It’s inevitable that you’ll make financial decisions based on emotions, you’re human after all. Whether it be major purchases like purchasing a property or a home or making investments or even charging your credit card, emotions impact your financial life and the decisions you make every day. However, is that really a bad thing? There’s no real way around it so it might just be better to try and understand why and try to 

When you make financial decisions out of fear you are a lot less likely to deploy capital at the most opportune times and are very likely to miss opportunities. This can occur in any market, whether it be real estate, equities, etc. Great investors buy the fear and sell the greed. Although it’s not always an easy thing to do, it’s the one strategy that is most often highly successful. If you hold onto cash or remain uninvested for too long you risk stagnation, in which case you are effectively losing out to inflation. Fear can prevent you from buying a discounted market and fear can give you analysis paralysis. Both of these things can weaken your investment performance in the long term.

Sometimes you’ll make financial decisions based on greed in which case you aren’t taking any profit on your investment or are risking too much capital in order to see a return that could have negative consequences if it doesn’t succeed. Everyone is susceptible to being too greedy when you need to be fearful it’s a common flaw for many. However, if you can take a step back and evaluate from afar you’ll be able to better understand yourself and make better decisions due to it.

Many market participants fall victim to sunken cost theory in which they average down on their losing positions. This can sometimes be the wrong move to make and can lead to further losses but it’s an emotional decision that many consumers still make. Some investments may turn a tide while others may not but sunken cost theory is a fallacy that causes some consumers great grief. The general idea is that you’ve lost so much you will eventually have to be right. This unfortunately isn’t always the case! Avoid this reasoning whenever possible and always try to evaluate based on opportunity cost and future earnings potential.

It’s inevitable that you’ll make financial decisions based on emotions, you’re human after all.

Emotional Based Financial Decisions

Adem Selita

Opportunities walk past you each and every day, whether you like it or not. You are unable to take advantage of most them never mind every one that passes along your way. However, there are some which you should really aim to capitalize on if you’re able to do so. If you can practice patient investing and determine an opportune time to seize opportunities amidst market turmoil you need to be ready to strike. Investing with determination can help you achieve this level of patience and can make you an adept market participant and investor. When opportunities arise, it pays to deploy capital at those opportune times. This is a great way to set yourself up for future success but it’s more often than not, easier said than done.

Many consumers are either too risk-averse or too quick to deploy capital for their own good. Those in the middle are commonly described as patient investors but everyone has their faults and weaknesses as well, even patient investors. It can really hurt to be too cash-rich and too risk averse since you will miss out on opportunities that others wish they could have and you’ll also lose out on purchasing power to inflation as time passes. Consumers that miss out on opportunities are much more likely to make more emotional decisions and could potentially make bad investments later down the line. This is relevant for all markets, whether that be real estate markets, equity markets, etc. Be considerate of your own limitations as an investor and your own strengths and weaknesses. Each consumer has their own strengths and weaknesses and if you cater to your strengths you’ll be better off in the long term for it.

The stock market is in a bull market 90% of the time. However, the times it’s not can have a detrimental effect on your stock market returns and cause a great deal of fear for many seasoned investors. Being overly aggressive can lead to financial woes. Something everyone wants to avoid. However, those times of correction often provide a tremendous opportunity to investors with cash at hand for those that are able to seize the opportunity.

The Problem with Being an Overly Aggressive Investor

One of the main issues associated with being an overly aggressive and impatient investor is that you’ll have a high likelihood of remaining cash-poor and missing big buy the dip opportunities that come your way. If you invest all your money as soon as you get it you’re very likely to miss future opportunities. However, on the plus side you’ll along for the ride during the 90% upside moves.

In times of panic and mania you want to buy the fear and sell the greed. Those who can successfully do so are great investors in the long term. Capitulation is often times hard to define at times of market turbulence but if you can catch you it’s like catching lightning in a bottle and can help set you up for future success.

Those consumers who practice dollar cost averaging might not have to worry too much about buying the fear if they have investing on autopilot. However, these two strategies are not mutually exclusive with one another and just because you dollar cost average doesn’t mean you can’t buy the big dips or buy during market turmoil.

On the one hand you don’t always want to be overly conservative with cash when opportunities do arise for you to make investments. There’s a golden medium and although it’s hard to achieve, it is possible when consumers practice patient investing. For those who are able to practice patient investing and do have the willpower to remain constant in their investment thesis and in their patience, they can achieve this golden medium. It’s easier said than done but something that all investors and consumers should strive to achieve.

If you can practice patient investing and determine an opportune time to seize opportunities amidst market turmoil you need to be ready to strike.

The Problem with Being Overly Conservative or Aggressive with Cash

Financial independence is a state of mind that's different from 

and for many it only becomes achievable when you are “financially secure”. What does it mean to be financially secure? It means you can weather financial storms and any potential short-term hardships or curveballs that come your way. It means you won’t be out on a limb because your car has a major issue or you need to buy all new appliances. It means you have enough savings and liquidity to absorb any shocks to your finances in the short term. It means that you are not in need of anything major and are “financially comfortable”. It means you are free to take vacations and spend your time as you so wish without having to worry about too many financial limits (within reasonable means of course). The definition of financial independence is different for everyone but the general idea remains the same for most. Too many it means that you are free of most financial needs and okay to spend money as you so choose and that you are not reliant on others and are financially self-sufficient.

How Do Most Achieve Financial Independence?

