Money Tips Network

(Personal Capital is now Empower)

Investing is frustrating. It can be confusing to know which investments you should choose, and when and how to rebalance your portfolio. Until now. Find out how this investment management tool can help in our Empower review.

For many investors, a robo advisor makes sense–everything is done automatically for you.

But what if you’re at the point in your financial life where you need just a little bit more?

That’s where Empower’s Wealth Management service comes into play.

Designed for individuals with a slightly higher net worth, Empower combines amazing software with robo advising, plus adds in the benefit of having a live investment professional to guide you.

Your credit score can affect your ability to get a loan or a mortgage, but it also determines how much you’ll pay for insurance.

Depending on where they live, drivers with poor credit can pay double to even triple the auto insurance premium of a driver with good credit, according to a study by InsuranceQuotes.com.

If you have fair credit, the report notes that you’ll pay an average of 28 percent more for car insurance than a driver with excellent credit. It gets worse for drivers with poor credit, who pay double (103 percent) the premiums of drivers with good credit.

There are many smartphone apps designed to help make our financial lives easier. It’s now possible to manage nearly all aspects of our money — from budgeting, to investing, to sending money and making payments — through an app.

Mixing money and emotions is rarely a good idea. It almost never ends well.

But there are certain key times in life when this is particularly true, such as when going through a divorce, buying a home, or after losing a loved one and inheriting a substantial amount of money.

It’s easy during these times to let emotions cloud judgment and make regrettable financial choices that will haunt you for years to come. With that in mind, here are five key times in life when it’s best to check your emotions at the door as you make money decisions.

Homebuying and Selling

Real estate transactions are typically among the most significant financial decisions people make in life, and along with that comes a rollercoaster of emotions.

“When the stakes are this big it’s even more important to remove emotions from the decision- making process,” said Leon Goldfeld, co-founder of the real estate brokerage site Yoreevo.

Like J.D., I'm a recent convert to coffee. For most of my life, I preferred to consume my caffeine cold in the form of Diet Coke. And then…fate intervened.

Four years ago, when my family moved to Oklahoma, my sister-in-law gave us our first Keurig coffee maker. I thought, “That's an interesting gift for a family that doesn't drink coffee.”

But a set of sample k-cups came with the machine, so we started trying them.

The kids liked the sugary cups which were more like hot chocolate than coffee. And I found that I liked the taste of coffee now and then. I played with combinations of coffee, sugar, and milk until I found out I liked it a lot. I later dropped the sugar and went straight for the coffee/milk combo.

Once a month (or so), I share a dozen things that have inspired me to greater personal, professional, and financial success in my life. I hope they bring similar success to your life.

1. Seth Godin on the story you tell with your money

“Once you have enough for beans and rice and taking care of your family and a few other things, money is a story. You can tell yourself any story you want about money, and it’s better to tell yourself a story about money that you can happily live with.” – Seth Godin

What kind of story does your money tell about you? Beyond the basics, it really says what kind of person you are and what your passions and interests are in a way that goes beyond words, because spending money is all about actions. You had to invest a lot of time and energy into earning that money, so to use it in the ways that you use it is really an expression of what you truly believe is important in life.

Pay yourself first.

It’s a snappy little phrase that’s used all the time in personal finance books and articles. I first heard it on radio ads advertising “get out of debt quick” and “get rich quick” schemes.

It sounds nice and impressive, but what does it actually mean?

When you “pay yourself,” does it mean using that money for the finer things in life? Does it mean paying off bills? Does it mean investing?

When you do it “first,” does that mean you ignore debts? Do you ignore your bills? Do you ignore your personal responsibilities?

And how do you “pay yourself,” anyway?

Those three little words can dredge up a lot of misunderstanding. Let’s break them down a little and see what’s really going on.

Paying Yourself

Let’s tackle the first part of the phrase first. When it talks about “paying yourself,” it simply means that you’re putting aside money for your long-term goals. That’s it.

If you need to borrow money for an automobile, home remodeling project, medical bills, or debt consolidation, consider checking out out LightStream. This online lender operates as the virtual division of SunTrust Bank, one of the nation’s leading financial services companies.

When you bank with and have good or excellent credit, you can potentially qualify for very low interest rates. Loan limits tend to be flexible, and repayment periods of up to 144 months (12 years) are offered. While the amount you can borrow will vary depending on your personal finances, your credit score, and the purpose of your loan, loans are offered in amounts up to $100,000.

Keep reading to learn more about how LightStream works, loan requirements, and who this company is good for.

We all want to help our children succeed in life, and for many parents, that includes paying some, or all, of their child’s bills well into adulthood.

Supporting your children financially for too long, however, can be a bad idea for everyone involved.

Not only does it drain you of resources, often near or during retirement, it also prevents children from learning how to master their own finances.

“Paying bills for dependents who should be able to handle their own finances is financial enabling and it causes financial dependency in your children,” said Derek Hagen, founder of Hagen Finance, a financial coaching firm. “It’s difficult to say ‘no’ to your children, but it is what’s best for them in the long run.”