Woman wins $2.7m over exploding e-cigarette

THE sellers of an exploding e-cigarette that left a woman scarred for life by second-degree burns have been ordered to pay $2.7 million.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1VtCTb1

David Jones hack leaves shoppers exposed

DAVID Jones’ database of online shoppers has been breached, with an unknown number of customers’ personal details stolen by hackers.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1KYWTwl

Uber Back is the ultimate cheap ride

IF YOU’RE looking for a cheaper ride, Collective Noun have a hilarious solution: Uber Back. It’s way more intimate than getting in a stranger’s car.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1OKWwMO

‘Surreal’ failure that started the GFC

THE man who sat at the front seat of the 2008 crash has revealed the ‘surreal’ failure that started the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1KQbqxl

Thrifty or Shifty? When Being Frugal Conflicts With Your Ethics

I sneak sunflower seeds and carrots into movies. Sure, I prefer healthier snacks, but mostly I just refuse to pay $6 for a small bag of greasy popcorn.

I enjoy the movie and my secret violation of the theater’s rule against outside food. And they make something (the ticket price) off an otherwise empty seat. Isn’t that better for the theater than if I didn’t go at all?

On the other hand, I would never be that guy who digs popcorn cartons from the trash to get free refills. That’s theft. But when no harm is done, I’m OK with violating a rule to save money.

What about you? How cheap are you, and where do you draw the ethical line when it comes to saving money?

Unethical Life Hacks or Smart Frugality?

In a forum thread titled, “Unethical Life Hacks,” Reddit users advocate many clearly criminal ways to save money.

But some suggested actions are probably acceptable, borderline ethical or at least come with justifications.

Here are some of these potential ethical challenges.

Violate a Copyright

One user says she photocopies new college textbooks for 2 cents per page and then returns them for a full refund, saving as much as $100.

She also suggests finding the PDF versions online. Another member responded, “This is at least as ethical as publishing a new edition every semester to force students into purchasing.”

Would you violate authors’ copyrights to save on textbooks?

Sit in the Wrong Seat

To sit in a better seat than the one you paid for at a sporting event, a Redditor suggests logging into StubHub to locate expensive tickets that are unlikely to sell. He said it’s likely “you can sit there all game without any issue.”

Would you sneak your way into a better seat at a sporting event?

Cheat When Buying Movie Tickets

A woman admits she buys children’s movie tickets for herself using the automated kiosk. She says the guy taking the tickets never looks, and she has done this a dozen times.

A movie theater owner responded by saying he didn’t care, as long as the customer pays for some kind of ticket.

Would you pay the child price if you could get away with it?

Lie to Event Vendors

One Reddit user advises, “Never tell vendors you’re hiring them for a wedding.”

Call it a reunion or event, because you’ll be charged much less. The vendors still get paid for the work they promised, regardless of what the event is called.

Would you lie to your wedding vendors?

Give the Wrong Hotel Name

On travel, one user says to give vendors the name of the cheapest hotel in town. The theory is they’ll offer lower prices, but it’s also not a bad security move — staying at an expensive hotel can make you more of a target for thieves.

Would you lie about where you’re staying to get a better price?

More Dilemmas for the Ethical Penny Pincher

Here are some more cost-cutting measures that might make you stop and think.

Threaten to Cancel Your Cable

My post on profitable complaining explained how I regularly called the cable company to say I considered canceling. To keep my business, the rep usually offered a $10 monthly discount for six months.

I was considering canceling (and finally did last year), so these were honest calls. But would it be so bad to fudge the truth to get a discount?

Would you lie to the cable company to save money?

Gorge Yourself at a Buffet

All-you-can eat buffets allow you to eat all you want while you’re there. Is it stealing when you take food home in your purse, as my (unnamed) friend has confessed to doing?

On the other hand, if you eat six plates of food at one sitting, you’re still following the rules — but are you also taking unfair advantage of the restaurant?

Are you OK with a restaurant owner losing money on your meal?

Take Fast Food Extras

Plenty of people take condiment packets from fast food restaurants for later use. But is it OK?

A restaurant owner wants customers to be happy, and can still profit from your meal even after you take a sugar packet or a few napkins, so is it a question of numbers?

How many unpaid-for extras can you justify taking from fast food restaurants?

Negotiate for Things You Don’t Want

Experts suggest asking for things you don’t want, so you get a lower price when you “give back” these items.

For example, when buying a home, you might ask for furniture you have no use for, just so you can ask for a lower price when you don’t get it.

Are you willing to use deception as part of negotiation?

Take Advantage of Free Samples

When my wife and I go to the grocery store to eat free samples, we often buy something we’ve tried.

That’s not a big surprise; samples are not charity, after all, but meant to promote products and services. But what if you have no interest in buying the product or service being promoted?

Do you take free samples of things you know you’ll never buy?

Your Turn: Do you ever face ethical dilemmas when trying to save money? How far will you go to save a buck?

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 the more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

The post Thrifty or Shifty? When Being Frugal Conflicts With Your Ethics appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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23 Passive Income Ideas You Can Start Today

Making money while you sleep.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

After reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and 4 Hour Work Week, I became interested obsessed with making passive income.

Whenever someone needs additional income, the stereotypical suggestion offered is to “get a part-time job.”

But what if you don’t have the time or energy to put in all those extra hours?

I know I didn’t.  Plus that wasn’t as appealing as making money while I was trading time for money.

For that, you may need some passive income ideas – ways to make money with little investment of time and effort on your part.

Here’s a list of quite a few passive income ideas, so it’s likely that you’ll be able to find at least two or three that will work in your situation.

1. Invest in Lending Club.

There is probably no passive income that is more perfect than earning interest on safe investments, such as U.S. Treasury securities and bank certificates of deposit. The problem of course is that those instruments pay paltry returns – generally less than 1%. It may be passive income at its finest, but you’ll never be able to relax or retire on returns that are that low.

That makes now the perfect time to talk about Lending Club. It is a web-based peer-to-peer lending platform where people come to get loans, and investors – looking for high interest opportunities – provide the funds for those loans.

Lending Club provides an opportunity to earn interest rates in excess of 10% per year – which is about 10 times what you will earn on more conventional interest-bearing investments.

Now let’s be clear on one point: those high rates do come at a cost. Unlike bank investments, Lending Club loans can go bad, in which case you will lose principal. However, there are ways to minimize those potential losses. But despite the risk of default, it’s very likely that you will earn far more on your investments at Lending Club than you will at a bank.

2. Try out index funds.

Index funds provide you with a way to invest in the stock market that is completely passive. For example, if you invest money in an index fund that is based on the S&P 500 Index, you will be invested in the general market, without having to concern yourself with choosing investments, rebalancing your portfolio, or knowing when to sell or buy individual companies. All that will be handled by the fund which will base the fund portfolio on the makeup of the underlying index.

You are also free to choose a fund that is based on any index that you want. For example, there are index funds set up for just about every market sector there is – energy, precious metals, banking, emerging markets – you name it. All you have to do is decide that you want to participate, then contribute money and sit back and relax. Your stock portfolio will then be on automatic pilot.

3. Make YouTube videos.

This is a venture that is growing rapidly. You can create videos in just about any area that you like – music, tutorials, opinions, comedy, movie reviews – anything you want . . . then put them on YouTube. You can then attach Google AdSense to the videos, which will overlay your videos with automatic ads. When viewers click on those ads, you will earn money from AdSense.

