The debt deal and your money
The ink on the debt deal is not yet dry, but you should start thinking now about how it affects your finances, said Catey Hill in SmartMoney. The new law does not include an extension of the payroll tax cut, and that could mean a 2 percent tax hike beginning in January. Avoid the “big mistake” of contributing less to your retirement to make up for the shortfall. As for your portfolio, there’s no need to make big changes, but the key word to remember is “diversify.” With the economy down, having a balance of domestic and international stocks and bonds is more important than ever. Investors with stocks denominated in foreign currencies will benefit if the dollar continues to dip. And if you are thinking of buying a home, now may be the time to act. The current “generous mortgage tax deduction” could disappear in future spending negotiations.
College kids’ credit
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I told my college-age daughter for years to avoid plastic, said Dan Kadlec in Time.com. Now, as graduation approaches, she lacks the credit profile landlords and employers like to use to determine whether she’s a responsible person. Welcome to the catch-22 college students often face: They need a credit card in order to build a credit history, but they need a credit history in order to get a credit card. To avoid this hitch, students can start with a department-store or gas card and upgrade to a traditional credit card later. Students can also apply for a card through their bank, which will have its own evidence of a healthy financial past, or spring for a secured card with a low limit. If they use their cards responsibly, they’ll have good credit by diploma time.
Don’t phone home
Don’t ruin your foreign vacation with a phone-bill horror story, said Michelle Higgins in The New York Times. To avoid such grim fates as that of the Verizon customer whose roaming on his smartphone during four days in Jamaica cost him $11,000, buy a prepaid local SIM card for making calls abroad. In most cases, “incoming calls will be free, and making local calls, as well as sending texts, will be cheaper.” If you have Wi-Fi, use Skype or another Internet telephone service. When abroad, the best move is to turn off roaming altogether to avoid massive data charges. And lock your phone to prevent pocket-dialing, which could cost you dearly.
