What Insurance Do My Accounts Have?

Currently there are two main forms of insurance for your accounts: FDIC and SIPC. FDIC is for your bank accounts and SIPC is for your investment accounts.

 

FDIC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the US government that provides deposit insurance to protect depositors in case of bank failures. FDIC insurance covers deposits at member banks, including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs), up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. This means that if you have multiple accounts in different ownership categories, each account could be insured up to $250,000.

What are multiple ownership categories? They are account types such as the following:

  • Single accounts
  • Joint accounts
  • Certain Retirement accounts
  • Revocable Trust accounts
  • Irrevocable Trust accounts
  • Employee Benefit Plan accounts
  • Corporation/Partnership/Unincorporated Association accounts
  • Government accounts

The FDIC has a detailed brochure explaining the different ownership categories and how the $250,000 limit for each category applies.

FDIC insurance is available to depositors at participating banks and savings associations, and it is backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. The insurance is automatic and does not require any action on the part of the depositor other than making sure the bank is a member of FDIC.

If a bank fails, the FDIC will typically step in to manage the bank’s assets and liabilities and pay out insured deposits to depositors as quickly as possible. According to the FDIC, in most cases, insured deposits are available to customers within a few business days after a bank failure. However, the actual timeline can vary depending on the complexity of the situation and the size of the failed bank. In rare cases, it may take longer for depositors to receive their insurance payments.

SIPC

SIPC stands for the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. It is a nonprofit organization created by Congress in 1970 to protect investors in the United States in case of a brokerage firm failure or fraud.

SIPC insurance provides protection for customers of member brokerdealers, up to $500,000 for securities and cash (including up to $250,000 in cash) held by the brokerage firm.

SIPC insurance does not protect against market losses or bad investment advice, and it is not the same as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance that protects bank deposits. Rather, SIPC insurance is intended to provide an additional layer of protection for investors in case of a brokerage firm’s insolvency.

Again, the brokerage firm where you have your account must be a member of SIPC for this added protection.

 

Financial Journey LLC is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the states of Alabama, Florida, Virginia and in other jurisdictions where exempted. Information provided is for educational purposes only and not, in any way, to be considered investment or tax advice.

Emergency Fund and Interest Rates

Are your interest rates increasing?

Have you looked at the interest rate for your emergency fund and savings accounts lately? These rates can change on a monthly basis. With interest rates increasing recently, it is important to check your own accounts to make sure your interest rate is increasing as well. When interest rates were lower, there was not much discrepancy in interest rates across different banks. Now that they are rising, I am seeing that a lot of the brick and mortar banks have not increased their savings interest rates to keep up with the online banks. In some cases, I have seen where the brick and mortar banks are offering new accounts with better rates without rewarding their existing customers—in other words, existing customers have to open the new account type and transfer their money.

What should you do?

What should you do? Wherever you have your emergency fund and/or savings accounts, look at the current rate you have for your specific account. Then find a site, such as Bankrate, where you can compare different banks and rates easily. See if your current rate is competitive and if it is not, you should consider opening a new account with competitive rates. Make sure there is FDIC Insurance and no fees.

Beware of withdrawal limits

Another thing to remember when moving your money around is that some institutions have limits on withdrawals from the account. If you have a limit imposed by the bank on how many withdrawals you are allowed, pay attention to that so that you don’t exceed that limit and have your account turned into a checking account. With so many free accounts available, you can have multiple accounts if necessary.

Financial Journey LLC is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the states of Florida, Alabama, Virginia and in other jurisdictions where exempted. Information provided is for educational purposes only and not, in any way, to be considered investment or tax advice.

Guide to Achieving Financial Independence for Women

Financial independence is the ability to support oneself financially without assistance. Financial independence is an important goal for people of all backgrounds, but it is crucial for women who continue to be disadvantaged in the job market.

Money management skills and financial awareness can give women more confidence to invest and save for their future. 

A Closer Look at Where Women Stand With Finances

While many strides have been made, the fight for equality in finances among women and men continues. Here are a few startling statistics:

  • Only 5.8% of S&P 500 CEOs are women.
  • 85% of women control their families’ day-to-day finances.
  • When women invest, their portfolios outperform men’s by 0.4%.
  • Women of color only make up 3% of women in C-Suite positions, compared to 66% of white men.
  • Since the onset of COVID-19, more than 2.3 million women have left the labor force, compared to 1.8 million men.

Women Face Challenges in the World of Finance

Women who seek personal empowerment should focus on financial freedom. There are several roadblocks that make it challenging for women to partake equally in the financial world as their male counterparts.

One example is the pay gap. According to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, women earned only 82.3% of that earned by men. Many women of color experience an even wider gap. 

