My note:  The following is a gracious guest post from Kathryn, who has an excellent blog called Making Your Money Matter.  If you want a complete financial lesson on any and every financial topic from an actual financial professional, head on over to her website.  Honestly, this is the type of information that I’ve seen only available in paid courses, but you can get everything on her site free and clear.

Without further ado, here is a fantastic post by Kathryn talking about some essential tax tips for professionals.

Kathryn Hanna is a CPA and specialized in business and personal taxes when she worked in public accounting.  She currently stays home with her 3 children and blogs at www.makingyourmoneymatter.com to help people improve their understanding of personal finance and thereby improve their lives.  She loves all things money and especially spreadsheets.

If the only sure things in life are death and taxes, I’m sure we can all concur that it’s more fun to talk about taxes than death.  The basic formula for taxes is really quite simple, it’s just the fact that there are so many exceptions and rules that make it incredibly complicated.  Fortunately, you don’t have to know all the rules, just the ones that you need for your own personal taxes!

There are 3 things that I believe will be most beneficial for every new (or even not so new!) professional to know related to taxes.  These are things that will help you reduce taxes and build as much wealth as possible.

1. TAXES MAY BE YOUR SINGLE LARGEST EXPENSE

Once you’ve gotten used to the huge chunk of money being taken out of your paycheck for taxes, you might just ignore taxes altogether (at least until April each year!).  However, FICA, federal and state taxes alone will likely be upwards of 15-20% of your pay.  I calculated my total taxes as a percentage of my income for 2016 and found that over 25% of my income goes toward various types of taxes.  This is my largest expense, exceeding my total housing expenses including utilities!  Likely, taxes just might be your largest expense as well!

While I acknowledge the importance of tax funds to keep our country running, I’m all about minimizing my taxes to not have to pay more than my legal share.  By learning more about how taxes impact various decisions, you can minimize your taxes and keep more of your money in your pocket.

The first step is to get a really good understanding of your current tax situation.  Go through your most recent tax return and make sure you understand, line by line, each and every income, deduction, credit, and tax calculation.  If you have any new financial situation come up, research and make sure you understand the tax consequences.

2.  ALL INCOME IS NOT CREATED EQUAL FOR TAX PURPOSES

As a new grad, you were probably super excited about having any sort of income.  A paycheck large enough to cover eating out instead of sitting at home with Ramen noodles or a tuna sandwich is life-changing.  Earning income is great!

However, that salary you are getting is the nearly the most expensive type of income there is.  First, you’ll be paying Social Security and Medicare taxes on it at a rate of 7.65%.  Then, you’ll need to pay federal income taxes on your salary likely in the range of at least 10-15% if you’re a single person just starting out.  Also, your state will want their cut of taxes, which will add another few percent (the tax rate is 4.25% in my home state of Michigan).  That’s a lot of your hard-earned money going to taxes.

The only income that is even more expensive to you than employment income is self-employment income due to having to pay twice the Social Security and Medicare taxes.  However, being self-employed can increase your income at much higher levels than working for someone else, so I’m definitely not discouraging it!

Most types of income are taxed at ordinary tax rates for federal and state purposes but are not subject to FICA taxes.  Examples of these types of income include:

• interest income
• short-term capital gains on investment assets held for less than a year
• rental property income
• retirement distributions (someday!)

There are also types of income that are not subject to FICA taxes and are also taxed at lower tax rates.  These types of income are actually taxed at a 0% rate for those in the 10-15% tax bracket (single filers up to $37,950 adjusted gross income for 2017).  Then they are taxed at only 15% for most people.  These types of income include:

• qualified dividends
• long-term capital gains on investment assets held for at least a year

There are even income streams that are not taxable at all for federal income tax purposes:

• interest from municipal bonds (although this may be taxable in some states)
• gifts, bequests, and inheritances

The moral of the story here is to increase your other income streams in addition to increasing your salary.  Taxes make a significant difference in the amount of your income that you actually keep, so increasing your portfolio income will help you get ahead in the long run.  In addition, saving money in retirement accounts will help you to defer your tax on that income for 30+ years or more.  It will make a huge difference in helping those funds grow more quickly for your future retirement.

