In this article and resource guide, we’ll attempt to provide over 100 vital resources to help consumers through the global pandemic. As a local insurance agency, we are here to help.
2021 Post-Stimulus Financial & Employment Survival Guide: Tips for Low -and-Middle Class Workers
“Free Stimulus Money” “This is awesome $1,400 per person I can’t wait to buy….”everyone is excited…no doubt about it. Like a child binging on a parental-condoned Halloween “Candy eating binge” many US citizens, taxpayers, consumers, and low-to-middle-wage workers can only see this stimulus from a myopic perspective.
The reason for this is simple. It’s because people struggle with both financial and time economics. If you don’t make enough money, you work more. If you work more, you have less time to get educated on basic economics, federal reserve interest rate policies, and foreign and domestic spending budgets.
“The working-class are not prepared for when these corporations start using economies of scale and the coming post-stimulus layoffs and job cuts.” Brian Plain
Which Income Class Are You?
High-wage earners have done much better during the Covid-19 than unskilled, low-wage, and middle-class families. The United States economy added about $5 trillion in wealth since the global pandemic began.
Are you struggling financially to make ends meet when it comes to healthcare, food, rent, your car loan, or monthly car insurance bills? If you think it’s bad now, it’s going to get worse. INFLATION IS COMING!
The truth is if you have bills you likely have already seen them go up since Joe Biden took office. I’m “really cheap” but I also understand things like “Disposable Income vs. Discretionary Income“, the cost of goods sold, produce, wages, and everything else in our economy is linked to “energy cost”.
The Joseph R. Biden presidency began at noon Eastern Standard Time (17:00 UTC) on January 20, 2021 fuel had already risen from $2.12 a gallon to $2.379 a gallon from the week of Nov 30, 2020. It now stands at $2.771 a gallon on average as of the most recent Mar 08, 2021, weekly data.
Local small business situations are different
Everyone’s situation is different. I’ve worked with many millionaires, CEOs, Board Executives, and other affluent and high-net-worth individuals over the past 20 years. What the advanced investment/retirement strategies I advised clients to “save money on taxes” are completely different than the average middle and low-wage renter or homeowners.
They use (Net-Unrealized-Appreciate or NUA) on their company’s individual stock avoiding having to pay ordinary taxes and getting a lower capital gains rate when selling the equity position. Most middle class and lower-wage workers can’t afford company stock and if they can they’re often forced to sell them in the event of an unexplained expense like a car repair or major medical bill.
Tips for Surviving in the US Economy After the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Inflationary Repercussions Take Effect
When it comes to household budgeting, financial matters, the US economy, and other matters, low and middle-income families are getting some really terrible financial advice.
While our insurance agency and agents have licensed to see Property and Casualty insurance, it’s best to seek a licensed financial professional for anything “investment-related”.
Below are some helpful consumer health, financial, economic, and insurance websites, resources, articles, and information for the 2021 “post-covid era” and beyond provided by Premier Shield Insurance.
- “Have an Emergency Fund in 2021” – I can tell you from personal experience that when you don’t have an emergency fund and life gets expensive, you can be forced to deal with “very high-stress levels”. I run a small business. It’s a specialized local business that helps homeowners, auto, and flood insurance policyholders find the best coverage options and price for their insurance house or car. It didn’t happen overnight and at times I had to use “creative financing” options upwards of $30,000 to get to the level I’m at today. When I got hit with major expenses and I had to add to an already high credit card balance it was stressful. Now I was fiscally responsible about the matter while many would “drown in debt” in the same scenario. I had 0% cards and committed to paying it all off. So why am I telling you this? Let’s say I had an extra $1,000 and I was at the average credit card APR of 23%
- If you don’t have an emergency fund, use the 2021 3rd round of economic stimulus to “Start and Emergency Fund Right Away”. With an emergency fund, you should consider having 3-6 months of living expenses. “But that’s $12,000 to $24,000 at $4,000 a month!”) Yes, but without one, you’ll be stung and caught off guard when a major expense comes up. Often homeowners with stable income have access to 0% credit card and balance transfer offers. Homeowners also have home equity lines that offer them “low rates” for paying off major expenses or other items.
- “Self finance your auto or car insurance policy” As a “Master Insurance Agent” I see it all too often. Low and middle-income wage workers “paying monthly on auto insurance”. It’s a trap. “STOP”. The difference in car insurance prices in some high-risk cities like Boston and Worcester are almost $53 a month higher for those that pay month to verse the fiscally responsible policyholders that pay in full for six months or 12 month policy periods.
- Get better about your finances and credit – According to Experian, many people frequently ask “how often does credit card interest compound”. Daily. It accrues daily and posts monthly. Check out this compound interest calculator…Over 10 years a $1,000 unpaid credit card balance could leave you in debt. “The Results Are In In 10 years, you will have $9,966.96 [IN DEBT] Sounds fun, people with better credit pay less for home loans, car loans, home insurance, auto insurance, flood insurance, and have better opportunities for housing due to credit checks.
