Why Ashley Madison can’t float

IT was the hacking crisis that almost brought cheating website Ashley Madison to its knees. Now the site’s parent company is feeling the financial pinch.

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Limo, taxi operators seek answers on new 3 percent tax

Some taxi and limo operators sought clarity on Thursday on how the state Taxation Department would collect a new 3 percent tax and whether they could pass it on to their customers through a tariff modification.

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Woolies turmoil as Big W boss exits

BIG W boss Alistair McGeorge has resigned, citing health reasons, as his employer reveals it has investigated a complaint about his behaviour.

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Effect of devalued Chinese currency felt in Las Vegas

What happens in China doesn't stay in China. And Las Vegas gaming operators and the city's tourism industry are going to feel the effects of the recent depreciation of the Chinese currency.

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Facebook Gives The Gift Of GIFs To Some Brand Pages

The social network is testing the animated image format with a small selection of Pages. Wendy's and a Brazilian drink brand make the first move.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Nevada sets record for number of employers 3 times in a row

Nevada set a third straight quarterly record for its number of employers. The state had 62,500 employers in its unemployment insurance system in the second quarter, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Thursday.

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Uber ‘let sex offenders drive teens’

UBER’S background checks missed 25 people with serious criminal histories, allowing a murderer and sex offenders to drive for the firm, a lawsuit alleges.

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PUC: Strip casino companies would pay $131M to leave Nevada Power

Staff with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission have estimated that it would cost three major Strip gaming companies nearly $131 million to "exit" Nevada Power Co. as customers and buy their own electricity on the open market.

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Marketing Day: Amazon Removes Flash, Bing’s Android Knowledge Graph API & A Social Media Report

Here's our recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Microsoft ‘Embeds’ 25 Online Influencers Into Epic #DoAnything YouTube Career Advice Video

Microsoft aims to keep its Surface tablet top of mind at a time when UK youth are pondering their future careers.

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Harrah's New Orleans gaming revenue rises 26 percent in July

Harrah's New Orleans gaming revenue climbed more than 26 percent in July, reversing a nearly 30.7 drop a month earlier, which casino officials blamed on a citywide smoking ban that began in April.

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How to Budget for Parental Leave: One Blogger’s Maternity Savings Plan

Expecting a baby? If you’re going to take parental leave, make sure you’ve planned ahead.

In the U.S., maternity leave and paternity leave are often unpaid. Depending on your job, you’ll likely to be able to take some time away from work to care for your new baby, but unless you work at Netflix or another tech company, your paychecks probably won’t be rolling in the door for a long period of time. For the most part, you’re on your own.

That income gap can be scary, but some financial planning can make the transition easier.

Kim Tran of the blog Becoming Everything is expecting a little one this fall, and she recently shared her plan for surviving maternity leave without major financial fretting.

Planning + Saving = Peace of Mind

Tran explains her maternity leave is mostly unpaid. Stowed-away paid time off and short-term disability will cover a portion of her regular income, but her take-home pay will be far from the amount she normally uses to maintain her budget.

Upon learning of her pregnancy, Tran started adjusting her savings plan. Where she would usually make a double payment on her student loans, she’s scaled back to making the minimum payment.

That “extra” $335 in her account? It’s not going toward baby’s needs just yet — it’s sitting in savings until she needs it to make up the difference in her income during her maternity leave. Tran will sock away $2,000 before her due date in November from this adjustment alone.

There’s also a bit of estimation in her savings plan. Tran isn’t just basing her numbers on the bare-minimum bills — she’s also expecting her family’s utility bills to increase. Tran anticipates a utility bill inflation increase over the upcoming winter, and she’s also expecting usage to increase.

Think about it: Being at home every day with a new baby in the winter? Add in a steady stream of visiting family? Yep, those bills are going to go up.

By anticipating the increase in her utility bills, Tran is better able to save and plan for financial comfort all winter long.

Visit Becoming Everything to study Tran’s entire maternity savings plan.

Your Turn: Have you recently taken parental leave? How did you prepare for the change in your family’s finances?

Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor, and podcaster living in Washington, D.C.

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Gaming regulators approve Penn National purchase of Tropicana

Nevada gaming regulators on Thursday approved the $360 million sale of the Tropicana Las Vegas to regional casino giant Penn National Gaming and the transaction is expected to close next week.

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Calif. officials say convicts overlooked in Uber background checks

California prosecutors have broadened their civil lawsuit against popular online ride-sharing service Uber, alleging that its background checks missed people previously convicted of murder and sex crimes, court records show.

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Vegas.com acquired by Remark Media

A global company that specializes in marketing to millennials has acquired a travel website based in Las Vegas.

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What You Need to Know About Home Appraisals

They are even more complicated than they used to be.


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The Backdoor Roth IRA

Photo: Anders Ljungberg/TSD illustration

Earning too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA — and its unique tax benefits — is what most people would call a nice problem to have. Even better, it’s barely a problem anyway, since there’s a loophole that props open a back door to Roth IRAs for high earners.

Financial experts are big fans of Roth IRAs. That’s because you only pay taxes on contributions up front, and then you get to withdraw that money and its earnings in retirement without paying Uncle Sam another dime. If your tax rate is higher when you retire, that can put more money in your pocket versus a traditional IRA.

Unfortunately, not everyone qualifies to contribute to a Roth IRA because their income falls above certain limits, which we’ll cover below. But even if you make too much to qualify, there’s still a way to reap the benefits of a Roth. This technique, called a backdoor Roth IRA or a Roth IRA conversion, is available regardless of your income, tax filing status, or other retirement accounts you may already have.