3.  HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR MARGINAL TAX RATE

Another vital piece of knowledge is understanding your marginal tax rate.  Your marginal tax rate is the percentage of tax you will pay on your next dollar of earned income.  This is not to be confused with your effective tax rate, which is determined by dividing your total federal tax liability by your total income.

The main reason that there is often a large difference in the marginal versus effective tax rate is because the U.S. has a progressive tax system.  A progressive tax system is where the tax rates increase with higher income levels.  Those with high income are still taxed on the lower rates for the lower portion of their income.  This is shown in the tax rate brackets shown in the example below.

In addition, the difference in effective and marginal rates may also be due to a substantial amount of non-taxable income items or tax deductions and credits that decrease income.

An explanation of marginal and effective tax rates is best explained through a simple example.  Assume the following information for 2016:

• Your annual salary is $55,000
• You contribute $5,000 to a traditional 401(k) account
• You have paid $1,000 in student loan interest
• The standard deduction is $6,300
• The personal exemption amount is $4,050

This quick tax summary shows your tax liability of $5,435 for 2016:

The effective rate you are paying on your taxes is only 9.9%, which is calculated as $5,435 in total tax divided by $55,000 gross income.

However, your marginal tax rate is 25%.  Your next dollar of income will actually be taxed at a 25% rate, assuming it doesn’t give rise to additional deductions (for example, if you contribute this “extra” money to retirement accounts, it will not be taxed currently).  The marginal tax rate is determined by looking at the highest tax bracket, as determined by your taxable income.

Looking at the tax rate table below, you can see that with a taxable income of $38,650, this would put you in the $37,650-$91,150 bracket, which is taxed at a rate of 25%.

Looking at the tax table, you can also see that you can earn an additional $52,500 in income before increasing your marginal tax rate to 28% ($91,150 less $38,650).

Understanding your marginal tax rate will give you a realistic view of how much that raise or bonus is actually going to be on a cash basis for you.  It also will hopefully encourage you to contribute more to retirement accounts as your marginal tax rate goes up and those tax deductions become worth even more.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Understanding income taxes is key to building your wealth through the years.  Because of the progressive tax structure in the Unites States, it is even more important to understand your taxes as your income grows throughout the years and the value of your tax deductions increases.

Start now by looking at your current tax situation, making a plan to increase your passive income streams and determining your marginal tax rate.  Future you will thank you!

This information is meant for educational purposes and does not represent individual tax advice.  If you have questions about your personal tax situation, it is highly recommended to meet with a tax advisor or attorney.

 

Fantasy football is one of the most polarizing things on Earth.  One on end you have people who are deeply embedded in the culture.  They have been playing in multiple leagues for years and have parties commemorating the start and end of the seasons.  It’s a way of life.

On the other end, you have those who think that those who participate in fantasy football are delusional and wish they were real athletes.  I’m somewhere in the middle, as I like playing but don’t do it with a lot of fanfare.  And I do wish I was a real athlete.

For those readers who are uninitiated in the ways of fantasy football, it is a game for football enthusiasts in which you select a team from the pool of current NFL players.  Based on how well the players do throughout the season, the team with the most points at the end of the season is the winner.  You have to keep track of player performance, injuries and other  league events to make sure you are fielding the best team possible.

This is usually played online nowadays and some league winners get cash prizes while others just get bragging rights.  It’s all in good fun, but there are some hurt egos along the way.

I bring this up because football season has just started, and I have noticed a bunch of similarities between fantasy football and investing.  In essence, they are very similar because you have to actively track how your players (investments) are performing and make adjustments along the way to win the league (reach your investment goals).

Here are some other startling similarities between fantasy football and investing:

Past Performance Does Not Predict Future Results

This is an SEC mandated statement that all mutual fund companies must put in their ads.  It’s a warning to investors that just because a company has done well in the past, it does not mean they will do well in the future.  If investors actually heeded this advice instead of listening to the latest stock tip, then we would have a lot more wealthy people in this country.

