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Sorting through the best bank account offers can take forever. And by the time you find them all, decide which one, and leap, the offer’s already gone. But this running list will give you the edge you need to pounce when the time is right. The post 13 Best Bank Promotions & Bonus Offers for July 2025 appeared first on Money Crashers.
Last weekend, I attended the final performance of American Ballet Theater’s principal dancer, Gillian Murphy. She ended a 29-year career with an astonishing swan song, dancing the notoriously difficult lead in Swan Lake. Not a single seat in the Metropolitan Opera House was empty. The audience gasped and cheered each time she appeared on the stage. Her presence and artistry were captivating. Her technique was still flawless and gave no glimpse of her age. The lead ballerina in Swan Lake must dance two roles in a four-act ballet. Odette, the white swan, requires a delicate, feathery beauty that hides any trace of the difficulty behind the steps. Odile, the black swan, demands a bewitching power, stamina, and strength. The infamous, black swan, 32 fouette turns are a rite of passage for all great ballerinas. Gillian threw in her signature double turns and finished the series spinning faster than a toy top. She finished the black swan pas de deux with an ecstatic and deep one-armed backend, one of a few signs she gave the audience that she was relishing her last moments on the stage. In plain English, she nailed it. She danced the most challenging role in all of classical ballet, and she slayed. It was a one-in-a-lifetime experience. I am grateful to my dear friend, college roommate, and fellow dancer, Olivia, for making the trip with me. Before the curtain rose, a large screen descended from the top of the stage. A short video montage played interviews of Gillian’s dancer colleagues, directors, and teachers. One theme rang throughout their words: Gillian was as equally kind and generous as she was talented. She had every right to act like a diva. Instead, she was constantly checking on her supporting cast members, the stage hand crew, the wardrobe mistresses, and the musicians. She understood the teamwork required to pull off a classical ballet performance. Gillian’s strong finish, with wholehearted accolades from the global ballet community, was inspirational. Gillian has given me a new goal as I approach the second half of my career: to go out in top form and to pull others up and along beside me. I’ve seen too many financial advisors coast in their final years while relying on junior staff to shoulder the load. There are no physical demands to force retirement, so many advisors carry on long past their expiration date. I do not begrudge those who find purpose and meaning by working into their later years. If I am so lucky, I am committed to staying on top of my game and being all in to support my team. This requires a dedication to lifetime learning and the willingness to change and adapt. We are at the advent of AI changing our roles and responsibilities as advisors in unimaginable ways. I hope that I will also have the wisdom to know when to take my final bow.As I write this on a Tuesday afternoon, I’ve had two conversations this week with people interested in
What’s top of my mind: winter is bloody cold. I’m sitting with the heater on, but my hands are stll cold. The sky is grey and just looking out of the window brings chills. I know for a fact that right now, there are tourists in Borneo walking around in shorts and t-shirts, laughing at […] The post Wednesday W’s #127. appeared first on Burning Desire For FIRE.
