Does your credit score have more dings than a beat-up Chevy? A bad credit score may cause your landlord to raise an eyebrow and keep you from getting that car loan. But some banks may also give you a hard time when you go to open up an account. 

Don’t despair, you can still open a bank account even if you’ve got bad credit, typically defined as a credit score below 670. 

Why do banks care about my credit score? 

Banks, like most financial institutions, take on risk when you become a customer. They want to be sure that you will pay your bills and won’t bounce checks. In short, they want to make sure that they won’t be chasing you down for unpaid fees, or that you won’t be constantly overdrawing your account.

Not all banks will check your credit score. But if they do, having a bad score can also add to the list of things that can cause you to be rejected. 

How do banks check my credit? 

Banks are checking up on more than just your credit. When you apply for a credit card, the company will check your credit report by looking it up at credit bureaus including Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Your bank will check your banking behavior with agencies like ChexSystems, Early Warning System, Telecheck, or Certegy. These agencies track your deposit history with banks and credit unions. 

What are banks looking for? 

When you apply for a checking account your bank will enter your name and Social Security number to conduct a routine financial background check using ChexSystems, or one of the consumer reporting agencies mentioned above, to scope out any negative banking history.

Here are some things that can affect your chances of opening a checking account. 

• Overdrawn accounts: When you make a withdrawal and  your account dips below zero.
• Bounced checks: When you write a check for money you don’t have. 
• Suspected check fraud or identity theft: If you’re flagged for illegal activity
• Security alerts: If your account is constantly being compromised.
• Account freezes: When the bank stops all transactions related to your account.
• Excessive withdrawals: If you’re taking or transferring money from your savings or money market account too many times in a month. (This doesn’t include withdrawals using a bank teller or from ATM withdrawals.)

Good to know: You can request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once every 12 months, Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). You can also get a free copy of your ChexSystems report annually here.

Oh no, I was rejected. What do I do now? 

There are a few options. You can get in touch with the bank that you’d like to do business with and nicely request for them to reconsider. Just be prepared to face up to your past mistakes when they go through your history. 

You can also look into second-chance banking. Second-chance checking accounts are bare bones versions of standard checking accounts, typically with fewer features and lower spending limits. Not all banks offer this service, but the ones that do can offer you a clean slate and the chance to rebuild your financial history. 

Banks that offer second-chance accounts minimize their risk by offering you less favorable benefits compared to those with traditional bank accounts. For example, a second-chance banking customer may have a minimum balance, higher service fees, and access to fewer ATMs. Each second-chance bank is different, so be sure to ask a lot of questions when and if you choose this option. 

Are there any other options? 

You can still apply to open a Stash online banking account² if you have bad credit. Stash does not perform traditional credit checks prior to or after account openings, but it does go through standard customer identification and verification procedures first. 

Stash offers a network of ATMs. Stash subscribers get a bank account that comes with flexible money management, early payday⁴, and a debit card that can earn you rewards³.

The post How to Open a Bank Account With Bad Credit appeared first on Stash Learn.

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While it’s possible that tiny elves are going through your phone at night, laughing maniacally as they enroll in a grocery delivery service you’ll only use once, I have another idea. You may be unconsciously wasting resources by passively engaging in something I call “sleep-spending.”

I don’t mean that you’re whipping out your credit card in your sleep to order a pizza on Postmates, or 85 pounds of organic, hand-dyed yarn made of free-range sheep’s wool on Etsy for the knitting habit you’ll never actually start (um, not that I’ve done that.) A sleep-spender is somebody who buys something—a streaming service membership, a magazine subscription, a monthly contribution to a charity—and then forgets about it, wasting money for months or even years without noticing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used a dating app for a couple weeks and taken it off my phone, only to remember a few months later that I never actually closed my account. Oh, and I once forgot about some random nutrition app for an entire year, wasting $1.00 a month I could’ve spent on a trashy snack I never would’ve entered into the app anyway. (Gas station cuisine calories do not count.)

Based on a highly unscientific survey of my busy Millennial friends, here are the most common voids into which the sleep-spender unconsciously tosses money: Gym memberships they don’t use, dating apps they never open, publications they never read, and delivery services they don’t need.

If you suspect you may have lost track of your automatic renewal or automatic debit expenditures, it’s time to do a little digging to figure out where your money is going. And it shouldn’t take you too long—my guesstimate is anywhere from one to three hours of research.

Where to look

So let’s search the places you’re likeliest to find evidence of this unfortunate but common habit.

Bank account

Look at all the automatic debits for the past few months. If you’ve got the time, look at the past twelve months. Does it all look familiar? Do you see a strange pattern?  If you see things that aren’t useful to you any longer, log into the proper website or call the right customer service number to end your membership immediately. And of course, if you notice a charge you never actually made, alert your bank immediately.

Credit cards

Use the same process as above.

iTunes

Deleting an app off your phone does not mean you’ve actually unsubscribed to the dang thing. Because I have an iPhone, I typically pay for these apps via iTunes. If you do the same, it’s a good idea to periodically check on your iTunes subscriptions.

From your laptop or desktop, go into iTunes and click on Account. Select View My Account. Then scroll down to Settings. Next to Subscriptions, click Manage. Do you really like the apps and services to which you subscribe? If so, great! If not, time to get rid of ‘em. If you do use certain services, you may be able to switch your subscription to an annual rather than a monthly plan, thereby saving a few bucks.

For example, the popular meditation app Headspace offers a monthly subscription for $12.99. But the annual membership is $95.88. Sure, you have to pay it all in one lump sum, but it factors out to only $7.99 a month. That’s $5 you could be investing via, say, your Stash app. Or purchasing gas station cuisine. Just saying, you’ve got choices to make.

Android

I don’t know much about this mysterious alternate phone option, but as a faithful reporter I did the research on this strange technology to tell you how to unsubscribe from your auto-renewing apps there.

