The couple, who are based in Las Vegas, soon realized they were facing more than $50,000 in debt, living in a basement apartment and unable to afford what they truly wanted out of life. 

“We do have a lot of outside pressures telling us what we should want, what a successful gay looks like,” Schneider says. “Our spending was not at all aligned with what really mattered to us. We wanted to save for a comfortable retirement, travel much more than we had at that point, but to do it on cash and not come back with a credit card hangover, and to give back to their community.”

The couple, together for more than 17 years and married since 2017, are now the authors of “4: The Four Principles of a Debt Free Life” and the Debt Free Guys website, geared toward helping LGBT people climb out of debt and live smarter financial lives.

They confirm what the numbers show—that LGBT Americans are less financially stable than the general population and face unique challenges that affect their bank accounts.

Nearly half of the 500 LGBT respondents in a wide-reaching 2018 Experian survey said they struggle to maintain adequate savings, compared to 38 percent of the non-LGBT population surveyed, and more than a third said they have “bad spending habits” that they’d like to improve or change, compared to about one-fourth of their non-LGBT counterparts. 

Bias and discrimination has caused financial challenges for 62 percent of LGBT respondents, who also reported being passed over for jobs or promotions, being harassed at work and higher housing costs due to discrmination.

The LGBT population is also more inclined to spend money than save it, according to the Experian survey, and have more challenges when it comes to retirement planning.

Schneider and Auten focused their attention on LGBT finances after attending FinCon, the world’s largest financial content conference, in 2015, a year after they launched Debt Free Guys. They found groups dedicated to black finances, mommy bloggers, Christian bloggers, but not LGBT finances.

“That kind of put a little bit of a weight on our shoulders that said if no one else is going to do this we have to do it,” Auten says.  “We have the responsibility and the privilege to do that.” 

They also recognize that, as cis, white men, they have a privilege that can translate into helping other LGBT people who may be marginalized because they are people of color, transgender or living in poverty.

“I think that we need to be very encouraging to each other in the community that there are as many options and opportunities available to us as there is everyone else,” Auten says. “It may not feel like it at times, but it is.”

We’ve broken down the most pressing financial challenges for the LGBT community along with tips for financial stability.

Savings and Student Loans

Successfully entering adulthood often depends on strong family support and education — two things LGBT youth often don’t have. 

Though LGBT youth comprises just 5 percent to 10 percent of the population, they account for 40 percent of homeless youth. LGBT young adults are 120 times more at risk of being homeless than heterosexual, cisgender young adults.

That sets up the LGBT population for years, if not a lifetime, of struggling, financial stress and low paying jobs.

“You’re worried about where you are going to sleep at night or whether you’re going to be able to get through the day without getting beaten up, or every day you’re dealing with microaggressions because of who you are,” Schneider says. “It’s a little hard to then say, despite all this, I’m going to focus on saving enough for retirement.”

Saving and planning for a stable financial future is a privilege that many LBGT people don’t have the luxury to consider.

“Oftentimes when we think about finances in our community, it’s more from a position of desperation and not as much from a position of opportunity,” he added.

The lack of familial support also means much higher student loan debt for LGBTQ+ youth that make it to college. 

About 4 in 10 respondents in a Student Loan Hero survey of LGBTQ+ borrowers in 2019 said they’ve been denied financial help due to their sexual orientation. Nearly 30 percent say their student loans are unmanageable and a whopping 87 percent said their student loans have prevented them from reaching important milestones.

Still, college is a lifeline for many. Nearly 60 percent said they felt welcomed and accepted on their college campus.

Budgeting Differences

Once you do get to a point of budgeting and saving, it may look different than your hetero, cisgender counterparts.

“A lot of our budgeting needs will be different. A lot of our budgeting goals will be different,” David Rae, a Los Angeles-based certified financial planner whose firm caters to LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+-friendly clients, says.

Fewer gay and lesbian couples have children than heterosexual couples. While exact numbers are hard to trace because some parents may feel scared to accurately report their status on the U.S. census, there are an estimated 2 million to 3.7 million children living with a parent that identifies as LGBTQ+, according to the most recent data.

Those families that do choose to parent children will spend more to bring those children into their families, through surrogacy, sperm donation, reproductive medicine and adoption fees.

LGBTQ+ Americans also face unique medical costs that can put a major strain on their budgets. This can include anything from higher HIV/AIDS treatment and medication, hormone therapy, and delayed or less effective medical treatment due to the stigma of being LGBTQ+.

For some transgender people who choose gender reassignment surgery, the medical costs can be crippling — almost six figures in some cases. That can be financially devastating for those who are uninsured or whose policies don’t cover the costs.

The Cost of Living (and Keeping Up with the Joneses)

Just a generation or two ago, rampant, dangerous homophobia and laws against gays and lesbians, Rae says, forced people into the safe havens of major cities like San Francisco, New York City or Los Angeles.  