The keys will be to create compelling videos, to promote those videos on social media websites, and to create enough of them that your income will be coming from multiple sources. There’s a good bit of work that goes into creating videos, but once a video is done it can become a completely passive cash flow source for a very long time.

Don’t think you can find success with YouTube? You sure can. Emily Eddington used her love for makeup and YouTube to quit her full-time job. She has received over 66 million views on YouTube. This former morning news anchor took her passion – makeup – and turned it into a phenomenal success.

4. Try affiliate marketing and make sales.

This is a passive income technique that is better suited to people who have blogs and active websites. You can sign up to promote certain products or services on your site, for which you will be paid either a flat fee or a percentage of the amount of the sale completed.

This isn’t as hard to do as you might think, since there are thousands of companies in the world who want to sell their products in as many places as they can.

You can find affiliate offers either by contacting vendors directly, or on dedicated websites, such as ClickBank. It’s always best if the product or service is one that you are either very interested in or is highly relevant to your website.

5. Put your photography to work on the web.

Do you like photography? If you do, you may be able to convert it into a passive income source. Photography websites such as Shutterstock and iStockphoto can provide you with platforms to sell your photos. They may offer either a percentage or a flat fee of each photo that is sold to a site client.

In this way, a single photo could represent a cash flow source since it can be sold again and again. You simply need to create your photo portfolio, put it on one or more photo platforms, and then the activity becomes completely passive. All the technicalities of the photo sales are handled through the web platform.

And yes, that’s me in a stock photo you can purchase from iStockPhoto.com.  My good is a photographer and has uploaded a few hundred photos to their platform and makes a good residual income from it.

6. Purchase high dividend stocks.

By building a portfolio of high dividend stocks, you can create regular passive income at an annual rate that is much higher than what you get on bank investments.

Just as important, since high dividend stocks are stocks, there is always the potential for capital appreciation.

In that way, you can earn passive income from two sources – dividends and capital gains.

You will need a brokerage account to purchase these stocks and complete the research needed.

7. Write an ebook.

This can be a lot of work upfront, but once the ebook is created and marketed it can provide you with a passive revenue stream for years. You can either sell the ebook on your own website or offer it as an affiliate arrangement with other websites that provide content related to your ebook.

8. Get cash-back rewards on credit cards.

There are credit cards that provide cash-back rewards ranging anywhere from 1% to 5% of the amount purchased. You’re going to be out shopping and buying anyway, right?

Rewards will give you an opportunity to earn some passive “income” (in the form of reduced outgo) from doing what you would do anyway.

We recently started being mindful of collecting reward points on our cards especially since we like to travel.  In the past year we’ve been able to use our reward points to pay for 9 round trip flights and few nights in a hotel.  Now that’s what I’m talking about!

9. Sell your own products on the internet.

The possibilities here are endless – you can sell just about any product or service that you like. It could be a product you have created and can manufacture on your own or it could be digital in nature (such as software, DVDs, or even instructional videos).

You can set up a dedicated website for this product or service, unless of course you have a website or blog already in place. Alternatively, you can also sell it on an affiliate basis, either by offering it direct to websites and blogs related to your product or service, or through a platform such as ClickBank.

If you make a lot of money in your current job and you’re not sure that you can make a similar amount by selling products online, think again. Awhile back, I interviewed Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. In our podcast interview, Steve explained how his wife quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom.

Now, being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job – but Steve Chou’s wife also started an online business that replaced her former salary and started bringing in a six-figure income! Wow, right?

You can learn to sell products online too and make quite a bit of money. While it’s not entirely passive, it’s certainly more passive than getting up and heading out the door to work every morning!

10. Invest in real estate.

This probably falls more in the category of semi-passive income, since an investment in real estate is always at least a little bit of an active venture. Still, once you have a property that is established and fully rented, it’s mostly a matter of managing the property and keeping it performing well.

Additionally, there are professional property managers who can manage your property for you, usually for around 10% of the monthly rent. This professional management can make the investment much more passive, but will take a bite out of your cash flow.

According to Brandon Turner, an active real estate investor and co-host on the popular BiggerPockets Podcast,

“The key to success with rental properties is buying smart. Not every property is going to provide a good return or prove to be passive. Understanding how to analyze potential real estate opportunities is incredibly important. As the old adage goes – you make your money when you buy!”

Another benefit of investing in rental properties is the loan pay down. If you obtain a loan to buy the property, each month your tenants are paying off part of the loan. Once the mortgage on the property has been paid off, your cash flow will increase dramatically, allowing your mediocre investment to skyrocket into a full-fledged retirement program.

It wouldn’t take many paid-off properties to provide a pretty great, and mostly-passive, future for you and your family.

11. Buy a blog.

Thousands of blogs are created every year, and thousands are either completely abandoned by their owners sometime afterward. If you can buy blogs with a reasonable amount of web traffic – as well as a demonstrated cash flow – it could be a perfect passive income source.

Most blogs employ Google AdSense, which provides a monthly revenue stream based on ads that Google places on the site. There may also be affiliate programs generating additional revenue. Both income sources will be yours once you purchase the blog.

From a financial perspective, blogs usually sell for 24 times their monthly income. So if the site generates $250 a month in income, you can likely buy it for no more than $3,000. Translation: a $3,000 investment will buy you $1,500 per year in cash flow.

You may even be able to purchase the site for less than 24 months earnings, if the site owner is particularly anxious to get out. Some sites have good “evergreen” content that will continue generating revenue even years after the site has gone silent.

Bonus tip: If you were to buy such a site, and then to reinvigorate it with fresh content, you may be able raise the monthly revenue enabling yourself to sell the site at a later date for substantially more than what you paid for it.

Finally, instead of buying a blog, you might want to create your own blog. You can make some money either way!

12. Pay off a credit card (or two or three).

Reducing a fixed expense is the financial equivalent of creating passive income. This is certainly true when it comes to credit cards. Let’s say that you owe $10,000 on a credit card, on which there is a monthly payment equal to 2% of the balance, or $200 per month.

By paying the card off, you’ll be free up $2,400 per year in cash flow that would’ve gone to the monthly payments.

That’s like getting a guaranteed 24% return on a $10,000 investment. Good deal?

13. Write a book and collect royalties.

Much like writing an ebook, there’s a lot of work upfront. But once that’s done, and the book goes into the sales stage, it becomes a completely passive venture.

This is especially true if you can sell the book to a publisher who will pay you royalties for the distribution and sale of the book. You’ll get a percentage of each sale made, and if the book is fairly popular, the royalties could be substantial. Just as important, the royalties can continue flowing for many years.

Mike Piper from OblivousInvestor.com did just that.  He wrote a book, Investing Made Simple, which was sold strictly on Amazon.  He had decent success with the first book that he created an entire series of book.  Those books now net him over 6 figures per year.  Not too shabby.

14. Set up a website selling a product.

If there is a product that you are particularly knowledgeable about, you may be able to sell it on a dedicated website. The technique is similar to what you would use for your own product, except that you will not to be concerning yourself with product creation, but only with the sale of someone else’s product.

You may even find after a while that you are able to add other products that are related. Should that happen, the site could generate substantial revenues.

If you are able to have the product drop shipped to customers directly from the manufacturer, you won’t even have to get your hands dirty. That may not be 100% passive, but it’s darn close.

15. Invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs).

In #10 we talked about investing in real estate. But let’s say that you want to invest in real estate, but do it in a truly passive way. You can do that through a real estate investment trust. This is something like a mutual fund holding various real estate projects. The fund is managed by professionals, so you never have to get involved.

