profile

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

🎁 you can harvest investment GAINS too

Published about 1 year agoΒ β€’Β 1 min read

Good morning Reader,

As I write this, Bitcoin is at $87,923, up almost 44% in six months.

Yet I still own almost no bitcoin. (I have a smidge on Coinbase from who knows where)

I'm not anti-bitcoin. I think it's cool technology albeit a tragic consumer of natural resources. I'm just anti-speculation. I also don't like how rabid bitcoin fans identify so strongly with their investments.​

I don't need it in my life and so I haven't devoted the time and attention to learn it enough.

For those bitcoin aficionados, kudos to you! I've missed more bull runs than I've participated in and I'm OK with that. πŸ˜‚

​(View this email as a webpage)​

πŸ§‘β€πŸŒΎ You can harvest capital gains

Everyone talks about harvesting capital losses but after the market went up up up this year, you may be sitting on some capital gains you'd like to realize.

If you are in a lower tax bracket (perhaps the 0% one), you could employ what's known as capital gains harvesting too.

β€‹πŸ‘‰ What is capital gains harvesting?​

​

πŸš€ Can Rocket Money Help Your Budget?

When Mint closed down earlier this year, a lot of budgeting tools scrambled to fill the void.

One of them, Rocket Money, looked to fit a specific role in your toolkit - to help you manage, negotiate, and cancel subscriptions.

They offer a lot more than that but the big difference between them and other budgeting tools is their subscription management services.

We did a comprehensive review:

β€‹πŸ‘‰ Is Rocket Money Right For You?​

​

πŸ—ΊοΈ Why Economists Hate Tariffs

Tariffs have been in the news a lot because Trump wants to bring them back. Most people do not understand how tariffs work (the company importing the goods pays the tariffs, not the producer) and fewer understand the downstream effects (even the positive ones).

This 8-minute Wall Street Journal video does a great job explaining it, with real-life examples from Trump's first term:

β€‹πŸ‘‰ Why Economists Hate Donald Trump's Tariff Plan​

​

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

​

Take care!

Jim

PS. Did you know that the S&P 500 has hit 50 all-time highs in 2024? It broke 5,000 in February and then 6,000 this month. Incredible! Stay invested folks!

​(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.

πŸ’΅ Founder of WalletHacks.com

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.

Good morning Reader! I love the Olympics. I prefer Summer over the Winter because of fencing (I fenced foil in a high school club and picked it up recently as a fun sport to do with our son), but I enjoy it all. For many athletes, it's a culmination of years of work and dedication to what is often a niche sport the world only cares about once every four years. Well, this year they're introducing Ski Mountaineering, or Skimo, to the Olympics. It's a mix of alpine skiing, climbing, and hiking....

3 days agoΒ β€’Β 2 min read

Good morning Reader! Ahead of tax season starting in just a few days (Jan 26), the IRS has issued IP PINs for this year. If you're concerned about tax identity theft, here's how to get your PIN. Also, the Federal Reserve is set to meet next week and traders believe there's a 95% chance they keep rates the same. A small 5% chance they'll cut it by 25 basis points. As a result, we're not seeing any movement in savings and CD rates. πŸ’² Best Bank Rates (as of 1/20/2026): High Yield Savings - 4.31%...

17 days agoΒ β€’Β 2 min read

Happy New Year Reader! There aren't too many tax moves you can make once it's 2026 but one thing to remember is that if you haven't maxxed out your Roth IRA, you can do so up until tax day. When you make a contribution, make sure you indicate what year it's for. If you don't, most places default to 2026. Any big plans for 2026? πŸ’² Best Bank Rates (as of 1/5/2026): High Yield Savings - 4.31% APY from Axos Bank Certificates of Deposit (see rates on CD Valet) Best: 4.15% from TPO Bank (6mo) 3...

24 days agoΒ β€’Β 1 min read