“We don’t have to live in the ‘gayborhood’ necessarily anymore,” Rae says. ““But I do think for the most part, we are ending up in cities… which drives up the average cost. And some of that is to feel safe.”

There is also the very prevalent stereotype of the lavish gay lifestyle, especially among, gay men, according to Rae and the Debt Free Guys, and that plays a major part in spending beyond their means on things they may not even want.

“We want to prove that [LGBTQ+ people] are worthy, that we are just as good as our straight neighbors,” Auten says. “I think it’s a lot of [keeping up with] Mr. and Mr. Jones, Mrs and Mrs Jones.” 

The Atlantic even published a report about the myth of gay affluence, that pointed to a disparity between popular culture, such as Will & Grace and Modern Family and the reality that LGBTQ+ Americans live with a disproportionate amount of poverty and debt. Auten and Schneider says they have friends in New York City, a gay couple, who both earn six figures each, but who are drowning under six figures of credit card debt. 

The Experian study showed that nearly 50 percent of respondents ages 25-34 reported feeling financially out of control along with more than 40 percent of respondents ages 35-44.

“I think the media and the consumerism side of corporate America do a really, really good job, of showing us this is what really fabuous gay men look like,” Auten says. “If you want to be a good gay, you need to look like this.” 

Money Matters at Work

LGBTQ+ Americans continue to face financially devastating discrmination at work, from being denied jobs or promotions to making less money than their straight co-workers. Only 22 states and the District of Columbia have laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Lesbians reported making $45,606 to straight women’s $51,461, a difference of nearly 13 percent, according to a report from insurance company Prudential  about finanical experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. Meanwhile gay men reported making an average of $56,936 to heterosexual men earning $83,469, a difference of 46 percent. And the unemployment rate for transgender Americans is three times higher than the national average, according to a report from Out & Equal, a workplace advocacy group. (Note: The Prudential report, from 2016-2017 is the company’s most recent on the subject. The 2019 report from Out & Equal is also that organization’s most recent.)

“The best way you can bridge that gap is to build your skill set,” Rae says, “and be as marketable and as valuable an employee as possible.” 

LGBTQ+ Americans, especially those who are younger, don’t have to consign themselves to service jobs or low-paying gigs that don’t come with benefits simply because they are gay or may present outside of the binary, Auten says. 

“There are as many options and opportunities available to us as there are to everyone else,” he adds. “We should be supporting and encouraging each other to reach for those higher paying jobs.” 

Tips for Financial Success and Supporting the LGBT Community

LGBT Americans may face more of an uphill battle in erasing debt and building wealth, but the advice is the same no matter how you identify.

“Create your own opportunity. And a big piece of having that opportunity is having your finances in shape, ” Rae says. “If you’re drowning in credit card debt, you are dependent on that job. You need that paycheck. You don’t have the opportunity leave.” 

Support LGBT and ally businesses. Not only are they a potential source of employment, but they understand, accept and support other LGBT Americans. 

“We as a communty can benefit from supporting gay businsses, supporting gay-friendly businsess,” Rae says, adding that he keeps a constant eye on social justice investments for his clients. “Some of that is our spending and some of that is our investing.”

Save for retirement, even a little at a time. This should be a goal for all Americans, but LGBT Americans as a group are behind the savings curve. Saving for retirement was the top financial concern for LGBTQ+ respondents of the Experian survey. 

But it’s not easy. For one, Rae and the Debt Free Guys pointed out, the HIV/AIDS crisis killed almost an entire generation of LGBTQ+ Americans who would now be nearing or at retirement age and could have set the standard.

Also, retirement planning imagery often involves a “straight, white couple and their golden retriever walking down the beach,” Auten says. “If you don’t see yourself in any of the imagery then you don’t think it’s necessarily for you. As an LGBTQ+ person, you may not even engage with this.” 

Looking for an LGBTQ+ retirement advisor or certified financial professional (CFP) can go a long way toward helping you secure the future you want.

The post Why Saving and Debt are Big Problems for LGBTQ+ People appeared first on Stash Learn.

Black Americans continue to experience a gap in homeownership due to redlining, which is the illegal practice of denying mortgages to people, usually people of color, from certain neighborhoods. 

While 74% of non-Hispanic white Americans owned a home as of the third quarter of 2021, 44% of Black Americans owned a home during the same quarter. That compares to about 48% percent of Hispanic Americans who owned a home and about 60% of Asian, Native, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Americans. The rate of homeownership was lower among Black Americans than any other racial group, according to the Census Bureau.   

(More than 65% of Americans owned a home as of the third quarter of 2021.) 

The gap in homeownership between white Americans and Black Americans is even wider than it was in 1960, when denying mortgages, or payment plans to own homes, to people based on skin color was still legal. While there is a 30% gap in homeownership today, there was a 27% gap in homeownership in 1960, according to The Urban Institute. 

