Congratulations for getting the raise you’ve been working hard for. The increase in your bank account helps secure your finances and achieve your goals! But spending on things you don’t need and skipping important financial choices, delays financial success and your retirement plans. Though your direct deposits are bigger now, never be distracted by shiny new things now affordable, as such mistakes, your raise could damage your financial goals.
Not Increasing Your 401(k) Contributions
After a raise, increase your retirement’s savings in your 401(k). If your employer is willing to match each of your contribution, and unable to take advantage of the employer benefit as you need funds every month, a company called Lendtable provides you the cash. If you make $50k a year with your employer matching your 401(k) contribution up to 4%. If Lendtable lends you 4% of your salary that your employer matches, you get $2,000 from your boss, minus Lendtable’s fee which comes from extra money earned, so there is no sacrifice. After getting the full match amount from your bosses LendTable takes back the money they lent, plus a small share of your profit. Any penalty from your retirement’s account provider for taking the money out is covered by Lendtable.
Not Putting More Money in Investments
Putting more money in your savings account, cannot build wealth as it isn’t growing much. To retire comfortably, you grow your money with an app called Stash. You don’t need tons of money, starting with as little as $5 by investing in companies like Google, Amazon, or Apple without having to buy expensive full shares of stock. Some companies send quarterly dividends for your share of profits. Stash gives a $5 bonus once you deposit $5 into your account. The sooner you invest, the more time your money has, for growing.
Not Adding to the Emergency Fund
The emergency fund is an important safety net and with a raise, you reach your goal faster. A savings account earning 0.06% interest is nothing these days. But a debit card named Aspiration lets you earn up to 16 times the average interest on the money in your account. Enter your email address to get a free-of-cost Aspiration Spend and Save account. Your money remains FDIC insured and uses military-grade encryption for safe transactions.
Not Protecting Your Family
How will your family manage without your income after you’re gone? With a raise, it’s time to plan for the future with a term life insurance policy. You may lack the time or money for that, even after a raise. But your application takes minutes and you may leave your family up to $1 million with a company called Bestow with monthly rates at just $16. Knowing your family is taken care of, is priceless. If under 54 and requiring a life insurance quote for free without medical exams, call Bestow.
Overspending as You can Afford It
Making more money doesn’t mean you should spend more. Suppose you got an alert when shopping online at Target and are about to overpay? This free service does that after checking websites like eBay, Walmart, and others to see if the item is available cheaper with coupon codes, price-drop alerts with the item’s price history. In 2020, this has saved people $160 million.