How Aldi shoppers get free groceries

FREE groceries for a year? It sounds too good to be true, but this is what a hand-picked group of Aldi shoppers are getting.

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Hey Mom & Dad! Here’s a $250 Freebie That Won’t Last Long

Here’s a cool freebie!

This won’t last long, but the folks over at Enfamil are giving Penny Hoarder readers a free $250 in gifts.

Sign up at Enfamil Family Beginnings and they’ll send you coupons, free samples and goodies, such as an Enfamil Pack ‘n Cool.

Even if you don’t use formula, we suggest you sign up for this and donate to a shelter or to someone in need.

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

The post Hey Mom & Dad! Here’s a $250 Freebie That Won’t Last Long appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Taking the p***: ‘Nothing cops can do about it’

HE SELLS bizarre and controversial products that help people pass drug tests. Worst, Alex McLeod says there is nothing police can do to stop him.

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It's Liberals Who Have Declared War on Women

Now that Hillary Clinton has by default sewn up the Democratic nomination, expect Democrats to play the gender card for all it's worth. But it may not work this time. Working women have gotten crushed under the weight of Obama policies.

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Turning ‘failure’ into business success

JANE Lu isn’t afraid to credit the ‘utter failure’ of her start-up venture for the $10 million success of her second fashion business empire Showpo.

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Savings update: new bond puts United Trust Bank at top of fixed-rate deal table

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Fixed-rate deals from new banks continue to edge up. United Trust Bank has a new bond paying a top 2.1 per cent before tax (1.68 per cent after tax) for a year.

It puts it just ahead of Charter Savings Bank at 2.07 per (1.66 per cent after tax) and French-owned RCI Bank and FirstSave both at 2.06 per cent (1.65 per cent).

For two years top deals include Aldermore, RCI and Harrods banks all at 2.35 per cent (1.88 per cent) and Charter Savings Bank at 2.32 per cent (1.86 per cent).

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Fixed-rate deals from new banks continue to edge up. United Trust Bank has a new bond paying a top 2.1 per cent before tax (1.68 per cent after tax) for a year. It puts it just ahead of Charter Savings Bank at 2.07 per (1.66 per cent after tax) and French-owned RCI Bank and FirstSave both at 2.06 per cent (1.65 per cent). For two years top deals include Aldermore, RCI and Harrods banks all at 2.35 per cent (1.88 per cent) and Charter Savings Bank at 2.32 per cent (1.86 per cent). On easy-access taxable accounts the best rate is 1.65 per cent (1.32 per cent after tax) from RCI Bank Freedom Account. With this bank you are not covered by the UK compensation scheme. If the bank goes bust you claim from the European scheme where the maximum amount is €100,000 (around £72,000). CASH ISAS West Bromwich WebSave Easy Saver pays 1.55 per cent (1.25 per cent) and Virgin Money Defined Access Saver 1.51 per cent (1.21 per cent). With the Virgin account you are limited to making three withdrawals a year. On tax-free cash Isas the top easy-access account comes from Post Office Online Cash Isa at 1.51 per cent including a 0.86 percentage point bonus for the first 12 months. Virgin Money Defined Access Isa is a slightly better rate at 1.56 per cent but it limits you to making three withdrawals a year - although there is no bonus on this account. Best deals with no bonus and no withdrawal facilities come from Nationwide's Instant Isa Saver Issue 3 and Sainsbury's Bank Cash Isa both at 1.4 per cent. On fixed-rate cash Isas Virgin Money pays a top 1.81 per cent for one year followed by AA Savings, where the deposit taker is Bank of Ireland, at 1.75 per cent. Virgin Money pays 2.06 per cent for two years.

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Payday lender forced to repay £15.4 million to customers

Tom Wilson

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A payday lender has been ordered to pay £15.4 million redress to more than 147,000 customers by the UK’s financial regulator.

A payday lender has been ordered to pay £15.4 million redress to more than 147,000 customers by the UK’s financial regulator. 

Payday lender forced to repay £15.4 million to customers

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A payday lender has been ordered to pay £15.4 million redress to more than 147,000 customers by the UK’s financial regulator. Following an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Dollar Financial, which trades as the Money Shop, Payday UK, Payday Express and Ladder Loans, was criticised for lending ‘many’ customers more than they could afford to repay, systems failures, and its debt collection practices. The repayment relates to loans taken out between 1 April 2014 and 30 April 2015 in respect of affordability issues and 1 January 2013 and 30 April 2015 in relation to collection issues. Around 65,000 customers will receive cash refunds and 67,000 will see their outstanding balances reduced. A further 15,000 will receive a combination of the two. Jonathan Davidson, a director of supervision at the FCA, said: “The FCA expects all credit providers to carry out proper checks to ensure that borrowers don’t take on more than they can afford to pay back. We are encouraged that Dollar is committed to putting things right for its customers.” Dollar Financial will start to contact customers in November and expects to complete all settlements by early 2016. Affected customers do not need to take any action but further information is available on the lender’s websites. Stuart Howard, who has been Dollar Financial’s chief executive since November 2014, said: “As the new chief executive of Dollar Financial UK, I accept the findings of the review and apologise to anyone who may have suffered difficulties as a result. “It is proper that we put things right where they have gone wrong and I have gone further than the review in reforming the way our business operates to reflect the company aim of being the most responsible lender in its marketplace.” Moneywise met with Howard in September, where he discussed the steps he has taken to clean up the company’s act, including chasing customers before their payment is due – rather than once they’ve missed a payment – recording all calls, and working with the Money Advice Trust to identify vulnerable customers. Howard says he agonises over being a responsible lender and at the time said: “I lend to people who can afford to pay it back.” He is keen to distance himself from the competition and is particularly critical of smaller firms. “Check your watch after you’ve spoken to the smaller lenders. They roll in, roll out and move on to the next thing. I hope the FCA follows through and clears them out because they give us a bad image.” Today’s announcement puts further pressure on a business that has recorded losses of more than £100 million over its last two reporting periods. Today’s announcement is the second redress scheme Dollar Financial has been forced to accept, having previous agreed to refund £700,000 after FCA intervention in July 2014.

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Make Money While the Sun Shines: The Beginner’s Guide to Solar Panels

If you’re like most of us, you don’t think much about the sun, beyond whether it’s going to shine on a particular day. You’ve probably never considered the fact it could save you money on your utility bills.

But it can save you money: nearly $20,000 over the next 10 to 20 years, depending on your state. All you need is a solar energy system.

You’ve probably heard solar panels are expensive — so had we. That’s why we were surprised to discover you can actually to get solar panels on the cheap, or even for no money down at all.

