Craig Campeotto lives near the corner of Phillips and Eighth Street in Stroudsburg. So does his mom. The property at the street corner was on his paper route when he was a kid, and it was always within walking distance as he grew up and graduated from Stroudsburg high school.Soon Campeotto, owner of Popcorn Buddha, will walk to work at the property everyday in what he called a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”The Minisink Hills-based popcorn manufacturer and [...]
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الخميس، 23 يونيو 2016
OptionsHouse Review – Top Trading Tools
OptionsHouse has developed a reputation as one of the top rated investment brokerage platforms in the industry. This is particularly true of its options trading capacity, as the name of the platform indicates. OptionsHouse has been well recognized in the financial press as a top brokerage firm, and especially in the area of options.
If you are looking for a very low cost investment brokerage firm, that also has top-of-the-line trading technology and trading resources, OptionsHouse should be one of the platforms that you are considering.
It is a perfect trading platform for new and small investors, as well as active traders, not only because of its very low trading fees, but also because it has no required account minimum balances.
About OptionsHouse
OptionsHouse began operations in 2005. It provides active traders with a brokerage platform that offers low prices, high speed execution and premium products.
The trading platform provides you with real-time market data, fast execution and comprehensive research tools. It provides robust, customized options chains so that you can execute trades quickly. This includes the ability to view 16 different options chains, and to select single options and strategies to place your orders quickly from the same page.
In 2016, Barron’s listed OptionsHouse as among the best online brokers for the year. That included recognition as a top broker and “Best for Options Trader”, being awarded a rating of 4.5, for 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.
In 2016, Investor’s Business Daily ranked OptionsHouse as the top “Options Trading Platform”, and listed it as number four among all brokers for “Low commissions and fees”. This puts them in the same ratings as more well known brokerages like Scottrade and E*Trade.
Also in 2016, StockBrokers.com ranked OptionsHouse #1 for Commissions & Fees, #1 Web Based Platform, and #1 for Options Trading. They were also ranked as the #1 Web Based Platform in 2015, as well as Best in Class for Mobile Trading for the same year.
OptionsHouse Features and Benefits
OptionsHouse offers a wealth of features and benefits that will help you to become a better and more prosperous trader. Some of the more significant features and benefits include:
Minimum initial deposit/account minimum balance. OptionsHouse does not have either a minimum initial deposit requirement, nor an account minimum balance, though there may be funding requirements depending upon the type of trading you engage in. For example, they suggest funding your account with a minimum of $1,000 for a cash account, and they do require a minimum of $2,000 for a margin account. Should the account balance drop below the $2,000 required minimum, the account will be converted from a margin account to a cash account.
OptionsHouse also requires a minimum of $2,000 in order to provide check writing privileges. There’s also a minimum balance requirement $10,000 in order to establish debit card privileges for both cash and margin accounts.
Funding your account. You can fund your account by electronic transfer between financial institutions (ACH), wire transfer, account transfers from other brokers (ACAT), or by check. If you do fund your account by check, the funds will be available for trading within three business days.
Account types available. OptionsHouse allows you to open accounts for an individual, joint tenants with rights of survivorship, business accounts, including trusts, LLCs, corporate accounts, partnership accounts, investment clubs, sole proprietorship accounts, as well as accounts for estates and tax exempt organizations. You can also open UTMA and UGMA education accounts, including Coverdell accounts.
Retirement accounts available include the full range of IRAs including traditional, Roth, rollover, beneficiary, SEP and SIMPLE IRA accounts.
Investment products available. OptionsHouse enables you to trade equities, options, futures, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and bonds.
OptionsHouse paperTRADE account. When you open a real trading account with OptionsHouse you are automatically given access to a paperTRADE account that allows you to test drive strategies and learn the platform using virtual money. This enables you to try your hand at both learning and trading without risking real money.
Customer Service. OptionsHouse offers three ways to reach customer service:
- Phone: You can reach customer service using an 800 number Monday through Friday between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Central Time, except holidays
- Email: Available anytime
- Online Chat: Available Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Eastern time, except exchange holidays
Extended hours trading. OptionsHouse provides extended hours trading from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM Central time, Monday through Friday except on market holidays.
Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs). DRIPs can be established with any stocks that you hold in your portfolio, as long as they are eligible for DRIP participation. DRIPs are not available for master limited partnerships, limited partnerships and royalty trusts.
TRADE IT. OptionsHouse has partnered with TRADE IT to make it more convenient for clients to trade stocks quickly right from participating market research websites. The feature is available only for equity trades, but you can use market, limit, stop, and stop limit orders. At present, it is available for TheStreet.com, but is expected to include other sources in the future.
