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Financial Spring Cleaning

Spring is the season for cleaning and that shouldn’t just end at home. Your finances should go through a little spring cleaning themselves. Having an organized financial life can help you better understand the flow of your money. Tracking your income, how you spend it, and how much of it you save can give you the information you need to set financial goals for yourself.

So, while you’re decluttering your closet, remodeling your back patio, consider some financial spring cleaning, as well.

Here are some ways to organize your finances this spring (or anytime, really):

financial spring cleaning

Review and Establish a Budget

To ensure your finances are in order and that they remain that way, it’s best to set up a balanced and realistic budget, if you don’t have one already. Review your monthly income and expenses then establish what your financial goals are. You could be saving for a long-term investment like a down payment on a home or you could be saving for a new gaming system or a getaway.

Whether it’s a long-term or short-term goal, budgeting is essential to making sure those goals are achieved. Organize your budget on a simple spreadsheet and review it often to ensure you are on track.

Having a budget will make it easier for you to reach your savings goals because it’ll help you determine how much money you can spend and how much you need to put away. You don’t need to plan out the rest of the year perfectly but instead start by creating a monthly budget, then track your finances for that month. Once you get into the habit, you’ll find yourself becoming a budgeting expert.

organize your finances

Set up a Money Pool/Automated Savings

One way to keep yourself organized financially is to set up automated savings, or an interest-earning Money Pool, like the one we offer at Marygold & Co.

Having a Money Pool allows you to separate and categorize your finances all within one account, making it easy for customers to track multiple savings goals at once.

Each individual can customize their automated savings to best align with their goals and current financial standing.

You can choose to contribute to your savings goals on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, and the amount you deposit is up to your discretion as well.

Automating your savings will help prioritize your goals and will reduce the temptation to overspend. You don’t even have to worry about making those regular deposits, it’s all done for you!

Pay Off Outstanding Payments

Look over any outstanding payments, if you have the means to pay them off, then do so. If not, this is the time to work out a way to pay your debts off.

Is there anything laying around your house you could sell? Are there extra shifts you could pick up at work?

Find opportunities that’ll help you earn that extra income to help you pay off your debts.

If you are unable to pay everything off right away, setting up a debt repayment plan can help you stay on track. While you may not pay everything off in one go, at least you have taken steps to reduce that debt and eventually eliminate it.

Make sure you include your debt payment plan in your budget.

This will help you stay on top of your payments by ensuring there is money available in your checking account to contribute to this payment plan.

Automatic Billing and Investments

Having your bills automated can help you ensure that they are always paid on time and that you’re not rummaging around for extra cash to meet your phone bill payment at the end of the month.

The best part about automatic billing is you don’t even have to think about it, it is automatic after all.

Additionally, you can even set up automatic deposits to your IRA or 401k investments. Automating deposits into these accounts will ensure you’re continually investing your funds.

The advantages of investing your money include reducing your taxable income for the year.

control your spending

Analyze Your Spending Habits

Analyzing your spending habits will help you point out your spending habits, bad and good. When looking over your spending habits, you might find some patterns that are preventing you from achieving your financial goals.

An important step while spring cleaning your finances is to look over your spending habits and find areas where you can save.

Are there any unnecessary monthly subscriptions billed to your credit card?

Are there unnecessary transactions you can eliminate?

These are important questions to ask yourself when analyzing your spending habits. Find areas in your daily life where you can save. Maybe pack a lunch instead of ordering out every day, you’ll definitely see big rewards from the small changes you make in your daily habits.

If you lack financial discipline, the Marygold & Co. app can help. The customizable security dashboard allows customers to limit where the card can be used.

Accounts can also be turned on or off – which can also remove the temptation to unnecessarily spend.

Clean Up and Shred Old Paperwork

It’s easy for those paper bills and bank statements to pile up on the corner of your table.

Marygold & Co. can help you keep your finances organized. The best part about the Marygold & Co. app is that you won’t have to worry about paper – checks, receipts, pay stubs, etc.

Take the time to shred and discard any old paperwork. Make sure you dispose of these documents properly as they contain very sensitive information including personal information and bank statements. We recommend using a shredder to ensure these documents are properly destroyed.

Marygold & Co. Makes It Easy

Marygold & Co. can help you sort your finances and keep them organized throughout the year through an innovative new app launching this spring.

The FDIC-insured fintech app offers customers interest-earning savings accounts and allows them to send, receive, spend and save securely through their mobile device.

Control and organize your finances easily with Marygold & Co.

Your finances will never have to go through a spring cleaning again – instead, you can keep them clean and organized.