1. Launch the Google Play Store app
2. Go to Menu
3. Highlight Subscriptions
4. Touch the app you’d like to cancel
5. Tap “Cancel subscriptions”

Streaming services

Do you actually use your music, TV or movie streaming service? Maybe you have a subscription that costs more than you’d spend to simply rent an individual movie once or twice a month. Or perhaps you can downgrade to a plan that requires you to watch or listen to a commercial or two in order to enjoy your preferred digital media. Lizzo will still sound great if her soulful jams are punctuated with the occasional advertisement for something you’ll never actually purchase.

PayPal

After you login to your PayPal account, look for “Payments sent” and see if you see anything marked “recurring.” If you’re pleased with it, that’s great. If not, it’s time to see about eliminating some of those unnecessary expenditures.

It’s time to stop sleep-spending, and wake up to your financial reality. It may seem like small change right now, but in the long run you’ll save a lot. Think of all the road trips or student loan payments or pounds of unnecessary yarn you could fund with the extra cash!

The post Are You “Sleep-Spending”? Here’s How to Stop appeared first on Stash Learn.

I didn’t get it.

Because I didn’t even ask for it. I chickened out, dreading the confrontation. Instead, I blabbed incoherently about whether the company actually needed me on staff, and quit.

The follow-up joke I tell audiences is that I’m not actually sure what I’m worth. How do you know? And how can you confidently fight for yourself when you know the most embarrassing things about yourself? For example, how could I possibly ask for six figures when I know I once ate a beetle out of the carpet because I thought it was a Raisinet?

But a recent study by Student Loan Planner shows it’s time for me to get with the program, because the women they surveyed are actually slightly more likely to ask for a raise than men.

Student Loan Planner surveyed men and women with graduate degrees and six-figure student debt, and found that more women than men asked for raises at work, and women got their raises slightly more often: 29 percent of women compared to 25 percent of men.

But here’s the catch: Women were more likely to ask for smaller raises. The majority of women reported that they asked for a raise of $5,000 or less. Men and women leveled out between $5K and $10K, and when it came to asking for raises over $10K, men were more likely to do so.

“We’ve gotten over the hump of asking, but we haven’t gotten over the hump of women asking for more,” Travis Hornsby, founder of Student Loan Planner, said. “Women don’t ask for monster raises.”

This may be part of the reason more women hold student loan debt than men. It also may be one of many factors in the gender pay gap, which Hornsby notes is closing in some areas. Still, he said, more men gravitate toward the private sector, while more women with the same qualifications are risk-averse and seek more stable, but lower-paying jobs. The snowball effect of debt and risk-aversion is one of many complex contributors to the very real pay gap.

Forty-five percent of women and 40 percent of men don’t know what they’re colleagues earn, the survey also found. This can make it harder to ask for an appropriate raise.

“Lack of transparency always benefits the employer,” Hornsby said.

So how can employees find out their peers’ salaries? Hornsby says one way to find out is to ask recruiters, who can help you define a salary range, and tell you if your work is underpaid compared to others in your industry. (They also have a vested interest in information flow—the more you use them, the more they get paid.)

This would have been helpful to me five years ago, when I sat in a different boss’s office as he joked about his lowest-paid employees who made under six figures.

“But I’ve been here six years, and I make under six figures,” I noted.

“You do?” he asked.

“Yes, you set my salary,” I said.

“Huh. Maybe we’ll look into it.”

Turns out, I should have looked into it first. And asked for a $10K raise.

The post How Women Can Ask for a Raise appeared first on Stash Learn.

But just how stressed—and why—may surprise you.

It turns out that 62% of U.S. consumers say that money is a major source of stress, with 31% saying they lose sleep and feel stress over finances all the time, according to a new survey by Stash. The poll of 1,411 people, age 18 and older, in April 2019 also found that people are embarrassed to talk about money, and that silence could prevent them from understanding their financial situations, according to other reports.

Here’s what we found.

Don’t want to talk about it

People say that just talking about money is a big stressor, and it’s not because people think money talk is taboo, as older generations might think:

• More than a third of survey respondents say they don’t want to talk about money because they’re embarrassed, and think they are worse off than their peers.
• Another 33% say it’s because it upsets them too much.
• Nearly a quarter of those surveyed say they’re ashamed of their financial habits.
• Only 13% say it’s because they find the topic taboo or impolite.

Money stress is real, the survey found. Nearly a third of people say they’ve missed a monthly payment in the last year, such as rent or a cable bill. And for people who have missed a payment, more than half say they missed not just one payment, but two to three payments in the last 12 months.

What’s more, stress about money holds back nearly two thirds of U.S. consumers from doing basic things, like going out with friends and family, going on vacation, and dining out, the survey found.

Women and financial stress

Women are more likely to talk about money stresses than men, by a margin of 10 percentage points. Similarly, they are also more likely to say they have forgone a home repair, wedding, birthday or vacation because of money stress, by a margin between 5 and 12 percentage points.

Money stress by age group

• Generation Z (between 18 and 24 years old) and Millennials (between 25 and 38 years old) are nearly 15 percentage points more likely to say money holds them back from doing things with family and friends.
• Generation X, (between 39 and 53 years old), are 10 percentage points more likely to say they are in debt than other age groups.
• If they were free of debt, 20% of Gen Zers and 23% of Gen Xers would increase contributions to their emergency funds, more than a quarter of Millennials would go on a vacation, and 25% of Baby Boomers (between 55 and 75 years old) would increase their retirement savings contributions.

Talking about money is important

Remember, having an open discussion about money and money stress can help you not just to alleviate money anxiety, it can also potentially help you get a well-deserved raise, or prevent you from spending money you don’t have.

Being honest about money can also help you come up with a financial plan that could include saving more money, investing, and building wealth.

The post No One Talks About Money, Everyone Stresses About It appeared first on Stash Learn.

That’s according to Forbes magazine, which released its 2019 list of the wealthiest people in the world. The magazine’s annual ranking is considered a definitive list of the world’s richest people.

