Author: Smart Wealthhabits

Here are 5 important investing skills you must develop for successful long-term investing (typically 10+ years or more). Long-term investing, especially in equities through shares or mutual funds, has historically beaten inflation and created significant wealth for patient investors. However, success depends more on skills and behavior, not on market timing or chasing hot tips.1. patience and emotional discipline – Markets are volatile – corrections, downturns and euphoria are common. Indian equity markets (Nifty/Sensex) have delivered strong long-term returns despite several declines. Panic selling during downturns (for example, the COVID-19 crash or election instability) minimizes losses, while staying invested allows…

With new electric vehicle prices averaging nearly $55,000 and the federal government no longer offering $7,500 in tax credits for plug-in vehicles, California plans to offer $3,500 in immediate rebates to new EV buyers in the state. California officials have said the new EV rebates will be partially funded by $135 million in state money, included in a recently announced budget deal struck between California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and leaders of the state’s legislative branch. California officials said additional money for the EV rebate program will come from automaker-funded grants. California’s plan comes nearly two years after Newsom…

Income investors entering July will face a friendlier arrangement than six weeks ago. The 10-year Treasury yield sits at 4%, down from May’s peak of 5%, while the 2026 Social Security Colla Came in at just 3%. That combination, low risk-free rates and modest cost of living, is pushing retirees back toward dividend equities that pay out every 30 days. Income receipts on assets reached $4,281.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring how dependent boomer cash flows now are on portfolio income. Below are five monthly salary names worth researching for July. Each ticker has been verified for…

Kzenon/Shutterstock.com Commitment to our readers The GOBankingRates editorial team is committed to providing you with unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methods to evaluate financial products and services – our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our review methodology for products and services. 20 yearsHelping you become richer trusted by millions of readers Eating out is still becoming expensive. Latest Consumer Price Index by US Bureau of Labor Statistics It showed prices for meals away from home rose 3.9% from a year earlier and 0.3% from February. For…

Building a $1 million portfolio is not easy, but it is achievable. It involves decades of sustained investment, the discipline to see the process through, and a little luck along the way. Choosing the right investment also helps a lot. With years to invest, you can be more aggressive in your approach. This will likely come with some above-average volatility, but the excess return potential can often compensate for this. The main thing is to get out of that instability. If you can’t do this, there’s a good chance you’ll do more harm than good. If you can, I suggest…

Officials are warning the public to be wary of messages impersonating Amazon and offering refunds. “Scammers are again pretending to be Amazon,” the Federal Trade Commission said in a recent news advisory. “This time, they’re sending messages claiming there’s a problem with something you purchased.” The agency said scammers ask users to click on a link for a refund “but this is a scam.” What is Amazon Refund Scam? According to the FTC advisory, recipients receive an “unexpected text that looks like it is from Amazon,” claiming that “the company conducted a ‘routine quality inspection’ and the item you recently…

iShares Core dividend growth etf (NYSEARCA:DGRO) and this Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEARCA:Wig) look like siblings on any fund screener: both look for large-cap US companies with a history of raising dividends, both charge single-digit basis points, and both distribute quarterly. The real divergence sits in the fine print of their index rules, and that fine print has put DGRO ahead of VIG on total returns over one-, five- and ten-year windows. What each fund is really betting on VIG tracks the index that requires Dividend increases for 10 or more consecutive years and screens the top 25% of yielders…

Ridofranz / iStock.com Commitment to our readers The GOBankingRates editorial team is committed to providing you with unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methods to evaluate financial products and services – our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our review methodology for products and services. 20 yearsHelping you become richer trusted by millions of readers A start again now The survey found that 67% of US workers see artificial intelligence (AI) as an eventual career threat, with nearly half fearing it will take their jobs in 2026. Whether…

Building a $1 million portfolio is not easy, but it is achievable. It involves decades of sustained investment, the discipline to see the process through, and a little luck along the way. Choosing the right investment also helps a lot. With years to invest, you can be more aggressive in your approach. This will likely come with some above-average volatility, but the excess return potential can often compensate for this. The main thing is to get out of that instability. If you can’t do this, there’s a good chance you’ll do more harm than good. If you can, I suggest…

Several scams defrauded Washington state residents of more than $670,000 over the course of three days, according to a Facebook post from the local sheriff’s office. In one of those scams an elderly resident handed over about $420,000 in gold to a man who happened to cross his path. Here’s what you need to know about recent scams and how to protect yourself from becoming their victim. Scammers pose as Microsoft, FTC employees Four residents of Clallam County, a coastal area west of Seattle along the northern Washington Peninsula, lost more than $673,000 in just three days, according to the…