Ahead of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Parisian cafes and brasseries have launched a ploy to con unaware tourists — and even locals — out of some extra euros.
Foreigners coming to the City of Light are showing a lack of awareness that tipping culture in France is much different than in the US and other nations. Since there is a legally mandated 15% service charge and menu prices are often higher to cover workers’ wages, it is customary only to leave about 5% extra tip — known as pourboire in French — at best.
French restaurateurs are playing into their international guests’ ignorance by nudging them to pay forward like they would at, say, a stateside Applebee’s, The Times of London reported.
Restaurants in Paris are asking diners to tip more ahead of the Olympic games, even though it is not customary in France. Getty Images
“You can only think that this is a way to get the French to leave bigger tips or to get foreigners to give as much as they would in their own countries,” said a “very surprised” Bordeaux University professor Olivier Babeau.
“And it’s not totally absurd to imagine that this new practice is linked with the Olympics.”
The Times added that restaurant owners are apprehensive that tourists will be lodging outside of the city limits or will cut costs by eating French-loved American fast food.
As Paris readies for the Olympic games, restaurants are deploying cheap tactics to get diners to pay more. Xinhua/Shutterstock
They also worry people won’t eat out when they watch the games this summer. London restaurants suffered a dip in business during the 2012 games.
“With the waiter watching while you make your card payment, you feel very uncomfortable if you don’t add a tip,” a 35-year-old doctor named Arnaud told the Times.
Even locals are being conned by new tipping tactics at Parisian restaurants. REUTERS
“I’ve been shocked in the past when I’ve seen waiters asking foreigners for tips,” added Françoise, a 55-year-old television producer.
But restaurants aren’t differentiating foreign from local — and it’s a major faux pas, he said.
“They were just taking advantage of them because they didn’t know that service is included here. That’s bad enough, but it’s scandalous that they’re doing it to us, too.”
Kim Moody: Intergenerational fairness and asking the so-called rich to pay more tax via an increased capital gains inclusion rate is quite a leap of logic
Published Apr 30, 2024 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 5 minute read
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during an announcement about measures in budget 2024 for youth and education at Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.Photo by Heywood Yu/The Associated Press
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I’ve always been fascinated by magicians and how incredible some of their tricks are. A few years ago, my youngest son became fascinated as well. He aggressively took up the craft and let me in on some of the sleight-of-hand and distraction skills that are required to pull off an effective trick.
With this in mind, I couldn’t help but think of magicians with respect to the Canadian government’s 2024 budget and its proposal to increase the capital gains inclusion rate from 50 per cent to 66.7 per cent for corporations, trusts and individuals who have more than $250,000 in annual capital gains realized after June 25, 2024.
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The government plans to raise almost $5 billion from corporations (who might purposely trigger, or “crystallize,” their capital gains before June 25) to finance some of its excessive spending. That’s quite a magic trick.
To introduce the proposal, the government pulled another attack on the wealthy and so-called rich out of its old bag of tricks. Apparently, the proposal will only impact 0.13 per cent of Canadian individuals and 12.6 per cent of corporations. This messaging is blatantly disingenuous and manipulative. The real impact will be much greater.
To cover their tracks, the prime minister and his government have vigorously started defending their budget. Last week, Justin Trudeau continuously argued that the capital gains inclusion rate increase is necessary since the current system is unfair to young people who can’t afford to buy a first home and that it’s time for wealthier and older individuals to pay more to work towards “intergenerational fairness.”
He also said: “We just don’t think it’s right that a student, or an electrician or a teacher be paying taxes on 100 per cent of their income while others have the opportunities to use accountants and pay taxes on only 50 per cent of that income.”
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These comments are classic sleight-of-hand responses (so obviously crafted by the prime minister’s office or communications’ crisis team) to distract us from the real issues.
Intergenerational fairness and asking the so-called rich to pay more tax via an increased capital gains inclusion rate is quite a leap of logic. How that pull of the policy lever assists with intergenerational fairness is certainly not visible to me and millions of others.
If Trudeau genuinely wants to take positive steps towards intergenerational fairness, the most important thing would be to reduce spending and get our country’s debt load back in line. Budget 2024 projects our public-debt charges will be $54.1 billion for the coming year (that is more than $1 billion per week) and is almost identical to the amount projected to be collected in GST by the federal government. Think about that: all our GST payments are going to pay public-debt charges.
