These sites and services (legally) offer audiobooks for free. ViDI Studio / Shutterstock.com
Even if you’re not a bookworm, you may find that listening to an audiobook is the perfect way to pass the time. While you can buy them from sites like Audible and Kobo, getting something for free is always better. Following are examples of places where you can (legally) get audiobooks for free. Many of the titles available are classics in the public domain, but there are also options for new…
Start your prep for a financially secure retirement with these essential metrics. PeopleImages.com – Yuri A / Shutterstock.com
Figuring out whether you can retire securely can sometimes feel like the most complicated math problem ever. Just figuring out which retirement number to worry about can be perplexing. And then there is the further complication of knowing how they all fit together. Here is your guide to retirement metrics. Many of these are based on rules of thumb, and they may (or may not) be important to…
There are plenty of good reasons to put money into a CD given today’s rates. But read on to make sure you’re opening one for the right reason. [[{“value”:”
Image source: Getty Images
Are you thinking about opening a CD today? You’re probably not alone.
CD rates have been strong since the start of the year on the heels of the Federal Reserve’s string of interest rate hikes. But with talks of rate cuts coming (and possibly really soon), you may not want to wait too long to open a CD. If you don’t act quickly, you might miss out on the 5.00% APYs many savers are getting to lock in today.
But while a CD could be a great place to park some cash for the near term, you don’t want to use one as a means of building retirement savings. Doing so could leave you seriously short on funds for your senior years.
Given today’s CD rates, you may be inclined to open one and use it to build a retirement nest egg. That way, you can avoid the risk that comes with investing in stocks and other assets that have the potential to lose value over time.
But if you’re looking at CDs for the express purpose of avoiding risk, you’re opening one for the wrong reason. In fact, in the context of retirement savings, opening a CD means taking on another big risk — not having enough money to pay your living expenses down the line.
See, right now, CD rates are strong. But today’s 5.00% APYs aren’t the norm by any means. And even if they were, they’d pale in comparison to the stock market’s impressive average annual 10% return over the past 50 years.
To illustrate what a mistake it might be to save for retirement in a CD, let’s say you have $10,000 at your disposal and you’re planning to work for another 25 years. Now without a crystal ball, it’s impossible to predict what CD rates will look like over the next two and a half decades. But let’s be optimistic and say that they’ll somehow stay at 5.00% — even though we all know they won’t. In that case, in 25 years, your $10,000 should be worth close to $34,000.
On the other hand, if you were to invest your $10,000 in stocks instead of CDs, at a 10% return, you’re looking at a balance of about $108,000. That’s more than three times what you might end up with by sticking to CDs.
Of course, ideally, you should be aiming for a retirement nest egg that’s larger than $108,000, since that money may need to last for 20 years or longer. The point, however, is that while saving for retirement with CDs helps you avoid the risks of stock investing, you risk falling short on your financial goals and struggling as a senior because of that.
Taking advantage of today’s CD rates to save for a short-term goal makes a lot of sense. Maybe you want to buy a house in the next few years, and you need somewhere to keep your down payment funds in the interim. If you were to open a 12-month CD (knowing full well that you won’t be ready to buy in the next year), you can earn some nice interest without taking on the risk of putting your down payment into stocks (something you really shouldn’t do).
But for the most part, CDs aren’t great for saving for far-off goals. When you’re saving for something that’s a decade away or longer, investing in stocks is generally your best bet, despite the risks involved. So don’t let your fear of risk lead you to open a CD today instead, because you might sorely regret that decision down the road.
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.
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.
“}]] Read More
Some signs you’re ready to retire include being debt free and having an emergency fund. Read on to learn how to figure out if you’re ready to stop working. [[{“value”:”
Image source: Getty Images
In a perfect world, we’d all be able to stop working when we want and still have the retirement lifestyle we dream of. But while you may have earned the right to retire via decades in the working world, that doesn’t mean your finances are where they need to be to be able to do it comfortably and responsibly.
To help you understand where you stand, here are four signs that you’re ready to stop working.
