personal finance

Beating the system never felt so good, especially when there is money involved. Don't worry: these financial hacks suggested by LearnVest are perfectly legal!

Just before the Enron scandal broke, the company's CEO immediately put his money into annuities — in his wife's name.

Why? Because those assets are creditor-protected, so they can't be seized (in this case, by the government).

Related: What Does It Mean to Be "Rich"? Depends on Your Age

This is just one example of many — remember the 14% tax rate Mitt Romney paid on his $13 million income? — illustrating how extremely wealthy people get the most from their money. And most of them do it legally.

Much of their success comes from knowing where to find loopholes in the financial system — "hacks," if you will. While we would never recommend any illegal or dishonest money moves (seriously, don't break the law!), there are a handful of legal personal finance hacks that are available to all of us — like these seven incredibly useful, low-profile tricks.

Hack #1: Borrow Against Your Home's Equity

This hack is for homeowners, but it's good for everyone to know about, should you ever decide to buy a home.

How It Works: Instead of having the bank front you the money you need through a personal loan, you borrow against your home's equity. (As a reminder, equity is the difference between the total of your mortgage and the appraised value of your home.)

The benefit here is two-fold: Since you've already been approved for a mortgage, the process will be less involved for this loan. You'll need to get your home appraised, but your lender should be able to walk you through the process. Second, interest payments on home equity loans are typically tax-deductible, unlike interest on personal loans.

Lenders probably won't give you an amount equivalent to the entire equity — you'll get more like 75 percent, at most. But if you have equity of $100,000, that's $75,000 you may be able to borrow. This is a great option if A) you're planning to stay in your home for a while and B) your home is worth more than what you paid for it.

Read on for more.

Get educated on Capital One buying ING DIRECT and the changes associated with it from Wise Bread.

In 2012, Capital One bought ING DIRECT, the popular bank that conducted most of its operations online. The transaction took place in February of 2012, but the name change didn’t happen until November, when Capital One, N.A. and ING DIRECT legally became a single bank.

The bank remained ING DIRECT until February 1, 2013, when it became Capital One 360. The colors changed from orange to a red and blue motif to match Capital One, but for the most part, ING DIRECT customers should notice very few changes. Sign-in information, routing numbers, payments (on loans), and other items are all the same. In fact, I just logged in, and there really aren’t any discernible differences with accessing my accounts, even though it is now “officially” part of the Capital One banking family.

The main difference that will affect consumers is that now the FDIC coverage treats your ING DIRECT/Capital One 360 balance as part of Capital One. So, while you used to have a limit of $250,000 in coverage for balances at each bank, now that is combined, so you have a limit of $250,000 coverage total for all the money you have in Capital One accounts and ING DIRECT accounts.

RELATED: 7 Banks Still Offering Free Interest-Bearing Checking Accounts

Brief History of ING DIRECT

ING Group is based in the Netherlands and provides a number of financial products and services. ING DIRECT USA was established to provide services to consumers in the United States. Over time, ING DIRECT went from just offering a savings account with a very attractive and competitive yield to offering a range of financial products, including CDs, kids savings, interest checking, mortgages, investing, retirement, and business banking.

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With a little help from Business Insider, be aware of how credit lenders can judge credit customers.

I was thrilled to pay off one of two credit cards last Fall, and as of last week, I hadn't touched the thing.

Then I got a letter from my bank, announcing a pretty incredible limited-time bonus — 5 percent back on travel-related purchases made by March 30.

The bonus just so happened to be for the card I hadn't used in months. And it was no coincidence either.

We all know that red flags like late payments, too many lines of open credit, and a mountain of student loan debt can knock dozens of points off credit scores.

But what about the little-known ways banks and lenders are judging us –– even those of us who are "low-risk" clients?

With help from Adrian Nazari, CEO of Credit Sesame, here are five ways every credit customer is judged, whether they like it or not.

Related: Money Habits to Drop by Age 30

Behavior Score. When lenders size up potential borrowers, they aren't just looking at how much they spend, but where they spend as well. If you've gotten a letter in the mail congratulating you on a freshly inflated credit limit (or a new cashback bonus like I did), chances are your lender has noticed you've been diligently paying off your card and selectively shopping where you can afford to.

"For example, if you normally shop at high-end stores and regularly pay off your card, and then suddenly start shopping at discount stores and carrying a balance, the lender could use this behavior data as an indicator that you have become higher risk and could take steps to minimize its exposure," says Nazari. "Alternatively, if your behavior data indicates you are a good risk but you aren't generating a profit, an issuer might determine how to incentivize spending."

• How to improve it: Since Behavior Scores are based on triggers like long-term credit card activity, late payments, limit breaches, and fees, if you can figure out how to improve these, you'll be able to beef up your score.

Read on for more.

When you hit the big 3-0, it's officially time to grow up. Business Insider suggests you do this by taking your blindfold off and stop lying to yourself about money.

I'm not quite 30 yet, but I'm more than familiar with the notion that this age is the new benchmark for people to get their lives together.