One of the big benefits of investing in REITs is that they typically pay higher dividends than stocks, bonds, or bank investments. You can also sell your interest in a REIT anytime you like, which makes it more liquid than owning real estate outright.

16. Become a business silent partner.

Do you know of a successful business that needs capital for expansion? If so, you can become something of a small-time angel investor and provide that needed capital. But rather than offering a loan to a business owner, you instead take an equity position in the business. In this way, the business owner will handle the day-to-day operations, while you will act as a silent partner who also participates in the profits of the business.

17. Become a referral source.

Every small business needs referral sources in order to maintain sales. Make a list of small business providers that you use on a regular basis and feel you can recommend to others without reservation. Then contact the owners and see if they have any kind of cash referral offers available.

You can do this with accountants, landscapers, electricians, plumbers, carpet cleaning services – the list is endless. Keep a list of these businesses, and be ready to refer them to your friends, family and coworkers. You can earn a fee on each referral just from talking to people.

Don’t overlook referral programs at work either. If your company offers a referral bonus for either new employees or for new customers, then take advantage of that plan. It’s easy money with virtually no work.

18. Rent out unused space with Airbnb.

Airbnb is a concept that has only been around for a few years, but it has exploded around the globe. Airbnb allows people to travel all around the world and to stay in accommodations that are a lot less expensive than traditional hotels. They do this by staying with participating Airbnb members who rent out part of their homes to travelers. By participating in Airbnb, you can use your residence to accommodate guests and earn extra money just for renting out space in your home.

Paula Pant, cubicle renegade AffordAnything.com took a stab at making extra money renting out locations exclusively through Airnbnb.  Her Airbnb experiment netted her an extra $19,000 in revenue and 1 police visit!  

How much you will make will depend upon the size and condition of your home and your location. Naturally, if your home is located in a high cost city, or close to a popular resort, your income will be much higher. It’s a way of earning money on space in your home that might just be sitting empty otherwise.

19. Build an app.

Apps can be an incredibly lucrative income source. Think about how many people today have smartphones. Come on, it’s just about everybody! People are downloading apps like crazy – and for good reason . . . .

Apps make people’s lives easier. Whether it’s an app that helps people put together nice pictures for their blog or an app that keeps track of tasks, there are helpful apps out there for everyone.

You might be asking if there are so many apps out there, why would you want to attempt to create an app? Isn’t there a lot of competition? Well, yes, but fresh, creative ideas can win. If you can come up with something unique, you can make quite a bit of money. Simple – yet unique – apps can be pretty passive.

Don’t know how to code? No problem. First, you can learn. Check out Nathan Barry’s success in his inspiring article, How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code. Nathan also put his design expertise to work in an ebook teaching others how they can design their own apps.

Second, you can hire a developer to build your app based on your idea. This could end up being an expensive option, although it will probably yield a professional-looking app.

The end result is an app that has the potential to make you some relatively passive income. Don’t downplay the idea to build an app – it’s a good one!

20. Create an online course.

Everyone is an expert at something. Why not create an online course about your passion?

My buddy Ramit Sethi at IWillTeachYoutobeRich.com is an expert at creating online courses. He has made an insane amount of money selling his lessons. Most people would be happy making a fraction of what he makes online.

There are a number of ways you can produce and host your own online course. One very simple way is to use a website like Udemy.com. Udemy as over eight million students and is a great way to get your content in front of others for their consideration.

Once you create an online course, it can work for you while you sleep!

What do you put in your online course? Good question. You can add video lessons, checklists for completing steps you recommend in your video lessons, small ebooks to supplement the lessons, audio files for people listening while traveling, informative interviews with likeminded experts, and a whole bunch more!

In fact, you can create several packages at different price points. Some people will want everything, so you can include ‘the works’ for the highest price point and then have two lower price points so that you can receive the largest possible volume of orders.

21. Make an online guide.

If writing articles or creating videos isn’t your thing, and you want to make money online, try creating an online guide.

A good example of this comes from Pat Flynn’s website, SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com. On the website, he has a map of the United States that allows someone to click on any state to see the security guard requirements for that state.

By providing specific information in a guide-like format, you can make money through some of the means already addressed: advertisements through Google AdSense, affiliate links, and even memberships you can sell from your online guide. It’s a fantastic idea!

22. Outsource most if not all of your business needs.

If you’re spending too much of your time on an existing business running it yourself, why not outsource most if not all of your tasks? Yes, it will require you to give up some control, but in many businesses it’s the only way to free up your time so you can focus on other tasks that will result in more income.

If you don’t want to hire employees, consider hiring freelancers who work as contract laborers. Look for freelancers with a strong work ethic who provide quality results.

Here’s a list of tasks that you might want to outsource:

• Bookkeeping
• Writing
• Web design
• Editing
• Task management
• Social media marketing
• and so much more!

Yes, many people can turn their existing businesses into passive income businesses. As long as the main product or service isn’t something only you can do, you can transform your business into a passive moneymaker.

23. Make money for tasks you’d do anyway.

Yes, you can make some money doing some of the things you’re already doing.

For example, InboxDollars allows you to make money by playing games, shopping online, searching the web, and more! Swagbucks also allows to to make money doing similar activities. It’s amazing. Take advantage of these websites and make some extra money!

I’ve purposely provided a long list of passive income ideas in the hope that there is something on this list for everyone.

Have you tried one of these or are you thinking about trying one of these ideas now? Leave a comment! I look forward to hearing from you.

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Starting Today, Target Will Match Prices at 30 Stores, Including Costco and Sam’s Club

Happy October! If you like to save money, you’ll love this news.

Starting today, Target will price-match products from 30 retailers, including bargain warehouses Costco and Sam’s Club.

It’ll also price-match its own digital iteration, Target.com — so if something’s on sale online, but not at your local store, you make up the difference.

What is Price-Matching?

No one likes walking down an aisle to find an item they’ve just purchased with a lower price tag!

Price-matching means finding a better deal on an item you purchased, then returning to the original vendor to ask for the difference. It can save you cash and the emotional fallout of realizing you missed out on a deal.

Why Target’s Deal is Awesome

You probably won’t be able to find the same kinds of bulk goods at Target as you can at Costco.

But entertainment products like DVDs and videogames are often cheaper at warehouse stores, so Target’s deal lets you get these items at a discount without paying the membership fee.

Target’s updated list also includes a slew of other popular digital shopping destinations like Bed, Bath and Beyond, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Barnes and Noble, Ulta and Sears. Considering their previous price matching list — just Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Toys- and Babies R Us — it’s a pretty massive shift.

Plus, Target doubled its price adjustment time frame from one to two weeks — so you’ve got up to 14 days to get the difference back if you see something you purchased at Target available more cheaply elsewhere.

So get shopping, Penny Hoarders — and don’t forget to use helpful price-matching apps like ShopSavvy or Invisible Hand, which make it easy to figure out the price of the best deal as quickly as possible.

Your Turn: Will you take advantage of Target’s new price-matching policy?

Jamie Cattanach is junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and a native Floridian. She’s just running to Target for this one thing — it won’t take long, she swears.

The post Starting Today, Target Will Match Prices at 30 Stores, Including Costco and Sam’s Club appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Six Bills You Can Negotiate Down to Save Money

When it comes to your cable, Internet, insurance, or credit card bills, it never hurts to pick up the phone and ask for a lower rate. The worst they can do is say no. Photo: Marjan Lazarevski

If you have a love-hate relationship with your monthly bills, you’re not alone. While most of us enjoy a modern lifestyle and all the perks that come with it, that doesn’t mean we actually enjoy paying for it.

