💵 Do you feel confident?


Greetings Reader,

The Conference Board publishes a consumer confidence index each month that captures how Americans feel about their economic future.

The latest number for March was the lowest it's been in 12 years.

The future is always unpredictable but when we feel bad about it, it becomes even harder to navigate.

My advice for this? Be smart and prepare for a recession but stop watching the news about it. It's not good for you or your psyche!

(FWIW, 12 years ago in 2013, all the indices were at record highs)



(View this email as a webpage)

👶 Early retirement "hack" with 529 plans?

The SECURE 2.0 Act made it possible for you to rollover funds from a 529 into a Roth IRA - something you can use to give your kids a jump start on their retirement savings.

There are a few rules, which I discuss, but overall it looks like a no brainer if you have the funds.

Here's how I think the 529 plan rollovers can benefit your kids and how to maximize the advantage:

👉 529 to Roth IRA Conversion: An Early Retirement Hack

🔔 How to delete your 23andMe data

If you used 23andMe, surprise! They filed for bankruptcy, something we largely expected.

If you're concerned who may buy it and what they will do with the data, you should download your data and delete it from the platform.

Here's how (in a short Instagram video):

👉 How to delete your 23andMe data

🧑‍🎓 The latest student loan news

I graduated with $35,000 of student loan debt around 25 years ago. Rates were low, the "playbook" for what you should do was simple, and I didn't realize how "lucky" I was.

Today, the environment is totally different and constantly changing. The current President hasn't helped matters with student loans going to the SBA.

If you're dealing with this, I found this explainer by Robert of The College Investor to be very helpful for what has changed (and what hasn't):

👉 Big Week For Student Loans: What Changed And What Didn’t

What did you think of today's email?
I Loved It! 🟨 It Was Okay Not My Favorite

Talk to you soon!

Jim

PS. CIT Bank has a $225/$300 bonus when you deposit money into a Platinum Savings account. No minimum holding period and you get 4.10% APY.

(see our archive of previous emails)


You signed up for this newsletter via wallethacks.com

We respect you and your attention. If you no longer wish to get emails from us, you can unsubscribe and we will still be friends.

If you like sending gifts, we like getting them here - P.O Box 323, Fulton, MD 20759

Hi, I'm Jim Wang and I share my strategies and tactics for managing your money and enjoying more out of life.

I have been writing about money for nearly 20 years and believe that personal finance is one of those subjects that is made complicated because it benefits a select few. Our aim is to help make it easier to understand so that regular folks can use what we teach to take control of their money and build wealth.

Read more from Hi, I'm Jim Wang and I share my strategies and tactics for managing your money and enjoying more out of life.

Greetings Reader, This CNN story about a the scam industry in Myanmar changed my thinking about scams. In the past, I thought the scammers were the ones getting the money. In many cases, they are forced to work (both economic and physical) for criminal gangs. I used to think it was funny that you had people baiting these scammers but I'm not so sure anymore... just something to think about. So often, the ones who deserve the blame are not the "front line" workers that face people... seems to...

Howdy Reader, The Federal Reserve meets today and will announce any interest rate changes this afternoon, though traders expect no change. (well, 1% chance of a 25 basis point reduction, which is tiny) The interesting thing is that the Fed may have tamed inflation without causing a recession (yet?). Here's a good article on that subject. Whether or not we will face a recession in the next year or two will yet to be seen, but if you're worried then you'll want to read the first article. (View...

Howdy Reader, The stock market has been like a rollercoaster this year week. With the tariffs on and then off and then on and then whatever... plus stocks being relatively high (even with the pull back on Monday, we were last at this price in September 2024), you might be wondering if you should DO something. If you are nearing retirement, this level of volatility should make you reconsider your portfolio allocation a little bit. Vanguard released a market outlook report late last year that...