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You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Do Something Meaningful, Start Here

July 29, 2021 By Justin Weinger Leave a Comment

How do you want to be remembered? It is possible that you consider yourself poor and disadvantaged. The harsh reality is you might be right. Further, you might die poor as well. Statistically, your chances of completely breaking free of your socioeconomic status is not good. This varies depending on where you live. But even in the wealthiest country in the world, the majority of people born into poverty never move too far up the ladder. That is unfortunate. But this is a moment for tough love.

It is true that you have as much chance as anyone else of beating the odds. And this site is all about helping you do that. It is most certainly not impossible. But you cannot pin your value as a human being on whether or not you ever achieve a significant amount of wealth. You cannot wait around for your ship to come in or for your luck to turn. You have a life to live right here and now. You have kids to raise and rent to pay.

You are not defined by what you do with your future, but by what you do with your present. It is possible for you to win at life with the hand you were dealt. You can do something meaningful and make the world a better place without becoming a billionaire. Even making minimum wage, these are some meaningful things you can do right now to make the world a better place.

Become a Nurse

You can go back to school even as a busy adult. Millions of people do so successfully every year. If you want to make a lot of money, get an MBA. If you want to do something meaningful that will change the world for the better, look into online MSN programs.

The heroes of the pandemic were not the doctors or the researchers or the journalists who stood up and told the truth. Albeit, they all deserve a round of applause. But the ones who wore the super suit were the nurses who had close contact with the patients who came through the doors every day. They were the most at risk. And often, their super suits didn’t include the proper PPE. They went to work anyway.

Some of them were volunteers. Some were entry-level nurses. Some were just a heartbeat away from being doctors. They all did the job at whatever level they could. They will be remembered as heroes right alongside soldiers who fought in wars. You don’t have to wait for the next pandemic to wear the cape.

Get a Will and Life Insurance

There are plenty of good reasons to have a will, even if you’re broke. Whatever resources you have, you want them to go to the ones you love and not someone else. Further, if you have good life insurance like Bestow, you will have a lot more than nothing to leave the ones you love.

It is all about setting up your family for success. Your family would much rather have you than a life insurance settlement. But you have to think about what is best for them. Right now, your job might be all that is keeping your family afloat. If something should happen to you, they would be ruined. If you make sure there is an ample payout when you die, you will leave at least one family better off because of your forethought. If you have your health today, it could pave the way for your family’s wealth tomorrow.

Go Green

You don’t have to be rich to be green. But it certainly helps. When you are poor, you have fewer opportunities. There is no denying that fact. However, you do not have to worry about the opportunities you don’t have. You can make the little difference that you can make. And that will inspire others to do the same. Many hands lifting make light work of everything. If you can’t recycle, make a conscious decision to purchase products that are responsibly sourced and responsibly packaged. Do the little things you can. It all adds up.

Become a nurse. Set your family up for success. And go green to the extent possible. Even if you don’t see the results, just know that doing these things will make a profound difference. You do not have to be remembered for your wealth to be remembered well.

Filed Under: Guru Advice

Reasons Not to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance

July 19, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Reasons Not to Get Long-Term Care Insurance

My uncle and aunt, who are in their 80s, recently moved to a long-term care facility. The cost for two people is expensive, but they’re paying a reasonable $3,000 a month thanks to a long-term care policy my uncle bought years ago. My husband and I aren’t yet at the age where we need to buy such a policy, but we did start to research them. However, there are several reasons why we’ve decided not to buy long-term care insurance.

Why We’re Not Going to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance

We’re not buying long-term care insurance because of these drawbacks:

Premium Prices Aren’t Fixed

Rising premium costs are one of the biggest issues for us. You may buy a long-term care policy with an affordable monthly payment when you’re in your 50s. However, that payment is not fixed; over time the monthly payment will continue to increase, eventually outpricing some people’s budgets. If you can no longer afford your monthly premium before you need the care, you have lost all of the money you previously invested into long-term care insurance.

Insurance Companies Sometimes Won’t Pay

Long-term care insurance policies often have many hoops you must jump through before they will pay. Others don’t pay for the first 90 days. Or they will only cover one to three years in a long-term care facility. If you need care for a longer duration, your policy won’t cover that time.

May Never Need the Policy

After paying decade after decade for a long-term care policy, you may never need it. You may remain in good health and able to take care of yourself, or you may die suddenly in a car accident or from a heart attack. Think of the many other ways that money could have been used.