But did you know certain monthly bills can be negotiated down to a lower rate? While some bills like mortgage payments, property taxes, and car payments are set in stone, others can be reduced if you’re willing and able to haggle.

Six Bills Worth Negotiating

If you want to lower your monthly bills across the board, it helps to know which bills might have some wiggle room. This list includes some of the bills that might be easiest to minimize:

Cable or Satellite TV

With so much competition in this space, cable and satellite television providers are typically eager to negotiate. In most cases, they realize that it is easier (and cheaper) to keep the customers they have vs. trying to get a new one. Cable and satellite providers may be greedy, but they’re smart, too.

If you want to negotiate your cable bill down, call your cable company. Have a list ready with their competitor’s prices for similar services, and be ready to state your case. If you take it far enough, you may even be transferred to the customer retention line where they are trained to negotiate with you.

And remember, you usually have the power to walk away if you find a cheaper rate elsewhere (unless you signed a two-year agreement, as DirecTV often forces its customers to do).

• Related: The Ultimate Guide to Cutting the Cable Cord

Internet Service

Just like cable TV, home Internet service is highly competitive. If your Internet service is tied in with your cable provider, you might be able to negotiate both in one fell swoop. But if your Internet is offered through a different provider, a separate phone call may be in order.

Either way, call up your provider with a list of competitors’ rates in hand — or hit them up in an online chat (if their website has it). When you get to the right person, ask them to lower your bill in order to meet their competition’s introductory pricing. And remember, the worst they can say is no.

Medical Bills

Even if you have the money to pay your medical bills in full, it makes sense to negotiate them down if you can. After all, cash-strapped hospitals are often willing to take less than the billed amount if you’re willing to pay in full and early. (Major insurers negotiate discounted rates all the time.) At the very least, you should ask.

When I had both of my daughters at my local hospital, for example, I faced a $4,000 out-of-pocket max. Once I received all of my hospital bills, I negotiated a 30% discount for paying over the phone and in full that day. So, instead of paying $4,000, I paid $2,800! All it took was a 20-minute phone call to save a whopping $1,200.

Credit Card Interest Rates

If you’re unhappy with your credit card’s interest rate, you might consider shopping around for a new card. However, you may not need to switch cards completely. Just by calling your card issuer and asking, you may secure a lower rate on the card you have.

If you have a history of responsible credit use, point to it as proof that you deserve a line of credit with better terms. And be willing to walk; if you let them know you are willing to transfer your balance or get a competitor’s card instead, they will be more inclined to cave to your request.

Car Insurance Rates

Car insurance is another highly competitive industry. Because of that, you often can negotiate serious discounts and savings — and with very little effort on your part. In some cases, insurance companies may even offer an “off the top” discount to keep you as a customer.

Other ways you can save include signing up for online billing (instead of paper statements), bundling your homeowners or renters insurance with the same issuer, or signing up for a safe-driver program such as Allstate Drivewise. You can also review your current coverage and cut back on superfluous items you don’t need, like rental car replacement if you have a backup vehicle, or roadside assistance if you already have AAA.

To find out what your options are, call your insurance company and tell them you’re looking for ways to save on your monthly payments. If they want to keep you as a customer, they’ll be open and honest about your options.

Monthly Rent Payments

If you think rent prices are always set in stone, think again. Clean and reliable renters with a lengthy history have a good chance at negotiating their rent — and that’s especially true if they plan to stay for the long term.

When your lease is up, ask your landlord for the best deal possible. If you plan to stay a while, you can even offer to sign a longer-term lease to reflect that commitment. Either way, you’ll be in the best position to score a discount if you have been a good renter from the very beginning. When you’re reliable and trustworthy, it’s cheaper for a landlord to keep you as a renter — even with a discount — then it is for them to replace you.

It Never Hurts to Ask

When it comes to negotiating your bills down, it’s important to remember that it never hurts to ask. The worst any of your providers can say is no, but the best-case scenario could lead to big, ongoing savings. Either way, you’ll never know what might happen if you never pick up the phone.

Which monthly bills have you negotiated down? How much did you save?

The post Six Bills You Can Negotiate Down to Save Money appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Why Real Estate Agents (and Homebuyers) Should Use Instagram and Snapchat

Agents are going beyond Facebook and Twitter to reach younger homebuyers.

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Scoping for Entrepreneurs: How to Use Periscope to Build Your Business

Maybe you’ve seen them: People walking around with their smartphones in front of their faces, chatting away and talking about hearts. While it might look unusual, it’s actually all part of an app called Periscope.

Periscope lets you give live video broadcasts and view other live videos. You can have real-time conversations with anyone who tunes in and comments during your broadcast.

All of that is great. But you can also use Periscope to make money.

The app, with its 10 million users watching 40 years of broadcasting each day, offers a new opportunity for you to boost your business’ bottom line. Here’s how you can make it work for you.

How to Use Periscope

First, you’ll need to download the app, which you can get on the iTunes AppStore or Google Play. Next, follow these instructions to sign in with your Twitter account or phone number.

Once you’re set up, follow other users, watch live broadcasts (or replays, which are available for 24 hours) and create your own video broadcasts. Share your “scopes” whenever you want, based on what works best for you and for your target audience.

Periscope’s Greatest Strength: Build Relationships With Subscribers

Periscope facilitates a live, interactive conversation with viewers. This new level of interaction can give your business a significant boost, like it did for Courtney Johnston, who offers copywriting services, training and products for other writers and small business owners.

“People get to know you at lightning speed,” Johnston said. “For me, it’s all about the relationship, and I always try to be helpful.”

Use Periscope as a relationship-building tool — the foundation of a solid income stream. By being authentic (not stiff and scripted) and sharing information your audience wants, you’ll rapidly form new relationships.

This relationship-building pays off when your viewers join your mailing list and then become buyers, so be sure they can find you on the web.

Turn Demos Into Sales

Demonstrate your products or services on Periscope, then mention where your viewers can buy them, the way Johnston does.

“I just sort of mention products I have if they’re relevant to the topic, and people come in and they buy stuff immediately,” she commented. “A certain percentage of people who will always do that.”

Periscope’s not just for buy-it-now products, though. Shaundle Pruitt, a real estate agent in Canton, Ohio, uses Periscope to do online walk-throughs of available properties. Packaging them as live, virtual open houses has generated a lot of interest.

“Sellers are always intrigued,” said Pruitt. He leverages that interest to land listing contracts — the foundation of many successful real estate careers.

Are you an artist with a new release coming up? Offer previews and teasers of new merchandise, music or books to generate interest and preorders. Encourage your audience to share your scopes (and reach new eyes and ears).

Share Your Expertise Through Tutoring or Q&A Sessions

If you’re interested in tutoring, offer sessions in a subject you know well. Have customers purchase the sessions in advance, and then use Periscope’s private broadcast feature to teach anyone, anywhere in the world.

You can even tutor more than one person at a time, meaning your hourly rate has nowhere to go but up.

If you’re an expert in a product or skill people want to know about (like essential oils, resume writing or selling on eBay), set up an “ask me anything” question and answer session. Your followers can pick your brain, you’ll build more credibility and you might even come away with new ideas for your business.

Mention your services and/or products and see how many new clients you pick up — just don’t forget to include your blog or website!