M1 Review, Tutorial, and Video M1 Finance, a unique investment and money app, with features for a wide range of investors. M1 might be best for you – or not. Read the Pros And Cons Of M1 Finance to find out the answer to these questions: What is M1 Finance? Should beginners use M1 Finance? Is M1 better than Fidelity or Schwab? What are the advantages and disadvantages of M1 Finance? What is a model portfolio, or Pie? Who shouldn’t use M1 Finance Contents Toggle M1 Review, Tutorial, and VideoM1 Finance Affiliate RelationshipWhat is M1 Finance?M1 Model Portfolios or PiesResearch Investments at M1Other M1 Finance Features – Margin and High Yield Cash AccountHow Much Does M1 Finance Cost?M1 Finance ProsM1 ConsM1 Finance Pros, Cons, and Review Wrap UpFAQRelated This article may contain affiliate links which means that – at zero cost to you – I might earn a commission if you sign up or buy through the affiliate link. I am committed to telling the truth about investment apps and products that are promoted to the public and to explain not only the beneficial features but the negative ones as well. Following is an M1 finance Review along with the Pros And Cons Of M1 YouTube video. We focus on an honest appraisal of the app and provide you with enough information to decide whether to invest or not. [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yis2i8Q_0Ns&si=oaosZT5CIeMMVot9[/embed] M1 Finance Affiliate Relationship An affiliate relationship is important to understand. Every website that is promoting a specific company is required by law to have an FTC statement which says that the publisher receives a commission from the company if you sign up for M1 Finance through a link on the website or video description. Our company and every other company with an affiliate contract will receive a commission for signing up for M1. This regulation applies to all affiliate relationships, not just M1. Our company only represents firms that we stand behind. We reject more affiliate offers than we accept. But on this website as well as across the internet you will find that companies which pay an affiliate commission might receive more publicity than equally good companies that don’t have an affiliate program. So, keep that in mind when you are researching investment apps. Use this knowledge to critically evaluate everything you read on the internet. What is M1 Finance? M1 Finance is an investment platform first. There are over 6,000 stocks and ETFs that you can buy and sell, commission-free. The M1 app offers basic stock and ETF research, but nothing fancy. The M1 App also provides pre-made model portfolios, margin lending and a high yield cash account. M1 Model Portfolios or Pies One of my favorite features are the M1 model portfolios or Pies. You can buy or sell these groups of investments, or M1 pies, commission-free. Additionally, there are no management fees, except a small monthly charge for accounts worth less than $10,000. There’s one click
Before the article, here’s what’s happening this week on our podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: What’s possibly the best benefit of writing and podcasting to all of you? The best benefit of working with real-life clients? The stories. The emails that readers and listeners send to me. The nitty-gritty details we uncover when developing a client’s financial plan. You guys sharing what’s going on in your life, and then asking: what should I do here, Jesse? Because we’re all captives of our own brains and our own lives. We only get to see so much. I can’t begin to explain how my perceptions of money, earning, spending, investing, etc. have changed from hearing hundreds and hundreds of your examples. And today, I want to share a simple concept that’s been noodling around in my brain. I’m calling it “a wonderful life.” And I’ll challenge you today to really dig into what you consider to be your “wonderful life.” But this idea starts with a simple premise: Even multi-millionaires and the top 1% of earning households struggle with *this* personal finance fundamental. Oooh…the suspense! Whereas other households (no matter their place in the wealth spectrum) who manage to get *this* fundamental correct…it allows them to take off like a rocket ship. Stop Burying the Lede, Jesse!!! Ok – what’s this hyped-up fundamental? You cannot “outgrow” or “out-compound” a poor spending habit. I can point to countless stories of people in the top 10%, top 5%, top 1% of all earners in America… And they’re basicially living paycheck to paycheck. It doesn’t matter how much you earn. If you spend it all, you’re listless. Some Real Numbers This bad habit occurs across the entire wealth spectrum, but the stories resonate most deeply at the upper levels. For reference, here in upstate NY, a typical striking example might be two working adults, with children, earning $300K, $500K, $700K per year. Those salaries are in the 90th, 95th, 99th percentiles across the USA. Some of these families save 20%, 30%, or more per year – amazing! But some of them are living paycheck to paycheck. I know you might be thinking, “That’s crazy, that’s wrong, that’s exaggerated, that’s baloney, there’s no way it’s possible…like…how often do you have to eat out at restaurants to outspend a $700K salary?” Well, dining out isn’t the problem. Depending on where you are on the wealth spectrum, it’s: Nannies, housekeepers, personal chefs, landscapers, personal assistants – outsourcing time-consuming tasks is common. Private schooling and tutoring, private coaching, music and dance lessons, exclusive summer camps, college planning and test prep. Second homes at the lake, or the beach, or the mountains. High-end airfare, five-star resorts, travel concierges. Nice cars, nice boats, jewlerly and art. Country clubs. These are families with half-million-dollar salaries living near other
