Behavioral Finance Experts Share Tips

Are you one of the 50% of Americans that don’t expect your personal finances to improve in the next six months? According to a recent Harris Poll 30% of Americans feel that their finances will worsen. Fear of losing your job or losing money influences us tremendously.

Emotional Financial Decisions

There have been studies done by behavioral finance experts that say by nature we seem to look at our own situations as worse than they actually are. Is that true for you? One solution to this problem is to figure out how to conquer the emotions that stop you from making the best financial decisions you can.

Psychologists often use the phrase, “The emotional tail wags the rational dog.” The same is true for us in managing our personal finances. So what can you do to help yourself?

The first thing to do is to save money and save money early. A gentleman was discharged from the Army in 1958 with a check for $3,500. He got some advice from the head of research at Smith Barney about what to do with his money. He was advised to save it and invest it. He ended up investing the entire amount in IBM stock because he was familiar with the company. That stock is now worth over a quarter of a million dollars.

Why Is It Hard  To Save Money?

Richard Thaler, author of the bestselling book,”Nudge,” and professor at the University of Chicago, School of Business, says that the biggest problem Americans have is just not saving enough money. It is recommended that you save ten percent of your income, but many people fall far short of that. He says that people are not perfect. We all make mistakes. Figuring out how your emotions are getting in your way of saving will go a long ways in helping you get your finances back on track.

David Laibson, an economics professor at Harvard reports that the reason that people don’t save is primarily due to procrastination. They don’t want to fill out the paperwork that would make automatic payments into a savings plan. They decide that they’ll do it next week. It’s very similar to putting off a diet. It’s much easier to start on Monday. Do something about putting a savings plan in place. Use a strategy like saving ten percent of your income and put it on auto pilot.

Can you imagine how it would feel to have done this consistently throughout your life time? Warren Buffet, the third richest person in the world, worth $47 billion dollars, keeps $20 billion dollars in cash on hand. It helps him sleep at night.

Steps You Can Take Now

Your area of focus should be on building an emergency fund that will carry you through three to six months of unemployment. Try to eliminate big money expenses that may be unnecessary. Start networking with others before you lose your job. Find organizations to join where you can network at least once a week. Seventy-three percent of six-figure earners landed their current positions through personal contacts.

Get your finances back on track by saving on a regular basis, making good financial decisions without undue emotional factors and do yourself a favor by networking with others like-minded business people on a regular basis.

Banking with an FDIC-Insured Bank

It is hard to trust anyone these days especially when it comes to money. Money talk is always serious talk which means that people are very stringent when it comes to where they will be putting their money. In these hard times, this is already the norm since money is so hard to earn that it’s almost impossible for someone to just put money anywhere. But what if you want to put your savings in the bank? Would putting your money in the bank be a much safer choice rather than just leaving it home in your closet?

Established in 1933, the FDIC or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has served as a safety net for bank depositors. Ever since its inception, no depositor has lost a single dime from their FDIC-insured funds. The independent agency of the US government does not only insure US citizens, they insure other citizens from other countries as well as long as the banks they bank with are insured by FDIC.

An FDIC-insured account means that your bank account is backed by the US government in full credit and full faith. This reputation is something that other insurers cannot offer. Operating for over 70 years now, the FDIC is the people’s support system when or if their banks close. The insurance limit for every account you open in an insured bank is $250,000.  The agency however does not insure money invested in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, municipal securities, and annuities even if the said investments are made in insured banks. The other types of accounts that the FDIC does not cover are safe deposit boxes and their contents. US treasury bills, notes or bonds are not insured by the FDIC as well but they are backed by the US government.

But what does this deposit insurance cover?

FDIC-insured accounts range from checking, savings, money market deposit, to time deposits and negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW). The depositors given this insurance are those who bank with insured banks. Banking with an FDIC-insured bank means your money is protected dollar for dollar. If you own two accounts in two different banks and these banks are FDIC-insured, it means that your two accounts also have the FDIC protection. This means that if these two banks close, you will have an insurance of $250, 000 for each account. If you have two accounts in one bank, you will not get two FDIC insurance, just one.

