[Fox Business] How Bankrate calculators can help you save smart, pay off debt and set financial goals

Spending money is easy, but saving it is a lot harder. Luckily, there are tons of free financial tools you can leverage to help you save money, pay off and stay out of debt. Bankrate is one of these tools. 

Bankrate has a slew of different calculators all geared towards very specific goals. So whether you’re trying to pay off a hefty student loan or save for the down payment on a home, these calculators can help. 

Read on to learn how you can use Bankrate to make smart financial choices and achieve your savings goals.

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Bankrate offers many different savings calculators to help individuals reach their savings goals. 

One of these is a very basic calculator, where you fill in what your initial deposit is, the amount you’ll contribute per month and how many years you’ll contribute that amount for. There is also a spot to fill out the annual percentage yield (APY). If you already have an account open and know the APY, you can fill that in. If you don’t have an account yet, you can go with the average in the U.S. of 0.58%, according to Bankrate. 

Once you have all that filled out, you’ll be able to see how much money you’ll earn from your savings account, with your initial contribution, total contributions and the interest that was earned. 

If you have a specific amount of money you want to have by a certain time, you can use Bankrate’s savings calculator. 

With this tool, you’ll enter what your goal is and how many years you plan on taking to reach that goal. 

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You can then fill in the interest rate per year, and the amount and date of your first deposit. You’ll receive a breakdown of the total you’ll have to put aside per month in order to reach your goal. If you want an even further breakdown, you’ll also be able to see how much that equals per day and week. This calculator is ideal for something like saving for a new car or even a vacation.

Another interesting tool you can use on Bankrate is their million dollars calculator. With this, you’ll need to fill in information like your age, the age at which you’d like to be a millionaire, how much you currently have invested and how much you save a month. 

There are also spaces for the expected rate of return, which is pre-set at 7%, and the expected inflation rate, which is on average, 2.9%. 

Once you have all that filled out, you can see how much money you’ll have at each age leading up to your millionaire status. This will provide you with a very clear look on whether you’re on track to reach your goal. 

If you are on the hunt for a new house, but need guidance on how much you can afford to spend, Bankrate has a tool that can help you. 

With their home affordability calculator, you can input your yearly income, the debt you have, if any, the down payment you plan on putting down and the loan term. 

You will be given two different sets of numbers based off the information you included. First there will be a recommended budget, with the price of a home, the monthly payment and the closing costs. Bankrate recommends that you should keep housing expenses lower than 28% of your income per month. 

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Then, there will be a maximum budget, with the highest price of a home you can afford, what that monthly payment will look like and what the approximate closing costs will be of a house at that price. 

Using this tool can give you a clear picture of what you can afford, to make sure you don’t wind up going over budget. 

If you have different places you are looking at potentially moving to, you can dig into this too with the cost of living comparison calculator. 

Here, you will put the city you currently reside in, where you are moving to and what your current income is. 

Then, you’ll be given the cost of living in your new city and how that compares to where you are moving from. 

You can even see a comparison in the costs of things like groceries, rent, home prices, gas and health-related costs. This tool can help you make a financially sound decision and also help you avoid unexpected increased costs when you reach your new city. 

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If you are selling your home and have no idea what its worth. You can simply type in your address and Bankrate will instantly provide you with a home valuation by Zillow. This number is just an estimate, but it will give you a good idea. 

Investing can be a really confusing topic, but also a great way to make more money from your cash. 

There are several different Bankrate tools that can help you with investing, like the investing calculator. This calculator will allow you to see if you’re on track to reaching your investing goals. There’s also the asset allocation calculator, which can help you build a balanced portfolio. 

While there are lots of Bankrate tools that help you save and grow your money, there are also ones that help you pay off the debts you have.

One of these is a student loan calculator. With this tool, you can type in how much your loan is for, what the term is in years or months and the interest rate per year on the loan. 

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Then, you’ll be able to see what your monthly payment is, the total for the year that will be going to principal and the total going to interest. 

You can even see what the estimated payoff date is, and a schedule of all your monthly payments, including your balance at the end of each month. 

If you want to pay your loan off faster and put extra payments in on a monthly basis, yearly or just one time, you can schedule that all in as well to get more accurate numbers. 

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[Fox Business] Financial coach warns Americans’ credit score drop points to ‘uncertain economic times’

FICO recently reported the average national credit score of Americans declined for the first time in more than a decade, and one expert says it reflects a shift in attitude toward personal finance in the U.S. 

“I am concerned that this drop paints the picture of uncertain economic times and a lack of individual accountability toward people’s financial futures,” says financial coach Jeannie Dougherty. “While your credit score may seem like an arbitrary number, it will have a large impact on your ability to be comfortable in the future.” 

