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PrizePool Review: A New Type of Saving Account

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Slowing saving money in a savings account is not the most exciting thing you can do with your hard-earned cash. In fact, it’s probably one of the most boring things you can do! But, it is effective, and PrizePool is a company that is out to make it fun, too.

The average American household has $8,863 saved in a bank account or at a credit union, according to a 2018 Bankrate Study. However, according to another Bankrate study, $80 billion was spent on the lottery in one year in America! This came out to about $1,000 spent per year on the lotto for millennials, and a whopping $3,800 per year for older generations.

What’s worse is the same study found that households with the lowest income (earning $30,000 or less) spent 13% of their income buying lottery tickets. Saving and investing 13% of your income could set you up perfectly for retirement! Instead, it’s likely going down the drain (unless you get very, very lucky).

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Buy Now Pay Later Apps: What’s the Catch?

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Buy now pay later apps like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm might seem like great products for consumers and businesses alike, but they come with a catch.

For consumers, these apps can help you pay for big-ticket items like a new mattress or television by breaking down the purchase into smaller, more manageable payments. However, these apps also come with potential late fees, high-interest rates, and subtle nudges to make you spend more than you can afford.

For merchants, these apps can increase customer conversion and bring you new business. Though they also come with fees that, on average, can be higher than typical credit card processing fees.

Below we’ll walk through in more detail how these buy now pay later apps work, as well as the full list of pros and cons.

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Blue Chip Stocks: 9 Reasons to Have Them in Your Portfolio

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Blue-chip stocks are the ivy league of investment stocks. They are shares of companies known for steady cash flow, solid balance sheets, reliable business structure, and excellent performance history. And like coca-cola or Nestle, these underlying companies are household names that have stood the test of time.

Their excellent performance and track records over time make blue-chip stocks some of the most secured investments. They should form a part of your diversified portfolio to help balance the possible losses in market downturns.

Your portfolio would be incomplete without blue-chip stocks.

It’s vital to have blue-chip stocks in your portfolio. But before we dive into that, let’s have a quick overview of blue-chip stocks.

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403(b) vs 401(k): What’s the Difference?

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You’ve likely considered investing in your workplace retirement plan if you’re looking for ways to save money for retirement. Not all employers can offer the same types of retirement accounts, though. You may have access to a different option than your friends or family members depending on where you work.

Two standard workplace retirement plan options include 401(k)s and 403(b)s. Both of these tax-advantaged retirement accounts are named after their respective sections of the tax code that govern how they work. Although both plans are very similar overall, they do have some distinct differences.

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7 Tax Deductions and Credits for College Students to Save Money

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In the past 20 years, the cost of attending college has tripled and increased almost 8 times faster than wages. While public higher education is mostly a state responsibility, the federal government does incentivize continuing education through tax deductions and tax credits.

To understand how you might take advantage of these tax deductions as a college student or recent graduate, we’ve gathered 7 tax deductions and credits you should know to save the most money on your tax bill this year.

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