Paying public-debt charges brings no societal benefits (no hospitals, roads, social benefits, etc.) and instead benefits bondholders. Burdening our children and grandchildren with our country’s growing debt, and its corresponding debt charges, is certainly not in the interests of intergenerational fairness.
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The attack on one of our country’s most important professions — accountants — is also quite remarkable. A sitting prime minister states that if you can afford to hire an accountant, then those evil accountants will be able to cut your tax bill in half. Besides being extraordinarily offensive to the profession, accountants are now apparently magicians: Abracadabra …poof … your tax bill is cut in half.
Such hogwash. So much so that the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada came out with a strong statement defending the honour of accountants. Accountants are hardly the problem. Frankly, without accountants, the entire Canadian tax system would fail. That’s not an exaggeration; it’s the simple truth.
While some economists have strongly come out in defence of the capital gains inclusion rate (with such arguments usually centred around equity — a “buck is a buck” — or “it’s the best of a bad alternative”), they are ignoring the real world of investing. Investors place their dollars where they feel the garden has fertile growing conditions. If that assessment determines this garden is not fertile enough, they will place their investment dollars elsewhere.
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To be fair, many entrepreneurs, economists and tax-policy wonks would have been more accepting of the tax increase if it was met with measures, such as a significant reduction in corporate and personal tax rates, to counter the negative impacts described above. These measures, combined with reduced spending, would have helped make the economic garden a bit more fertile and been a positive step in dealing with our country’s serious productivity issues.
Instead, the capital gains tax increase was accompanied by offensive rhetoric, misleading and disingenuous statistics, and a sleight of hand trick (“intergenerational fairness”) to deflect attention from what this measure truly is: a simple political attack in the hopes of increasing votes from the younger generation.
For many successful Canadians, this tax increase is the final straw. They have endured endless attacks during the past nine years in the form of increased personal tax rates, harsh amendments to the alternative minimum tax, illogical and ideological windfall taxes on the financial sector (what sector is next?), attacks on short-term rental owners, attacks on small businesses with anti-income splitting rules, grinds on the small-business deduction if you have too much passive income, threats of a wealth tax, etc. It’s too much.
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My phone/email/text messages have been off the charts with requests from people wanting help to leave Canada once and for all. Such exits have unfortunately been all too common over the past number of years, but this final straw has taken it to a new level.
Thankfully, many Canadians are recognizing that the magic show is almost over. They can only be tricked so often into believing that broad-based tax increases and poor policies are good for all Canadians. The magic is simply not real.
Kim Moody, FCPA, FCA, TEP, is the founder of Moodys Tax/Moodys Private Client, a former chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation, former chair of the Society of Estate Practitioners (Canada) and has held many other leadership positions in the Canadian tax community. He can be reached atkgcm@kimgcmoody.comand his LinkedIn profile is https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmoody.
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Greg Norman was a heck of a ball striker during his playing career.
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Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today, we look back at our October 1995 issue where Greg Norman shared three tips for driving the ball long and straight. For unlimited access to the full GOLF Magazine digital archive, join InsideGOLF today; you’ll enjoy $140 of value for only $39.99/year.
With Greg Norman being such a polarizing figure in the modern golf landscape it can be easy to forget that he was a heck of a player during his career. With 20 PGA Tour titles and two major championships, he was among the game’s best players during his playing prime.
Much of that success can be attributed to his incredible ball-striking skills — particularly off the tee. With a driver in his hands, Norman was long and straight, a lethal combo that allowed him to pick apart courses like few others could.
If you are curious about what drove Norman’s success, you’re in luck. Back in 1995, the Shark penned a feature for GOLF Magazine outlining three tips for hitting the ball long and straight, which we’ve reproduced below. Check it out.
Norman’s 3 driving tips
As a youngster I loved sports, playing everything from rugby to cricket. But it wasn’t until I was 15 that I borrowed my Mum’s clubs and had my first go at golf at the Virginia Golf Club near our home in Queensland, Australia.
I hit many more bad shots than good that day and I don’t remember my score. But I do remember that my few solid drives hooked me on the game. Immediately after the round, I picked up a copy of Jack Nicklaus’ Golf My Way and began my education.
Three years later, with my handicap down to scratch, I won my first tournament, the Queensland Junior Championship. Three years after that, at age 21, I won my first Australian pro event — the 1976 West Lakes Classic.
