Category: Personal Finance

Learn about a variety of personal finance topics, including budgeting, saving, credit, debt, taxes, insurance, retirement and more

More, Personal Finance

The Impact of Coronavirus on our Economy

The total number of coronavirus cases in the United States has now exceeded well over one million. The American death toll, over 60,000 now (that we know of), has surpassed that of the Vietnam War…in just 2 months. But today’s post is not about the horrendous health impacts of the virus so far, but the economic impacts yet to come.

Recent reports about our the future of our economy are hopeful, but are they grounded in reality? Things may never be the same again.

The bad news is that our economy was reported this week to have shrunk by nearly 5% in the first quarter, the worst performance since the recession of a decade ago and probably the forerunner of a much steeper collapse in the second quarter that could be the worst one since the Great Depression, 90 years ago!

But in spite of these things, the White House on Wednesday declared its response to the crisis “a great success story”.

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Personal Finance

How Are We Paying Out Trillions of Dollars for the New National Deficit?

With all my free time these past few weeks, I have been mostly sitting around here thinking about the hundreds of thousands of victims around the world contracting the coronavirus. Watching the news each day is very depressing and frightening. Is there anything more we can do and are we on the way to stopping it? The questions I have and all of us have seem to be open and unresolved.

Recent moves to protect our economy have also ballooned the national deficit by several trillion dollars. How will we ever pay that off?

Second only to the life and death issues we face are the financial questions. Millions are now unemployed and the financial markets are crumbling around the world. So how is it possible that the U.S. government is handing out trillions of dollars to businesses and citizens? Where is all this money coming from? And even bigger of a question, how will the new national deficit ever get paid back?

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Income & Career

The “Virtual” Solution to Your Money Problems

If you feel like today is March 38th, you are not alone. The coronavirus pandemic has broken lots of records and one of them is extending March into what seems to be the longest, loneliest month in all of history. I’m not kidding here.

If you're struggling financially during this crisis, virtual jobs may be the answer to your money problems. Here are several jobs and how to get started.

Since I write about finances and money issues rather than medical problems, I’d like to say this: There are some solutions to the money issues and problems you are facing, so don’t throw in the towel just yet. Consider virtual jobs as the solution to your money situation!

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Income & Career

Do You Check All of These Boxes as Sources Of Income?

As you go through daily life, that is normal daily life, you primarily think about income as the money you earn from some sort of a job. For most people, it’s money paid to you from an employer, the business you report to every day and who pays you a check every week or two. If you have a real skill and are lucky, you may even have your own business and be the boss.

When it comes to sources of income, there are many ways to generate cash. Here are 12 types of income you should plan now for the future.

That’s the way it was before the pandemic hit. Now, getting a weekly paycheck for getting up and heading to a job seems like it was a past life for an awful lot of people. I was just speaking to someone on the phone that has only been home for four days and he is already going crazy with anxiety. He is not alone.

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Frugality, Personal Finance

Crisis Time – The Wants Versus Needs Test

In an event that’s so horrific like this pandemic, I am searching for something to cling to and be able to continue writing here. At some point, and I wish I knew when, life will once again become more normal. And when that happens, personal finances will once again be a huge topic of conversation. But, actually, it really is even right now. It all comes down to wants versus needs.

During this pandemic crisis, it's critical that you can distinguish wants versus needs and save money wherever you can. All of us will need to save.

Now, during a real crisis, is one of those times when it’s particularly important to understand what you really need, as opposed to stuff you just want. The COVID-19 pandemic is the reason why prioritizing your needs has become so important. It was perhaps all just fun and games for some before this so called “gut punch”, but it’s not anymore!

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Credit

Your Credit Rating Is So Important Right Now!

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I had planned a new post today about the subject of credit. But I decided to change it. The global pandemic caused me to take a totally different look at the importance of credit right now, mainly because having good credit has become way more significant today than it was even just a few days ago. Why? COVID-19, the coronavirus, that’s why.

With the current pandemic and our economy at the brink of recession/depression, the importance of credit has never been as significant as it is right now.

They Say “Cash” Is King, But…

For almost forever, it seems credit and your credit rating have been at the center of the discussion when it comes to your finances. Long before I started writing about it myself, I knew that building up my credit would be important. Because one day I wanted to buy a house, a car, and lots of other “things” that I wanted and I would need my credit to help me purchase them. Despite the fact that at times, having credit can wind up getting you to overspend and landing you in trouble and big debt, if you use good common sense and control your impulses to spend, your good credit works for you.

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Debt, Personal Finance, Saving & Investing

“March Madness” – Can You Believe More Fed Cuts?

Opinions are like noses: everyone has one and this one is mine. It’s official. The coronavirus has created complete chaos in our lives and the actions in Washington to combat it are literally creating a whole new “March madness” by the hour!

Another surprise Fed rate cut has happened, but will it help with the economy, much less the COVID-19 coronavirus?

I try really hard to avoid putting my 2 cents (formerly 3 cents before I suffered the recent stock market losses) in this blog about politics. Occasionally it slips in, but that occurs only when I feel it’s necessary. Today, it’s necessary.

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Personal Finance, Saving & Investing

The Bear Market: Get Used to It?

For the past 12 years, since the housing market debacle and the 2008 recession, we have been the beneficiary of steady economic growth. If you were a stock market investor, you have seen the Dow Jones soar from around 7,000 to record levels breaking the 29,000 mark earlier this year!

The COVID-19 coronavirus has brought the bear market to us. Will the disease and the bear be around long? Here's what history tells us.

That’s a 400% increase in its value. The bull has been on a rampage, but those days are over. The bear market is here. No matter how you paint the picture right now, it looks like recession, and the world is going into a long-awaited cycle that it always goes through at some point. Are you ready? The bear market…get used to it!

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