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When you factor in taxes and inflation, 12-month CDs haven’t offered a positive real return for a decade.

Low interest rates make life difficult for people who save their money or rely on their investments for income. Twelve-month CD rates have been below 2% since 2008, and they were just 1.29% at the end of 2018. When you factor in taxes and inflation, 12-month CDs have provided negative real returns 15 out of the last 20 years and haven’t offered a positive real return since 2008.  

How Inflation and Taxes Have Affected CD Return Rates

Like health care, many of us continue with the same auto insurance policy for years, never bothering to find out whether another insurance carrier could provide better service or save us some money. But there are several reasons why shopping for another auto insurance policy can make sense. Here are just a few:

Has a dog or cat grabbed hold of your heart?  It doesn’t take much. A paw on the arm. A lick on the nose, or a soft purr or whimper can turn most of us into dog or cat parents in minutes. With animal shelters across the U.S. frequently at their max, there are a record number of dogs and cats available for adoption. Of course, there are also those that are looking for a particular breed, and are willing to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars when they find it.

Donating money to our favorite charitable organization is a year-end ritual for many of us. While monthly giving has gained in popularity in recent years, most of us still tend to open up our wallets just a bit wider at the end of the year.

But what about the organization that we’re giving to? What are they required to do once they receive our donation?  If you’re unsure, here’s a quick run-down of what you should expect.

If you’ve spent more than five minutes on a kid’s television network, you’ve seen just how inundated young kids are with commercials for everything from the latest gadget, to some dreadful snack that features something gooey and/or messy. It’s also safe to bet that many of these kids run to their parents, wanting to buy some or all of these items.

Do you really know how much it will cost you to sell your home?  Here is a breakdown of some of those costs.

With more than 95% of American workers currently covered by Social Security, there are some things about this massive retirement program that you should probably know.  If you’re still in your forties or fifties, you can probably wait a few years to learn the intricacies of Social Security, but if you’ve recently entered your 6th decade on this planet, here are a few things you should be aware of:

Giving money to philanthropic causes is important to many of us. Year end giving in particular is popular with both donors and charitable organizations. The most common way to give money for most people is to simply write a check or put a donation on a credit card. The charity then typically sends us a receipt for our donation, and everyone is happy.

Not so fast.