Intrigued? Below, we answer all your questions about using solar panels.

How Much Do Solar Panels Cost?

If you’re curious about solar — either for economical or environmental reasons — you may not have pulled the trigger because you’re wary of the high upfront costs. After all, household solar photovoltaic (PV) systems cost an average of $23,000 to install. Eek!

Don’t run away yet, though. That cost is before tax credits and other incentives, and doesn’t take into account the possibility of “zero down” options through solar financing. Here’s a great chart that breaks down your total cost, depending on the tax credits and rebates available in your state.

It’s also worth noting that a PV system is a long term investment; it’s not a new (and constantly-changing) technology like your iPhone.

“[Solar energy] was made commercially available in 1954, so it’s been around for more than 60 years,” explains Erica Johnson, director of community development for Sullivan Solar Power.

“It’s a ‘set it and forget it’ technology. It’s not going to need to be replaced in five years… It will be producing solar energy for 40 years.”

With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about the cost of going solar:

Solar Tax Credits

Thanks to a multitude of tax incentives at the federal, state and local levels, you can reduce your taxes by thousands of dollars just for installing solar panels. To learn what your state offers, search this database of renewable energy incentives.

It can get complicated quickly, though, so we recommend enlisting some solar experts to help you navigate the process and save the most money. (Start by entering your address in the search box on their site.)

As for the federal tax incentive, it’s the same across the board: a credit worth 30% of the expenses you incur installing a solar energy system in your home. That means if you purchase a system that costs $20,000, you can reduce the amount you owe the IRS by $6,000.

The credit amount has no ceiling, but you must install your system by December 31, 2016. (In other words, now’s the time to act!)

Buying Solar Panels

If you buy your system outright, it will likely cost you $10,000-15,000 upfront, after taking into account the tax credits and other incentives you’ll receive.

Though that may sound like a huge cost, keep in mind it’s a long-term investment. Over the next 20 years, you’ll save an estimated $20,000-30,000, recouping your initial costs after six to 10 years. (We talk more about how solar panels save you money below.)

Solar Loans

If you can’t afford to put down $10,000 or more to purchase your system outright (which is, um, most of us!), see if you qualify for a solar loan.

You generally won’t have to put any money down and will start seeing savings immediately. And, unlike with solar leases, you’ll still get to take advantage of tax credits or rebates.

Most people use home equity loans to finance their systems. These loans offer the lowest interest rates, and any interest you do pay is tax-deductible. Since these loans use your house as collateral, though, you’re only eligible if you have enough equity; in other words, you may not qualify if you haven’t paid off much of your mortgage.

Also, if you default on a home equity loan, the bank can foreclose on your house. So it’s important to carefully consider your budget and ability to make payments before applying for one of these loans.

Another low-interest option is a Title 1 loan from the Federal Housing Administration. Though the interest isn’t as low as with a home equity loan, the bank won’t foreclose on your home if you miss payments. Also, these loans are typically approved more quickly than home equity loans.

If you don’t own a house or are unable to get either of the secured loans mentioned above, you can opt for an unsecured loan (which doesn’t use anything as collateral), or you can lease your system.

Solar Leases

Leasing a PV system is like leasing a car: Each month, you pay a rental fee to the solar energy company. This form of financing can be attractive because it doesn’t require any money down and doesn’t affect your credit.

It also includes maintenance — but because most systems come with a 25 to 30 year manufacturer’s warranty and require few repairs, this isn’t as valuable of a benefit as it sounds.

The big downside of leasing — besides the fact you aren’t investing in something you’ll eventually own — is that you can’t get the federal tax credit. In the event you’re not eligible for the federal tax credit for other reasons, though, this can actually be advantageous.

“If you can’t take advantage of the tax credit, then leasing is the best option,” explains Johnson.

“The company takes advantage of the tax credit and gives you a lower payment… but if you have a tax appetite [the ability to take advantage of the incentive], then owning the system is more economical.”

The bottom line: Solar financing doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is complicated.

“Do your research,” urges Johnson. “Look at all the financing options… make the decision for yourself. There are [companies] that are only pushing their financing onto people, and it’s really important [you] look at all that.”

How Do Solar Panels Save Money?

Installing a solar energy system will undoubtedly save you money in the long run. Depending on your state, you could save up to $2,640 a year! Here’s how.

Lower Utility Bills

The amount of energy solar panels produce depends on their efficiency, size and the amount of light they receive. (It doesn’t have to be warm outside, however, for them to work; cold solar panels actually generate more energy.)

Many people completely eliminate their electric bills after going solar, while others vastly reduce them — a factor that depends entirely on your panels, location and electricity usage.

The Penny Hoarder’s senior software engineer Kevin Morland, who lives in Southern California, recently decided to sign a 20-year lease for a PV system. Even with a pool and a 2,100-square-foot house, his system will provide all of his electricity.

His monthly solar lease costs $105. Compared to his average electric bill of $175, Morland estimates he’ll save more than $600 a year.

Protection Against Rising Utility Costs

The cost of electricity increased by 3.1% in 2014, which was the largest gain in six years.

Though the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that rate will slow, the cost of electricity will continue to rise with inflation — something you won’t have to worry about if you have solar panels.

Non-Variable Bills

Another big bonus of solar panels? You won’t have to guess how much your electric bill will be each month.

Fixed bills make it much easier to create and follow a budget, which will save you money in the long run.

Solar Renewable Energy Credits

In some states, public utility companies are required to produce a certain amount of electricity from solar sources — which means they’ll pay you for the solar energy you produce.

(Though it might sound like you’re selling your energy back to the grid, it’s not; you can use all the electricity you generate.)

Even if you don’t quite understand SRECs, here’s what’s important: In certain states, solar panels could do more than save you money — they could put some cash back into your pocket.

Higher Property Value

If you were house hunting and found one that already had solar panels — thereby eliminating your electricity bills — would you pay more for it? We sure would, and as it turns out, so would many others.

In California, for example, homes with PV systems sold for $17,000 more than homes without them, according to a 2011 study by the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Even better: 38 states have property tax exclusions for solar panels, which means even though the value of your house will increase, your property taxes will not. Win-win!

Should You Get Solar Panels?

Whether or not you should get solar panels is an individual decision that greatly depends on your location, current electricity bill and financial situation.

For someone who owns a house in an area with a lot of sunshine, generous tax credits and high electricity bills, it’s a no-brainer. For everyone else, we still think it’s worth careful consideration.

“Call and get estimates and have somebody look at [your] roof,” suggests Johnson. Also, take a good look at your “electric bills to see whether solar is financially a good decision for [you].”

