Good morning Reader, The Federal Reserve has what's called a dual mandate - promote maximum employment and keep inflation in check. If you keep rates high, you risk higher unemployment. If you lower rates too much, you risk higher inflation. In their most recent meeting, they cut rates by 25 basis points. Borrows benefit from lower interest rates while savers are, surprise surprise, hurt by lower rates. It remains to be seen if the Fed that walk that tightrope. (View this email as a webpage)...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning Reader, I'm sending this Wednesday morning but depending on when you read it, the Federal Reserve's FOMC may have announced what it'll do with interest rates (it does it at 2pm) - and that's most likely a rate cut of 25 basis points, maaaaybe a bigger 50 basis points. Savers will cringe, borrowers will rejoice. You may have also heard that the U.S. economy isn't doing well but that may not match up with what you see - but that's because your personal economy isn't the nation's....
16 days ago • 2 min read
Good morning Reader, Is the economy slowing? Maybe. The soft jobs report and the uncertainty around tariffs is having a dampening effect on the economy, to say the least. That's why interest rate traders are expecting a rate cut in the mid-September meeting - 88.2% chance of a 25 basis point cut and now a 11.8% chance of a 50 basis point cut. Good for borrowers, bad for savers. Time to lock in those CDs! (also a good time to do it in conjunction with Raisin's deposit bonus) From time to time,...
23 days ago • 1 min read
Good morning Reader, I make automatic regular contributions to our retirement at the start of each month and, sometimes, you get days where you invest and the market drops 0.70%. (which the S&P did yesterday) If you've ever felt the twinge of annoyance (or more) at the market dropping the day you make a contribution, remember this - investing is a long game. In fact, it's a Loser's Game. Avoiding mistakes is the whole game: Making regular contributions is more important than when you make...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Good morning Reader, Can I ask a favor? Can you add WalletHacks.com as a preferred source for your Google searches? 👉 Click here and add us, it just makes our blog posts show up more often for you in Google searches. Thank you! 🤗 (View this email as a webpage) 🍵 Why pumpkin spiced lattes are important I have friends who go crazy (relatively) whenever Starbucks re-introduces the pumpkin spiced latte (PSL for short) every fall. If you don't have friends who go gaga for PSLs, you may not know...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good morning Reader, If you're getting a ton of credit card offers and want them to stop, register on OptOutPrescreen. This makes it so that the credit bureaus won't provide your credit file to companies for "firm offers" of credit that you don't initiate. Companies where you already have a relationship with may still send you offers, but it can help cut down on that junk mail. And if you want to cut down on the catalogs you receive, head over to Catalog Choice. They can help you reduce...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Good morning Reader, Remember Unclaimed Baggage? It's a store in Alabama that sells all the stuff that gets lost by the airlines. Last week, my wife ordered something from them and told me that they have a huge section of "new with tags" merchandise. Quick video recap of what it's about. We got a lot of new with tags clothes for the kids at a fraction of their regular price. They revamped the website and it looks amazing. If you haven't been in a while, check it out. (View this email as a...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Good morning to you Reader, The Federal Reserve opted to keep rates the same in their July FOMC meeting. If you peek at the CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders believe there's an 80%+ chance the Fed drops rates in the September meeting. With the poor job numbers last week and the unpredictable nature of these tariffs, the economy is looking a bit shakier. Traders are anticipating the Fed will have to make a move. If the Fed drops rates, interest rates across the board will fall too. If you...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Good morning to you Reader, Did you know that the US dollar has lost 11% of its value in the first of 2025? (Source: Morningstar) It's the worst half-year performance since 1991. So as you watch some assets go up in value (crypto, gold), recognize that a big part of that has to do with our dollars being worth 11% less than at the start of the year. Yikes. (View this email as a webpage) 📅 How my thinking about money has changed I'm about to celebrate a birthday and I took a few minutes to...
2 months ago • 1 min read