What are investment opportunities for 2021 and beyond? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

	🌊 Investment hot spots or not? What are investment opportunities for 2021 and beyond? Finny: The Gist Jan 19 Happy Tuesday everyone!  In today's Gist, we'll cover three trending money topics on Finny:  What investment themes are long-term opportunities and not just short-term hot spots? Have you fixed your 401K yet? Alternative Assets. Unique investment ideas worth exploring. INVESTING Are these investment hot spots or not? With a newly minted administration ready to charge forward, investment savvy Finny users share their top trending investment overweights.  The question is, are those long-term strategic opportunities?  Sustainable investing.  With global sustainable investing assets more than doubling to over $30 trillion in the last 7 years, it's probably safe to say that "sustainable investing" is no longer just a buzzword.  Investors increasingly want their money to do good in addition to generating solid returns.  Global decision-makers, regulators, and governments are asking for more transparency of companies while looking to add more sustainable metrics into their decision making.  And the category is expected to reach $160 trillion by 2036! Emerging markets.  Simply put, emerging markets may benefit greatly from a vaccine-led global economic upswing. The Biden administration will likely look to stabilize trade policy as well, benefiting emerging market countries.  Value over growth.  The gap between value and growth strategies' returns has widened to a record high.  Just last year, value stocks underperformed growth stocks by 32 percentage points.  According to some experts, value is looking cheap and there is growing sentiment the pendulum will eventually swing back. If you want a better idea of where major market indexes stand relative to their historical averages, check out our market scanner.  You'll quickly see that most stock market indexes are priced high relative to their historical averages.  If nothing else, this is a good reminder to diversify your bets as you pursue different investment opportunities be it sustainable or value investing, emerging markets, or something else! RETIREMENT SAVINGS Have you fixed your 401K yet? New year off to a good start...  check. Figure out 2021 budget...  check. Fix your 401K...?  Heed the tips straight from the Finny community: How would you like to live in your retirement? The more you crystalize this the better, says Finny Coach and Founder of DSS Financial, Ilene Slako. How much will you need for the lifestyle you want to live in retirement?  Having that clarity helps you figure out how much risk you should take with regard to your investments. Check your allocation. How many funds do you hold? If you hold too many, you aren't doing yourself any favors and are probably over-diversified: keep it simple with a 3-fund portfolio or a target-date fund; select funds that match your risk profile and time horizon; leverage fund allocation tools your 401K provider offers. What is the average expense ratio of your portfolio? It's known that "expensive" funds eat away at your return over time.  Actively managed mutual funds can be very expensive.  Best to keep the expense ratios of your retirement funds below 0.5%.  Rebalance regularly. Your provider should have an option for you to rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis (quarterly). Why is that important? Over time, your allocation shifts to hold a greater percentage of those funds that did better in your portfolio. In order to maintain your desired risk level and an allocation that doesn't take an outsized bet on funds that outperformed in your portfolio, rebalancing is key. If your 401K provider doesn't give you suggestions for improving your portfolio, or you don't know how to implement them, check out Blooom. They offer a free 401K fund analyzer with recommendations to boot! Find out how you're allocated, how risky your portfolio is, and by how much you may be overpaying. Follow the discussion on Finny: FEATURED Unique investment ideas worth exploring There are a million newsletters about stocks and venture capital. Stefan Von Imhof's newsletter Alternative Assets is about the world of investment options that don't get talked about as much. Each week, Stefan dives into a different alternative asset. Think sports cards, classic cars, wine, and so on. Gary Vaynerchuk got into this space early and has been tweeting like mad. But he doesn't stop there. He's even looked at how to buy a private island! (Spoiler: islands themselves can actually be quite cheap, but development costs are bonkers.) There’s a world of opportunity out there. Explore it. OTHER TRENDING ON FINNY [Discussion]Any regrets about how you managed or dealt with your money last year? Lessons learned? [Discussion] Searching for yield & lower risk in investments. [Finnyvest] Vanguard growth ETF guide That’s it for today’s edition. Enjoy the rest of the week! The Finny Team If you liked this post from Finny: The Gist, why not share it? Share © 2021 FinnyNL Unsubscribe 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Happy Thursday everyone! In today's Gist, we'll cover three money topics you've asked about: Taxes, taxes, taxes! How should you prepare for what's looking to be a rough tax season? What is a credit freeze, and should you do it? Calling all bookworms! What finance books do Finny members recommend? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