The standard maximum deposit insurance amount also known as the SMDIA allocates $250, 000 per depositor in every insured bank. This insurance will run through until December 13, 2013. By 2014, the said allocation per depositor will go back to $100,000 except for certain retirement accounts which will retain their $250, 000 per depositor insurance in every insured bank.

Banking with an FDIC-insured bank means that you as the depositor will receive insurance if the bank closes all of a sudden. Although this is something that most of us never imagine to happen, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Smashing Barriers To Saving Money

Saving money is not easy when you don’t have enough money coming in every month to cover your bills, so you might need to look at ways to increase your income. There are many ways that you can increase your income. Years ago, it may have been harder.

Increase Your Income

The Internet has opened up many opportunities for people to make money.  You can put items for sale quickly and easily on Craigslist or eBay and get rid of some of those items that are just taking up space. That should bring in some money, but eventually you will end up with nothing else to sell.

You can also offer your expertise to others through websites that will connect you with people looking for one time job offers. Perhaps you can write and get paid for doing that. Places like O’desk.com and Scriptlance. com would be a great place to start. You can bid on jobs that fit your area of expertise. They commonly have jobs for writers, programmers, web designers, graphic designers and a large variety of other services.  You can also tap into Craigslist and hunt for jobs there.

Set a Savings Goal

Assuming that you are diligent in your hunt for extra income and follow through with the difficult task of actually increasing your income, the next step for you is to set a goal for your savings. It’s a lot more fun to make sacrifices if you can picture in your mind being able to reach these goals.

For example, your goal might be to get rid of your credit card debt.  Picture how it feels to not worry about those monthly payments. Picture how it would feel if you took that same amount of money you were paying every month and saved it for a nice vacation. What is your dream destination?

Put pictures of the places you want to go to in your home office, on your refrigerator. Put them anywhere that you will see them every day.  Next time you are tempted to use your credit card, just remember the pictures of your vacation spot. This can help you remember why you are doing without or not using your credit card. People tend to willingly go without a lot of things in order to reach a goal that is really worthwhile to them. Set a goal that is worthwhile to you.

Imagine Achieving Your Savings Goal

The secret to saving money is to be able to picture how life will be when you reach the goals you have set. So often when we feel bad or when we suffer a loss of self esteem, we naturally look for ways to make ourselves feel better. That is a natural and good response.

Plan to do things that will make you feel better.  Make sure they will not cost you much money or cause you to gain weight.  There are a lot of activities that you can do to feel better at no cost.  Listed below are some suggested activities that cost nothing and feel good.

• Go for a walk in a popular park. Getting outside and seeing other people is self assuring and helps you connect to other people.

• Can you smile at anyone? Smiling brings internal pleasure as well as bringing happiness to someone else. Remember what happens to you when you see a baby smile at you. You feel joy at no cost.

• Exercise in any fashion that you enjoy.  Get moving and see if that doesn’t help your outlook on life.

• Talk to someone you haven’t talked to in years. Connecting with people can make you feel good.

• Check your local newspaper and see if there are any events you can attend that interest you and don’t cost anything to attend.

• Pet a dog or cat. Pets can bring smiles to your face quickly.

Whatever method you choose to do to make you feel better is fine as long as it is low cost and low calorie.

Save money easily by having sufficient income and by setting your savings goal to be something worthwhile to you.  You can make saving money so much easier on yourself. Start today by setting your savings goal and begin to dream again.

Wrestle Your Money To the Floor And Make It Behave

Do you have trouble managing money and making it do what you want it to do? Learn how to wrestle your money to the floor and make it work for you.

LendingTree.com conducted a nationwide poll that measured attitudes about consumer loans, credit card debt, credit scores, savings and financial plans.  It was alarming that 48% of the respondents were uncomfortable with their household debt. Even more alarming was that 54% admitted they have no financial plan to become debt free. This clearly establishes the need for people to learn how to manage their debts.