- After saving money (enough for a 2021 emergency fund), pay off your credit card statement in full every month – Avoid “any and all financial service-related fees” #AtAllCosts. Look, banks are for-profit lending institutions that make money off your poor financial decisions. Credit card companies are no different. they’ll get you in with a “Low Interest” or “0% APR on Purchases or Balance Transfers” offer. You’ll get an offer in the mail (I get at least 4 per week) “Hey US Consumer with Credit Cards, did you know we will give you $100 if you spend $3,000 in 1 month with our {5% CASH BACK, AIRLINE, BAD CREDIT, BALANCE TRANSFER, BUSINESS, CASHBACK, EXCELLENT CREDIT, FAIR CREDIT, GAS, GOOD CREDIT, GROCERY, HOTEL, LOW INTEREST, NO ANNUAL FEE, NO BALANCE TRANSFER FEE, REWARDS, STARTER CARDS FOR BUILDING CREDIT, STORE, STUDENT, TRAVEL} card?” They get you in, you spend money you don’t have then you’re left with nothing but “high-interest debt” that you don’t have enough to pay back. If you put having a low to no debut, having a good payment history, and improving your credit score at the top of your “2021 to-do list” you’ll be thankful you did.
- Open Up a Really Good and Cheap Checking Account – “Come on man!” it’s 2021 and you still don’t have a bank account? This is the case for many people living in the United States. The sad fact is people who don’t have bank accounts are much higher risks to insurance companies, banks, and lending institutions. Read more about the 10 Best Checking Accounts for Bad Credit 2021 | Better Credit Blog. “A GOBankingRates survey found that the average American pays $7 in banking fees every month.” People with no bank account pay MAY HIGHER FEES.
- Avoid car/home/renters’ monthly installment fees by paying your 6 or 12-month insurance policy premiums in full. Most of the standard type of automobile insurance companies charge around $6 per month which is $72 a year in easy savings on top of the largest % discount people get by paying in full.
- Stop wasting money “buying coffee, fast food, take-out, and gas station snacks”…That stuff adds up!
- Stop renting and buy a house! The truth is it was around $2,500 for a single-bedroom apartment in Boston. That’s $30,000 that could be going to build you equity in a house vs making an investment property or landlord more wealthy.
- “Become an insurance agent”, “be your own boss”, “make your own schedule”, “earn a full-time income”, “work part-time”, “work from home”, “work on demand” “work whenever you want” “create an income stream” and “earn residual sales revenue” as a licensed insurance agent at “Premier Shield Insurance” and start doing the right thing for you and your family. Just Google the term “income insurance agent opportunities” just like that and you’ll see we’re at the top of Google. For that and many other terms. We’re masters when it comes to search engine optimization, local SEO, digital marketing and content creation, and advanced insurance agent software and resources that separate our “agents” from the standard brick & mortar retail insurance agencies and the big online ”Call center insurance companies”. You get to start out earning a living part-time if you need the security provided by a full-time job. If a career selling auto and home insurance is a good fit, you’ll have career path options that will allow you to “open your own retail insurance agency” in your local community. Anywhere in the United States. You’ll have the opportunity from there to be a local, regional, or national “insurance franchise” owner at Premier Shield Insurance. Other “local insurance franchise opportunities” from “corporate, and publicly-traded insurance companies” can leave franchisees with “start-up costs” of up to $250,00. We use a low-cost, high customer satisfaction model for insurance. We don’t sell anyone anything. You’ll never be asked to do anything that goes against your better judgment and “what’s right”. If you’re tired of being force-fed the corporate Kool-Aid, bouncing around from job to job making lateral moves in title and pay, we think you’ll be happier here.
- Start a plan to quickly pay down your student loan debt and don’t expect the government to bail you out.
- Get out of debt.
- Use a good cash-back rewards card for everyday purchases that will help pay and reward you for your spending habits. For example, I buy my gas and groceries on my American Express Blue Cash Preferred because it gives me 3% cash back on gas (which you have to buy anyways). and 6% cash back on groceries up to $6,000. I have a family of 4 so I spend a lot of money (still probably much less than you pay) on groceries each week/month/year. So I pay an annual fee of $95 but
Consumer Financial Protection and Covid-19 Helpful Resources
Local agents at #PremierShieldInsurance are here to help. Here are a few 2021 timely and helpful resources for you. You are able to learn about your state workers’ right regarding specifically “ employment rights and unemployment benefits”. You can also learn how to protect your identity and find out about MA public health updates.
If you are in a bad spot financially, there are resources and ways you can go about getting help. Below are a few that you may find useful if you would like to learn more about financial protection.
Also, it’s always good to check out the “consumer financial protection bureau” and their website.