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Reversion to the Mean

A basic thesis on Wall Street is that what has worked well in the last market cycle is likely to underperform in a new cycle, and conversely, the underperformers of the last cycle can or should be the outperformers of the new cycle.

The basic logic is intuitive – an asset class that had been a leader in the previous run-up will, at some point, become overpriced and will struggle in the future without significant earnings growth to support the higher prices.  

Historically speaking, small caps outperform large caps. 

This makes sense because investors need to be compensated for the increased volatility and risk in the small-cap space. 

Also, over the long term, value stocks outperform growth stocks. 

Since 1926, value investing returned 1,344,600% vs. 626,600% for growth stocks, according to Forbes Advisor. And some of the most famous investors on the planet (think Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham) are value investors.     

But largely none of these long-term trends mattered over the last few years of this past market cycle. 

The bull market of the last decade seemed to make investing quite easy, large-cap growth dominated, and as long as you held the big-name tech stocks your portfolio, probably did well.  

This trend was exacerbated during the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

During the 2020 bear market caused by the pandemic, U.S. markets bottomed on March 23, 2020. From that bottom, the S&P Growth Index initiated a historic recovery and peaked on September 1, 2020.  

Much has been made in the media about how quickly markets recovered from the market bottom, but that outperformance was mostly a product of the “Big 5” stocks (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft).  

As of September 2, 2020, those five stocks had a year-to-date performance of 65%, the other 495 stocks in the S&P 500 had a total YTD performance of just 3%. Since the fourth quarter of 2020, the story has begun to shift to the performance of small caps and specifically small-cap value. 

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the top two performing sectors of the S&P 500 were Energy and Financials.  

reversion to the mean

What Does it Mean?

Is the “reversion to the mean” a story of small caps over larger caps, or is it Energy & Financials over Tech and Consumer Discretionary?  

It is still early and we will continue to watch how this plays out.  The main point here is to not be married to a thesis that worked very well in 2020, because the markets may have already started to revert to the mean.  

“This time is different” is a phrase commonly heard toward the end of market cycles.  

If you hear someone tell you that “this time is different”, run! This time is not different.  

Math does not evolve over time. Corporate price/earnings ratios and other investment metrics matter just as much as they have in the past.  

Don’t chase performance.  

What happened in the past, even in the recent past, is not guaranteed to continue in the future.  

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Investing vs Speculating

“We engage in the folly of short-term speculation and eschew the wisdom of long-term investing.  We ignore the real diamonds of simplicity, seeking instead the illusory rhinestones of complexity.”

– John C. Bogle, Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life

The idea of investing to achieve our goals CAN BE very straightforward.

Focus on the long-term, diversify, and do not use products with high fee structures.

The world of investing does not need to be complex and stressful. However, there are some investment firms that seem to do a pretty good job of making it seem so complex that most of us could not figure it out on our own, and this is just simply not true.

Long-term investing can and should be easy to understand.

investing vs speculating

Trading Options

I’ve had several people talk to me about trading options recently.

Perhaps because of recent congressional hearings or perhaps because now even the more conservative retail investment firms are running TV commercials talking about trading “iron condors”.

My opinion is, for the large majority of retail investors, options involve more risk than upside and should be avoided.

Ask yourself, “Who is on the other side of that trade? For me to win my bet, who has to lose?”

Then perhaps ask if you feel you have better information than the large Wall Street firms?

wall street buildings

“Wall Street investment banks are like Las Vegas casinos: They set the odds. The customer who plays zero-sum games against them may win from time to time but never systematically, and never so spectacularly that he bankrupts the casino.”

– Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine

It is important to understand the difference between investing vs speculating.

Do you understand the investment you are considering, and why it is going higher or lower?

Do you have experience in the industry and know who is taking the other side?

We have numerous media outlets that now focus on short-term trading, which is fine, as long as we understand that this is speculation, not investing.

investing vs speculation

Investing should not be stressful! 

We should feel good about putting our money to work for us. And if we have a long-term approach it doesn’t take a lot of work on our part. As long as we understand our goals and match our investment strategy to meet those goals, it becomes a straightforward endeavor.

And stay away from get-rich-quick schemes and short-term speculation that is difficult to understand. Knowing the difference between investing vs speculating is empowering.

In the profound words of John C. Bogle…

“The obvious conclusion: investors win; speculators lose.”

– John C. Bogle, Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life

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What Does it Mean to be FDIC Insured?

If you’ve ever opened a savings or checking account at a banking institution, you’ve likely stumbled across the phrase “FDIC insured”, but what does that mean for you and your assets?

What Does it Mean to be FDIC Insured?

