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In America, your credit score is a valuable piece of financial information. Banks, credit card companies, and sometimes even employers will use your credit score to determine whether you're reliable enough for a loan, a new credit card or even a job.
Staying on top of your credit health is pretty important. But we're all human. Sometimes, we lose track or need guidance when we're just starting out. Here are a few things to keep in mind whether you're trying to repair your credit score or you're building it from zero.
1. Don't apply for too many cards or loans
Routinely applying for credit cards or loans over a longer period of time will cause a dip in your credit score. If you're shopping for a mortgage, auto or student loan, make sure all of your applications are sent within a 30 month period.
Your FICO score ignores inquiries made 30 days before scoring. If it finds inquiries before those 30 days, it'll count those as one application. That's because it is generally understood that applying for several house, car and student loans doesn't mean you will take out all of those loans. You'll probably just settle on one. However, if you apply for several credit cards, these will each count as a separate inquiry. Send your applications wisely.
2. Keep your card balances low
With your credit cards, it is better to keep your balance low. The closer you get to your credit limit, the worse your credit score will be. Maxing out your card is terrible for your score. You generally want to stay at or under 30 percent of your limit. Even approaching your maximum can reflect poorly on your credit habits. In addition, limiting your credit usage will help you pay your balance at the end of the month.
3. Always pay your bills on time
Your credit score will take a dip if you ever make a late payment or miss it entirely. That's why auto pay is useful. You'll never forget to make a payment. But you should also keep track of your bills in your calendar. Computer systems are generally reliable, but can sometimes fail. It's better to safely confirm that the withdraw is processing or has been made by the due date, rather than finding out your payment didn't clear on time. If you are ever struggling to pay your full balance, pay at least the minimum required to maintain your credit score.
4. Avoid carrying a balance on your cards
Contrary to popular belief, you don't actually have to carry a balance on your credit cards to build your score. And especially if you're credit score isn't ideal, you could end up paying pretty high interest rates on carried balances. To save yourself money, don't charge more to your cards than you can pay back within the billing cycle. This will help you keep your balance low as well.
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The National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) surveyed young adults in 2017 and asked them what high school level course would benefit their lives the most.
The majority responded that money management was the course that would be most beneficial.
With personal debt is at its highest record and COVID-19 threatening to have the hardest economic effects on youth, understanding money and finances is an important life lesson that should be taught to children at a young age.
The following is a list of the best financial literacy lessons and tips to teach children throughout different life stages.
<h2>Younger Children</h2><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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</p><p>A 2013 University of Cambridge study stated that by the time children are just <a href="https://mascdn.azureedge.net/cms/the-money-advice-service-habit-formation-and-learning-in-young-children-may2013.pdf" target="_blank">7 years old, they have already formed money habits</a>. While toddlers are still too young to be taught the value of money, it's never too early to introduce money and spending to them. Here are some great ways to introduce money to young children.<br></p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Get them their first piggy bank. Clear piggy banks work best so that the child can visually see their money grow. If you would like to take it further, give your child two separate piggy banks—one for spending and one for saving.</li><li>Encourage play money. While getting familiar with money is important at a young age, you don't necessarily want your child handling dirty money. Investing in a money play set and teaching money lessons through play is a great way to introduce money to children—because what toddler doesn't love to play store?</li><li>Children learn by example, and setting a good financial example for your younger children to follow is important. </li><li>Open a joint savings account with them. I am an avid believer in parents holding at least two types of saving vehicles for their children—one that the parent can fully control and one for the child to be on jointly. When the time is right for you and your child to open the account, make it a fun and exciting event for them. This is a great opportunity to get them familiar with banks and depositing money.</li><li>Check for educational games and apps that have money learning games. <a href="http://www.moneysavvy.com/assembled/savings_spree.html" target="_blank">Savings Spree</a> is great for kids and well worth the $5 price. </li></ol><h2>Elementary/Middle School</h2><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://media1.giphy.com/media/l2Sq0pQvuW0j8AkMg/giphy.gif?cid=2fb0ca76bf8rcja62ax558vctylllxumxfao8tbj13v31s85&rid=giphy.gif" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYzMzQwNi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzQ2NDU0NH0.zzJ9fgwojoLrf6vo_eRQ-k7YWTRAc0_mT6I8k03K2do/img.gif?width=980" id="15179" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a21dae574a628d6b9108de1ca118ce04" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