After looking at the top fantasy players from year to year, I realized fantasy football leagues should also mandate this statement.  Besides the many off the field issues that can affect a players performance (such as injuries, suspension, personal problems etc), even the top players in the league can have unpredictable results.

If a player has a tougher than normal schedule for the year or just a handful of poor performances, it can affect their results for the entire season.  Just picking the best performing players from the previous year is not a terrible strategy, but it probably won’t get you very far.  Many of those players may not do well this year and you will miss out on those players that have drastically improved their play.

Lesson Learned:  Don’t pick investments based on how they performed last year.  And don’t pick players thinking they will replicate their production from last year.  Look at the whole picture.

Everyone Has an Opinion

I enjoy watching Sportscenter and listening to NFL podcasts, so I hear lots of different views about who the best players are.  Everyone has an opinion on who they feel will be “dud” or “stud” in fantasy football.  And if you listen to more than one person, you will probably get more than one answer.

All sports writers and pontificators believe they “know” who will play great and who won’t.  But as history shows, no one really knows.  If they do get it right, it’s mainly because of the broken clock theory.  Even a clock that doesn’t work is right twice a day.

Sure, there are players like Tom Brady, Antonio Brown and my man Odell Beckham who will likely light up the scoreboard year after year.  But it’s extremely difficult to spot those players that come out of nowhere or to guess who will have a big drop off this season.

It’s difficult, but people will still try to guess.  And the same goes for investing.

Watch MSNBC or any other financial reality show for long enough and you will think the entire stock market is going through the roof.  Or that you should stockpile gold bars since the world is coming to an end.  Or that the latest election will produce disastrous results in the market.  Depends on what will drive ratings that day.

There will be so many passionate opinions that the average person won’t know what to think.  Mutual fund managers will urge you to sign up for their funds, but that may or may not be the right strategy for you.

Do your own research depending on your risk tolerance and investing timeline.  There is no one size fits all answer and that applies to fantasy football and investing.

Lesson Learned:  Tune out the noise.  Everyone thinks they found the winners but most of the time your guess is just as good as theirs.

Don’t Follow the Herd

Every fantasy league has “that guy” who is always wheeling and dealing.  His transaction history is super long and he’s always looking to trade away his players.  He loves being plugged into the latest news and is scouring the waiver wire to find the next big thing.

“That guy” usually doesn’t win the league.  More than likely the owner who picks solid and dependable players who perform consistently will win the league.  There is definitely a little luck involved to do well in fantasy football.  But picking solid players on great teams and staying the course is usually the way to go.

You will have the random backup wide receiver who has a great game and then is picked up that same hour.  He will be the “hot” player that everyone is clamoring after.  But then he might not do much the rest of the season.  All the while you’re consistent player will be racking up points riding the bench.

This lemming mentality plays itself out in the investing world as well.  As soon as some type of international incident happens, the knee jerk reaction is to sell sell sell!  So many people sell that the market takes a sharp dip, and this causes even more people to panic and sell.

Nothing good can come from following the investing herd.  Nearly all hugely successful investors got their money by not following the herd at the right time.  As Warren Buffet (one of those hugely successful investors) says, “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”

Lesson learned:  Don’t pick up a player just because everyone is talking about him.  And don’t invest in a stock just because it is the latest “hot” pick.  Do your research.  There’s a reason the herd doesn’t get great returns.

I love football and I love investing, so I’m probably going to find similarities between them.  But the similarities between fantasy football and investing are so clear.  Now someone should do a study comparing fantasy football performance with investment returns!

When I graduated from optometry school waaaaaaayyy back in 2009, I started to finally make some real honest to goodness money.  I figured I should learn more about this finance thing and proceeded to read almost every personal finance book at the library.

I started to follow awesome blogs like Ramit Sethi’s and Mr Money Mustache.  Being a personal finance novice, I eagerly soaked up whatever information I could.  This led me to be on both sides of the argument on many different issues.

