Be Wealthy & Smart

Learn why being wealthy is a choice. Recently I saw a tweet. Here's what it said: "You spend $20 a day eating out. That's $600 a month. Add drinks it's $800 a month. In 3 months you can buy a ticket anywhere in the world. You can travel, you're just too lazy to cook." There certainly is truth in it for travel, but also for wealth building. $800 a month is $9600 per year. At 10%, in 10 years that is $193,199. In 20 years it is $669,407. In 30 years it's $1,904,571. Thirty years! Is it all about retirement? No! There's a balance to living today vs. putting aside money for tomorrow. Going back to our original example, what if half was for travel and half for investing? In 10 years, $4800 invested at 10% is $96,599. In 20 years, $334,704. In 30 years, $952,285. What your priorities are is up to you. Which brings me back to my original statement. Wealth is a choice, or rather a series of choices that you make. What are you choosing to spend your money on? Are you being mindful with your spending? Are you investing anything for the future? These are questions I've already answered on previous podcasts like the 5 spending priorities, how to begin investing, how much to invest, etc. I'm asking you because most people are not mindful with what they spend money on. You can be wealthy. You can be frivolous. But you can't be both because wealth takes deliberate action. Which are you choosing?

Learn 7 ways to use your tax refund and 2 that will build wealth for you. Often people use a tax refund to pay down debt or save money for a large purchase, but there are 2 more things to consider doing with your tax refund that will help you build wealth. Listen to this podcast for 2 more ideas you can use your tax refund for that may be more beneficial to you financially. You may also want to listen to the Be Wealthy & Smart podcast about how saving money can make you rich.

Learn how to delay filing your taxes until October 15th. If you're not ready to file your taxes on April 15th, you can file paperwork to delay. An estimated 14 million people will file extensions in 2018. I do it every year and it's one of the best decisions I make! It feels like such a luxury to not have to file until October. This year the deadline to pay tax is Tuesday, April 17th. That's because the 15th is a Sunday and Monday is the Emancipation Day holiday in WA DC. To be able to file later than April 17th, you have to file the right forms. File IRS Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File US Individual Tax Return. You will have an automatic extension to submit your paperwork until October 15. You can file through a computer, or submit a paper version. You can also have a tax professional submit it using IRS e-file online. Be sure you understand, the money is still due on time! If you don't pay enough tax, you will owe interest and possibly penalties until it's paid in full. Again, the money is still due on April 17th! Please don't misunderstand me! Sometimes you just want some more time to get the paperwork done, or you may be waiting on some special forms, such as a K-1. K-1's come from alternative investments like partnerships and can be slow to arrive in the mail. They often don't arrive at your door by April 15th, so an extension is necessary. Remember, your state taxes are NOT included in the extension, so check with your state's agency for their rules. In summary, you can put off filing the forms, but you still owe the tax, so be sure the money is in by April 17th and properly request your extension. Then you have until October 15 to get your return filed.

Learn what the next group of tech stocks might be that will outperform the FANG stocks. Here is the article from Marketwatch: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/if-the-faangs-have-got-you-down-its-time-to-win-with-the-wnsss-stocks-2018-03-29

Learn why saving money is so important to wealth building.

Learn why wealth is about making the right choices and avoiding the wrong ones. Just wanted to pause for a moment and ask if you knew Betterment is the largest independent online financial advisor with more than $10 billion in assets under management with more than 300,000 customers? Their service helps to improve long-term returns and lower taxes for retirement planning, building wealth, and other financial goals. Betterment's tax coordinated portfolio can increase a portfolio's value by an estimated 15% over 30 years. Their annual advisory fee is only .25%, with unlimited messaging access to their team of licensed financial experts through a mobile app. Of course, investing involves risk. For listeners of Be Wealthy & Smart, you can get up to 1 year managed free, visit http://www.betterment.com/bewealthy.

Learn the 5 best performing international mutual funds for 10 years.

Learn what mutual funds have outperformed the S & P 500 on a 1, 3, 5, and 10 year basis. According to Investor's Business Daily, these are the top performing mutual funds in the Large Cap category.

Learn what advice I gave to a college student/driver who is eager to be smart with his money. 1. Pay bills on time. 2. Contribute to 401k and get free money. 3. If in between corporate gigs, contribute to an IRA Is it all about retirement? It's much easier the earlier you start. You'll need to set aside less money and be richer if you start earlier because you have compounding on your side. For example, even if you are putting away less now, you'll have twice as much money later if you start 10 years earlier. 4. Pay off credit cards, go on cash basis if you have balances. 5. If you handle credit responsibly, get credit cards with miles for air and hotel. 6. Set spending priorities like travel, car, home, etc. Don't waste money on eating out and bar bills or other things that aren't important to you. Treat money as a tool to get what you want. 7. Save as much as you can. 8. And of course, listen to my podcasts from #1 all the way to this one! Listen to the Wondery podcast, Safe For Work here: wondery.fm/wealthy

Learn what investment books I recommend and also what I recommend before investing, in addition to reading.