16 Ways to Invest $100

You have a crisp, new one hundred-dollar bill in your wallet.

While it’s not $1,000,000, $100,000, or $10,000, hey, at least it’s something!

Listen up. Just because you don’t have much money to invest doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest it.

Want to know the most difficult part of investing? Starting.

You read that right!

Just starting is rather difficult, and once you accomplish that challenge, investing going forward is pretty easy.

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It’s Not About How Much You Invest, It’s About Actually Getting Started. #investnow
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For those of you who are discouraged because you only have a little bit of money to invest – don’t fret!

One hundred dollars is a great way to get your foot in the door and start a habit of investing that could very well lead to a bountiful harvest down the road.

I’ll tell you from the start that it isn’t easy to find ways to invest just $100. Many brokers have account minimums.

Additionally, sometimes you might find yourself being charged, for example, a $50 annual fee which can cut your account in half. That makes no sense.

However, there are a few ways you can invest $100 dollars and have it be worth your time and effort. I’ll show you how.

I also invited a plethora of other financial experts to lend their advice for this article. You’ll get a big helping of financial advice along with some unique ideas I didn’t even have in mind. Really, these guys are smart and creative – pay attention to what they have to say!

Let’s start things off by looking at a few investments you shouldn’t put your money into – they’re sneaky and dangerous!

Investments Worthy of Your One Hundred Bucks

1. Lending Club

Lending Club is a peer-to-peer lending service. Peer-to-peer lending is just what it sounds like: it’s lending to someone else. Ordinary folks lend and borrow from each other to make a profit. Lending Club is actually the world’s largest online marketplace for connecting borrowers and investors.

Sandy Smith at YesIAmCheap.com says:

I’d take the $100 and split it in four investment sources on Lending Club and then reinvest the profits. Simple, boring and so not rock star.

You can actually make some pretty sweet returns at Lending Club and the good news is you can invest with as little as $25. Plus, there’s no account minimum currently at Lending Club.

I wouldn’t recommend that you invest all of your dough at Lending Club going forward, but it’s a great way to start investing and you’ll learn the ropes of peer-to-peer lending.

2. Scottrade

Scottrade is an online broker that allows you to trade for only $7 a pop. That’s not a lot, folks. E*Trade, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity all have higher trading fees.

And here’s the deal . . . you can fund an IRA or Roth IRA with as little as $100. That’s right, there’s no minimum at Scottrade, so you have no excuse not to get started investing.

Another great thing about Scottrade is that there are no monthly or yearly maintenance fees – and no inactivity fees! That means if you decide you want to invest 100 bucks and aren’t sure when you can invest again, you won’t pay any penalties for waiting.

You should keep in mind, however, that certain other types of non-IRA accounts do have a minimum: $2,500. So if you’re looking to invest in a non-retirement account, this could pose a problem. But hey, you should probably be investing for your retirement first before you start investing for other purposes.

The bummer about Scottrade, like many other discount online brokers, is that they don’t provide investment advice for most accounts. However, they do offer a portfolio manager that will help you find new investments based on your risk tolerance.

3. Prosper

Prosper is another peer-to-peer lending service worth checking out. Like Lending Club, you can make some pretty nice returns.

In fact, a couple years ago I put Lending Club and Prosper head-to-head in an experiment. Take a look at this article to see the results: The Prosper Vs. Lending Club Experiment.

Again, like Lending Club, you can invest as little as $25 and there’s no account minimum.

4. Loyal3

Loyal3 is an interesting option that allows you to buy and sell stock for free.

“Whoa, free?”

Yes, free!

But there is a catch. They only offer a few big-name stocks such as Apple, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, and other names you’re sure to recognize. Don’t expect to find diversified funds in the mix.

However, they do let you invest small amounts like $100. In fact, Loyal3 is one of the few brokers that let you buy fractional shares. For example, if a company’s share price is $350, that’s usually the minimum you can invest. But with Loyal3, you can feel free to invest a fraction of that price (and get a fraction of a share).

Here’s what Julie Starnes Rains at InvestingToThrive.com said:

I’d start investing in a favorite company through Loyal3 for no fees.

She also mentioned she invests with Betterment – more on that company in a moment.

So, if you are in love with a particular company and you’d like to place your bets on them, Loyal3 just might be the ticket.

5. Capital One 360

Capital One 360 offers an online high-yield savings account that is pretty easy to use and offers far more interest than you’ll find at your local bank or credit union.

Currently, their high-yield savings account offers 0.75% APY. While that’s certainly a fraction of what you could potentially make with the previously mentioned ways to invest $100, it’s a great way to guarantee that you won’t lose your money. Your deposits are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor.

If, by chance, you have more money to invest than $100, you may want to check out more ways to invest with confidence.

How do you decide if you should invest in something safer but with lower rates, like a Capital One 360 high-yield savings account, or something riskier but with potentially higher rates, like Lending Club? There are many factors that go into making this kind of decision, and I’d like to take a minute to explain how you can make the appropriate one.

If you don’t have at least eight months of emergency savings, it’s probably best to start by investing your $100 into a high-yield savings account. You’re going to want liquidity if an emergency arises, and while many of the other types of ways to invest $100 might allow you to pull out your money quickly, there may be some drawbacks like pulling out of the market too early or needing money in the middle of a loan term.

Once you have a fully-funded emergency fund, it’s a better time to do some riskier investing.

6. Your 401(k)

This is the easiest way to invest your money.  You can have money taken directly out of your paycheck and deposited into your 401(k), starting with your first $100. This is so simple to do, yet so many people don’t. And hey, if you have a 401(k) match, why not take advantage of it?

Mario Ben Bonifacio at DebtBLAG.com commented on what he’d do with his $100:

If this were my first $100 ever, earmarked for investing, I’d increase my 401(k) contribution to $100, where it would get matched dollar-for-dollar by my employer. Pretty tough to beat an instantaneous 100% gain.  

Keep in mind, however, that you better know what you’re investing into within the 401(k) – don’t you even think about target date mutual funds!

7. Robo-Advisors

Robo-advisors are a class of investment adviser that provides portfolio management online without the need for much human interaction.

Peter Anderson at BibleMoneyMatters.com believes Betterment to be a good option for those who want to continue investing more than $100:

I’d take that $100 and invest it in an investment service like Betterment or WiseBanyan in a diversified, low cost index fund portfolio. Use Betterment if you plan on additional investments, and WiseBanyan (where there are no fees) if you don’t plan on additional investments right away.

An anonymous investor and writer at Investopedia.com said:

I put my first $100 investment into an Acorns account.

Janet Tyler Johnson at CorporateHostageNoMore.org thinks Acorns is a great option:

Acorns. I’ve tried it myself and it’s amazing how quickly your rounded purchases add up. The money is invested in a well-diversified way which is hard to accomplish with small sums of money. It also shows you how easy automatic saving can be.

8. Yourself

Yes, investing in yourself is one of the best ways to enrich your life – financially and otherwise.

Michael Kitces MSFS, MTAX, CFP^® at Kitces.com/blog/ commented for this post on the ROI of investing in yourself:

Invest in yourself. The ROI on investing in your own earnings potential is radically higher than “just” buy stocks-for-the-long-run in a Roth IRA. It’s not even close! For young people, investing into human capital crushes the return potential for investing into financial capital.

Joseph Hogue at Crowd101.com explained that crowdfunding might be the best way to invest the $100 for education:

Would love to spend it on education and skills but $100 isn’t going to get you very far or very fast. Use it for a pre-launch party for a crowdfunding campaign to pitch support for raising money for a more detailed educational course!

He goes on to say:

Invite your closest friends and family to a dinner party where you pitch the idea of how far their support can go to help you becoming a better person. A crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe costs nothing to set up but really reaching out to people is the key. By hosting a dinner party, you can personally connect with the people that are most likely to support you. Enlisting just a few people to help you with your campaign could yield donations many times over the amount you spent for the party. With the funds from the crowdfunding campaign, you can afford a more detailed educational course or curriculum to really turn that $100 into a new life!

Crystal Hammond of SophisticatedSpender.com says to learn from the wise:

Sophisticated Spender would use that money to take her mentor out to lunch and pick said mentor’s brain on how they invest – and turn that into a brainstorming session!