Ever wonder why everything is sold as a monthly payment? It’s not an accident. Marketers have realized that if you take a big price and break it down into a series of smaller, more palatable payments, we are more likely to buy something. It’s called the Monthly Money Trap. Depending on where you live, a house can be anywhere from a few hundred thousands dollars to several million. The median sales price of a home sold in the United States is $416,900. That’s why a real estate agent will say that after a 10% down payment and a 30 year loan of 6.5%, the monthly payment is less than $3,000. (assumes $3,000 in property taxes and an annual $1,500 home insurance premium) A $416,900 home with a 30 year mortgage? That’s scary. But a $3,000 monthly payment? That’s doable. And that’s the trick. But it’s also where the trap comes in. Reframing total cost makes expensive things feel affordable. It’s called the monthly money trap. The Psychology Behind Monthly Payments The monthly money trap is how we break down total cost into a monthly payment and then convince ourselves we can afford it. Or someone else convinces us we can afford it. This is how the trap works. The human brain is bad at long term planning. We can imagine how life will be in a week. It’s pretty good at imagining what it’ll be like in a year. But extrapolate it out beyond that and it’s hard. What will life be like in five years? Ten? If you had asked 20-year-old Jim what life would be like at 30, he would’ve gotten it wrong. At 40? Forget it. Salespeople understand this. So you take a very big purchase, break it down into easy to digest monthly payments, and you can better understand how it fits in your budget. In reality, we should look at the total cost of ownership and assess what that does to our finances. On its own, this is not bad. This breakdown can help with planning, but only if you zoom out. But you don’t stop with the monthly cost and make a decision based on that. If you do, you can be convinced to spend more in total because the monthly payment is OK. You can play with the purchase, adjusting different factors, but the monthly cost only goes up a little bit. How Car Dealerships Use This Trap Car dealerships are famous for this. Ignore the sticker price, ignore the total cost of ownership, ignore the fuel efficiency, and just look at the monthly payment. In fact, they will play games with all the different loan terms to get to a monthly payment you will accept. They adjust the length of the loan, the interest rate, the amount of your trade-in or down-payment, and even throw in incentives… all to get you to say yes. If you can afford to pay $750 a month on a car, here’s how the loan term
**This is not financial or legal advice** This information is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Does your credit score feels like a mystery or a source of stress? It can feel like you don’t have any control over the number and you probably aren’t even sure how it’s calculated. It seems like a completely … Read More about How to Raise Your Credit Score 100 Points in 6 Months The post How to Raise Your Credit Score 100 Points in 6 Months appeared first on Budgets Made Easy.
I love budgeting because it makes so many things possible that otherwise wouldn’t be. When I first saw that our law school debt added up to six figures, I felt physically ill. I couldn’t envision the crushing weight of that debt ever going away, especially when our take-home pay was under $40K a year. But, thanks to faithful budgeting (and a few other great habits), we were able to pay off that debt of $144K […]
If you are completely new to the world of investing, then you have come to the right place. This guide will tell you what steps… The post Investment Tips for Those who are Completely New to Investing appeared first on Savings and Sangria.
Estate planning is a crucial aspect of financial planning that is often overlooked. Planning for the distribution of your assets after your death is crucial to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of and your wishes are fulfilled. In this article, we will explore the importance of estate planning, the implications of dying intestate, the role of beneficiaries, and important documents such as living wills and last wills and testaments. Importance of Estate […]
I recently read Hope, the autobiography of the late Pope Francis. It was an inspiring read that provided perspective on the world’s troubles and what it will take to heal the divisions in society. Learn more in today’s blog post. The post Hope by Pope Francis – Book review appeared first on Boomer Eco Crusader.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A PRO BONO PIECE WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH RENTAL HEARTS.
The weather has been great in Vancouver so far (I think it hit 30 degrees this week). It already feels like summer is flying by. We are keeping the extracurricular activities light in the summer and it already feels like a huge weight has been … Read morePF Blog Round Up: SUMMER HEAT Edition The post PF Blog Round Up: SUMMER HEAT Edition appeared first on Genymoney.ca.