personal finance

Dave Banking App Review

Dave Banking App

Chances are that you’ve already heard of Dave, the personal finance app. However, did you know that there’s a new Dave Banking App? The new tool expands upon what the original app offered by provide a complete online-only banking solution.

What Is The Dave Banking App?

Dave Banking is a mobile bank geared specifically towards millennials, which is obvious from their website design. It implements some of the things that Dave was already known for and adds additional services. For example, you can set up an account with no monthly fees and no overdraft charges.

Dave Banking Benefits

Obviously, people who are concerned about overdraft charges will benefit from utilize this banking option. Here are some of the other benefits:

  • You can easily open an account by connecting your Dave banking app to your existing bank account. Alternatively, you can open your own brand new Dave checking account. There is no account minimum. You do not have to pass a credit check.
  • Dave has partnered with Credit Pop to offer a free credit-boosting service. The app reports your on-time rent and utility payments to the credit agencies. Therefore, you can improve your credit score by switching to this bank.
  • You get a $100 advance free of charge. There is no interest. In other words, if you run out of money, the account will help you without penalty.
  • Dave accepts direct deposits from tens of thousands of different employers.
  • The account is FDIC-insured. Therefore your money is protected as it would be with any other regular bank.

Budgeting Help and Predictive Account Info

The Dave Banking App offers some key benefits that many other regular banks simply don’t provide. For one thing, the tool gives you automatic budgeting help. You can easily use the app to see what you regularly earn and spend, plan for upcoming big expenses, and get other assistance with keeping to your budget.

Moreover, the app has a built in Artificial Intelligence tools. This helps predict your account balance before your next paycheck. Whenever it looks like you’re at risk of going empty in your bank account, you’ll receive an alert. Of course, you can rely on that $100 no-interest cash advance if you do go empty. But this AI and budgeting information helps you avoid that problem.

Dave Banking App Helps You Find a Side Job

This is another really unique featuring of banking with Dave. After all, when was the last time that your regular bank offered to help you find work? Dave has partnered with gig economy / sharing economy companies to help you find local work whenever you need extra money. You can apply for jobs directly through the Dave Banking App. It’s one of the most unique cutting-edge tools for a mobile bank to offer. And although it’s geared towards millennials, people of all generations can take advantage of earning a side income with a new gig.

Important Things To Know

Here are a few key things you’ll want to know before you choose this tool:

  • The Dave Banking App is available on Google Play and in the Apple Store.
  • You can tip the app and for every 1% that you tip Dave will plant a tree.
  • It costs $1 per month to bank with Dave.
  • This is a checking account, not a savings account, so you won’t earn interest on your money.

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Pros and Cons of Taking Early Social Security

early social security

You can begin taking early social security payments as young as age 62. Most people start taking it around age 66. Some people believe that you should wait until age 70 if you’re in a position to do so. What’s the right answer? It’s hard to say. There are some big pros and cons to taking that money early. Understanding those can help you make the right decision for your own retirement.

What Happens When You Take Early Social Security?

Generally speaking, you’re able to get your “full retirement” when you reach around age 66. (This varies slightly depending on individual circumstances.) If you take that money early, then you don’t get the full amount. Therefore, your monthly Social Security payments are lower than they would be if you waited.

On the other hand, you start to receive that money sooner. If you reach age 62 and really need that Social Security income, then you might find that it’s worth it to take the lower monthly amount. You’ll start getting that monthly check years before you would if you waited until reaching full retirement age.

So, in terms of the most basic pros and cons, taking your money earlier means:

  • The benefit is that you start receiving your money sooner.
  • The drawback is that you get less money per month throughout your retirement.

Social Security May Change in 2035

The Motley Fool makes a great case for taking early Social Security, which is that big changes may await when it comes to social security. In fact, Congress may cut benefits by 23% for all people receiving social security from that point forward. Therefore, if you’re thinking about retiring between now and then, it might be worth it to take the money early.