Sell Products and Programs

Direct selling isn’t the most common way to make money on Periscope, but it’s still an effective option.

“I’ve done a couple of flash sales and they worked really well,” said Danielle Ford, a marketing strategist who sells digital products and programs, among other things.

“I can have a conversation with up to hundreds of people at one time about what I’m selling.” The instant Q&A, plus a quick order-by deadline, helps her drive purchases.

If your business is an online enterprise with membership programs, courses and frequent launches, Periscope can be a powerful marketing tool. Shelley Hitz, an author, author coach and business strategist said, “The last push I had for my signature program was at the end of July, and 25% of my new members came from Periscope.”

Will You Make Money With Periscope? 

There’s no limit to the number of ways you can use Periscope to make money. All you need is an idea, some know-how and a smartphone.

Whether it’s by direct selling through product demonstrations, offering a quick how-to or tutorial for a skill you teach, or simply building credibility and trust by being accessible and relatable, live-stream video broadcasting on Periscope could help you earn extra cash or build your business.

Your Turn: Do you use Periscope? Have you tried using it to market your business or make money? Share your experience in the comments!

Ashley Gainer hangs out at ashleygainer.com, where she makes content for businesses and entrepreneurs, and teaches other writers how to do the same. She also spends a lot of time building pillow forts, making pretend-pancakes for Mr. Hippo and Mr. Puppy, and setting up elaborate wooden railways.

The post Scoping for Entrepreneurs: How to Use Periscope to Build Your Business appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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What to Do If Someone You Care About Has a Gambling Addiction

If you do nothing, you may pay a heavy price.

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Retirement: Your Ticket to a Happier, Healthier Life

Delaying retirement can help you financially, but if you want to feel better emotionally and physically, you might want to give your two weeks' notice today.

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5 Ways to Make Your Workplace More Efficient

How managers can boost team productivity and thus save the company money.

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Some Thoughts on Markus Persson, Wealth, Goals, and Life

Many people who have their finances under control have some pretty strong personal finance goals. They want to retire quite early, a goal that for most people requires an amount well north of a million dollars in the bank. Maybe they have other visions, like starting a business of some kind or doing something else that requires substantial risk, and they want to have a financial net in case it doesn’t work.

The thing underlying all of those visions is that a significant increase in one’s net worth will solve a lot of a person’s problems. They will be able to do away with many of the challenges that face their life right now and instead bathe in a pool of opportunity.

The painful reality is that things don’t always work out that way.

As some of you may know, Markus “Notch” Persson was the founder of Mojang, the company that unleashed the computer game Minecraft upon the world. Anyone who has had a child between the ages of eight and thirteen in the past few years – or anyone who plays computer games regularly – is familiar with Minecraft. The word “hit” doesn’t even begin to describe the success of that game.

About a year ago, in September 2014, Persson sold his company to Microsoft for around $2.5 billion, making Persson a billionaire.

Roughly a year after this sale, Persson posted a series of very interesting tweets (on Twitter) regarding his life since the sale of Mojang that I think make for a great foundation for a discussion about wealth, personal goals, and personal choices.

Rather than just embedding the tweets into this post, I’m saving them for posterity in their original text as well as linking to where they originally appeared on Twitter. This way, if Markus were to ever delete them or if Twitter goes down, this discussion will still make sense.

Here’s what Persson had to say.

“The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:48 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

“Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I’ve never felt more isolated.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:50 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

“In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:51 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

“When we sold the company, the biggest effort went into making sure the employees got taken care of, and they all hate me now.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:52 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

“Found a great girl, but she’s afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:53 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

“I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of [jerks] that made me sell minecraft again.” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 4:59 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

There is a more hopeful note at the end:

“People who made sudden success are telling me this is normal and will pass. That’s good to know! I guess I’ll take a shower then!” – Markus Persson (@notch) at 5:16 AM – 29 Aug 2015 (link)

It’s pretty easy to see from these posts that Notch’s wealth is not bringing the joy into his life that he expected.

His wealth has eliminated most of, if not all of, the goals he held for himself, leaving him adrift without any goals. He is having difficulty maintaining personal relationships because his schedule is radically different than those he was once close to. Many of the people he once worked with and trusted perceive him very differently than they did before simply because of the dollar amount attached to his name, whereas he still feels like the same person who is now just being treated radically differently by people he was once close to. Many people have tried to make connections with him that wouldn’t have spoken to him before simply due to his wealth.

The increase in wealth caused his goals, his personal life, and his professional life have all moved in challenging new directions, directions that are not ones that have filled him with happiness.

Why? In the end, money can’t buy happiness. You can’t buy personal relationships. You can’t buy privacy (though you can buy isolation). You can’t buy personal goals and dreams, either. Money often makes those things more difficult, as in the case of Notch.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about these kinds of issues. How does a person maintain a joyous life full of the things one cares deeply about even when one’s personal wealth grows and changes? I’ve come to a number of conclusions that I think everyone should adopt, whether they have a negative net worth at the start of their journey or they’ve already accumulated some wealth.

Strategy #1 – Have Mentors

A mentor is simply someone who is more experienced and more knowledgable than yourself that is willing to help guide you through personal and professional challenges and offer advice and suggestions. They can often also be a role model in that you choose to emulate some aspects of their behavior. A mentor that you respect due to their personal character and achievements is the perfect person to ask for advice as your financial and personal situation changes.

How do you find mentors? Anyone that you respect in the communities you participate in, including your workplace, your physical community, or your online communities, can be a potential mentor. Look for people that you respect and simply ask to take that person to lunch one day and ask that person for life advice.

Quite often, mentors are flattered by being asked to help in that way. Sure, sometimes you’ll find that mentors are quite busy and sometimes don’t have perfect availability or time for the things you might want, but people who show respect and reverence without asking for direct aid are often going to be quite valued by mentors.

It’s also worth noting that mentors might – and, in fact, probably will – change throughout your life. The mentors you have during your college years, for example, likely won’t be the same mentors you have during your late professional life. I had a great mentor during my college years, another great mentor near the end of my college years and the start of my professional life, and yet another mentor during my transition to entrepreneurship and self-employment. All of them were powerful and extremely helpful influences during those challenging periods in my life, offering great personal and professional advice.

Find a mentor. Meet with that mentor regularly. Ask for advice and life ideas from that mentor. Pay that mentor back by offering what help you can, doing things like paying for the lunches or helping with smaller tasks or favors that your mentor might ask for. Don’t hesitate to have multiple mentors, either.

What you’ll find is that as your wealth grows, your mentors will continue to have valuable advice along the way and you may find yourself with access to new mentors that will help you with the new challenges in your life, too.

Strategy #2 – Find Value in Accessible and Low Cost Things

It’s easy to get caught up in desiring and focusing on experiences that are only going to be available to you when you are wealthy. Taking expensive vacations, staying in resorts, having expensive cars, and having a big home are all dreams that people foster when it comes to the “someday” part of their life, and when wealth begins to come, they often grab for those things.

The thing is, those things don’t really bring you happiness. Sure, they bring you a burst of pleasure when you have them, but they don’t bring you lasting happiness.

I’ve been as dirt poor as you can imagine in America. I grew up poor. I was the epitome of the poor college student. From there, I moved on to a high paying job and then as the head of a small business that I later sold and now I’m well on my way to complete financial independence.