I absolutely love the idea to pick a mentor’s brain. Sometimes, just talking with like-minded individuals can really help too.

In fact, I happily pay $7,900 a year for Strategic Coach, but believe me, I was once skeptical that going through a coaching program would actually produce results.

When I finally realized that something was missing from my business and life, I talked it over with my wife. She thought I was already pretty motivated in my business and life and didn’t really see a point in coaching so I could become even more motivated. She had a good point.

But amazingly, after a lot of discussion, she gave me her blessing to move forward and be mentored in the coaching program, and I’ve found it to be hugely beneficial.

The bottom line is that you shouldn’t overlook investing in yourself. And if you don’t believe me, just continue reading all the advice below from these financial experts . . . .

Kate Dore at CashvilleSkyline.com believes online courses are the answer:

I’d invest $100 in improving my skills through online courses on sites like Coursera, Udemy, Lynda, or Code Academy. A more diverse skill set will offer returns for life.

Elle Martinez at CoupleMoney.com agrees with Kate:

I would use the money to learn a new skill. Sites like Lynda or Creative Live can offer you a good return on your investment.

Grayson Bell at DebtRoundup.com thinks online courses are better than his original idea – to invest in a Roth IRA:

While investing in a Roth IRA is good, it’s only worth it if you keep investing. Instead, I’d rather take $20 and invest in a knowledge course on Udemy. I’d sharpen my skills in a specific area, then take the rest of the money and advertise my new service to my customers and new customers. If all goes well, that $100 could end up earning me $1,000 in a month or more. That new skill could keep me earning more month after month, which is an excellent way to spend $100. Don’t try to learn something from scratch, just sharpen a skill to make you marketable.

Lee Huffman at BaldFinance.com likes the idea of investing in online courses, too:

The best investment you can do with only $100 is to invest in yourself through some online courses, like Udemy, that will build skills that will take you further in your current job, prepare you for the next job, or help you to start a side hustle. Building these skills will make you more valuable, thus increase your earning capacity, which will result in more money to invest on a regular basis.

Julie Starnes Rains at InvestingToThrive.com says not everyone has the opportunity to achieve a high income over the long-term:

I believe that not everyone is in the position to earn a high income consistently over a lifetime but they can find opportunities for stock-market investing, generate unearned income, and build wealth over time. Plus, the earlier you invest, the earlier you’ll learn about investing and develop your own style, whether active or passive.

Notice that by jumping in and doing a little investing, you can learn about investing and “develop your own style.” Very true. Sometimes, we just need to start small. Great idea Julie!

Martin Dasko at Studenomics.com encourages learning from friends:

Buy a book, a bottle of vodka, and take a buddy out for lunch. The boom should be a biography so that you study someone who has done what you want to do. Vodka should be a for wild night out on the town. Take a successful friend out for lunch and pick their brain.

Martin, this is a great idea. I mean the taking a successful friend out to lunch, part.  

Speaking of buying books, that’s my next tip . . . .

9. Books

Books can change lives – why not invest in them?

Want two on my reading list? The Art of Work by Jeff Goins and People Over Profit by Dale Partridge.

Want a few classics that will improve your finances? Here are my picks:

• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Alan Steinborn, founder of the financial education platform, Real Money, recommended one book and to invest the rest:

I’d take $10 and buy the book Your Money or Your Life. Then I would take $90 and invest in a fund like Betterment or Acorns.

And if you’re looking for bonus points, check out Soldier of Finance by yours truly, Jeff Rose.

To increase his odds of being included in this article, Steve Chou at MyWifeQuitHerJob.com gave me some props by saying:

To increase my chances of actually being mentioned in the post, I’d have to say go out and buy Soldier of Finance.

Boom. You made the article Steve.  

Steve isn’t alone about my smarts:

@jjeffrose taking smart people out for coffee and ask them questions.

— ValueInvestorsDaily (@ValueInvestorsd) May 28, 2015

I’m flattered guys, really.

Okay, Steve Chou’s first recommendation was as follows:

I’d buy a year’s worth of Bluehost and start a website.

But, I’m sure he actually likes my book, too.  

Speaking of starting your own business though . . . .

10. Your Own Business

Starting your own business can be one of the best things you ever do. The higher up the ladder you are, the more you get paid, and the more control you have. And you can’t go any higher than owning your own business.

Greg Johnson at ClubThrifty.com says starting a business would be a great way to invest your bucks:

I’m gonna take that $100, invest it in a leaf blower and a rake, and start a side business that will make me beaucoup bucks!

True, you can build a business from scratch! Looks like Greg isn’t afraid of hard work!

Lauren Greutman at MarkandLaurenG.com would start a business too:

I would spend it on something that I could sell for more, then continue the process. For instance, buying something at an estate sale that you can turn and flip on eBay or Craigslist.

Jennifer E. Garza at ISaveA2Z.com agrees with Lauren:

I can’t tell you how many things I’ve purchased at garage sales for $10 and turned a $100 profit. I ended up buying a piece of property for $8k with all my profits by the end of the year.

Greg Go at WiseBread.com thinks starting your own business is the best way to invest your $100:

I’d totally invest in entrepreneurship. Lawn mower –> five neighbors as customers –> at $5 / month each –> $300 for 1st year. 300% return on first year.

The entrepreneurially-minded have much greater chances of financial success. Even if you think you’re not the entrepreneurial type, give it a shot. You don’t know how you’ll do until you try.

11. Travel

If you travel a lot, spending your Benjamin on making your trips more efficient can help you save a bundle of money and time.

Jim Wang at WalletHacks.com gives this tip:

Buy something today that will save you money or time over the long run. If you fly a lot, maybe it’s the Recheck program ($85) so you can breeze through airport security much faster, which will save you time and money (and stress).

That’s a good tip, but make sure your airlines will honor that if you’re flying internationally – we had to learn that the hard way on a recent trip.

Paul Ivanovsky at IHeartTheMart.com shows you how you can stay accountable and fund your vacations:

I would show my kids that I was investing that money for a family chosen purpose. They will keep you accountable and depositing into that account, especially if it is for something like a vacation.

One last tip on traveling by air . . . invest in some blankets. Coming home from a trip we had to sleep on nasty airport carpet because our flight was canceled. Maybe invest in some small pillows too.

12. Index Funds Baby!

Index funds are a pretty popular choice for investment managers, and for good reason. Hey, even Warren Buffett chimed in on the glories of index funds in one of his recent letters:

My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund (I suggest Vanguard’s). I believe the trust’s long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors – whether pension funds,  institutions or individuals – who employ high-fee managers.

Many of the financial experts I found had the same advice . . . .

Eric Rosenberg at PersonalProfitability.com said index funds were the way to go:

Open a Roth IRA and invest in a low fee S&P 500 index fund. Watch it grow.

Jay Monee at BudgetsAreSexy.com agreed:

 Index fund FTW.

Deacon Hayes at WellKeptWallet.com put in his vote for index funds:

Invest the money only in what you understand. Take the time to understand the different account types and different investment options. For a beginner, index funds are a great way to go because they offer built-in diversification since you are buying into hundreds if not thousands of companies.

Philip Taylor at PTMoney.com mentioned index funds (and Betterment, too):

Given that a beginner likely has a 401(k) already set up and going, I would recommend the newbie investor use it to start a Roth IRA with either Vanguard or Betterment. For Vanguard, just go into a cash fund until you reach the minimum required to get into their index funds. Take the extra time you would use looking for a good stock and use it to learn about diversification and asset allocation. Good luck!

Todd Tresidder at FinancialMentor.com expands on the above advice:

There’s a life cycle to building wealth, and having just $100 to invest says you’re right at the beginning. That means the most important thing is to figure out how to increase your savings rate because your savings rate as a percent of the amount you spend will determine how long it takes to achieve financial security. It is only late in that cycle once your savings are firmly established that investment return becomes important. For that reason, simply invest it in cash or low cost, passive index asset allocation approaches (many already mentioned here) so you don’t waste critical time focusing on unessential issues. Also, place it in an IRA or other tax-deferred legal legal structure so that you put a fence around it so that you face a penalty if you feel tempted to spend it. The 80/20 rule says focus on saving in the early stage of your wealth curve, and focus on return on investment in the latter stages once savings and essential personal finance habits (like saving) are firmly established.