And lastly, be wary of scams, which appear to be rampant in the solar industry, and be sure to thoroughly review any contract before signing it.

To find a reputable solar energy provider, get recommendations from friends and neighbors, then check your potential contractor’s reputation with the Better Business Bureau and on Yelp or Angie’s List.  

As we discovered in our research, solar panels probably aren’t as expensive as you think, and could save you a lot of money in the long run.

Morland, for one, is excited about the money he’ll save with his new solar energy system. “I’ll probably go and pay off debt,” he says. “Or pay off my boat, or my truck, or put the money in the bank.”

If you could use some extra cash, get in touch with a solar expert to learn more about your options. We’re betting your future self — and your planet — will thank you!

Your Turn: Would you consider getting solar panels? Why or why not?

Disclosure: We have a serious Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

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How to Save Money on Black Friday 2015 — in 10 Gifs

There’s a better way to save money on Black Friday, and it doesn’t involve standing in line at daybreak. Photo: djLicious

As Black Friday approaches, you’re probably wondering how to maximize your savings – without camping outside Best Buy for three days or getting into a shoving match with a soccer mom, of course.

But the key to saving more than anyone else on Black Friday is simple: Stay home. Buying stuff you don’t really need just because it’s on sale is not called “saving money” — that’s called spending money.

If you need a little help fighting off the frenzy, here are 10 free things to do on Black Friday that will truly save you some money and help you you avoid the crowds altogether.

Sleep in.

Your friends are setting their alarm clocks for 2:00 a.m. so they can sleepwalk into the pre-dawn doorbuster sales, but who cares? Turn that sucker off altogether and nurse your turkey hangover.

Go to work.

With nobody else at the office, you might actually get some work done for a change, and at least you’ll be making money. Be your office hero.

Gorge on Thanksgiving leftovers.

No one is home. Now’s your chance.

Watch Black Friday mayhem on the news.

Why risk being trampled by a sale-hungry mob? Watch the highlights on TV — it’s better than being there in person. Trust me.

Binge watch TV.

Twenty-four episodes in most TV series’ seasons, 24 hours in a day… coincidence? Settle in with a new or favorite show. It’s amazing and you know it.

Work off those holiday calories.

Losing pounds is better than losing money, so if you must…

Decorate for the holidays.

Back before holiday shopping ads began to bleed into early November and then even October, the day after Thanksgiving marked the official start of the Christmas season. You have all day – might as well get the house looking festive if you haven’t yet.

Enjoy some peace and quiet.

Ignore the chaos outside, and get yourself in the zone.

Declutter your home.

Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing and actually get rid of some stuff. Check out our tips for decluttering here.

Relish in the fact that you spent zero dollars today.

…and laugh at the fact that someone you know waited three hours to save $20 on a flat-screen TV.

Are you planning to shop this Black Friday? If not, what are you doing instead?

The post How to Save Money on Black Friday 2015 — in 10 Gifs appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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This Woman Made $3,000 in 45 Minutes — By Talking

Here at The Penny Hoarder, we’re not too keen on websites that make you pay to access job opportunities. On most of those sites, the odds of earning back what you paid to get access are slim.

But are there cases when it’s worth it to pony up the cash for exclusive access to jobs? Carrie Olsen says yes in a guest post on Budgets are Sexy.

In about a year, Olsen developed a lucrative career as a voiceover actor. She tapes commercials and other audio recordings from home, leaving her plenty of time to spend with her new baby.

And while many voice-over actors do this type of work as a side hustle, Olsen makes an average of $300-$400 per job — enough to make voiceovers her primary income source. Her biggest paycheck so far? “$3,000 for 45 minutes of work.”

Why This Voiceover Actress Pays for Audition Sites

Olsen had experience as a podcaster, but was a novice when it came to hiring out her voice to others. So she paid a voice coach to talk her through the initial steps and listen to her demo recording (an initial $150 investment).

Then, Olsen signed up for two voiceover audition sites, Voices.com and Voice123.com. Since Olsen didn’t have any voice clips to prove her skills, she joined these sites for quick access to auditions.

“I was still working full time, so I would try to do at least 10 auditions when I got home from work, and as many as I could on the weekends,” Olsen writes. About a month later, she had booked her first job — and soon built up a catalog of work to help her land additional roles.

Voice123.com and Voices.com both cost about $400 per year for full access to auditions and networking features, but both sites have free plans for people just getting started.

If you consider that Olsen makes about $400 per job — and that job could be taping a 30-second commercial — spending two jobs’ worth of pay to access thousands more dollars worth of work seems like a small investment. Olsen’s career has grown so much in the past year that she now has an agent.

To read more about how Olsen got started as a voice actor, head over to Budgets are Sexy.   

Your Turn: Have you tried voice acting?

Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Baltimore. She needs someone to talk her out of trying voice-over work as a side gig of her own.

The post This Woman Made $3,000 in 45 Minutes — By Talking appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Should Millennials Invest in Whole Foods Stock?

Millennials who can stomach more risk in the stock market might be wise to hop on the organic food trend.

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Here's What Your Manager Is Thinking When You Ask for Time Off

Five questions to consider while planning a vacation from the office.

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How to Decorate Your Home for the Holidays on a Budget

You can make your house beautiful without spending much. 

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Should You Outsource Content Marketing? 11 Questions to Consider

It’s something that everyone needs to consider at some point as they become more successful.

Do you continue to do certain work yourself?

Do you hire someone to help you out?

Or do you outsource it?

There are many areas like this in any business, but one in particular is content marketing.

Creating and promoting content, especially for a new site, is essentially a full-time job.

If you have a small team, you can’t always dedicate a full-time person to content marketing efforts.

What ends up happening is that it is ignored or it’s done on a limited basis.

Without consistency, you’re much less likely to see the full results of great content.

Regardless of your specific situation, there will come a time when you will lack the time or manpower to execute content marketing properly.

So, what do you do then?

In most cases, you will have to decide whether you want to outsource your content marketing.

This is not an easy decision.

To help you make it—and make the correct one—I’ve compiled a list of 11 questions you should consider and answer.

Some of these questions are meant for potential hires, and some are meant for yourself.

I highly recommend opening up a blank spreadsheet and at least jotting down your answers to each question. 

1. Does anyone on your team have the skills you need?

Content marketing can be incredibly effective.

I’ve driven millions of visits and tens of thousands of customers using it for my various websites/businesses.

That being said,

it’s not easy.

In order to be successful in content marketing, you need to have a wide variety of skills. And you can’t just be average either; otherwise, you’ll get lost in the crowd.