Most consumers achieve financial independence through hard work and savings. Whether you have a business or work a 9 to 5, it’s all the same. It doesn’t matter so much how you generate your income but more so if you are adept at managing and investing it wisely. Those consumers who invest tend to make their money go the furthest and can use that return on their hard-earned dollars as a means of achieving financial independence and achieving the goals they desire. Although not everyone is successful in this endeavor with some grit and hard work it is possible, even in today’s high cost of living environment. Everyday someone is achieving financial independence and becoming self-reliant with regards to the money they earn. Many also achieve this goal through passive income and other investment vehicles.

When Do Most Achieve Financial Independence?

Not many consumers achieve financial independence. Those that do might not achieve financial independence until they reach the age of retirement and 

has become more difficult to achieve due to recent bouts of inflation and the increased cost of living. Younger generations will have more difficulty in doing so independently without help from past generations and will have to greatly outperform their peers in order to be successful. It’s an uphill battle for sure but it’s one that is achievable.

Financial independence is a state of mind that's different from financial freedom and for many it only becomes achievable when you are financially secure.

What is Financial Independence?

Financial stress is a gut wrenching feeling typically associated with anxiety that can have a debilitating effect on a potential consumer’s ability to achieve their financial goals or make personal progress in their life. Financial stress is stifling for many consumers and can be extremely limiting in their day to day lives. Your finances can affect a large part of what you do throughout the course of your day and throughout the course of your life. Due to this, many consumers who might not be where they want to be can wind up feeling worthless and even experience something called 

Handling financial stress isn’t as easy it sounds. The anxiety can be gut wrenching for many and can lead to compounding problems. The first step any well-to-do consumer should do is make a note of where they are currently and what their current financial situation is. This doesn’t have to be overly complex, just simply write down your current financial issues and what your current financial goals are. Next you should write what is preventing you from achieving those financial goals. You should do without anything that is blocking you or preventing you from your goals. Anything in the way of those goals is not of use to you an should be eliminated from your life. This often includes wasting money, binge purchasing, unnecessary subscriptions, etc. It’s also extremely important to maintain a positive attitude and positive state of mind. The brain is a very powerful tool and positivity can help bring you out of your rut and may even help you in 

. You never know where your next opportunity might be.

Avoiding the issue is often the worst thing you can do if you hope to resolve it and eliminate your financial stress. Keeping your issues out of mind and out sight will often just lead to more financial stresses later down the line so make sure you don’t simply ignore your problems.

Everyone handles things differently, when some consumers get stressed they want to curl up in a ball and hide, while with others they get mad and want to fight back somehow. There isn’t always a one size fits all solution. However, it’s always better to take action instead of hoping for change to fall into your lap. Activity can inspire the change you want to come about, whether that be to feel financially secure, to eliminate financial anxiety or to 

. You can take action via numerous avenues but the two main options are to either make more money or cut expenses, in whichever form you chose to go about that. Even just a small amount of extra income or a small reduction in expenses can make a significant difference in helping you get out of your rut and eliminating financial stress.

Financial stress is stifling for many consumers and can be extremely limiting in their day to day lives. 

What is Financial Stress?

A credit card processing fee is charged whenever a consumer uses a credit card. It is essentially a fee a merchant charges you—the consumer—in order to accept payment from you in the form of a credit card swipe. This cost to transact via credit card is charged to merchants and merchants then typically pass the charge down to consumers. However, not all merchants pass the fee down to consumers in the form of a surcharge. These fees aren’t something that merchants want to pass down to consumers but many do it because they don’t have many other options.

Transactions fees have been slowly but surely passed down from merchant to consumers as years have passed on and it’s negatively impacted both parties. More often than not these fees tend to negatively affect small business owners that don’t have a tremendous amount of transactions which can easily offset associated costs. In New York most of these costs are passed down to the consumer (this has been occurring for years now) as a credit card surcharge. This most commonly occurs in small delis, shops, restaurants, etc. These are small businesses that can’t afford to exclude the fees from their prices.

Why is the Cost Passed Down to Consumers?

If you’re a small business owner and your business is struggling to keep up with increase input prices, you might not have much choice except to pass the cost down to the consumer. It’s become more and more difficult to eat the transaction cost unless there’s a significant amount of transactional volume, which isn’t usually the case for small businesses. Otherwise these costs can be included in the sale of goods or services which can lead consumers to believe that their purchases are inherently more expensive than they actually are.

The main way to avoid these fees is to pay with cash. This isn’t ideal for many since when you use cash you are missing out on credit card rewards however for smaller merchants it might make more sense to do so. Where there is a cash price and a credit price you will want to consider not using credit and instead opting for cash payments.

These fees are unfortunately making it more expensive to use credit cards and are in many ways a surcharge/tax on using credit. This makes consumers want to use credit cards less and makes it more expensive to use them. For consumers that are already facing 

and relying on credit cards to get by this isn’t ideal. Credit cards have become a part of modern society and consumers using cash to pay for goods and services has decreased dramatically. The effect is that all consumers are effectively paying more than they would otherwise in order to purchase goods and services.

A credit card processing fee is charged whenever a consumer uses a credit card. Essentially, it's a fee a merchant charges you in order to accept payment with a credit card.

What is a Credit Card Processing Fee?

Many Americans underestimate the cost of retirement. Americans are aware of the fact that the cost of living has increased for everyone and wage growth has not kept with the pace of living expenses, however retiring in today’s environment is a different beast entirely. Consumers have fewer options than they used to with regards to saving and earning other sources of income so they are relatively limited with their options. It’s never too late to prepare for retirement but that doesn’t mean that everyone will reach their retirement goals.

What’s a Good Amount for a Minimum Retirement Savings?