I’ve found that only three things have brought real happiness in my life. One is a vibrant and curious internal life, meaning that I think about the deep questions of life and try to answer them for myself while also trying to live the best day-to-day life that I can. Another is lasting relationships, meaning relationships with people where we have an understanding of each other. The other is meaningful experiences – things that cause me to become closer to some aspect of the world or understand it better.

I was able to access both of those things when I was financially destitute. I am able to access those things now. I’ll be able to access those things no matter what my wealth level. Regardless of my wealth, I can read things like Ecclesiastes and The Confessions of Saint Augustine and A Theory of Justice and they will still make me think and reflect, though they may make me come to different conclusions, and they will bring me solace as I feel that I understand the world a lot better. Regardless of my wealth, I can still build relationships with people much different than myself, I can still exercise my mind and body to exhaustion, I can still visit places and do things that change my perspective on life. Regardless of my wealth, I can still find people with which to build and continue with strong relationships.

Strategy #3 – Have Some Internal Goals as Well as External Ones

First of all, let me explain what the difference between an internal and an external goal is. An internal goal is one that you have complete (or mostly complete) control over, like choosing to exercise each day or meditate each day or study a particular topic. An external goal is one where you have less control but still have some impact, such as business or career success, relationship success, and so on.

It’s a good idea to have at least a goal or two on each side of that coin because there are times where you will feel out of whack with your external goals and you can rely on internal goals and vice versa. I’ve also found that sometimes external goals can feed internal goals and vice versa, so often when you feel out of whack on one side of the coin, you can rely on goals from the other side for a while and it will help things balance out and help you find new initiatives.

I’ve found that when my professional life has been in flux in the past, internal goals helped me to ride through the storm. I found a lot of solace in exercising or meditating or regular reading or choosing to reach out to friends and acquaintances.

Similarly, when my personal and internal life has been in flux, external goals have helped me get through the changes. I found solace in focusing on my career or my businesses and helping others in my life achieve their own goals.

Each time, however, I found it valuable to re-establish new external or internal goals after the period of change. I am generally happiest when I have a balance of both types of goals, but having only one time can be good enough during periods of change.

Notch seems to be in a situation where he had focused greatly on external goals for a very long time without much attention to internal ones and then achieved all of those external goals rather rapidly, leaving him without direction. That is a situation where internal goals can make a massive difference if you have them.

Strategy #4 – Re-evaluate Your Goals Regularly

Often, we can get hung up on one or two particular goals that seemed overwhelmingly important and vital at one point in our lives, but have actually become a lot less important over the years. A person might still be working toward a big goal they had five years ago, but the fire has gone out and they’re working toward things they no longer care so much about.

That’s why honest re-evaluation of your goals on a very regular basis is such an important thing. Without that constant re-evaluation, you can find yourself on a treadmill of goals that no longer have any central meaning to you.

Sometimes, you do have to accept some of the limitations of your life, but that’s one of the big advantages of financial independence. As you approach financial independence, those limitations go away in many respects. Sure, there are new obstacles (which we’ll address below), but having financial independence greatly broadens the scope of potential realistic goals you may have for yourself.

So, how does one re-evaluate goals? My practice is to re-evaluate them weekly. I keep a central list of the things I’m working on and working for in my life and each week I examine that list from top to bottom and look for things that no longer feel right. When that happens, I spend a lot of time trying to understand why, and that has always led me to new and better goals.

Strategy #5 – Maintain a Handful of Core Relationships… But Accept That Only Some Will Survive

At any given time, I have about a dozen key relationships in my life that I know I can rely on. These are people that I can call up and have a conversation with about things that trouble me, ask them for advice or help, or just simply do something fun with them. All of those things are always on the table, day or night.

Over the years, that count of relationships has gone up and down for various reasons. I’ve come to accept that many of the relationships I value right now won’t necessarily last. Some relationships are there for a day, others for a season, and yet others last for life. That’s just how it is.

Once you have that kind of relationship, maintain it. Don’t take it for granted. Stay in contact with those people very regularly. If you don’t have anything to say, just ask how they’re doing. For many of these relationships, the contact may be daily; for others, it should be at least weekly.

Whenever I feel those numbers starting to dwindle, as in the number of relationships and frequency of contact, I put effort into building new strong relationships. Often, these relationships appear naturally in the patterns I have in my life at the time, as my goals and other things I’m involved with will take me into contact with new people, which brings me to my next point.

Strategy #6 – Accept That Many Other Relationships Won’t Necessarily Last

There are many people in life who will establish relationships with you simply because it’s convenient at the moment, and the moment it becomes anything less than convenient, the relationship will abruptly end. There are also many people in life who will establish relationships because they want to extract more value from those relationships than they’re willing to give (a healthy relationship has a roughly equal balance).

Those relationships won’t last – and that’s okay. Don’t ever feel bad about letting a relationship like that end. Instead, make sure that you spend your time maintaining the good relationships that do last and do provide value for you as well as cultivating new ones all the time.

The only way to maintain healthy human contact is to constantly work on cultivating new relationships and maintaining the ones that are already strong. Even for people who are introverted (myself included) who value a lot of solo time, those relationships provide a great deal of the beauty and value in life.

Strategy #7 – Focus on Making the World Better and You’ll Come Along for the Ride

No matter what situation you’re in, you have the capacity to make the world a better place. Whether it’s something as simple as offering smiles to the people around you or doing a great job at work serving customers and helping others or something as big as launching a charity or developing a product that will genuinely help others, you have the capacity to give of yourself to make the lives of others better. You always have that capacity.

The thing is, when you use that capacity, it feels good. Few things lift me up more than knowing that I have put energy and effort into something that is going to genuinely make the world a better place, whether it’s through something I write, a charity I help, a person I interact with in a positive way, a child I raise, or anything else like that.

If I can go away from something that I’ve put effort into and know that the world is somehow better because of it, I feel better about myself. I feel better about the world around me. I feel better about everything.

Try to do at least a few things each day that make the world a better place, whether it’s something as simple as letting someone with one item in their hand in front of you in the grocery store line or something as intense as serving as someone else’s mentor and giving it your genuine effort or something as big as spending a bunch of time working at a charity or devoting some genuine attention to your child. It feels good when you do it and it continues to feel good when you watch the positive after effects ripple out from that effort.

Final Thoughts

In some form or another, these principles made life tolerable and enjoyable when I was broke and had nothing to my name. These principles make my life better today as I reach for financial independence. I see no reason why these principles won’t continue to help no matter how much wealth I have.

Yes, the specifics of each principle will change over time. I won’t have the same goals in ten years as I have now. I won’t have at least some of the same relationships. I will have different ways of helping the world.

However, wealth and time won’t really change the core of these principles. No matter what I have in life, I will still have mentors. I will still seek and work toward internal and external goals. I will still maintain old relationships, cultivate new ones, and be okay with some relationships fading away because they weren’t meant to last. I will still try to make the world a better place.

Those things work whether I have a dollar in my pocket or a billion.

Good luck.

The post Some Thoughts on Markus Persson, Wealth, Goals, and Life appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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How to Assess a Veteran Job Candidate

Hiring managers and recruiters: Use this three-step process when interviewing veterans.

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Applying for Financial Aid for College is About to Become a Whole Lot Easier

Applying for financial aid is about to get a little easier for college-bound students and their parents.

The application window for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, is getting an adjustment to work in conjunction with the application process, not as an afterthought.

Starting in fall 2016, you’ll be able to apply for financial aid almost a whole year in advance of when you plan to attend college.

So if you plan to start college in fall 2017, you can fill out your FAFSA as early as October 2016, using data from your family’s 2015 tax return.