In 1983, having won in numerous countries, I decided to join the PGA Tour and meet the challenge of America head on. After just eight years, I had eight titles and earnings of more than $4,250,000. My banner year was 1990, when I won Doral and The Memorial, and captured the Arnold Palmer award for leading money-winner. I felt on top of the world.
A year later, my game hit rock bottom! I finished 53rd on the money list. More importantly, I’d fallen way down in some key statistical categories, notably driving accuracy and greens in regulation.
When I looked back at that year, it didn’t take long to realize I needed help. For 20 years I’d been relying on good genes, Jack’s book, and some tips from Australian teacher Charlie Erp, who, in the early years, had smoothed out some of the rough edges in my game. But it was time to move forward, to build a swing less dependent on perfect timing and rigorous practice, and more likely to stand up under pressure.
I needed a new teacher, someone I could trust. After a long search I chose Claude “Butch” Harmon.
Butch was honest. His first words after watching me hit a bag of balls at the TPC The Woodlands in Houston, Texas, were, “Greg, your stance is too narrow; your footwork is poor; the swing is too long and too steep; and your hips sway on the backswing then slide on the downswing.”
At that moment, I knew what Nick Faldo and Nick Price must have felt years earlier when they made the commitment to revamp their swings. I knew that if I wanted to play world-class golf, not only would I have to sacrifice some playing time for practice, but in many ways I would have to start from scratch.
I practiced diligently in 1992, and it was worth it: I climbed back to 18th in money on Tour and my stats improved. In 1993, I finished third in money and won the British Open at Royal St. George’s. Last year, I was second on the money list and proved a lot to the golf world — and myself — by winning The Players Championship with a 24-under-par 264 over the TPC at Sawgrass.
This year, quite simply, I’m playing the best golf of my life.
I still work with Butch, going in for a swing check whenever and wherever I can. We return to the same keys, the ones that now let me swing more powerfully and hit a controlled draw rather than my old fade (and sometimes block). The keys are a slightly strong grip; wide stance; and fluid hip turn.
You don’t have to be a Tour player or even a low-handicapper to find success with my keys. You don’t have to follow every instruction tip to the letter to develop a better understanding of your swing and where it can be improved. But you do have to go back to the fundamentals, as I did, study them, and adapt them to your needs.
I think these keys can help you. I know they really helped me.
1. Semi-strong, “Intermesh” grip
Use this grip to promote unity in the hands, an inside swing path and a powerful releaseGOLF Magazine
Your hands are the only part of your body touching the club, so they must be comfortable and work together when forming a grip.
When I first started playing golf, none of the grip options — overlap, interlock, or 10-finger — felt comfortable or secure. I felt as if my hands were fighting each other when I wanted them functioning as a team. I experimented and invented a grip that wedded my hands comfortably to the club.
Call it the “intermesh” because its key feature is the position of the right pinkie—meshed snugly between the index and middle fingers of the left hand. My hands are not very large, and this hold works best for me.
Also unusual about my grip is club placement. Traditional teaching calls for holding the club in the palm and fingers of the left hand and in the fingers of the right hand. I don’t follow those rules, nor do I assume a neutral grip.
Since this year’s Masters I hold the club almost entirely in the fingers of my left hand: This lets me rotate that hand a notch more to the right (away from the target), into a slightly stronger position. My left thumb presses lightly on the right side of the grip.
Butch showed me how a semistrong left hand sets the left forearm slightly to the right at address, encouraging it to rotate on the backswing and place the club on the correct inside path. Coming down, the stronger grip enhances the releasing action of your arms, hands, and the club, closing the clubface through impact and promoting a draw.
In the right hand, resting the club along the base of the fingers increases my sense of security and confidence. Gripping up in the fingers can weaken control of the club at the top or through impact, when the club is moving as fast as 120 miles per hour.
I have two further checkpoints for the grip: 1) My left thumb fits into the crease under the pad of my right hand. 2) Rather than squeezing more tightly with the right hand, I maintain the same degree of pressure in both hands — about 7 on a 1-to-10 scale.
Even if you’re not comfortable with the intermesh, try a stronger left hand. And however you grip the club, be sure your hands form a single unit and work together, which you ensure by setting the palms parallel.