The way money works in your household is more about emotion than about math. Financial advice needs to be written for humans, not robots. Life has unexpected events that you can manage and plan for.

Budget

You may have heard this a thousand times and you’ve either given up on the idea or you’ve found a way to budget that you can live with. One way to budget is to take a piece of paper and write your total monthly income. Under that write down all of your expenses in categories and guess what amounts they each are. Total this amount. Make sure your income and expenses are totally equal. You want to spend all of a month’s income on paper before the month starts. Spend all of it on paper. Don’t forget that savings is a category. Now you have ordered your money to behave because each dollar has a job to do.

Allow for Mistakes

You are going to make mistakes the first time. Don’t worry about that. You will get better and better at estimating your expenses. With practice your budget will become one of the most powerful tools available to you to keep your finances on track.

Dump Debt

Debt is your largest obstacle to financial security. Think about your current beliefs about debt other than your house and car. Debt is not something you just have to live with. Many people live debt free. So can you.

If you are living on borrowed money you can prevent digging a deeper hole for yourself.  Mitlon Berle said, “It’s amazing how fast later comes when you buy now!  Just stop using any borrowed money, which of course will include your lines of credit. Don’t close your accounts because there are situations that you need a credit card. Renting cars, securing a hotel or paying for a vacation will need some kind of credit. When you use them for that purpose and keep your balance at zero, then you are doing great.

Save Money

Saving and investing are two of the best things you can do with your money. If you watch the Suze Orman televsion show, you might think that everyone in the country may be better off than you are and that everyone has over $300,000 in savings for retirement.  Well, take heart, because there are people who have no savings at all and who find it hard to save. Start with a small amount if you are having difficulties making ends meet. As your income grows and your expenses lower, then you can save more. Make it a habit to do this on a monthly basis.

“The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.”
~ Kin Hubbard

Garage Sales

Get rid of items that you no longer need. Not only will you  get some added income, but you will have more space to live.

Automatic Deposits

Use automatic deposits into your savings account. Sometimes it is less painful for people to save money when you don’t have to decide to do it every month. You make a decision once and then set it on auto-pilot. In six months to a year, you’ll have a nice amount of money saved.

“Money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.”
~ Spike Milligan

Tips for Budgeting and Making a Budget Plan

Why should people create a personal budget plan?

First and foremost, it is important that you realize what an invaluable financial tool budgeting can be.  A personal budget plan is without a doubt the most effective yet fundamental financial and money management tool that is available to you.  No matter how much you earn annually, whether it is tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands, it is imperative that you know not only what you are spending the money on, but how much you actually can afford to spend.

In the simplest of terms, a budget plan is a financial vehicle that enables you to control and organize your monetary resources.  Additionally, budgeting also enables you to decide – in advance – how your finances are going to work in your best financial interests by helping you set financial goals and realize them as well.  In so many words, budgets can be extremely powerful considering how simple they can be to create.  Just remember that the underlying premise or purpose of budgeting is to ensure that you have money for all expenses – known or unknown.

Advantages to creating a personal budget plan

The main drawbacks to creating a personal budget involve being completely aware of your finances as well as taking considerable time to create that budget.  However, the benefits and advantages far outweigh those drawbacks as well as the horrors of not following a personal budget once you have developed one.  The following is what we feel are the 6 key advantages to creating a personal budget.

• Advantage #1:   communicating with the family – if you find yourself in a position where you are in charge of budgeting with a significant other, money handling differences can be resolved if everyone in the household is aware of that budget.

• Advantage #2:  controlling finances – the key advantage is that you are able to take control over your finances and money.  A personal budget gives you the tools to know where your hard-earned money is going.

• Advantage #3:  saving money – this is probably one of the more significant benefits to the family or individual that follows a personal budget plan.  It is the most effective financial tool for creating more spendable income.

• Advantage #4:  enabling extra time – the questions “how was the money spent?” and “when was the money spent?” are easily answered when you have developed your budget.  Additionally, if there are questions asked by creditors or you need to prepare your taxes, you have all the information necessary for either.