Even if you have “enough” saved up to retire as an individual or couple, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re financially ready to retire. If you have dependents who are still depending on you for at least some financial support, that means the money you have isn’t going to go as far. So one key milestone to understanding if you’re ready to retire is making sure that your dependents are independent in their own personal finances.
Debt is another factor that can help determine if your finances are in a good position to support your retirement. Again, if you’re constantly funneling money out of your accounts to pay off existing debts, that’s less money in your pocket to go toward things like enjoying your retirement.
This can be challenging, but you don’t necessarily have to be 100% debt free to be ready to retire. For example, if you still have a mortgage, but that payment amount is modest or will be paid off within a few years, you may still be in a position to retire.
When you use a retirement calculator, you usually use information like how much you earn per year and how much you plan to live off of to understand how much to save in a 401(k) or IRA. But what these don’t often account for is emergency expenses. What if your home’s roof becomes damaged and needs to be replaced? What if you break a leg on vacation and need emergency surgery?
You need to have a contingency plan. That means having an emergency fund that has at least three to six months’ worth of cash to cover necessities. That way, you won’t have to dip into your retirement savings to pay for those costs and then live a less satisfying lifestyle to make up for it.
When it comes to the question of what’s enough to retire, here lies the golden rule: You should be able to comfortably live off of just 4% of your total retirement savings. For example, if you have $1 million saved and now plan to retire, you should be able to live off of $40,000 during your first year in retirement. (You’d add the annual inflation rate to that amount for each subsequent year.)
That amount should cover everything from your mortgage payment to food to medications to fun. This rule is a useful way to quickly gauge if you’re ready to stop working, though it’s not a definitive rule.
The best way to truly understand if you’re ready to retire is to talk to a financial advisor.
Retiring is a big step, both for your lifestyle and your finances. Knowing whether the many parts of your life are in a good position to support you stepping away from work will better prepare you to actually enjoy those years you worked so hard for.
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.
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.
“}]] Read More
We all make mistakes, but failing to pay a credit card bill could be a pretty big one. Read on to see what happened when this writer dropped the ball. [[{“value”:”
Image source: Getty Images
As much as I’d like to think that I’m immune to mistakes, that’s far from the truth. Just the other day, I bought the wrong type of sauce at the grocery store and had to carve out the time for a return trip due to that blunder. And as a writer, I’m quite certain that if you were to ask my editors, they’d say I make my share of typos, even with a spell-checking program at my disposal (hey, it doesn’t catch everything).
But last month, I made a pretty big financial blunder — I completely forgot to pay my credit card bill by its due date. And while it was an innocent mistake in its own right, it almost led to some pretty bad consequences.
Featured offer: save money while you pay off debt with one of these top-rated balance transfer credit cards
Each month, my various credit card issuers send me an email letting me know that my statements are ready to be viewed and paid. Once I see those emails, I typically log into my various accounts, review my balances to make sure I recognize all of the purchases listed, and then schedule a payment from my checking account.
It’s a simple enough process. Only last month, for some reason, one of those emails landed in my spam folder. Because of this, I never went in and scheduled my credit card payment. And I didn’t realize that until my bill was almost a full month late.
When I first realized that I’d failed to pay my credit card bill, I panicked. But then I realized that the situation wasn’t exactly dire.
Because the balance wasn’t so large, a few weeks of interest wasn’t the biggest deal, even when combined with a late payment fee. And also, credit card companies usually don’t report late payments to the credit bureaus until they’re 30 days past due. Since I was within that window, I knew that I at least wasn’t facing a major credit score hit.
To be clear, your credit score can take a dive after a single late payment. It’s just that I wasn’t late enough for that to be reported.
However, I actually didn’t end up suffering any negative consequences at all. That’s because I called my credit card issuer and explained what had happened.
Since my account was in good standing and I have a long history of paying my bills on time and in full, my credit card company was willing to let my mistake slide. It waived the interest and a late fee because I was able to pay my bill in full on the spot. The fact that I also wasn’t so late on my balance worked to my advantage.
Last month’s blunder made me realize that relying on a reminder email to pay my credit card bills is simply not a good system. So now, I have a new system. I have my credit card bills set up to autopay each month from my checking account, and I have a calendar reminder set to review each statement the day after it closes.
