We interrupt our regularly schedule programming to bring you two pieces of news today:
- In case you didn’t know, it’s Financial Literacy Month! Be sure to tell all your friends so they know how cool you are!! ;) (And so they finally get your hints to start paying attention to their money – hah)
- Capital One is offering FREE money coaching services!! TO ANYONE WHO WANTS IT – NOT JUST CAPITAL ONE CUSTOMERS! (Whaaaaaaaat?)
Yup – as a partner of theirs I just learned of this, and wanted to make sure you were aware of it as I’m a HUGE proponent of money coaching having been one myself and seeing just how much it can help people. Sometimes you just need a little accountability and to make sure you’re headed in the right direction! Which $$$ coaches are perfect for!
(And which doesn’t require having gobs of money to invest either, something financial advisors are notorious for only caring about… Money coaches will help you whether you have $0.00 or $1,000,000 laying around, but set you up so you *can* invest later in the future whenever you’re able/ready to!)
What’s better – these sessions by Capital One are shaped around your *life* and *goals* vs the money itself, since that’s going to be the driving force behind your success anyways. The “why” as they say!
If you don’t know what you TRULY want to get out of life, ain’t no money planning going to help you as you need that set of values and priorities down right. And this money coaching they offer is set up to guide you in exactly this manner.
Here’s what they cover:
- Session 1: “Get Clarity” — You’ll explore what matters to you, and where you want to go with your life and money.
- Session 2: “Remove Roadblocks” — You’ll uncover what’s weighing you down and keeping you from making changes.
- Session 3: “Make a Plan” — You’ll create a plan with your coach so you can do more to reach your goals.
So yeah – if that sounds like something you need in your life right now, you can learn more here, or check out their list of Cafés which offer these free coaching sessions here.
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I also caught a bunch of stats from their “2018 Financial Freedom Survey” which you also might find interesting…
Nothing TOO crazy in them, but if you find yourself in the majority of the win section here, it’s something to feel pretty proud about for sure :) Be thankful you’ve come this far!
- “Nearly half of non-retired Americans are still struggling to save money for the future and don’t think they earn enough to save sufficiently for retirement – same as in 2015.”
(This is why it’s sooooo good to get started EARLY on this mission!! Get used to diverting some money early on before you miss any of it, and then gradually increase it as you go and get raises/bonuses/promotions/etc. Lifestyle inflation is the devil!)
- “While most (69%) non-retired Americans are saving some amount for retirement, just 15% are saving more than 15% of their income for retirement.”
(Better than 0% though! Or 10% – which is the industry “standard” for some reason? It, of course, depends on what stage you are in all this, but the faster you can bump those numbers up, the better chance you have at living that ideal lifestyle of yours and hopefully being able to retire at a decent age… or at least work on the stuff that really matters to you and not have to worry or think about $$ as much! Which is the ultimate goal of financial management – dealing with money now so you don’t have to deal with it later! :))
- “Only one-fifth of women (22%) say they are very confident they’re sufficiently saving (compared to 39% of men).”
(I don’t know enough to guess why women and men are so different [and not going to dare guess, haha…] but if you’re a woman here reading this, please chime in below and we’ll discuss :))
- “63% are willing to give up meals at restaurants and 61%, big ticket items. Millennials and Gen X are most willing to give up these luxuries.”
(Good!!! That’s what you’re going to have to do if you want to build up that $$$ faster! Unless of course it’s your #1 or #2 priority – which is fine – but only if you’re cutting back on all the stuff that *isn’t* in that case. I don’t care if you blow all your money on stuffed animals or marbles – just make sure it’s going towards something that makes you happy and not stuff that doesn’t!)
- “If Americans had access to an extra $1,000, more than half (52%) would save it or use it to pay down debt; only 10% would use it to buy something special.”
(Gotta love it :) It’s not 70% or 80%, but hey – baby steps! Although what people *say* they’d do and what they’d *actually* do are usually quite different, haha… It’s much harder to not spend all that cash when it’s smack in your lap than when some magical genie pops up and asks you about it ;))
So basically…
- Pay attention to your money now vs later for the best shot of success!
- Align your life with your goals/values, while keeping the Big Picture in mind – since that’s really what you’re after in the end, not the dollars and cents!
- Remember to be proud of how far you’ve come over the years, even if it’s not as far as others. (And spoiler alert – you usually never know how *well* everyone else is doing anyways – they’re good at putting on a show!)
- And lastly, if you can benefit from some good ol’ fashion accountability, make sure to take advantage of Capital One’s free money coaching sessions hosted at a number of their Cafés! It’s going to be an ongoing thing, and all you have to do to grab them is make an appointment.