There really is no set minimum for retirement savings, every consumer will have their own minimum and savings floor which they will have to maintain. Minimums will also vary significantly based on the part of the country that each retiree is looking to settle down in. A minimum savings for someone in Florida will likely be much different from someone in New York. Consumers with good passive income whether that be pensions, SSI, rental income, other forms of passive income, etc., will not necessarily need as high of savings as others however they will still need a savings in order to retire.

What Might Change the Minimum for Retirement Savings?

Everyone consumer has a different lifestyle and due to this many consumers have different variables that could change their expectations and retirement goals. These retirement expectations most commonly include inflationary pressures, changes in cost of living, changes in effective tax rates (income tax, property taxes, etc.). With regards to inflation, the U.S. hasn’t been at the FED’s 2% benchmark for quite a while so consumers should assume higher inflationary pressures to continue, unless there is a drastic change in the near term (deflation, etc.). All these factors play a key part in how much money you’ll need to have saved to live comfortably in retirement. However each consumer has expenses specific to them. For example if you live near the beach you might have flood or wind insurance that other consumers might not need to pay. These extra costs can greatly impact your retirement expectations.

How Should Retirees Estimate Living Expenses and Is There Anything They Can Do to Cut Costs?

Retirees should estimate living expenses as they would normally. You can greatly reduce the amount of savings you'll need to retire if you finished paying off their mortgage before retirement starts. If you have completely paid down your mortgage you’ll have freed up a good chunk of income, however consumers will still have to pay a good sum of money to maintain their homes and keep up with property taxes. 

Healthcare costs can be quite significant and an unexpected medical expense could drastically change whether a consumer could afford to stay in their home or not. Unfortunately, this is something that happens and is one of the reasons some consumers are eventually forced to leave their homes during their retirement years.

There are a few strategies that can help you save without relying on charity from others or downsizing. One strategy involves staying invested in the market well into retirement and continuing to work past the minimum social security age (health permitting). Others include consumers tax diversification with regards to their portfolio and maintain both pre-tax and post-tax investment accounts. You can also look to postpone SSI and take gains on your investments at the beginning of your retirement.

What About Consumers Carrying Debt Before Retirement?

Carrying significant amounts of debt before retirement which hamper a consumer’s ability to invest and lose money on interest payments slowly eats away at their retirement potential. This is exactly what you don't want to happen and a common mistake many make.

There are some scenarios where downsizing isn’t such a bad thing. If you are recently empty-nesters it might make sense for you to downsize either way. In this scenario you should look to downsize just because you might not need a big house anymore, especially if you are just two people (husband and wife).

It’s never too late to prepare for retirement but that doesn’t mean that everyone will reach their retirement goals.

What Are Expectations About the Cost of Retirement in the U.S?

If you have $20,000 or more in credit card debt there are a few different options you can use to pay it off. The options and paths you decide to choose will likely depend on the type of person you are. There are DIY options for those that like to take their destiny into their own hands and there are paid options for those that would rather leave it to experienced professionals. All options could have potentially great outcomes but it all depends on the route you choose and which goals are most important to you.

If your goal is to borrow more money you can always go the route of taking out a personal loan or a consolidation loan in order to pay off your credit cards and make one monthly payment. This option tends to be the most expensive and the most difficult to qualify for however it can definitely help you make progress and pay down your debt quicker depending on your 

. The loan option can help you better manage your finances with one monthly payment and interest savings. With this option you need to qualify for a $20,000 loan in order to pay off and replace your credit card debt with the loan debt.

With a debt settlement option, consumers will enroll into a 

where debt negotiators will work on their behalf in order to save them money off their principal balance. They won’t be making monthly 

 as they would normally and will instead have one monthly payment with the debt relief company. Paying off $20,000 is a lot simpler with this option since you will have one pre-determined monthly payment provided by the debt relief company (the exact payment amount depends on how aggressively you’d like to pay it off). The heavy lifting will be done mostly by the company you choose and you will just have to make a monthly payment in order to successfully complete the program.

The two most popular DIY options are the 

. Each option has its benefits and drawback so it helps understanding which method is preferred for which scenario. The debt snowball method is usually preferred by consumers that have so many accounts that it’s become difficult to manage them all. The snowball method focuses on indiscriminately paying down the lowest balance account first and eliminating your accounts one by one from the smallest balance to the highest balance. The avalanche focuses on paying down the highest interest rate account first no matter the size of the balance. Both options are effective at eliminating debt.

If you’re carrying $20,000 in credit card debt, prioritizing paying down debt is a great thing, whatever ever option you end up choosing. Taking action is always better than sitting idly by and making minimum payments or hoping for a solution to fall into your lap. Even if you’re initially unsuccessful, doing something will always be better than doing nothing.

If you have $20,000 or more in credit card debt there are a few different options you can use to pay it off. 

How to Pay Off $20,000 in Credit Card Debt

Although the two options often get mistakenly confused with each other they are vastly different. With debt relief you will not be making monthly payments as you would normally and will effectively default on the unsecured debts you want to eliminate. With a 

 loan you are going to borrow money in the hopes of combining all accounts into one and saving money off interest. Both options have their benefits and drawbacks.

Comparatively speaking, debt relief has more negative consequences associated with it than just getting a consolidation loan. On the other hand, debt relief also provides a substantial amount more savings (both off the principal amount and with cashflow and interest savings) and allows consumers to pay down their debt much quicker. The debt relief option is not a loan so there is no interest at all. So, in addition to principal savings consumers also save money off interest foregone from their 

. Debt relief is the better option if you strictly looking to save money and don’t mind taking a potential hit to your credit score. Since you’re avoiding interest payments altogether and paying back less than what you owe this option will provide the most savings.