This gap has persisted and even grown despite the passage of The Fair Housing Act in 1968, which made redlining illegal. The act outlawed denying the renting, financing, or selling of a home to someone on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, and family status. Similarly, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974 and made it illegal for creditors to discriminate against applicants. 

What is redlining?

Redlining reportedly started during the Great Depression, when the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) was founded to bail out homeowners by buying and refinancing mortgages. The HOLC would outline areas it thought to be high-risk and would often deny buying out mortgages from those areas. The practice was discriminatory because often the outlined “high-risk” areas were in inner-cities with a high population of Black Americans and people of color. 

Redlining was further enforced by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which was founded in 1934. The FHA provided mortgage insurance to lenders but wouldn’t back mortgages in redlined neighborhoods. The FHA also insured construction loans for builders, but only insured those loans if the builders promised not to sell homes to Black Americans, according to Forbes. 

Although redlining was banned with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the repercussions of redlining still exist. 

Countering the effects of redlining

By making it more difficult for Black Americans to purchase homes, redlining set Black Americans back in gaining access to a source of wealth for many Americans, according to NPR. 

The history of redlining could contribute to the persistent wealth gap, or the historical disparity in average household income, between white Americans and Black Americans. The median household income for white and the history of redlining could contribute to the persistent wealth gap, or the historical disparity in average household income, between white Americans and Black Americans. The median household income for white households in 2020 was $74,912, about 63% more than the median household income for Black households of $45,870.

The geographic effects of redlining have been lasting. Black homeowners are four times more likely to live in a formerly redlined neighborhood than a neighborhood outside of those lines. Meanwhile, in 48 cities, Black Americans are still turned away more often than white Americans when they try to obtain a mortgage, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Good to know: Groups such as the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, a group founded in 1947 by African American real estate agents, are working to increase the rate of homeownership among Black Americans over the course of the next several years.

What should prospective homebuyers know?

Unless you’ve got cash on hand to cover the full cost of the home you want to buy, you’ll need a mortgage to finance the purchase of a home. So, it’s important to be armed with the historical context of mortgages and homeownership if you think you’re ready to purchase a house. 

Assuming you don’t plan to purchase a house with cash outright, you can usually expect to pay around 20% of the purchase price of a house as a down payment to receive a mortgage. Then you’ll typically have to pay off the mortgage in regular, monthly payments. 

When you’re setting up a budget for your home purchase, remember that purchasing a house can also come with unexpected expenses such as homeowner’s insurance and upkeep. 

If you want to save towards a down payment for a house, make that savings part of your budget. You might also consider automating your savings with Recurring Transactions to help achieve your savings objective. 

The post All About the Homeownership Gap for Black Americans appeared first on Stash Learn.

That’s why, for many, hearing the recent news that tennis champion Naomi Osaka and gold-medal Olympic gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from their respective sporting competitions this summer may be a reason to pause and consider their own states of mind. And it’s possible the news will open up more conversations for those who want, and need, to take time off to tend to their mental health. 

Whether it’s generalized anxiety, depression, or burnout, mental health challenges cost the global economy approximately $1 trillion each year in lost productivity, according to recent research by medical journal The Lancet. What’s more, Covid-19 has compounded psychological challenges for many since 2020, and led to more financial challenges, as people grapple with fear, anxiety, emotional distress related to illness, bereavement, loss of income, not to mention loneliness and social isolation, the journal reports.

Personally, I know what this looks like. I suffered an intense period of burnout back in 2019, and I didn’t work for a month. Not only did I spend more on counseling in the months after trying to scramble to create some semblance of a work life balance, I spent more during those weeks off on items including takeout and babysitters for my son. Luckily, I was able to afford those expenses thanks to my emergency fund. 

In hindsight, I saw the burnout coming and wish I had taken proactive steps to take time off, instead of being forced to. If you’re in a similar situation and want to take time off, here are some ways you can make it work financially.

Budgeting for mental health

Whether you’ll receive partial pay or need to take unpaid leave, you should budget for time off. it’s likely you’ll be living on a reduced income, which may require you to adjust how you allocate your money. Ideally, you should also have a rainy day fund in place, which you may have to tap to pay for unexpected expenses. 

If you’re planning to take time off a few months from now, you should consider setting aside money for a larger rainy day fund. It could help you avoid spending on personal loans or credit cards, which can get you into debt.

You’ll also want to look at which parts of your budget you can temporarily cut out or reduce when tending to your mental health. Consider looking into benefits your employer or health insurance may provide, such as free counselling sessions under your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). These are confidential, short-term counseling sessions for employees that may also include referrals and follow-up services for personal or work-related problems. There are also non-profit programs that can offer reduced fees for counseling, such as the Open Path Psychotherapy Collective.

Negotiating with your employer

For your next step, consider talking to your employer. Aside from filing for short term disability insurance (more on this later), it’s a good idea to start the dialogue early when it comes to taking time off. 