The term FDIC-insured means that your banking institution, whether brick-and-mortar or online, is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

If your bank is federally insured, more specifically, backed by the FDIC, your money remains protected in the event your banking institution goes under. Accounts covered by FDIC insurance are covered for up to $250,000, which means the FDIC pays customers of failed bank associations up to this insured limit.

Although bank failure in the U.S. has been particularly rare in recent years, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Choosing a financial institution with FDIC insurance, such as Marygold & Co. is one of the best ways to ensure protection for your money.

history of FDIC

The History of the FDIC

The FDIC is an independent federal agency established in 1933 by the U.S government in response to the bank failures that occurred during the Great Depression. Triggered by the stock market crash of 1929, people quickly rushed to banks to withdraw their assets, which further plummeted the already broken financial sector. When banks couldn’t pay customers back their deposits, Americans were quick to lose confidence in the banking system.

The main purpose of the FDIC was to promote public confidence in the banking system and to minimize the economic impact of a possible bank failure. To this day, the independent agency provides federal protections for the money customers deposit in banks. Since its founding in 1933, the FDIC claims that not one penny of insured deposits has been lost.

How Does the FDIC Work?

When you deposit your money at the bank, they then invest that money to earn revenue. These investments include loans to other clients, stocks, and other types of investment. Banks tend to play it on the safer side when investing. However, each bank is different, and with any investment comes the chance of losing money.

If a financial institution’s investment results in a big enough loss, they might be unable to meet the demands of customers who want to withdraw their money. When this bank failure occurs, the FDIC steps in.

FDIC insurance

What Does FDIC Insurance Cover?

If your bank goes under and is unable to return your cash deposits, the FDIC will reimburse you the amount of your held assets, even if the bank completely becomes, oddly enough, bankrupt.

The FDIC covers your common depositor’s accounts, but it’s important to note that not all financial products are covered. Here is what’s covered and what’s not:

Covered accounts:

  • Checking Accounts
  • Savings Accounts
  • Money Market Accounts
  • Certificates of Deposit
  • Retirement Accounts
  • Trust Accounts

Ineligible for insurance:

  • Mutual Funds
  • Annuities
  • Life Insurance Policies
  • Stock & Bond Investments
  • Municipal Securities
  • Safety deposit boxes and their content

FDIC Limits

The standard coverage limit is $250,000 per account holder in each ownership category included in the list of covered accounts above.

If you hold accounts in more than one ownership category, you may be qualified for a coverage larger than $250,000. For example, a couple with a joint FDIC-insured savings account are eligible for insurance up to $250,000 each. Additionally, if one of those individuals is the holder of a separate FDIC-insured depository account, that individual is also entitled up to the insured federal limit for that account.

Where Does the Money Come From?

The FDIC is funded by premiums paid for by financial institutions in return for deposit insurance coverage. Virtually every bank and savings institution in the country is insured by the FDIC, totaling trillions of dollars in deposits within the U.S financial system.

FDIC insured bank

What Else Does the FDIC Do?

In addition to protecting cash deposits, the FDIC also provides oversight for banks and thrift institutions to ensure activities promote safe banking environments. They are also responsible for sourcing other banks to take over the accounts of failed institutions.

Does the FDIC Protect You From Identity Theft?

Although customers are insured up to $250,000 on eligible depositor’s accounts, the FDIC does not protect against identity theft or the losses that accompany it. To protect yourself against identity theft and fraud, it’s best to practice safe online banking methods such as using a secure network and having a strong password.

Safe and Covered

Marygold & Co. delivers a digital alternative to physical branch banking that allows clients to control their finances and earn interest anytime, anyplace, and with no minimums or credit checks.

Additionally, FDIC-insured debit and savings accounts through Marygold & Co. are available to anyone in the United States, helping clients all over the country send, receive, spend and save money securely and safely through their mobile devices.

**Marygold & Co. is a financial technology company and not a bank.

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Customized Security

The Appeal of Online Finance

Simplifying your financial life on an app offers unique opportunities that a physical branch can not match. 

At any time, any day, any device, and anywhere in the world, you can access your account balances, transaction history, transfer funds, pay bills, receive customized notifications and set up automatic savings and security tools. 

future of online banking

As technology advances, the convenience of online banking helps clients save both time and money.

In fact, many of us celebrate not having to drive to a physical location to retrieve money or deal with transactions. According to a 2019 American Bankers Association survey, 73% of Americans access their bank accounts online or through a mobile app. The future of online banking will continue to evolve and it’s important to know what that means for security and usability for banking customers, including features like turning your debit card on and off.