See ya back tomorrow for another riveting post! We’re going to cover some fun “Would You Rathers” and see how far you’re willing to go for your finances ;)
#FinancialLiteracyMonth has never looked so cool!
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PS: For other Capital One tools you might find helpful, see below:
- 360 Savings Account: Fee-free, and comes with the ability to open *multiple* accounts so you can have a ton of savings buckets going on for all your goals! (Emergency fund, house fund, vacation, Xmas, etc). You can see a review of them we did over at Rockstar Finance here, and then here’s a post we featured on why having *more than one* savings account can be better for your finances.
- 360 Money Market Account: Fee-free online savings account offering a high-interest rate (currently 1.5% for $10Gs+).
- Capital One Cafés: Something I can’t wait to come to the DC area!! I want to work out of one so bad! –> “Our Cafés are inviting spaces where you can go to bank, get answers to your financial questions, recharge your devices, or simply connect with people. All with a handcrafted Peet’s® beverage and local pastry in hand.”
PPS: This post was sponsored by Capital One… in case it wasn’t super evident by now :) I use them for all my biz banking accounts and have been pretty solid for me over the years.
[Top photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash]
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Wow even if they sponsored this and will try to talk you into their financial products, free health coaching is a big deal! I’m sure it will help a lot of people. I know a few I’m forwarding this to right now…
Hahaha FINANCIAL coaching… can you tell what I think about a lot besides money… need coffee. ;)
Haha… it is around being *financially* healthy? :) I doubt they’re allowed to upsell products though as I’m sure there are rules against that, but of course the sessions do take place in their locations which are all set up to woo you over to them, haha…
Ooh!! That sounds fun :D Such a nice initiative by those peeps. I wish there had been financial coaching sessions in my college, that would have been sooo cool. Ah well, PF blogs seem to be filling that void pretty nicely!
Oh man – yeah!!! Would be MUCH better than all hose free t-shirts and tchotchkes they used to pawn to everyone for credit card sign ups before they were banned! I totally fell for that trick my freshman year!
I’ve been a Cap One 360 (former ING) member since 2007 and keep my emergency fund and other cash I don’t want in my checking account with them. I especially like the 25 sub-accounts which make it easy to save for specific goals, they only take a few seconds to set up.
No complaints and highly recommend them. They don’t have a Cafe near my neck of the woods, but I’d go for the Peet’s coffee.
Nice!! I remember when ING was alllll the rage years ago… Def. smart they’ve kept the best parts of it when they bought ’em :) (Capital One actually buys up a ton of good fintech companies! They snatched up Paribus shortly after they launched and then made everything free!)
Man I thought that was clickbait and people would continue needing to duck under window sills to learn from a class lesson on how to be a rockstar! Cap one is great for doing this!
Haha…. Clickbait is a lot like poker – gotta back it on up or someone will call your bluff ;)
A quick Google search seems to indicate women save more money than men but maybe not for retirement though Vanguard says they save more than men there in work related plans. So maybe women want to save more but actually are doing okay and men think they are okay but actually need to save more? And really according to the other stats, most Americans could save more if they created wiggle room in thier budget with extra income or less debt or less spending on things that aren’t actually priorities?
100% on that last one! Everyone likes to complain about not having enough, when the fact is most of them do but they’re just not applying their money in the right ways… (and by “right”, I mean towards their true priorities/dreams, whatever that might mean to them)
Jennifer, I had this very same thought!
My mom finally met with a financial advisor for the first time at 58 (I’ve been trying for years, but it’s been a process) and he outlined that she’s actually in a lot better shape than she thought between her pension, social security, and mandated state retirement. She won’t have a crazy amount to spend in retirement like she wanted, but she can definitely live comfortably and go on vacations once a year without changing much of her behavior. The crazy part is prior to that meeting, she firmly believed she could never retire, when she was on track to retire at 65 this entire time.
GO MOM!!!
Oddly enough similar to mine too a few years back when her advisor told her – ‘What are you waiting for?? You could have stopped awhile ago.” Haha…. (My mom – and my dad – finally pulled the cord shortly there after… even though it’s super weird to not be saving/investing anymore and now *pulling from it*, as my dad laments :))
Can’t argue with free! There’s never a bad time to start getting your finances together. A coaching session might be just what you need to spark a turnaround. Thanks for the info! Sharing. #FLM2018
Thanks man!! It’s an incredibly (unknown) resource right now – we need help getting the word out there!
Awesome that it doesn’t apply only to cap one members — thanks for sharing!