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</p><p>By now most children know financial basics, such as the different denominations, but keeping up with their financial learning at this stage in life can be crucial. Here are some tools and tips to help your child navigate through the beginning steps of learning what it means to control their own finances.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-131"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><ol class="ee-ol"> <li>Don't simply give your kids allowances—instead, teach them about earning money by assigning chores and rewards. <a href="https://www.jumpgapsoftware.com/allowance/index.html" target="_blank">iAllownce</a> is a great resource and management tool to create chores, automated payouts, and rewards that can be synced to children's devices in your household. </li><li>Gift your child a stock that has meaning to them. Giving a kid a piece of paper and telling them they own a share of stock isn't that exciting. But perhaps presenting it to them as they are now the proud owner of stock—and in turn, a part of the company itself—may be a little more satisfying, especially if it's coming from a company they are familiar with and has meaning to them (i.e. Disney). This is a great way to introduce kids into the world of investments and stocks. </li><li>Teach lessons about value in goods and opportunity costs. If your child only has enough money to buy one of the two things they want, talk it over with them. Have them figure out the value of each item by comparing costs, longevity, and desire; this will show them that if they choose one thing, they can't have the other (the opportunity cost). Likewise, encouraging kids to think a purchase over for a day before making decisions instills strong values that will prevent them from making impulse buys as adults.</li></ol><h2 style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; display: inline !important;"></h2><h2>Teenagers/Young Adults</h2><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYzNDQ1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODQ4MTMyMn0.x1JrIAxsOX-MoNX_IY4qz7o2w9pnW0DIzsCjEVHpniE/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0&height=700" id="c4303" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8e40d0c1e33b1ff28901f013a0bfb3ba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>Do not depend on your child's school to teach them financial literacy, <strong>as <a href="https://www.councilforeconed.org/survey-of-the-states-2020/" target="_blank">less than half</a> of states require high school students to take a personal finance course.</strong> High school years are the perfect time to develop your kid's financial freedom so they are prepared to make smart choices when out on their own.<br></p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Let your child earn a paycheck other than a chore allowance, whether through a job or by pursuing their own business entrepreneurship such as an Etsy shop. Your child's first paycheck can be a great lesson on taxes.</li><li>The most important thing you can teach your teen is how to keep a checkbook ledger, as well as how to fill out a check and a deposit slip. In my time working at a bank, the majority of teens and younger adults I encountered had almost no prior knowledge about basic banking transactions. While the argument against keeping up with such tasks is that banking is now mostly online, there is no direct way to keep exact track of your account balances without some sort of ledger entry. Card swipe and electronic transfers have become nearly instant ways of making transactions on checking accounts—but not everything instantly goes through your account. </li><li>Help teens set long term savings goals and encourage them to always put a percentage of their income into savings. One great savings incentive is to set up a savings match with them. I once had a banking customer that told her children she would match whatever they put into their savings account by the time they graduated. </li><li>Teach them healthy credit card habits. It's important for teenagers to learn the dangers of credit card spending, but I am an adamant believer that every parent should help their child get a first time credit card at the age of 18 to instill good credit habits. </li><li>Help them create a budget. Sit down with them and together figure out their monthly income. If they have any monthly expenses (gas, cell phone, etc.) subtract that from their monthly income to figure out how much money they have left for spending and saving.</li></ol><div></div><div></div>
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Truebill Is The App Everyone Needs, I Use It Everyday To Track All My Finances
September 04 | 2020
I thought I had a pretty good handle on my finances out of school. I worked several jobs while attending university and had little to no problem managing my income. However, once I graduated, I realized how much more complicated personal accounting could really be.
There were so many variables I needed to keep track of. Biweekly bills, monthly charges, and general necessities amounted to a heap of confusing numbers that were often impossible to decipher. The funniest part was that I was actually trying to do this by hand (I don't know what I was trying to prove to myself, either).
After messing up for the 17th time, I decided to give Microsoft Excel a shot. I used Excel a bit in school and I knew all the big-wig finance people used it, so what could I possibly have to lose? The answer is about six hours of my precious time. Excel isn't much of an improvement over handwriting and it's still dependent on the user to manually input all of the information. It's like doing everything by hand with the slightest help, meaning that it still required a tremendous amount of time and concentration. Well that was all for nothing, I guess.
It's sort of funny. I was certain that I could manage my personal finances with ease, when it's practically a full-time job. I was already stressed out enough with my first job and I knew I didn't have enough time to give my finances the attention it deserved.
That's why I decided to try out a budgeting app. My best friend told me that he uses an app called Truebill to manage his finances. "What does it even mean to manage your finances?" I asked him. He told me that Truebill was the personal financial assistant I wished I could have. It could aggregate all of my account information into one place and give me specific insights and actions.
I loved the idea of having full control over my finances, especially during a time of financial uncertainty, and I realized that Truebill would be the easiest way to accomplish this. The user interface is incredibly simple and intuitive, so it doesn't even feel like a finance app! Truebill offers a multitude of features, with their most popular being the ability to cancel subscriptions with the press of a button.