Why This Change is Awesome

Under today’s FAFSA rules, students and their parents must wait until January to apply for financial aid for that year’s fall semester.

But you have to file your annual taxes to get the calculations you need to fill out the FAFSA, meaning many families — after waiting for handfuls of W2s and 1099s to arrive — don’t file their taxes until February, March or April.

By that time, many students already have already received college admission offers. But without financial aid information and package offers, it’s harder for those students to make a decision about which schools they can afford to attend.

“It has become clear that telling students about aid after they apply to colleges — the current practice — is no way to convince nervous students that college can be affordable,” writes University of Michigan professor Susan Dyanarski in the New York Times.

Bumping the FAFSA application window up by six months helps college-bound families make smarter financial decisions before accepting admission at that dream school.

By knowing its estimated contribution for tuition and room and board before applying, a family can help a college-bound student determine how much aid they’re comfortable taking on, including Stafford loans, Pell grants and work-study assignments.

IRS Integration Means the FAFSA is Getting Even Easier

But wait! There’s more good news for FAFSA filers.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool, which is now available to only 20% of FAFSA applicants, will be expanded next year so nearly all applicants can import their most recent tax data directly from the IRS.

This tool is a total gamechanger for families. Instead of flipping through a paper copy of your taxes to figure out which amounts you’re supposed to be transcribing into parts of the FAFSA, a simple click of a button will auto-fill the necessary tax information into the online FAFSA form.

The change means you can be more confident you filled out the application correctly. It’ll also reduce the number of aid applications schools have to audit per Department of Education rules — a burden off the shoulders of financial aid staff.

Beyond the FAFSA: How to Pay for College

The FAFSA change improves the college financial planning process, but doesn’t perfect it. It’s still up to you to save and seek ways to pay for college, whether you’re applying for aid for the 2016 school year or planning ahead.

Here are a few methods to investigate for your personal situation:

Apply for Scholarships (Lots of Them)

While financial aid packages sometimes involve grants, which don’t need to be repaid, most of your aid package will be made up of dreaded loans.

Your solution: Apply for scholarships until your eyes cross.

Many scholarships are meant for incoming freshman, but still many others cater to upperclassmen, nontraditional students and part-time students.

Visit your high school college counselor and check out local community organizations for scholarship opportunities near you.

In the meantime, we’ve got a list of 100 scholarships to get you started, and a list of 100 weird scholarships that includes some truly unique ways to pay for college.

Talk to Financial Aid Officers

If you’re visiting colleges, make time to meet with someone from the financial aid department.

These professionals can tell you all about the ins and outs of maximizing financial aid at their schools, and it’s a great opportunity to get answers to a lot of money questions that are probably making you nervous. (Then you can focus on worrying about the real worst part of applying for college: the essay.)

Even if you’re already enrolled, it’s never too late to meet with financial aid staff to talk through your challenges, opportunities, and options for paying for college. Remember that your financial aid office is there to help, not to discourage you!

Start Paying Off Your Loans Before You Graduate

If you have an income stream like a weekend job or a side hustle, you may want to consider starting to pay your student loans early — even before you graduate.

Reducing your loan balance in turn reduces the amount of interest you’ll have to pay once you’re out of school. And no one likes to pay interest.

Consider a Career Field That Could Pay For School

Most of us aren’t lucky enough to get a full-ride scholarship to our dream school. But some careers offer opportunities to have your student loans reduced or forgiven after graduation.

The federal government rewards teachers and public servants by forgiving a portion of student loans after a certain period of work. If you’re a nurse, corrections officer, family services worker or early intervention provider with Perkins loans, you could have those loans completely forgiven.

Your Turn: How will the FAFSA changes affect your college search?

Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor, and podcaster living in Baltimore. She remembers filling out her undergrad FAFSAs on paper.

The post Applying for Financial Aid for College is About to Become a Whole Lot Easier appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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10 Investing Tips for the Rest of 2015

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Why Preferred Stocks Belong in Your Portfolio

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Prepare Your Garden for Winter to Save

Getting your plants ready for the cold months can reduce your costs next spring. 

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New rental market regulation – what landlords and tenants need to know

Tom Wilson

New rental regulations.jpg

Buy to let investors and tenants will no longer face hidden charges from letting agents as a result of new consumer protections that come into effect today.

The 2015 Consumer Protection Act obliges letting agents to publish a comprehensive list of their fees and charges and declare which, if any, client money protection or redress schemes they are affiliated with.

The policy will create transparency around the fees charged by letting agents and increase competition between them as a result.

Rental market regulations updated – what you need to know

Feed Copy: 

The 2015 Consumer Protection Act obliges letting agents to publish a comprehensive list of their fees and charges and declare which, if any, client money protection or redress schemes they are affiliated with. The policy will create transparency around the fees charged by letting agents and increase competition between them as a result. Lettings agents’ management fees are typically charged at 11% of their property income, according to research from insurer Direct Line for Business. Although letting agents are employed by the landlord and not the tenant, arrangement fees of more than £100 for new tenants are not unusual. The Department of Communities and Local Government estimates one million tenants move home each year, and a fifth of tenants have complaints about their letting agents. Eviction notices Landlords face new obligations and the rules around eviction notices have changed under the 2015 Deregulation Act. From today, landlords will no longer be able to serve Section 21 eviction notices within the first four months of a tenancy, and eviction notices cannot be served more than six months in advance. They are also unable to serve notice if the tenant does not have an energy performance certificate, or the property is in substandard condition, in a move to curb ‘revenge evictions’. Housing minister Brandon Lewis said: “"We’re determined to create a bigger, better private rented sector – a key part of that is to tackle the minority of rogue landlords that shirk responsibilities and blight the lives of their tenants. "That’s why we’ve made changes to outlaw revenge evictions once and for all - so tenants don’t face the prospect of losing their home in light of asking for serious repairs to be made." Once an eviction notice is served, tenants are entitled to a refund on rent for any month in which the property has been empty, whether or not this is before the termination date. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms Finally, landlords are obliged to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms from today. Lewis added: “Fire kills and people are at least four times more likely to die in a fire in the home if there’s no working smoke alarm. “These changes will help save lives by ensuring all landlords install alarms in their properties, giving tenants the vital seconds they need to escape.”

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What’s the Right Day to Buy a House? The Answer Could Save You 38%

If you’re about to buy a house, you’re in luck! This is your month.

For most of us, buying a home will be the largest lifetime investment we ever make. The most advantageous day to make this major purchase, according to a new study by RealtyTrac, is October 8th.

The whole month of October is a good bet, though. RealtyTrac crunched the numbers on housing sales over the last 15 years and found that October’s 2.7 million closings averaged a full 2.6% below the homes’ estimated market values at the time of sale.

Optimize Your Closing Date for Savings

The day of the week matters, too. People who bought a house on a Monday saved an average of 2.3%, the study found. The second-best day of the week was Friday, at 2%.

The worst month? April, whose sales prices were an average of 1.2% above market value.

The optimal closing day does vary by city, though: April 1st is apparently the best day to buy in Seattle, the study said.

The Best Day in Your Area

So when should you sign the contract? It depends where you want to live.  

Turns out optimizing your purchase date could save you a lot — up to 38% in Boston and Dallas!

Here are the best day to purchase a home in 11 major US cities, and what you can expect to save on average:

It’s worth doing the research to find out the patterns in your area — 38% savings on a home could be tens of thousands of dollars!