Rich Jones, host of the podcast Paychecks & Balances, says that mental health and career are hot topics currently, so companies may be more flexible than ever. It could be a great time to speak to your supervisor or human resources department.  And in case you’re scared to start a conversation, Jones suggests thinking about yourself as a valuable company asset.

“Companies don’t want to lose top talent because they didn’t give them the space needed,” he says. “Be thoughtful about why you’re requesting the break, how it will help you and the potential coverage plan for when you’re away.”

Jones also suggests familiarizing yourself with company benefits, including any policies for leave. If not, try to come up with a plan and then approach the right people. You should be open to what happens and how to respond, though you may be pleasantly surprised at what happens.

Filing for short-term disability or FMLA 

There are several options when it comes to filing a short-term disability claim, though specifics will depend on the laws in your state, and your employer’s policy. Short-term disability can offer you income protection by replacing part of your paycheck if you are injured or if you become too sick to work.  You may want to consult an attorney specializing in these matters to see where you stand.

In general, you may be able to file for short-term disability through your employer if you’re diagnosed with a mental condition, which stems from workplace stress. This diagnosis needs to come from a medical professional. And you may be able to take several months of leave, and in some instances may receive up to 80% of your gross income if your employer provides short term disability benefits.  

You may also be able to apply for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows covered employees to take time off for specified family and medical reasons. However, you’ll only receive up to 12 weeks off and it’s usually unpaid. Your job is protected during your MLA leave, and after your 3 months is up, your company must put you back in the same job or an equivalent, with equivalent benefits and conditions of employment.  Whereas with short-term disability, you may not be protected. However,  employers with 15 or more workers must offer to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.

Using Your FSA or HSA Funds

Your health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) are tax-favored accounts that can help you pay for various health care expenses, which can include your mental health. Since many mental health needs aren’t covered under a typical health insurance plan, you’ll probably need to pay out of pocket for them. An HSA or FSA account may let you pay for qualified medical expenses related to mental health.You may be able to save money since these accounts are funded with pre-tax dollars. 

Reaching out

Don’t forget to ask friends and family if you know you’ll need support. It might feel overwhelming to deal with mental health concerns or worry about whether your job will be there if you take time off. Your health should be your top priority.

“It’s better to take the leave than to let your performance slip,” Jones says. “You could get a low job performance rating and find yourself fighting an uphill battle.”

Remember the Stash Way

At Stash, we recommend following the Stash Way. It’s our philosophy for financial wellness, which includes budgeting, creating emergency savings, and investing on a regular basis, as well as protecting your loved ones and assets with insurance. Stash also offers goal-setting tools such as Partitions, which can help you set money aside in an emergency fund that can support you through a leave of absence.

The post How to Plan Financially for a Mental Health Leave appeared first on Stash Learn.

So it may also surprise you that Meg is very particular about her coffee. 

Her order? 

“Medium oat milk mocha, but only with the essence of mocha, the lightest whisper of chocolate that is capable of being put into a coffee.” 

Pre-pandemic, Meg went to the coffee shop Mojo on Freret Street five days a week, bringing her seven-year-old Contigo reusable coffee mug with her. 

“[The baristas] knew what my order was. Over the years we have perfected this relationship to craft the coffee I like,” she says. “It takes me six months to form a relationship with a barista.” 

Coffee costs add up

Meg’s oat milk latte/mocha obsession means she never orders coffee while traveling because she knows she’ll be disappointed. At home in NOLA, she’s happy to pay $5.46 per day plus a dollar tip, always in cash, to get her perfect cup. That works out to $32.20 per week, $128.80 per month, and approximately $1223.60 per year, since Meg and her partner typically spend three and a half months of the year traveling. If Meg stayed in NOLA all year, her annual Mojo coffee spending would be $1679.60.

But once the pandemic hit, everything changed. 

On March 13 of this year, Meg posted to Facebook about her new dilemma: Mojo wouldn’t accept her reusable mug due to Coronavirus concerns, which meant she had to take their disposable cup. On the other hand, she didn’t want to stop supporting a local business, which she correctly predicted would need all the help it could get. 

Changing habits nationwide

As the pandemic wore on, Meg’s usual baristas had to relocate or change jobs. They quit. The new baristas didn’t know her very specific order. And her coffee shop switched from accepting cash to only accepting card, and only accepting orders via an app. 

“Charging that coffee every day was a reminder of how much I was spending; when I paid in cash, I could just forget about it,” Meg said. “And my order didn’t translate on the app. … I realized that building new relationships over an app was just not happening.”

Meg’s change in routine mirrors what’s happening all over the country. People’s coffee habits are in flux, and the numbers bear witness: Sales of upscale coffee makers—such as Chemex pour-over coffee maker, espresso machines, and French presses—are up 28%  since the pandemic began, according to the Wall Street Journal. Keurig machine sales increased 34% in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to the third quarter. Packaged coffee grounds and beans were already on the rise pre-pandemic—about 2% per year—but sales have jumped 10% this year. The numbers are clear: More people are making coffee at home.  

