Sitting on a Pile of Unwanted Christmas Gifts? Here’s How to Turn Them Into Cash
Why You Should Build Out a CD Ladder For 2024
By: Steven Porrello |
Updated
– First published on Jan. 7, 2024
If you’ve been tuned in to the high rates on certificates of deposit (CD) this year, you’re probably aware that the party is almost over. Word on the street is that the Federal Reserve could start cutting its federal fund rate next year, which would directly impact the APYs that banks offer on CDs and savings accounts. While many 12-month CD rates are still above 5%, there’s no telling how long they’ll stay that high.For CD shoppers, that means now might be the best time to ladder high CD rates before monetary policy pushes them back down. Here’s why.CD ladders give you some flexibility with your savingsCD ladders combine short and long terms to help you access your savings at regular intervals. For example, if you had $25,000 in savings, you could divide your money between CDs of different maturities, such as $5,000 in a three-month CD, $5,000 in a six-month CD, $5,000 in a one-year CD, $5,000 in an 18-month CD, and $5,000 in a two-year CD. That way, you’re never more than six months from accessing a portion of your savings.Laddering CDs like this can solve one of the main problems with CDs: the early withdrawal penalties. Most CDs come with a penalty equal to a set period of interest for any withdrawals before maturity. For instance, an 18-month CD may charge you 180 days of interest if you liquidate your CD before the 18 months are over. Even worse, you’ll pay that penalty regardless of if you earned 180 days of interest, which would be a loss of your principal if you didn’t.CD ladders could also solve the problem of partial withdrawals. If you’re withdrawing before maturity, most CD providers require you to liquidate the entire balance — even if you just want a small portion of your savings. Laddering CDs, however, would spread your money out and could help you leave some of your money invested. For instance, if you needed $5,000 to cover a surprise HVAC repair, you could liquidate one of your five $5,000 CDs, leaving $20,000 still invested in the others. You’d still pay a penalty, but it would be less expensive than liquidating a single CD worth $25,000.Why you shouldn’t wait to ladder your CDsBy and large, the main reason for laddering your CDs is to lock in today’s high interest rates before they disappear.Already, many short-term CD rates are starting to creep back. Banks and other financial institutions are speculating that the Fed is finished with its cycle of interest rate hikes, and it’s adjusting CD rates accordingly. If inflation continues to cool, it’s likely the Fed would start cutting the federal fund sometime in 2024, which would essentially spell the end of this era of high interest.A CD ladder would lock you into today’s high rates for a period that could extend five years. The idea is that you could be earning high interest at a time when the ongoing rate is several times lower. In essence, you’d get a guaranteed stream of income paying out at a higher-than-average rate.All in all, if you’ve been contemplating building a CD ladder, now might be the time to take action. Rates aren’t going to stay this high for much longer. Take a look at some of the top-paying CDs and start planning out your CD ladder before it’s too late.
Here’s the Single Best Strategy for Investing in CDs
By: Maurie Backman |
Updated
– First published on Jan. 9, 2024
There’s a reason putting money into a CD versus a savings account can be beneficial. CDs require a commitment that you’ll keep your money in the bank for a specific period of time. As such, CD rates tend to be higher than savings account rates.Also, when you keep money in a savings account, the interest rate there can change with market conditions. When you put money into a CD, the rate you lock in is the rate you’re guaranteed for your CD’s entire term.So, let’s say you open a 2-year CD paying 4.5% interest. Let’s say you also keep some money in a regular savings account paying 4%. A year from now, your savings account might only be paying 2%, and new 2-year CDs might only be paying 2.25%. But because you locked in a CD for a duration of two years, you’re guaranteed 4.5% interest for another 12 months as long as you leave your money where it is.That said, if you’re going to put money into CDs, you’ll want to do two things:Make sure your bank is FDIC-insured so you’re protected from losses in the event of a bank failure.Ladder your CDs so you have money coming due at various intervals, as doing so could help you avoid early-withdrawal penalties.It pays to ladder your CDsFiguring out whether your bank is FDIC-insured is easy. First of all, your bank will usually indicate whether it’s FDIC-insured on its website. And if not, you can look up your bank here.Laddering your CDs requires a bit more time and strategy. But it’s really not a difficult thing to do.With a CD ladder, all you’re doing is splitting your money into different CDs with different maturity dates. That way, you have money coming due at varying intervals.Why is this important? You might think you’re okay to tie up, say, $10,000 in CDs because you don’t need that money for something specific. But what if a major home repair comes up that depletes your emergency fund and still leaves you in need of cash?In that case, if you have to wait another year for your $10,000 to free up, you might end up resorting to debt. But if a portion of that money is about to become available, you may not land in such a jam.To this end, what you may want to do is take the total amount of money you’re looking to put into a CD and split it into four. And then, open CDs of varying terms.If you have $10,000, that might go as follows:You open a $2,500 CD with a six-month termYou open a second $2,500 CD with a nine-month termYou open a third $2,500 CD with a 12-month termYou open a fourth $2,500 CD with an 18-month termThis way, you have CDs coming due at different times, giving you an opportunity to access your money.And you may not even need that money for an emergency. You may simply want some cash to join friends on an exciting trip, or you may decide you’d like to invest in conjunction with certain market conditions. If your money isn’t all tied up, those options may be available to you.Do your best to avoid a penaltyOnce you open a CD, it is possible to access your money prior to its maturity date. However, doing so usually means facing a costly penalty, the amount of which will depend on your bank and its policies.At Capital One, for example, you’ll lose three months of interest as a penalty if you cash out a CD with a term of 12 months or less prior to maturity. For any CD with a term longer than 12 months, that penalty is six months of interest.That interest income is money you really don’t want to lose. But if you’re careful in how you set up your CD ladder, you can certainly lower your risk.
