How Rich Are You Compared to the World

Want to feel better about your financial position? Check out the Global Rich List and see where you fall. Most Americans fall within the 1%. 

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Acorns - Round Up Purchases and Invest

Acorns is a money management service that allows you to invest for retirement without noticing that you are doing it. 

Let us say that you purchase a snack for $2.45, Acorn will auto invest $0.65 in a diversified portfolio for you. This method is the simplest and quickest way to save up acorns like a squirrel if you don't have time to make an extra effort today. 

https://www.acorns.com/

Kayak Moneysaving Tip

I use kayak.com for my flight searches as they truly do aggregate well and have the cheapest options. One tip, if you also use kayak.com, is to clear your browsing history and cookies and to search again. I just saved myself $120 on a ticket! Kayak.com increases the prices of tickets  with repeated searches as the system knows that you need that ticket and your willingness to pay is probably more than someone who is simply browsing for the first time. 

Some sites also charge you more based on your location and hardware. For example, Staples.com charges people whose IP address is in a remote location more (based on a business school case I did) because they know those people cannot quickly run to a nearby store. And, some companies charge you more on an iPad and less on a PC as iPads are usually owned by the richer people in a society. So, clear your history and use a PC if you can. 

401(k) Spillover

401(k) Spillover - Some companies are including this new benefit into their retirement plan. With this plan, you are allowed to add to your 401(k) over the maximum amount allowable by the IRS ($18,000 in 2015). It is not pre tax like your first $18,000, but it can sit in your account for retirement nonetheless. 

The greatest benefit is to those who earn at the higher end and want to receive the full company match. Let's say that your income is $350,000 (congratulations on snagging this position!). Your employer will match 50% of your contribution, which can be up to 6% of your income (pretty standard). So, you contribute the full $18,000, yet that is only around 5% of your pay, which means your company match (at 50% of your contribution) will only be around 2.5% or $9,000. With a 401(k) spillover, you could contribute the full 6% of your pay ($21,000) and the company will be able to match the 50% of that contribution, a full 3% of your income, which is $10,500. You win by gaining a additional $1,500 in free money. Overall, your 401(k) funds will be $18,000 in pre tax funds and $13,500 will in a post tax portion of the account. 

Credit Card with the Highest Overall Rewards

I need a new non-AMEX credit card. And, I've found two great cards for rewards on all purchases. It's incredibly difficult to keep track which card should be used at which store or category of store. Furthermore, my boyfriend and I share expenses and have mutual bank accounts but not a shared credit card. Thus, most of our expenses like groceries are made with the bank card that has no rewards. On my to do list is to research one of us using a card that has the most benefits on our top spending categories: restaurants and groceries. 

Here are the two contenders I found for a new card for myself:

1. Citi Double Cash Back Card - offers 1% back on purchases and 1% back on all payments for a total of 2% back

2. Priceline Card - offers 2% back on all purchases plus bonus % on certain categories of Priceline purchases

The verdict: Citi Double Cash Back Card because the card itself has a better design and my boyfriend already has a Priceline card, which we use on all Priceline purchases. Diversifying the card benefits in one household makes sense.