And this means they aren’t going out. Starbucks’ revenue dropped 38% in the second quarter of 2020, and the company is closing 400 stores. Dunkin’ saw a 20% decline during the same period, and is closing 800 locations. 

Though Meg’s favorite coffee shop never closed during the pandemic, the app ordering, card charging, barista changes, and disposable cup situation were all too much for her to continue her routine. So she rummaged through her attic and found her mom’s old coffee grinder, as well as an espresso machine she got in college. It was broken, so she duct taped it together. She bought espresso beans, and watched six hours of YouTube tutorials on how to make the perfect latte. 

“I knew I was working with broken equipment so there was only so far I could go,” she says. Soon, the espresso maker died, so she borrowed her sister-in-law’s, “which was also crap.”

Investing in a coffee rig, and making the right home brew

“Finally, I was like, ‘I just gotta bite the bullet and buy my own,’ ” Meg says. After almost eight hours of research, she settled on a $350 refurbished Breville Bambino Plus, which retails for $500. She also bought a $50, Javapress manual burr coffee grinder. And after 23 tries, she finally made a decent oat milk latte with a whisper of chocolate.  

“Getting an espresso machine is like having a baby,” Meg says. “You don’t understand each other right away. It takes time.” 

These days, Meg buys $15 environmentally-friendly shade-grown espresso from Mojo or another local coffee shop, French Truck, about every three weeks. She orders $11 oat milk once a week. And for $30, she got a three-pound bag of chocolate powder, which will last her at least six months. Without factoring in equipment costs or her learning curve, Meg’s new coffee drinks cost her approximately $3.23 per cup, almost exactly half of what she paid pre-pandemic. That’s $775.68 per year. Add the $400 she spent on equipment, and you’ve got $1,175.68 for a full year of gourmet coffee, still less than Meg paid for eight and a half months of it from her local shop. 

And if she keeps up this DIY habit for more than a year, her savings will keep on growing. The fact that so many people may be having this realization could be bad for the future of coffee shops, but good for most people’s wallets.

So, will Meg keep making her own oat milk lattes with a hint of chocolate post-pandemic? 

Only time will tell.  

“[My former baristas’] espresso pours are better than mine. There are just so many variables. Grind size, heat of water, pressure tamping down, weighing out the coffee in grams. I am not 100 percent on any of it,” she says. “But it’s getting better.”

The post Why One Woman Became Her Own Barista appeared first on Stash Learn.

Here are some of the tips that everyone—artist or not—can use in their everyday lives: 

1-PATRICK HASTIE (New York, New York  comedian and podcaster): I quit drinking soda and booze. 

Money saved: $2912 a year on alcohol, and $1303 a year on soft drinks

AMANDA AVERELL (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania comedian): 

1. Frozen or dried veggies over fresh produce. It tastes the same and is way cheaper.
2. Work out of a library instead of a coffee shop—you can stay forever and don’t have to buy anything.

Money saved: $50-$100 per month on veggies and $60 on month on coffee shops.

2-LIZ SIMONS (New York, New York comedian): Pay yourself like a bill every day. I would consistently do $5 a day (which I know might not be doable, so do what works – $1 a day, $2 a day, etc.). Keep the money in a safe place and do not touch it. Then, when I was going on a trip I’d take the money out and essentially have free cash and I wouldn’t have to worry about spending a lot. 

Money saved: $150 a month

3-JOSE GONZALEZ (Phoenix comedian): With a library card, it’s easy to borrow ebooks, audiobooks, music and movies via a few apps or services. 

Money saved: $50-$200 a month

4-ERICA SPERA (NYC comedian and podcaster): I take all the hand-me-downs my cousins give me and just resell them [on the app Poshmark]. Purses and shoes are easiest.

Money earned: $600 a year

5-ANDREW MAYER (Boston comedian): Paying cash for everything is an underrated way to understand how expensive/cheap things really are. 

Money saved: $50-$100 a month

6-SELENA COPPOCK (NYC comedian and writer): Live and die on cans of tuna and hard boiled eggs. They are cheap, great forms of protein that stay with you. 

Money saved: $100 a month

7-JOHN ROSENBERGER (NYC comedian): I do almost all of my ingredient and household item shopping at Dollar Tree. The only things I don’t buy there are meat, dairy, and produce, but [I do buy] all seasonings, pasta, rice, soft drinks, detergent, house cleaning supplies, etc. Everything there is literally $1. 

Money saved: $150-$200/month

8-REGINA CASTANEDA (Miami standup comedian): I keep protein bars or nuts in my comedy book-bag to prevent myself from eating out vs. waiting to get home. I also cut out most eating out in general. I do that thing where I’d cook for friends instead of going to a restaurant with them. 