International accounts. OptionsHouse allows you to open an account if you are a citizen or permanent resident of certain countries, or a US expatriate residing in such countries. Those countries include China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
There are specific regulations and restrictions that you must comply with in order to open an international account. But this is a major advantage with OptionsHouse, since not all brokerage firms provide this privilege.
Account protection. Through it’s clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, OptionsHouse provides both FDIC and SIPC insurance coverage on investor’s accounts. Cash balances that are swept into FDIC insured deposit accounts at various depository institutions, are insured for up to $2,500,000.
SIPC coverage insures your account for up to $500,000, including up to $250,000 in cash. Apex Clearing provides additional protection for securities and cash of up to $150 million, subject to maximum limits of $37.5 million for any one customer’s securities, and up to $900,000 for any one customer’s cash.
Both SIPC and the additional insurance coverage are to insure against broker failure, but not against declines in value resulting from investment market conditions.
Account security. OptionsHouse provides strong 256 bit SSL encryption, and other industry best practices to protect sensitive data. This includes the most advanced encryptions technology for all online transactions, including funding through your financial institution.
OptionsHouse Tools and Calculators
OptionsHouse has a wide range of tools and calculators, particularly those that benefit options traders. Some of those tools and calculators include:
tradeCYCLE. This tool enables you to develop a deeper understanding of the OptionsHouse trading platform. It uses six steps:
- Step 1 – Do Your Homework – This shows you how to master the research options that are available on the platform
- Step 2 – Find/Craft a Strategy – This enables you to quickly and easily learn how to test different market strategies
- Step 3 – Test the Strategy – Shows you how to configure the positions page and to customize settings for quicker views of your performance, as well as to develop faster trading
- Step 4 – Execute the Trade – Teaches how to execute trades, and to gain confidence using the advanced techniques offered through the platform
- Step 5 – Plan Your Exit – This is where you learn how to set alerts and to move in and out of the market
- Step 6 – Adjust as Needed – This will walk you through the many tools that are available on the platform to help you adjust to changes in the market
tradeLAB. This tool enables you to gain insight to profit from market moves by providing a profit/loss ratio snapshot. It provides you with the ability to look at the best ways to look at a trade from every angle.
Snapshot Analysis. This tool enables you to quickly view your option trade’s potential, including maximum profit, loss or breakeven at any point, as well as risk/reward ratios and profiles, and precise rollover chart views. You can even run “what if” scenarios through expiration, and much more.
Spectral Analysis. This tool enables you to explore your strategy’s potential, by enabling you to view a color-coded spectral to see probabilities until expiration. This enables you to see how your position changes according to various paths of the underlying security, as well as the play “what if” scenarios, by adjusting volatility. You can then edit your strategy, or place your trade from a pre-populated order right from the Spectral Analysis screen.
Trigger alerts. These enable you to be prepared to make your next trade using actionable alerts that enable you to quickly and easily place pre-populated orders. This will help you to potentially maximize profits or limit losses.
strategySEEK. This tool scans live market data for thousands of options strategies targeted to your forecast and risk priorities. It identifies potential strategies and enables you to explore new opportunities based on your current trading approach.
OptionsHouse Fees
OptionsHouse offers one of the lowest trading fee structures in the industry, in addition to the fact that they do not charge annual accounts fees.
Here are the current fees on the more significant investment activities:
Stocks, ETFs and equities from all major exchanges. OptionsHouse charges a fee of $4.95 per trade for stocks and ETFs, which is equal to the lowest trading fees available among major brokerage firms, tied with what most consider the discount brokerage leader Trade King, and one of the lowest in the industry overall
Options trades. OptionsHouse charges a fee of $4.95, plus $0.50 per contract for single leg trades. For spreads, straddles, and combos – up to four legs except covered calls and puts – $4.95, plus $0.50 per contract.
They also charge a broker assist fee of $25 if broker assistance is necessary for a transaction.
Under OptionsHouse’s Dime Buyback feature, commission charges and contract fees are waived when you buy to close an option for $0.10 or less. The feature will automatically start working anytime you’d like to close an option for $0.10 or less.
Futures trading. OptionsHouse is currently offering new futures traders a rate of just $1.50 per contract through September 30. After September 30, futures trades will increase to $2.00 per contract.
Mutual funds. $20 per trade.
Margin account interest. Rates range from 3.25% on accounts with a minimum of $1 million, to a high of 7.75% on accounts of less than $25,000.
Debit card. OptionsHouse charges a $75 annual fee for debit cards.