Debt is evil!  But some debt is okay.  Increasing your income is the way to wealth!  But so is being frugal.  While some of my stances on different issues are pretty solid at this point, I’m always learning new things that affect one opinion or another.

But one thing I’ve never liked throughout my financial journey are retirement calculators.  You know, those websites where you input 5 different pieces of information and you’ll find out how much you’ll have during retirement.

I’m not sure why I’ve never liked them initially.  Maybe because retirement was so far away.  Or the fact that I thought I was done with calculators once I got out of school.  But after reading more and more on personal finance, I’ve realized that retirement calculators are downright dangerous.  That’s because they assume you will participate in lifestyle inflation!

Mo’ Money= Mo’ Problems?

I’ve talked about the dangers of lifestyle inflation a number of times on here.  Pretty much it’s when you start spending more once you start making more.  It is the killer of dreams and it’s what keeps most Americans in debt regardless what income class they are in.  Almost everyone would agree it is a bad thing.

But not retirement calculators.  I was fiddling around with my company’s 401k retirement calculator, and at my current contribution rate (maxing it out!) it said I’m on track to have a great retirement by age 60.  Great news.

Then I started playing around with some numbers.  What if I changed my contribution rate?  What if my salary changed?  I found that if I doubled my salary and kept the same contribution rate, my retirement was in danger.  What in the hell?  If I make double the money I will be worse off during retirement?

In what universe does that make sense?  In the sick universe of retirement calculators, that’s where!

The problem lies in a ridiculous “rule of thumb” that keeps popping up:

“You will need 70-85% of your pre-retirement income during retirement.”

This is not an official rule (hence rule of thumb), but it is adopted by most calculators.  The retirement calculator on CNN.com says this:  “We then assume you can live comfortably off of 85% of your pre-retirement income. So if you earn $100,000 the year you retire, we estimate you will need $85,000 during the first year of retirement.”

According to the same calculator if you work hard and end up making $200,000 per year, saving $85,000 for retirement will magically not cut it anymore.  That’s because they assume the extra money you make will be going towards new expenses and not towards things that can actually produce more wealth.

This assumption shows a lot about the mentality in this country as well as the retirement industry.  While it’s good to be conservative and assume you will need more money during retirement, assuming that your expenses during retirement will increase in step with your pre-retirement income makes no sense.

Conclusion

Maybe this is not a big deal.  Maybe I just got offended because a calculator told me my retirement was in danger since I’m making more money than I was before.  It does make sense to be conservative when it comes to retirement.

But what doesn’t make sense is that this rule of thumb is like gospel throughout the retirement industry.  What financial advisors and retirement specialists should be saying is that when you make more income, don’t increase your expenses!

There are so many financially positive ways you can apply your extra income.  You can pay off debt, increase your emergency fund, invest it into equities or real estate or use it to help out a family member or charity.

The idea that you will need more money during retirement just because you are making more before retirement is preposterous.  Studies show most retirees become naturally conservative compared to their working years.  And it’s also important to remember that during retirement you won’t be saving for retirement anymore!  So a huge expense is already gone.

Lifestyle inflation is what keeps most middle and upper class people in the paycheck to paycheck cycle.  It’s a type of hedonistic adaptation that is dangerous because it can keep you from fulfilling your dreams and spending time with the people that matter.  Don’t let a retirement calculator tell you otherwise!

Investing can be a tricky business.  You have to determine why you’re investing and what you’ll be investing in.  Then you have to make investing a habit and do it regularly.  But you also have to watch yourself and make sure you don’t abandon your well thought out plan and change your investments around once the going gets rough.

It has been normal as of late to experience a 2% gain one day followed by a 2.5% loss the next day, and vice versa. Listening to most financial news outlets, you would believe that these are the darkest days the market has seen in a long time.

While it is true that the S&P has seen some dramatic ups and downs as of late, it has not reached the “correction” stage as many financial television stars have been breathlessly predicting the past few months.  Even after the infamous Brexit vote, the stock market actually GAINED ground for the week after a big single day loss after the vote.