Why Security is Critical to Online Banking

The future of online banking relies tremendously on the security measures implemented. First and most importantly, financial institutions must manifest and maintain trust for their clients to ensure their finances and assets are secure. Secondly, online banking must be a user-friendly experience with everyday accessibility from anywhere. 

As technology grows, fraud and data breaches are becoming more commonplace, and thus advanced security for online banking is imperative. The number of new malware variants posed for mobile increased 54 percent in 2017, according to Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2018. In order to protect our most valuable assets, reliable security is of vital importance.

Lost, Stolen, and Compromised Cards

It is easy to believe you’ll never be a casualty of identity theft or credit card fraud as the prevalence of this type of crime seems to be a rare occurrence. In actuality, fraud is a growing worldwide problem, especially within the United States. With losses to credit card fraud topping $24 billion dollars in 2018 alone. Almost 40% of that reported card fraud occurred in America. And between 2017 and 2018, card fraud increased by nearly 20%.

According to credit reporting firm Experian, between 2017-2018, identity theft made up 15% of card fraud, new account fraud increased by 35%, and takeover of existing account fraud increased nearly 25%.

Because of the open nature of the Internet, online banking is inherently subject to virus attacks, unauthorized access, identity theft, and fraudulent transactions.

Cardholders need security measures that will thwart fraudulent actions.

online security

Locking Debit Cards with On and Off Switch

Not long ago, cardholders whose card was either lost, stolen, or compromised, had to spend a great deal of time contacting the bank in order to have their card frozen for future transactions.  Now having the ability to lock and unlock your card immediately on your mobile phone provides peace of mind and convenient security when you want it.

Instead of dealing with the hassle of going into the bank to cancel a card, order a new one, and then wait for the teller to issue you a temporary card or make a cash withdrawal, Marygold & Co. introduces the convenient option to simply control transactions from your debit card with a lock/unlock switch. Essentially, this feature grants you the ability to  “freeze” your card until you’re able to straighten your debit card mishap or when you don’t plan to use it. Nothing is worse than canceling your card and then finding it on the car floor.

Know Your Customer

Traditional brick-and-mortar banks require you to apply for an account in person, checking your identification and confirming you are you when opening an account. 

Online banking solutions typically leverage basic Know Your Customer (KYC) required information including name, address, social security number, date of birth, email, phone, and other specific data to confirm a new customer’s identity when opening an account.  Unfortunately, more and more of that information has become compromised and for sale on the Dark Web.  

To protect potential victims from having an account fraudulently opened in their name, additional authentication methods are highly recommended for opening online banking accounts.

Marygold & Co. introduces advanced technology that verifies your government-issued identification and the picture matches your selfie taken in the onboarding process.  This technology uses liveness checks and a biometric comparison to make sure you are you before opening an account.

Assuming All Is Well and Not Setting Up Security Measures 

You’d be surprised how many people let days, weeks, even months pass by without seeing the activity on their traditional savings and/or checking accounts. App-led financial accounts can keep nefarious activity at bay by sending you a text about all activity instantaneously. When your finances are top of mind without thinking twice, you are able to monitor your accounts more closely, be aware of suspect transactions occurring and immediately inform your financial institution of suspect transactions. If you don’t have security alerts set up on your phone or email, identity thieves are able to use your information 75% longer.

Having Predictable and/or Unchanging Passwords

It’s easy to use the same password forever and for everything. It’s comfortable to use that password for several cards or services. But, it won’t seem like such a good idea when identity thieves can easily access all your cards and accounts after discovering the password used unlocks access to all of the accounts. Don’t use the same password. Change your passwords often. Write down the new ones and store them in a safe place.

customized security

Marygold & Co.’s Customized Security

Marygold & Co. is offering an innovative online banking experience with customized security at the forefront of their services – the future of online banking.

What is ‘Customized Security’?

As the name suggests, this provides security uniquely tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual clients. 

The Marygold & Co. Mastercard® Debit Card and mobile app offer clients a safer, more user-responsive alternative to traditional banking. The FDIC-insured card allows users to take complete command of their finances.

In response to cardholder’s mounting concerns about fraudulent activity and identity theft, Marygold & Co. gives users more control over how their card is being used than ever before. With an easy-to-use toggle in the mobile app, users can easily switch their card on or off, set restrictions on where exactly the card will be used and spending limits.

Customized Security Features

  • Debit card on/off capability 
  • Sleep mode
  • States/merchants/merchant categories/countries on/off switch
  • Spending limits tied to time and/or places
  • Text notifications when the card is used
  • Two-factor and biometric fingerprint login protection

The Future of Online Banking

These scenarios demonstrate the ease of Marygold & Co’s customized security. 