Funds transfer. There are no fees for transferring funds by ACH. There is a $5 fee for first class mail of withdrawal by check, $25 for Saturday delivery, or $30 for overnight domestic mail. There is no fee for a deposit into your account by wire transfer, but there is a $25 fee for domestic wires when withdrawing funds.
Document fees. OptionsHouse charges a $2.00 handling fee for paper statements and tax documents mailed to your home.
Physical stock certificate fees. There is a minimum fee of $300 per certificate. If the certificate is returned for any reason there will also be a minimum fee of $100 per returned certificate.
OptionsHouse Caveats
OptionsHouse has some limitations, but only a couple at that:
Low rate of interest on cash balances. OptionsHouse pays just 0.01% on cash balances. This rate is of course ridiculously low, however it is not at all unusual in the industry, as it is a result of the current very low interest rate environment.
Forex trading. This service is not offered by OptionsHouse
Will OptionsHouse Work for You?
OptionsHouse is currently offering commission-free trading for 60 days when you open and fund a new account with at least $5,000. The offer covers up to 100 trades. They are also offering a rebate of up to $100 to cover ACAT fees charged by your current broker, in the event that you transfer at least $5,000 in funds into a new OptionsHouse account. They also provide a $25 rebate against wire fees involved in such a transfer.
OptionsHouse is an excellent investment platform choice for new investors, small investors, international investors, active traders, and particularly active options traders. The platform has all of the tools that you need, and a very low fee structure that will help to improve your rate of return on your investing.
If you are looking to open up a new brokerage account, or considering moving out of your current brokerage arrangement, OptionsHouse deserves to be on the short list of new brokers for your investment activities.
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Canadian Money Boldly Goes Where No Currency Has Gone Before
If you need one more reason to cross the border, we’ve found a fun one for Star Trek fans.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the sci-fi universe, the Royal Canadian Mint launched a line of Star Trek collectible coins last month.
And they’re better than you imagine.
The new coins feature characters from the original TV series, including Kirk and Scotty, played by Canadian-born actors William Shatner and James Doohan, respectively.
They’re in full, glorious color — red shirts and all, folks — and, yes, they are legal tender in Canada.
They’ll probably fetch a better value on the collectible market than at the bank, though.
Canadian Coins Now Feature Star Trek Characters
The most impressive of the coins is the CA$200 pure gold coin in the delta shape of the famous Starfleet insignia. Only 1,500 were minted, and even at CA$1,300 ($1,020) each, they quickly sold out, reports Nerdist.
Photo Source: The Royal Canadian Mint
Some coins come at a more reasonable price. You can pick up the CA$20 fine silver coin featuring the starship Enterprise at face value, just $15.69 from the U.S.
Photo Source: The Royal Canadian Mint
A set of four CA$10 coins featuring colored images of Kirk, Scotty, Spock and Uhura costs CA$54.95, just a few dollars over face value.
Photo Source: The Royal Canadian Mint
If you want to get your hands on these coins, act fast. The mint is quickly selling out, and savvy sellers are already boosting prices and listing the coins on eBay.
Canadian Money is Kind of Awesome
If sci-fi characters aren’t your Enterprise, don’t worry. That’s not the only thing that makes Canadian money way cooler than ours.
Canada’s futuristic polymer bills are also see-through, waterproof and nearly tear-proof.
And before it started stamping Federation members on its coins, the Mint asked Canadians to vote on its next coin design — from the nation’s iconic goose to a snowman reminiscent of “Frozen.”
Says our resident Canadian (yeah, we have one), “We already have beavers and hockey and caribou on our money, so why not?”
Your Turn: If you could stamp any image on a coin, what would it be?
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).
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66 Million Americans Have Absolutely Nothing Saved for an Emergency
How does your emergency fund look?
Is it just a bunch of coins clinking around in the bottom of an old jelly jar?
Yikes. But you can take some comfort in knowing there are more people in the jelly-jar club than you might expect.
We know most Americans don’t have enough savings to handle a financial emergency.
But no savings at all? It’s scary. And it’s real.
Almost One-Third of Americans Have Zero Savings
Twenty-eight percent of Americans have no emergency savings, according to Bankrate’s Financial Security Index survey of 1,000 people in early June.
By comparing that random sample to the number of adults on the last U.S. census (235 million), Bankrate calculates 66 million people have no backup plan.
On the fortunate flipside, the survey also showed 28% of respondents claimed six months’ expenses (or more!) saved for emergencies. In the middle, 34% of those surveyed had some emergency savings, but not enough to cover six months of expenses.
Bankrate’s Claes Bell noted respondents earning less than $30,000 per year were eight times more likely to admit they had no savings than those with incomes of $75,000 or more.
But Americans may be realizing it’s time to start knitting their own financial safety nets.