Debt consolidation is a loan option in which you are taking smaller debts (typically credit cards and/or personal loans) and rolling them all up into one combined larger “consolidation” loan. This consolidated loan is meant to save consumers money off the principal amount and provide them with one monthly payment. You typically need a good credit score to qualify for one of these loan options, especially if you are looking to consolidate all your debts. There are many 

factors to consider when thinking about a debt consolidation loan

. You should take into consideration origination fees, your qualifying interest rate and all applicable finance charges. Debt consolidation is typically the best option for those who want to keep the status quo but just want to save some money on interest payments. Unfortunately, consolidation loans can sometimes be difficult to qualify for, especially if you are already carrying credit card debt.

Although the two options can sometimes get thrown into the same group they are quite different from each other. They both look to resolve the issue of credit card debt, except one is a loan option while the other option looks to settle balances for less than owed. All in all, each option will be better for different consumers. If you value savings over credit you might lean towards a debt relief option, while if you value you credit over savings you’ll likely lean towards a debt consolidation loan.

Although the two options often get mistakenly confused with each other debt relief and debt consolidation are vastly different.

Debt Relief vs Debt Consolidation

Staying on budget isn’t always easy or fun, it’s the hard thing to do. Sometimes in life you endure through difficulty so that you can have it easier later down the line. You work hard so that you can enjoy and reach your retirement goals. You save up money so that you can buy a house or take that vacation you’ve been wanting to take. These are all tradeoffs that you make every day to some degree or another. Everyone does it to some extent, some more and some less than others. Staying on budget doesn’t mean that you can’t splurge every once in a while, or enjoy life, it means that you remain consistent in your spending so that you can live comfortably and also enjoy the other moments life has to offer.

Budgets allow for some flexibility. However, there is a difference between flexibility and going outside of your budget. You can remain flexible without having to go outside your 

. Flexibility assures that you can handle the unexpected expenses and any curveballs that might get thrown into your budget. Budgets are not meant to be rigid they are meant to be a guide to how much spending should occur on average and when you have outsized months it’s important to take heed and take notice. Once you understand the reason for the outsized months you can better adjust, assuming that they change wasn’t due to one-offs and isn’t bound to happen again.

Debt can severely impact your ability to live comfortably since carrying debt leads to a disadvantageous position with regards to living comfortably. Anytime you have unnecessary funds going towards high credit card interest rates you are missing out. The money spent on interest payments could be applied to bolstering your budget or 

 or add more comfort into your daily life.

Budgets are meant to be a guide and a rubric. They don’t have to be a red line in the sane. Sometimes you will naturally fall out of your budget. In that scenario it’s important you don’t beat yourself up but hold yourself accountable for the momentary slip (if it’s something you could’ve controlled) and see how you can improve next time. These things can happen and when they do it’s important to keep your composure and stay the course.

Budgets are meant to be a guide and a rubric. They don’t have to be a red line in the sane.

How to Live Comfortably on a Budget

Myth #1: You Need to Invest “Big Bucks” in the Market to See a Return and Make Money.

This simply isn’t true! The amount you invest technically doesn’t matter as your percentage gain and investment return will be the same as someone else with “Big Bucks”. A 100% gain is a 100% gain, regardless of the amount invested. Although with regards to total money earned, you’ll make more money by investing more money, this doesn’t mean that only big players win in the market. Everyone has to start somewhere and many of the famous investors you know started off small. Everyone has their own budget and their own limits, you should be comfortable investing what you can afford.

Myth #2: Isn't the Stock Market the Same as Gambling?

The stock market is not the same as gambling. Although there are large elements of risk and some tactics used in the market are similar to gambling, long-term investments and trading in most scenarios should not be viewed at as gambling. Although both gambling and investing have elements of chance built into them, investing is a more knowledgeable pursuit in which if you do your research and are correct you’ll see an investment reward. Gambling on the other hand is more based on chance and is more focused on instant gratification as opposed to accumulation of wealth.

Myth #3: I Missed My Opportunity That Ship Has Already Sailed.

More often than not investors tend to write off many opportunities as being attributed as missed since they did not initially buy when they wanted to or for some reason or another an initial investment/trade was not placed. More often than not, this simply isn’t the case. For many, their best investments are typically made when consumers are averaging up on their investment or see that the writing is on the wall about it being a good investment and a long-term hold. You can’t let spilled milk prevent you from taking further action and prevent you from making a purchase. It’s nearly impossible to time the market perfectly and you’ll never always be right. However, the more times you succeed and the more “good investments” you make the higher the odds of you becoming a successful investor.

The more times you succeed the higher the odds of you becoming a successful investor.

3 Common Investing Myths

Achieving generational wealth and or building wealth that is longstanding is something that anyone and everyone can accomplish. In America there are most often two ways in which wealth is accumulated, either via business or via investing. This is how most people 

. However, you don’t necessarily have to be a good investor or a business founder to build generational wealth. Having a great business acumen can definitely help and watching markets and learning how to spot good investments can definitely help, but they aren’t prerequisites. If you can save money, invest it, optimize for tax-based incentives and make good financial decisions there’s no doubt that you can build generational wealth that’ll positively impact future generations to come.

What Kind of Income is Required to Build Generational Wealth?

You don’t necessarily need a high income to build generational wealth. In order to be successful, you need to save more from what you earn. A consumer who saves $2,000 from a $6,000 monthly income will build generational wealth quicker than a consumer that only saves $1,000 from a $10,000 monthly income. Saving and then investing that savings is typically what’s most important when it comes to trying to generate long term wealth. If you don’t hold onto what you earn it won’t do you much good.