Roth IRA Income Limits for 2015

First, make sure you truly make too much to contribute to a Roth IRA the regular way. These are the 2015 income limits, which vary based on your tax filing status:

• Single: You can contribute the full amount ($5,500 per year, or $6,500 if you’re 50 or older) to a Roth IRA if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $116,000 or less. If your MAGI is $116,001-$131,000, you can contribute a reduced amount; if it exceeds $131,000, you cannot contribute to a Roth IRA.
• Married filing jointly: You can contribute the full amount if you make $183,000 or less combined. If your MAGI is between $183,001 and $193,000, you can contribute a reduced amount; if your household’s MAGI exceeds $193,000, you cannot contribute to a Roth IRA.
• Married filing separately: Your MAGI cannot be more than $10,000 to contribute to a Roth IRA. If your MAGI is less than $10,000, you can contribute a reduced amount. (In other words, you can never contribute the full amount to a Roth IRA if you’re married filing separately.) Note that if you did not live with your spouse during the year, you can use the limits for single filers.

What Is a Backdoor Roth IRA?

If your income exceeds the numbers above, congratulations: That’s a nice problem to have. Even better, if you have already have a traditional IRA or 401(k), you can still reap the benefits from a Roth IRA, too.

While there are strict income limits on yearly contributions to a Roth IRA, there are no longer such limits on rollovers. Changes made to tax laws in 2010 mean you can now roll over as much money as you want from your traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth, even if you make too much to contribute the usual way. This technique is called a backdoor Roth IRA, or sometimes a Roth IRA conversion.

Why might I want to use a backdoor Roth IRA?

If you’re saving for retirement with a traditional IRA or through a 401(k), you may wonder whether you really need to add a Roth IRA to the mix. Like all other financial decisions, whether a backdoor Roth IRA makes sense for you will depend on your own unique situation.

Roth IRAs differ from traditional IRAs in some important ways. Here are some major points to consider before you pull a trigger on a backdoor Roth IRA:

It could result in tax savings in the long run.

If you stand a good chance of retiring in a higher tax bracket, it makes sense to put some of your money in a Roth IRA. That’s because you’ll pay taxes on the contributions right now, while you’re in a lower tax bracket, and then take your withdrawals tax-free in retirement. Plus, you’ll be able to withdraw any earned interest or investment gains completely tax-free. That can mean quite a bit of savings in the long run.

If you’ll be retiring in a lower tax bracket, however, you might save money by delaying the tax bill until you retire, which you can only do with a traditional IRA or a 401(k).

For an example of the potential tax savings, let’s say you’re 35 now and have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $65,000, which puts you in the 25% tax bracket. (Note that this income would make you eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA anyway, but this example is simply to illustrate the type of impact taxes can have on your account.) You expect to at least double your income by retirement, putting you in the 28% tax bracket at that point. If you put $3,000 in your IRA every year and assume a 7% return, a Roth would leave you with more than $303,000 after taxes, while a traditional IRA would be worth about $30,000 less due to the later tax hit and paying taxes on the investment gains.

You could let your money keep growing — for you or your heirs.

Maybe you have ample retirement savings and don’t need to tap all of it. If your money is in a traditional IRA or 401(k), the IRS will force you to start taking required minimum distributions from those accounts starting at age 70½.

You also can’t contribute to a traditional IRA past that age. However, that’s not the case with a Roth IRA, which allows you to keep making contributions and growing your money. That can mean a lot more cash in your account.

For example, let’s say you’re 70 and have $300,000 in your Roth IRA. You want to continue to make contributions and refrain from making any withdrawals for another decade. Contributing the maximum ($6,500) each year for another 10 years — and assuming growth of roughly 7% — will more than double your money to $686,000. Even if you just let your money grow and don’t make any more contributions, you’ll have more than $590,000 by age 80.

If you can keep your hands out of your Roth IRA indefinitely, your heirs can access the money tax-free, too. They will have to start taking distributions, but under current rules they can stretch them out based on their life expectancy. That means much of the money can keep growing for them, too.

Paying Taxes on Your Backdoor Roth IRA

The main downside of using a backdoor Roth IRA is that you’ll have to pay taxes on the money you convert now — both on the contributions and any earnings you’re rolling over from your original account. (This assumes that you’re rolling over tax-deductible contributions, as is the case for most people. If you will be including nondeductible contributions, your tax bill will be based on the ratio of deductible and nondeductible contributions.)

Again, in the long run, it’s better to pay the taxes now if you expect to retire in a higher tax bracket (or if you believe, as some do, that tax rates in general will go up by the time you retire). However, this can be a big con if you don’t have the money for the tax bill.

In general, you’ll want to use money from savings or a source other than your retirement account to pay those taxes. Otherwise, you could drastically cut into future earnings just to pay your tax bill, and on top of that owe a penalty for early withdrawals if you’re younger than 59½.

One way you can soften the tax blow is by stretching out your conversion. Take this simplified example: Perhaps you have $40,000 that you want to convert to a Roth IRA. If you’re already making $180,000 a year, withdrawing that $40,000 to convert it into a Roth will bump you up to an AGI of $220,000 — and from the 28% tax bracket up to the 33% bracket. Your tax bill would jump about $13,000 as a result, from $40,700 to $53,300. Alternatively, you could convert $8,000 a year for five years, keeping you in the same tax bracket and raising your tax bill a more manageable $2,200 each year.