“The percentage who say they have enough emergency savings to cover six months’ worth of expenses or more is the highest it’s ever been in the six years Bankrate has polled Americans on the question,” Bell said.
Start Small, Save Big
Does six months worth of expenses seem like an unattainable amount to save? Start small and build your emergency savings without sacrificing too much.
“Any cushion, even if it’s just $1,000, is better than no cushion at all,” Penny Hoarder staff writer Jamie Cattanach advises.
Even if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you can make strides toward stashing away cash for unexpected expenses.
Here’s a month-by-month guide to help you sock away $1,000 — even if you don’t have a lot of money to spare. Plus, some of these strategies even help you earn money you can then sock away.
One last tip: Automate your savings to make it into a routine. If you can’t remember where you spent that fiver you had tucked into your pocket yesterday (if you’re like me, probably at the coffee shop), you won’t miss the $5 going into your savings account on a set schedule.
Your Turn: What steps have you taken to build or maintain an emergency fund?
Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Washington, D.C. Her emergency fund isn’t sexy, but she’s glad it’s there.
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Calling All Bloggers: Here’s How to Score a Free Trip to FinCon in San Diego
Want a free trip to San Diego this September?
Better yet, want to learn a ton about earning, saving and growing your money while you’re there?
If you’ve got a way with words, you might be in luck: You could win a free ticket to FinCon — “the world’s largest financial content expo,” plus up to $1,500 in travel reimbursement. And all you have to do is write a blog post.
Oh, yeah: Did I mention we’ll be there, too?
Win a Free Trip to FinCon 2016
This opportunity is about a whole lot more than a free vacation.
FinCon’s a great place to meet other frugal, side-hustling folks like you… and to learn even more about how to get total control of your money.
And since it’s crazy easy to enter, you have no excuse not to at least try.
How to Enter
Just write a short blog post — about 500 words — about this title/topic: “What Financial Health Means to Me.”
(Psst: Don’t have a blog yet? No problem. You can set one up quickly and easily for free at WordPress, and maybe even take it to the next level with our handy-dandy guide.)
“It could take the form of a personal story, an anecdotal story, or a community story,” the contest prompt reads.
Publish your post on June 29th — not before or after.
“This *exact date* is important,” CFSI advises.
Then, submit the link to CFSI on that same day — you’ll find the submission form here when it’s time to enter.
Meanwhile, the same site lists the full rules and also lots of information to get you started, like the fact 57% of Americans are struggling financially and 14% don’t know their credit score — or that they even have one.
Yikes. You’ve got your work cut out for you!
Ten winners will receive free FinCon tickets and generous travel reimbursement checks, as well as a ticket to the exclusive FinX workshop in San Diego the Wednesday before FinCon begins.
Nine of these winners will be chosen by a panel of judges, who will judge blog posts on the following criteria:
- Relevance to the message of financial health (financial health occurs when your day-to-day financial activities help you build resilience and pursue opportunity)
- Quality of writing
- Potential impact of story
- Overall blog quality
The 10th winner will be the writer of the post that achieves the highest social engagement. So be sure to share your post on all your social networks with the hashtag #FinHealthMatters.
Then pack your bags, and don’t forget a swimsuit. We’ll be in the booth with all the purple swag — come say hi!
Your Turn: Will you enter this contest to win a free trip to FinCon?
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has also been featured at Word Riot, DMQ Review, Hinchas de Poesia and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
The post Calling All Bloggers: Here’s How to Score a Free Trip to FinCon in San Diego appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Personal Finance and the Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite films of all time, and I’m far from alone in that sentiment. It’s been the top rated film of all time on IMDB for years and years and has been endlessly appreciated by both critics and movie fans alike.
In my opinion, the film resonates because it’s about a bunch of flawed but likable characters overcoming a very challenging situation, something we can all relate to. The movie manages to create very deep portraits of the main characters and surprisingly deep portraits of all of the side characters, often giving them a ton of depth and life with just a few seconds of screen time and a few lines.
Because of all of that, the film manages to pack a ton of great life lessons (and financial lessons) into a package that doesn’t come off as preachy; in fact, you often don’t even notice the lessons at all.
The other day, I noticed we had The Shawshank Redemption recorded on our DVR, so I watched the film again. I loved it but I hadn’t seen it in a while. As I was watching, I was sucked right back into the emotional highs and lows of the characters, but in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but notice how many really useful personal finance lessons were present throughout the film. Here are some of the ones that really stood out to me. (Some of the quotes have been edited very slightly for language.)