Your Turn: Are you planning to buy a house this month? Will you wait for the best date in your area?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and a native Floridian. She’s passionate about learning, literature, chocolate and finding ways to live the good life as cost-effectively as possible.

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10 Life Hacks to Maximize Your Lunch Break

By Sarah Landrum It’s easy to take lunch breaks for granted. After all, they’re nothing more than an opportunity to curb those midday hunger pangs, right? But, as it turns out, there’s more to lunch breaks than that. If used right, lunch breaks can boost your productivity, too. It’s not just because they fill your […]

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Pension freedoms six months on: caution prevails

Faith Glasgow

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Six months after the introduction of new rules allowing people much greater flexibility in how they access and use their pensions after the age of 55, and greater freedom to pass on those pension pots when they die, there is little sign of the spending splurges predicted by many experts.

According to Fidelity Personal Investing, enquiries to its retirement advice service over the past six months have focused mainly on three themes: the possibility of transferring final salary pensions to a defined contribution (DC) scheme to take advantage of the freedoms; the rules regarding the £1 million pension pot Lifetime Allowance; and the potential for taking tax-free cash.

Pension freedoms: caution prevails

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According to Fidelity Personal Investing, enquiries to its retirement advice service over the past six months have focused mainly on three themes: the possibility of transferring final salary pensions to a defined contribution (DC) scheme to take advantage of the freedoms; the rules regarding the £1 million pension pot Lifetime Allowance; and the potential for taking tax-free cash. Despite a rise in enquiries, however, there has been relatively little action taken to date, says Maike Currie, associate director of Fidelity Personal Investing. Fewer than 6 per cent of DC members have accessed their pots, and the main focus has been the 25 per cent tax-free lump sum. Of those taking the full amount, half are accessing pots worth less than £10,000. ENSION FREEDOM CASH: HOW IS IT BEING SPENT? In a quarter of cases, the tax-free cash is being used as a means of helping younger family members onto the property ladder, though 'silver separators' are also making use of it to facilitate their divorces. Otherwise, it appears to be primarily used for one-off 'big treats' such as holiday homes. What people do not appear to be doing is getting to grips with the big questions surrounding how they draw an ongoing income from their pensions. Fidelity finds that where drawdown has been set up, people are taking between 4 and 7 per cent; 4 to 5 per cent is deemed sustainable. Equity income and lower-risk multi-asset funds are the most popular fund choices, but DIY investors in drawdown tend to hold more in cash - 17 per cent of their pot, compared with only 7 per cent for advised clients. Again, while this may have made sense over recent months of market volatility, Fidelity suggests it is not sustainable as a long-term strategy. There are several aspects of drawdown where investors need greater support and education, argues Richard Parkin, head of retirement at Fidelity. 'It's not just about stopping people running out of money - in many cases they have an over-frugal approach,' Parkin says. BIG BUFFER OF PENSION ASSETS He points to the experience in the US, where Fidelity (which has an extensive US high street operation) has found that people want to retain a big buffer of pension assets - averaging 48 per cent of their pension pot - until death, because they are so worried about running out. And that is the case even where they don't plan to pass on their pension pot as an inheritance. People need to learn to make the best use of their money so that they can enjoy their later years without leaving a large unutilised pension pot when they die, he adds. But they are also likely to require more spending power in earlier retirement, when they are still relatively fit and active. Parkin makes the case for using a slice of pension to buy a deferred annuity that kicks in and pays a guaranteed income for life if you live beyond, say, 85. If you don't live that long, the capital remains as part of your pension estate. However, insurance companies have been slow to respond to pension freedoms, and so far there has been little innovation in regard to income drawdown products. 'Customers want security, but they don't want to buy an annuity because they've been told they're no good. Annuity sales have dropped 85 to 90 per cent in the past six months; but I think annuities will make a comeback,' Parkin says. MORE DYNAMIC APPROACH NEEDED He also argues for a 'more dynamic' approach to income management. So, for example, people could draw down slightly more from their pension pot, on the understanding that if markets do badly they will reduce their withdrawals to protect capital. Given the complexities of these and the other investment decisions involved, he adds, people really need guidance to help them optimise their use of their pension pots. Robo advice could play a big role in making the decision-making process more affordable, but in most cases for today's retirees there will be complications such as a final salary pension involved, so people will need a conversation with a real expert as well, Parkin says. The requirement for ongoing support is highlighted by research into financial advisers' views from Investec Wealth & Investment. This finds that almost nine out of 10 advisers believe their clients require ongoing help to ensure they generate capital growth as well as income. Almost eight out of 10 need help to diversify their sources of retirement income, and three quarters want assistance in organising their wealth so that they are able to pass on their pension pots. Investec says that only 18 per cent of clients are interested in the prospect of selling their annuities on a secondary market.

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Plastic bag charges explained

Rachel Lacey

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From 5 October large retailers in England will need to start charging for plastic bags as part of government plans to reduce waste.

Get the lowdown on the new rules with our Q&A.

Which stores will charge for bags?

New plastic bag charges details

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From 5 October large retailers in England will need to start charging for plastic bags as part of government plans to reduce waste. Get the lowdown on the new rules with our Q&A. Which stores will charge for bags? Under the new rules shops with more than 250 full-time employees will need to start charging for plastic bags. The cost of implementing the charges exempts smaller businesses, however the Association of Convenience Stores says it reckons some 16% of corner shops will follow suit. Trade magazine The Grocer has also reported that Londis, Budgens, CostCutter and Spar are all advising their independent stores to start charging for bags. Are there any exceptions? Retailers are not required to charge for bags where there is a safety concern. For example unwrapped food, raw fish and meat, flowers, seeds, uncovered blades and prescription medicines. There are also no charges for paper bags or in airport shops, on board airplanes, trains and ships. How much will the bags cost? The government has set a minimum charge of 5p per bag, however retailers can charge more if they wish. What will happen to the money raised? The charge is not a tax and as such the money won’t go straight into government coffers. However it is hoped that it won’t just bump up supermarket takings either, with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) recommending that the money raised goes to good causes. Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose have all committed to spending proceeds in this way. Do the same rules apply if I get my shopping delivered? Supermarkets still have to charge you for bags used for home deliveries as well as click and collect services. Some supermarkets – including Tesco and Sainsburys – are introducing bag-less home deliveries. If you still require bags, both stores charge a 40p flat fee. How can I avoid the charge? It’s easy to avoid the charge – simply bring bags with you! Keep large ‘bags for life’ in the boot of your car and stash foldaway bags in handbags, rucksacks or pockets so you are always prepared. And, if your bag for life does (somewhat ironically) wear out, supermarkets are usually happy to replace them free of charge. Why are the rules being introduced? According to figures from Defra the number of single-use plastic bags that were handed out to shoppers in England rose for the fifth year running in 2014, rising to a whopping 7.6 billion or 140 bags per person. This is in spite of research showing that the average household has 40 plastic bags at home. Plastic bags take longer than other bags to degrade, cause damage to wildlife and contribute to litter. Will the scheme work? Defra estimates that the scheme will see take up of single-use carrier bags drop by as much as 80% in supermarkets and 50% on the high street. It also anticipates the scheme will raise up to £730m for good causes and cut litter clear up costs by £60m. The charges already apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and in Wales plastic bag consumption dropped by 79% in three years. Huge sums have also been raised for charity with Asda generating £270,000 in Wales over the last 12 months while Scottish stores raised £156,000 for social and community projects in the first six months after the charge was introduced.

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