Speaking of saving . . . .

13. Save it to Save More!

Saving money and using it at an opportune time can be a great investment. There’s nothing quite like cash in the bank to take advantage of some great opportunities.

Lena Presley Gott at WhatMommyDoes.com says:

I’d invest it right into my yard sale fund – put it in my glove compartment and keep it there for when I happen upon a steal at 75-90% off! Instant money duplication!

Alan Steinborn, founder of the financial education platform, Real Money, left another comment and said:

I would buy $100 worth of toilet paper in bulk with a coupon found online. The return on this investment will be somewhere around 50% and is tax-free!

Joshua J. Sheats, MSFS, CFP^®, CLU^®, ChFC^®, CASL^®, CAP^®, RHU^®, REBC^® at RadicalPersonalFinance.com believes those with only $100 should save their money and get deals:

Don’t invest it. Period. Keep it in $20 bills in your wallet and have it in reserve in case of emergency or opportunity. (I’m thinking of an opportunity like bulk buying or discount buying for cash.) It’s absolutely crazy to think of investing at all until you have at least a few thousand bucks in reserve. If someone is that broke, they’re better off using the money to smooth their consumption habits and focus on getting deals with bulk buying.

14. Your Debt

Having debt is like having an investment that goes poorly every moment you hold onto it. If you want a guaranteed return on investment, paying off your debt is a great idea.

Gary Foreman at Stretcher.com understands this when asked what he would do with $100:

Put it on the highest interest rate debt you owe.

15. Charity

Why not invest in others and what it does in their lives? I’d argue there’s nothing quite as rewarding as investing in people.

Long Pham at BudgetForWealth.com encourages people to invest in others:

$100 isn’t going to be effective at all unless you plan on following up with additional investments. I think that money would be better spent while mentoring a child or teenager who needs a good role model.

Long Pham also knows me all too well and also suggested investing in something I love:

In-N-Out gift card? : )

You could always send me some of those gift cards – I’d say that’s pretty charitable.  

16. Your Thrift Savings Plan

Doug Nordman at The-Military-Guide.com has some advice for military folks:

Military version: Contribute your $100 windfall to the military’s Thrift Savings Plan, and try to save even more there!

Doug has a great idea here, but it’s also important to make sure the Thrift Savings Plan is the right choice for you.

Investments You Should Avoid

Cement these bad investments in your mind now. Seriously.

These investments either have a high probability of you losing your money or probably won’t yield much of a return.

1. Penny Stocks

Penny stocks – also known as over-the-counter stocks – are dangerous. In other words, you can lose your money in a hurry – and that’s what I did.

Yep, your very own Jeff Rose made a mistake by getting caught up in penny stocks.

Think of penny stocks as the “wild, wild west” of trading. Just because the stock trading is at $0.80 doesn’t mean you can buy at $0.80. When you put in your order to buy at market, the price can jump up much higher before the order takes place. That’s a problem.

2. Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

If it sounds too good to be true . . . .

You know it usually is!

Be careful anytime anyone says there’s a “secret” way to get rich that hardly anyone knows about. Be careful when the sales pitch offers returns that are astronomically high. Be careful when everyone around you is saying it’s a get-rich-quick scheme!

Follow that advice, and you should be okay.

3. Anything from a Late-Night Infomercial

“Buy now, and you’ll get our investor’s guide worth $1,000,000!”

Yeah, right.

Infomercials are super long commercials that claim to give you valuable information. Many times, these infomercials are pretty cheesy and so are the products. What they are great at is sucking you in.  The people who pitch infomercials are trained and experienced at putting something in front of you that you would never pick up off the shelf in a super store and then convincing you that you cannot live without that product.  They are the modern day equivalent of the pet rock sales man. Beware.

4. Gambling

Gambling is the ugly sister of investing. Don’t do it people!

But if you’re going to do it, you might as well have some fun . . . .

Kathleen Celmins at StackingBenjamins.com says:

If you only have $100, put it on red in Vegas. If you’re right, you’ll double your money. If you’re wrong, you’re only out 100 bucks.

Risky? Yeah. Fun? Could be.  

5. Investments You Don’t Understand

John Rampton at JohnRampton.com makes an important point:

Only invest in something you know. Don’t throw money at something that you don’t understand or haven’t done before. Most of the time it’ll be throwing it into the garbage.

He could say that again. Have you read how one woman paid over $3,500 in variable annuity fees and didn’t even know it? It’s pretty amazing how much you can pay in fees without even knowing it.

Even Steven at EvenStevenMoney.com reiterates the point of investing in what you know:

Your first $100 should be invested in something you know and like. If you like sports you could invest in Nike, favorite lunch spot is Chipotle then make that your investment, love social media then maybe Facebook or Twitter are for you. I think it’s more about learning and having an interest in your investment.

If you’re going to use this approach, make sure that you own enough companies (domestic and international) to diversify your portfolio. The last thing you want is to own just a few companies and see your investments crash. I think Even Steven would agree that it’s best to own a lot of companies you love.

6. Keepsake “Investments”

I remember when I was a little kid I invested way too much into baseball cards. Their worth today? Not much to speak of.

Eric J. Nisall at DollarVersity.com says:

Whatever you do, don’t buy your favorite player’s rookie card and store it in a safe deposit box to protect your “investment.”

Oops. Well, I was a kid, so who could blame me?

Want to Invest More?

If you have a little more money to invest – about $250 – then you can start investing with Motif – it’s what I’m using during the Grow Your Dough Throwdown 2.0.

I had a chance to meet Nick and Saquib who work at Motif and they expressed interest in doing another throwdown. I was interested, but as soon as they told me they could get together a whole bunch of financial bloggers on a leaderboard, I was sold.

In fact, you can even buy my very own Motif! Fun stuff, eh?

Keep on Investing!

Listen up people. Investing $100 (or even $250) isn’t enough investing to build a nice nest egg. You’re going to have to continue investing. Duh, right?

Teresa Mears at LivingOnTheCheap.com said it best:

The best way to invest $100? Repeatedly.

Yep, I agree.

You might be wondering how much money you’ll need to have to retire. Well, I recently put up an article on Forbes that seeks to answer the question if $2 million was enough for a couple to retire. The truth is that you’ll need to run specific numbers for your situation in order to answer this question for yourself.

Or, I could help you.

Either way, here’s my final advice:

• Start investing as soon as possible
• Start investing even if you don’t have much
• Keep on investing

Invest, have fun, and let me know how it goes!

Source Good Financial Cents http://ift.tt/1KPRTfc

This Guy is Giving Away Half His Startup. Here’s How to Get Your Piece

Rob Grosshandler was having dinner with his 23-year-old daughter and her friends when they began expressing worries familiar to many millennials:

Am I going to get a job after graduation? Am I going to earn enough money to live comfortably?

Like any good parent, Grosshandler tried to think of a solution to his daughter’s concerns.

Then, this serial entrepreneur actually brought his innovative idea to life.

He started a company that gives power back to the consumer. It allows his daughter, her friends and people like you and me to invest in a startup — without spending any extra money.  

And, he plans to give away half his company in the next two years.

Want a piece? Here’s how you can get involved…

Why (and How) Grosshandler is Giving Away Half His Company

The company Grosshandler and his co-founder started is called iConsumer. It’s a cash-back shopping platform…  but with a twist.

When you make an online purchase at one of its 1,700 partner retailers, you’ll not only earn cash back — you’ll also earn shares in the actual company.

For each cash-back dollar you earn, you’ll receive $1 in iConsumer shares.

A “share” is a unit of ownership in a company. A collection of shares is generally referred to as “stock.”

More shares = more stock = more ownership.

In the next two years, Grosshandler hopes to give away 200 million shares of iConsumer — which means half the company will be owned by users like you.

His thinking: You’re helping to build the company, so why shouldn’t you get a part of it?

“I created iConsumer to give everyone, including these worried millennials, the chance to own something, learn from it and then leverage this learning to open new doors for themselves in the future,” he explains.