But don’t feel too sorry for today’s billionaires. They represent a combined $8.7 trillion in wealth, a decrease of $400 billion from 2018, when Forbes last updated its list of the most affluent people.

As of March 2019, Forbes counts more than 2,153 billionaires globally, about 55 fewer than in years past. And this year, the roster includes the youngest billionaire ever, the social media phenomenon and reality TV star Kylie Jenner, in addition to a record 242 women.

While many of the names on Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world inherited their riches from family elders, quite a few—including Jenner—are considered self-made, meaning they didn’t inherit money to start their business, and they accumulated their wealth primarily through their own efforts.

You might recognize the names of many of the billionaires, as many either control or founded the companies you may shop or invest in today.

Here’s a look at some of the names, and their rankings.

Forbes Billionaires

Name: Jeff Bezos
Company: Amazon
Net worth: $131 billion
Rank: 1

Bezos founded e-commerce company Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore in his Seattle, Washington garage. Amazon, which now offers a variety of services ranging from providing cloud storage space to delivering groceries, reportedly had a record profit of $10 billion in 2018. Amazon also recently announced it would ditch plans to build a new headquarters in New York City.

Name: Bill Gates
Company: Microsoft
Net worth: $96.5 billion
Rank: 2

Gates founded the software firm Microsoft with business partner Paul Allen in 1975. Gates and his wife, Melinda, operate the largest philanthropic organization in the world—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on health and poverty in the developing world. Gates has sold 99% of his stake in Microsoft, and has given $36 billion worth of Microsoft stock to his foundation.

Name: Warren Buffett
Company: Berkshire Hathaway
Net worth: $82.5 billion
Rank: 3

Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha because of his legendary stock-picking abilities, controls conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire owns or has a significant ownership stake in 60 companies. Buffett reportedly bought is first stock at age 11, and he’s donated $3.4 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett has also pledged to donate much of his wealth upon his death.

Name: Mark Zuckerberg
Company: Facebook
Net worth: $62.3 billion
Rank: 8

Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004, in his Harvard dorm room. The social media network, which has 2.3 billion users globally, went public in 2012. Zuckerberg owns 17% of the company’s stock. In recent months, Facebook has run into difficulties over customer privacy concerns and its potential role influencing the 2016 presidential election.

Name: Larry Page
Company: Google
Net worth: $51 billion
Rank: 10

Page co-founded the search engine giant Google with Sergey Brin, who ranks 14th on the Forbes list, with a net worth of $49.8 billion. Brin and Page met at Stanford as computer science engineers. They took Google public in 2004. Google restructured in 2015, forming a parent company called Alphabet, reflecting the company’s expanded reach into cloud storage, fiber optics, advertising, and smart home devices.

Name: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Company: L’Oreal
Net worth: $49 Billion
Rank: 15

Bettencourt is the richest woman in the world. She inherited a 33% stake in cosmetics giant L’Oreal from her mother Liliane in 2017. Her grandfather founded the company in 1909. Cosmetics products are part of the consumer discretionary sector.

Name: Jim, Alice, and Rob Walton
Company: Walmart
Net worth: approximately $44 billion each.
Rank: 16, 17, 18

The children of Walmart founder Sam Walton and other family heirs own about half of all Walmart stock. Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, with annual sales of $500 billion. The company announced in January 2018 that it would raise its minimum wage to $11 an hour. Jim and Bob Walton have held executive or board positions at Walmart, while Alice has focused on curating and collecting art.

Name: Daniel Ek
Company: Spotify
Net worth: $2.3 billion
Rank: 1,057

Swedish-born Ek is the co-founder of the popular music streaming service Spotify. The company has 180 million users, including nearly 90 million paying customers. Spotify had an IPO in April 2018, roughly a decade after it launched in 2008.

Name: James Monsees and Adam Bowen
Company: Juul Labs
Net worth: $1.1 billion each
Rank: 1,941

Monsees and Bowen reportedly became billionaires in 2018, after a new round of investment money valued Juul, the e-cigarette company they founded in 2017, at $38 billion. Cigarette maker Altria invested $13 billion in Juul in November 2018.

Name: Kylie Jenner
Company: Kylie Cosmetics
Net worth: $1 billion
Rank: 2,057

At 21, Jenner is the youngest billionaire ever, beating Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who achieved the milestone at 23. Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian siblings, built her cosmetics empire with just five full-time employees and $250,000 that Jenner says she earned from modeling. Kylie Cosmetics has reportedly pulled in more than $630 million in sales since it launched in 2015. Jenner is equal parts social media phenomenon and entrepreneur, leveraging 175 million followers across Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Despite her family connections, Forbes considers Jenner’s fortune self-made.

Get Stash

You can start building your own wealth by investing on Stash. All it takes is $5 to get started.

The post Find Out What It Takes to Be A Billionaire appeared first on Stash Learn.

Dr. Greg Cason*, an LA-based psychotherapist and star of Bravo’s ‘LA Shrinks” gets to the heart of holiday money fights with family—and offers tips on how to keep it together, no matter your situation.

Cason shares his advice on our podcast “Teach Me How to Money,” including these key tips for staying civil during what is likely the most stressful time of the year—the holidays.

The following are excerpts from Cason’s conversation with Stash editorial director Lindsay Goldwert, edited for clarity.

1. Remember: People can be financially stressed during the holidays.

“Around the holidays, people have generally overextended themselves [financially], and they’ve done so in the spirit of giving…but many feel resentful about the holidays, that they have to dress up, that they have to go to parties, that they have to buy wine, bring gifts, and give tips.

People [can] be resentful about that…going down the list, it can be a lot, so it’s understandable how people can [become stressed].”

2. Think carefully before giving gift cards.

“Personally, I find gift cards [to be] a chore. I have to go use them somewhere—I have to drive to a place and purchase something that, maybe, I wasn’t intending to. Even if it’s a grocery store I go to all the time, I have to remember to bring my gift card and use it.

But, then again, other people think they’re the perfect gift. People are all over the map on this…so I think it’s best just to look at gifts as well-intentioned, meaningful salutations and acknowledgment of goodwill, and then we can receive them with full grace.”