If you really want to break it down, you could highlight 12+ skills that a great content marketing team needs:

Obviously, one person can have more than one skill from this list.

The best content marketers have all, or nearly all, of these skills.

I think that you can simplify it even further. Content marketers need to be highly skilled in three areas:

• Writing
• Domain expertise – are you an expert in the subject you’re writing about?
• Networking skills – do you know how to promote effectively?

It’s not very difficult to find someone with one of these areas covered.

But it’s pretty hard to find someone with two of these, and it’s even more difficult to find someone with all three. That makes a “unicorn” in the diagram above a top content marketer.

They do exist, but you need to find them.

The fact of the matter is that you’re unlikely to have one of them on your team already.

In a recent survey, 42% of companies said that they currently did not have the expertise to use content marketing effectively.

They’re not even just talking about one person having the necessary skills. These companies couldn’t find all the skills within their whole teams.

That’s how difficult it is to assemble a great content marketing team.

So, this is your first question:

Do you—or anyone on your team—have the skills and experience with content marketing to be successful?

If the answer is no, then you have no choice. You’ll either have to bring in someone new or outsource your content marketing.

If your answer is yes, you do have a choice.

Then, you’ll have to determine if it’s worth having them spend their time on content marketing while taking away from other areas of your business.

Many of the remaining questions will help you determine this.

2. What kind of budget do you have for content marketing?

Like with any other kind of marketing, the more you have to spend on content marketing, the better your results will typically be.

Since your content needs to be head and shoulders above your competition to be effective (here are some examples of epic content), it makes sense to spend as much as you can.

I’m not talking about throwing away money, but don’t pinch pennies when it comes to things like graphics and research.

In a 2015 survey, it was found that on average, B2C marketers spent 25% of their total budget on content marketing.

 

I’d say that if you have no experience with content marketing, that’s a good ballpark target.

If you have a lot of success, you can scale up your budget in the future.

I expect those percentages to continue to rise in the coming years. Another recent survey found that most businesses (60%) are increasing their content marketing spending.

Very few are decreasing their investment, which suggests that even mediocre content marketing efforts are getting some results.

Your budget will determine your options: If you have a very limited budget for content marketing, say $1,000 or less per month (and I’m including the creator’s time in that figure), you won’t be able to hire a good agency.

Typically, you’ll need to be spending at least a few thousand before an agency will take you on as a client.

However, for that amount, you could hire a freelancer. Assuming they produce really good pieces of content, you’ll be able to publish 1-2 pieces per month.

That’s not a lot, but it can get you started. Also keep in mind that if you want extensive content promotion, it’ll cost even more.

If you have a larger budget to work with, you have all options available to you, and this won’t be a limiting factor.

If that’s the case, base your decision on your answers to the other questions.

3. Would you rather work with freelancers or agencies?

If you do decide to outsource your content marketing, this is a huge decision that you’ll have to make.

You can work with freelancers, or you can hire an agency.

They can both be good options, but each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re not familiar with the terms, a freelancer is someone who is self-employed and generally works for multiple clients at the same time.

An agency, on the other hand, is more “professional.” They’ll have a full staff of at least three employees and typically have a wide variety of clients.

Price comparison: Here’s where your budget limitations might come in.

When you’re hiring freelancers, cost is all over the board. In general, you will pay less to a freelancer for the same work than you would pay an agency because the freelancer has less overhead.

However, there is a huge range in what freelancers charge.

Most of it depends on what you’re looking for.

Currently, you’ll have a tough time finding a great freelance content marketer unless you’re willing to pay more than $100 an hour (that’s the low end).

The best freelance content marketers can charge upwards of $300 an hour because there is no one else who can do what they can.

These guys know your subject in and out, are great writers, and also have contacts in the industry to help promote the content.

They’re expensive, but they get results.

However, if you can’t afford that, don’t worry. You can go down a tier or two and find freelancers who charge what works out to be $50-100 an hour.

Although they may call themselves content marketers, most are just good writers and know your subject well.

They can still produce valuable work, but expect to hire another freelancer for promotion or to do it yourself.

What about agencies? Any good agency will charge at least a few hundred dollars per hour. They can do this because they offer a lot.

They typically have an expert in every area of content creation and promotion. They’ll have an expert designer, writer, editor, and promoter. Together, the team does everything a top individual content marketer could do (and sometimes more).

In summary: You can usually save a bit by hiring freelancers, but you’ll have to do more work managing them. You can hire both cheap freelancers and agencies, but you’ll get what you pay for.

Quality comparison: There’s a lower bar to entry to become a freelancer than to start an agency.

That means that there is high variance in the quality of freelancers. There are a lot of terrible ones out there, but there are also some top notch ones.

With agencies, you also have variability, but you are less likely to come across a bad one. Most agencies are started by competent freelancers who want to grow their business, so the quality is higher on average.

What does this all mean? It means that you can get a quality result either way. But if it’s crucial that the quality is decent from the start, an agency is a safer bet.

Either way, reviewing their past work is the easiest way to see if they can deliver what you’re looking for.

Dependability: When it comes to dependability, agencies are also a safer bet in general.

Some freelancers are great. They are highly professional, will always put you first, and deliver what they promise every time.

However, others are terrible. They might drop off the map, and you’ll have no way of communicating with them.

Additionally, unless you’re one of their main clients, you risk being dropped without notice or deprioritized when something else comes up.

If you go the freelance route, you need to interview your candidates and try to get a feel for their work ethic and priorities. It’s not easy, but you’ll get better over time.

An agency has at least three people you can contact. It’s rare for them to go completely out of touch. Plus, you will be able to reach them pretty much at any time during normal business hours.

As far as always delivering their work on time, they all will have the same issues. Agencies usually have several or hundreds of clients. Unless you’re a big spender, they’re not going to lose sleep over whether or not you’re happy with them and whether or not you’ll leave.

If you have a smaller budget, it’s often better to hire a freelancer. Even if you can only spend $1,000 a month, that’s a large chunk for a freelancer, but almost nothing to an agency.

The more important you are to someone, the more dependable they will be.

4. How much of your content will contain private/personal data?

There are many different content marketing strategies that can be successful.

Some will get you to the results you’re looking for faster than others.

One aspect of content marketing in particular—transparency—is one of the most effective things you can add to your efforts.

Readers enjoy getting a behind the scenes look and getting more detail in general.

If you’re willing to share company data (that you’re allowed to share), you can increase the chances and speed of success with content marketing. It allows you to provide unique value. No one else has your personal data.

For example, you might talk about your customers.

Dating site Plenty of Fish creates some great blog posts, in which they analyze what kind of profiles get the most and least success on their platform:

 

It could also be about the results of your work.