How Do These Shares Work?

The cash-back is pretty straightforward, but you’re probably wondering how the heck the other half of this equation works.  

Let’s make one thing clear: The iConsumer shares you earn aren’t worth anything — yet.

First, the company must become qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which it hopes to achieve this spring.

Once this happens, iConsumer plans to sell $500,000 of its stock at $.045 a share, and $1.5 million of its stock at $0.09 per share.

When it hits 50,000 members, it plans to sell more shares and raise the price. “This is subject to change and is not a promise,” the company’s site says.

Even then, your shares will only be worth the amount people want to pay for them, which still could be nothing.

“The stock you earn could end up worthless,” iConsumer explains, “but you can’t lose any more than the amount you invest.”

And since your investment is made by shopping online like you already do, some figure it’s worth a shot.

One such person is David Bauerle, an IT consultant living outside Denver, Colorado. He’s been using iConsumer for three months.

“It’s intriguing; I don’t know how [the shares] will play out,” he says. “It could be worth nothing; it could be worth something interesting.”

Unless another shopping portal is offering a higher cash-back percentage, Bauerle chooses to shop through iConsumer.

“It’s like a little lottery ticket you get with it,” he says. “So why not?”

How You Can Invest in a Startup Without Spending Extra Money

To help you decide if iConsumer is the right shopping portal for you, we’ve broken down the process step-by-step:

1. Sign up for iConsumer

Create your free iConsumer account, which automatically earns you 100 shares.

If you usually shop on your mobile device, you can also download the app.

2. Shop Online Through the Platform

The next time you need to buy something online, log onto iConsumer.

Compare cash-back percentages at different retailers, as well as special offers like free shipping.

Then complete your online shopping as usual.

“If people aren’t shopping and getting cash back via shopping online, they need to be,” Baurle says. “And it looks like iConsumer has some of the best cash-back percentages.”

From now through February 28, 2016, iConsumer has a special offer: double cash back on every purchase at over 1,700 retailers.

3. Earn Cash Back and Shares

After the retailer reports your purchase to the platform, iConsumer sends you an email detailing how much cash back you’ve earned.

You can also check your cash back, as well as your number of earned shares, in the site’s dashboard.

Once you’ve earned $25 in cash back, iConsumer will send you a check (after a 90-day waiting period to account for returns).

4. Refer Friends

If you’d like to earn more iConsumer shares, invite friends to join the platform.

For every friend who signs up and makes a purchase, you’ll both earn 100 extra shares.

We don’t have a crystal ball, so we have no idea what these shares will be worth one day — but if you already shop online, this sounds like an interesting way to invest in a startup while also earning cash back.

Your Turn: Do you shop online? Have you ever invested in stocks or a startup?

Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to iConsumer for working with us to bring you this content. It’s rare that we have the opportunity to share something so awesome and get paid for it!

The post This Guy is Giving Away Half His Startup. Here’s How to Get Your Piece appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Salt, Please: Here’s Where to Celebrate National Margarita Day for Just $2

It may still be February, so the only thing salt is better for than sidewalks… is margaritas.

And since it’s National Margarita Day, you can get one (or three) on the cheap tonight.

Or right after work, if you can’t contain yourself.

The Best Cheap Margaritas for National Margarita Day

If anything can get you through the end of winter, it’s $2 margaritas.

Here’s where to get ‘em.

1. Chili’s

The go-to Tex-Mex chain will be serving $5 margaritas all day.

Choose from Triple Berry Infused, Tropical Sunrise or good old Presidente.

2. On The Border

Head to your local On the Border to suck down $2 house margaritas all day long.

3. Tony Roma’s

You can grab a Romarita for just $2.22.

Get it? Because it’s 2/22?

These margs have actually already been discounted to $4 since Feb. 15… so we have some catching up to do!

4. Cheeseburger in Paradise

This chain already celebrates our favorite cocktail every Monday with $1.99 Island Margaritas!

For this special Margarita Monday, classic margaritas are down to just $2.22 — frozen or on the rocks.

5. Margaritas Mexican Restaurant

Of course this place has to celebrate!

They’re doing $5 Original and Presidential margaritas all day. In fact, they’ve been doing them all weekend!

6. Ruby Tequila’s

Texans, you’re in luck.

This Lone Star State chain is running great a Margarita Day promotion — you can get yours as low as $3.

Even. More. Margs.

Even if you can’t make it out to any of these locations, check your favorite local cantina. They might just have a deal.

We also found this great list of National Margarita Day deals by state, if you’re in a pinch!

Your Turn: Where will you celebrate National Margarita Day?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems. Sometimes about margaritas.

The post Salt, Please: Here’s Where to Celebrate National Margarita Day for Just $2 appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Savings update: Swedish and French banks shake up top rates table

Sylvia Morris

Swedishpiggy.jpg

Swedish-owned Ikano Bank UK has launched a one-year fixed rate bond at 2% before tax (1.6% after tax). It sits just behind the top rate of 2.01% (1.61%) from French-owned RCI Bank UK.

Swedish-owned Ikano Bank UK has launched a one-year fixed rate bond at 2% before tax (1.6% after tax). It sits just behind the top rate of 2.01% (1.61%) from French-owned RCI Bank UK.

With both these banks your money is not covered by the UK Financial Compensation Scheme. Instead it is under the pan-European scheme with €100,000 (around £77,000) of cover.

Back to the register

read more

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How to Calculate Your True Net Worth

Financially-minded people sometimes throw around a figure called “net worth.”

Perhaps you’ve heard of celebrities (like Jay-Z 0r the Kardashians), politicians (like Donald Trump or Mitt Romney), or business owners (like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg) talk about their net worth.

So what is net worth anyway?

Great question. In this article, I’m going to explain exactly what net worth is and how to calculate your net worth (and, why you’d want to do so in the first place).

But first, a quick disclaimer about net worth . . . .

You, my friend, are not valuable because of your net worth. You are intrinsically valuable.

You are a human being who can contribute much to this world, and that’s just one reason you’re much more valuable than your net worth. So if you find that your net worth is a negative number (yep, it happens), don’t be discouraged.

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Money has nothing to do with your worth as a human being.
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Alright, are you ready to learn about net worth? Let’s do this.

What is Net Worth?

Net worth is a figure that is calculated by subtracting the sum of your liabilities from the sum of your assets. In other words, it’s would be left over if you were to pay off all of your debts with what you own outright.

Here’s what the formula looks like: Assets (What You Own) – Liabilities (What You Owe) = Net Worth.

Now, you might be asking which assets and which liabilities to include in this calculation. That’s simple: everything. This includes everything from your mortgage (a liability) to the pen in your desk drawer (an asset). Many times, people and institutions don’t put a value on the smaller items individually, but they simply provide a rough estimate of their assets of lesser value.

Examples of Net Worth Calculations

Perhaps one of the best ways to understand net worth is to look at a few fictitious examples. Here are a few for your consideration.

The Smith Family

The Smith family is pretty poor, and doesn’t have much in the bank. In fact, they only have $1,250 in their checking account. They have $1,000 in a 401(k), a mortgage on which they owe $160,000, and a decent house that’s worth $140,000 (it fell in value over time). They also have two cars. Thankfully, one is paid off (it’s worth $3,400) but the other they still owe $10,100 – its value is $12,200. Finally, they have a few assets (furniture, trinkets, and the like) that are valued at around $5,000.

Let’s go ahead and calculate their net worth using the figures above, shall we? One of the best ways to do this is to make a list of their assets and their liabilities.

Assets

The Smith family has the following assets:

• $1,250 – Checking Account
• $1,000 – 401(k)
• $140,000 – House
• $3,400 – Car 1
• $12,200 – Car 2
• $5,000 – Furnishings and Trinkets

The above assets total $162,850. Wow! That’s looks amazing, right? Not so fast . . . .

Liabilities

The Smith family has the following liabilities:

• $160,000 – Mortgage
• $10,100 – Car 2

The above liabilities total $170,100. Not so good.

Net Worth

Remember our formula for net worth? Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth. Let’s run that calculation . . . .

$162,850 (Assets) – $170,100 (Liabilities) = -$7,250 (Net Worth).

