Archives for January 18, 2018

How to Save Money While Paying Off Student Loans

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Surely we’ve all been taught that 10% of our income should go into a savings account, but this can be difficult to do when you’re paying off hundreds of dollars every month in student loans.

Those of us with student loans to repay know it can be tough to juggle debts and saving. Even though the total amount of outstanding student loan debt in the country is at an all-time high —1.31 trillion dollars — it’s still possible for individuals to save money while still paying their student loans down.

Try the avalanche method

If you have a credit card or loan with a higher interest rate, devote as much money to paying it off every month as you can. Make minimum payments on other cards during that time. When it’s paid off, you’ll free up a substantial amount of your monthly income, plus you’ll save money on interest in the long run.

Set small goals

If you’re really strapped for cash, try setting small goals to start. Try saving five dollars per month for a few months, then slowly increase the amount every few months. Eventually you won’t even miss the money you’re putting away, and you’ll set yourself up for success down the road.

Pay your debt on time

This may seem like common sense, but no matter what, it’s important to pay your loans on time. Defaulting can result in poor credit and more money than you originally owed.

Enroll in a 401k or IRA

If your employer offers a 401k, take advantage of it — especially if they offer employee contribution matching. Many employers do, and it will help you save money for retirement without costing you too much money. If your employer does not offer this program, consider enrolling yourself in an IRA. Your monthly contribution could be as low as $10 per month, but set you up for financial success down the road.

Get a part-time job

The “gig economy” is booming right now, meaning that there are more opportunities for people to work short-term jobs on their own schedule to make a little extra cash. You can give rides to people, run errands, and much more, and do it only when you feel like it.

Try a savings app

There are apps out there that will help you save money without impacting your lifestyle too much. Try one that rounds up every purchase you make, then puts a few cents into an account with every purchase you make, such as Acorns.

Maximize your tax return

If you’re single and make under $50,000 a year, chances are that you’ll get a sizable tax return. It may be tempting to spend this money on something you’ve been wanting for a long time, but if you put it into a savings account instead, you’ll thank yourself down the road. You could also use this money to make a large dent in a high-interest credit card balance, lowering your monthly payments.

Learn to live lean

This one may be obvious, but living within your means will help you save money. Sit down and make a tight budget, then stick to it. There are many apps that will help you do this. Spend money only on the things you need, not the things you want but can live without.

Put a little extra into your student loan payment

Most student loan payments are preset, but if you pay as little as ten dollars extra per month, that amount will usually be applied directly to the principal of your loan amount — lowering your interest and saving you money over time. It can also help you pay off your student loans faster.

Refinance high-interest loans

If your loan has a high-interest rate from a private lending institution, do some research and see if any other lenders are offering lower interest rates. This could potentially lower your interest rate and free up some of your paychecks to put into savings. Even if your monthly payment doesn’t change much, you may still be able to save yourself money in the long-term in the form of lower interest.

Top Stock Reports for Pfizer, Chevron & Cisco

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The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today’s Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Pfizer (PFE), Chevron (CVX) and Cisco (CSCO). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

Buy-rated Pfizer’s shares have outperformed the peer group over the last six months (the stock is up +9.7% over this period vs. a +7.9% increase for the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry). Pfizer is working on strengthening its product portfolio through acquisitions and licensing deals. However, Pfizer continues to face headwinds in the form of genericization of key drugs, lost alliance revenues, pricing pressure and rising competition, factors which are hurting the top-line.

Though Pfizer’s growing immuno-oncology portfolio offers strong potential, many of these assets are in early stage of development. Nonetheless, the Zacks analyst new products like Ibrance, contribution from acquisitions, cost-cutting efforts and share buybacks should help the company achieve its guidance.

Pfizer also boasts a strong pipeline and expects approximately 25 to 30 drug approvals over the next five years, including around 15 products with blockbuster potential. Bavencio is being considered a key long-term growth driver.

The company has a mixed record of earnings surprises in recent quarters. Estimates have remained stable ahead of its Q4 results.

Shares of Chevron have risen +27.3% in the past six months,, outperforming the Zacks Integrated Oil industry’s +22%, while larger rival ExxonMobil has seen its scrip go up just +7.9% over the same time period. The second-largest U.S. oil producer has been a beneficiary of the recovery in commodity prices.

Importantly, Chevron was able to cover its investment and payouts with cash from operations in the most recent quarter — something investors really want right now. The diversified oil company also has a long, consistent dividend paying record and is one of the only two energy stocks on the list of Dividend Aristocrats.

However, the Zacks analyst remains worried over signs of headwinds in Chevron’s U.S. production, while exposure to production in the vulnerable and violence-prone regions in Nigeria poses additional risk. Hence, investors should wait for a better entry point before buying shares in the oil major.

Buy-rated Cisco’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Networking industry over the past one year, gaining +35% vs. +33.4%. Recently, it unveiled the Cisco Security Connector, which is now available in the App Store on iOS devices. The Zacks analyst thinks the company’s expanding footprint in the rapidly growing security market represents a significant growth opportunity.