There are books, blogs, and Twitter accounts dedicated solely to helping people cross that line in the best shape for their future. They do this by telling you to get rid of debt, stop shopping so much, start a 401(k), and brace yourself for wrinkles. 

Related: How This Writer Rescued Herself From Financial Ruin

But in my opinion, it takes a lot more than a healthy bank account and nice skin to live a full and happy life, whether you're 29 or 59. Most of us know how to succeed; we just happen to let ourselves — and a few convenient lies — get in the way.

So long as my job pays well, it's OK if I hate it.

The job market may not be what it used to be, but by age 30 no one should be toiling away at a job that leaves them stressed out and dissatisfied with life.

We were inspired by a young woman who wrote about turning her back on a lucrative job on Wall Street when years of 14-hour workdays made her overweight, burnt out, and miserable. 

Read on for more.

It's time to take the plunge into investing to reap the rewards of your hard-earned money. LearnVest shares how you can start.

In your mind’s eye, picture all your friends, family, classmates and colleagues.

About half of them are doing something very smart, and the other half . . . well, they're doing the opposite.

And that very smart thing is investing.

Before you protest that investing is only for people with loads of spare cash, we'd like to inform you that everyone who draws a paycheck should be investing.

The 1 Minute That Will Revolutionize Your Finances

Unfortunately, according to a nationwide survey conducted by LearnVest and Chase Blueprint, only 48 percent of women and 56 percent of men have a 401(k) retirement account, and the percent of people who have their own individual retirement account (IRA) is even lower: 40 percent for women and 48 percent for men. And these stats are just for retirement investing alone — even fewer people are doing any nonretirement investing.

We're going to show why everyone who makes money should be investing, no matter how much money they make, and explain in what ways you should be investing and when.

We always intend to make financial changes in life, but we don't often realize there are little things we can do to make a bigger change. Wise Bread has 21 ways to turn your finances in the right direction.

Making a big financial change in your life is similar to making any big change — it can often be overwhelming to the point of derailing you entirely. Here are 21 ways to help you stay on course and make big financial changes in your life.

Related: 25 Frugal Changes You Can Make Today

1. Start Small

Going whole hog right from the start is a recipe for relapse. Instead, start small. As a parallel example, if you want to start exercising but can't fathom committing to a gym routine, then start with five minutes a day. (I started that way and progressed to an hour — which I now love).

Even if you don't think it will make a big difference, the small and manageable start creates habits you can build on.

Read on for more.

If you're longing for the days of textbooks and homework, remember that there are plenty of ways you can continue your education post-graduation. One of the most important lessons for all of us to learn is how to better manage our finances. After all, money is one of life's biggest stressors and can have a huge impact on different aspects of your life, ranging from your relationship to your work life. The best way to learn is to do it in the most enjoyable way, so here is a list of different mediums to gain personal finance knowledge:

Read

With such a big volume of reading material online and in print, it's hard to figure out which ones are worth your time. For online reads, scour the personal finance sections of daily newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Bookmark blogs SavvySugar, Wise Bread, and Get Rich Slowly for daily posts that cover personal finance and related topics in an easy-to-digest format. If you want to receive nuggets of personal finance wisdom via email, sign up for the LearnVest email subscription service.

For paper reads, Ramit's I Will Teach You to Be Rich ($14) is perfect for those in their 20s and making a decent salary. For those looking for a more comprehensive book on debt, The Total Money Makeover ($16, originally $25) is worth the investment.

Don't want to commit to a book? Sign up for Consumer Reports' yearlong subscription of its monthly newsletter Money Advice ($29) or a yearlong Kiplinger magazine subscription ($12, originally $48).

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Taking control of your personal finances is key to living a more stress-free and stable life — a truly "rich" existence. All you need to do is that first step: start becoming more aware of your bank account and live by these very basic principals that just about sum up what personal finance is all about.

Pay yourself first. This is a common personal finance phrase that many people live by. But what does it really mean? No, paying yourself first isn't buying anything you want and letting your bills collect dust. Basically, it means that before you spend your new paycheck on necessities or wants, you should squirrel away a portion of it to your savings. Getting into this habit is helpful because you'll learn to prioritize saving, and the steady stream of monthly contributions is the best way to grow your emergency, savings, and retirement accounts. The best and easiest way to pay yourself first is to automate it so that the process is mindless.

Live within your means. Don't spend more than you can afford to spend. Don't take on loans or debt if you can't afford it. This even means being cautious on what is generally considered "good" debt. Ever since the financial crisis, all of us had to reassess what we initially thought of as "good" debt, which includes mortgage, school, and car loans. Once people started getting laid off and defaulting on payments, the "good" debt very quickly becomes "bad." That's not to say that you shouldn't go to the college of your dreams; but you should still weigh the costs while keeping in mind realistic expectations of job prospects postgraduation. And if it's truly worth your investment, you should find ways to cut costs. For example, searching for scholarships to help with tuition. Other than not taking on debt, conscious spending is also part of what it means to live within your means.

Read on for more.