Money Musings 💭 the highest interest rate out there 😆
I have something I’m excited to share with you so I’m changing up the Money Musing order again. 😆
But before I do, I wanted to thank you for your incredible feedback on the recent Money Musing survey. I’ve taken it to heart and you’ll notice some changes already in this email! Liza B won the raffle - congrats 🎉!
We’ll be having our last signature budgeting Money Party 🥳 of the year (OMG!) on Thursday, September 3rd at 1 pm EST (also free). Sign up here. I’ll be heading out on maternity leave in a couple of weeks but will resume our beloved Money Parties in the New Year!
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS #SPONSORED
Earn a 2.15% bonus rate on your checking account. Whaaaa? 🤯 I know! With interest rates at historic lows, even those who are using online savings accounts are barely earning 1% on their cash. And this is a checking account, so you can withdraw your money any time without restrictions.
OnJuno, a new online bank whose mission is to make banking fair and transparent (you know I love that! 👏), is offering the Fiscal Femme community early access to a new online checking account that earns a 2.15% bonus rate and will charge you absolutely no fees. Users also receive 5% cash back on 5 brands of their choosing and the account is FDIC insured up to $250K.
The Offer:
Receive early access to the Metal Checking Account with a $1,000 minimum deposit where you’ll earn a 2.15% bonus rate for 6 months for free (plus get 5% cash back on your 5 favorite brands and more perks to be announced soon)
After 6 months, you will automatically be moved to the free Basic Checking Account that still earns a 1.15% bonus rate (plus 3% cash back on your 5 favorite brands). A 1.15% bonus is still almost 30x higher than the interest rate you get at most brick and mortar banks
You can choose to upgrade after 6 months if the additional bonus is worth it (i.e. if you plan on keeping more than $15K in the account)
The only catch? We have to be patient. Sigh. Sign up for the waitlist to get early access to this new account in the Fall. There are limited spots available!
REFLECTION FROM ASHLEY
Gender equality is what’s best for the economy.
Today, August 26th, is Women’s Equality Day - the day congress passed the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. Even with the 19th amendment passed, many women of color would still not be able to vote for decades.
The current pandemic and it’s disproportionate impact on women, has shown us how far we have left to go to reach gender parity.
Yet, according to McKinsey & Company, taking actions toward gender equality now, would mean $13 TRILLION more in GDP in 2030. TRILLION has 12 zeros. I define GDP here.
Women are currently 1.8x more likely to experience job loss due to COVID-19 and according to another survey (and not unrelated), women are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 when it comes to childcare and household responsibility. As a result, they are leaving the workforce at faster rates than men.
In 56% of the households surveyed, mothers indicated they were managing most or all of the caregiving.
In an April survey, 20% of mothers said they were considering leaving the workforce. In June, 33% (1 in 3) of those surveyed report having at least one parent that has either left the workforce or dropped down to part-time (70% of the time, it’s the mother who’s stepping down).
McKinsey stresses the importance of acting now on gender equality (that means electing the right policy and business leaders - ahem 🗳 VOTE) and recommends we invest in the following areas - education, family planning, maternal mortality, digital inclusion, and unpaid care work.
It’s not just countries that benefit from investing in women and girls. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.
Women and girls are truly the best investment all around!
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Get that cash feel. One of the really misleading things about credit cards is that you never know where you stand. Even if you pay off your credit card in full each month, you’re only paying for last month’s. And until you actually make your payment, your checking account is not an accurate reflection of how much money you have. This can lead to spending more than you’d like, a lack of clarity around your money and even unnecessary money stress.
We can get closer to reality by spending in cash (the old fashioned way), using our debit cards (so charges are immediately removed from our bank balance) or paying down our credit card more frequently. Even paying down new charges on our credit cards weekly vs. monthly can make things a lot clearer.