For those heavily invested in the stock market, watching these wild swings can be dizzying. But the market goes up, and the markets go down. That’s what it has always done and that’s what it will always do. The important thing for investors to remember is to stay with the plan through thick and thin.

Stick to the Plan

If you and your financial advisor have already formulated a long term investing plan, you can be sure that volatility, or the ups and down of investing, has been taken into account. While timing the market is usually an exercise in futility, the market has historically been pretty predictable as a whole.

Taking a long term view, let’s say 30 years or more, the market has always gone up in any such period. After bear markets and periods of volatility, the market has rebounded to new heights. This was most likely taken into account when forming your financial plan, so there is no need to abandon the plan if a little volatility rears its head.

In fact, doing so would be foolish and harmful to your wealth. To make money with any investment, you need to buy low and sell high. By abandoning stocks in your 401k when there is a downturn, you are essentially buying high and selling low, exactly the opposite of what you should be doing.

Manage your Behavior

Staying the course sounds great in theory, but it can get old after a while and start to wear you down. Listening to the doom and gloom of the mainstream media and talking to people who are making big market moves can make it tempting to pull the trigger.

Pushing that panic button could torpedo your entire financial plan. Sitting on the sidelines during dramatic market swings can actually wear an investor out, and the idea of keeping your money “safe and sound” in a money market account sounds really enticing.

But, again, it’s important to remind yourself that markets go up and down. That is simply the nature of the beast. Find a way to tune out the noise to avoid any volatility fatigue. This could mean not watching any financial media for a few days, getting a pep talk from your advisor or reading a common sense investing book. You can be your own worst enemy when it comes to making investment decisions.

Conclusion

Sometimes, the best course of action in times of turmoil is to do nothing. Let others head for the hills and abandon their stocks, which will invariably happen as we see a rush of investors dumping equities and heading to bonds.

Sticking to your plan will allow you to pick up stocks at a bargain and be poised to gain tremendously when the next market upswing occurs. So while others will be scrambling to get in on the gains, you will already be locked in. Think about that when the idea of staying the course starts to wear on you.

Investing for retirement is usually not a topic of discussion among new graduates.  Most Millennials would rather talk about Pokemon Go or Game of Thrones,  Two things I have thankfully not gotten sucked into yet.

A discussion about student loans may follow.  And then maybe how crappy the economy is and how hard it is to find a good job or start a business.

But talking about retirement or when to stop working full time is not usually a riveting discussion.  Some just don’t understand how retirement accounts investments work, and they don’t care to learn.  Others dismiss the idea of retirement altogether, claiming that they will just work for the rest of their lives.

Sounds like committing yourself to a life sentence.

If you’re self employed or work for a large company, you need to talk about retirement.  If you have the most fulfilling and rewarding job ever, you still need to talk about retirement.  That amazing job may not seem to fulfilling 20 years from now.

In the business world, you need an exit strategy.  You have to plan for how you’re going to leave your work and set things up so you have enough money to live on.  This is what retirement planning is in a nutshell and the earlier you get a plan set up, the better off you will be.

And the ONLY way to give yourself a shot at a great life post work is to invest.

Why is Investing Necessary?

Being able to save money is an essential step to having good retirement income.  And finding a way to make that money grow is just as essential.  But why?  Can’t you just put money into a savings account or under your mattress and not bother taking investment risk?

No, you can’t.  If someone makes $100,000 per year and is able to save 10% of their income into a regular old savings account every year from age 30 until when they retire at age 60, they will have $300,000 saved up.  Not a bad sum right?

Wrong.  This person was living on $90,000 per year during their working years.  Having $300,000 in the bank mean they can live the same type of life for a little over 3 years.  Even if they cut their cost of living in half to $45,000, that’s still just over 6 years worth of money.  Average life expectancy is around 78, so this person still has a decade or so to live with no money in the bank.

So this person was able to save a decent amount of money for decades and will only be able to survive on their own for 3 years?  How can anyone live a long and fulfilling retirement?  By investing their money, that’s how.