Additionally, partnerships with Telenor, Apple, IBM and Microsoft are positives. Also, the company’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) solution is currently used by more than 4K customers. The ACI solution was recently enhanced with new features that have aided growth. Further, the planned acquisition of Broadsoft will boost company’s recurring revenue base.

Moreover, the company’s collaboration with Google Cloud to offer hybrid cloud solution is a key catalyst. However, intense competition from peers and challenges in the emerging markets remains a headwind.

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Target (TGT), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Dominion Resources (D).

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don’t buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.

Eye Tests in Kindergarten Among New Measures Aimed at Improving School Success

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Quebec government reveals more details of plan to spend $1.4B more on educating kids aged 0 to 8

The government will spend another $1.4 billion between now and 2022 on children aged eight and under, in a bid to increase young Quebecers’ chances of educational success — particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Among the measures, children in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten will be screened for vision problems, to eliminate poor eyesight as a factor contributing to learning difficulties.

Tuesday’s announcement by Premier Philippe Couillard, Education Minister Sébastien Proulx and Family Minister Luc Fortin comes after November’s economic update, in which the government promised to invest another billion dollars in health and education over the next six years.

Couillard said Tuesday that $350 million of the $1.4 billion announced Tuesday is beyond what was announced in November or in last spring’s budget. He said some projects are already in the works.

More free school breakfasts, more pre-K classes

Most of the planned measures are aimed at children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, including the opening of more early childhood education centres and more full-time pre-kindergarten programs for four-year-olds in underprivileged areas.

“When we speak about our children, we speak about our future,” said Couillard.

The government will also more than double the number of schools serving disadvantaged children at which free breakfast is offered — from 300 to 725 schools.

Other measures included in the plan:

  • More resources for daycares for screening and monitoring preschoolers in difficulty.
  • Improved links between the daycare network, and health and social service networks, to get help more quickly for children in difficulty.
  • The addition of 8,000 resource specialists, including speech pathologists, occupational therapists and learning assistants, to the elementary school network across all regions of Quebec.
  • A new preschool cycle between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds. School personnel will receive pedagogical support for the new cycle. The emphasis will be on encouraging reading and writing skills down the road, beginning with learning the alphabet.
  • Financial support will be made available to promote parental involvement in their children’s education.

Catching problems early

Couillard said that only one in five preschool-aged children is tested for vision problems now in Quebec. The government will launch an awareness campaign to encourage parents to have their children tested.

By screening children in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten, the government hopes to prevent misdiagnoses of learning disabilities.

Education Minister Sébastien Proulx said that he’d already begun meeting with the Quebec Order of Optometrists about the screening plan.

The plan also includes funding for family literacy initiatives and improved access to age-appropriate reading materials for kids under eight, including:

  • Newspapers aimed at three- to five-year-olds and another for six- to eight-year-olds, to encourage interest in reading.
  • “Family literacy” programs in public libraries, as well as a program in school libraries to help parents encourage their children’s reading skills.
  • Interactive maps online to help parents find family services.

This echoes the move by the federal Liberal government in June to foster “fully inclusive” early education and child care services across the country, committing to give $7.5 billion to the provinces over the next 11 years.

Electronic records

The government also plans to create an electronic file for every child entering the school system, which will follow the student until graduation.

Apple update will let users stop iPhone battery slowdowns, Tim Cook says

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Tim Cook admitted the company could have been clearer about the issue – AP

iPhone owners will be able to disable a feature that slows down their mobiles as their batteries age, Apple’s chief executive has said.

Tim Cook said a forthcoming update to iOS will allow users to turn off the slowdown feature after its emergence led to dozens of lawsuits and a probe from French authorities.

Apple admitted last month that it “throttles” the iPhone 6, 6s, SE and 7 when their batteries degrade, a change designed to prevent the phones from shutting down unexpectedly. It has apologised and cut the price of battery replacements, but denied that it slows down phones to encourage users to upgrade.

Speaking to ABC, Cook said users will be able to turn off the throttling feature in an iOS update, although he said he did not recommend it as it could lead to the phones shutting down unexpectedly. A developer preview will be released in February, meaning the public release is likely to be a month later.

“We’re gonna give people the visibility of the health of their battery so its very very transparent, this hasn’t been done before,” Cook said. “We will tell somebody we’re slightly reducing your performance by some amount in order to not have a sudden restart, and if you don’t want it you can turn it off.”

FAQ | Apple’s iPhone slowdown

“We don’t recommend it, because we think people’s iPhones are really important to them and you never can tell when something is so urgent.”

He added that Apple could have been clearer about the fact that iPhones were being slowed down. “Our actions were always in service of the user, maybe we should have been clearer at a point of time but our actions were always the purest.

“If anybody out there believes we did something nefariously we apologise for any kind of thing that we did or didn’t do.”

Apple faces lawsuits in several countries over the matter as well as an investigation by French prosecutors under the country’s “planned obsolescence” law.