Find out where to park for free ahead of time, drive around a lot until you find a hidden cheaper/free spot, etc. I’ve saved sooo much by not paying for parking.  

Money saved: Not eating out $300 per month. Parking $150-$250 a year. 

9-SARAH STEWART (Toledo, Ohio seamstress and baker): When I lived alone, I aimed to spend $50 a month on food. You read right. Cooked EVERY night. I’d buy $1 bags of clearance veggies (only whatever is on clearance you CANNOT be picky), $1 boxes of pasta and rice, ate mostly vegetarian (meat costs $$). LEARN TO MAKE SAUCES & SOUPS.

 Savings: $350 per month

10-MARIA WOJCIECHOWSKI (NYC comedian, writer, and actor): Cutting down on my subscriptions to streaming services. I end up alternating them or sharing … paying the “family” price, and splitting services with friends. [On] Spotify you can save like $6/mo.

Money saved: $30-$75 per month

The post Sweat the Small Stuff appeared first on Stash Learn.

And by corner office we mean a corner of your kitchen, your living room or your bedroom with a view of whatever is outside your window.

Less than four percent of the U.S. workforce worked from home, pre-pandemic, at least half of the time or more, according to research and consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics. They predict that the pandemic will lead to more people taking advantage of that opportunity after life returns to normal, up to 25 to 30 percent. 

Remote work allows employees the comfort and flexibility of working the way they feel most productive. More than 80 percent of U.S. office workers surveyed said they want to continue working from home part of the time when the pandemic is over. 

The best place to get work done is a home office that is dedicated to your work. We spoke to two writers and business owners who have been working from home for more than a decade to get their best tips for a successful home office, along with how much you can expect to spend.

Find a location that works best for you

Take a look around your home and imagine your potential set up. Do you have a spare room you could transform into a home office? A corner of your dining room? A large walk-in closet? 

Pick the space that is the most comfortable to you and that you can envision being the most productive.

“I have a really cool spot in the corner of my kitchen where there’s two huge windows and I have a desk that is pushed up in front of that corner,” said Jennifer Dienst, a Charleston-based writer and the owner of a travel advising business. She has worked from home for 10 years.

“It’s one of the reasons why I bought the house,” she said. “Having a space to work where I have this beautiful view and all this natural light is really important.” 

Sarah Ratliff, a Puerto Rico-based freelance writer and the owner of a content marketing agency, settled on a corner of her bedroom, taking advantage of a dividing wall.

“We just rearranged things and I made a little office,” she said. She used two desks to make an L shape. 

“That gave me kind of that square look in the office,” she said. “And I put a credenza in the back that has my printer and my files and any binders I need. Things are kind of tucked away nicely”. 

Get set up and find your office vibe

Working from home on a regular basis means you will need more than a laptop and a free seat on the couch. It doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars to set up, but it has to be functional and comfortable.

Sometimes spending more money up front will save money later on.

“One way to reduce costs a lot was to get a really good chair. So that has been my saving grace. It’s the most comfortable chair I’ve ever had, said Ratliff, who spent more than $400 on an ergonomic desk chair from Office Depot.  “It was so worth it. It fits perfectly in relation to the desk and the monitor and the height where my hands would be.” 

She estimates that the chair saved her about $2,000 in adjustable desks, computer monitors and keyboard trays that she would have otherwise needed to work free of the neck and back pain she’s had since an injury when she was younger.

Ergonomics should be a priority, not an afterthought, when it comes to setting up a home office. According to Oregon Occupational Safety and Health, good ergonomics leads to more productivity, less missed work and less pain from muscle and joint strain. That means your chair, your feet, your desk height, your computer monitor and your keyboard should be positioned in a way that puts the least amount of stress on your body so you can sit or stand comfortably while you work. 

If you are working for an employer, it’s likely you will be given a work laptop or at least a steep subsidy. If you are working from home as a contract employee, getting a good, reliable computer is absolutely critical to your productivity.

“My life and my work is on my laptop, so I have to have it. I can’t work  without it,” Dienst said. “So that’s an important investment for sure.”

Dienst and Ratliff both use Mac computers, which start at just under $1,000 and go up from there, depending on the model. You could also find deals on PCs for hundreds of dollars less as long as you have enough memory and processing speed to get your work done quickly and efficiently. 

While Dienst waits for her computers to conk out before replacing them, Ratliff  takes a proactive approach and replaces hers every five years or so. 

“If I can’t work, we can’t eat,” she said. “We don’t want to wait until I start having problems to replace a computer. We just make sure I’m always up and running no matter what.” 

You don’t always have to spend top dollar in every aspect of your office. Dienst found her beloved Crate and Barrel desk on the Facebook marketplace. It was originally about $500, but Dienst paid less than half secondhand.