I know, I know, not needing the policy is a risk for any insurance coverage, and we still purchase them. However, consider the tens of thousands of dollars that you’ll pay for a policy you may not need. Buying such a policy often doesn’t make financial sense.

What We’re Doing Instead

Reasons Not to Get Long-Term Care Insurance
Photo by Olga Kononenko on Unsplash

We used a calculator to determine how much long-term care insurance would cost for us to purchase in our early 50s. Instead of investing in long-term care insurance, we’re investing that money in our retirement accounts (in addition to what we’re already regularly investing for retirement) so it can grow thanks to compound interest. The plan is to make our retirement fund as large as possible so we won’t need long-term care insurance. We’ll also be able to sell our house and have it for equity.

In this sense, we’re planning to self-insure so we can get quality care if needed without paying for a long-term care insurance policy for years.

Final Thoughts

Some people swear by long-term care insurance. The policy is doing its job for my aunt and uncle. However, after my husband and I looked at the price and compared it with all of the potential policy exclusions, we’ve decided there are several reasons not to buy long-term care insurance. Instead, we will be working to save and invest enough money to self-insure.

Read More

How to Use Retroactive COBRA Insurance

The Five Most Common Retirement Planning Mistakes

There Is No Ideal Time to Contribute to Retirement

Filed Under: Insurance, Retirement Tagged With: elder care, Insurance, long-term care insurance, Retirement

How to Make Money From the Things You Buy

July 13, 2021 By Justin Weinger Leave a Comment

Being broke is terrible. It is bad for everyone. It really should be outlawed. Unfortunately, that would make far too many people outlaws. Come to think of it, that is a pretty bad idea. There are all kinds of bad ideas with regard to being broke. Many of those bad ideas are generated and accepted by the people who can least afford to fall for them. If you have some of those bad ideas knocking around your head, you could be your own worst enemy when it comes to beating broke.

One of those bad ideas is that being broke is your lot in life so you might as well accept it. But that is simply not true. Sometimes, the first step is to find the right kind of emergency loan so you can start the process of righting the ship. Installment loans direct lenders provide are better than your typical payday loan. Remember, you are looking for the kind of loan that gets you out of trouble and not the kind that gets you into deeper trouble. After you get your head above water, consider the following tips to help you spend in a way that actually makes you money:

Buy Bulk

You always save money when buying in bulk. That could make that Costco membership worth the small amount they charge. By sharing that membership, you share the savings. If you eat out for lunch every day, you can save a ton by bringing your own. The types of ingredients you need will cost a lot less in bulk. Just remember there is a reason you bought that membership. It was not to buy all the things you are used to in the same quantities. You need to be prepared to stock your pantry like you mean it.

You also need to have a clear purpose for your shopping. You are not shopping to help you mindlessly snack while you are on the couch watching Netflix. You are shopping to fuel your work. Fueling your work with economical and healthy lunches that you prepare yourself is a money-making enterprise and not the typical, annoying chore. You might also be helping your children succeed in school. Lack of a healthy lunch at school hurts children more than you think. This is not a political talking point, but an indisputable fact of the world. Don’t just mindlessly shop. Find a good shopping club and shop with a purpose.

Buy only What You Can Write Off

Even if you don’t itemize your taxes, you should make purchases as if you do. There is nothing wrong with buying that new computer. First, ask yourself how that computer will help pay for itself. Is it the tool you will use to create an ad-supported blog? Is it going to help with editing the photos you will license to a stock photo service?

The same question applies to kitchen gadgets. By all means, buy the bread machine. But take a few loaves to work to sell to your coworkers. This is perfectly acceptable in many places of work. Check with your supervisor before you do. You can also make snacks for people at your church and accept donations. The idea has nothing to do with getting rich. It has to do with you changing the way you think about making purchases. Don’t buy anything you can’t monetize and legitimately include in your taxes and learn about the tax code for families, businesses, and real estate. Being uneducated could literally cost you money while also hiding opportunities you didn’t know existed just because of failure to study up a little bit on your situation.

Resell

Some items will only be good for recycling after you use them. Intentionally limit those types of items. To the extent possible, only buy things you can resell to someone else at a later time. Learn to use reselling websites. When you resell a device, you help the environment and you can pocket the money from the sale or convert it to another item which you can later resell.

Unless your business is restoration and reselling, you will not make a lot of money by following these tips. But you will come a lot closer to making a profit if you buy bulk, stick with items you could write off as a business expense, and buy only items you can resell to someone else. Be sure that everything you purchase goes to work for you instead of the other way around.

Filed Under: General Finance

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