3. Avoid talking about money around the dinner table.

“Or religion, or sex.”

4. If you’re lending people money, don’t expect to be paid back.

“The best thing a person who lends money can do [is to think of it] as a gift that they will never get back. Otherwise…the relationship may suffer. It’s really a tough thing in general.”

5. If you need to borrow money, be careful about how (and when) you ask for it.

“If I were asking for money…I wouldn’t do it [close to the holidays] because you want to keep the holidays sacred. Don’t mix your personal stuff with anything family-related.

[And] don’t ask for money in front of people—do it alone with the person. I would tell them what you need, and why you need it. Also, be respectful. Showing respect may be [saying something like], ‘I understand this is difficult, and I want to be respectful of you.’

I would also offer to sign something…so that you both know the terms. Your relative isn’t a bank. They’re not going to be sending you out notices.”

6. If you do borrow money, communicate.

“Silence is a killer.

Silence will [lead to your loved ones] filling in the blanks, and what they’ll fill in the blanks with is that you’re forgetting about them, that you don’t want to pay them back, and that you’re taking advantage of them. Openly communicate what’s going on.”

7. Keep in mind that gifts are symbolic. Give and receive with grace.

“With every gift you receive this holiday season, see it symbolically, as an expression of goodwill, and receive it that way. You’ll see the other person light up [when you receive] their gift.

When you give a gift, give it fully and completely with the same kind of love. That person will also feel joy, even if the sweater doesn’t fit.”

Get more tips for keeping your finances in order by subscribing to Stash’s “Teach Me How to Money” podcast.

The post 7 Tips For Staying Calm About Money During the Holidays appeared first on Stash Learn.

Along with the holiday cheer, there are traffic jams, crowded airports, flight delays, stormy weather, and emotional exhaustion. And let’s not forget the very American tendency of going into debt to afford holiday gifts.

It’s all part of the omnipresent social pressure to act like everything is just perfect.

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. Let’s look at some affordable ways to de-stress that don’t require a $1,500 investment in a spa vacation.

Take a bath break

Is there a bathtub in your hotel room, parents’ house, or cousins’ apartment? Announce that you’re commandeering it for an hour and wish to be completely undisturbed. Use waterproof earbuds to play relaxing music if the sound of family threatens to overwhelm your chill environment.

Bring a candle. Bring six candles. Bring a cool glass of water. Some folks swear by Epsom salts to relax tired muscles. Get some fresh mint leaves at the grocery store and toss those in the water. If relaxation and easy slumber are more your speed, use lavender essential oil or the leaves of the plant itself.

No need to be near a garden. I once took mint tea bags from the airplane and popped them into my flimsy motel tub. It did the trick.

Use a meditation app

I adore Headspace, the app co-founded by former monk and ex-circus performer Andy Puddicombe. I’ve been using it for nearly two years, and it has introduced me to practices that have truly changed my life for the better.

I still act impulsively at times, but mindfulness meditation has helped me learn the value of inserting a pause between desire and action. The app is currently marked down from $96 to $58 for a year’s subscription.

You can also subscribe at a monthly rate of $12.99, or buy a lifetime subscription at $399.  It’s also a good gift idea.

Listen to a history podcast

History podcasts remind us that our drama, whatever it may be, ain’t the end of the world. In fact, whatever we’re going through is likely nothing compared to what some folks have endured.

Try “Stuff You Missed In History Class,” one of my longtime personal favorites. The brilliant Karina Longworth hosts “You Must Remember This,” a fascinating podcast on the secret history of Hollywood. Or take a stroll through “The History of Rome,” an oldie but goodie (in more ways than one.)

Watch something soothingly ridiculous

Laughter can indeed be the best medicine at times. I watch the magnificent Comedy Central series “Broad City” whenever I need to lose myself in great writing, wonderful comedic timing, and insane situations. The fact that the show also has a beautiful, loving heart helps, too. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and others help cure what ails me.

What’s your go-to laugh riot? Take a half-hour break. Hide in your car or the basement and watch a show or silly short video on your phone if you need to. Lie and say you’ve got to catch up on “work.” Then laugh your head off.

If anybody walks by, claim this is part of some important new initiative at your job. Refuse to explain further, citing top-secret work “stuff.”

Get the group therapy text going

Set up a group text among trusted pals to whom you can vent frustration over the holidays. Agree in advance that you may text each other during certain hours of the day (or perhaps any time of day or night). And remember to lock your phone from the prying eyes of random relatives.

Keep a diary

Revive the ancient art of handwriting! Call your diary a Secret Book Of Venting All My Feelings, or whatever you like. Keep it hidden and safe and pour out your rage into it whenever you need to. Carry a small notepad in your back pocket or purse. You can always throw it out (NOT in the home in which you’re staying) or tear it up later.

One simple exercise? Write a letter to the person who’s driving you the craziest. Never send it, obviously.

Exercise

I don’t like to exercise for exercise’s sake. I do like to take a walk as an escape from unpleasant people, or simply to clear my head and refresh my spirit. Make a daily walk a practice during the holidays. Pick the warmest time of the day if that suits you. You’ll be glad for the solace.

Don’t forget to breathe

Sounds simple, right? But slowing your breathing is a surefire way to slow your heart rate and relax a little bit. While meditation is a sustained practice of focus, you can use breathwork for just a few seconds at a time in order to calm down.

I like to do this: Inhale for five even counts into my belly. Hold for seven even counts. Exhale for eight even counts. Take a pause and then repeat as necessary. Sometimes even two of these breath cycles can get me back in the correct frame of mind, distracting me from unpleasant or unhelpful thoughts and allowing me to better deal with the situation at hand.

Remember,  you don’t need to spend a lot of dough in order to relax. In fact, the answer to feeling more free and clear may, in fact, be free itself!

Be well and take good care, and best wishes for a happy holiday season and beyond!