This means that the net worth of the Smith family is a negative number: -$7,250. Now, that’s not actually a horrible net worth. Things could be worse! But there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement.

The Jones Family

Let’s take a look at one more example.

The Jones family is doing pretty well. They have a checking account worth $6,500 and an emergency fund valued at $35,100. Interestingly, they rent a small apartment, so housing doesn’t come into the equation for them. Now, they do have one small student loan on which they owe $2,000. They also have quite a few furnishings and trinkets valued at $15,300. Additionally, they have two Roth IRAs, one valued at $10,400 and the other valued at $3,650. Both of their cars are paid off with one valued at $10,500 and the other valued at $16,700.

Let’s calculate their net worth.

Assets

The Jones family has the following assets:

• $6,500 – Checking Account
• $35,100 – Emergency Fund
• $15,300 – Furnishings and Trinkets
• $10,400 – Roth IRA 1
• $3,650 – Roth IRA 2
• $10,500 – Car 1
• $16,700 – Car 2

The above assets total $98,150. Whoa. Wait a minute. Their assets total less than the total of the Smith family’s assets! But remember, assets don’t tell the whole story . . . .

Liabilities

The Jones family has the following liabilities:

• $2,000 – Student Loan

Wow. Their liabilities total – you guessed it – only $2,000.

Net Worth

Let’s use the formula again and take a look at their net worth.

$98,150 (Assets) – $2,000 (Liabilities) = $96,150 (Net Worth).

This means that the Jones family has a positive net worth. Fantastic!

Comparing the Families Net Worth

By comparing these two examples, we learn that looks can deceive. If, for example, someone were to compare the homes of both families, they might assume that the Smiths are wealthier than the Jones family. After all, the Smiths live in a house and the Jones family lives in an apartment. But the truth of the matter is that the Jones family has a higher net worth than the Smith family.

Still, if someone were to compare their vehicles, they might conclude that the Jones family is better off. While this is true, comparing the vehicles of both families does not necessarily indicate the net worth of each family. For that, everything must be taken into account.

Why Calculate Net Worth?

As you can see from the examples of the families above, somebody’s net worth is something that is hidden from the view of the public unless, of course, that someone chooses to reveal their net worth. Even still, what’s the point in revealing one’s net worth to others? There really isn’t a good reason, unless you’re trying to prove something.

However, there is one good reason to calculate your net worth. Have you guessed it?

It’s worthwhile calculating your net worth because you can compare your current net worth to your previous net worth. Okay, so maybe you can’t go back in time and calculate your net worth (although you might be able to find a paper trail). Big deal. Start now!

By tracking your net worth over time, you can get a feel for your financial progress (or lack thereof). It might encourage you to get another job, pay off some debt, or put a budget together so you can save some more money!

Net worth is a powerful figure because it takes into account both your assets and your liabilities.

In other words, it forces you to not only consider one factor in the equation, but rather the whole equation. Instead of looking only to your assets (which may look and feel appealing) or only to your liabilities (which may seem overwhelmingly burdensome), calculating your net worth lets you take a look at the balance between these two figures – a balance that can be tracked over time as a reliable measure of financial health.

How to Calculate Your Net Worth Over Time

Alright. You know it’s a good idea to calculate your net worth. How should you get started?

If you have spreadsheet software on your computer, you can make a really simple spreadsheet to keep track of your net worth over time. Create two columns: one column for your assets and one column for your liabilities. List out your figures respectively in each column, and if you’re fancy, program it to total the columns and subtract the liabilities total from the assets total. This will give you your net worth.

But you can do more than this – and perhaps you should. Recalculate your net worth every single month. Over time, you’ll be able to see your net worth go up or down in value. This is a fantastic visual aid in understanding how you’re doing with your finances.

Once you’ve calculated your net worth and have a few months of data, don’t just stare at the numbers – do something! If your net worth is increasing, ask yourself why and keep doing those things. If your net worth is decreasing, ask yourself why and change something!

If you’re in that second camp, or your net worth simply looks grim, here are a few articles you need to read:

• How to Make a Budget That Actually Works!
• 70 Super Easy and Practical Ways to Save Money
• 9 Strategies to Build Wealth Fast (That Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You)

Thanks for learning about net worth. If you haven’t calculated your net worth yet, get to it! What you find just might be the fuel you need to make positive changes in your life.

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Got Student Loans? This Rapper Perfectly Sums Up How It Feels to Repay Them

“Is it $40,000? $50,000? $60,000? Maybe it’s more. Is it $80,000? $90,000? $100,000? How much do you owe?”

That’s the unfortunately relatable mantra repeated at the end of New Orleans rapper Dee-1’s new single, “Sallie Mae Back.”

The artist recently signed a record deal and used a good chunk of the money not for flashy rims or jewels — but to finish paying off his student loans.

Dee-1 Raps About Paying Off His Student Loan Debt

To celebrate, Dee-1 — real name David Augustine Jr. — composed a triumphant rap about exactly how awesome it felt to spend his money saying goodbye to Sallie Mae’s monthly bills (and daily phone calls from multiple numbers) once and for all.

Then, he set it to a video that trades the miserable financial aid office line for a happier scene: a classic college toga party, red solo cups and all.

See for yourself:

But the video isn’t purely celebratory.

“The goal was to make an anthem that would allow people to feel the excitement that I felt, but hopefully it would also begin a bigger conversation about the student loan debt crisis,” the rapper told MarketWatch.

The song is both a warning and a sympathetic nod to the plight of new grads.

Dee-1 mentions working two jobs and still not making enough to pay back the loans after graduation. He laments the subsequent default hurting his credit score (“Check my Equifax!”).

“Student loan debt is out of control,” Augustine said, “and I do think that college should ultimately be made more affordable.”

To that point, the song’s ending refrain is telling: The question is not whether you owe student loans, but rather how much.

Student debt is such a universal experience for millennials, it’s been translated into a cultural anthem.

Ready to Pay Sallie Mae Back Yourself?

You might not have a sizeable chunk of change from a record deal, but you can pay back your student loans… even if they seem totally insurmountable.

First, work out a plan to pay back your loans. Figuring out ways to earn more to put toward monthly bills is a great tactic. Loan-repayment tools can also get you on the fast track to debt-free living.

If you’ve got a way with words, try blogging, like this kid. He was able to pay off his loans before he even graduated.

And if worse comes to worst?

Well, if you skip one of those payments, you might be able to buy a plane ticket instead.

Just kidding. Mostly.

Your Turn: How much do you owe?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems.

The post Got Student Loans? This Rapper Perfectly Sums Up How It Feels to Repay Them appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Questions About Coffee, Mobile Homes, Pillows, Roth IRAs 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. Junk cars or financing?
2. Online freelance writing
3. Coffee bargain?
4. Value of a mobile home
5. Attitude shift with huge debt
6. Paying off credit card balances
7. Car buying conundrum
8. Roth IRA question
9. Caring about pennies
10. Researching pillows
11. Shipping large packages internationally
12. Why aren’t people frugal?

One of the biggest frustrations I have in my life is that I have a much longer list of things that I want to spend my time on than I have hours in the day.

I came to this realization over the weekend as I went through the process of transferring my to-do list to a new list manager while also doing something of a life review. As I looked at the enormous list of things that I want to be doing but simply do not have time to do, I’m almost overwhelmed.

Thus, the challenge for me is whittling down that list and finding ways to have more time for all of these projects by doing things like involving my family with them and so on.

It’s harder than it sounds. Whenever I “cut” some project from my to-do list and accept that I realistically won’t be able to pull it off, it feels like a punch in the stomach. I’m letting go of something I really want to do, and that hurts.

One of my mentors in life once told me that there are three stages in life. When you are young, you have an abundance of time and energy but no money. In your middle years, you have an abundance of energy and money but no time. In your later years, you have an abundance of money and time but no energy.

I definitely feel like I’m in that “middle years” segment. I am constantly doing something – I’m almost never idle – but the list of things I want to be doing is much larger than I have the time to achieve.

Q1: Junk cars or financing?