Okay, I had no idea how many subscriptions I was still subscribed to. In fact, I wasn't even using a quarter of the subscription services I was signed up for. Subscription boxes, streaming services, my old gym, and even an old subscription to my favorite magazine--it was all there and I was livid. How could I let myself waste all of this money and how did I never catch this? Thank goodness for Truebill.
Truebill also offers bill negotiations. There is a 40% fee based on how much you save and Truebill even claims that there is an 85% chance that they'll be able to lower your bill once a negotiation is requested. Why wouldn't I take them up on this? There was zero risk and I would only have to pay once my bill was lowered (which means that I would be saving money regardless).
More standard features of Truebill include the ability to generate a credit report on-demand and even request a pay advance. I only used the pay advance feature once when I wanted to buy a gift for my mom, but didn't have enough cash in hand and Truebill automatically reimbursed itself when I got my next paycheck.
The credit report is another fantastic feature and practically taught me what good credit meant. Truebill's credit report basically shows you which financial decisions have the most significant impact on your credit score and ways that you can improve your credit month-over-month. I've never had such control over my credit and it feels good.
I'll be the first to admit that I was extremely naive coming out of school. I figured that as long as I was attentive, I could manage my finances with ease. We manage money to some extent throughout our entire lives, but once you're thrown out on your own, it's a completely different story. With Truebill, I've finally been able to take control over my finances and stay on top of all of my responsibilities.
5 Reasons You Need FanDuel TVG If You Want To Get In On All The Horse Racing Action
August 31 | 2020
My buddies and I always try to make it out to a game, but we never really care which one we end up at. Obviously we have our favorite sports and teams, but it was rarely about what game we went to or who we saw playing. It was about watching the game live.
In the early months of lockdown, all we had was Korean baseball, and trust me, we loved it. The only issue was, none of us had any idea what the commentators were saying. Even then, a few of my friends weren't huge fans of baseball. They were into sports like football and basketball, ones that moved at a quicker pace with less down-time in between plays.
We decided to see if there were any other events going down and came across horse racing. Yes, horse racing. It was perfect--short, fast-paced, and most importantly, an opportunity for betting.
I had never really considered watching a horse race any time other than the Belmont Stakes, but the prospects of the sport seemed exhilarating. Even better, with horse racing we knew we could still recreate the atmosphere of a race track. Salty snacks? Check. Stale beer? Check. A simple and easy way to bet? Check.
One quick Google search later, we came across TVG, powered by FanDuel. It's an online betting platform that takes you right to the heart of the action. We were a little apprehensive about using a mobile app to place our bets, but TVG's ability to bet on live horse races from all over the world was too good to pass up.
Here are 5 reasons why we are obsessed with horse racing thanks to TVG:
1. Betting has never been easier
Use your phone or computer to watch and bet on live horse races in real-time. TVG offers a bunch of features to make betting even simpler--live odds and handicapping tips leverage recent learnings to help you make your best bet. Not to mention, TVG's exclusive race content and wagering guide offers an under-the-hood look into the strategy behind horse race betting.
2. The biggest selection of horse races out there
If you're looking to drop a little dough on a horse race, chances are your best option is your local race track. But watching the same few horses races over and over again isn't the most exciting thing. With TVG you have access to over 150 tracks worldwide with races happening consistently throughout the day.
3. Get a generous sign-up offer when you place your first bet
Once you register your account, you will be eligible for a $200 risk-free bet. All you have to do is place your first bet and you're covered. If you happen to lose, TVG will insure you for up to $200 as a sort of wagering credit. I may have been a little trigger happy when placing my first bet, so having this insurance was a great perk. There are also a bunch of promotional offers available year-round.
4. Making deposits and cashing out at the touch of button
With a ton of payment options such as PayPal, BetCash, debit/credit, wire transfers, and other third-party services, making a deposit is a breeze. But what about the payout? Depending on your deposit method, your withdrawal will be available in a few days. No more waiting in-line to collect your winnings!
5. Watching live races with your friends while betting is exhilarating
Even when we were watching Korean baseball, Zoom calls with my friends were a little dull.
With TVG, we haven't had this sort of fun in months! Every weekend we'll turn on a race and throw our bets in. After a few races, and quite a few drinks, we'll tally up our winnings to see who won the most! Sometimes it's not even about making money, but just having a good time.
TVG is the perfect way to add a little excitement to an otherwise mundane afternoon. It introduced me to the world of horse racing, a sport I never would have considered otherwise.
The races just keep ramping up and thanks to TVG, I can always get in on the fun.