How to do a backdoor Roth IRA

How you convert your money to a Roth IRA partially depends on where you had it before. Here are your options:

• Same-trustee transfer: If your money is staying with the financial institution where it’s already managed, simply set up a Roth with the firm and ask for the money to be transferred. You may also be able to change the account type without an actual transfer. Either way, you’ll never actually see the money, and you may even be able to accomplish the task online.
• Trustee-to-trustee transfer: If you’re setting up a Roth IRA with a financial institution other than the one that manages your current account, simply tell your current account manager to direct the money to the new trustee of your Roth. You won’t see the money with this kind of transfer, either.
• 60-day rollover: A 60-day rollover lets you plunk the money that you’re transferring in your own bank account first. You’ll have 60 days to deposit it into your new Roth IRA. But beware: If you don’t make that deadline, you’ll face a 10% early withdrawal penalty (if you’re younger than 59½) in addition to income tax on whatever amount you’re converting. Financial advisors typically warn against the 60-day rollover since the consequences for missing that window are so steep.

Consider These Red Flags Before Converting to a Roth

Does a backdoor Roth IRA sound like a great opportunity? It can be — but converting is also a complex topic that demands a careful analysis of your unique situation. We recommend consulting a financial advisor before deciding one way or another, but in the meantime, here is a summary of the major red flags that should slow down your rush to convert to a Roth:

• Red Flag No. 1: You’ll retire in a lower tax bracket. If you’re like most people, your income — and tax rate — will fall when you hit retirement, so converting to a Roth IRA could actually cost you money. That’s because you’ll pay taxes on your contributions now, while your tax rate is higher, instead of paying the tax bill when you retire, as you would with a traditional IRA.
• Red Flag No. 2: You’re retiring soon and need the money to live off of. Financial experts recommend you give yourself at least 15 to 20 years for the Roth IRA to grow enough to earn back what you lost in taxes and then some.
• Red Flag No. 3: You can’t afford the taxes from sources other than your retirement accounts. Don’t rob yourself of future earnings on that money — especially if raiding your account will mean an early-withdrawal penalty.

Want to learn more? The Simple Dollar offers lots of guidance for anyone who wants to save smartly for retirement. Check out these other popular posts for more tips and advice:

• Best IRA Accounts of 2015
• Roth vs. Traditional IRA: Retirement Showdown
• How to Do a 401(k) Rollover
• The Retirement Guide

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12 Internships That Pay More Than $5,400 a Month

While many interns work for next to nothing and wait tables at night to get by, others rake in high salaries and enjoy awesome perks while they build great connections and experience. How do you find those lucrative opportunities?

Here are some of the best-paying internships available. Some of these gigs reportedly pay more than $5,400 per month, according to Glassdoor’s survey report — equivalent to $64,000 per year or more!

It’s not a surprise that many of these jobs are in the tech industry, and most are located near Silicon Valley. Most of these companies hire interns at different points throughout the year, either as traditional summer internships or fall or winter “co-op” arrangements.

If you’re looking for a high-paying gig for an upcoming semester, check out opportunities with these companies:

1. Apple

Apple interns earn up to $6,700 per month ($38 per hour or more), Business Insider recently reported.

And that’s on top of the housing stipend ($1,000 per month) or free company housing, which you’d share with other interns. Plus, if you’re moving to the Bay Area to take the gig, you’ll receive up to $3,300 for relocation expenses, including plane tickets and shipping your stuff.

Apple is hiring for a number of internships, mostly based in Santa Clara Valley, California. But don’t expect to learn too many details about what you’d be working on; the company is well-known for its secrecy, and sometimes employees don’t know anything about a project beyond their specific role.

2. Palantir

Palantir interns earn $42 an hour working on software for high-profile clients, including the FBI and CIA, according to Glassdoor. This works out to about $7,000 per month, which would be $84,000 per year if they work year-round.

The company also finds housing for interns and provides bikes to borrow. Palantir hires both summer and winter interns.

3. VMware

Interns for VMware can earn just under $7,000 per month, reports Glassdoor.

If you want to get out of Silicon Valley, this could be a good opportunity. VMware has internship opportunities all around the globe, from a Technical System Engineer Intern position in the U.K., to a Financial Analyst Internship in Costa Rica, to a number of positions in Palo Alto, California.

4. Twitter

Twitter is hiring software engineering interns in Boston and San Francisco. If you’re a tech-minded social media maven, consider applying for one of these sweet gigs, which reportedly pay up to $6,800 per month, according to Glassdoor.

Plus, you’ll get to check out all of these sweet perks for yourself.

5. LinkedIn

If you know code inside and out, consider applying for one of LinkedIn’s software engineering internships in Boston and San Francisco. These jobs pay $6,200 a month, says Glassdoor.

6. Facebook

Spend 12 weeks working for Facebook and be at the cutting edge of social media technology, earning up to $6,200 a month, according to Glassdoor’s survey.

The company offers these three-month internships in a variety of fields at their Menlo Park headquarters, including design, technical program management for hardware, security, network engineering and more.

If you’re interested in global business, consider the global sales internship in Hamburg, Germany.

7. Microsoft

Microsoft is hiring a development engineering intern, but they often have other internships available in Redmond, Washington; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

These positions reportedly pay up to $6,100 per month, according to Glassdoor, and Microsoft recommends working with a recruiter to find out more.

8. eBay

Online auction house eBay pays interns up to $6,100 a month, according to Glassdoor.

They’re not hiring at the moment, but check their internship page in a few weeks. They should have more opportunities once the new school year starts.

9. Google

Opportunities at Google range from technical internships to those in product management and other fields. Many of these gigs pay up to $6,000 a month, reports Glassdoor.

Follow these steps to apply and be prepared to interview on Google Hangouts. The internship website even offers some advice, saying, “A couple of protips: get used to coding on a whiteboard, in Google Docs, and be comfortable talking about coding over the phone.”

10. Amazon

Amazon needs a few qualified students to fill its internship slots. The company wants undergraduates from both technical and non-technical fields, as well as MBA and Ph.D. grads.