	🌊 Messy tax season ahead Finny: The Gist Jan 14 Happy Thursday everyone!  In today's Gist, we'll cover three money topics you've asked about: Taxes, taxes, taxes!  How should you prepare for what's looking to be a rough tax season? What is a credit freeze, and should you do it? Calling all bookworms!  What finance books do Finny members recommend? If you enjoy reading The Gist, please consider inviting your friends!  TAXES How should you prepare for what's looking to be a rough tax season? In a normal year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would have issued a start date for the tax filing season.  Not this year though!   The economic disruptions of 2020 will get reflected in the tax returns filed, reshaping people’s typical patterns and changing their usual tax refunds.  Many people will need to file tax returns to get the balance they are owed for stimulus payments. Others will have to pay taxes on their unemployment insurance benefits, while some others will face the complexities of state-tax rules for remote work. Even though the start date of the tax filing season hasn't been announced yet, there are helpful tax moves you should consider now.  Like what?  Brush up on your tax knowledge.  Preparing your taxes shouldn't feel like reading a foreign language textbook.  Take a fun, 3-minute, quiz-based Tax lesson on Finny (see the gif above if you're new to this), refresh on tax jargon, and learn new ways to save on your tax bill.  (By the way, when you learn on Finny, you can earn rewards!) Every year, the IRS adjusts more than 40 tax provisions—from income tax brackets, standard deductions to credits and exemptions—for inflation.  Be sure to check relevant updated figures and don't forget that...  Contribution limits to retirements plans are unchanged from 2020 If you received unemployment benefits in 2020, they count as income and must be reported If you took money out of a retirement account before age 59.5 to help cover your costs during the pandemic, you have three years to pay that back without penalties Start collecting your tax forms and supporting documents now.  Don't underestimate how long it'll take to gather all the forms you need to file on time.  A quick hack here is to pull out a copy of your 2019 return and make a list of things you need for your 2020 tax return.  And if you want your refund fast, get your returns in ASAP as the IRS is still dealing with returns from last year. Individual tax returns and extension requests are due on April 15 for the 2020 tax year.  This is also the last day to contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA for the 2020 tax year.  Good luck! CREDIT SCORE Should you freeze your credit? Have you heard of freezing your credit?  If not, consider it. It's one piece of advice the Finny community shared to protect yourself from identity theft.  When 33% of US adults have experienced identity theft—a figure twice the global average—it may be the right thing to do preemptively! How does it work?  It prohibits the three credit bureaus from sharing the contents of your credit report to anyone requesting the data.  Without that credit report, lenders will not extend credit to you or anyone claiming to be you, which helps to prevent new credit accounts from being created in your name.  Freezing your credit isn't going to make all potential fraud go away.  But it sure as hell will make it more difficult for someone to use your stolen data to open up accounts in your name.  How do I freeze my credit?  Visit the websites of each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) and request a credit freeze.  It's free, easy to do within minutes online, and doesn't have any negative consequences on your credit score.  If you need to unfreeze your credit, you can do so online and your credit report will usually become available within half an hour. Did you know that 1 in 8 Americans don't know what their credit score is?  And of those who have checked their credit score, a whopping 46% haven’t done so in over two months?  The good news is that most credit card firms, banks, and companies like Credit Karma make it easy and free to check your credit score.  Make sure you're checking your score regularly, and if you're not actively applying for new credit accounts right now... freeze your credit! Share this on Twitter. PERSONAL FINANCE BOOKS What personal finance and investing books does the Finny community recommend? The long weekend is coming up... maybe time to pick up a personal finance book?    We asked our members for their favorite book recommendations.  Here is what they came up with: J. L. Collins’s book “The Simple Path to Wealth” is an excellent investment book for those who are looking to achieve financial freedom and retire early.  Collins provides simple advice on how to live, avoid debt, and hold your nerves during market downturns! “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by John Bogle.  John Bogle was the founder of Vanguard Group and is known for creating the first-ever index fund.  Even Warren Buffet gave his endorsement to Bogle’s book, saying that “investors large and small” should read it. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki—a great read for young investors.  Kiyosaki believes the poor and middle-class work for money, but the rich work to learn.  He stresses the importance of financial education and teaches people how to avoid the rat race of corporate America. "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey is a book financial literacy book that imparts common sense wisdom (albeit, with some fiery Christian passion).  The main battle cry of the book is to live debt-free, providing 7 baby steps to get to financial freedom. For the best podcasts about investing, check out recommendations from our friends at Public.  That’s it for today’s edition. Enjoy the long weekend ahead! The Finny Team If you liked this post from Finny: The Gist, why not share it? Share © 2021 FinnyNL Unsubscribe 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Happy Tuesday everyone! In today's Gist, we'll cover three money topics you've asked about: Ka-ching! What cards and services offer the best cash back opportunities? What should you do when your favorite banking service gets shut down? What funds and ETFs are Finny members checking out? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