Other must haves:

A printer. “Even if you don’t print things that often, if you work from home you will print more things than you realize,” Dienst said. (Many can be purchased for $100 to  $200.)

Software. “I’ve had to spend money on things I never would have thought of before,” said Ratliff, who pays a few hundred dollars each month for software such as Hootsuite for social media management, Trello for assignment and management organization, and Xero and Freshbooks for bookkeeping. (Costs can range from free to several hundred dollars a year.) 

Furniture. Ratliff uses a credenza to stay organized, while Dienst just spent about $150 on a new filing cabinet from Wayfair. “I really should have just paid more to have one that was put together because It took me three hours and I cried twice,” she admitted. “Putting together filing cabinets is not easy.”

Take advantage of tax deductions and employer perks

The upfront costs of creating and maintaining a home office may seem daunting, but the good news is that you may be able to deduct almost everything on your taxes if you are self-employed.¹

If you qualify for the write off, you can only write off the space that is dedicated solely for work. So you can’t deduct the entire square footage of your kitchen or your bedroom, for example, but you can take a measuring tape and deduct the square footage of your office space.

You may also be able to write off any office-related furniture you’ve purchased that year, such as chairs, desks, filing systems and you can deduct any office supplies, including printers, ink, pens, paper, staples and software.

“In my business, I try to be as organized as possible because it’s costly to not be,” Ratliff said. “At the end of the year I just send my accountant spreadsheets.” 

Other out of pocket costs you may be able to deduct include:

• A portion of your cell phone bill based on how often it’s used for work versus personal use.
• A portion of your Internet service.
• Work-related subscription fees for trade magazines or online libraries.
• Gas mileage for work trips if not compensated through your employer.

In addition to providing the basics for work-from-home employees, such as computers and Internet service, some employers are getting creative with their work-from-home perks, providing everything from headphones and other work-related electronics to stress reduction programs and even Disney+ streaming services to help entertain the kids at home during the pandemic.  

Make your space inviting

One great perk of working from a home office is that you can make the space your own. For Dienst that means putting up several plants in her office space for what she calls a “greenhouse effect.” For Ratliff that means making space under her desk for her officemate, her beloved German shepherd. 

“Sometimes I sit with my feet perched on his chest,” she said. “It’s not the best ergonomics, but we like it.” 

Dienst also invested in an espresso maker for $210 so she can keep the creative juices flowing and installed Roman shades on her windows to keep the bright South Carolina sun at bay. 

“That helps keep the space cool and make it so that I can adjust the light if I need to,” she said. “If it’s bright and hot you are going to want to go take a nap in a dark room.”

Wherever you set up your home office, make sure it is a space where you feel productive, comfortable and ready to work. And remember, the couch is always there for breaks. 

The post There’s No Place Like Your Home Office appeared first on Stash Learn.

In fact, LGBTQ+ people may face more obstacles when it comes to money–including lower incomes, greater levels of debt, and constraints around planning for retirement and other long-term financial goals–than other groups. And so before the month is over, we want to examine some of these issues, and offer some suggestions for getting your financial house in order.

Here’s a closer look.

Starting out with less

LGBTQ+ people can tend to start out with more financial disadvantages, say David Auten and John Schneider, founders of the LBGTQ+ personal finance site Debt Free Guys. These liabilities can include a greater rate of homelessness in youth, and lower paying jobs, which can lead to an increased need to borrow for education or just to get by. And financial difficulties can continue into adulthood, as LGBTQ+ people enter the workforce and encounter hiring biases, which can limit income and professional advancement. (And all of these issues can be even greater for trans people and people of color, says Auten.) 

What’s more, LGBTQ+ people on average have household incomes of $50,000 or less, well below the median income for all households. So it’s no wonder then that money difficulties are what reportedly keep more than half of LGBTQ+ up at night.

“Savings and general budgeting are some of the biggest financial concerns facing the [LGBTQ+] population,” says Steven Garibell, vice president in charge of LGBTQ2+ business development at TD Bank, which conducted a survey of LGBTQ+ Millennials in May, 2019.

Fewer financial products

Meanwhile, when it comes to planning for a better financial future, less than half of all LGBTQ+ people have the most basic banking product–a savings or checking account, while less than a third had access to retirement products like a 401(k) and less than a quarter had an IRA, according to a 2018 survey by insurance provider Prudential. 

With these concerns in mind, here are some things that LGBTQ+ people can do to create a better financial future:

1-Spend less than you earn

LGBTQ+ people may have more temptation to “keep up with the Joneses,” and potentially spend more than they should, to prove worthiness, say Auten and Schneider. One of the goals of any smart financial life is to spend less than you earn. That sounds simple, but it may require doing a deep dive into your finances. You’ll need to sit down with a pen and paper, or a spreadsheet (whatever you like), and calculate your monthly net income and your monthly expenses. If you’re spending more than you earn, chances are you’re also running up debt, and it’s probably time to set up a budget.