The extra-wide stance promotes a wide arc and compact swing.GOLF Magzine
Just as the hands are the only link to the club, your feet are the only connection to the ground. Therefore, -you must start with a solid foundation. On the tee, this means setting up with your feet spread shoulder-width apart, measuring — and this is important — at the inside of the heels.
I knew that Ben Hogan played from an extra-wide stance, but I was always so busy thinking about positions and swing angles that I never thought to look down at my feet. Butch educated me on the value of a wide stance.
A wide stance leads to several improvements:
—A longer takeaway and wider swing arc.
—A shorter, more compact swing.
—A turn, rather than slide, of your hips.
At 6-foot-1, it felt natural to take a narrow stance. And I’d played pretty well that way. What I didn’t know was that compensatory moves and brute strength were allowing me to get away with it. But not all the time.
Every now and again, and often when it counted most, the narrow stance would fail me. I’d swing on such a narrow arc that my right wrist would hinge too much at the top, causing the club to drop well below parallel. I’d be at what Butch calls “the point of no return,” unable to bail out and save the swing. So I’d cast the club, slide into impact with my hips too high, reach impact with the clubface open, and block the shot to the right of target.
No more. On every swing I check my stance. I see many amateurs who could improve by setting their feet farther apart. It isn’t easy to do at first. I suggest you picture a baseball shortstop in the ready position. Where are his feet? Spread shoulder-width apart so his entire body is ready for action.
3. Shift and rotate the hips
Shirt and rotate the hips to promote good footwork, balance and solid contact.GOLF Magazine
I never thought there was a problem with my foot-action until I saw my swing on videotape, sliding my right foot backward through impact. As Butch explained, that was another reason I tended to fall back and block shots to the right, particularly under pressure.
A wider stance helped control many parts of my game: I stopped coming out of my knee flex, and stopped swaying my hips back and through. As a result, my footwork improved, but not enough.
I needed to keep my left foot fully on the ground and my right foot from sliding. To do that I had to stop thinking about driving the legs on the downswing and start rotating my hips. Butch said the results would be better balance, a consistently square impact position, and keeping the clubface on the ball a split-second longer for long, accurate shots.
Hip rotation was also the only way to stop finishing in a severe ReverseC position, which was taking a toll on my back and hips.
Butch worried that if I consciously thought about rotation, I would start spinning the hips too violently, causing more problems. He consulted with my physical trainer, Pete Draovitch, who taught me a simple drill to ingrain proper hip action and increase my flexibility: Stand in the address position holding a medicine ball. From the set-up, turn away from a target, then turn back, releasing the ball toward the target.
The drill works. Even if you substitute a basketball for a medicine ball, you quickly learn proper hip rotation and the feeling of releasing the right arm over the left through impact, necessary for hitting a draw.
More flexibility and good hip rotation let me swing through aggressively and safely— there’s no more foot-slide or severe Reverse-C. I make more solid contact and draw the ball, giving Mme. extra. distance through added roll. You can see the differences in my downswing and shot shape by comparing my new swing sequence photographs to the old ones. Look how far right the ball starts in the old swing; you can see it drawing (and the clubhead closing) in the new.
Work on hip rotation, rather than sliding, and see if a number of your lower-body mistakes don’t disappear.
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Zephyr Melton
Golf.com Editor
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.
FISHERS — Springtime is the perfect time to get your life and home organized. And as the warmer weather settles in, many Hoosiers plan to tackle big projects.
But where do you start?
We traveled to Fishers to the home of Stephanie Craig, the franchise owner for Neat Method Indianapolis.
Lauren Casey WRTV
Stephanie Craig is a Fishers mom who owns Neat Method Indianapolis, an organizing service serving clients across central Indiana.
"We actually organize peoples homes," said Craig. "We'll do everything from baby rooms to garages, to kitchens, pantries, master closets."
Craig and her team meet with clients and learn more about the needs and lifestyle before re-organizing their space.
Neat Method Indianapolis
Neat Method Indianapolis can organize a variety of spaces in your home. Here is a before and after example.
"My real passion is functional designs," said Craig, who shows us how she used drawer dividers to create an organized drink station for her and her family in a kitchen drawer. "Just really making sure things are functional for people's lives."
Craig and her team are tidy-up pros and can help get your home in order, but for those of us looking to tackle these projects ourselves, what do we begin?
Lauren Casey WRTV
Craig uses drawer dividers to keep items in place in her Fishers home.