Yes, you’ll get less per month when you do that. However, you’ll earn the full “lesser” amount every year up until 2035. The longer you wait to start taking payments, the less time you have to accrue money before that potentially huge Social Security cut.

Of course, we don’t actually know for sure what decision Congress will make. There’s a chance that they won’t make that cut. Or it might not be as big. Therefore, taking early Social Security is a risk. You may opt for the lesser monthly amount now, hoping to accrue more before the big cut, only to find out that the big cut doesn’t happen. You’ll still get the lesser monthly amount. It’s not like you can go backwards in time and “take back” your decision to take early Social Security.

So, taking the money early means:

  • You might get more money overall by cashing out as early as possible before a big cut.
  • If the big cut doesn’t happen, then you might not have made as much as you potentially could have.

We Don’t Know How Long We Will Live

If you had a crystal ball then it might be easier to decide when to take your money. If at age 62 you knew that you only had ten years left to live, then obviously you would take early Social Security. On the other hand, if you knew that you were going to live another thirty years, then you might opt to keep on working until you could completely max out that retirement income.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know. So the pros and cons really depend on factors that we can’t entirely know or control. All that you can do is make the best decision possible with the information that you have as you reach retirement age. Consider your health and likely longevity based on family history and other factors. Think about how much money you’ll likely get if you take early Social Security vs. the full amount. Weigh what would happen if Congress cut that amount in 2035. Then do your best to decide how the pros and cons balance out.

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5 Financial Downsides to Retirement

retirement

Retirement sounds terrific. You finally get to take a break. You’ve worked all of your life for this. However, is it really all that it’s cracked up to be? There are many downsides to retirement that people don’t always talk about. In fact, there are some big financial downsides to retirement. It’s important to be aware of those before you retire. Here are the five biggest retirement problems:

1. Inflation Keeps Rising

The number one financial problem that people face in retirement is inflation. The cost of living just keeps going up. It doesn’t matter to the world that you’re getting older and living on what may be a fixed income. The price of milk and utilities will just keep increasing.

LIMRA reports that retirees suffer from the effects of inflation even when inflation rates are relatively low. They demonstrate that just a 2% annual inflation rate could cause the average retiree to lose nearly $74,000 within a 20-year retirement period. If you haven’t accounted for inflation when planning for retirement then you could end up financial trouble.

2. Retirees Pay a Lot in Taxes

Many people assume that they’re taxes will go down in retirement. After all, you’re not working as much, so you’re not going to earn as much, right? Wrong. Many people actually earn as much or more after retiring, especially if they planned ahead financially for secure retirement.

Unfortunately, that means that you have to keep paying taxes. You don’t have an employer taking those taxes directly out of your paycheck anymore. Therefore, you’re going to have to deal with that yourself. Moreover, remember that your 401(k) money, which wasn’t taxed when you set aside, is taxable income when you use it in retirement.

3. You Have to Make the Money Last

Here’s the obvious but important thing about retirement: you’re spending money and not earning any. Ideally, you’ve created some kind of passive income to help you bring some money in during retirement. Mostly, though, people retire and use what they have in savings. People are living longer and longer after retiring. The longer you live, the more you have to make that money stretch. Therefore, you might want to think twice about retiring early.

4. Old Age Is Expensive

Not only do you have to make your money last. Not only do you have to consider the problem of inflation. But you have to think really seriously about what life is going to cost you after retirement, particularly as you get older and older. So many costs go up as you age. Your healthcare needs rise. You may begin to need help through in-home care or assisted living.

These costs are not cheap. MSN News reports that an average 65-year old couple requires more than one quarter of a million dollars for healthcare costs alone. A private nursing home costs more than $100,000 per year. When you’re young, you really can’t fully imagine just how expensive it is to get old. Once you’re in retirement those costs can become a very harsh reality.

5. You May Have To Keep On Working

Social security alone isn’t likely to support you. Your own savings and investments might not be enough to cover these costs. Therefore, you may have to keep on working. I personally know many people who retired from their long-term full-time jobs only to have to secure new employment a few years after retirement. Therefore, retirement may simply not be what you expect.

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