Bad Luck Happens; Don’t Let It Knock You Down
Red: The first night’s the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing [stuff] they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell… and those bars slam home… that’s when you know it’s for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
The film centers on Andy Dufresne, a man wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife. He’s sentenced to serve out his life at the titular Shawshank Prison in Maine.
Having to walk into a prison and hear the bars slam shut behind you, particularly if it’s due to a crime that you didn’t commit, is unimaginably tough. It’s more than enough to crush a person – and it does crush a few people early on in the film.
The thing is, the strongest among them pick themselves up off the ground and keep moving forward in life. Sure, their options are now severely limited, but they find a place. They find something to occupy themselves, something to do with their time. Red starts a contraband operation. Andy becomes an accountant and a librarian.
Everyone is knocked down at some point in their lives. Everyone is dealt a bad hand sometimes. The difference between whether you succeed or whether you fail is what you do after you’re knocked down, not before.
No matter how big your mess is, no matter how big your mistakes were, you can still move forward from here. Your net worth might be abysmal, but it can be higher tomorrow than it is today, and if you keep doing that day after day, you will rebound.
Take Advantage of the Opportunities You Have, Not the Ones You Wish You Had
(Andy agreeing to do the books)
Red: The following April Andy did tax returns for half the guards at Shawshank. Year after that he did them all including the warden’s. Year after that they rescheduled the start of the intra-mural season to coincide with tax season. The guards on the opposing teams all remembered to bring their W2s.
Andy was trained to be a banker. In a just world, he would have been plying his skills at a bank somewhere, earning a nice income and perhaps even eventually running his own bank.
Instead, he found himself within the walls of a prison.
What did he do? Did he give up? Nope. Instead, he waited around and looked for opportunities to ply his skills, and when even the smallest opportunity presented itself, he stuck his thumb in the crack and made the most of it.
He went from swabbing tar on the roof of a building to helping a guard with a tax problem to doing taxes for lots of guards to eventually handling the books for the warden himself.
Life presents us with lots of opportunities. Most of them aren’t perfect – they aren’t the ones we dream about or imagine in our minds – but they’re still present, all the time. If you want to succeed, take advantage of those opportunties as often as you can. Stick your thumb right in there.
Make Yourself Valuable to Others
Andy Dufresne: I understand you’re a man who knows how to get things.
Red: I’m known to locate certain things from time to time.
Red’s contraband ring made him quite valuable to others as a source for acquiring items that people might otherwise have difficulty getting their hands on within the walls of a prison. That service was valuable to others, so not only did it help Red earn some profit on the side, it also made him indispensable to many people in the prison. People came to him when they needed help.
What do you offer to others that makes you valuable? Why do people come to you? The better your answer to that question, the more likely you are to succeed in your career, your finances, your business, and your life.
For most people, this question is best answered by looking at your skills. What skills do you have that make you relatively rare or unique in your business or in the professional field you’re in? What makes you stand out? What makes you someone that fills a vital role that people actually need?
If you struggle to answer that question, your career is at risk, period. You need to have a strong answer or two to that question at all times.
If you can easily answer that question, then you likely have at least some degree of job security and likely have the leverage and opportunities to improve your income and move to a better job in the future.
Make yourself valuable to the people around you. If you’re not valuable to them, they’ll find someone else who is.
Have a Big Dream and a Plan
Red: Mr. Stephens visited nearly a dozen banks in the Portland area that morning. All told, he blew town with better than $370,000 of Warden Norton’s money. Severance pay for nineteen years.
Andy spent nineteen years laundering money for the warden. It was a good gig, no doubt, but that was only a part of Andy’s vision.
Another part of the plan – the part that the warden didn’t see – was that the money laundering scheme was also a big part of Andy’s plan to escape. He spent part of his time building up the laundering scheme, but also building an escape hatch that would enable him to someday take the profits out.
Andy built himself a great day-to-day gig, but he planned for something even bigger, and he used that day-to-day gig to help him build that bigger thing.
What’s your bigger picture? What’s your escape hatch if things don’t go right?
Do you have a killer resume that would help you get employed elsewhere? Do you have savings and investments that will help support you if another employment offer doesn’t come along?
Have a big dream for the future. At the same time, make sure you have an “escape hatch” that doesn’t leave you completely stranded if things go wrong in your current situation.
Break Big Plans into Small Bits
Red: Geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really. Pressure and time. That and the big poster. Like I said, in prison, a man’ll do most anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy’s favorite hobby was totin’ his wall out into the exercise yard a handful at a time.
The biggest plans can sometime seem impossible. Escaping from a prison with concrete walls several feet thick and many, many feet high might seem like a complete impossibility for some.
Maybe for you, the giant plan might be something like reaching financial independence, or maybe it’s a bit smaller but still enormous like paying off all of your debts.