The post 7 Cheap Ways to Bust Holiday Stress appeared first on Stash Learn.

Think of Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

She’s a heroine because of her independent mind, her great work ethic, her intellectual curiosity, and her strong personality.

But she only really ends up rich and happy in a magical castle because she developed a codependent relationship with her weirdo kidnapper. Great lesson, right?

Women get dumb lessons about money

Countless popular books, films, and TV shows still carry the same basic message for women: Work hard, get an education, look flawlessly beautiful at all times, and a rich husband will find you and take care of the electric bill (or provide a dancing, talking candlestick to light your gigantic home).

But how realistic is that? Um, not very.

There were 110 million unmarried people in America age 18 and older in 2016, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That accounted for 45.2% of all U.S. residents over the age of 18. And of that number, 53.2% were women.

So if you’re a single lady, you’re in good company. And chances are you’ve got to pay your own damn bills.

Women have to fight harder

It’s commonly accepted that boys should fend for themselves financially. It’s a sign of conventional contemporary masculinity to be “financially independent” as a man. We don’t always teach girls the same lesson. They may not know how hard they’ll have to fight for equal pay when they enter the workplace.

This is a big deal when many businesses certainly don’t value women’s work on par with men’s work. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, on average, an American woman earns 80.5 cents for every dollar a man earns. Women’s median annual earnings are $10,086 less than men’s.

The gulf grows much wider when we look at salaries for women of color versus white men. And while many women (and a few good male allies) advocate for change, we’ve also got to be extra invested in our own financial future.

Be your own Princess Charming

Now, I’m not saying you won’t marry a rich man (or extremely, fabulously wealthy person of any gender!) I’m just saying you shouldn’t depend on it.

Having your own income and savings will hopefully help you feel stronger, more confident, and less dependent when you do get into a serious relationship.

Maybe you aren’t making enchanted Disney prince (or princess) money, but you can start dealing with your actual financial reality right here and now, regardless of your dreams for the future or your regrets about the past.

All the single ladies (can achieve financial independence)

Here are a few easy tips that can help you get going on your badass single lady financial plan.

Open a retirement account and make regular contributions

The positive effect of compound interest is real and it’s powerful. You can set up a Roth or traditional IRA on your own—I did when I was a full-time freelancer.

But some companies provide a 401(k) and will match your contribution up to a certain dollar amount (usually 4%). Let’s say you get a regular paycheck, and you choose to contribute 10% of each paycheck to your 401(k), pre-tax. The company will match 4% of your contribution. They’re giving you free money! That’s great!

You won’t be able to tap into that fund until you hit a certain age, at least not unless you want to incur very high penalties, taxes, and fees. But it’s your superpowered future-cool-old-lady savings account. Have somebody in HR walk you through the different options, or use the online tools they’ll probably give you

And make sure that, in the unlikely event that you shuffle off this mortal coil early, your 401(k) is earmarked for a loved one.

Envision your ideal financial future

Here’s a set of questions to get your imagination going. We’re going to work backwards, which may feel a little odd, but will hopefully jog your brain in a good way.

1. Where do you hope to be at the very end of your days? Let’s imagine you are fortunate enough to have a long and healthy life. When you’re elderly, do you expect to want to live in the fanciest of eldercare facilities? Do you want to spend your final days in a home that you own? (In that case, you’ll likely need full-time in-home health aides at some point—keep contributing to that 401(k)!) I know this is a wild thing to consider, and it may seem unnecessary at your young age, but there’s no harm in imagining it for a moment.
2. Let’s look at your life when you’re retirement age—say, 65. You may very well live into your nineties or beyond, so retiring at 65 means you may have a few decades left to enjoy! Are you the type of person who loves to travel? You’ll probably still enjoy it at your advanced age, and have more time to do it. There’s no way of knowing if you’ll have kids or grandkids, but we can be fairly certain you won’t want to be a financial burden on them. The choices you make now can help ensure your independence in later age.
3. And now let’s envision your life ten years from now. Where do you hope to live then? Do you want to own a home? What would that home look like? Where might it be? Every time you start to think, “Well, I’m sure my husband can help share expenses,” stop yourself. You may very well be right! But since we’re thinking about single lady finances, reframe the question. “How can I put myself in the best position to be able to afford my happiest, healthiest lifestyle in ten years?”
4. Now let’s look at the next year. What are some things you might realistically be able to accomplish in the next year? Making a move to a town you truly love? Finding a better apartment in the city where you live? Adopting a dog and providing for its care? Maybe your goals are simply: “Paying every bill in full on time, and paying more than the minimum on my credit cards each month.” That’s great!

Check out your answers to the above questions. Walk away from them for a week and return to them. Edit and revise as necessary. Then maybe purchase a helpful book, or even seek out a certified financial planner (CFP), a person trained in the fine art of helping adults get their money right. Many CFPs deal with estate planning, investing, and more. They usually don’t get into the nitty-gritty of day-to-day budgeting.

Read a good book on personal finance

Or more than one good book! Try one of these: Suze Orman’s “Young, Fabulous and Broke;” Allen Carr’s “Get Out Of Debt Now”; Anna Newell Jones’s “The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living”; or something that just happens to appeal to you in the bookstore. Set aside, donate, or sell the books that don’t jibe with your sensibility. Read and re-read the ones that do!

It took me until my mid-thirties to start getting on top of this, but whether you’re younger or older, it’s the right time to begin!

So don’t avoid looking at reality like I did for many years—start taking small, sensible steps now to save and provide for your own health and happiness.

The post How to Be a (Financially Independent) Single Woman appeared first on Stash Learn.

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You work like crazy. You finally get your big break. Your film goes to big festival, gets written up by entertainment writers all over the world and gets nominated for big awards.

So you’re automatically rich now, right? Not exactly.

In this episode of “Teach Me How to Money,” Mike O’Shea, director of the critically-acclaimed breakout horror movie “The Transfiguration,” talks all about being an artist without a trust fund, being successful-ish, and the real financial life of an artist–before, during and after “making it.”