Interns can earn up to $5,600 in these positions, notes Glassdoor, and the company even offers opportunities in Spain.

11. Nvidia

If you have rock-solid technical skills, consider applying for an internship with Nvidia.

Opportunities include both hardware and software internships, including computer architecture engineer, mixed signal design engineer, system software engineer and more. These positions pay up to $5,400 per month, says Glassdoor.

12. Wall Street

Everyone’s heard that Wall Street is a lucrative place to make a living, but how do interns cash in? Quite well, according to a recent Business Insider article.

Wall Street intern salaries are tied to the salaries of analysts and vary each year. Business Insider reports that for years, the average salary was $70,000, but last year analyst pay went up to $85,000 per year at many firms, including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Summer interns often earn $1,600 per week, and an average program is 10 weeks long, so you could earn $16,000 for a summer’s worth of work.

Of course, they’re putting in serious hours; one intern featured in the article worked 79 hours one week and 73 the next. But that’s still a lot better than the hourly wage you’d get flipping burgers.

Your Turn: Would you consider working for one of these companies? Know of any other high-paying internships we should add to our list?

Kristen Pope is a freelance writer and editor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

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Federal lawsuit demands Costco label shrimp packaging 'product of slavery'

A federal lawsuit is demanding that Costco label much of the shrimp it sells as the product of human slavery.

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A Disaster Damaged Your Home? How to File a Successful Insurance Claim

How to win after a flood, earthquake, fire or some other unforeseen event leaves you with a huge loss.

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Passenger jet takes out runway lights on rough landing

For a minute, Christine Malloy was very worried. As a frequent flier, she was used to rough landings once in a while. But Malloy could tell this landing was different.

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Adobe Flash Takes Another Hit As Amazon Moves To Eliminate All Flash-Based Ads

Starting September 1, Flash-based advertising will cease to exist on Amazon.com or the Amazon Advertising Platform.

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Twitter’s Audience Platform Now Includes Off Twitter Placements Of Video & Tweet Ads

Advertisers will be much more interested in the Audience Network with the new (and announced) ad types.

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Bing Lures Android Developers With New Knowledge Graph API

Bing has announced a new Knowledge and Actions Graph API for Android developers. The objective is to get Android developers to deeply integrate Bing Knowledge Graph information — “21 billion associated facts, 18 billion links to key actions and over 5 billion relationships between...

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5 Frugal Hobbies to Help You Stress Less

When the weather cools, you can relax with these affordable activities. 

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How to Stop Wasting Time on Email

A breakdown of when to email, when to pick up the phone and how to manage your inbox.

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The Pros and Cons of Working for a Startup

What to expect from this unconventional work environment. 

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Does your partner have a debt problem?

Tom Wilson

weddingrings_7.jpg

A fifth of people get married hiding debts from their partner, worth £3,200, according to a new survey.

A fifth of people get married hiding debts from their partner, worth £3,200, according to a new survey.  

 

Embarrassment is the main reason people keep debts secret from their soon-to-be-spouses, cited by one-in-three people surveyed by the Debt Advisory Centre. 

 

Feed Copy: 

A fifth of people get married hiding debts from their partner, worth £3,200, according to a new survey. Embarrassment is the main reason people keep debts secret from their soon-to-be-spouses, cited by one-in-three people surveyed by the Debt Advisory Centre. Another 17% said they don’t feel comfortable discussing finances with their partner. On average, secret debts on credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans are worth £3,200, but one-in-five owe more than £5,000. Melanie Taylor, spokeswoman for Debt Advisory Centre, said: “Once plans turn to marriage, it’s essential that you understand each other’s financial position and that includes any debt that you bring into the marriage. “If you are worried about the amount that you owe, then seek professional advice together. Feeling worried about money is bound to seep into your relationship, so don’t struggle on your own.” Sara Davison, relationship expert, added: “Money problems put a lot of stress on relationships and if the information was withheld it can cause huge trust issues. Financial challenges can be overcome if dealt with properly. However, if you sweep them under the carpet the damage to your marriage may be irreparable.”

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Back to Basics

I am often asked what kind of personal finance lessons I’m teaching my children. I think many people hope that because I’m a personal finance writer who churns out tens of thousands of words a week on personal finance topics, I’ll magically have some special insight that will teach their children how to be financially responsible.

The truth is that whenever you teach children anything, your best approach is to break it down to the basics. Focus on the absolute core of what you want to teach them, hammer that core into place, and then add details to that core as needed.

I’ll give you a very clear non-financial example, right off the bat. Our advice – and our rules – for personal behavior boil down to two key things. One, treat everyone else as you would like to be treated, and two, don’t do anything today that would hurt your tomorrow. No matter what situation they run into in life, we run it through those two key principles and help them to understand what the “good” choice is and what the “bad” choice is. It’s a very simple pair of moral rules that they can apply now and that they can apply later in life.

What about personal finance? For that, it comes down to one simple rule: spend less than you earn.

Everything a person really needs to know about personal finance comes from some form of logical conclusion from simply spending less than you earn.

It really is just that simple. That is the one core personal finance message I’m drilling into my children.

Over and over again, as we enjoy good things in our lives together, I remind them that much of it is possible because Sarah and I choose to spend less than we earn, all the time.

When the children are able to enjoy days together with Sarah and myself during the summer that would be impossible for other working families, we tell them this is possible because Sarah and I have consistently spent less than we’ve earned over the years.

Whenever our children receive money, we encourage them in a very direct way not to spend all of it at once and to put some of it aside for the future. We allow them to think about big future goals and to use that money to ensure those goals come true. It’s all about spending less than you earn.