Run Your Numbers

It’s all a numbers game at this point.  This person could decide to either work a lot longer, save a lot more or live on a lot less.  Saving 10% per year for 30 years is actually a pretty good savings rate in this day and age, so I’m not sure how many people would be willing or able to do more.

Obviously, we should always be trying to save more and live on less.  That is the cornerstone of personal finance.  But even better would be to combine those ideals with investing, which allows your money to grow and compound over time.

What would change if this person decided to invest that $10,000 a year into a retirement account instead of a savings account?  After running through some retirement calculators I found that at a conservative rate of return of 6%, this person would have a little over $637,000 to spend in retirement after taxes are accounted for.

You read that right, just by putting their money into a retirement account instead of a savings account, you are able to more than DOUBLE your money.  Now being able to invest like this does require some education and up front work, but not really too much.  And I would say it’s well worth it if you can double your money.

This is the power of investing and this is why everyone, even new grads saddled with student loan debt, needs to start investing early and give their accounts lots of time to grow.

Where to Start?

Stocks, bonds and mutual funds.  Investment properties, house flipping and wholesaling.  Commodities, start ups, local businesses, your own business Bitcoin, and peer to peer lending are just SOME of the ways you can invest.  Where is a new investor supposed to start?

It can be overwhelming when you look at all of the options out there.  And each type of investment has its own world of information to learn.  But the best place to start would be a 401k.  If you work for a company they probably have one and if you’re self employed you can open one for your business.

The reason I recommend starting with a 401k (or a Traditional IRA if your workplace doesn’t have one) is because the contributions you make are tax deferred and so is any growth in the account.  This is very advantageous especially if you start contributing early in your career and give the account time to grow.  Once you choose what type of investments you want, start contributing regularly and watch your net worth skyrocket over time.

My next piece of advice would be to do research!  No one can walk you through investing step by step because there is just so much information available.  Do some research on different ways to invest, such as real estate or dividend investing.  If something strikes your fancy, look into it some more and see if it’s worth putting your money in.

Investing is one of those things that are east to get into but difficult to master.  But you don’t have to be a master to have a stable retirement.  You just have to start early and let your money grow.

The financial services industry is enormous.  There are countless magazines, commercials, shows and blogs that talk about financial products and services (I do that also, but only with products I use and trust.  Like Digit.)

Companies like Fidelity , Vanguard and Charles Schwab will talk about their mutual fund options all day long.  Life insurance companies will be happy to show you their complex whole life insurance and annuity plans.  If you turn on any business news channel, you’ll start believing that the world is going to end and you need to entrust your financial life to a specific company.

All of this marketing is designed to separate you from your money, and will ultimately enrich the companies in the form of fees and commissions, regardless of your own personal performance.  Marketing is a powerful tool and the odds are stacked against the average consumer.

But what if I told you there is a financial product available that is virtually risk free and will give you great returns throughout your entire life?  This product is not heavily advertised in the financial world and will only get a cursory mention by financial advisers.

That product is the humble emergency savings account.

Savings account?  Really?

Yes really.  And it has nothing to do with the interest rate.

Most people have savings accounts and don’t even know it.  Many banks sign you up for one when you get their checking account, although most people don’t give it a second thought. But they can be a powerful wealth building tool.  How can that be when the interest rates are so low?

A savings account with Bank of America will get you a maximum interest rate of .03%  That’s right, 3 hundreths of a percent.  Almost nothing.

An online savings account with Ally, which I currently use, gives a 1% interest rate.  A LOT higher compared to a Bank of America account, but still not too high in the grand scheme of things.

(By the way, sign up for an online savings account if you don’t have one.  You’re just leaving money on the table if you don’t)

The beauty of a savings account doesn’t lie in the interest rate.  Savings accounts are awesome because they can enhance your financial life by providing positive returns in so many ways.  Here are some examples:

Higher deductibles:  Insurance is a game of risk.  This is true for any type of insurance, including health, auto and homeowners.  If you take on more risk, you pay less in premiums to the insurance company.  If you take on less risk, you pay more in premiums.