The first step you should take is to evaluate your financial situation. You need to understand what and where your strengths lie and focus on those. If your employee grants a great 401k match, try to max out your contribution. If you’re a great crypto investor, make sure you’re allocating savings to your investments. Everyone has a different path, the most important thing to do is to start, even if you feel like you’re behind your peers. The sooner you start the better. Figure out how much you can reasonably afford to save each month and start from there.

All financial products and tax advantage accounts have their benefits and downsides. More often than not the best strategy involves diversifying for tax savings. What this means is you should invest into a 401k and try to maximize any employer matches but you should also look to after-tax investing like a traditional Roth IRA (especially if you think you’re earning potential and subsequently your tax liabilities will increase in the future).

Consistency is key to growing wealth in the long term. Consistent saving and subsequently consistent investment will help you close the gap between your peers that might have a head start or earn more income. Remember, it’s not what you make but it’s what you save. You can make less money than other households but if you save more you will come out on top in the long term.

Managing debt is important for many reasons. Spending money on interest payments is effectively wasting money. Your first priority should be to eliminate high interest rate debt since it will null any positives from your investments and eat away at your momentum. Although interest payments are required for many consumers to purchase property and advance in life they should still be avoided whenever possible. Always look to evaluate the opportunity cost of your 

 vs. a potential investment. If you’re paying 25% interest but your investments are generating 15%, it behooves you to pay down debt ASAP.

How Does Compound Growth Play a Part in Generational Wealth?

Compound growth is a game changer for many in the long term and compounding growth is key to generational wealth for many consumers. You need to start somewhere! Even if you only start with $100, investing that $100 will lead generate the same return in terms of percentage gain as $1,000 invested. Although you’ll net less total, the percentage is the same and that’s what matters. Little by little, as you save and invest more you’ll see a larger return and eventually the desired outcome.

Trust funds are typically a highly effective way to transfer wealth but you should speak with a financial/tax advisor to see what is best for your particular situation.

What Separates Good Decision Makers from Bad?

Understanding opportunity cost and having a positive and determined mindset will be the most important thing to helping you build generational wealth. If you understand what you are losing for every potential decision you make you will be all the better for it in the long term and you will be able to 

How Does Diversification Play a Part in All This?

Diversification into different investment segments can typically help keep wealth from being destroyed by swings in the market in the long term. As a consumer, if you can diversify into commodities, real estate assets, cash, equities, cryptocurrencies, etc., you’ll be all the better for it in the long term. You can also look towards contrarian viewpoints besides just standard diversification of income.

How Can You Increase Your Financial Security?

One move you can make to increase your financial security is to eliminate all high interest rate debt and look towards increasing your weekly investment amount. Passively or actively investing more in the long term will help you succeed in the future and will help you and your family achieve financial success.

If you can save money, invest it, optimize for tax-based incentives and make good financial decisions you can build generational wealth

How to Build Generational Wealth

Being positive is great and all however you can’t just manifest money. Or… can you? Wanting to manifest positivity in your life is a great mindset to have and one that can help you achieve tremendous financial success in the long term. However, "manifestation" should not be used as a justification to become complacent and just assume things will fall into your lap without putting in the leg work. Hoping for positive outcomes works when you couple it with hard work and output. If you aren't producing any output it's unlikely that things won't simply fall into your lap. Opportunities may come your way but it's necessary for you to seize the opportunity otherwise you could potentially miss what you've manifested.

Manifesting money sounds great on paper but odds are that it'll have little success on its own. Positivity typically needs to be coupled with action for success to be achieved. Otherwise, it's just wishful thinking. Opportunities can fall into your lap but without follow-through they won’t amount to as much good as possible. Many consumers swear that being positive works and putting out positive energy works (even if it’s just anecdotally). However, one thing is for sure, many people who have achieved success swear this method of thinking has had a positive impact on their lives. Coupled with determination, manifestation can be a force to be reckoned with and not something to squawk at.

Consistency is important in our daily lives. It can help us build strong habits that open a path up for success. Once opened this path can lead to many other opportunities as well! Those who are consistent are more likely to succeed in the long term and stick to the game plan. It’s not easy sticking to a plan but once you have one in place, don’t give up on it.

If things appear to finally start going your way, don’t celebrate too early. A lot of times you need to have follow through if you really want to achieve long term success and acquire staying power. Taking an action like investing some money you’ve recently acquire is a good example of follow through.

Money is a great servant but a bad master.

Manifesting money is a great mindset to have and one that can help you achieve tremendous financial success in the long term. 

Manifesting Money

Your credit score is your credit score. At the end of the day it’s just an arbitrary number. If you aren’t making use of your score then it serves no real purpose. However, if you are planning on making major purchases in the near future, are going through life changes, purchasing a home, moving from one place to another or doing any of the above, your credit score could be helpful to you. If you’re just checking your credit score without good reason you shouldn’t spend too much time or energy on why your score is up or down. At the end of the day, the only consumers that benefit from a high credit score are those that use their credit scores.