In fact, 60% of LGBTQ Millennial workers have less than three months of emergency savings, according to the TD Bank survey. Only 39% said that they have more than three months of savings, and only 20% said that they have over six months of savings. “This is significantly worse off than Generation X and Baby Boomer workers,” Garibell says.

2-Create a budget

Think of a budget as a roadmap for your financial life. It will tell you where and where you can’t go, and it can help you start to save and invest money. While most people know about the 50-30-20 budget, it’s important to remember there isn’t only one type of budget. There’s also something called the envelope method, and another called the zero-sum budget. You can even develop your own. Regardless here’s what a budget can help you get a handle on:

·Fixed expenses: Recurring items that are not likely to change, including, rent, car payments, insurance premiums and phone bills.

·Variable expenses: Expenses that recur but are not fixed dollar amounts. Groceries, variable utility bills and the occasional night out at the movies qualify. You may choose to place credit card payments here as well.

·Irregular expenses: These expenses can be expected or not, and tend to arise only occasionally. Birthday gifts for friends and family, vacations and the unexpected home or auto repair fall into this category.

·Savings: Treat this as a recurring expense and you will be more likely to put away a small amount every two weeks. Try not to stress over the dollar amount—the point is to get in the habit of putting a little something aside for the future, to create an emergency fund and potentially to invest, which can help you start to build wealth..

If you have a Stash banking account, you have access to a planning tool called partitions, which can help you set aside money into different categories for monthly spending, and for longer-term saving goals. 

3-Tackle your debt

The average LGBTQ+ family reportedly has more debt than its straight counterpart. When it comes to credit cards, LGBTQ+ folks had 16% more of $13,000, while they had 85% more student loan debt, of nearly $74,000. Too much debt can negatively affect your credit score, and it can prevent you from saving for your future.

Here ways to help reduce credit card  and student loan debt:

• A financial tactic called the snowball method prioritizes paying off your smallest debts first, not the ones with the highest interest rates. The theory is that you can pay off smaller loans more quickly, which might help you feel better about debt as you get rid of these loans. Remember, though,  high interest rate loans may cost you more in the long run.

• There’s also something called the avalanche method where you list all of your debts such as credit card or auto loans, from the highest interest rate to lowest rate. Then you start paying off the debt that charges the highest interest rate first. After that, you tackle the next-highest interest rate loan, and then gradually work your way up the ladder. The logic behind the avalanche method of paying off debt is that higher interest costs you more money the longer you hold it. So, by paying off the higher interest rate debt, you’ll be saving yourself money in the long run. 
• When it comes to student loans, consider ways to refinance your loans at a lower interest rate. Also see if you can step up your monthly payments, or make extra  payments each month. Find out more here. Also remember that during Covid-19, payments and interest on federal student loans is paused until September 30, 2020.

4-Save for retirement

Even when LGBTQ+ workers have access to workplace savings plans, nearly two thirds don’t put money into them, according to the same 2018 Prudential survey. And  half of millennial LGBTQ+ workers have put off saving for retirement because of high levels of student debt, according to the TD Bank survey.

And for most of us, retirement will be expensive. In fact, you may need to put away more than $1 million in order to fund the average 20 years of not working, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics..

Here’s something else to know about retirement saving—the sooner you start, the more compounding can work for you.  Compounding is essentially a snowball effect involving the interest or earnings your money can make as it continues to earn more interest or some other return over time. People who start saving for retirement in their 20s can wind up with twice as much money as those who wait until their 30s. Find out more about that here. 

Stash lets you set up retirement both traditional and Roth IRAs.¹ Did you know you can have both? (You can!) Even if you’re getting a late start, you can still go a long way toward meeting your retirement goals. 

5-Plan for your family

It’s not always easy for LGBTQ+ to talk to financial advisors openly about their financial planning needs, say Auten and Schneider. But they actually may need to do more planning, because they may be behind in saving, or dealing with higher costs related to health and raising a family, or just higher levels of debt.

Life insurance and custodial accounts can help LGBTQ+ people and families plan for the future.

• Life insurance can help protect your loved ones against loss of income and other financial uncertainties in the event of your death. In fact, purchasing life insurance can be an essential part of a smart financial plan, according to some experts, which should also include regular saving and investing.

• Custodial accounts have been around for decades. They’re also known as Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts. Generally speaking, different states typically allow one versus another. UTMAs allow for investments in more types of assets, including real estate. UGMAs confine themselves to more traditional securities. They’re essentially brokerage accounts for children, with some investing and tax benefits. When you set up an account for a child, you’ll be able to invest funds in stocks, bonds, cash, and other market securities on their behalf.

Stash offers offers custodial accounts, allowing you to invest in any of the individual stocks or funds on the platform.²

The post 5 Ways LGBTQ+ People Can Improve Their Finances appeared first on Stash Learn.