My 21 year old daughter is 6 months pregnant and does not have a car what is her best option on finding a good reliable car for her and her baby to travel to doctors drug stores grocery stores and beyond. She does not even have her driver’s license yet or a learners permit but her husband has a license and she has bought him three cars already that were used cars and ended up being junk. The cars ended up being jumped because they were not good reliable cars and she paid $500 for each car used car. What should she do? Should she finance a car or buy another $500 car that will be junk in less than 6 months?
– Margaret

An unreliable car is essentially worthless, in my opinion. If you do not have a high level of confidence that your car will start when you go out into the driveway or parking lot or garage with your key in your hand, then you might as well not have a car and plan your life that way. That way you’ll be saving on registration, insurance, maintenance, fuel, parking, and so on.

If she is in a situation where she needs a car for transportation to and from work, then she needs to take out a loan in order to get a car that makes that commute secure. If she lives in a larger city, she may want to consider a public transportation pass instead.

I would encourage her, if she goes the car route, to get a late model car that’s known for reliability. Hondas and Toyotas get consistently good long-term reliability numbers from Consumer Reports, which I trust for such things.

Yes, that will put her in a bit more debt and that’s never a fun place to be, but having a reliable car means that there will be a lot fewer repair bills for quite a while and it also means that she won’t be late for things because of unexpected car troubles, which seems to be a consistent problem.

Q2: Online freelance writing

I wish to try out at [a specific online writing site] and with social media jobs (writing ) but I am worried for the truthfulness, trustworthiness and how genuine these websites are! I’ve had an experience of such a job offer but I think they were spammers. Just wishing to know how true, trusted and genuine these job offers are. I wish to give it a try for sure if it just all will be well.
– Nadine

I chose not to link to Nadine’s chosen online writing site because it is a known site for scams.

The truth is that most online sites that offer you opportunities to work from home with zero experience are largely scams. If you aren’t clear on exactly what you will be doing – and I mean exactly – and what you will receive for it, don’t sign up.

The truth is that there are no services like that that will earn you a livable wage from home. There are a few where you can earn a bit of pocket money, like Fiverr and Mechanical Turk, but the reality is that you won’t be paid a lot for your efforts unless the person paying you has thoroughly vetted you. Any service where you can just sign up and start doing stuff to earn money isn’t going to be paying you a whole lot.

The only real route to earning money from home is building up your own content that you maintain control over and can sell or give away with ad support or building a service that people will pay for. Those things are both hard and require a ton of time and effort to turn into a profitable venture.

Q3: Coffee bargain?

What’s the better $ value – buying beans and grinding them at home to make coffee OR buy pre-ground coffee?
– Luke

Whole bean coffee is definitely more expensive than ground coffee per ounce. However, having said that, if you buy coffee that’s already ground from the store, it’s already lost a lot of the aromatics and other characteristics that make for great coffee. Also, it’s much easier to hide defective coffee beans in ground coffee, whereas in whole bean coffee bad beans would not pass visual inspection.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but my wife is an avid coffee drinker. I talked to her about this and she basically said that there are really two purposes for which she drinks coffee. She drinks it often first thing in the morning as a “wake-up” call, and she drinks it at other times in the day for the flavor and aroma. For her, pretty much any kind of caffeinated coffee works in the morning, but she prefers freshly-ground whole bean coffee when she’s drinking for flavor.

If you’re looking purely at cost and are comparing ground coffee to whole bean coffee, ground coffee will be a cheaper purchase per cup of coffee that you brew at home.

Q4: Value of a mobile home

Can you tell me anything about the monetary value of purchasing a mobile home in a trailer park versus renting an apartment? I’m needing to move and am having a hard time understanding why, for the same amount of money, I shouldn’t purchase a double wide as opposed to renting a 3 bedroom apartment. Is there a financial disadvantage? Why wouldn’t more people do this? Is it the perceived stigma of living ‘in a trailer’ that is bugging me?
– Claire

The biggest reason is that mobile homes themselves decrease in value over time. They depreciate, much like cars do, because they’re not built to be permanent dwellings. If those trailers are not also tied to land, they’re going to decrease in value over time and you’re going to lose money both on the loan to buy it and on the value of the mobile home and on the rental fees for the lot. Each of those things individually might not be all that much, but they add up to a pretty significant loss each month that’s usually as much as or more than apartment rent.

I think that there is a stigma of living in a trailer park for some people and that helps many people not even consider mobile homes, which contributes to the much weaker market for used mobile homes.

I think that many people perceive them as being a value because the month-to-month cost can be pretty low. However, while you’re living in a trailer, particularly one in a trailer park where you don’t own the land, the trailer is devaluing while you live there, which means you’re losing money that you don’t immediately see.

Q5: Attitude shift with huge debt

I’d love to hear your opinion on the Manulife One account. A couple years ago, my spouse and I moved our mortgage to M1. The idea is to combine everything and pay your debt down quick. We had a necessary home reno that was unplanned for (definitely not financially planned for) that cost 30k – a lot for us. After this we moved everything to an M1 account, and really thought we were being responsible. But I find our spending habits have actually changed from this move. We are less careful of purchases because our balance is so far from zero. In about 3 years we have gotten almost nowhere on paying down our mortgage (they take out interest fees, but that ‘s about it.). We have good intentions but it seems if the danger isn’t close to us (aka nothing in the bank), we’re not responsible enough. Should we get out and move to a conventional mortgage? I have a feeling it’s more of an attitude shift, but what can I do to fix this?? I’d love to make this work, as mathematically it makes so much sense!
– Patricia

I think you’ve discovered exactly why banks offer accounts like Manulife One. The bank is going to make a ton of money on those accounts from people who aren’t vigilant with their spending.

First, let’s back up. The account that Patricia is referring to is in the vein of what is often called a “money merge account.” Basically, the bank takes over all of your debts and gives you what amounts to a credit account. Think of this “credit account” as kind of like a fairly low interest credit card with all of your debts rolled into it, except that your house is a collateral against this account (so if you end up no longer putting money in there, they can repossess your house). Then, you sign up to have your paychecks automatically transferred to this account. When your checks arrive, it’s like a giant payment against your debt. However, whenever you need to spend money, it actually adds back to your debt level.

It sounds great, but it ends up being kind of like a bottomless credit card that you never receive a bill for. It takes personal discipline to make this kind of account work. If you don’t have discipline, you can easily buy into a sense that you can just spend whatever you want because you never really see a bill for it.

I’m not a fan of these kinds of accounts for that reason. They’re great for people with a great deal of personal discipline when it comes to spending, but if you have that, you probably don’t need an account like this to begin with.

There’s nothing you can magically do to give yourself a greater level of personal discipline. You can talk to another bank about refinancing and get back into a more typical situation with a traditional mortgage, which might force you into better habits. Still, the key is inside of you – you have to have the strength to cut back on your personal spending.

Q6: Paying off credit card balances

My question is about paying off credit card balances. My husband and I have lived on mostly one income. He’s been a stay at home parent for our two kids since our first was born six years ago. He finished school and then we relocated to a new state for a great opportunity in my career. We’ve lived frugally but have amassed some credit debt. We are going to be coming into some money from a settlement; about 50,000. Our first priority is paying the balances. I want to make sure we go about this right. I just read your column about closing a credit card account. Seems like there are often unknown consequences or things to be aware of.
– Irene

Paying off credit cards is a wonderful thing to do with a windfall like this.

The only pitfalls I would worry about are taxes and making sure you’re paying off cards in the right order. First, make absolutely sure that any taxes you might owe for this settlement are covered. If you’re not sure, talk to a tax advisor about it and make sure that you’re not suddenly hit with a tax bill next year.

Second, you should take the remaning money and just plow through your credit card debts, starting with the one with the highest interest rate. You’re probably better off cutting down your cards to just a couple, because for most families, the best situation for credit cards in terms of your credit history is to have a relatively small number of cards without a huge outstanding balance on them. Figure out which cards you use the most (whether due to rewards or other factors) and stick with those. Get rid of the rest.

The only bad consequences from closing credit cards is that it can sometimes have a short term negative impact on your credit score. That impact will be gone pretty shortly, so as long as you’re not taking out any major loans in the next several months, I wouldn’t sweat it a bit.

Q7: Car buying conundrum

I’m looking to buy a car and I’m wondering how much you would suggest I spend on it.

