🍊 Walmart Could Owe You Up To $500…Here’s What You Need To Know

Stat Of The Day

$6 Billion

That’s the expected total economic boost from this week’s total solar eclipse (which was pretty awesome, no?), with cities along the path of totality seeing the biggest impact. An analysis from The Perry Group says Texas will be the state benefiting the most from eclipse-onomics, and could end up seeing a $1.6 billion bump in activity. Now that’s out of this world.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Employer’s Financial Wellness Program

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If you work for one of the 59% of employers that offer a financial wellness program, congratulations! These programs can be the key to unlocking better budgeting habits, paying down debt, finding financial empowerment and, yes, saving and investing as much as possible for retirement. But are you truly getting the most out of your program?

For women, this is a particularly important question to answer. That’s because, according to The 2023 State of Women survey from HerMoney Media and Principal Financial Group, men reported getting more out of their workplace financial wellness programs than women did. Men, more than women, said their employers’ financial wellness programs helped them increase their emergency savings (25% vs. 13%), reduce debt (21% vs. 9%), and improve their setting of financial goals (23% vs. 15%).

While it’s frustrating to uncover yet another gender gap, it can be bridged. This week, we take a look at five ways to get the absolute most out of your employer's financial wellness program so you can more confidently reach your financial goals, no matter where life takes you.

This Week In Your Wallet

Hot, hot, hot. That’s how the new inflation report came in this week. Higher gas prices and shelter costs drove the increase for the 12 months ending in March to 3.5%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday. As CNN reports, it’s a jump from the February 3.2% rate and is the highest annual gain in the past six months, which could spell trouble for the continued path to lower inflation and the monetary policy change that comes with it–namely, rate cuts. "You can kiss a June interest rate cut goodbye," Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate, wrote in commentary issued Wednesday.

President Biden has announced new plans to erase student debt for 30 million Americans. The multifaceted proposal seeks to nix interest for millions and cancel debt for borrowers who fall into a number of other categories, including undergraduate and graduate students who have been chipping away at their loans for 20 years and 25 years, respectively. Note though, the plan isn’t a done deal. As The New York Times reports, it still has to clear certain legal hurdles (like those that hampered the President’s student loan relief efforts last year). "Biden administration officials said they could begin handing out some of the debt relief — including the canceling of up to $20,000 in interest — as soon as this fall if the new effort moves forward after the required, monthslong comment period," reports the NYT. For more on what borrowers need to know, click here.

PSA: Tax Day is just five days from today. If you’re thinking of a way to make your vacation a write-off, think again, says Michelle Singletary of The Washington Post. She talked with tax professionals about some of the wackiest deduction attempts they’ve seen, which run the gamut from water aerobic classes (not that crazy) to the cost of a "ghostbuster" (OK, kind of crazy). "One woman asked whether the service she used to cleanse her home of bad spirits could be expensed as medically necessary," writes Singletary. It might have helped her sleep better at night, but according to the IRS, it’s not a medical expense. For more on what you need to know about deductions, and what qualifies (and what doesn’t) head here.

Things That Make You Money

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Walmart could owe you up to $500 as part of a $45 million settlement for a class-action lawsuit that says the retailer overcharged for certain items. Customers who bought certain "weighted goods" (like meat and seafood) and/or bagged citrus, in person between October 19, 2018 and January 19, 2024 may be eligible. For all the deets, click here.

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You know that baby gear collecting dust? It could be making you some extra $$$. List it on BabyQuip, a baby gear rental service that helps on-the-go families travel lighter. PS, we recently had BabyQuip’s CEO and founder on the How She Does It Podcast and she gave us the scoop on how to turn your cast offs into cash.

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Adding an outdoor TV, shower or kitchen could help sell your home for thousands of dollars more. New research from Zillow shows these outdoor amenities can bump a property’s selling price by as much as 3.1%. For more on the features that can help you sell your home for more–and in less time–click here.

Why MLMs Love To Target Women

An acquaintance from decades ago suddenly pops up in your inbox. She asks how you are and then moments later, wants you to try the makeup, or protein shake, or whatever she’s selling. Odds are, she’s part of a multi-level marketing scheme, or MLMs.

While it might be easy for you to roll your eyes and hit delete when you get a message like this, a surprising number of women are getting caught up in MLMs and it’s costing them. 99.7% of people who join an MLM make no money or actually lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can’t sell to recoup their losses.

On the HerMoney Podcast*, host Jean Chatzky sits down with Jane Marie, author of "Selling the Dream: The Billion Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans" to talk about why MLMs rarely live up to their money-making promises. "The way they make money these days is charging a fee for entry to get in on the bottom, and sometimes you get a little bit of product," Marie says. "Those folks at the bottom have very little to no success and rotate in and out very quickly. But there are enough people wanting to replace them that the money keeps flowing upwards."

Listen to the episode to hear why MLMs target women specifically, the signs to look out for to know if you’re being targeted by one, and what to do next if you’ve already lost money.

Listen Now

The HerMoney Podcast is made possible by Edelman Financial Engines.

Ask Jean

Today's question comes from Jayme. She writes: My full-time employer does not offer any type of retirement fund. Last year, I maxed out my Roth, but am wondering, since I am also a sole proprietor of my own business, can I also open a SEP IRA? Or do I need to use one or the other?

Thanks for your question, Jayme! The short answer is yes, you can have both a Roth IRA and a SEP IRA as long as you meet the eligibility requirements for each type of account.

For starters, let’s back up and define a couple of terms for our readers. A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account that allows you to contribute after-tax income, with qualified distributions being tax-free. For Roth IRAs, as you noted, there are certain contribution limits each year. Details on Roth IRA limits can be found here.

Now, on to the SEP IRA. SEP stands for "Simplified Employee Pension." SEP IRAs are retirement plans available to small business owners and self-employed individuals, like yourself. Contributions to your SEP IRA (unlike the Roth) are made with pre-tax dollars. When the time comes to withdraw funds, you’ll take the tax hit–so you’ll want to plan for that. Contributions limits on SEP IRAs are typically higher than those for the Roth. You can get up to speed on them here.

Submit your questions to Jean here.

More For You To ♥

🎧 Tick Tock! Take back your time with Google’s productivity expert Laura Mae Martin. Mae Martin says one of the best ways to take back our time is to focus on our "power hours." Hear the full episode here.

🤑 What’s not to love about an extra $1,500? That’s the average amount FinanceFixx participants are saving during our 8-week money makeover program. April is Financial Literacy Month and we’re offering $100 off when you use the code FINLIT100.

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