A March blog from FICO revealed that the “national average FICO® Score held steady from April 2023 to July 2023 at 718.” However, according to credit score data up to Oct. 2023, the national average credit score fell by one point to 717. 

“Given that the FICO Score is a lagging, not leading, economic indicator, this suggests that the effects of high interest rates and persistent inflation may be starting to weigh on consumers, especially those already struggling to manage their finances,” the report said.

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Several factors are flashing signs of consumer stress. Credit card debt and overall household debt are both at all-time highs, a majority of Americans say they had to make sacrifices to pay their monthly bills last year, and delinquencies are on the rise.

Dougherty attributed some of the financial stress to the pandemic, and some to societal shifts. She believes mental health and spending habits are closely linked.

The financial coach said traditionally, Americans were used to people preparing in their 20s or 30s to buy their first home, managing their credit, and to have at least a small 401(k) set up or some type of retirement.

However, when the pandemic hit, many people could not find a steady job, and what people considered “normal” sort of “went out the window,” Dougherty said. She also argued that much of the financial behavior by American consumers today can be attributed to society and perceptions, like buying a brand-new car rather than used, or purchasing a huge house rather than one that is more affordable.

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“A lot of people would like to retreat,” Dougherty told FOX Business in an interview. “I’ve seen that sort of as a Western mindset: ‘I’m just overwhelmed. I can’t do this. I’m totally traumatized, just overwhelmed.’ I hear those words more often.”

She said that sometimes individuals know they need to improve their credit scores, but that is not their priority because they are dealing with their own survival. Many are grappling with what Dougherty called “credit fixation,” where they resort to credit cards for everyday expenses and keep piling on debt without any long-term plan to pay it off – which often leads to bankruptcy.

Another issue is that Americans often see indulgent spending as self-care, she said.

“But part of self-care is loving all parts of you – past, present, and future,” Dougherty said.”The sooner you start taking care of your future self, the more they will thank you, and it begins with your credit score.” 

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Dougherty said her approach to navigating clients through financial difficulties and a defeated mindset is to tell them, “Nope, we’re in this together. Let’s find a way forward. Let’s build a path.”

FOX Business’ Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.

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[Fox Business] Billionaire Nelson Peltz gives two reasons why he is backing Trump over Biden in 2024 rematch

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz will likely back former President Trump over President Biden in their prospective 2024 general election rematch this November, he said Tuesday.

Peltz, 81, cited the ongoing migrant crisis and Biden’s mishandling of the U.S.-Mexico border as the reasons why he was choosing to back Trump.

“It will probably be Trump and I’m not happy about that,” Peltz said during an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday. “We can’t go on letting everyone into this country. We have an immigration problem — it’s not a Republican or Democrat problem. The US should not halt immigration but I want some boundaries put on it so we know at least who we’re bringing in.”

He also went on to say that the 81-year-old Biden’s current “mental condition is really scary.”

“I don’t know what he knows and I don’t know what he doesn’t know,” Peltz continued. “I don’t know who’s speaking for him and that’s troubling.”

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Peltz supported Trump in 2020 but withdrew his support after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, which he has publicly said were incited by Trump.

In Jan. 2021, Peltz accused Trump of inciting violence in Washington, D.C. and said that he was “sorry” for supporting Trump.

During the Financial Times interview, Peltz addressed this past criticism.

“I said I did regret voting for him because for me the Capitol is one of the sacred grounds, and the last time anybody attacked the White House it was the Brits in 1812,” he said. “And I thought that was pretty bad. I was convinced at that time that Trump might have incited it.”

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Despite the controversial riot, Peltz now says he’s returning to the Republican after seeing how Biden ran the country.

Peltz also called the criminal charges against Trump a “miscarriage of justice.”

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During the 2020 presidential election, Peltz hosted a $580,600-per-couple fundraising dinner for Trump.

During the interview, Peltz said that he had not yet decided whether he would support Trump financially in the 2024 contest.

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[Fox Business] CVS engaging with AGs on retail theft; working to ‘dismantle these criminal operations’

CVS CEO Karen Lynch said the company is working with attorneys general in order to try and stop the brazen retail theft that is proliferating the industry. 

While speaking with “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday, Lynch explained that less expensive products are even locked up because thieves are coming in and “ripping through…the entire counter.” She recalled watching a clip of a car driving through the front door of one of its stores at night. Six men jumped out and “ransacked the entire CVS,” she recalled. 