Assuming coverage remains the same, the best way to take on more risk, and thus decrease your premiums, is by increasing your deductible.  This will be how much you pay out of pocket before the insurance company starts paying.  The higher deductible you pay, the lower premiums you pay.

What a large savings account does is that it allows you to set a higher deductible because you will be able to cover that deductible payment if need be.  I believe the role of insurance is to help you out in catastrophic cases, such as a car accident or major illness.  In the case of a car accident, having a low $100 deductible is not really a big benefit since the cost of replacing a car can run well into the tens of thousands.

For example, I have car insurance with Geico.  If I choose a $1,000 deductible on one of my cars, which is an amount any decent savings account should have, my 6 month premium is $285.  Not bad at all.  If I leave the coverage the same and change the deductible amount to $100, the 6 month premium jumps to $395.

An extra $110 for 6 months is not bad, but if you have a large savings account, there is no need to spend that extra money.  Apply this principle to all your cars and all of your various insurances (especially your health plan), and you can easily save hundreds of dollars per month just for having money in a savings account to cover those deductible payments.

Bulk Purchases:  This is an easy one.  Buying in bulk is almost always cheaper than not, especially with groceries.  And having money in the bank allows you to do this anytime you want.

If you see something you regularly purchase on sale at the grocery store for half off, you can save a lot of money by buying enough of that item to last you for the month instead of coming back every week and paying the regular price again.

Your savings account just helped you slash your grocery bill.

Pay in cash:  With things like cars, home repairs, remodeling and appliances, most people just assume you have to take out a loan.  That’s just how things are done.  But not if you have cash in your savings account.

We recently got an estimate for a painting job from a number of contractors.  All the estimates were for about $1,000.  Since I will be paying in cash, this will be an easy transaction.  Just transfer from my savings account and pay the contractor.

Most people go would go the loan route.  A good rate for a personal loan would be 6%.  If I could get a 6% loan with a 5 year term, the monthly payment would be $19.33.  What a steal!

Actually, not a steal at all.  The extra interest you would pay over the 5 years would be $159.97.  So having a savings account that could cover that amount right off the bat will save me $160 compared to having to take out a loan.

Leave investments alone:  This is where having a savings account can potentially help you keep a whole lot of your money.  Everyone needs to invest whatever they can as early as they can.  Compounding interest early in life produces great returns later.  This has been proven extensively.

But what if you have been investing so much that you totally neglect your savings account and now you owe someone $5,000?  You’re going to have to tap your investments which is going to cost you in 2 ways:  Transaction costs and diminished investment returns.

If you have to withdraw from a retirement account, add a penalty payment and extra income tax on top of that.  And all the while you are missing out on returns your $5,000 could have been getting if it remained invested.  Not a good situation.

So even if you’re the most gung-ho investor and you’re super excited to get in the game, make sure to set aside some cash just in case.  It will actually help you keep more of your money.

With all the savings to be had from higher deductibles, bulk purchases, not having to get a personal loan or withdraw from your investments, I hope you’re convinced that having cash set aside in a savings account is a good idea.

I hear many people rail against savings accounts because of the low interest rates and how the “opportunity cost” is too high since you could be getting a higher rate of return elsewhere.  But no other account allows you to withdraw money as needed and gives you the peace of mind found in all the previous examples.

So help keep your financial house in order and open an online savings account.  Make sure to keep replenishing it because it is not a matter of if you’ll need it, but when you’ll need it.

Another Health Savings Account post?  Yes.  Another one.

I’ve written about HSA’s previously here and here.  But it seems some people still don’t get it.Since HSA’s are a fairly new concept, I thought I would give one more post at explaining its benefits.

Many people I’ve spoken with who are hesitant about HSA’s are not really hesitant about HSA’s.  There is no reason to be scared of HSA’s because they provide tax free money for healthcare services AND you can keep the money forever.  People love signing up for Flexible Spending Accounts, and you can only use those funds within a year, so those are a little more scary.

