Happiness Quotient

You may have heard of the term wealth effect - it is the idea that when the value of stock portfolios, IRA's, 401k"s, rises due to escalating stock prices, investors feel more comfortable about their wealth, allowing them to spend more.

We now have the happiness quotient as determined by studies in the UK where a group of social scientists measured the "happiness" of bank clients through multiple surveys. They found that overall wealth was not the factor. What produced a true sense of happiness and well-being was the amount of available cash in personal checking or savings accounts.

Invested money or a pension felt either abstract or inaccessible whereas their large ATM balance evoked a sense of security and importance.

The thought of surplus cash not invested as losing value (due to inflation, lack of growth) misses the human psychology element. The premise is how you maximize your well-being over maximizing your financial benefit.

Ways to increase your happiness:
1. build your savings i.e. your emergency fund,
2. save for vacations before you take them,
3. live within your means (aka spend less than you make),
4. buy experiences not things,
5. give money to causes that feed your spirit.

Be $ Smart: Enlarge your cash buffer to increase your sense of personal power, security and happiness.

Technology to the rescue! Use bank apps.

In order to improve their bottom line, banks have been charging fees on everything. One of the most costly fees is that on overdrafts. Not balancing your check book or keeping a very low balance in your account can push you into overdraft with a big fat fee of $35! Do that two or three times a month and you have the cost of a dinner out.

Take advantage of your bank's app. It allows you to check your balance, make payments, set alerts, etc. Set an alert for when your balance falls below a certain amount to avoid overdraft fees.

Statistics show that the youngest and poorest bank customers are paying the larger share of fees. These are folks who cannot afford to fund the bank's profits. One overdraft fee could buy a bag of groceries. Online banking is giving customers more control. Take advantage of the apps your banks offer to manage your money wisely.

Some features my bank app offers:

- deposit a check by snapping a picture of it,
- send money to someone to pay an IOU,
- transfer money between my checking and savings accounts,
- view my account balance,
- make sure "direct deposit" checks have been credited properly,
- view bill due dates,
- pay bills,
- find an ATM for my bank to avoid non-bank ATM fees.

Be $ smart - Keep more money in your pocket by using bank apps.