For example, I often share traffic and profit details with you in Quick Sprout posts.

Readers find this valuable, and it increases your credibility in their eyes.

To answer the question of this section—how much of your content will contain private/personal data?—you’ll need to decide whether you have any interesting data to share and whether you’re willing to share it in your content.

The reason why this is so important to decide right now is because it will affect your final decision.

To create these kinds of posts, you need to analyze whatever data you have.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that I don’t want a random freelancer or agency digging around my personal data.

I also know that there are some things that I’d rather keep private.

If you decide to reveal personal data, you’ll have to do it yourself. Or you’ll probably want to get someone from your team to do the analysis.

So, while you can hand off the results of your analysis, that still leaves you (or someone you work with) with a lot of ongoing work.

If you’re in a niche where your transparency is really important, this kind of work may be required for almost every piece of content. In this case, you’ll probably want to keep your content marketing in-house.

5. Do they have an area of expertise? Is it relevant?

If you choose to outsource your content marketing, it’s crucial that you hire someone (or some agency) that will get you results.

Just for a second, let’s think about the type of marketers you might need in this situation.

Most of the marketers will have two skills—writing and networking—out of the three main skills we talked about earlier (writing, networking, and domain expertise). Those are, after all, fundamentals of modern marketing.

But the third one isn’t so easy.

To truly gain domain expertise, you need to be studying one specific topic for years. If you market to a particularly sophisticated audience, you’ll need to be even more advanced.

The biggest challenge you’ll face is finding someone who is an expert in your niche.

It’s very rare for someone to both be an expert in a niche and also have the necessary marketing skills.

Wade through the “generalists”: If you decide to hire freelancers, you’ll find a lot of content marketers who say that they can market any business.

The fact that they think so shows that they are not top-level content marketers.

All the best freelancers will have one or two areas of expertise.

When it comes to agencies, it’s a bit different.

A large agency may have content creators who are experts in several niches. However, small- to mid-size agencies who are generalists face the same problems.

Their content will not be worth what you pay.

Instead, you should look for specialists in your niche.

For example, “Gourmet Marketing” is a small agency focused on content marketing for restaurants:

That alone doesn’t mean that they’re a good agency, but at least it tells you that they understand your industry and recognize that domain expertise is important.

6. What will their content marketing process look like?

Stick around in the marketing world long enough, and you’ll start seeing buzzwords everywhere.

They’re not exactly bad. They just don’t mean a whole lot.

Some people will use these words to sound smart in order to convince you to hire them.

The easy way to screen them out is to simply get more details.

When someone mentions “content marketing,” it can mean anything. Everyone has their own picture of what it is.

One of the biggest goals of any interview you conduct should be to figure out what your candidate’s definition of content marketing is.

More specifically, how do they plan to help you?

You should be looking for specific answers that address:

• how they will determine how much content is needed
• how they will determine which type of content is needed
• who will be creating the content
• how they will encourage engagement and ensure growth over time

The two biggest challenges in content marketing are creating enough content and creating engaging content.

You need to get as much detail as necessary so that you are confident that they have the systems (manpower plus processes) in place to create content regularly with no delays, and make it engaging.

If they try to dance around the subject, move on to the next candidate.

While you shouldn’t expect specifics, all freelancers or agencies should be able to outline the main stages of their work for you.

They won’t have all the small details worked out, of course.

But if someone is a good marketer, they’ll have already done some preparatory work before talking to you and should have an idea of how to approach content marketing for your business.

7. How will they measure success?

Just like everyone has a different definition of content marketing, everyone also has a different definition of success.

In order to have a good working relationship, you need to establish reasonable guidelines for success beforehand.

If your expectations don’t match up, at least one of you will be frustrated.

It’s entirely possible for a freelancer to be thrilled that they produced X pieces of content or attracted Y links to your blog posts—and for you to be underwhelmed by those results.

Or you may not care about the same things that the freelancer or agency cares about.

If you’re most interested in email subscribers, raw traffic numbers don’t always matter much.

Before you agree to work together, determine which metrics you care about.

Make sure to go through why you care about each and what level for each metric you would consider “good.”

When you discuss your expectations, you will see whether you have any differences with the other party.

If they think your expectations are unreasonable, they can tell you why, and you can discuss the subject until you agree on reasonable expectations around their work.

If you can’t come to an agreement now, consider yourself lucky that you found out early that you aren’t compatible. It will save you a lot of stress and frustration in the future.

8. Do they give any guarantees?

Does this question look familiar?

It’s also a question that you should answer before hiring an SEO firm.

However, while an SEO firm can’t make guarantees about #1 rankings (honestly at least) because that’s out of their control, content marketing agencies and freelancers can make them.

Most freelancers and agencies know that it’s hard for you to commit a decent amount of money every month when the results could take over six months to see.

Most good content marketers (especially agencies) will offer some sort of guarantee of a result after 6-12 months.

They probably won’t promise X,000 leads per month, but they can promise that you’ll like the work that they’ve done (the content), the way they’ve done it, and the results so far (according to the metrics you’ve agreed on).

By that time, you’ll know if you are getting the promised results and will either be happy with the direction they’re going or know that you want to get rid of your content marketer.

9. How does content marketing fit into your other marketing efforts?

I mentioned that one of the reasons you might want to outsource content marketing is because you have other things to do.

What kind of things might those be?

It could be many things, including the many parts of your sales funnel.

Your most important job is to make sure that everything fits together smoothly.

There’s no point spending all your time and attention on content marketing if your products still need work.

Before you even think about hiring anyone to help you, get a good picture of how content marketing fits into your business.

Content can be useful to attract readers, but you’ll also need to convert that traffic into leads.

You can then use content to nurture those leads into customers and use even more content to help keep them satisfied so that they’ll continue purchasing from you in the future.

When you hire a freelancer or agency, most of them will focus on the top of the funnel content. They’ll produce blog content to attract traffic and leads.

That may be fine for you.

However, if you want them to produce content to support other parts of your business, that’s something you’ll have to budget for and bring up.

A freelancer may not be able to handle that extra work, but agencies usually can.

And while most content marketers will perform some basic SEO to target keywords, you need to make sure that you also start generating organic search traffic with your content.

Furthermore, you need them to understand what products you sell, which products you’re creating, and relationships you have with other companies in your nice.

They need to know this because it will affect whom they mention in content and which topics are most important to your target audience.

The takeaway: Content marketing is only one piece of your business. If you outsource it, make sure that the work you have done fits with the rest of your business.