No, people don’t have problems with HSA’s themselves, but have second thoughts about signing up for High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP’s), which you have to be enrolled in to be eligible for an HSA.

And they should have second thoughts.  HDHP’s are a big difference from the traditional health plans we’re used to.  You’ll have to pay out of pocket and in full for a lot of things you never had to pay directly for.

A visit to the local urgent care place?  Full price.  Have to pick up some medications?  No coverage yet.  A $1,000 visit to the ER?  Pay the full $1,000.  It’s almost like not having health insurance at all!  (It really isn’t though just keep reading.)

For a family plan in 2016, the minimum deductible needed to be considered an HDHP is $2,600.  That means that insurance will not cover anything until you have spent $2,600 on healthcare expenses for the year.  That sounds preposterous for some people, but it just requires you to plan a little better.

Are HDHP’s for you?

There are two questions you have to ask yourself to see if a HDHP is right for you.

First, are you pretty healthy?  That is, do you or any family member need to go to the doctor often or take a lot of medications.  If the answer is yes, then a HDHP is probably not for you.

But it still may be.  You just have to run the numbers.  It’s almost impossible to predict what your healthcare costs will be in the upcoming year, but looking at how much you spent in previous years can give you a good idea.

HDHP’s have lower monthly premiums than traditional health plans.  That’s one of their big selling points.  If you think you will end up spending enough on healthcare that it will negate those lower premiums, then you should probably go with a traditional plan.

The second question to ask yourself is do you plan to have a surgery or major procedure anytime soon?  If you do and you can do it early in the year, then an HDHP will DEFINITELY be the right choice as you will meet the deductible requirement early in the year and will have almost everything covered for the remainder of the year.

Not all companies accept will let certain elective procedures, like LASIK, be applied to the deductible so make sure to verify what will apply and what won’t.  If it can apply towards the deductible, an HDHP is a no-brainer.

Based on these two questions, I think most people will benefit from going with an HDHP.  So you get much lower premiums, great coverage once you meet the deductible and the biggest benefit of them all…the HSA!

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

The minimum deductible for an HDHP family plan is $2,600.  The maximum amount you can contribute to an HSA  for 2016 is $6,750.  That means if you max out your HSA contributions for the year (which you should most definitely try to do) and get the pre tax contributions out of your paycheck, you will be able to fully cover the deductible in a little less than 5 months.  Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Remember HSA’s have a triple tax advantage: they are taken out pre tax, they grow tax deferred, and they can be withdrawn tax free for healthcare expenses.  After age 65, you can withdraw funds for any reason and you’ll owe income tax but no penalty.  Since HDHP’s cost much less for employers, many will sweeten the deal by contributing a certain amount into your HSA.

There is just too much good stuff going on here.

And let’s not forget arguably the biggest benefit: the ability for the account to grow tax free.  The default setting for most accounts is to have your HSA money in some type of money market account that earns 1% or less of interest.

That’s cute, but it’s not for me.  Nearly all HSA plans have investment options, and some of them have very good ones.  HSA’s stay with you for life, so if you can invest your funds appropriately you can stand to make a lot of money down the road.

Many would say that’s risky since the money is for healthcare expenses and not necessarily for retirement.  Fine.  What you can do (and this is what I do), is to find out what the out of pocket maximum of your health plan is.  This is the max amount you would have to pay for the year until all of your healthcare expenses are completely covered.

For most HDHP’s, this  number is around $6,500 or $7,000.  Whatever the exact amount is, put that much in the interest bearing portion of your HSA.  Put the rest into investments.  That way, even if everything goes to hell, you will have enough to cover your health care expenses for the year while still having some great tax advantaged growth in the background.

Bottom line, if you’re healthy and single, you have absolutely no reason NOT to be in a HDHP.  If you have a family there is more to consider, but an HDHP will most likely work.  If you have a family and multiple members see doctors and take medications regularly, it may not be right for you.

I don’t know what more I can say about the topic, but I’m sure I’ll revisit it again soon.  In the meantime, max out that HSA contribution!