Greatvest Tools

Wealthy people lived differently. Here are eight daily rituals many millionaires share. The surprising thing? These habits have nothing to do with money. Last week, as I prepared for my daily three-mile run, a friend shook his head and sighed, "I wish I had your discipline." I told him: "It's not discipline. It's just a habit." Thomas Corley, president of Cerefice & Company Accounting in Rahway, studied both millionaires and the poor for over five years. The result is his book, Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individual, Not surprisingly, Mr. Corley found that millionaires are different than average people. What might surprise you, however, is the traits that set millionaires apart have little to do with money. In fact, the most common things many millionaires share are simple daily rituals which, over time, lead to improved productivity, health, relationships, knowledge and - consequently - wealth. Here are eight daily rit...

Car insurance is expensive, but states require it for a reason. In case of an accident, it can save you a lot of money and a lot of stress. Here's why you need car insurance.  Sometimes it seems that states mandate us to have car insurance just to make insurance companies rich. But is this really the case? Or are other factors at work? Let's dig a little deeper. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 6,264,000 auto accidents in the US in 2015. Those accidents resulted in 35,092 fatalities and 2,443,000 injuries. Property damage occurred in 4,548,000 of accidents. Those statistics represent the cumulative driving experience of 210 million licensed drivers in the US. That means that there's about 3 percent chance you'll get into an accident of some kind in any given year. That may seem low, but if you do get into an accident and you don't have insurance, the consequences can be overwhelming and even financiall...

Trump's reversal on Obama's FHA loan cuts will mean an increase in annual mortgage payments for homeowners and could make it more difficult for young homebuyers to qualify for home loans. Here's all you need to know. If you own a home or if you're thinking about buying one, a recent White House decision will have an impact on your mortgage. Early in 2017 President Trump issued an executive order reversing a rate cut on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loans for homebuyers. First-time, young homebuyers generally take advantage of FHA-backed loans, which are designed to make homes more affordable. Trump's move isn't surprising. Obama's FHA rate cut and fee reduction created controversy among lenders and mortgage consultants. Though the cut was meant to save homebuyers money and lead to more mortgages overall, it would also have taken a bite out of the FHA's capital reserves - possibly leading the housing market to crash, according ...

The Whole 30 Diet - a Paleo diet, can help eliminate your unhealthy food habits and unnecessary spending. Here's how to Whole 30 for under $10 a day. You may have some crunchy friends who've been raving about the Whole30 Program. Maybe your Instagram is full of yummy looking meals with hashtags like: #Whole30 #healthyeating #delicious. Maybe you've heard of the mythical dragon's blood that happens about halfway through, giving you a serious energy boost. Maybe you're just stick of having an upset stomach most of the time and you've heard this can help. Developed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, the Whole 30 is a Paleo based diet that eliminates a lot of foods that have negative impacts on your health. Some foods that many people consider "healthy" can also impact your energy levels and gut health, so for 30 days, those are stripped from your diet too.. By removing all these foods from your diet, you're able to reset your body over 30 day...

While nearly everyone could benefit from working with a professional financial planner, the cost is often prohibitive. There comes a time, however, when paying for financial advice becomes a solid investment in your future. How do you know when it's time to hire a financial advisor? From time to time I get emails from readers who have realized that they need financial help that goes beyond reading blogs and books. Some readers' finances have suddenly grown more complicated, either as the result of a new job or an inheritance, while others simply want personalized advice that helps them increase their savings or pay down debt. At the moment, running Greatvest Tools takes up all of my time, so I'm not able to offer advisory services myself. If I were to start, I'd likely seek the professional credentials of a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). After 10 years of writing on the subject, I consider myself well versed in personal finance, but I don't have expe...

There are many ways to save hundreds on vision care, you just have to know where to look. Here's how to save on exams, glasses, contact, and vision insurance. Healthy eyes are essential - so is vision care. Even if your eyes appear to be doing well, you annual eye exam is key to preventive care. Diseases affecting vision, like glaucoma and macular degeneration, are much more treatable if caught early. An eye exam can also screen for other conditions where early detection is a lifesaver, like diabetes, blood pressure, and cancer. Even if you're visiting your eye doctor yearly. you may need ways to save money on vision care. Here's how to save on vision insurance, glasses, contacts, and exams. Saving on glasses Keep your old frames Frames account for about half the price of new glasses. If you need new lenses but your frames are in good condition, you can save fifty percent of the cost by skipping new frames. Buy generic, rather than name brand, if new fra...