How to Find Items That Are Marked Down to 1 Penny at Dollar General
By: Christy Bieber |
Updated
– First published on Aug. 6, 2023
If you’re trying to keep your credit card bills down, buying something for a penny may seem like a dream scenario. After all, what could be friendlier to your bank account than purchasing an item you want or need that costs only a cent?In today’s day and age, it may seem impossible to find anything to purchase so cheaply, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, it may be possible to find penny items at Dollar General.That’s because the store has a system in which items that are supposed to be removed from stock are priced at $0.01. If employees do not remove these items from the shelves before the price adjustment happens, they’ll ring up for only a penny.So, how can you find these items? Here are the steps you’ll need to take.1. Go shopping on the correct dayItems are marked down to a penny only when it’s determined that they need to be removed from stock. Typically, this markdown process happens on a Tuesday, so if you want to be able to buy one of these deeply discounted products, you’ll want to go shopping then.Since others may also be on the lookout for the penny products, it can help to go early in the morning before all of the items you might want are bought up.2. Check the penny lists onlinePenny items are not advertised, since they are not really supposed to be for sale at that price. This means you can’t just consult the Dollar General sales flyer to see what’s on discount. You also shouldn’t ask cashiers, as they not only won’t help you find the items but instead are more likely to remove them from the shelves before you can purchase them.Since these products are like hidden gems, you’ll want a guide to discovering them — and there are a few lists online that can help you do that. The Krazy Coupon lady publishes a weekly list of penny items. You can also join Facebook groups dedicated to finding them.Since penny items change regularly, you’ll want to check out these resources every week to see what’s on discount.3. Load up your cartWhen you are lucky enough to find a penny list item on the shelves, you should bring up as many of the items as you want to purchase.As soon as you have alerted the store to the fact the items were left on the shelf, they will be pulled so you won’t have a chance to get any more of them. If they ring up for a higher price, you can just say you changed your mind.4. Get lucky with your cashierFinally, you need to hope that the cashier you have ringing up your items allows you to actually buy them. Official store policy is that they should not be purchased, so you may well be told you can’t actually get the item for a penny and may have to put the item back.While there’s an element of luck involved in both finding the penny items and being able to buy them, it may be worth the effort to try if there’s something on the penny list you are excited about purchasing — or if you happen to be at Dollar General anyway.
Does Your Income Make You Upper Class, Middle Class, or Lower Class?