Some backstory: I’m a 26 year old single woman working as a teacher, so while I don’t have a high salary, my job is very steady. I don’t have any student loans or other debt and I just finished my master’s degree, so I’ll be getting a raise in August.

I have about $2700 in my retirement account and $25,000 in savings. A car salesman friend tried to convince me to lease, but I’d rather buy a newer used car outright. How much would you suggest I spend on a car?

I am in a serious relationship with someone who owns a house and I suspect we’ll get married in the next few years, so home ownership isn’t a concern (I currently rent).
– Lily

I agree completely that you should buy a late model used car in your current situation. I would echo much of what I said in my answer to question #1 – choose a car from a reliable manufacturer like Honda or Toyota. Stick to the relative low end of the different models that they offer – for example, if you’re looking at a Toyota, don’t start looking at high end Lexuses.

It’s really hard for me to target you toward a specific dollar amount without knowing your needs more specifically. My opinion is that if you’re buying a late model used car from a reliable manufacturer but not choosing one of their high end models, you should be well within what you should be spending.

Your best bet, honestly, is to take your time here and shop around. There are going to be lots of dealers near you that are selling late model used Camrys and Corollas and Civics, for example. Look at lots of different models, test drive a few, and see what the comparative prices are like.

Q8: Roth IRA question

I want to make sure that I understand how a Roth IRA works. I am 26 and my wife is 23. Let’s say that I contribute to a Roth IRA and retire when I am 60 and my wife is 57. She continues working while I am retired. I start taking money out of the Roth IRA. How does that work for taxes? Do we just not even count the Roth IRA money toward our taxable income?
– Jeff

Exactly. Your Roth IRA withdrawals won’t count toward your family’s taxable income.

That’s why many people like Roth IRAs, especially people who are currently making a pretty low income anyway. If you’re making a low income right now but still finding ways to contribute to a Roth, it’s likely that you’ll end up in a situation with higher taxes in retirement and tax-free “income” from your Roth will be a big benefit.

This is also true for people who have a lot of tax deductions and tax credits right now – people with children, for example, where their taxable income is artificially low due to those benefits. Thus, they’re paying a pretty low tax rate now and can get money into their Roth quite cheaply, but they’ll probably have a much higher taxable income later, which means that Roth money is going to be a big help.

Q9: Caring about pennies

When you write articles about how you saved ten cents on something, I just do not care. I’m facing almost half a million dollars in debt. Saving ten cents is a waste of my time. Tell me how I can earn a lot more or maybe save a large amount.
– Dennis

The thing to focus on isn’t the one time savings of a dime. It’s the fact that it’s usually repeated over and over and over without additional effort, which adds up to a lot of money.

Let’s say I replace a light bulb in my home with an LED bulb that will save me about 60 watts of energy for every hour it’s on. A kilowatt hour costs about $0.12, so that bulb is really saving me only about 3/4 of a cent for every hour the bulb is on. Who cares, right?

Well, let’s say that bulb is on for twelve hours a day, every day. After a year, that’s $31.54. At that usage rate, your bulb should last about five years, so by the time you switch out the bulb, you’ll have saved about $150 after the cost of replacing the bulb. Multiply that by every light that you use very often at all in your home and you’re talking thousands.

The little frugal tips where you save a dime would be kind of pointless if they were one-shot things. However, they’re usually things where you get that dime again and again and again with no additional effort and those dimes add up and add up and add up.

Many people forget about these kinds of savings because they flow so quietly into their monthly budget. You don’t “see” the fact that your energy bill is now $3 lower every month because of your single light bulb switch, but it is. And it’s lower month after month after month after month. Those kinds of changes slowly make it easier to live, to set goals, to build for the future. If your energy bill is lower, it gets easier to think about bumping up your 401(k) contributions by a percent or two, for example, and that ends up creating major change in your life down the road.

That’s why frugality is so powerful.

Q10: Researching pillows

How do you research and purchase more irregular and personal items like pillows? It’s not like buying a hair dryer, which you can research and find the best one in your budget, and it’s not like buying store-brand coffee, where you can try once and decide it’s not for you.
– Kim

It really depends on what kinds of “irregular and personal” items you’re talking about. Pillow preference is very much a matter of personal taste. You can find comparisons of pillow brands in terms of things like manufacturing quality, but identifying which pillow is right for your head is pretty personal.

Similar things occur with items like running shoes. Different shoes work better for different feet. You can compare shoe brands for overall manufacturing quality, but different shoes still work better for different foot shapes, activity level, and so on.

What I do for things like this is start with a brand with a good reputation and then go to stores and carefully examine the items, whether I buy there or not. Once I find a very specific model that works for me, I stay loyal to that model. If I hear that the model might be discontinued, I’ll even order a few backups and keep them on hand (especially if they’re on clearance or on sale).

Q11: Shipping large packages internationally

Do you know what is the best way to ship a large package, say 47kg, dimensions 142 cm by 32 cm by 44 cm from The Netherlands to Singapore. I have been searching for a economical way but so far the prices I get are many times more expensive than my package itself.
– David

I’m not sure how exactly to advise you in terms of specifics, as I’m not familiar with all of the international shipping options available to you in The Netherlands. However, I can give you some good pointers that will always help with international shipping.

First, shop around. This sounds like you’ve already done so, but you need to go through every package carrier available to you and ask for rates on the packages that you want to send.

Second, pack the thing securely. This might involve a slightly larger package, but secure packaging is going to greatly increase the odds that the package arrives unharmed at the destination. Otherwise, what’s the point of shipping it?

Third, request the slowest and least expensive shipping option from each carrier when comparing prices. Many carriers will offer a lower rate if you don’t mind waiting a bit for your item to ship until they have extra space on a boat.

If you follow through on those tips, you’ll get a good rate for shipping almost anything almost anywhere. It’s still going to be expensive to ship a package halfway across the world, especially a single package of that size, but you won’t have to spend nearly as much.

Q12: Why aren’t people frugal?

Why do you think more people aren’t frugal? People in generations past were much more frugal than today. Look at people in the 1930s – they were careful with their money and economized and that extended into World War II in the 1940s. Today everyone just wants to spend everything and expects to be picked up and taken care of when they’ve spent everything.
– Daniel

In those times, there was a pressing day-to-day need to spend less. In the 1930s, many people didn’t have jobs. You didn’t have to look very far to see people in a soup line. During World War II, the government endlessly promoted frugality and rationing as part of the war effort, tying frugality into patriotic feelings and nationalism.

Neither of those things are remotely true today. If anything, our national identity is tied to spending more and more than to any sense of frugality.

On top of that, popular culture seems to revolve around consumer goods, most of which people don’t really need. We have an amazing abundance of staples and food – the idea of food rationing seems crazy to almost everyone today.

What would it take to bring back frugality as a major virtue? I think it would take an exceptional – if not impossible – shift in national values, one that would be opposed all the way by corporate America. I don’t see it happening unless things change a lot from where we’re at.

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.

The post Questions About Coffee, Mobile Homes, Pillows, Roth IRAs and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Apple tells employees why it won't help hack shooter's phone

WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook acknowledged to employees Monday that "it does not feel right" to refuse to help the FBI hack a locked iPhone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino mass shootings. But he said that to do so would threaten data security for millions and "everyone's civil liberties.""We have no tolerance or sympathy for terrorists," Cook wrote in an early morning email addressed to the Apple "Team." ''When they commit unspeakable acts like the [...]

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8 Tools That Will Help You Get Inside Your Readers’ Heads

Do you hate the phrase “getting inside your reader’s head?”

Although you know you are supposed to be able to do it, you don’t have any specific instructions on how to do it.

Of course, it’s important to understand your current readers and those you are trying to attract with your content, but that’s one of the hardest skills you have to develop as a writer.

It’s going to take years of continuous improvement to become really good at it.

However, there are ways for you to get this information much sooner—namely, formulas and tools.

In this post, I’m going to focus on the latter.

I’ve put together a list of the eight best tools for getting inside your readers’ heads.

They will give you tangible data you can use to produce content that resonates with your readers.

