Greatvest Tools

The holiday season is the biggest travel season of the year, and traveling during the holiday season, especially with kids, can be super stressful. AAA forecasted that 112.5 million people traveled in the holiday season in 2018, and sometimes it feels every single one of them is in the airport with you at once! Here are 5 ways to keep your sanity if you have to navigate the airport while traveling this holiday season. A little bit of planning goes a long way. Especially if you are flying with young girls, make sure that you are planning your travel smartly. Yes, that red-eye flight or 6 hour layover looks like it won't be a problem back several months ago when you booked the flight, but now that it's impending, you might be starting to second-guess yourself. If you do find yourself in an unenviable situation, don't just ignore it. Make a plan for it (and if you're traveling with young kids, you might as well make 2 or 3 backup plans too!) Keep track of your flig...

Action steps for staying ahead of identity thieves this holiday season The holiday season is a time when people are more vulnerable to identity theft scams. Not only are people making more purchases than any other time of year, but they are often distracted when doing so. Here are some tips to protect your identity during the holiday season: Carry Only What Out Need Some of us have a tendency to carry all of our credit cards in our purses or wallets in addition to our social security card. This might seem convenient, but it is the perfect set up for identity theft. Keep the number of items you carry to a bare minimum. Use the rule of three: one credit card, your driver's license or identity card, and your debit card. Never carry your social security card or any information that may have your social security number on it with you unless you will need it. A false sense of security at work or at home could make you a prime target for identity thieves. Identity thieves can co...

The holidays are beautiful, magical, and dang.... They can get expensive fast. Before you have even cleared the table after Thanksgiving dinner, your inbox is overflowing with urgent, high-pressure offers to buy now, or miss out of crazy savings. (For real: according to Digital Commerce 360, the average person gets more than 18 emails a day promoting holiday deals for Black Friday. Over the course of the holiday weekend, you probably got more than 50 messages urging you to spend now.) All those "deals" can add up to holiday-induced financial stress. In a November Bankrate survey, more than 60% of people expressed anxiety about overspending during the holidays. Translation: It's hard to stay on track financially, especially during the gift-giving season, when retailers are working overtime to get you to spend your money. So how do you enjoy a magical holiday without overspending? Here are some tips for staying on track: 1. Figure out your plan The first step our ...

Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults reported lacking sufficient liquidity to cover even a modest $400 emergency without borrowing or selling an asset, and 60 percent reported experiencing a financial shock (e.g. loss of income or car repair) in the prior year. While facing precarious financial situations may leave households unable to manage essential expenses and plan for the future, the research also suggests that U.S. households report feeling optimistic about their finances. These disparate findings suggest a complex interplay between a person's objective financial circumstances (such as their savings) and their own perceptions of their financial situation. To better understand how people think about and experience their financial circumstances, researchers have recently engaged in efforts to define and measure "financial well-being," a term that encompasses a person's holistic financial state. Existing research typically uses relatively objective measures (e.g...

Your new relationship is going great, until you notice a troubling trend. Your significant other seems to be "forgetting' their wallet a lot. They constantly comment on how expensive things are and keep track of every penny you spend on each other. For your birthday, you get a 2-for-1 Groupon dinner. And if they bother to tip at all, it's usually far below 10%. Yup, you might be dating a cheapskate. If your partner's money habits are bothering you, it's definitely worth having the talk now. The financial stuff will only get more complex in the future, especially if you take the plunge and move in together. Define Cheap The point when frugal becomes cheap is subjective - so what looks stingy to you might seem fine to your sweetie. There's nothing wrong with getting a good deal or making an effort to save money. Picking an affordable restaurant for date night? Great. Stiffing the waiter on their tip? Not cool. There's also a difference between choos...

Hard to believe, but the holiday season is right around the corner - a time of joy, family, friends, and lots and lots of gift-giving. While this spirit of generosity can lead to many fun exchanges with loved ones, it can also put quite a dent in your bank account. But by taking a few steps now to plan ahead for the holidays, you can enjoy this special time of year with no regrets come 2020. Establish a gift budget While there's no hard and fast rule on the exact percentage, some experts suggest setting aside 1.5% of your annual household income for holiday gifts. This does not mean you have to spend this much! But it is a good maximum limit to set for yourself to avoid going overboard. Once you have this number in mind, take some time to make a list of all your gift recipients and set an amount for each. Remember this total doesn't just include gifts for your loved ones, it should also take into account other related expenses, including: Gifts or tips for service pr...