• Advantage #5:  knowing what is happening with your finances – creating and then sticking to a personal budget enables you to always know how much money you have as well as how much you have to spend.

• Advantage #6:  organization – the basic personal budget organizes your finances into two basic categories – expenditures and savings.  Additionally, a personal budget gives you immediate answers to and the knowledge of all financial transactions that have occurred.

Take the time to develop a personal budgeting plan and in time, you will reap some nice rewards for all of your effort.

5 Ways to Easily Save Money

Why is saving money now more important than ever?

Take a look around you folks.  It’s no secret that the US economy as well as other global economies have been a state of unpredictability for a year or more.  The 4^th quarter stock market crash of 2008 is more than evidence of that.  Not to mention the fact that the auto and finance industries have been in trouble as well as the real estate markets and various retailers.  As a result, more and more people are focusing on creating and developing their personal budgets, and trying to save money so known and unknown expenses are covered.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the importance of creating and maintaining a personal or family budget since this is such an invaluable financial tool.  Not creating a personal budget is like that old adage about “failing to plan means that you are planning to fail.”  And that is basically what you are doing.  You have no control over your money, your finances will most likely end up in disarray, and you will never be able to get ahead financially.  The bottom line is that you should not be spending more money than what you actually have.

Five Ways to Easily Save Money

There are many ways that you can effectively budget just as there are a number of ways that you can save money for future purchases or unknown expenses.  Additionally, this will relieve the stress that occurs when you are struggling to make ends meet and pay your bills.  Here are 5 tips you should consider for saving money:

Tip #1:  Create and develop a personal budget

This is pretty much a no-brainer, but you would be amazed if you knew that people were surviving by the skin of their teeth without employing this invaluable financial tool. If you haven’t created a budget in the past, be sure to start one now. When you budget, make allowances for a saving category and save that much money each and every month.

Tip #2:  Get better at recycling, repairing, and re-using household items

This is part of the “Going Green” mentality, but it still makes a lot of sense.  In addition to this, you should consider using alternative energy sources and purchasing only those consumer goods that are manufactured from either recycled goods or sustainable resources.

Tip #3:  Cutting food waste will cut spending

What is the point in purchasing more meats or fresh vegetables than you can possibly consume at one sitting? More importantly, how much sense does it make to let leftovers go to waste and then get thrown in the garbage?

Tip #4:  You can still maintain a normal lifestyle inside or outside of the home by shopping sensibly

You don’t need to spend a fortune to dress and look good, nor do you need to spend a lot of money on food if you just pay attention to discounts and sales as well as not being a name brand junkie.

Tip #5:  Automated Payroll Deductions

Some companies will allow you to send part of your paycheck to a savings account. You just tell them how much you want to send from each paycheck and they will transfer it. This automated process makes saving money much easier.

Tips to Saving Money on Your Vacation at Disneyland

Considered as the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Disneyland is a child’s utopia. For adults, planning a trip to Disneyland or even to other amusement parks can be a nightmare. Following these tips will hopefully bring the fun back into visiting these places.

Avoid the front gates – Although naturally, these would be the places parents turn to for purchasing tickets, it is possibly the least cost effective. The regular amount is multiplied depending on the number of people you are with. With the Disneyland Resort, there are multiple theme parks, at least two located in California alone. For each of the Disneyland resorts, a separate admission fee is required unless a Park Hopper Pass is purchased.

Park Hopper Pass – This pass allows the user to visit both Disneyland parks in California. These passes are valid between one to five days. Similar to the idea of annual passes, the prices becoming cheaper as the longer days are purchased. Try purchasing these on ebay to save money.

Buy online – Disney offers discounts for tickets purchased online in advance. These can be directly printed or sent through mail.

Annual Pass – Amusement parks usually offer these passes to encourage visitors to come more often. For residents living near Disneyland, this is the most cost effective if utilized more than five times during the entire year.