Whatever that big plan is, it can be solved in much the same way Andy solved his tunneling problem. He chipped away a little bit of rock each day and carried it out into the yard in his pockets, making just a little progress on his plan.
The same approach works for almost every worthwhile financial plan. Just save a little bit of money each day, and you can get that little bit of money by cutting out just a little bit of spending.
It’s not immediate. It takes time. You’re not going to have the solutions you want tomorrow or the day after or the week after that.
It takes pressure and time, just like Red said. It takes pressure – constantly being diligent and taking action toward the goal – and it takes time – lots of years for those little savings to build up into big money thanks to the dual powers of consistent savings and compound interest.
Every Plan Should Have a Contingency Plan
Andy Dufresne: Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lay within.
As I mentioned earlier, Andy spent many years building a very robust money laundering scheme under the orders of the prison warden. Andy took care of all of the bookkeeping details for this plan, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing into the dirty coffers of the prison.
Undoubtedly, Andy’s plan was successful and it enabled him to win some serious perks within the prison walls. Eventually, however, the warden turned against Andy… and in that moment, he needed his contingency plan.
Andy’s contingency plan was twofold – the tunnel he’d built and an “escape hatch” of sorts from the money laundering scheme that allowed Andy to walk off with most of that money.
Hopefully, you have a big plan for your life that involves building up your career, investing for the future, and eventually enjoying some real freedom to do whatever it is you dream of doing.
But what’s your contingency plan? What will you do if life gets in the way of that big dream?
Do you have an emergency fund? Do you have insurance? Do you have skills that can help you find a new job or even a new career? Do you have a side gig that can keep income rolling into your life no matter what happens?
You can’t cover every possible disaster, but having a big healthy emergency fund, life insurance on the key income earners in your life, and a robust resume can take care of a lot of potential disasters in life, so that even if things don’t run smoothly (and eventually they won’t), you can still enjoy a good outcome – perhaps even better than you expected.
Stand Up and Take a Risk Sometimes
Andy Dufresne: Because if you do trust her, there’s no reason you can’t keep that thirty-five thousand… If you want to keep all that money, give it to your wife. The IRS allows a one-time only gift to your spouse for up to sixty thousand dollars… tax-free… you do need someone to set up the tax-free gift for ya, and it’ll cost you, a lawyer for example… I suppose I could set it up for you. That would save you some money. You get the forms, I’ll prepare them for you, nearly free of charge.
When Andy stood up on that roof and faced that horrible prison guard, he did it because he saw an opportunity buried in a landmine of risk. He knew that if he didn’t take that chance, nothing would change about his situation or the situation of those around him.
Many of us find ourselves in professional positions where it is far less risky to just keep our head down and keep our mouth shut. Maybe it’s that moment in a meeting where the boss is looking for someone to give a presentation or to head up a project. Maybe it’s that moment where you have this great idea for a side gig but it is going to take a lot of time and it’s easier to just not bother. Maybe it’s that moment when your boss is directly hinting at you to take on a bit of extra responsibility.
Do you keep your head down? Or do you step up to that challenge?
The challenging path is… well, it’s not easy. It has risk involved. You might end up flopping on your face. You might end up doing well but then seeing little reward for it.
However, at the same time, the reward can be great. A great line for your resume. A promotion. A glowing performance review. A raise.
It’s always easier to just keep your head down and just keep doing what you’re doing, but it’s very, very hard to get ahead that way. The rewards come to those who stick their head out every once in a while.
Respect and Help Others, No Matter What
Red: And that’s how it came to pass, that on the second-to-last day of the job, the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring of ’49 wound up sitting in a row at ten o’clock in the morning, drinking icy cold Bohemia style beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison… The [guard] even managed to sound magnanimous. We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. [...] We were the Lords of all Creation. As for Andy, he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer… You could argue he’d done it to curry favor with the guards, or maybe make a few friends among us cons. Me? I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while.
When Andy took his big risk on the plate factory roof, the reward he asked for wasn’t directly for himself. The reward he requested was for his friends. He did not keep all of the glory and all of the rewards for himself. He spread it out. He gave to his peers, those who were a constant part of his life, and in doing so he tightened his bond with them.
He didn’t do it to make friends. He did it because he knew that the best feeling in the world is to help friends.
Building a strong social network as an adult is hard. It can be very hard to build new relationships when you’re an adult, at least outside of the type of workplace friendships that people often have. Yet, time and time again, it is that handful of lasting strong relationships that we have that bails us out of problems in life.