Credit scores change for numerous reasons but the main one being that they are dynamic scores based on your credit data at any given instance in time. They are cumulatively based on your credit data and payment history, so they are constantly fluctuating due to this. If your balances increase and you open new lines of credit from one month to the next, your score is a lot more likely to decrease in the short term. If you’re treading down this path, it's highly likely your score will continue to drop if you maintain a high 

 rate. On the other hand, if you demonstrate good payment history and successfully lower your utilization rate and aggressively pay off balances your score will likely go up. Nowadays everyone is on top of their credit score and its month to month fluctuations. This can be a good thing and a bad thing since credit scores are very dynamic and change from month to month. What’s important is that you don’t get stuck on the fluctuations but figure out why it’s changing and how to improve it.

 or have credit scores that are lacking have a deficiency in one important part of their 

. For some consumers their accounts are just too new and they’ve established too many open lines of credit in a short time period. For other consumers their accounts are not diversified and they don’t have any secured or collateralized debt obligations. For other consumers they have a messed-up payment history and they still haven’t been able to turn the corner and come out above that hurdle. Whatever your deficiency is you need to locate it and lock on to it. Some deficiencies require waiting to resolve but others don’t and some you can take a more active approach in solving. Whatever the case, once you understand the problem you lock onto a way to resolve it for the better.

An Important Tip Some Homebuyers Might Be Forgetting…

Homebuyers should know that it's important to maintain good payment history but they shouldn't forget to optimize their credit score for when they do inevitably perform a credit pull. The best way to do this is to maintain a low utilization rate and prepare a diverse credit portfolio before the credit check. A diverse basket of different 

 and timely payments will help you in establishing and maintaining good credit.

Keeping tabs on your credit is well and all but there needs to be a limit. If you plan on purchasing a home or making use of your score there’s nothing wrong with checking its’ fluctuations since there’s intent behind your checking. But otherwise if you’re just checking your score just to check, it might be time to find a new hobby. It’s just a number at the end of the day and only useful to those consumers that use it.

Keeping tabs on your credit is well and all but there needs to be a limit.

Stop Checking Your Credit Score So Much

As many American consumers near the age of retirement millions are unprepared for what’s to come. Many consumers haven’t been able to meet their retirement goals and appear to have been caught off guard and those that have met their goals haven’t taken into consideration proper planning with regards to taxation. One thing is for sure, retiring in America is not as easy as it once was and with so many different approaches it can really get difficult to stick to a solid plan that will aid in your retirement journey. If you want to 

 here’s some things you should consider.

Transitioning from a Growth Mindset to an Income Mindset

Once you’ve approached your retirement goals and have an established nest egg you know longer need to look towards economic growth and portfolio growth. You should be okay looking for income and dividends to help maintain your portfolio in the long term not simply make it grow. This way you’ll have more available funds to retire with while still maintaining all of your retirement funds. It’s not easy adjusting from a growth mindset (i.e. grow your wealth, grow your retirement fund, etc.) to an income or dividend mindset (withdrawing small portions of your wealth and doing so in the most appropriate way regarding taxation). However, it is possible and there are benefits to performing it this way.

Nobody likes paying taxes but they are an unfortunate part of life and a requirement. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still reduce your tax liabilities with proper planning and know-how. There are many ways to achieve tax savings through lesser known knowledge like the 

rules of rollovers as a business startups

 and other tax incentivized money moves. As you consider retiring you may also want to look into rolling over your 401k into other tax accounts. This is ideally something you should consult with a tax professional about, but it’s something that many Americans put off until when their nearing retirement which can end up costing a lot of money in lost tax savings. The sooner you have a plan of action the better off you’ll be.

is no easy feat.Debt can be detrimental on a consumer’s ability to reach their financial goals and successfully retire. Any money going towards debt repayment could potentially go towards your retirement instead. Therefore, consumers with excessive debt are missing out on potential investment returns and the effect of compounding from investments. This puts yourself in a losing strategy instead of a winning strategy and will make retirement an uphill battle. You could potentially consider using your 

 however this also has its own drawbacks.

As many American consumers near the age of retirement millions are unprepared for what’s to come.

Retirement in America

 mostly in order to hedge their bets and to have protection against their open positions. For example, a specific hedge fund or company owns 100,000 shares of Tesla in order to protect their gains and lock in a sale at that specific price they would need to either sell their puts to recoup their loss or exercise their puts so they can sell at the strike price and lock in a profit on their gain.

The easiest way to have protection is by buying puts against your shares. Or vice versa you can buy calls as protect against a short position. So, if your trade does go belly up you will at least have some protection you can lock in some profits.

Are Options Riskier than Buying Shares of a Stock?

Anything that can expire worthless and that has a high probability to create a complete loss of all capital should be considered a risky investment. That is what stock options are. However, there is associated risk with everything and in many ways, stock options can be a way to de-risk portfolio positions. Although percentage wise the amount of money risked has a lot higher of a chance to go to $0, on a total value, options will typically allow consumers to risk less money in total, even though they might lose more on a percentage basis. Many consumers have risk avoiding tactics like: buying a call instead of 100 shares and waiting to see if your analysis was correct. If the call moves in your favor and you receive confirmation that it’s a good investment you can then exercise the option and buy shares at the strike price. So, in a sense yes options are riskier, but in the grand scheme of things you’re also risking fewer total dollars.

What’s the Significance of Trading Volume?

Stock trading volume is significant because it shows demand for that price at a given instance in time. This instance in time might not be reflective of the entire trading year or longer time periods, but volume is a great metric to see a demand for shares, especially on large price appreciate or depreciation days. Likewise, stock options also have volume.

All in all, some people might find stock options to be a tool they need to hedge their bets in their portfolio if things every do get very bad and they risk losing years of potential profits. For others they seek to generate a return with riskier trades and for others they want to potentially de-risk and see stock performance before they completely buy into shares.

Companies and consumers buy stock options mostly in order to hedge their bets and to have protection against their open positions.