No plans in the near future to leave your typical surroundings?  From the Marygold & Co. banking app, you can simply restrict card usage to a specific geographic area in order to prevent fraud. 

Planning to take that trip to Europe now?  Open up the limits, or even bound usage to only the location of your intended travel within the Marygold & Co. app. No phone call needed!

Lost track of your card and are not sure whether it is lost or misplaced? Thanks to Marygold & Co’s customized security, you can easily disable your card with the debit card on/off switch in the app while you search for your card. 

The different scenarios the Marygold & Co. Mastercard® Debit Card offers are almost unlimited, which is why security is now customized to a client’s specific need.  We want to give you as much power and control over your financial life as you want, including what types of things you allow and how strong your security should be. That’s why Marygold & Co. offers customized security right in the app!

Marygold & Co. is paving the way for a more user-friendly and customizable security experience than any other online banking app. We invite you to join the waitlist for Marygold & Co. today to take control of your financial security. 

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How Does Early Direct Deposit Work?

Life and surprise expenses don’t always align with payday. It is important to be proactive in order to protect yourself (and your bank account) from unforeseen circumstances. Marygold & Co. banking services enable you to get your direct deposit paid up to two days earlier, certainly helping with those unexpected bills and expenses. But how does early direct deposit work?

how does early direct deposit work

What is Early Direct Deposit?

Early direct deposit allows you to access your paycheck funds faster than most traditional banks.

The overwhelming majority of Americans receive a direct deposit of their paycheck. Depending on your payroll company, direct deposits are sent via ACH to your bank account up to two days early along with a designated posting date. Most institutions hold these funds until the paycheck posting date while actually earning interest on those funds.

Marygold & Co. will credit customer direct deposits on the date funds are received providing access to pay up to two days early.

Advantages of Early Direct Deposit

Direct deposit is already fast, convenient and the safest way to get paid. Getting paid early makes it that much better!

With early direct deposit, if your Marygold & Co. account receives your paycheck early, so do you.

Setting up direct deposit is easy and receiving your paycheck early with Marygold & Co. is automatic. With direct deposit, you can truly “set it and forget it.” Once you set it up, you’ll never again worry about accessing your paycheck funds.

With early direct deposit, your money can be earning interest up to two days earlier. This interest affords you more spending power for free.

How Do You Get Started?

  • Fill out your employer’s Direct Deposit Forms.  

Marygold & Co. customers can automatically access these forms for over 80,000 employers right from their app.

  • Send Payment Instructions 

Ask your employer to send payroll instructions to their bank.

  • Pass Payment Information 

Once your employer’s bank receives payment instructions it sends these data files to an Automated Clearing House. This starts a bank-to-bank electronic transfer from the employer’s bank to yours.

  • Organize Payment Information

The Automated Clearing House will organize all of your payments so that each payment is correct and sent to your bank.

  • Process the Payment

Once your bank receives its payment instructions, it starts the payment process.

mobile banking deposit

Is Direct Deposit Safe?

Yes! Direct deposit is an electronic payment.

It actually passes through fewer hands than other deposit methods.

CreditRepair.com notes that direct deposit is the safest way to receive funds.

The United States Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank dispel myths that point to a lack of safety of direct deposits.

Does Direct Deposit Work for Weekend Payments?

Direct deposit processes on business days. This excludes weekends and bank holidays.

What Happens if my Payday is a Holiday?

Direct deposits are usually paid on the banking day before the holiday. So, if Christmas fell on a Friday, your direct deposit would most likely occur on the Thursday before.

mobile banking savings account

Can My Direct Deposit Go Into My Savings Account?

Your direct deposit can typically be directed into the account of your choice and/or be split between accounts, like Marygold & Co. Money Pools.

How does Early Direct Deposit Differ from a Wire Transfer?

Wire transfers cost $35 nationally and $45 internationally. Direct deposits are free and are processed via Automated Clearing House (ACH).

Fastspring.com explains the difference between the two. Direct deposits are processed overnight. Wire transfers are processed and deposited instantly, however international wire transfers do take a little longer. So, early direct deposit is much faster than direct deposit but not as fast as a wire transfer.

Marygold & Co. Early Direct Deposit

Banking with Marygold & Co. gives you the most for your hard-earned dollars. Marygold & Co. offers fast, convenient mobile banking that includes early direct deposit and interest-earning APY. Marygold & Co. bank accounts are provided by Radius Bank, Member FDIC, a pursuant license from Mastercard International.  Deposits are guaranteed by FDIC insurance up to the maximum allowed for every client’s account.

For more information on Marygold & Co.’s early direct deposit and free, convenient mobile banking services, check out our other blogs.

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