent podcast episode, Orman suggested getting life insurance that will last until your kids reach age 23 or 24.

At that point, they’re likely to be done with college and possibly even graduate school. And that means that ideally, they’ll be in a position to support themselves if you’re not around to provide financial support.

So, let’s say your oldest child is five, your youngest child just turned three, and you’re shopping around for life insurance. A good bet would be to secure a 20-year term life insurance policy at a minimum. If you get a 10-year term life policy but pass away in 11 years, your children won’t get a benefit out of your policy. And given that they’ll only be teenagers at that point, that could result in a very unfavorable financial situation for them.

Don’t skimp on coverage

The upside of buying term life insurance is that it tends to be fairly affordable. So if you’re getting insurance to protect your kids, make sure to put a policy in place for long enough to carry them into young adulthood.

You may even decide to buy a 25-year term life insurance policy so you’re able to provide financial support to your kids in case they decide to pursue a career that requires many years of schooling. But at the very least, putting coverage in place until your kids reach their early 20s is a solid bet.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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You may want to pay your local Taco Bell a visit. 

Taco Bell is many people’s go-to spot when they’re looking for a quick, relatively affordable fast food meal. And if you’re a Taco Bell fan, you may want to pop in between Jan. 26 and Feb. 9. That’s because during this time, Taco Bell is bringing back its crispy chicken wings. And if those are a favorite of yours, you may want to grab some before they’re gone.

The details

When you order Taco Bell’s crispy chicken wings, you get eight pieces of bone-in wings coated in a queso seasoning. The cost of those wings is $6.99.

Not every Taco Bell location is offering crispy chicken wings during those two weeks, so you’ll want to download and check the Taco Bell app to see if your local spot has them on the menu. Of course, if you want your wings fix badly enough, you might choose to drive farther to get your hands on them — but if you look up participating locations ahead of time, at least you’ll have a destination in mind and won’t have to spin your wheels (no pun intended) driving all over the place looking.

Should you try Taco Bell’s crispy chicken wings?

If you’re a fan of Taco Bell or chicken wings, then it stands to reason that you might want to try this limited-time offering. And if you enjoyed Taco Bell’s crispy chicken wings when they came around last year, you may be itching to taste them again.

Thankfully, at just $6.99, an order of these wings won’t break the bank. But you may want to be careful about ordering them too often during that Jan. 26 to Feb. 9 window.

While $6.99 might seem like a reasonable price point, it’s more than what you might pay to cook dinner at home. And besides, depending on your appetite, a set of eight chicken wings may not be enough to constitute dinner. So you could leave with a credit card tab from Taco Bell that’s more than $6.99 each time you visit for wings, since you may end up buying other items, too.

Be careful with fast food spending

The whole point of fast food is to get a quick, cheap meal. But even inexpensive meals you buy outside the home are generally more expensive than the cost of cooking. If your savings balance has taken a hit recently (say, due to inflation), you may want to go easy on those fast food orders for the sake of your wallet, since they can add up over time.

Of course, if you’re a huge fan of Taco Bell’s crispy chicken wings and you decide to indulge multiple times during the two-week window when they’re available, go for it. But from there, you may want to cut back on fast food if money has gotten tight, or if you’re trying to save up for other things, like a new cellphone or laptop.

Plus, let’s face it: Fast food may be delicious, but it’s generally not so good for you. So eating less of it might benefit you not only financially, but health-wise as well.

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Image source: Getty Images
What happenedMen saved an average of $7,007 and women saved an average of $3,146 in 2022, according to New York Life’s latest Wealth Watch survey. The average amount saved overall was $5,011.Levels of financial stress and optimism also differed considerably by gender. When asked about the current state of their finances going into 2023:
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37% of men were hopeful, compared to 28% of women26% of men were stressed, compared to 39% of women26% of men felt on track to meet their financial goals, compared to 17% of women26% of men felt anxious, compared to 36% of womenSo whatThe amount of money a person can save is one of the most important factors in their overall financial health. Having more money in your bank accounts and retirement plans provides more security. Because women save less than half as much as men, it leads to higher stress levels and makes it much harder to reach financial goals.There are a couple of likely reasons for this gender savings gap. The most significant is the gender pay gap. According to recent data on the average U.S. income, women earned 73% as much as men in 2021. Their median salary was $36,726, compared to $50,391 for men.In addition, women are more likely to serve as caregivers to aging parents. This can lead to both stress and financial strain as they take on more expenses. “Of the 53 million Americans serving as caregivers, 61% of them are women as reported by AARP in 2020,” said Suzanne Schmitt, Head of Financial Wellness at New York Life in the news release for the Wealth Watch survey.Now whatThe massive difference in savings by gender is unacceptable, and unfortunately, there’s no simple solution. Solving it depends on getting rid of the gender pay gap, which is one of the reasons why the fight for equal pay is so important.While eliminating the gender pay gap as a whole requires societal change, there are ways to fight for fair pay on an individual level. To avoid getting paid less because of your gender, make sure that you:Know your worth. Research salary data online for your position to see how your pay compares to the average.Discuss salaries with others, in particular male colleagues. This is another way to see if you’re being appropriately compensated.Don’t hesitate to ask for a raise or change jobs. When you provide value as an employee, you have every right to maximize your earnings.If you’re underpaid, increasing your income is one of the best steps you can take to improve your finances. However, to benefit the most, you also need to make a plan for that additional money. When you get a raise, decide how much of it you’re going to put in savings accounts, how much you’ll invest, and how much you’ll use for guilt-free spending. That way, your higher salary goes to good use.These savings accounts are FDIC insured and could earn you more than 13x your bankMany people are missing out on guaranteed returns as their money languishes in a big bank savings account earning next to no interest. Our picks of the best online savings accounts can earn you more than 13x the national average savings account rate. Click here to uncover the best-in-class picks that landed a spot on our shortlist of the best savings accounts for 2023.We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 

What happened

Men saved an average of $7,007 and women saved an average of $3,146 in 2022, according to New York Life’s latest Wealth Watch survey. The average amount saved overall was $5,011.