Getting smart about your money doesn’t have to be a horror story.

We’ll be scaring up a different topic every week but we really, really want to hear from you!

Drop us a line at teachmehowtomoney@stash.com. We’ll do our best to answer all of your questions.

Thanks for listening and tuning in. And remember, anyone can be a saver or an investor. All you have to do is start.

Subscribe to “Teach Me How To Money” on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, PlayerFM,  and Acast.

Got a question you’d like us to answer on the show? Drop us a line at teachmehowtomoney@stash.com. We’ll do our best to get to all of them.

Ready to start investing? Sign up for Stash and then enter the promo code PODCAST and you’ll get $5 to get started on your financial journey.

Stash, it’s your money simplified.

The post Podcast: How to Pay Bills While Following Your Dreams with Mike O’Shea appeared first on Stash Learn.

The plan: Pay off all our consumer debt and a decent chunk of our home mortgage.

What started out as a desperate attempt to stop the collection calls from the hospital billing office and freeing ourselves from thousands of dollars in credit card debt, eventually turned into a lifestyle that has helped define my entire attitude toward money.

We developed a credo: No matter how tough our financial situation gets, we can get tougher without taking on more debt. Every last thing I did in those years was linked to my desire to pay down debt, from baking my own bread to forgoing haircuts, and purchasing all our home furniture second-hand.

Even through a job loss and living on food stamps, we eliminated $35,000 worth of debt in about five years. If we did it, so can you.

Here are some of the lessons I learned while paying down debt:

There’s no better feeling than financial security

We paid off our $3,000 of consumer debt in the first year. Then we tackled our $12,000 hospital bills. After that, we built an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months worth of expenses. For us, that number was $10,000 and to be honest, it seemed absolutely impossible.

We eliminated $35,000 worth of debt in about five years. If we did it, so can you.

How on earth was I going to save up that much money and then just sit on it?

I set up a separate bank account for that cash, and made transfers every month. We started saving $200 per month and sold one of our cars to add to the fund. I even started a part-time daycare business in my home to help sock away extra cash. By doing those things, I eventually worked my way up to setting aside $600 a month.

Here’s the thing: I found that once we had our first $1000 in the bank, I experienced a new level of peace that I had never felt before.

We were no longer one small disaster away from absolute financial ruin, and we didn’t have to worry about using credit cards to make up for any cash shortfall. That feeling of financial security motivated us, until we achieved our $10,000 goal 20 months later.

Long term financial goals require flexibility

My husband and I experienced a lot of financial ups and downs in the five years we spent paying down our debt. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

When we started out, we weren’t making much money. My husband worked in retail and I was a stay-at-home mom. We eventually had two more kids, and our combined income for a family of five was scarcely more than $30,000.

At one point during our journey, my husband was laid off for a few months, and we had to rely on food stamps to buy groceries. Still, because we were dedicated to living within our means, we didn’t fall back into consumer debt.

Those rocky times  taught me how important it is to roll with the punches and be willing to adjust your methods to achieve your financial goals.

Now I know to save more when times are good, so I can be prepared when times are tough.

Living within your means is (almost) always possible

Paying off $35,000 in five years may not seem impressive when you break it down: $7,000 per year. But for nearly four years of that time, we were living near the poverty line. We managed to save for an emergency fund and pay down debt with “spending fasts.”

Except for essentials, we’d go for weeks without buying a single item. We never went out to do anything that wasn’t free–parks, libraries, and walks by the river were our go-to options. We stopped getting haircuts, stopped going out to eat, stopped planning vacations until we were back on our feet.

I created a gratitude journal to remind myself of how good my life was when I needed perspective, because let’s face it, living frugally isn’t easy. But for most people living within your means is almost always possible.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Eventually my husband graduated from college and and got an engineering job. I finally decided to take the plunge to become a freelance writer, and put in the hours and dedication until it became a career.

We’re also tackling the remainder of our mortgage, and are even enjoying having a little extra money for the first time in our lives.

Now that we are in a better financial position, the lessons I learned while paying off debt comfort me. I know that even if my husband or I lost one of our jobs tomorrow, we would still know how to survive with very little.

The post Getting Out (and Staying Out) of Debt appeared first on Stash Learn.

They do say that. Really.

Okay fine, it’s been an accident, one that feels all too common among millennials. In my cohort, it always seems like women have careers, whereas men seem to have have gigs and high hopes for their fantasy leagues. To wit: After ten plus years in New York City, I’ve gone out with only two guys who made more than me—and I’m a writer.

The other dozen or so haven’t come close. One worked at a cheese shop, two were artists, one was a part-time tutor, one sold drugs out of a pantry covered in dolphin stickers, you get it. One was a freelance science journalist who may have made okay money, but he faked his own death before I could find out. (Dating in New York, amirite ladies?)

Buying blocks of cheese instead of pre-cut or pre-shredded will save you potentially hundreds of dollars a year.

Each one of these beautiful, perfect angels had his own life hack to survive on a pittance. Some were useful, some were sweetly pathetic and others were just, well, straight up pathetic.

Here they are—for practical application, (or just to make you feel better about where you’re at in life):

Sleep until 3pm to avoid paying for pesky breakfast and unnecessary lunch. Can you survive on one pack of ramen a day, plus whatever the girl you’re dating brings over from her fridge? The answer is yes.

Buy cheese in blocks. Okay, this is actually a good one. If you’re a cheese monster like I am, buying blocks of cheese instead of pre-cut or pre-shredded will save you potentially hundreds of dollars a year. (Too bad the guy who showed me this trick drank all my good bourbon.)

Live in a closet. One guy’s bedroom was a walk-in closet. People rent those out, at least in New York. To be honest, lying on his twin-sized floor mattress with his shirts hanging over our heads felt a little romantic, like we were kids pretending to be grownups. He was in his 30s, though. Still, it was very thrifty and I was devastated when we broke up.

