This Week In Your Wallet: Tipping Guide & December Scams Report
‘Tis the season to tip! The holidays are a good time to recognize all of the people who make your life a little easier throughout the year. Here are some people to consider for your tip list this year — and the proper etiquette for each:
- For the people who help you look (and feel) your best (i.e. hairdressers, manicurists, personal trainers): Tip the cost of one full visit. So if your weekly mani/pedi costs $30, and you normally tip $6, give $30 on your next visit.
- For the people who make your life easier every day (i.e. housekeepers, babysitters, dog walkers): Give one week’s pay, and if appropriate, a small gift.
- For the people who man your door and fix it (i.e. doorman, superintendent, building staff): Tip $20 to $100 apiece.
- For the people who spread joy (okay, presents) not just this time of year, but all year round: USPS and FedEx workers can’t accept tips in cash, so opt for gift cards or actual gifts. Base your tip on how much you use the services. For postal workers the cap is $20, and for FedEx employees, it’s $75. (UPS doesn’t have this policy.) Gift cards are a good idea for teachers, too. And cookies, of course.
See more holiday advice and savings tips on my Advent Calendar of Savings!
Smartphones Making Us Dumb?
Your smartphone might offer you a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, but is it making you dumb with your money? New research from UCLA behavioral economist, Shlomo Benartzi, says maybe. Our digital devices are changing how we handle money, and it’s not necessarily for the better. Benartzi administered a financial literacy test and those using digital devices did much worse than those who used pen and paper. Why so? It’s the pace at which we’re working. We’re now working (and acting) faster in front of screens, which “leads to a greater reliance on instinctive responses that are often incorrect,” he says in an interview for MONEY.
Similarly, your phone could heighten market losses. A different piece of research shows investors, who keep a close eye on the behavior of others in the market, are more likely to buy into a bubble (i.e. herding behavior). Your smartphone – which is also your portal to the world of social media – could make you more susceptible to this. August 24 comes to mind. That was the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down about 800 points, fell another 200, rebounded until it was down less than 300, and proceeded to trade choppily all day — closing down nearly 600 points. These are the days when you want to put your phone on Airplane mode and ride it out.
Smart Charitable Giving
Americans donated a record $358 billion to charity in 2014, according to Giving USA, and are expected to top that by nearly 5% this year. As you’re mapping out your year-end giving over the next couple of weeks, The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig advises you to manage your donations like your investment portfolio, and to “Give from the heart, but use your head.” It makes sense. If you want your money to have the greatest returns, or — in this case — the biggest impact, then you have to focus less on the charities that make you feel good, and more on the ones that do good. Ask yourself, and more importantly, the charity, how is the world changing due to this charity? Givewell.org, a not-for-profit that offers research and analysis on charities, can help you answer the question. Consider asking the questions listed here, too.
December Duds
With the uptick in charitable giving this month, consumer complaints about bogus charities are also on the rise, reports Fraud.org. To help you weed out the bad seeds, the site offers a list of red flags, like when a charity calls and requests a donation over the phone, but can’t offer its registered name, mailing address and phone number (which you should ask for). Before donating (via credit or debit card for disputing purposes), vet the charity online on sites like the BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance, CharityNavigator or the aforementioned Givewell.
Another scam to lookout for this month is fake gift cards. Yep, now fraudsters are copying the codes and information on gift cards and placing fake ones back on the rack for you to purchase. They monitor them to see if you added money to them and then use the code to gift your money to themselves. When purchasing gift cards, look for signs of tampering (i.e. scratches and exposed pin numbers), and also ask the store clerk to scan the card to make sure is has the balance you’re paying for. Keep the receipt, too. If the funds disappear, then you have a better chance of getting your money back.
Have a great week,
Jean
- For the people who help you look (and feel) your best (i.e. hairdressers, manicurists, personal trainers): Tip the cost of one full visit. So if your weekly mani/pedi costs $30, and you normally tip $6, give $30 on your next visit.
- For the people who make your life easier every day (i.e. housekeepers, babysitters, dog walkers): Give one week’s pay, and if appropriate, a small gift.
- For the people who man your door and fix it (i.e. doorman, superintendent, building staff): Tip $20 to $100 apiece.
- For the people who spread joy (okay, presents) not just this time of year, but all year round: USPS and FedEx workers can’t accept tips in cash, so opt for gift cards or actual gifts. Base your tip on how much you use the services. For postal workers the cap is $20, and for FedEx employees, it’s $75. (UPS doesn’t have this policy.) Gift cards are a good idea for teachers, too. And cookies, of course.
See more holiday advice and savings tips on my Advent Calendar of Savings!
Smartphones Making Us Dumb?
Your smartphone might offer you a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, but is it making you dumb with your money? New research from UCLA behavioral economist, Shlomo Benartzi, says maybe. Our digital devices are changing how we handle money, and it’s not necessarily for the better. Benartzi administered a financial literacy test and those using digital devices did much worse than those who used pen and paper. Why so? It’s the pace at which we’re working. We’re now working (and acting) faster in front of screens, which “leads to a greater reliance on instinctive responses that are often incorrect,” he says in an interview for MONEY.
Similarly, your phone could heighten market losses. A different piece of research shows investors, who keep a close eye on the behavior of others in the market, are more likely to buy into a bubble (i.e. herding behavior). Your smartphone – which is also your portal to the world of social media – could make you more susceptible to this. August 24 comes to mind. That was the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down about 800 points, fell another 200, rebounded until it was down less than 300, and proceeded to trade choppily all day — closing down nearly 600 points. These are the days when you want to put your phone on Airplane mode and ride it out.
Smart Charitable Giving
Americans donated a record $358 billion to charity in 2014, according to Giving USA, and are expected to top that by nearly 5% this year. As you’re mapping out your year-end giving over the next couple of weeks, The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig advises you to manage your donations like your investment portfolio, and to “Give from the heart, but use your head.” It makes sense. If you want your money to have the greatest returns, or — in this case — the biggest impact, then you have to focus less on the charities that make you feel good, and more on the ones that do good. Ask yourself, and more importantly, the charity, how is the world changing due to this charity? Givewell.org, a not-for-profit that offers research and analysis on charities, can help you answer the question. Consider asking the questions listed here, too.
December Duds
With the uptick in charitable giving this month, consumer complaints about bogus charities are also on the rise, reports Fraud.org. To help you weed out the bad seeds, the site offers a list of red flags, like when a charity calls and requests a donation over the phone, but can’t offer its registered name, mailing address and phone number (which you should ask for). Before donating (via credit or debit card for disputing purposes), vet the charity online on sites like the BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance, CharityNavigator or the aforementioned Givewell.
Another scam to lookout for this month is fake gift cards. Yep, now fraudsters are copying the codes and information on gift cards and placing fake ones back on the rack for you to purchase. They monitor them to see if you added money to them and then use the code to gift your money to themselves. When purchasing gift cards, look for signs of tampering (i.e. scratches and exposed pin numbers), and also ask the store clerk to scan the card to make sure is has the balance you’re paying for. Keep the receipt, too. If the funds disappear, then you have a better chance of getting your money back.
Have a great week,
Jean