Levels of financial stress and optimism also differed considerably by gender. When asked about the current state of their finances going into 2023:

37% of men were hopeful, compared to 28% of women26% of men were stressed, compared to 39% of women26% of men felt on track to meet their financial goals, compared to 17% of women26% of men felt anxious, compared to 36% of women

So what

The amount of money a person can save is one of the most important factors in their overall financial health. Having more money in your bank accounts and retirement plans provides more security. Because women save less than half as much as men, it leads to higher stress levels and makes it much harder to reach financial goals.

There are a couple of likely reasons for this gender savings gap. The most significant is the gender pay gap. According to recent data on the average U.S. income, women earned 73% as much as men in 2021. Their median salary was $36,726, compared to $50,391 for men.

In addition, women are more likely to serve as caregivers to aging parents. This can lead to both stress and financial strain as they take on more expenses. “Of the 53 million Americans serving as caregivers, 61% of them are women as reported by AARP in 2020,” said Suzanne Schmitt, Head of Financial Wellness at New York Life in the news release for the Wealth Watch survey.

Now what

The massive difference in savings by gender is unacceptable, and unfortunately, there’s no simple solution. Solving it depends on getting rid of the gender pay gap, which is one of the reasons why the fight for equal pay is so important.

While eliminating the gender pay gap as a whole requires societal change, there are ways to fight for fair pay on an individual level. To avoid getting paid less because of your gender, make sure that you:

Know your worth. Research salary data online for your position to see how your pay compares to the average.Discuss salaries with others, in particular male colleagues. This is another way to see if you’re being appropriately compensated.Don’t hesitate to ask for a raise or change jobs. When you provide value as an employee, you have every right to maximize your earnings.

If you’re underpaid, increasing your income is one of the best steps you can take to improve your finances. However, to benefit the most, you also need to make a plan for that additional money. When you get a raise, decide how much of it you’re going to put in savings accounts, how much you’ll invest, and how much you’ll use for guilt-free spending. That way, your higher salary goes to good use.

These savings accounts are FDIC insured and could earn you more than 13x your bank

Many people are missing out on guaranteed returns as their money languishes in a big bank savings account earning next to no interest. Our picks of the best online savings accounts can earn you more than 13x the national average savings account rate. Click here to uncover the best-in-class picks that landed a spot on our shortlist of the best savings accounts for 2023.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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It’s an odd phenomenon. 

If you’re going to buy stocks for your brokerage account or IRA, you have to accept the possibility of them losing value at different points in time. This doesn’t mean you won’t eventually come out a winner if you hold your stocks for many years. But from day to day, stock values have the potential to plummet, and that can be unsettling.

What’s also unsettling is the fact that positive economic news doesn’t always lead to an uptick in stock values. Quite the contrary — in some cases, positive news can lead to stock values falling, even though you’d expect the opposite.

What gives? In a nutshell, it’s hard to predict when investors will spin positive news into something negative. And that speaks to why it’s so important to not check your portfolio balance every day.

When positive news is bad for stocks

When negative economic news comes out, it makes sense that a decline in stock values might ensue. Let’s say the Bureau of Labor Statistics announces an increase in the unemployment rate. That could be seen as an indication that consumer spending is going to decline. And that might send the value of retail stocks plunging, since a broad decline in spending might hurt retail companies significantly.

But in some cases, surprisingly, positive economic news can have a negative impact on stocks. Take November’s jobs report, which was positive in nature. It showed that 263,000 jobs were added to the economy and the jobless rate held steady at 3.7%, which is very low. But stocks wound up falling on the news of that report.

The reason? A positive jobs report indicated that consumer spending might hold strong. That, in turn, meant that the Federal Reserve was likely to keep raising interest rates to battle inflation. And so even though the news was positive in nature, there was a negative undertone when you read between the lines.

Only check your portfolio on occasion

It’s hard to predict what sort of economic news will be beneficial or detrimental to stocks. And that’s why it’s really not a good idea to check your IRA account or other brokerage account balance on a daily basis.

Say you start out the week with a brokerage account portfolio worth $15,500. A day later, it could fall to $14,800. Does that mean you’ve lost $700? No. All it means is that the value of your assets at that time is $700 less than it was the day before. But a day or two later, your portfolio value might rise to $15,700.

That’s why you shouldn’t torture yourself by checking your portfolio constantly, or following news events. A better bet is to check in once a quarter to see how your investments are doing and to make sure you’re as diversified as you think you are.

If you hold your stocks for many years, there’s a good chance they’ll gain value over time. But they might lose value on a day-to-day basis — even when economic conditions seem to point to an uptick.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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