Whenever we take them to the store, we show them the choices we’re making as we buy generic items and bulk items. Those choices save us money because we use a frugal mindset, which is just an inevitable result of a “spend less than you earn” core philosophy.

It’s the single financial rule that brings balance to my life, and it’s the one thing I want to instill in my children more than any other when it comes to money. It’s also the core idea behind my ideas and writings here on The Simple Dollar – all of it is just an extension of that central principle.

Let’s walk through how that simple rule can help you make good decisions in almost every personal, professional, social, and financial situation.

Having a Natural Cap on Your Spending Naturally Encourages Budgeting and Smart Money Choices

It’s simple. Your cap is how much you earn in a year minus the amount you need to save to secure the future you want. Period. That’s all you have to spend. It doesn’t matter how much credit exists in the world – you’re not spending more than that.

What people often do instead of that is ignore the amount they need to save to secure the future they want. Instead, they spend as much as they earn or more to live an affluent lifestyle right now.

That’s a bad mistake according to the “spend less than you earn” principle. You do not know for sure how much you will earn in the future. Because of that, spending everything you earn right now means that if something unexpected happens and your earnings drop – or, worse, disappear – in the future, you’re going to be in a serious pickle. You’ll have some serious life changes, destroying much of what you hold dear.

Spending as much as you earn is much like living in a house of cards. If the wind blows the wrong way, some or all of it will collapse.

It’s worth remembering that your future self is not a reliable entity. Your future self is going to be older and be facing all of the challenges that growing older brings. Your future self might experience great fortune… but your future self might not at all.

Spending less than you earn and saving the difference is key. In fact, you should start with the saving and merely live off of what’s left afterwards. That way, even if the winds of change interrupt your life in the future, you’re still in good shape and can tolerate a lot of change without any real disruption.

In other words, the simple “spend less than you earn” philosophy, coupled with a bit of observation about life, points you to a pretty clear personal finance pattern. Take some of your income, put it aside for the future as the highest priority (because your future self isn’t reliable), and then live off of the remainder.

This is essentially a very simple budget with two categories – “saving for the future” and “living now.” From there, it’s pretty easy to start breaking down “living now” into more categories to give yourself a clearer grip on where that money is going.

Having Personal Stress Over Money and Career Issues Largely Vanishes

If you live consistently by the “spend less than you earn” principle, you’re eventually going to eliminate your debts and build up a buffer in your savings account and investments. That buffer is vital.

First, it causes you to be far less stressed out about day-to-day financial issues. If you have little or no debt and a healthy buffer in your checking account, it’s hard for short-term financial situations to really bother you too much. If you have money in investments as well, fewer and fewer things can really disrupt your situation.

Second, as your finances grow, your worries about other aspects of your life, such as your career, start to melt away, too. When you reach a point where you could easily enjoy a nice life for a very long time from your savings or with the addition of an income from a minimum-wage job, it’s pretty hard to feel as though your back is to the wall at work in terms of your paycheck. I refer to this as “breaking the golden handcuffs.”

Third, you begin to worry less about your family’s future as well. If you have money in savings and investments set aside for your child’s education and are properly insured, it’s pretty hard to be very stressed out about their future. It’s taken care of well into adulthood.

Finally, you’ve eliminated the number one source of conflict in most marriages. Couples fight over money. That’s just the truth of the matter. By committing to a sound core financial principle together and sticking with that principle for a while, you end up in a situation where there’s really very little to fight about.

With these sources of stress minimized or eliminated, it becomes natural to feel a lot less stress in your life – and that feels tremendous. On a daily basis, low stress makes you feel better about everything.

On top of that, lowering your stress has a profound positive impact on your short term and long term health. Stress is one of the most profound sources of health problems in people, as it causes all kinds of different health problems, particularly if the stress persists.

Simply living by a “spend less than you earn” philosophy wipes away one of the biggest sources of stress in modern life, which helps your enjoyment of daily life, improves your core relationships, and improves your long-term health prospects, too.

Cultivating a Frugal Mindset Makes “Spend Less Than You Earn” Far Easier

A few days ago, I wrote an article on the topic of developing a frugal mindset. A frugal mindset, in my eyes, is one in which you feel as though the frugal choice is the natural, smart, and strong choice, and the expensive or extravagant choice is the unnatural and poor choice. (It’s worth noting that I define “frugal” as being a state in which you’re getting the greatest benefit possible for the time, money, and energy one invests in something.)

If your mind naturally works like that, then making smart spending choices becomes the absolute norm in your life. It stops becoming a matter of “denying yourself pleasure” or “making boring choices.” You’re flat-out making the best choices available to you because you’ve spent time really considering all of the consequences of your choices and you recognize that, almost all of the time, the choice that requires less financial expense is the one with the most overall short-term and long-term upside.

In other words, if you truly subscribe to the concept of “spend less than you earn” at the core of your finances, it makes a ton of sense to cultivate a frugal mindset.

That takes a lot of time and effort, don’t get me wrong. Even now, I still do things like visualizing myself in tempting stores making the right choice so that when I actually am in that tempting environment, I make good decisions.

Natural Appreciation of Things for Their Non-Financial Value Becomes the Norm

Another powerful consequence of truly living by the “spend less than you earn” mantra is that you begin to genuinely appreciate things in a different way.

For me, it takes the form of recognizing that on some deep level, an expensive item or experience has an inherently negative lining. No matter how great that thing is or that experience is, on some unconscious level, I inherently realize that I am now without that money, likely forever. That’s puts a gray twinge on expensive things.

Because of that, my appreciation for other things that do not have that negative twinge has really grown over time.