That date is different across my various credit cards, so it’s hard to keep track of in my head. But even with my bills being paid automatically, it’s important for me to review those statements to make sure they’re accurate and that there aren’t fraudulent charges on my accounts.
If you’ve been using a system that’s similar to mine to keep up with your credit card bills, I suggest you ditch it in case you, too, fall victim to a reminder email winding up in your spam.
My credit card company was nice about the incident, but they didn’t have to be. And if you’re a newer account holder or don’t have the best history of paying your bills on time, then you may not get the same leeway I did. So your best bet is to avoid a situation where you’re at your credit card issuer’s mercy in the first place.
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.
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.
“}]] Read More
You could get a basic membership at Costco. But read on to see why upgrading to an Executive membership makes so much financial sense. [[{“value”:”
Image source: Getty Images
There are different investments you can make that might put money in your pocket. For example, you could buy stocks that gain value over time or that pay dividends every quarter. You could also buy bonds that pay you interest on a regular basis.
Many people today are also investing in CDs for the risk-free returns. The nice thing about CDs is that unlike a stock portfolio, you can’t lose out on any principal due to changes in market conditions. As long as your bank is FDIC insured and your deposit is $250,000 or less, you can only earn interest — you can’t lose any of the money you put in.
But there’s a low-cost investment you can make at Costco that also has the potential to pay off big time. In fact, if you have $60, you can set yourself up to earn a load of cash back in the course of your shopping.
Costco shoppers get to choose between two membership tiers — a basic (or Gold Star) membership, which currently costs $60 per year, and an Executive membership, which costs $120. If you’re wondering why anyone would want to pay an extra $60 to join Costco, the answer is simple.
By paying for an Executive membership, you’re eligible for 2% cash back on your Costco purchases. And those could add up to a sum that far exceeds the $60 upgrade fee. You might even earn enough cash back to pay for your entire Costco membership — and then some.
Say you shop at Costco most weeks during the year and spend $150 each time. If we multiply $150 by 50, we get $7,500. At 2% back, with an Executive membership, $7,500 in spending gives you $150. That’s enough to cover the entire $120 an Executive membership costs and still leave you with extra cash to play with.
Plus, if you’re a regular Costco shopper, you might make some one-off purchases during the year that lead to even more cash back. If you typically spend $150 per week at the store but also buy a new TV on Black Friday and load up on holiday gifts, your annual spending might come to $10,000. At 2% back, you’ll get a cool $200 coming your way.
Of course, the risk in upgrading to an Executive membership at Costco is not spending enough to recoup your $60 upgrade fee. But the reason it’s really not a risk is that Costco will allow you to downgrade your membership to a basic one if the Executive version doesn’t work out and pay out the difference between the cash back you accrued and the $60 cost to upgrade.
So let’s say you get an Executive membership and only spend $2,500 at Costco. At 2% back, that’s only $50 coming your way, so you’re out $10 based on the $60 it costs to upgrade. Except if you downgrade to a basic membership, Costco will refund you the $10 you didn’t recoup. So either way, you’re made whole.
The $60 basic membership fee and $120 Executive membership fee are what it costs to join Costco today. But come Sept. 1, these fees are rising. At that point, a basic membership will cost $65, and an Executive membership will cost $130.
Granted, these price increases aren’t so huge. But if you’ve been thinking about getting an Executive membership at Costco, you might as well upgrade before September when it’s cheaper to do so.
There are a lot of good ways you can put $60 to use. But paying for an Executive membership upgrade could be your smartest financial decision yet.
If you’re shopping with a debit card, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year. These versatile credit cards offer huge rewards everywhere, including Costco, and are rated the best cards of 2024 by our experts because they offer hefty sign-up bonuses and outstanding cash rewards. Plus, you’ll save on credit card interest because all of these recommendations include a competitive 0% interest period.
Click here to read our expert recommendations for free!
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.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
“}]] Read More
© 2026 Madam Money®. All Rights Reserved. | Designed by SRJWebsites.com