10. Do you need a content marketer or an editor?

There’s one unique case that we need to look at with this question.

What if you have a big budget but also want to work with freelancers (as opposed to an agency)?

This might allow you to create a large volume of top notch content on a regular basis.

The biggest problem you’ll have is managing all the freelancers.

When you have a team of 5+ freelancers writing and promoting your content, things can get disorganized fast.

You’ll find that you’ll have to step in and spend a lot of time finding good freelancers, assigning topics, reviewing their work, and coordinating their promotion.

Although that’s an okay solution, there is another option.

Hire a great content marketer as your editor instead. Although this will cost more because you’ll pay a fixed fee, it’ll also free up a ton of time, and assuming you value your time highly, it’ll actually save you money.

Here’s how it’ll work.

On the Crazy Egg blog, we have several writers who contribute on a regular basis.

But I don’t spend all my time coordinating them because we have a blog editor for that.

The editor finds new writers as needed, makes sure that important topics are written about (with the right keywords), edits posts to improve their quality, and promotes them as well.

You’ll need to hire a great freelancer for this unique type of role, which will be expensive, but you’ll save money because now you’ll be getting most of the content created by writers (not full-fledged content marketers).

This process has allowed us to post daily articles on the blog for years, and the results have been great.

11. How will they keep you informed of their progress?

This final question will also save you a lot of stress and frustration.

All agencies and freelancers communicate differently.

Some won’t communicate as often as you’d like, while others will keep you too updated.

Everyone’s different, but I think a monthly report is a good frequency for checking in, in addition to communicating about any big issues that may come up.

Most agencies will send a template-based report of all the most important metrics, which is good because you’ll get used to finding important information within those reports quickly.

Most freelancers don’t have any reporting software, so it’s critical to outline to them beforehand what information is important to you and how often you want it.

This may not seem like an important issue, but it’ll save you from wondering about the status of any work in progress or worrying whether any work is being done at all.

Conclusion

Content marketing is an effective method of marketing for almost any online business.

Its importance continues to grow every year, so even if you haven’t started, you should still get going.

If you have started but are finding that you don’t have enough time to give content marketing the attention and effort needed to get the results you want, something needs to change.

The most common option is to outsource your content marketing (or parts of it).

This is a big decision that will have a significant impact on your overall marketing results, so you need to make it carefully.

The 11 questions that I’ve gone into great detail about in this post will ensure that you know whether you should outsource your marketing and how to find the right person or agency to hire.

If you’ve had any experience with outsourcing content marketing or have questions or concerns about doing it, let me know in a comment below.

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Why Global Investing Will Improve Your Portfolio

Stocks that follow emerging markets have struggled, but advisors say they still belong in your holdings.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1WdOH1v

Here's What You Should Know About Gen Z Workers

Soon, many of your co-workers will be part of this next generation.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1ORwKXF

Why Investors Are Skeptical About Yum Brands Stock

Yum's China division accounts for half of its revenue, but will be spun off by the end of 2016.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1H4w1uc

How 401(k)s and IRAs Will (and Won't) Change in 2016

Retirement account contribution limits won’t increase next year.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1WdMao5

Silvio Calabi: The QX60 is Goldilocks’ Infiniti SUV

We could say that Infiniti builds crossover SUVs by the mile and sells them by the yard — there’s a size 50, 60, 70 and 80, each one preceded by the model designation QX. “X” as in x-c, for cross-country, meaning all-wheel drive, or at least the availability thereof; and “Q” because, well, Infiniti just has a thing for the letter Q. (Its very first car, back in 1989, was its Q45 flagship.) The smallest QX, the 50, is a two-row, V-6-powered [...]

Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/1i9riAU

Questions About De-Cluttering, Camping Gear, Flu Prevention, Babies and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. De-cluttering strategies
2. Inexpensive strategies for preventing flu?
3. First credit card?
4. Investing in companies you respect
5. Introducing people to “super frugality”
6. Deciding to have a baby
7. Cheap gear for summer camping
8. “Anticipated tax rate at retirement”?
9. Pre-marriage money talk advice
10. Interviewing for next job
11. Defer taxes or not?
12. Overcoming defeatist wife

As many of you know, I’ve been involved in a number of community organizations in my area, so when a small conference of leaders of local community organizations was organized in my area, I was thrilled to jump on board.

In my previous career, I used to go to a number of conferences and, for me, the conferences back then were mostly all about the sessions. I would bump into old friends, but the big attraction for me was listening to interesting talks.

At this conference, things flipped around. The sessions were interesting, but the best part was conversations with people, even people I didn’t know well (or at all). I’d sit down with them at lunch or in between sessions and we’d have great conversations about the various challenges we each faced in our various community groups and situations.

The best part is that almost everyone was open about some of their challenges and also very open to hearing ideas and solutions.

I took a little notebook with me and, between the sessions and conversations, I wound up filling the whole thing with notes and ideas! Will they all turn into great actions? No, but at least a few of them will, and that means it was well worth it.

If you have a chance to go to a professional conference of some kind, attend the sessions, sure, but make sure you have plenty of time to talk to people there. This is even true if you’re a bit of an introvert like myself. If you don’t know what to talk about with someone, ask them questions about themselves. That’s always a good conversation starter.

Q1: De-cluttering strategies

I was wondering if you had any experience selling your used books. i’m looking to de-clutter with a baby on the way, and i have hundreds of books, the vast majority of which are in excellent condition. I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort to sell them individually online, if i should just try to sell them in bulk to a used book store, or just donate them somewhere.
– Sandra

Unless you have signed books or hardcovers or there’s something else exceptional about the books, it’s probably not worth it to sell them individually. However, you do have a few options.

One, you could save them for a yard or garage sale. Put them out on the table, sell them for $1 or $2 each on the first day, then lower the price on later days.

Two, you could donate them. Libraries are always happy to receive donations of books that are in good shape. If nothing else, they’ll take those books and sell them in their book sales in order to earn more money. You can also donate them to Goodwill.

Three, you could make a giant list of the books and offer them for $2 or $3 each on Craigslist. This may not be worth the footwork to you, depending on your situation.

Four, you could sell or swap them at a used bookstore. Used bookstores are sometimes selective on what they take, though. They won’t necessarily just take all of your books.

Five, you could stock them in Little Free Libraries in your area. This wouldn’t earn you anything in return, but it would ensure that these books get read by people in your community.

You can also mix it up between those options, of course.

Q2: Inexpensive strategies for preventing flu?

I am looking for some inexpensive strategies besides the flu vaccine for reducing the chances of getting the flu. I am worried that this will be a bad year for it.
– Nadine

There are a number of things you can do.