Why Do Companies and Consumers Buy Stock Options?

President Donald Trump wants to put a 10% interest rate cap on credit cards for a 1-year time period. Doing so could have many potential implications and could severely impact credit card companies’ ability to generate a profit and affect other banking institutions with high exposure to credit card businesses. The implications can and will be significant if this bill passes, it sounds like great savings for consumers but there may be other implications. First it doesn’t look like banks are willing to back down against Trump. If credit card companies are capped at 10% interest rates, approximately 90% of all credit card trade lines would become unprofitable for companies. Most credit card companies and banking institutions stated that if this occurs those lines of credit would simply be closed out and consumer with only the highest credit scores (740+) will still be able to retain use of their cards.

A proposed cap on credit card interest rates of 10% would be a net positive for many consumers, however, the issue lies in a generic cap and could have many unforeseen consequences. Although interest rates are project to come down in the coming year, if interest rates increased there is a possibility that mortgages and credit cards could potentially have an inverted yield curve. In this scenario this could be a very negative things for the credit card industry as banks would simply not issue new credit cards due to the opportunity cost of issuing other lending products. Although the expectation is that interest rates may come down in the future that is certainly not guaranteed and if interest rates increased after the cap, the entire economy could get all out of whack.

Don’t allow credit card interest rates to invert other yields. Credit card debt is unsecured debt and unsecured debt should have a higher interest rate than secured debts. This is just the general way interest rates should function at a macroeconomic level. If this wasn’t the case, consumers would likely take on credit card debt to buy a home instead of taking out a mortgage. Again, the implications could be quite significant and having unsecured credit card interest rates capped at 10% could make for some wonky economics in general. If credit cards become in short supply consumers would just gravitate towards other lending products like 

 which could be potentially worse off for them.

The announcement caused a large drop in the share price of many banking institutions and credit card companies. A 10% interest rate cap would be detrimental to their bottom line and could vastly change the credit card industry as we know it today. In response to this news many institutions stated they will simply not maintain non-profitable credit card positions for their customer. This would mean that approximately 90% of all issued credit cards would be closed.

In theory, a 10% interest rate could be a big money saver for many consumers. Consumers could save billions in interest but a hard cap might not be the best approach even though it would provide a lot of savings. Interest rates are usually tiered and due to this it’s best to have interest rates “prioritized” by securitization or risk, not to just have an arbitrary cap (even though it sounds good on paper). A tiered cap or a reduction in the amount of the spread banks and other lending institutions can charge might be a better approach.

Everyone wants consumers to save money on high interest credit cards, it’s a gripe that has been negatively impacting Americans for years and years. However, this could potentially be a big negative for the banking industry at large (if this idea passes in this bill). It could potentially cause more harm than good if not correctly implemented.

President Donald Trump wants to put a 10% interest rate cap on credit cards for a 1-year time period.

Banks Can Be Severely Impacted by a Proposed 10% Cap on Credit Card interest Rates.

A Stock option is an option (otherwise known as a contract) to buy or sell a given stock at a selected price. Options have a strike price which is the price that the contract executes at. At this price you can either exercise your option or your right to buy or sell 100 shares of your stock at a given price. So, if you pay $100 for a call option with a strike price of $150 of ABC Company you can either buy the shares at $150 (per share x 100 = $15,000) or sell the stock option. If the current stock price is $155, you can sell your call option for approximately $500 so your trade would be highly profitable.

The strike price is the set price that the contract executes at, whether that be a sell or buy makes no difference, both calls and puts have a strike price. This is the price at which the underlying security will be bought or sold.

A Put option is an option to sell 100 shares of a given stock at a set “Strike Price”.

A Call option is an option to buy 100 shares of a given stock at a set “Strike Price”.

Understanding the Greek Symbols in Options Trading:

The delta is one of the Greek symbols associated with stock options. The delta shows a potential buyer or sell of a particular option the rate at which the option correlates to the underlying asset. For example, if you have a 0.70 delta on a particular stock option, you are looking at an option that will increase 70% for every increase of the underlying asset. So if the underlying asset increased by $1 ($1 x 100 = $100), the price of your stock option would have increased by $70. Moreover, the further in the money this option goes the more the delta will increase. Eventually as you get “further into the money” with a stock option there is typically less premium to sell since many consumers don’t want to pay premium for “Deep in the money” options.

The theta of a stock option is the daily rate of decay at which the premium paid for a given stock option is lost. Options have a “time premium” built into their price, if they didn’t, then stocks and options would have a 100% correlation, which wouldn’t make sense. So, the Theta of a stock option is the rate at which the time premium decays. For example, if a stock option has a Theta of 0.10, that means that every day you hold this option you’re losing $10 (assuming the stock price remains unchanged). Therefore, it could be that after 10 days the time premium would completely decay and the contract would expire worthless (if it’s outside the money). The nearer the option is to expiration the less value that is held in time premium. This is why shorter dated options always cost less than longer time frame options of the same strike.

In the money stock options are options that have intrinsic value to them besides just time premium. This means that if a stock option is nearing expiration and it has intrinsic value, your brokerage could potentially automatically exercise the stock option on you, unless stated otherwise.

Outside the money stock options do not have any intrinsic value to them besides the time premium associated with the underlying contract. The closer to the money these assets go the more you can potentially lose.

These options typically have the least premium and although you are paying more per option, you are less likely to lose money on time premium and theta decay.

Stock options are a good hedge against your portfolio and this is one of the many reasons why 

consumers and companies chose to purchase buy stock options

A Stock option is an option - otherwise known as a contract - to buy or sell a given stock at a selected price.