	🌊 Time to get some cash back Finny: The Gist Jan 12 Happy Tuesday everyone!  In today's Gist, we'll cover three money topics you've asked about: Ka-ching! What cards and services offer the best cash back opportunities? What should you do when your favorite banking service gets shut down?  What funds and ETFs are Finny members checking out? CASH BACK "KA-CHING" What are some of the best cash back cards out there? Cash back is one of those things that's always nice to get, especially now that some other perks (such as travel or hotel credit cards) have limited use!   There is no shortage of cash back recommendations online.  Going through all of them could take you a few hours. So we leaned on the Finny community to find out their cash back recommendations.  Here's what they said: Citi Double Cash card pays you 2% back: 1% when you make a purchase and 1% when you pay it off. Fidelity's Visa Rewards Signature card also offers 2% cash back, but you need to have a linked Fidelity account. For both cards, your chances of getting approved are better if you have excellent credit (credit score above 720), and there's no annual fee. Chase Freedom Flex offers rewards as high as 5% in specific categories (which could change on a quarterly basis), plus a $200 bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months. No annual fee. US Bank Cash+ lets you pick two categories for 5% cash back (e.g., cable TV or utilities) for spend up to $2,000 a month. After that amount, you'll earn 2% cash back on one category you choose. Outside of those selected categories, you'll earn a flat 1% cash back. No annual fee. AMEX Blue Cash Preferred has a $95 annual fee but offers 6% cash back on spend at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year, then 1%).  You also get 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and 1% on other purchases. Cash back as a perk is particularly rewarding in times like now.  It's one of the most flexible and useful rewards you can get!  Consider using tiered cash back cards (like US Bank Cash+) if you spend more on a specific category like groceries.  If your spending is even or inconsistent across categories, a flat-rate cash back card will probably give you the most bang for your buck. BANKING How should you go about replacing a banking service? You might have heard that Simple banking is shutting down.  For those who've enjoyed this highly rated service, it's time to find an alternative.  But how?  Here are a few thoughts from our community.  Look for feature parity.  Simple was known for its built-in budgeting, no-fees, high-interest checking, and a super simple user experience.  Good news is that you don't need to look too hard to find others providing similar services!  One Finance and Empower are good alternatives.  If you didn't particularly like the budgeting tool offered in Simple but liked everything else (or the other way around), then look for equivalent service components. For example, consider pairing Aspiration—an eco-friendly, no-fee bank service offering up to 1% APY and up to 10% cash back on debit purchases—with a nifty budgeting tool like Tiller Money.  You can replace Simple with two complementary services and wind up in a nice spot.    Beware of bait-and-switch.  Some online banking services provide incredibly high-interest rates to start, only to substantially downgrade them shortly thereafter.  If you're signing up for a newly launched service, you may want to wait until there's critical mass. Also, check consumer reports and reviews online at places like Trustpilot, Google, and your mobile App store.  Follow the discussion on Finny: INVESTING What funds are trending on Finny? It's always fun to see what funds are most searched on Finnyvest, our stock & fund research tool.  So far this week, the most popular funds being researched are thematic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that yielded triple-digit returns in the last year! The top trending is the suite of ETFs issued by ARK Invest.  ARK's actively-managed ETFs invest in "disruptive innovations" to seek long-term growth of capital.  These funds are concentrated, with anywhere between 30-55 holdings, and come with higher than average expense ratios (0.75 - 0.79%) because they are actively managed.  In other words, the fund manager has full discretion over which stocks make their way into and out of the fund (versus simply tracking an index).  Here are the snapshots of the top three trending ARK ETFs researched by our members—ARKK, ARKW, and ARKG—and here's a handy dandy comparison of all three. Next are clean energy and solar funds.  With an ever-growing emphasis on clean energy, alt-energy ETFs such as ICLN and TAN (and the comparison) are becoming a mainstream theme.  Unlike ARK funds, they are passively managed. And like the ARK funds, they have high expense ratios and are concentrated with only 30 holdings apiece. Please remember this though: past performance is not indicative of future returns. So do lots of research and understand your risks before diving into any one of these funds. And...diversify, diversify, diversify! That’s it for today’s edition. Enjoy the rest of the week! The Finny Team If you liked this post from Finny: The Gist, why not share it? Share © 2021 FinnyNL Unsubscribe 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104