I’ve come to appreciate that there is literally an infinite number of things to do and enjoy out there without spending much money. That vague sense of “gray” that hangs over an expensive activity or purchase for me pushes me gently toward trying out free and inexpensive activities and items.

I’ve come to appreciate being in the moment when enjoying an activity. The thing is, it often doesn’t even matter what we’re doing. I can have a great laugh with friends sitting around literally doing nothing at all. I’ve come to realize how great I feel when I push myself into the moment when I’m doing something with people I love or engaging myself physically or mentally in some deep way – or doing something as simple as admiring the world around me.

I’ve come to appreciate the relationships I have with people, which can’t be bought with money. They can only be built with time and care and love and thoughtfulness. (I’ll talk about this more in a bit.)

I’ve come to appreciate time far more than money. The enjoyment of spending an hour or two without worry, just sitting there reading a book or going on a bicycle ride to the next town over or playing a board game with my friends or making homemade waffles with my children… those kinds of activities fill me with pleasure. They cost time and energy, but they don’t cost money, leaving that money around to protect future moments like these.

All of those appreciations are borne from that simple rule. Spend less than you earn.

Focusing Your Career on What Empowers and Excites You, Rather Than on What Simply Earns the Most Money Becomes the Norm, Too

If I have one regret in my entire life, it’s that I let financial choices dictate my academic decisions in college.

Because I truly bought into the idea that the best things in life can only be bought, I looked at my career options strongly through a salary lens. There were several areas that I wanted to study – mathematics, English, philosophy, history, genetics, computer science, political science – but I wound up choosing a field not so much because of what empowered and excited me, but because of what would actually earn the most money.

Even then, I didn’t appreciate the lessons of spending less than you earn. I didn’t understand that a person creates their own joy and that expensive stuff doesn’t create joy at all. I didn’t understand that the best things in life really are free, as trite as it sounds.

By 2008, I realized that. I walked away from a job that I loved, but one that was adding a lot of stress to my life, to fulfill a personal dream of writing for a living. It’s still something I’m doing today and it brings me quite a bit of personal fulfillment.

If I had it to do all over again, I’m not sure what I would do, but I know that I wouldn’t strictly follow the money. I’ve learned that if you’re truly passionate and committed to something, you’ll probably be successful at it (or something highly connected to it) no matter the field and earn enough to make a living for yourself.

The key is to love what you’re doing and be realistic that you might have to be a little creative when it comes to making money at it. However, if you truly adopt a “spend less than you earn” philosophy as a core principle in your life, that’s more than possible.

Building Relationships That Demand That You Tap Yourself Financially Become a Drain on Your Life; Other Relationships Then Move to the Forefront

When you look at the various relationships in your life, you see some of them as being very positive and some as being a mixed bag. You probably also have a few negative ones.

Every healthy relationship demands some things from both people involved. Time. Effort. Money, perhaps.

Friends who regularly make requests that require you – and usually both of you – to tap your finances regularly tend to shine less in my life. Over time, I tend to de-emphasize those friendships and emphasize other ones.

Friends that require you to spend money? Think of friends who insist on going out to dinner or out on the town regularly, for instance, or other friends who planned a “destination wedding” and insisted that you attend or other friends who constantly beg you to buy their network marketing products.

I don’t mind going out with friends sometimes, of course, but that should be one option among many and is something that we do irregularly. If someone suggests not spending money, that suggestion shouldn’t be shushed. I shouldn’t have to buy things to maintain that relationship, either.

Why? In the end, it’s the time and energy that really matter in a friendship. Those are the things upon which a genuine friendship is built. If you take that perspective, friends that encourage or require you to spend money in an unnecessary fashion are actually taking away from your life for no real reason, as a good friendship doesn’t require you to spend money.

If you live by the principle of spending less than you earn, that truth shines even brighter. Friends that require spending money to maintain that friendship by constantly going out or constantly buying stuff are demanding that you restrict your freedoms and options in other areas of your life just to keep that friendship. To me, that’s a real downer, especially since there are many people in my life that don’t require that kind of spending.

At this point, most of my friends have the same philosophy. They suggest doing things that don’t require spending much money. Those are the friendships I have cultivated over the last decade or so, both actively and unconsciously.

Other friendships – the ones centered around spending, constantly going out, selling each other network marketing goods – I allowed to slowly fade away, both actively and unconsciously. That’s because, by genuinely living by the principle of spending less than I earn, they were putting a squeeze on areas of my life in a way that did not make things easy, either in the short term or the long term.

Final Thoughts

Almost every financial and professional strategy you can imagine grows from deeply and truthfully applying that one simple maxim in your life.

Spend less than you earn.

It ricochets through all of your spending choices. It guides your career decisions. It helps you define many of your relationships. It offers a great template for choosing how to spend your spare time. It gives aid to your mindset and how you appreciate the various things in your life.

In short, it’s a powerful guiding principle for your life as a whole, one that deserves to be on a very short list of principles.

For me, those core principles are six in number.

Spend less than you earn.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Don’t do something today that you’ll regret tomorrow.

Just keep living, no matter what falls in your path.

Give a little of yourself freely and expect nothing in return.

Spend your time stretching your brain or your body, and if you’re too tired to do either, sleep.

These principles have guided me well in life. Virtually everything I do in a given day is centered around those principles, and most of the time I’m following most or all of them at once. They provide straightforward guidance for almost every situation.

As for my money? Spend less than you earn is truly at the core of it all, and that principle bleeds into the other parts of my life as well. Hopefully, it can do the same for you.

The post Back to Basics appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Why Real Estate Could Be a Better Investment Than Stocks

Investors must decide if the returns are worth the risk and effort involved in owning rental property.