The secret to building that kind of strong social network, filled with friends who have your back and whose company you enjoy, is to give of yourself rather than just taking. Give without question and without expectation, because that is the foundation of strong relationships.
Yes, you may find later on that some of those people are takers who aren’t there for you when you need them, but some of them absolutely will be there for you and it’s those people that add infinite value to live, not just because of the help they can provide, but because of the joy they bring into your life both when times are good and when times are bad.
Persistence Pays Off
Red: All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock-hammer damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through a wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty.
Almost everything in life that’s worth doing isn’t done in a day, or a week, or a month. The achievements that we’re the most proud of – the ones that really define the course of our life and define us as a person – take years and even decades.
The choice to marry someone and make that marriage work for life. The choice to start saving for retirement or even to work for an early retirement. The choice to launch a new career and stick with it until you rise up the ladder. The choice to take a leap and start building a new business.
Those choices are life-changing and life-affirming, but they require persistence. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to have those things. They take years of effort on a daily basis to achieve.
The highest of peaks are only achieved by those who are persistent, those who work toward their goal every day even if they won’t achieve it for years.
If you want a better life, you need to bring persistence to the table.
Final Thoughts
As I watched the credits roll on The Shawshank Redemption, one thing really clicked home for me. If you really want to change your life for the better, you can find inspiration all over the place. You just have to be ready to make positive changes.
Are you ready?
The post Personal Finance and the Shawshank Redemption appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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Government to write to 100,000 people at risk of no state pension in retirement
At least 100,000 people will be sent warning letters to say they won’t receive a state pension if they do not make more National Insurance (NI) contributions before they retire.
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These 5 Amusement Park Jobs Pay More Than $40K — And Check Out the Perks!
When you think of jobs at an amusement park, you probably imagine someone wearing a Mickey Mouse costume or a high school student on summer break selling funnel cakes.
But did you know there are tons of jobs at theme parks that don’t require you to wear a costume or sling greasy foods?
You can even make more than $50,000 per year to work in what is essentially a playground for both children and adults. And some of these companies offer pretty sweet perks, too.
Though theme parks aren’t keen on sharing specific salary details, you can get a good sense of how much you’d make by checking out sites like Glassdoor and Payscale, which ask current and former employees to anonymously report their salaries at various companies.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also compiles handy stats on how much amusement park employees make, on average, nationally.
Amusement Park Jobs That Pay More Than $40K
1. Engineer
All types of engineers work at theme parks, including mechanical, electrical, chemical and sound engineers.
Engineers design rides and attractions, update buildings and systems and think about the overall experience of guests. They also help make the theme parks more efficient.
The engineers at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, make between $67,000 and $110,000 a year, according to Indeed.
On average nationally, engineers at theme parks make between $49,000 and $94,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Now hiring: Check out Disney’s job opening for a software engineer in Burbank, California.
AngryJulieMonday under Creative Commons
2. Artist or Art Director
Visit a theme park and you’ll find yourself immersed — often literally — in some form of art, such as beautiful backdrops, transcendent live performances, amazing graphics or cool exhibits.
Believe it or not, you can make good money as an artist — it just depends on your role.
An art director makes an average of $94,750 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A similar role — creative director — at Disney makes between $108,856 and $273,921, per Glassdoor.
Your salary prospects are not as good — think the mid $30,000s — if you’re a painter, sculptor or illustrator. But if you’re good with computers, you can make more than $56,000 as a graphic designer.
On average, the best-paying performing artist job is choreographer. They can make up to $75,000 per year.
Now hiring: Universal Orlando Resort is looking for a new creative director.
Goblin hard at work in the “Escape from Gringotts” experience.
3. Marketing Manager
Theme park marketing managers design marketing campaigns, help with advertising messaging strategies, create and manage project budgets and help share the park’s message on a number of social media and video channels.
At SeaWorld, the average marketing manager’s salary is $52,000 per year, according to Glassdoor.com, and at the San Francisco Zoo, they make $82,000 per year. The range at Disney is between $56,000 and $120,000.
Nationally, marketing and public relations managers make between $101,000 and $117,000.
Now hiring: Disney needs a digital marketing manager in Burbank, CA. SeaWorld San Antonio is looking for a manager of sales and consumer activation and will pay between $51,840 and $64,800.
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4. Computer Scientist
Computer scientists at theme parks develop video games, help design rides and attractions, maintain databases, create mobile apps and work on websites.
They also use technology to help solve problems or fill gaps identified at the theme park.
A senior programmer analyst at Universal Studios Resort makes an average of $83,783 per year, per Glassdoor. A software engineer at Disney makes between $92,000 and $126,000 per year, according to Payscale.