First, wash your hands all the time. Wash them before every meal and every time you use the restroom. It’s not a bad idea to use hand sanitizer regularly, either, particularly after shaking hands.

Second, take some zinc supplements or lozenges. There is some evidence that zinc helps to reduce the impact of colds and other kinds of illnesses.

Third, try to avoid touching your face if you can. Avoid touching your mouth or nose in particular.

Finally, avoid crowds if you can. This is a big reason why I buy most Christmas gifts online these days, because crowded stores in December are begging for you to get an illness.

Those steps aren’t any kind of guarantee, but they will reduce your chances of getting sick this winter without spending too much (the only tip that isn’t free is the zinc).

Q3: First credit card?

I am looking for my first credit card. 25, married, one kid age 11 months, almost done with my undergraduate degree, all of my family as well as most of my wife’s family lives within a 5 hour drive, etc.

Any suggestions?
– Darren

Your first credit card should be in line with the spending you do already. Where do you get gas? Where do you shop regularly? Look for the cards available from these sources, but make sure that they are Visas or Mastercards – don’t get a full store brand card that can only be used at that particular business.

Don’t worry so much about the interest rate on such cards. You should be paying off the entire balance every single month, so carrying a balance shouldn’t be a concern to you and that’s the only way that the interest rate matters.

Just choose a card that has a nice benefit related to the place that you shop or buy gas regularly. Target, for example, offers a card that has 5% off all purchases there. Some gas stations have cards that offer a similar discount and some also have point programs that work anywhere you shop. Grab the flyers for these cards and compare them.

Q4: Investing in companies you respect

What do you think about the idea of investing in stocks of companies that make products you use and you would work there? Investing in companies you respect in other words?
– Stephen

In general, I think that’s a questionable idea. I would not use that as the basis for investment.

Why not? Why shouldn’t you invest in companies that you believe in? The big reason is that just because you like their products and would like to work there doesn’t mean that they’re actually in good shape in terms of their business. The appearance of good products and a good business reputation does not mean that the business is profitable; if anything, it might be an indication that it isn’t.

It doesn’t “reward” the company, either, though it might reward some of their employees with stock options. Once stocks are for sale, the company has already sold them in an effort to raise money and help the founders of the company “cash in” on their efforts. The buying and selling of stocks on the stock market is between two private individuals that usually have nothing whatsoever to do directly with the company.

Overall, I usually recommend that people don’t invest in individual companies at all. Following an individual company and their relative profitability (or lack thereof) and how that changes over time can require some real devotion. There’s also the issue that Wall Street is going to be able to react to bad business news far more quickly than you, so if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the one left holding the bag.

I suggest investing in an index fund instead. An index fund contains a wide variety of stocks all bundled up into one investment and with a low fee. Try something like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index.

Q5: Introducing people to “super frugality”

My husband and I practice “super frugality.” We make about $110K per year but we have been saving half of our income in retirement accounts and investment accounts since 2002 and living off about $35K. We use every trick we know of to keep our spending low without living in a shack or driving a rusted-out car.

We are looking forward to retiring in a few years which is exciting for us but it is something that is hard to explain to our friends. Whenever we explain what we are doing to close friends they either don’t believe us or kind of chastise us for not spending that money on fun things.

I cannot think of anything more fun than waking up each morning without having to work for a living. But when I say that they agree but then they simply respond with more chastising about not buying stuff.

How can I explain things so that they understand? It is frustrating when your close friends don’t understand such fundamental things about your life.
– Megan

First of all, you don’t need their approval whatsoever to follow your plan. I think you’re fully aware of that and are just seeking to have your friends understand the path you’re already committed to, but you shouldn’t let their lack of understanding of what you’re doing dissuade you.

Assuming that you’re mostly just interested in having them understand it, simply explain that you personally value being able to retire early than things like a nice car and you’re putting your money where your mouth is. There’s really no need to explain more than that unless they want details.

Many of the negative reactions people receive to plans like this come about because people want to defend the paths they’ve personally chosen. They don’t necessarily dislike your plan. They just feel as though the fact that you’ve chosen a different plan means that there may be something wrong with the way they’re doing things and they feel an innate desire to defend those choices, and one way to do that is to criticize your choices.

Q6: Deciding to have a baby

How did you and Sarah decide that you were financially ready to have a baby?
– Thomas

To be honest, our conclusion that we were “financially ready” was a really, really poor decision. We were not “financially ready” to have a child and that’s why we had a big financial meltdown about six months after our first child was born.

Why did we think we were ready? Basically, we looked at our incomes and concluded that we were making more money than other people who had children so we must be ready to have children, right?

Wrong. So wrong. Income alone isn’t enough.

Before you have a child, you should be consistently spending less than you earn. Every single month, unless there is something really unusual that happened, something that very rarely happens. If you can’t do that now, you’re going to be in a real pickle when that baby comes and it’s slurping down child care costs, formula costs, and so on.

If you’re not able to sock away at least $100 a week right now, you’re not ready to have a child. That’s the rule I would give to everyone.

Q7: Cheap gear for summer camping

We are considering spending a month next summer camping out of our car and visiting a bunch of national parks. Do you have any cheap camping strategies that would reduce the overall cost of doing this? Sources for used tents and sleeping bags and the like?
– Dennis

You’re basically describing my ideal summer vacation. Take the kids, throw some camping gear in the car, and don’t come back for a month or two, hitting tons of national parks along the way.

As for buying things, a tent is the last thing I would buy used. A leaky tent is basically worthless as the water comes right in, as do bugs – basically everything you want to keep out. The likelihood that a used tent is leaky isn’t 100%, but it is pretty high.

I’d buy almost everything else for camping used without much question. You’ll need a few basic cooking tools (depending on what you want) and sleeping bags, for starters. If you can’t find these items used, shop around a lot before buying new, especially given the time of year. Things like pillows and blankets can just be taken from your home.

Plan on lots of simple meals and hit discount grocers near your camping place for food. When we camp, we mostly eat things like sandwiches and fruit for most meals unless we’ve built a campfire (or have a propane stove or something).

Q8: “Anticipated tax rate at retirement”?

I went to a financial advisor recently and he asked me a ton of questions about our financial situation which is a really good thing. One thing that he asked me threw me for a loop. He wanted to know what my anticipated tax rate at retirement was.

I am not planning on retiring for 20-30 years. When I do retire, I haven’t the faintest idea what tax rates are going to look like. So I shrugged my shoulders and said I didn’t know. He smiled and said we would use today’s tax rates.