By: Christy Bieber |
Updated
– First published on Sept. 5, 2023
Incomes vary widely across the United States, with some people making many times the amount that others earn. If you’ve ever wondered how your personal finances stack up, and what “class” your income officially puts you in, here’s what you need to know.What income do you need to be upper, middle, or lower class?Based on 2021 data, here’s what you would need to earn in order to be in each class:Lower class: This is defined as the bottom 20% of earners. Those in the lower class have an income at or below $28,007.Lower middle class: This is defined as individuals in the 20th to 40th percentile of household income. Earnings among this group are between $28,008 and $55,000Middle class: The middle class is officially those whose earnings put them in the 40th to 60th percentile of household income. The income range is $55,001 to $89,744.Upper middle class: Anyone with earnings in the 60th to 80th percentile would be considered upper middle class. Those in the upper middle class have incomes between $89,745 and $149,131.Upper class: Finally, the upper class is the top 20% of earners and they have incomes of $149,132 or higher.Take a look at these numbers and see where you fall based on your own earnings. And remember, this is a snapshot in time — your earnings can change throughout your life, and so can your class designation.Will your success be determined by your income and class?It’s probably not a surprise that those in the upper classes or in the upper middle class do have a higher net worth than those in the lower class or the lower middle class. But the disparity is greater than you might think. While the median net worth of those with incomes of $149,132 or higher is $805,400, the median net worth of those in the lower class is just $12,000.Your income impacts how easy it is for you to build wealth. If you make more money, it is easier to save it and invest it in a brokerage account where it can work for you. If you make less money, then you may struggle even to cover the necessities out of your checking account, much less to buy valuable assets that help you grow richer over time.But that doesn’t mean people who don’t make a lot of money can’t be a financial success. A lot depends on what you do with the money you actually have, including how much you spend and how much you save.There are plenty of people who make over $100,000 a year who live paycheck to paycheck, and plenty of people with incomes that put them squarely in the lower or lower middle class who have diligently saved and grown quite wealthy over many years.Here’s how you can improve your standingDon’t be discouraged if you aren’t in the class you hope to be. For one thing, you have opportunities to increase your income by taking the following steps:Learning new job skills: You could obtain a certification, take part in a management training program at work, or take some classes to develop skills that may help you get promoted (such as computer training courses or public speaking classes), depending on your industry.Take on a side hustle: The average side hustle brings in $483 per month, which is a good amount of extra money that could make a meaningful difference in your income.Work some extra hours: If your company allows you to work overtime, take advantage of it, as many people are paid time and a half for overtime hours.Negotiate your salary: According to Pew Research, when workers negotiated for higher pay, 28% said they received the extra money they asked for and 38% indicated they were given more than originally offered but less than their ask. Whether you are getting a new job or staying at your current job but feel you’re underpaid, it doesn’t hurt to make a request for more money — especially if you can find salary data to back up the fact that others in your industry are paid more.And even if your earnings never put you in the top 20% of earners, you can still have a rich life and end up with the financial security you deserve — especially if you prioritize saving as much as you can for as long as you can.
Here’s What the Average Costco Store Employee Earns
By: Maurie Backman |
Updated
– First published on Oct. 18, 2023
Many people shop at Costco regularly and marvel at the savings involved. Costco shopping can leave you with more cash to add to your savings account. But have you ever wondered what it would be like to work at a Costco warehouse club store?On the one hand, working at Costco could mean spending a lot of the day on your feet. But if you’re someone who just doesn’t do well with a desk job, and you like the idea of getting to interact with people, then it could pay to see if your local Costco is hiring.Before you take that step, though, you may be curious as to what sort of wage you might be looking at as a Costco employee. And the answer might surprise you — in a good way.A far from shabby hourly rateDuring Costco’s most recent earnings call, CFO Richard Galanti was asked to talk about employee wages. And the details he revealed actually paint a pretty positive picture. Galanti said that 90% of Costco’s employees are paid hourly. And the average hourly wage for Costco employees is close to $26. So for someone working 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year, that’s an annual income of about $54,000.Granted, at that income level, you’re not necessarily rolling in dough and signing a $500,000 mortgage loan. But in some parts of the country, it’s possible to more than get by on an annual income of $54,000, especially if you’re single. Also, Costco warehouse positions may not require the same amount of schooling as a corporate job paying more. It’s common for corporate positions to want a college degree or some sort of college. If you skipped that step, you may find that you’re able to earn more at Costco than at a competing retailer, or a comparable job that doesn’t require a degree.Costco employees get other nice benefits as wellNot only is Costco’s hourly wage fairly generous, but in addition, Costco employees are eligible for what Galanti described as a “very rich healthcare plan.” Plus, Costco employees are entitled to a 401(k) plan contribution on the company’s part. And that free money for retirement is available “irrespective of what an employee contributes to his or her 401(k),” Galanti said.It’s also worth noting that Costco contributes anywhere from 3% to 9% of employee wages to a 401(k) based on years of service. And while a 3% match is fairly standard, a 9% match is notably generous. Should you apply to work at Costco?If you’re earning a lot less than $26 an hour and aren’t happy with your workplace benefits package (if it even exists), then it could pay to look into applying at Costco. Even if you’ve been working in a corporate environment, if you’re feeling burned out at this point, taking a few months to work at a place like Costco could provide the refresh you need to pursue a different long-term job down the line. Of course, if you are offered a job at Costco, you’ll want to pay attention to the fine print. Just because the average hourly wage is around $26 doesn’t mean that’s what you’ll be getting, especially if you don’t have much experience.And it’s a good idea to compare wages and benefits across retailers you want to work for to see which pays the most and offers the best perks. But if the idea of working at Costco appeals to you, then it’s certainly worth looking into.