"So step 1 is definitely pull everything out," said Craig. She adds that your space is going to get messier before it gets clean as you empty drawers or closets into the room. "And start to sort and categorize things."
Craig says they will go through and check expiration dates and throw out any expired or empty items. They group like items together and start to craft a plan for how to organize the space.
During this process, she says, many people don't realize how many of the same things they already have at their home because due to the arrangement of items before, they couldn't see how many they had.
Lauren Casey WRTV
Craig suggests grouping similar items together in baskets or boxes and labeling them.
Many people use auto renewal for purchases or have subscription-based products in their homes and they may find after sorting items. They can cancel that subscription if they already have a year's supply.
"It definitely does save them money, because they know how much they already have," said Craig.
Then she suggests you get together your items and tools to keep your space organized, that can be boxes, bins or baskets for a closet or shelf.
"Expandable drawer organizers and they come in different types," said Craig. "These are expandable drawer dividers."
Lauren Casey WRTV
These expandable drawer dividers help Craig keep objects in the drawers organized and in place.
Craig utilizes the drawer organizers to group items and keep them from sliding around.
While she uses some of the items you can purchase from Neat Method, she says anything can work.
"Things like this," Craig said. "From Walmart of wherever."
She says you can even use old gift baskets you have been given, just make sure to label everything where you can easily read what is inside.
Lauren Casey WRTV
Craig tries to keep her cooking items in view to save time on searching, and save money on overbuying things she already has in stock.
Inside her cabinets in the kitchen, she uses a rotating racks for things like spices to keep them in view. She also utilizes some levels for her canned goods so she can easily read the labels by just looking in her pantry, that way she saves time searching and knows exactly what she has in stock.
"I'm not searching for 20 minutes, so it saves a lot of time," said Craig. "I think it just brings peace of mind right."
Lauren Casey WRTV
Craig uses these levels to help her see what she has in stock so things don't get lost behind other objects.
Craig says get the space organized and labeled, and then come back to it a few months later and see what works, and adjust your space from there.
Her biggest advice to people looking to re-organize their space: start small.
Neat Method Indianapolis
Neat Method Indianapolis shows us different spaces they organized for clients in the community.
"So take it in bite sized pieces, so that you feel like, it's not overwhelming," said Craig.
If you are struggling with digestive discomfort like bloating and acidity, slowing down the pace of your eating can help transform your gut health. Here's how.
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Published on Apr 29, 2024 11:57 AM IST
"You might not realize it, but gobbling down your meals can put your body into 'fight or flight' mode, disrupting digestion and leading to issues like bloating, gas, and acid reflux," says Nutritionist Karishma Shah in her recent Instagram post. (Freepik)
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Eating quickly doesn't just rush your mealtime, it's considered a stressor by your body. This triggers a stress response that can negatively impact your digestive system. (Freepik)
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When we eat fast, our body goes into a 'fight or flight' mode, impairing our ability to digest food properly. This can lead to uncomfortable symptoms like bloating, gas, and acid reflux. (Freepik)
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Published on Apr 29, 2024 11:57 AM IST
There are numerous benefits of eating slow. Slowing down your eating pace can shift your body into a 'rest and digest' state, the ideal condition for optimal digestion. (Freepik)
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Published on Apr 29, 2024 11:57 AM IST
You can follow the practice of mindful eating which will help slow down your eating pace. Try putting your fork down between bites, chewing thoroughly, and avoiding distractions while you eat.
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Published on Apr 29, 2024 11:57 AM IST
If you have been struggling with digestive discomforts like acidity, gas and bloating, slowing your pace might just be the key. By eating mindfully, you can also enjoy your food better compared to when you are eating mindlessly and just gobbling down your food. (Freepik)
Article From & Read More ( Are you a fast eater? How it can damage health, tips to slow down and eat mindfully - Hindustan Times )
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DENVER (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin recorded his first career hat trick, Alexandar Georgiev turned in another strong showing and the Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 in Game 4 on Sunday to move a win away from advancing.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scored for the Avalanche, who grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
Nichushkin added an empty-netter with 13 seconds left to give him his third goal and his first hat trick in game No. 580 of his NHL career.
Georgiev stopped 26 shots.
Connor Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 30 shots before being replaced by Laurent Brossoit for the third period.
Nate Schmidt scored for Winnipeg.
