If you have a brokerage account, chances are you have some uninvested money sitting in a cash account often referred to as a "sweep account." Fidelity calls it a "core account;" Vanguard uses the term "settlement account." According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, investment houses increasingly have been putting such money into low-interest accounts instead of higher-yielding money market funds, but investors who are paying attention can move the money into more productive funds.
Matt's View
Knowledge is power and, in this case, it could help you earn more money. The first steps are to see where your uninvested brokerage account money has been "swept" and how much it's earning.
All too often, buying products that are good for the environment is not so good for your wallet. In honor of Earth Day, SmartMoney magazine offered up several eco friendly ideas that don't cost an arm and a leg. For example, if you regularly dry clean clothes, opt for an ironically named "wet" dry-cleaner. The vast majority of traditional dry cleaners use the chemical perchloroethylene, a carcinogenic that often finds its way into soil. But a growing number of cleaners are using eco-friendly solvents. You may be able to find such a cleaner near you here
or here
.
Matt's View
This is a good example of the principle that being wise with money is about more than just saving money.
Two recent surveys indicate that many husbands and wives are not just on different pages when it comes to financial matters, they're using different playbooks. As reported by MarketWatch recently, a Fidelity survey found that about a third of couples gave different answers to questions about everything from their expected age of retirement to whether they'll continue to work in their later years. One-fifth couldn't even agree as whether they currently use a financial planner. A separate survey from Mainstay Investments found 81 percent of married women said they shared financial planning decisions equally with their spouse. Just 41 percent of married men said they did so.
Matt's View
It may not seem very romantic, but maybe more couples need to plan some dates just to talk about money. Call them your monthly board of directors meetings and use the time to discuss upcoming financial decisions and to review your actual spending and saving versus your budget. Ah, you do have a budget
, don't you?
April showers sometimes bring more than sweet smelling May flowers. Every now and then they bring not such sweet smelling sewage water into people's basements. And that makes now an ideal time to check whether you have sewer-backup insurance. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, most homeowner policies don't automatically cover sewer backups, and just 20 percent of policyholders opt for the additional coverage. A rider usually can be added for about $50 per year for $5,000 worth of coverage.
Matt's View
Besides looking into such coverage, one simple tip that helps prevent sewage from backing up is to avoid putting grease into sinks or paper towels and diapers into toilets.