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Get Paid to Help the Environment: 7 Green Jobs With Salaries Up to $120,000

Maybe you feel strongly about protecting the environment. You might even participate in Earth Day cleanups and other volunteer activities. Of course, if you spend a lot of time at work, there’s only so much you can do.

On the other hand, the two activities are not mutually exclusive. Why not find a way to do good for the planet and for your bank account?

Here are some of the best green jobs to consider; ones that allow you to make a decent wage and feel good about your work.

1. Environmental Engineer

You might design better waste disposal systems, or you could work on construction sites, on recycling projects or in urban planning.

Wherever you work and whatever your specific tasks, you’ll develop solutions to environmental problems.

The median annual wage for environmental engineers is $80,890, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). You’ll need a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering or a related field, like chemical or general engineering. You might also require licensing for some specialties.

You can make even more money if you manage a team. The median annual income for environmental engineering managers is $91,723, and 25% of people in this position make more than $120,000 per year, according to Payscale. You need about five years of experience to land this job.

2. Hydrologist

In this role, you might visit lakes and rivers to take water samples or inspect monitoring equipment.

But you’ll spend much of your time in an office, analyzing data and making predictive models. Generally you’ll work to solve problems of water quality and availability.

The BLS says the median annual wage for hydrologists is $75,530. You need a master’s degree, a background in the natural sciences and, in some states, a license.

3. Sustainability Director

“The majority of Sustainability Directors claim high levels of job satisfaction,” says Payscale.

It’s not difficult to see why. You might feel enjoy designing and implementing policies and programs to protect the environment and boost profits, such as energy-saving and recycling measures.

The median annual income of sustainability directors is more than $95,000, and good benefits are the norm. To get the job, it helps to have management experience and to work well as part of a team. Often you’ll need a master’s degree in engineering or architecture.

4. LEED Accredited Construction Manager

In this position you “plan, coordinate, budget, and supervise construction projects from development to completion.”

You might be able to become a construction manager without the usual bachelor’s degree, according to the BLS, if you have enough years of experience in construction.

With or without the degree, to make it a green job, you need LEED accreditation. A designation created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” If you study well, pay about $250 and pass a 100-question certification exam, you’re good to go.

Payscale.com surveyed 478 salaries for construction project managers who are LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP). The annual salaries ranged from $55,240 to $106,850.

5. LEED Accredited HVAC Mechanical Engineer

HVAC stands for “heating, ventilation and air conditioning,” which are often combined in one system.

As an HVAC engineer you design those systems and oversee installation. You’ll earn between $47,682 and $82,710 annually ($61,100 median), according to Payscale.com, which also reports job satisfaction is high.

If you study and pass the exam to get LEED accreditation, you will be working to design more environmentally friendly systems, and you might make a higher wage.

6. Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

Cleaning up hazardous materials like asbestos, arsenic, lead and even radioactive and nuclear waste is not a glamorous job, but it is a necessary one.

While no college degree is needed, the BLS says most hazmat workers need 40 hours of training to become familiar with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. You may need to be licensed for some positions.

The median annual wage for hazmat workers is $37,590.

7. Solar Installation Technician

A quick search of “solar installation” on Indeed turns up many jobs involving solar panels and related field work. Most of the job postings do not mention wages, but it’s clear you won’t need a college degree. However, you may need a year of roofing experience, according to many job postings.

“A Solar Energy System Installer earns an average wage of $15.54 per hour,” says Payscale. If you work full-time, that works out to $32,323 a year.

More Green Jobs

Some jobs are not normally “green,” but could be.

For example, green burials are becoming more popular. If you worked at a funeral home you could get green burial certification for it, and become the local expert in this growing niche.

And, of course, there are too many other green (or potentially green) jobs to cover them all in detail here. But here is a list of other possibilities, pulled from Forbes, CareerBuilder, and Greentech Media:

• Climate consultant
• Environmental nonprofit program director
• Zoo education program instructor
• Environmental Lobbyist
• Community bike ambassador
• Conservation biologist
• Science teacher
• Toxicologist
• Pollution control technician
• Fundraising director
• Ecologist
• Camp counselor
• Economist
• Forester
• Environmental attorney
• Community affairs manager
• Landscape architect
• Waste disposal manager
• Environmental chemist
• Corporate waste compliance coordinator
• Urban and regional planner
• Agricultural inspector
• Wastewater operator
• Wildlife biologist
• Pollution control engineer
• Land use planner
• Garbage consultant
• Interior designer
• Building operations manager
• Food scientist

What if You Have No Experience or Degree?

Many of the best green jobs require a bachelor’s degree, or even a master’s degree. But even if you have a degree, it may not be one that qualifies you for these positions. And even the jobs you can get with a high school diploma often require some experience.

So what can you do if you have no relevant experience or qualifications? Get training.

You might be eligible for free training for some positions. Federal government agencies provide grant money to various organizations for this purpose.

For example, there is the U.S. EPA Environmental Workforce Development & Job Training Program, run by Florida State College and the City of Jacksonville. The 300 hours of free training (over 11 weeks) is most for hazmat and environmental clean-up work, but includes classes on the following:

• Hazardous Waste Operator and Emergency Responder (HAZWOPER)
• Florida DEP Stormwater, Erosion, Sedimentation Control Inspector
• Environmental Sampling & Analysis
• OSHA Construction Safety
• OSHA General Industry Certification
• FEMA: Introduction to Incident Command System IS100 Certificate
• Asbestos Worker Certification
• Environmental Justice Overview
• Environmental Math & Chemical Safety
• Green Technology Industry: Urban Agriculture
• Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST)

Funding for these programs comes and goes. To locate the closest ones, Google any or all of the following (and similar) search terms:

• free environmental training
• free environmental jobs training
• green jobs training
• free green employment training

Each of those queries pulled several good results. Add the name of your state or community to the search to narrow it down to opportunities closer to you, but also try the broader searches in case there’s training worth attending in the next town over.