Finally, I’ll show you how to use the key features of these tools. I promise that none of them are difficult to use and that they are worth your time. 

Tool type #1 – Hard demographics data

If you want to know what your readers think, you first need to know who they are.

That’s where demographics come in.

Essentially, any statistic that describes a characteristic of your audience is a demographic. The most common are:

• age
• location
• device preference
• gender
• marital status

The tools in this section will help you figure out who you should be targeting in the first place. They can be used whether you have an existing audience or are just starting off.

1. Demographics Pro for Hootsuite

This tool is one of the most complete I’ve ever come across when it comes to demographics.

The only significant limitation is that it draws its data from Twitter.

However, as long as people in your niche use Twitter (which is likely), it’s really useful.

While you can sign up for Demographics Pro directly, it’s pretty simple to use this Hootsuite app.

When you click the link in the title for this tool and then click the “Install App” button on the page, you’ll be taken to Hootsuite, where you’ll see a pop-up like this (if you’re signed in):

Once you install the app, you’ll see a new tab on your account called “Demographics Pro for Twitter.”

To use the tool, simply enter a Twitter handle (e.g., “@NeilPatel”), and click “get profile.”

That’ll automatically bring up some basic data:

More useful, though, is the “view full profile” option. Click that link, and you’ll see an extremely detailed panel like this:

From this, you can get a ton of demographic information about your (or their) followers and even some psychographics (more on that in section 2):

• gender distribution
• marital status
• parental status
• age
• average income
• location
• types of jobs they have
• types of hobbies they have
• types of brands they like

It’s a gold mine of information.

If you’re already using Twitter, start with your own profile.

Then, get the stats of some of your top competitors. If you don’t know who they are, head to Buzzsumo’s amplification tool, and search for some keywords that describe your niche:

2. Sprout Social

This is a similar type of social audience analyzer. However, it analyzes both Facebook and Twitter, so there’s a potential to get a few different insights.

Once you sign up for an account (free trials available), you can connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts (only your own).

That will populate your account with a bunch of social trends data, but more importantly—demographics.

On top of getting a gender distribution of the audience on each platform, you get a detailed breakdown of their age brackets. That’s another important insight into your audience that will come in handy.

3. Google Display Planner

It might surprise you to find out that the Google Display Planner is another decent source of demographic data even though it isn’t the tool’s primary purpose.

When you open the planner, you have two options for searching:

• keywords, topics, or sites
• a landing page

I recommend doing both, and several times if possible. The larger your sample size, the more accurate your demographics data will be.

You can enter your own site, a competitor’s site, or keywords that you will be targeting with SEO.

Once you’ve picked an option, click the blue button to proceed:

On the next page, you’ll get a whole bunch of suggestions for ad keywords. Ignore them.

The only thing we care about here is the panel in the center of the screen that breaks down the demographics of people who search for the terms you entered (or terms found on the page you entered).

It looks like this:

Again, you get a gender and age breakdown.

Additionally, you can record which devices that audience prefers to use.

Is all this information redundant? It is to a degree, but it’s still useful. By now, you have demographic data from three different tools.

That data may look the same, but there may be differences because it’s collected from different sources.

Having data from multiple sources ensures that it won’t be skewed. You can take an average of all the data you collect or keep it as a range (i.e., average age might be 25-34 and not just one specific number).

4. FollowerWonk

The final tool in this section also uses Twitter to retrieve demographic data. However, it provides one important feature that the others miss.

Once you create an account, go to the “Analyze” tab on the top menu. Enter your Twitter handle, and let the tool scan your followers.

On the next page, look for a graph like the one below that shows at what times your followers are most active.

This information will be useful when you are promoting your content, especially on social media.

Tool type #2 – Understand your readers’ thinking (psychographics)

Once you’ve nailed down who your readers are or will be, it’s time to start figuring out how they think.

Ideally, you want to answer questions such as:

• what are their biggest problems?
• what type of content do they like the most?
• what kind of language do they use?
• what bores them, and what excites them?

The tools in this section will help you answer these questions and eliminate guesswork.

5. Faqfox

This is a simple tool that makes getting useful data from forums easy.

Basically, you enter a keyword and sites to scan, and the tool pulls up relevant thread titles for you. You can search multiple sites at once.

Start by inputting a keyword into the first field. You could manually enter sites, but an easier option is to simply pick one of the preset categories. If you’re not sure which one to choose, pick “generic”:

The tool will load the results after a few seconds of search:

I recommend downloading the results into a spreadsheet and analyzing them there.

Remember those questions you need to answer? These results will help you do that.

You’ll have some irrelevant results, so start by removing those.

Once you have a few hundred relevant threads left, dig in.

Note down:

• common questions (those that come up more than once)
• any phrasing that you wouldn’t normally use yourself
• any other keywords that you haven’t thought of (that you see in the titles)

Then, repeat this whole process at least a few times with different keywords.

6. Crazy Egg

If you know me well, you know I founded Crazy Egg.

I’ll let you judge the tool for yourself, but it can be incredibly useful for understanding the behavior of your readers.

The one catch is that you have to actually have readers before you can use the tool.

Assuming you do, Crazy Egg will give you a variety of heatmaps that will show you exactly how readers interact with your content.

There are two types of maps you’ll want to look at.

First is the scroll map, which tells you how people scroll through your page. You can tell what portions of the page they pay more or less attention to.

It’s natural for the percentage to decline as you scroll down, but you might see that it declines at certain sections in the middle of the content.

This is a clear indication that something on your page didn’t interest your readers.

For example, if I looked at a heatmap for this post and saw that there’s a huge drop off within this section, I could conclude that my readers don’t like reading about heatmap tools (or potentially about psychographics).

Similarly, hot spots lower down the page indicate that you’ve touched upon something that excites them.

Record this information for all your content, and you’ll start seeing patterns in the type of content, the tone, and the format your readers like.

To get even more insight into your readers’ preferences, you can use click heatmaps, which show you what readers clicked on:

You’ll see that certain things attract their attention more than others. Again, look for patterns.

7. Buzzsumo’s Top Content Tool

The heatmaps can give you a lot of insight into what excites and bores your readers.

However, sometimes you need more, or you don’t have enough readers to use heatmaps yet.

That’s where Buzzsumo’s top content tool comes in.

You’ll want to make a list of keywords you’ll be using within your content. Then, search them one by one in the tool:

The tool will return a list of the most popular content in the past year (sorted by total shares).

Visit as many of these pages as you can, and record down the answers to these questions in your spreadsheet:

• What format does the content use? (lots of images? videos? big font? small font?)
• What tone does the content use? (news articles? personal stories? conversational?)
• Why would your reader be so excited about this topic?

You can leave the last one blank for now if you don’t know, but come back to it later.

When you have a good understanding of your readers, you should be able to figure out why these top articles would appeal to them more than the average content.

Finally, search all the answers to all those questions for patterns.

For example, if a large chunk of the most popular posts are mainly image-based, you know that your readers love images.

Tool type #3 – Assemble your data, and make it useful

If you’ve used every tool up until this point, you have a lot of useful data.

Don’t just put it on a spreadsheet and forget about it.

Instead, create reader personas. It will help you and your team when you need to be reminded for whom you are writing.

I created this final section for a single tool because I feel that—although it is a small step you need to take—it’s a very important step.

8. Make My Persona

This tool was created by Hubspot, and it’s brilliant.

It guides you through a simple process that uses all the different demographic and psychographic information you’ve collected with all the other tools.

It also ensures that you don’t forget any key part of creating a reader persona, e.g., putting a real name or face to it:

Once you answer all the questions, the tool will produce a well-organized persona summary:

First, you should share this with everyone who helps you with content.

Next, you should be looking at this before you write any content yourself. Always ask yourself what this person would find valuable and interesting. Print it out, and hang it up if you need to.

Note that you can create multiple personas if that’s what the data supports.

Conclusion

This is not a huge list, but every tool on this list can be useful.

The better you understand your readers, the more you’ll be able to write exactly what they want to see (and value).

I recommend trying at least a few of the tools, but if you really want to get a clear picture of what your readers think and care about, use them all.

If I missed a tool that can help writers understand their audiences, please post it in the comments below, and I’ll give it a look.

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