Also, so true about people putting on a show. I can’t tell you how many people I know who live that debt-fueled lifestyle just to show others how well off they are… Honestly such a head scratcher why they do this. I guess some people need that external validation.
Yeah dude! And I know I’ve said this to you before, but i still just LOVE your blog name haha… Is there any deeper story to it relating to alcohol or anything, or just more in the “wake up and realize what you’re doing with your money!!” sense?
Thanks man! No alcohol related meaning or anything like that thankfully. More of a commentary on taking a cold, hard look at investing/personal finances, as opposed to the screw it, let it ride mentality.
Also a reminder of the dot com bubble mentality — i.e., you couldn’t have possibly been sober when you invested in Pets.com….
Cheers!
Ahahaha….
Do you think Bitcoin is the new Pets.com? :)
So sad there’s none in Ohio!
Maybe you need to start one and represent! ;)
I was so surprised to see your post on Thursday! Free money coaching? Sounds like fun!
I love Capital One! I was with them when they were ING, and I use their products for my business savings/tax savings.
Does the women’s savings amounts include all women? Could the statistic include stay-at-home moms, who aren’t earning anything to put away? That was the only thing I could think of to explain it.
That sounds like a great program. I will check them out.
I don’t have an account at Capital One.
You should go undercover and then blog about your experience :)
Possible reasons off the top of my head that women aren’t confident in their savings:
Currently, many women make less money than men. Some studies show women make 80% of men in equivalent jobs. So in many cases, there’s just less money available to save over a lifetime.
Women live longer than men. That’s more money you have to save up to keep on living.
Women influence 83% of all consumer spending in the US. To me, that says women are statistically spending more per capita than men. (http://www.genderleadershipgroup.com/the-inclusionary-leadership-blog/210). If you see money continually leaving your possession, you’ll probably question if you’ve got enough stored up.
Non-data aside: As a woman, I’m very aware of the fact that I don’t have children to support me as I age. It’s me myself and I unless I can bribe some nieces and nephews with my will to help me out. Gotta have enough for supporting myself and bribing/paying caretakers. How much will be enough in 40-60 years? I dunno. So I do the best I can.
All fair points!! Thank you!
Great points, Kristen! I actually do have a child but that does mean that I often go for the job that is closer to home, with fewer working hours and no travel requirements so I can be more available for our child at home. This oftentimes means staying in a lower-paying position. Men are also statistically favored for managerial positions, although I will admit that does seem to be improving.
My hand obliterated your hand during that High 5.
hmmm…. next time I’ll have to try an internet fist bump then!
Doesnt look like they have it in my area. Good to know, though!
Thanks! I’ve been looking for a place to park a $10k emergency fund and this 360 Money Market looks like a great fit. After a little research, found a promo code of QUICKONE for a $200 bonus if you deposit $10k by 5/31/18 and keep it in for 90 days (Disclosure- You are supposed to get an email from Quicken with this promo code). Even though there are a few money markets with slightly higher APY, this 1.5% APY and the bonus code make it worth it. Will be signing up!
Work it, mom! (see what I did there??? :))
I’ve had a Capital One money market for about a year now – I’m very happy with their online interface, and another perk is that they monitor your TransUnion credit score for you, give you weekly updates, and monthly emails. The only thing I’m not a huge fan of is the time it takes to transfer money to an external account (although, that rarely takes place, so it’s not much of an issue); the bank I keep my main checking account only takes 2-3 days, capital one (the couple times I’ve done so), took nearly a calendar week. They’ve also been steadily raising the rate as the fed does, and they’ll email you when they do so (I believe when I opened the account last year the rate was 1.05%).
*Bonus perk – the reason I opened the account was because I was about to do some international travel, and Capital One doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees or foreign ATM withdrawal fees on their debit cards, and the 360 checking doesn’t have a minimum balance, so I could use it just for a travel account….then of course I was too OCD to have accounts all over, so I moved my savings, which was formerly with Discover (whom I also endorse, especially if you can’t, or don’t want to, meet the $10k required for the Capital One MMS).
Oh, I forgot to add, they run promotions like the one WorkingMom mentioned pretty often (I got $400 for having a direct deposit set up, which I was then able to cancel after I met the time requirements) – so if there isn’t one, I might wait a month or so to see if one pops up.
Nice!!! Y’all are rockin’ it! Didn’t know about the foreign transaction fee stuff (though since having kids I’ve stopped all international (or almost any whatsoever) travel – hah).
Thanks for taking the time to share with everyone :) Now you have to try out their coaching sessions and report back!