The company has implemented new safety measures over the last few years. However, Lynch said they are also “working very closely with law enforcement and with attorneys general because they’re not being prosecuted, and they need to be,” Lynch said.

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Retailers across the industry have been ramping up efforts to combat organized retail crime, which has grown in scope and complexity in recent years, and continues to take a hefty bite out of profits. 

Target, for instance, projected last year that it would face a more than $500 million hit in profits due to retail theft that is worsening at its stores. 

In 2022, these thefts, many of which have garnered national attention, cost retailers about $112.1 billion in overall losses, according to data from the 2023 National Retail Security Survey. That is up from $93.9 billion in losses in 2021 and $90.8 billion in 2020. 

A CVS spokesperson told FOX Business that organized retail crime has been challenging industry-wide and that it’s been working with law enforcement on these matters, including attorneys general offices.

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“We are a national leader in the fight against ORC. We partner with federal, state, and local law enforcement – as well as with other retailers – to identify and dismantle these criminal operations,” the CVS spokesperson said. 

Its ORC team has already dismantled dozens of large-scale national criminal organizations and its security measures in place “are continually reviewed to help ensure our stores remain safe environments to work, shop and fill prescriptions,” the spokesperson continued. 

The NRF, the largest retail trade group in the nation, told FOX Business that retailers across the industry regularly collaborate with law enforcement at all levels to address these crimes as well as to ensure the safety of their employees, customers and local communities. 

However, David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the NRF, previously told FOX Business retailers are only part of the equation. 

“We have to take a really good look at what got us here. And there are a lot of things that got us to this point, some of them inclusive of individual states making changes to how they react to shoplifting,” Johnston said. 

He noted that some states have raised the monetary threshold that would bring about a felony charge.

In some states, if it falls under a misdemeanor crime like shoplifting, offenders may only be served a citation, which is a notice to appear in court, according to Johnston.

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“There needs to be appropriate consequences to those who are stealing for financial gain and supporting [organized retail crime],” he said. 

NRF is advocating for lawmakers to pass the bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which would effectively increase coordination between law enforcement agencies at every level, and establish a federal Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center.

CVS noted that it’s a supporter of the INFORM Consumer Act, which is designed to make it more difficult for organized retail crime groups to sell illicit goods through online marketplaces like Amazon or Facebook. 

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[Fox Business] House panel weighs repeal of Biden’s independent contractor rule

A House committee is set to hold a hearing on Thursday regarding a bill that would overturn President Biden’s independent contractor rule that took effect earlier this month.

The Labor Department’s rule makes it more difficult for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees by superseding a rule adopted during the Trump administration and changing the criteria for classifying a worker as an independent contractor.

Under the rule, six factors are analyzed to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor, including things like the opportunity for profit or loss, investments by the worker and the business, as well as the nature and degree of control exercised by the company over the worker. 

Critics of the rule argue it hurts the workers it aims to help by preventing them from entering into a work arrangement that suits their needs and those of the business, with trade groups, small business advocates and independent workers backing the effort to overturn the Biden Labor Department’s rule using the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

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A coalition of independent workers and advocacy groups known as Save Independent Work (SIW) is leading a campaign to overturn the rule. Some have cited the impact of a similar California law known as AB5, which was enacted in 2019 and revised a year later, as a reason for the federal rule to be repealed.

SIW coalition member Karen Anderson, founder of Freelancers Against AB5, said in a statement to FOX Business that the federal rule “will have horrible consequences for independent contractors throughout the country.”

“In California, workers in 600 categories of professions know firsthand how being reclassified as a W-2 employee can destroy countless careers,” Anderson added.

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Tom Manzo, president and founder of the California Business and Industrial Alliance, added that the “new rule robs independent workers of their ability to choose where and how they earn a living. That’s not to mention the burden it places on small business owners that can’t afford to hire full-time staff.”

The House Education and Workforce Committee will markup legislation that, if enacted, would overturn the Biden administration’s rule using the Congressional Review Act. Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said the Biden administration is holding “workers hostage with their we-know-better-than you policies” with the rule.

If the bill advances from the committee, it will likely receive a vote on the House floor and if it’s passed by the chamber it would go to the Senate. The CRA allows Congress to pass a joint resolution disapproving of a federal rule with simple majority votes in the House and in the Senate, which ordinarily requires a three-fifths majority to pass most legislation.

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However, the resolution reversing the Biden administration’s independent contractor rule would still face long odds at being enacted. President Biden is unlikely to sign a bill reversing a regulation put forward by his own administration and would likely veto the bill if it reached his desk as he has done with several other CRA resolutions in the current Congress.

FOX Business’ Breck Dumas contributed to this report.

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