How would I know any different than that? This seems like a silly question to me.
– Patrick

I think the advisor was mostly trying to get a sense of what your future views are like. Some people come into meetings like this with strong feelings about what’s going to happen in the financial future of America. For example, some people believe that America is heading toward financial apocalypse, but they have different ideas how that financial apocalypse is going to occur.

Some people expect tax rates to skyrocket in the future. Others expect them to stay low or even go lower. All of that depends on their personal political prognostications.

Of course, it’s all theoretical. No one has any idea what is going to happen with tax rates thirty years down the road. However, some people really believe in their own ideas about the future, to the point where they want those beliefs to alter their future financial planning. The advisor was mostly trying to get a sense of whether or not you had any of those strong feelings so he could incorporate them into his planning. It’s hard to say how much impact such viewpoints would have, but he was at least considering them. I consider that good from a customer relations standpoint, but it’s really hard to know how much it would have affected his advice.

Q9: Pre-marriage money talk advice

What is the most important financial thing that a couple should talk about before getting married? I’m going to get married next spring and we have gone through a bunch of books on things that couple should talk about but they are all really light on money stuff. Since money troubles are the source of most marital problems I’d like to do this right.
– Dana

If you’re asking me, I’d say that the most important conversation about money that you should have is goals and how you’re going to reach them.

For example, where do you want to live in ten years? Do you want to have kids? Do you want to have the same jobs?

When you talk through those goals and make some genuine plans together regarding them, you’re going to naturally bump up upon almost every financial detail you guys really need to discuss.

That’s why goals – and plans for those goals – make for such useful conversations. They bridge into everything.

Q10: Interviewing for next job

I am currently somewhat happy at my job. I like the work but the office politics sometimes get old and there are times where it can feel like jobs are at risk. But it could be worse.

I recently got a tentative job offer pending a background check. I have to go through a security screening process that will require at least one day off of work and probably two or three. I cannot get this job unless I pass the security screening, but it appears to be a sure thing if I pass.

I am concerned my current employer will find out about this and that will endanger my position at work. Simply going to the security interview (it’s in another state) could end up leaking back to them.

Suggestions on how to handle this?
– Geoff

If I were in your shoes, the first thing I would do is contact the potential new employer and ask about whether or not this background check would involve contact with your current employer, as that could potentially endanger your current employment.

If they promise no contact, then I’d go forward with the security interview without question. If they don’t give you that promise, you have some serious decisions to make.

If you decide to go through with it even with the understanding that they will probably contact your employer, sit down with your current employer and explain the situation, making it clear that this is a great opportunity for you. Make it clear that you are actually happy at work but that this opportunity – financially and professionally – is something you just can’t skip.

If you’re really valuable at work, you may find that you are rewarded for your value there with an immediate raise. On the other hand, it may strain things. You can never be sure, because the response to news like that depends a lot on the personality of your bosses. They may react well. They may not. You’ll be a better gauge of that than me.

Q11: Defer taxes or not?

In general is it better to defer taxes until later or not? I know that a lot of financial advice revolves around deferring taxes but why is this such a good idea? Can you explain why it is good to defer taxes?
– Sarah

It is a good idea to defer taxes if you believe you’ll be paying a lower interest rate on those taxes in the future.

Let’s say, right now, you’re in the 25% income tax bracket. That means on at least part of your income, 25% of it goes to the government.

If you manage to find a way to save that money in an account that defers your taxes – such as a 401(k) – that means that you’re able to reduce your taxes by $0.25 for every dollar you put into that account.

However, you’re going to have to pay income taxes when that money comes out of the account, and that money is going to be taxed at the rate of your current bracket or may even bump up into the next one.

Let’s say that when you withdraw, your income tax rate is in the 20% bracket. If that’s the case, you’ll only be paying $0.20 per dollar in taxes, which is better for you than the $0.25 per dollar you would have paid earlier. On the other hand, if your income tax rate is 33%, you’ll be paying $0.33 per dollar in taxes, which is worse for you.

So, in the future when you need to withdraw that money, perhaps your income will be lower than it is now – or maybe it will be higher overall. A lower income likely means a lower tax rate, while a higher one means a higher tax rate.

There’s also political implications. Politicians are going to tinker with the tax rates in the future – that’s practically a given. But will they adjust rates that matter to you upward or downward?

If you think that, overall, your rate will be lower when you retire, then you should defer your taxes for your retirement savings by using a 401(k). That will give you more money overall. If you think that your rate will be higher when you retire, then you should use retirement savings that involves paying taxes now and lowering your taxes later, like a Roth IRA.

Q12: Overcoming defeatist wife

I am at my wit’s end with my wife. I do not know how to get her to see the big picture.

Several years ago we came to a “financial bottom” like you and we decided to put me in charge of our finances. I did much like you did and implemented a firm budget with small “allowances” for both of us.

This worked great and helped us pay off our credit cards and our student loans.

The problem is that my wife then decided that we were “in the clear” and started spending more than her budget portion.

One day she will tell me how it is so frustrating that we can’t make it to our big goals like buying a house but the next day she is spending money on her credit card on something unnecessary and then we have to pay off the full balance.

She mostly says things like how it is impossible for us to achieve our big goals but then she doesn’t even try at all to get there.

It’s like she doesn’t understand the connection between the two. She understood the need to spend less when we were under pressure but now that the goal is far off she doesn’t make the connection.

I do not know how to make it clear. Help?
– Calvin

I think the answer is pretty simple. When you were in financial trouble, your financial responses were necessary to maintain your way of life. You needed to do these things or else your life was going to have some strong negative turns to it, turns that your wife didn’t like.

Now that those negative turns are no longer in the picture, there’s no threat. Now, you’re looking at future goals that aren’t nearly as urgent and aren’t nearly as threatening. They probably sound cool to her, but right now she has a choice between many things that sound appealing to her and, at least sometimes, the short term things are winning out overall for her.

In other words, your wife is more motivated by threat avoidance than by positive goals. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just how your wife is motivated.

Now, how can you work with that motivation? I think you need to make it clear that the positive future you’re taking about is inevitable, but then when she makes poor financial decisions, she endangers that positive future.

When there’s $1,000 in extra unplanned spending in a year, for example, it doesn’t allow you to retire at age 50 any more. Maybe retirement will come later, but that positive future is gone and a somewhat less positive future is endangered.

Make it clear that you will retire early at age 55 (or whatever) if there isn’t any extra spending beyond the budget. Extra spending beyond the budget that isn’t carefully planned flat-out pushes back retirement for both of you. When she buys stuff, it means both of you have to work for longer – because that’s exactly how it is.

That’s the approach I would take in this situation, anyway. Good luck.

Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

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