Household responsibilities, lack of resources to financial tools, and pay discrimination are all issues that women face compared to men.

While equal rights between men and women have increased, there is still a lot of work to be done. Here are a few key challenges women continue to face:

Women continue to be paid less than men

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women still make less than their male counterparts. This gap widens for women of color.

Having children often disrupts a woman’s career

Having children as a working woman tends to result in a wage cut of 4% per child. For working women of color, this number increases to 10%. 

Exposure to financial literacy is less for women

Women are less likely to choose their course of studies that lead to financing careers. Men study economics almost 2x more than women.

Typically women have a longer lifespan than men

A man’s life span is typically 8% shorter than a woman’s. This leaves most women left to manage their own finances at some point in their life, particularly when their male counterparts pass away.

Strategies to Sustain Your Wealth

Women typically know more about managing their finances than they give themselves credit for. While some financial strategies are applicable at any time, some moves make sense at certain stages of life. Becoming more financially literate is the best way to start developing a financial plan.

When creating a lifelong safety net, it’s important to set financial goals and understand short, medium, and long-term money strategies.

To build independent wealth and financial independence, it’s important to start budgeting, investing, planning and saving for retirement.

  1. Create a Budget and Evaluate Your Spending Habits

Following a budget allows you to save for financial goals while living within your means. Women are typically better at managing money, but it’s always a good idea to reevaluate where their money is going.

 A good place to start is by listing how much money is earned each month, then itemizing spending into categories of necessary and unnecessary expenses. 

PAYING OFF ANY DEBT YOU HAVE

Uncontrolled debt causes stress and prevents women from attaining financial freedom. To start, consider adding paying down debt into your monthly budget. The debt avalanche and debt snowball methods are two strategies to do so. 

The avalanche method works by paying off debts with the highest interest rate first. The snowball method works by paying off debts by prioritizing the smallest debts first.

Regardless of the strategy, it’s important to always make more than the minimum payment.

  1. Investments

Investments can be a reliable source of income, can help counteract inflation and help to ensure your savings continue to grow. Many women lack the confidence to invest successfully, however, women are just as effective in investing as men, and oftentimes their portfolios are more successful. 

Surprisingly only 26% of American women invest in the stock market, even though nearly half of women view the stock market in a positive light. 

Investing helps to give women an equal opportunity to accumulate similar wealth as men.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY TYPES

Finding an investment strategy that is right for you will depend on your risk level and your goals for short and long-term investing. 

Do you want to be an active or passive investor? Active investors are typically involved in the buying and selling of assets, while passive investing tends to mean more “sitting and waiting.”

In general, short-term investments are designed to provide results within three years, while long-term investments provide financial security many years down the road, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate.

Portfolios can be high or low risk. A high-risk portfolio has an aggressive strategy. This has the potential of high rewards but could result in several ups and downs. Low-risk portfolios will not have as strong results as high-risk but also are not as volatile.

  1. Save, Create an Emergency Fund, and Build Credit

When planning your monthly budget, setting aside a specific amount for savings is important. I recommend keeping a 3-6 month emergency fund. This emergency fund can help with an unexpected family emergency, job loss, or health crisis.

Building credit is another great way to work towards financial independence. Pay off your credit card balances every month to enhance your credit score.

  1. Plan for Retirement

According to the World Health Organization, on average, women live 6 to 8 years longer than men. However, since women often have less than men saved, it’s common for them to outlive their money. Saving for your later years will help to give you a more enjoyable retirement.

Create a Life of Financial Freedom

In our society, there are a lot of challenges and inequalities that women face when it comes to finances and economic security. However, it is still possible for women to create a life of financial freedom in spite of these challenges. If you’re not sure where to start on your own financial journey, I encourage you to reach out to me for a free no-obligation consultation. Managing your finances is an important step in taking control of your life and creating the future that you want for yourself. With diligence and perseverance, you can help make your financial dreams a reality. Contact me today to get started!

Financial Journey LLC is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the state of Virginia and in other jurisdictions where exempted. Information provided is for educational purposes only and not, in any way, to be considered investment or tax advice.

How Am I Doing?

When I meet with people inquiring about my services, the most common thing that clients want to know is ‘how they are doing.’ This is not a question that I can really answer. Why? Because how someone is doing is relative to the outcome they are hoping to achieve.

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Inflation

Inflation is the general increase in price level which corresponds to a reduction in purchasing power. Why do we care about it? We care about inflation because our dollars buy less. For example, remember when you could buy a gallon of gas for $1? Now it’s $3 a gallon. The same amount of money that would fill out tanks up will only fill up one third of a tank now!

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