A computer and information systems manager makes an average of $151,980 at amusement parks across the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Even if you’re not at the management level, you can make between $43,000 and $83,000 in an array of computer-centric fields.
Now Hiring: Disney needs a service operations analyst in Celebration, Florida.
5. Human Resources
Theme parks are like tiny cities, constantly hiring and training new employees.
As a human resources staffer, you can make more than $100,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On average, human resources managers at amusement parks make $120,000 across the U.S. Even if you’re not a manager, you can make between $60,000 and $63,000 in human resources.
Now Hiring: Universal Studios needs a senior recruiter in Orlando, Florida.
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Perks of Amusement Park Jobs
It’s always important to factor in perks when considering a job’s salary — and theme parks have some good ones.
At Six Flags, the perks include free unlimited admission for the employee and a guest, in-park discounts, exclusive employee events, employee referral bonuses and spot bonuses.
Working at the park also gets employees discounts at restaurants, on computers and electronics, on personal vacations, on cell phone bills, on movie tickets and on new and used cars.
Disney’s perks include educational reimbursement, adoption assistance, onsite childcare centers, a 401(k) retirement account with a company match, free theme park admission, discounts on merchandise and Disney locations, company-sponsored events, a commuter assistance program and a company match on employee donations.
Disney World in Orlando offers additional benefits, according to Theme Park Tourist, an online guide to theme parks in the area.
Employees and their families have access to “Mickey’s retreat,” which features pools, a beach, a recreation room, hammocks and volleyball courts. They also get discounts around town at non-Disney stores and restaurants, access to sweet Disney libraries and computer labs.
Your Turn: Would you ever work at a theme park?
Sarah Kuta is an education reporter in Boulder, Colorado, with a penchant for weekend thrifting, furniture refurbishment and good deals. Find her on Twitter: @sarahkuta.
The post These 5 Amusement Park Jobs Pay More Than $40K — And Check Out the Perks! appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Find a Bug in Your Android Phone? You Could Make $50,000
Jealous of the kid who made $10,000 by finding a major bug for Instagram?
You can still earn some serious cash with your tech skills. Just share them with Google instead of Facebook, which owns Instagram.
In June 2015, Google expanded its Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) — which pays ordinary people who find glitches in its products — to include Android security.
Since then, Google has offered bounties of up to $38,000 to people who identified issues that helped protect Android users with Nexus phones and tablets, according to program manager Quan To.
Now the stakes are even higher.
Happy anniversary, Android bug fixers. You’re getting a raise.
Google’s Top Android Fixer Earned $75K in One Year
In Android VRP’s first year, 82 bug finders received more than $550,000, with an average reward of $2,200!
Fifteen researchers received $10,000 or more, either for submitting fixes for multiple bugs or receiving bonuses for particularly tricky pests.
But the top earner in this project was Peter Pi, who received more than $75,000 for submitting 26 vulnerability reports. Pi is a threats analyst at cloud-security firm Trend Micro.
It’s safe to say Pi has the most lucrative side hustle we’ve seen in a while.
More Bug-Squashing Money
“There were no payouts for the top reward for a complete remote exploit chain leading to TrustZone or Verified Boot Compromise,” To noted, adding that the payout for solving that issue has increased from $30,000 to a whopping $50,000.
Meaning: There’s still big money to be made across Google’s Android products.
“We will now pay 33% more for a high-quality vulnerability report with proof of concept,” To wrote. And if you include a potential fix with your vulnerability report, you’ll earn even more — as in, 50% more!
You don’t have to be the local STEM whiz to cash in with Google. A bug report alone could earn you $200.
And if you find something really serious, you may earn even more.
“The final amount is always chosen at the discretion of the reward panel,” Android VRP guidelines specify.
“In particular, we may decide to pay even more for unusually clever or severe vulnerabilities, decide that a single report actually constitutes multiple bugs, or that multiple reports are so closely related that they only warrant a single reward.”
Not in it for the money? Or maybe your employer won’t let you dabble outside your day job. If so, Google will donate your reward to charity at your request — and might even double that donation.
For participation rules, submission guidelines and full payout details, check out Google’s Android VRP rules.
Your Turn: Have you ever submitted a bug to Google? Did you get paid?
Lisa Rowan is a writer, editor and podcaster living in Washington, D.C. She is not your local STEM whiz.
The post Find a Bug in Your Android Phone? You Could Make $50,000 appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
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Prudential pulls out of the annuity market
Prudential has announced it will not offer its annuities on the open market and in future will only offer them to existing customers. After the recent merger of Just Retirement and Partnership, this latest move provides further evidence that the number of annuity providers is shrinking.
Source Moneywise http://ift.tt/28PCPmZ
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