2017 is Hyundai's year. The Elantra and Santa Fe are stylish, yet affordable models that offer luxury car features and safety at a fraction of the cost.  Growing up, my Sundays were spectacularly dull. Filled with thrills like wriggling in a church pew, monotonous chores, and burying my nose in my AP textbooks. The latter half of my weekends scarcely warranted anticipation. Monday mornings were an ironic relief from the tedium. So for me, Hyundai's 2009 Super Bowl ad struck a personal chord. "Hyundai. Like Sunday,' it boldly stated, after their flagship sedan - the Genesis - had won the North American Car of the Year award. I agreed with them, but not in a way their marketing team intended. Hyundais back then did echo my Sundays - dull and tedious. In fact, many professionals car pundits were surprised by the Genesis' victory. That's not to say Hyundai's historically mad bad cars. The South Korean automaker stands on a lesser-known reputation...

Understand which type of life insurance you really need can be difficult. Here's the difference between term and whole life insurance, and which is better for you. When it's time to get life insurance, how do you know which to get - term or whole life? This question is a true ongoing debate. The reality is that both term and whole life insurance have their virtues. It's just a matter of which will work best for you. Here'e what you need to ask yourself when trying to decide between the two. How much life insurance do you need? A single person who has no dependents probably only needs a small life insurance policy. $50,000 or even $25,000 may be enough. Since there is no one else who will rely on the income, it's basically a matter of having enough insurance to pay for final expenses and any lingering obligations. Given that the amount of coverage is relatively small, a single person may be well served by a whole life policy. The benefit will be a per...

The new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Credit Card offers a unique way to earn more cash back on something you probably spend on already: Food! This no annual fee card gives you 3% cash back on dining. 2% cash back on groceries, and 1% cash back on everything else. Launched in April 2017, the new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card gives you more cash back where you spend most: 3 percent cash back on dining, 2 percent cash back on groceries and 1 percent on all other purchases. Choosing the credit card that will earn you the most rewards is no easy feat because it depends so much on how you'll actually use the card. If you like to eat, however, the new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card is worth a look. Capital One Premier Dining Rewards overview The Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card is a new cash rewards card offering unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining, 2 percent on groceries, and 1 percent on all other purchases. There's no annual fee.  Ca...

Doing a financial cleanse can help build healthy financial habits now and in the future. Here are some challenges to get you started.  Ever tried a detox diet? The medical benefits of "cleansing" your body of toxins might be dubious, but temporarily limiting your diet to liquids or fruits for a few days is still a good way to become more mindful of what you're putting into your body. A financial cleanse works the same way. If a cleanse diet aims to cut out the bad stuff you consume - sugar, fat or alcohol, for example - in a financial cleanse you look to eliminate 'toxic spending'. Such spending could be emotionally-charged, wasteful, or just mindless. Whatever the cause, the purpose of a financial cleanse is to reset how you make spending decisions so that you think more carefully about every one going forward. If you've found yourself creeping into bad money habits like spending more than you make, not saving enough, or buying things you can't a...

It costs $8,698 to own and operate the average automobile, according to 2015 data from AAA. Given that automobile expenses are such a high - and often overlooked - expense, it's well worth the time and effort to try to reduce them as much as possible. Although you may not be able to shorten your commute or trade for a more fuel-efficient vehicle overnight, there's one automotive expense on which you can - as incessant ads like to remind you - cut by hundreds of dollars a year in a matter of minutes. Yes, we're talking about car insurance. And yes, you can almost always reduce your auto insurance bill if you know where to look. Here's how to do it. Drive safely (and slowly) Auto insurance is expensive enough in the normal course. But if you have accidents or moving violations, it can be ridiculously expensive. Avoiding accidents and drive more carefully are among the best ways to keep your auto insurance at a minimum. If you already have moving violation...

It's so frustrating: You're financially responsible, but you still can't get approved for student loan refinancing. A company called Earnest could change that. It's easy to look at the state of student debt in the United States and get thoroughly bummed out. In 2012, 71 percent of new four-year college grads had student debt, with an average debt of $29,400, according to The Institute For College Access & Success. That's a big chunk of student loan debt. To you, that debt may represent the years of work it will take you to pay it off. But to entrepreneurs like Louis Beryl, it represents an enormous opportunity to help graduates like you find a way to save on your student loans. Beryl is the cofounder of Earnest, a student loan refinancing lender that hopes to reward financially responsible graduates with flexible terms and lower interest rates (APRs - with auto pay - are between 2.55 and 6.03 percent). A different approach to underwriting In the p...

Having health insurance is a good idea, we all know that, but dental insurance is a little different. For some, it may not be as cost-efficient as we'd like. So make sure to ask yourself, is it worth it? Getting insurance seems like a no-brainer. Medical insurance, more often than not, saves you money in the short and long term. If your monthly premium is high, you'll pay a lower deductible, and vice versa. Dental insurance works a little differently. There are pros and cons to purchasing a dental policy, either from your employer or from an insurance marketplace like Healthcare.gov. In some cases dental coverage won't save you money at all, even if you're getting dental care. How much does dental insurance cost? On average, Americans pay about $360 a year, or between $15 and $50 a month, for dental insurance. Costs will vary depending on your state. Most plans come with a maximum annual benefit or coverage limit. This limit usually falls between $1,000...