Argue when dissatisfied. I used to think complaining was too big of a hassle if a product arrived late in the mail, or had minor damage. Whoops. One innovative ex-boyfriend with time on his hands taught me that customer service reps will often offer refunds or store credit, even for minor inconveniences. Just be kind when you do this, for karma’s sake.

Learn to be quirky. Wearing two different shoes can make you look insane, unless you embrace a D-I-Y aesthetic and call yourself an artist. If you do things with confidence—for example, dress like you just washed up on shore from a 19th century shipwreck—people don’t question your choices.

Say “I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR THAT.” This one is actually very helpful. I used to be too embarrassed to admit when something was out of my budget, but after seeing several guys do this so brazenly, I decided to try it. It’s definitely more liberating than shameful.

Coupon apps. My current boyfriend is obsessed with coupon apps like Ibotta, and now I am, too. Even better, most new apps/startups give you amazing deals to entice you to join, like $25 off your first order or free delivery. Lately, I’ve been downloading all kinds of apps and using coupon codes I see advertised around the city.

Buy generic. Except for Q-Tips. Trust me on this.

Be a man. This is only sort of a joke. All of my exes were charged less than women typically are for so many products , including pharmacy items, haircuts, and clothes. The Pink Tax is REAL, it’s infuriating for the budget-minded.  However it’s inspiring me to embrace my androgynous side. I’ve just bought my first two pairs of boys’ shoes for a combined total of $36.

Next on my list: men’s skincare items.

The post Money Saving ‘Tips’ I Learned From My Broke Ex-Boyfriends appeared first on Stash Learn.

Planning for a financially independent life is probably the last thing on your mind when your marriage is headed for a breakdown. But to rebuild your life, you’ll need to make sure your finances are in order.

You won’t want to be stressing about making your mortgage payments, affording groceries or saving for retirement when you’ve got so much else to cope with.

By keeping your ducks in a row before you and your spouse split, you’ll be more able to deal with all the tough money stuff that will be coming your way.

Here’s what to expect when you’re expecting (to part ways):

Fees and filing

The average cost of divorce can vary not only according to situation but from state to state. The costs can depend on each state’s filing fees, hourly attorney fees, laws dictating residency requirements and waiting periods.

The average contested divorce (where the couple does not agree on terms) can cost between $15,000 to $20,000, according to GoBankingRates. California is the priciest state to get a divorce. Wyoming is the cheapest.

Not every divorce requires a pricy attorney. When Kansas-based personal finance coach Kayla Sloan got divorced at age 20, she said it only cost her the $200 filing fee.

“I represented myself because my ex and I had no real property to speak of, since we were so young,” she said.

However, if you have significant assets and/or children, you’ll likely need a lawyer to determine the final arrangement. That’s when the costs can escalate. The more there is to sort through, the more you’ll more likely the costs will escalate.

Going from double to single

A divorce can be a financial shock to the system, especially when you’re used to splitting expenses with a partner.

After her divorce, Sloan said she took over the entire lease. That left her with just a couple hundred dollars after paying her monthly rent.

“Maybe I should have moved in with roommates to save money,” she said. “But I wasn’t emotionally ready to move all my stuff and start living with new roommates so soon after the divorce.”

Moving, even if you have a friend come help you pack and drive the van to you new place, can come with unexpected expenses too. It’s important to factor in the cost of your security deposit and replacing any household items and furniture you lost in the divorce.

One thing that newly divorced people may not count on is having to pay more for health insurance. A shared insurance plan between spouses will almost always cost significantly more than for a single person, even with markedly reduced coverage.

If you had insurance through your spouse’s job, you may qualify for COBRA coverage — although be aware that it only lasts 18 months.

Looking ahead

After a divorce, you’ve got a big task ahead of you: Rebuilding your heart and your finances.

“It took me five years to get out of all of the debt from the divorce, but I still have not rebuilt all of the assets that I had prior to our marriage,” said Shanah Bell, a Raleigh, NC-based nutritionist  “I am now 7-and-a-half years out, and am only now just getting close to getting my assets fully rebuilt.”

One of the first steps to take is an inventory of your net worth, which will include your assets and liabilities. If your net worth is lower than you feel comfortable with, you may have to consider some big lifestyle changes. This may include selling your house or leasing a less expensive car.

Then, look at your current spending and compare it to your income or the money that actually coming your way versus how it used to be. If you’re now spending more than you’re bringing in, you’re going to end up relying on credit to make up the difference.

Most importantly, don’t t use your new financial situation as an excuse to get into debt–it could send you into a financial spiral that takes years to climb out of.

Read more: What’s Your Money Personality? Understanding Your Financial Self

The post ‘I Don’t’: The Unexpected Costs of Divorce appeared first on Stash Learn.

The only problem was that my salary wasn’t enough to cover the astronomical expense of living in New York City, along with all of my graduate school student loan debt. That was especially true after my roommate moved out and I decided to live in my two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment on my own. I kept finding myself paying my rent later and later, taking full advantage of my landlord’s ten-day grace period.

Since I relied on credit to cover the gap between what I made and what I spent, my credit card bills also started creeping up each month. First a hundred dollars, then an extra three or four hundred dollars.

When my debt hit $8,000, I realized I needed financial help.

I thought I’d hit on the perfect solution: I’d cash in my 401(k), which I’d started contributing to at a previous job. I’d saved $10,000. It wasn’t a huge amount, but that was enough to make a big dent in my growing debts, and to give me a small cushion to cover future expenses so I wouldn’t keep falling back into debt.

When my debt hit $8,000, I realized I needed financial help.

I knew there would be penalties for cashing in my account, including a 10% penalty from the Internal Revenue Service, as well as state and local taxes. However, those seemed like a small price to pay for wiping out my credit card issues with one lump sum. It seemed especially worthwhile, since the interest on my credit cards was over 20%.

What I failed to consider were the long-term consequences of my decision, the biggest being that I was jeopardizing my retirement.

I may have only saved $10,000, but that amount would have grown if I’d kept contributing at the same rate, about 5% of my $40,000 salary, along with the market gains over the years. Today, I’d probably have about $100,000.