What is a Stock Option?

If you stop paying your credit card you are going to be charged late fees and your late payments will accrue more interest charges. These fees and extra interest charges will make your balance balloon and will cause you to get further into debt than you were previously. The increases can vary but you should expect to see a sizable chunk of your balance increase from fees and interest. Unfortunately for consumers undergoing hard times, things may get harder with the after effects of missed payments.

Late payments are reported in chronological order from the first lateness occurring at the 30-day late mark and usually going up to as much as 180 days late (until the lateness stops being reported or the account is eventually 

). After this time period most creditors will write the account off as a loss (time frames can vary and different creditors have different practices). After the account is written off as a loss it is either transferred internally to a different collection department or it is sold/transferred to a third party where further debt collection is pursued. Whatever the case, lateness follows you around so if you stop paying your 

 it will show up on your credit report for up to 7 years.

If you miss payments you’ll start to see your debt ballooning due to increased interest rates and miscellaneous finance fees. There’s no way to avoid these increased charges if you can’t afford to make payments. You could potentially call up your creditors to let them know you’re undergoing financial hardship but otherwise you won’t have too many options if you can’t afford to make 

. All the above will lead to increase debt.

 if you stop making your credit card payments. After a set amount of late payments, it becomes more and more likely that creditors seek to take legal action against you for debts owed. In this scenario the creditor will typically forward your debt to a law firm which will in turn pursue more aggressive collection activity. You can receive a summons and be summoned to appear in your local county court. If this occurs you will have more stringent negotiations ahead and you’ll likely have to put in some legwork to resolve the account.

Being behind on payments and having accounts in 

 could potentially leave you open for settlement opportunities. If you’ve been behind on payments for quite a while many creditors could potentially let you settle your debt for less than the full balance owed. This would allow you to save money on your balances and put together a more manageable financial solution for you to become debt free.

If you stop paying your credit card you are going to be charged late fees and your late payments will accrue more interest charges. 

What Happens If I Stop Paying My Credit Cards?

The minimum payment is the lowest amount you can pay in order to remain current and in good standing on a given credit card account. It’s the minimum amount you can pay in order to satisfy your credit card bill each month, and paying only the minimum payment is typically ill-advised and something all consumers should look to avoid. Doing so will lead to the largest amount of interest paid and will make your road to debt freedom a very long one.

Minimum payments are typically calculated via a percentage based on the balance. Although minimums sometimes have a minimum payment of $25 so if a given balance is particularly low, it might not apply in that scenario. The percentages can vary but minimum payments are usually around 1-4% of the total balance. Balances fluctuate at different times and likewise so do minimum payments. Minimums can go up and down each month depending on your balance and how much of your balance you paid off in the month prior. So, if a given credit card balance is $500 you might expect a minimum payment of $25. If another given credit card balance is $2,000 and it has a 2.5% minimum payment you would expect a minimum payment of $50. Minimums can also vary based on interest rates.

There’s no way around it or a nice way to say this. Minimum payments were created to keep you in debt and keep you paying the highest possible 

 for what you borrowed on your credit cards. In that they are quite successful since many consumers rely on credit cards and unfortunately get caught in a 

 when extenuating circumstances occur in their life. The small monthly debt obligation comes with a price tag and that price tag is high amounts of interest paid.

The minimum payment is the lowest amount you can pay in order to remain current and in good standing on a given credit card account.

What is the Minimum Payment on a Credit Card?

As a factor of income, anytime you are underwater and your monthly debts outweigh your income the debt load is too much. Arbitrarily speaking, some people carry a significant amount of credit card debt but they also make good money. In these scenarios it really depends what can be considered “too much debt”. However, if you have $100,000 or over in credit card debt that is simply too much and it should be something you’re actively looking to eliminate. If you are carrying 6 figures or more in credit card and personal loan debt you really need to look at options to help eliminate it if you’re struggling to eliminate it on your own. The amount of interest you're paying is simply money wasted that could go towards building yourself a better future or investing for retirement. The 

 of not fixing your financial situation is too costly for indifference and will require action on your part.

Believe it or not, things can spiral out of control quite easily. All it takes is a reduction in income and someone who once had their finances all figured out is backtracking and falling behind. Once bills pile up and your income is no longer coming in like it was previously, it can take a while for it to hit you. You might just be astounded and not know how to react or might not have any immediate options to react with. So, what else can you do but let the credit card debt pile on. Sometimes consumers aren’t left with very many options and this is their only recourse—to sit back idly and let things play out. In this scenario balances can increase quite easily and before you know it you’re in a hole you can’t easily get yourself out of. It’s not usually something that’s planned and it tends to stem from the unexpected but it’s a great reason everyone should stay humble and try to keep an established 

There isn’t always a clearly defined path to protect yourself from financial hardships. Although you can attempt to fortify your finances and make yourself less susceptible to fluctuations in income or wages, sometimes life gives you challenges that you can’t prepare for. Unexpected challenges can be detrimental to your financial health but there’s always a way to bounce back, no matter how hard things might seem. Debt is easy to get into but hard to get out of for a reason. Challenges always have solutions no matter how grim things might seem.

No matter the amount of debt you carry or how much debt you think you’ll eventually be carrying there are options to get out of debt. Things tend to get darkest right before the dawn. You can enroll the help of a 

 or seek to negotiate and settle accounts on your own. Whatever the case, there’s always ways to move forward. Don’t let debt keep you stuck in the past.

As a factor of income, anytime you are underwater and your monthly debts outweigh your income the debt load is too much.

The Debt Relief Company Blog