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Article From & Read More ( Nichushkin records 1st career hat trick, Avalanche beat Jets 5-1 in Game 4 to take 3-1 series lead - Denver 7 Colorado News )
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Whether you have no savings or just wish you had a little more, there are steps you can take in 2024 to make it happen. YouTuber Kate Kaden is an expert on frugal living who regularly publishes videos designed to help the average person improve their financial wellness.
Kaden says your first step should be to save 10% of your take-home pay. But don’t only save when you feel good financially. Make your 10% savings goal non-negotiable.
Warren Buffet says the same thing. He advises that you pay yourself first, saying: “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.”
As of 2024, the average U.S. salary is $63,795. After taxes, you should take home over $4,000 per month — and potentially more, depending on how heavily your state taxes income. That means the average U.S. adult should aim to save around $400 monthly based on Kaden’s recommendation. If you can do that for a year, you’ll end up with $4,800 in savings.
If you want to save more than that in the next 12 months, Kaden says you’ll need a personalized plan to get there. This may mean cutting some expenses or looking for a new side hustle, such as driving for Uber or turning a hobby into a business.
As you begin to save 10% of your take-home pay, Kaden says your first goal should be to stockpile one month of expenses in your checking account. Doing so will help you deal with unexpected expenses without interrupting your savings plan.
The average U.S. household spends around $5,111 per month. That can feel like a lot if you’re just starting to save.
Dave Ramsey has a solution. He advises beginning this process by creating a $1,000 starter emergency fund. Once you reach that milestone, you can then start working toward Kaden’s recommended stockpile of one month’s expenses.
Note that some experts, including Ramsey, say you should eventually try to have three to six months of expenses in an emergency fund. However, every financial situation is unique. It’s OK if it takes some time to get there, as financial wellness is a lifelong pursuit.
Curate a Supportive Network
Kaden’s next tip is to surround yourself with the right kind of people. If you only spend time with friends who go out and waste money every weekend, you’ll be much likelier to do the same.
Instead, focus on relationships with people who share your financial goals. Eventually, you’ll create a social network that reinforces your savings goals, instead of detracting from them.
Research suggests the average American person spends $18,000 per year on nonessential goods and services. It’s really hard to do that while making progress toward your savings goals unless you have an above-average income.
Some nonessential spending is fine. You don’t want to live like a pauper to reach your financial goals. But keep it in check and always remember to pay yourself first. The right social network can make putting your financial health first much easier.
Focus On Solutions
Kaden’s next piece of advice is to start focusing on solutions — not problems. In other words, you need a healthy mindset to stay on track with your financial goals.
Sure, it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going your way financially. But you can’t let bad breaks make you throw in the towel and give up on saving. We all have bad months. If you allow them to change your financial philosophy, it’ll be tough to build wealth.
Kaden recommends reading a book on this subject called “Everything Is Figureoutable” by Marie Forleo. She says it can help you retrain your brain to think more creatively and positively in the face of setbacks. That way, you can continue making progress toward your financial goals no matter what the future brings.
Avoid Debt at All Costs
Kaden’s last tip is to avoid debt at all costs. She shares that opinion with other popular financial experts, including Dave Ramsey.
Debt payments eat into your budget without giving you any present-day value. They’re sort of like monthly payments for past spending that exceeded your means. There’s rarely a good reason to take on that burden.
Despite that, the average American now has $23,317 in non-mortgage debt. This debt comes from various sources, including credit cards, various types of student and auto loans, and personal debt.
Some financial experts recommend paying off all consumer debt before investing or creating a full emergency fund. Doing so will ensure you pay as little interest on the amount you owe as possible, decreasing the overall amount you have to pay off. If you’re looking for more guidance in this area, Kaden recommends reading a book called “The Simple Path to Wealth” by JL Collins.
As you research, note that some financial experts believe certain types of debt are OK. For example, Rich Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki uses debt to finance real estate purchases, which provide him with rental income. However, this is a specific case and doesn’t equate to taking on consumer debt for unnecessary purchases that provide you with no future value.
Saving money is one of the foundations of financial wellness. Do it consistently, and you’ll build wealth over time while also protecting yourself from unexpected expenses that could otherwise disrupt your life.
Kaden’s recommendations for saving more in 2024 are a great place to start your savings journey. But remember, every financial situation is different. Your ideal savings plan may not fit perfectly with Kaden’s advice.
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