In retrospect, I realize I could have taken a loan from my 401(k) account, rather than cash it out, but that didn’t occur to me back then. I also could have gotten an interest-free loan from my family, or a 0% APR credit card to use temporarily, and pay back before the 0% rate ran out. (I also could also have cut back on expenses like eating out and going to concerts.)

But I was ashamed of being in such a dire situation, so I didn’t consult with a financial advisor or family members, who might have steered me in a different direction.

Worst of all, I told myself that my dip into my retirement account was temporary, and that I’d return to saving as soon as I was more financially stable. Well, it turns out that was an overly optimistic outlook. While I expected to simply take care of my credit card debts, then immediately resume retirement savings, once I stopped contributing, I kept finding reasons that I needed that 5%.

First, I got laid off from my magazine job and went on unemployment. Then I became a self-employed freelancer. When my rent increased by $100 each month, or the price of a Metrocard went up, or I simply wanted to go on vacation, instead of looking for ways to cut back on expenses, I told myself I could always restart my 401(k) later.

It wasn’t until I moved in with my boyfriend four years ago and realized that he’d been saving steadily since his twenties,  that it became clear how different our financial futures are.

Now that I’m in my forties, I’ve finally started contributing to a retirement account again. But I’m afraid it may be too little, too late. I’m currently putting $5,500 a year into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), about 10% of my income, and the maximum amount I can contribute each year. I’m also hoping to increase my non-retirement savings starting next year.

If I hadn’t been so short-sighted, I wouldn’t have my bare bones retirement account looming over me

One big difference is that I’m now self-employed, so I no longer have an employer to match any of my contributions. Another is that rather than have my retirement savings automatically taken out of my paycheck, I have to be pro-active about setting that money aside, which is big challenge when you don’t have  regular paycheck.

There’s a reason there are financial penalties for cashing in your 401(k) early. The whole point of a retirement account is that it’s there to take care of you in the future. When you’re in your twenties, you can still find side gigs to bring in extra income, take on an extra roommate and cut back on spending. While you can work past your official retirement, well-paying jobs will likely be tougher to come by at that age when I’d be competing with people who are several decades younger.

Now that retirement is only twenty-five, not forty-five, years away, and I only have $11,000 saved, it’s gotten a lot more real in my mind—and a lot scarier to try to build up enough to live on in a much shorter period of time.

While half of Americans retire between 61 and 65, unless my income rises dramatically in the next two decades, I’ll likely be working well into my seventies in order to save enough.

If I hadn’t been so short-sighted, I wouldn’t have my bare bones retirement account looming over me. Making a rash decision about my money cost me a lot more, in savings and in peace of mind, than I ever expected.

So take it from me—if you’re considering cashing in your 401k early, don’t.

The post I Cashed In My 401(k) in My Twenties and It Was a Huge Mistake appeared first on Stash Learn.

If you feel stuck in a job you’re unhappy at, you can pursue one of two options: you can resign and begin exploring new career options or you can begin to search for a new job while remaining employed in your current role.

It’s always tough, especially when you’re really bummed about where you are and are itching to get out fast and find something better. But pursuing a new job while you’re still employed has a lot of advantages over quitting and searching.

As much as you may dread your current job, you should resist the urge to impulsively throw in the towel before you think about the positive aspects of your current employment. While it may seem difficult to find anything satisfying about your current job, it’s important to carefully consider the benefits of your current job before submitting your resignation. Below are eight reasons why you should consider staying at a job you dislike.

1. Employers often gravitate toward candidates who are currently employed.

Employers often prefer to hire candidates who are currently working. Employed job candidates are often viewed as more desirable and are less likely to seem overly eager during interviews.

2. You’ll be in a stronger position to negotiate if you receive a job offer.

Employed job seekers can use their existing income and benefits as bargaining chips during negotiations. Hiring managers know that you do not actually need the job for which you are interviewing, which further increases your negotiating power.

Pursuing a new job while you’re still employed has a lot of advantages over quitting and searching.

3. You can take advantage of job-related training opportunities to bolster your resume.

Many companies require employees to receive continuing education to ensure that they are equipped with the latest techniques and safety training. The costs of this kind of training are usually covered by employers but would be the financial responsibility of the job seeker for unemployed job seekers.

4. You’ll continue to earn income.

This may seem obvious but it shouldn’t be overlooked. You should seriously rethink quitting your job unless you have good job prospects or several months of savings. Remaining in a job you dislike is unpleasant but at least you don’t have to deal with the financial strain that can come with unemployment.

5. You’ll still be able to receive benefits and contribute to existing retirement plans.

If you’ve got benefits, you may want to consider staying with your job until you find something better. One of the primary reasons why people stick with jobs they don’t like is their ability to continue to receive health care insurance and contribute money to job-sponsored retirement plans.

6. Your job skills will stay sharp.

Maintaining your skill set will enables you to hit the ground running faster than a new hire who has been out of the game and has become rusty. If you do decide to resign from your position, you’ll need to stay on top of maintaining your job skills to be able to compete with employed job seekers who are putting their skills to use every day.

7. You can continue to make new contacts through your job.

Regardless of how you may view your current employment, your job offers daily opportunities to meet new contacts who may prove to be helpful to you in your job search. You may even meet a new contact who is searching for a new hire with your exact skill set.

8. You can still search for a new job while you are employed.

The time after your work hours are always yours. Use them to network, go to events and get your name out there. Just make sure that your job search activities don’t jeopardize your current employment status. You don’t want to end your tenure at a job, even a job you don’t like, on a sour note.

The Bottom Line

No wants to stay in a job that makes them miserable a moment longer than they have to. But while having a bad job can wreak havoc on your quality of life, most career experts recommend that people remain employed while initiating a job search. Don’t be unhappy, get out of that job but look before you leap.

The post 8 Reasons to Stay in a Bad Job Until You Land a Good One appeared first on Stash Learn.