Package Deals – Intended to entice more tourists, some hotels within the vicinity of amusement parks or other tourist attractions offer a discount on admission tickets if staying with hotel. Disneyland has three seasons: Value Season, Regular and the Peak Season. It is most advised to book during the Value or off peak seasons as these will give the visitors the most discounts.  Special Adults Price For some years during the months of January up until early spring, adults can avail of the same admission prices in Disney as kids do.

Discount Passes for Residents in California – Disney offers special discounts specifically for residents in South California, teachers who are members from various state unions, university students, some employees, retired individuals as well some car organizations in the state.

Birthday Passes Started in 2009 – Disneyland has offered a special discount for birthday celebrants. To avail of this discount, inform the park in advance and claim at the front gate with a valid ID for verification. Unfortunately, this pass is only given to the celebrant and valid only for that day.   Military Passes For soldiers in the military, whether in active duty, National Guard, Reserve, DOD or retired, Disneyland also offers special discounts depending on the time of the year. This requires presenting their military ID at the gate.

Travel Agency Discount – ARES, a travel agency of good reputation offers discounted tickets on its website which can be purchased and used for admission into Disneyland. Do research and inquire about other local travel agencies on whether they offer discounts on other amusement parks or tourist spots.

Foreigner discount – Residents from the United Kingdom can avail of discounts from Theme Park Direct. UK residents intending to purchase must take caution and compare conversion rates before buying.

Being aware of these options will hopefully make planning the trip to Disneyland a less stressful and burdensome task.

Frugal Tips For Saving Money

Saving money isn’t that hard when you take a frugal approach to it. I know that the words “saving” and “frugal” don’t bring the happiest thoughts to your mind. And that is the number one reason you aren’t able to save any money. You have the wrong attitude. It is surprising how easy it is to change your attitude. When you succeed at saving money, you are helping yourself. Keep you goals at the top of your priorities. When you have a budget and live frugally, you don’t have less, you have more. It is all about having more money. Not less.

I know that personally, my biggest challenge is wanting more. It is something that is hard to fight. We are saturated by advertising. We see new and more expensive things all around us. Many of us struggle with issues surrounding shopping and acquiring. I have the fear of being without something I need, so I buy everything I might use someday. I have to constantly remind myself that if I don’t buy it now, I will have the money to buy it later. It is in the attitude. You can change it.

One of the easiest ways to start saving is to cut down how much you have to buy. You can stretch things out a bit. Use less cleaning supplies and soaps by diluting them with water. Save scraps and reuse old clothing as rags. Look at the uses of things that might be considered trash. If you can avoid a shopping trip by reusing something once, you are saving.

I have found that being frugal has a great side effect. You can lose weight. Start by only drinking water and milk. Cut out the sodas. Save juice for breakfast. Don’t make the sugary drinks. None of it is good for you anyway. Drink water. Cut the calories and feel healthier.

You can also cut out a lot of money, and calories, by only buying healthy foods. These are often cheaper than the prepackaged convenience foods. Instead of frozen pizza treats, have a salad or turkey sandwich. Eat fresh veggies and fruits instead of chips. Shop on sale. Don’t eat as much each meal so that it goes further for your family.

If you have the money to stockpile on sales items that you will use, then by all means, shop up. Buy enough to last you until the next sale. But don’t get carried away. Only buy items that you will absolutely use. Canned and frozen veggies, flour, sugar, tomato sauce — look for the items that are staples of your diet. In fact, if you can only buy sale items when you shop, you’ll be doing pretty good.

When you stock up your pantry and have plenty to eat, it is easy to focus on other matters. You don’t have to worry about finding the money for food. The food is already there. When you can make something yourself, make it. You can often save money by simply putting a little time into it. And it is often quite satisfying.

And my number one way to save money — pay off those debts. Take every penny you are saving and put it towards getting rid of that debt and building an emergency fund. Don’t buy things you can’t afford and don’t need. Ask yourself what is more important to you — having some item or living a stress-free financial life? Having the money you need when you need it is more important than having some gadget sitting around collecting dust.

Martin Lukac represents RateTake Refinance Rates marketplace. RateTake matches consumers with multiple lenders offering low rates.

Article Source: by Martin Lukack

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