Your Turn: Would you like to make a living helping to protect our environment? If you have a green job that’s not on the list, we’d love to hear about it!

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

The post Get Paid to Help the Environment: 7 Green Jobs With Salaries Up to $120,000 appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Email Best Practice Pros: Lifescript Goes Heart-To-Heart

If you're emailing to women, columnist Steve Dille has some lessons to share. Dille explains how Lifescript uses email to effectively compete in the increasingly crowded universe of online health resources.

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How to Save Money on Private School

Opting for private school doesn’t have to mean breaking your budget.

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5 Steps To Finding Hidden Website Optimization Gems

When you're trying to optimize your website, sometimes it's hard to sift through all the ideas for boosting your conversion rate. Columnist Brian Massey discusses how to pin down the best approach.

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How Retirees Can Make Money in the Sharing Economy

Seniors are turning to peer-to-peer services like Uber to earn money on the side.

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How Are Those 2015 Career Goals Going?

Five steps to finally tackling your new year's resolutions.

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Shopify Integrates AdRoll To Activate Retargeting Campaigns

The AdRoll For Shopify app enables retargeting without having to add code to store sites.

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Extraordinary and amusing insurance claims revealed

Anna Seale

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If you weren’t already familiar with the need for buildings and contents cover, Saga Home Insurance has released its most noteworthy tales of sudden and unexpected disasters its customers have faced.

If you weren’t already familiar with the need for buildings and contents cover, Saga Home Insurance has released its most noteworthy tales of sudden and unexpected disasters its customers have faced.

 

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If you weren’t already familiar with the need for buildings and contents cover, Saga Home Insurance has released its most noteworthy tales of sudden and unexpected disasters its customers have faced. In July this year a storm in the North East prompted a flurry of calls from worried Saga customers as golf-ball sized hailstones crashed onto their roofs. And one house in Durham was hit not once but twice by lightning, damaging the rendering on the gable. Weather was the cause of another claim when a surge tide crashed into a house by the sea, causing so much damage the owners feared they might have to rebuild it. Thankfully, the £200,000 bill for water was covered by the their insurance. Not all polices cover pet related disasters, so those with cats and dogs are advised to be on the look out when reading a policy’s small print. One Saga customer left his hearing aids on a coffee table only for his pooch to gobble them up. Some stories pulled from their archives are rather baffling. An astonishing £36,000 of repairs were needed when birdseed kept in plastic containers in a garage spontaneously combusted, destroying an outbuilding and its contents. Even more bewildering was a builder’s mistake of pumping expanding foam insulation not into his employer’s cavity walls, but her cloakroom, filling it to the brim. Luckily, no one was in there at the time. Sue Green, head of home insurance at Saga, said: “If we’ve learnt anything from the last 25 years it’s that you never know what’s just around the corner… particularly if pets are involved.”

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Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air customers to be compensated

Tom Wilson

planeinsummer.jpg

Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air have agreed to clean up their act after being investigated for flouting compensation rules for delayed and cancelled flights.

Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air have agreed to clean up their act after being investigated for flouting compensation rules for delayed and cancelled flights.

 

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Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air have agreed to clean up their act after being investigated for flouting compensation rules for delayed and cancelled flights. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) took action against the airlines in March as it emerged the companies were not paying compensation for flights disrupted by ordinary technical faults, despite a Court of Appeal decision last year that obliged airlines to do so. Holidaymakers affected by the airlines poor practices will now see their chances of receiving compensation boosted. Jet2 and Wizz Air have since confirmed they are paying compensation for ordinary technical faults. Separately, the airlines were criticised for imposing two-year timeframes on claims for delayed or cancelled flights, as a separate Court of Appeal decision clarified passengers have up to six years from the date of disruption to lodge a claim. Wizz Air refused to remove the two-year limit on claims and has been referred to the Hungarian authorities. Jet2 and Aer Lingus were also criticised for the way they provided information to passengers during disruption. European law dictates airlines must proactively provide information to passengers about their rights during long delays and cancellations. The companies have now both agreed to improve the quality of information they provide to disrupted passengers, and Jet2 has confirmed it is processing compensation claims from the past six years. Andrew Haines, chief executive of the CAA, said: “The results of our recent action are a further boost for UK passengers and we are very pleased to see the changes the airlines involved have made. But our work is not done. “We are determined to stand up for passengers and will continue to review how airlines are treating, and responding to, their customers.” The CAA said it is continuing to monitor airlines’ operations and will publish a second review later this year. It also urged travellers who felt they hadn’t been treated fairly to contact them.

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Nail B2B Authority Targeting: Psychographic Targeting Hot House

True professionals are never off duty, even on Facebook. For most marketers, media spend is precious and not to be wasted, especially when playing the high-stakes, long game of B2B sales. B2B marketers need to ensure their message hits the right business professionals who are high enough in the...

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What to Do if You’re Not Getting the Results You Anticipated From Blogging

By Sarah Landrum Many business owners and brand managers looking for results assume that blogging is the ticket to success. Expert opinions and how-to articles consistently mention blogging as one of the top methods of spreading brand awareness and driving website traffic, but it’s not an instant fix. Check out some of the options below to […]

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Optimise Your Marketing Organisation: Attend MarTech Europe.

More than 50% of marketing decision makers believe that organisations should have both a CMO and a Chief Marketing Technologist (CMT), according to a recent study. Nearly three quarters of them believe more companies will begin hiring CMTs in the next five years. The undeniable truth is that...

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