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الاثنين، 11 يوليو 2016

Get Paid to Snap About Football All Day! Yes, This is Really a Job

Love watching football and playing on Snapchat all day? You can finally get paid for that!

The National Football League is hiring a full-time Managing Editor for its Snapchat Discover Team, based in Culver City, California.

The position will manage a team of content creators to develop the voice of the NFL’s Snapchat Discover channel.

Who the NFL is Looking For

In addition to your near-obsessive love of NFL teams, players and history, you should have experience managing a social media team, though professional Snapchat experience isn’t explicitly required.

Because Snapchat is so new — even for huge companies like the NFL — this is an exciting opportunity! You’d have the creative freedom to help shape a content strategy while working for an established and well-known brand.

This position is for people who are “excited, not intimidated, by the fundamental ambiguity around trying to define the future of entertainment on social media,” the listing states.

Plus, you’ll be able to choose who you work with, as you’ll be helping build the team as it grows.

NFL Employee Benefits

In addition to your salary, NFL employees enjoy these benefits:

  • Medical, dental and vision insurance
  • Health care FSAs
  • Long-term disability insurance
  • Basic life insurance and voluntary dependent life insurance
  • Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
  • 401(k) and pension plans
  • Paid vacation, personal and holidays
  • Paid parental leave and adoption assistance
  • Gym, education and tuition reimbursements
  • Work/Life Assistance Program
  • Employee discounts (including NFL Shop!)

If you’re not ready to apply for this mid-career position, check out the NFL’s internships and entry level openings.

Your Turn: Would you apply for an NFL job?

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).

The post Get Paid to Snap About Football All Day! Yes, This is Really a Job appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.



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100 Ways to Make $100 Fast

Advertising Disclosure

Free cash rocks!

Walking through a parking lot one time I stumbled upon a $20 bill.

100 ways to make money fastBefore I snatched it up I looked up around almost waiting for the hidden camera crew to jump out from the bushes to yell “Gotcha!”.

They didn’t and I was $20 richer. Score!

That is the only time that I’ve ever came across some quick cash.

Everyone needs some cash in a hurry from time-to-time.

Knowing that, I thought it would be fun to put together a post that outlined 100 ways you can make $100 fast.
Out of the 100, you should find at least a few that you can do any time you need extra cash.

Bookmark this page so you can refer to it anytime you need money!

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Ways to Make $100

1. Sign up for a rewards credit card with a sweet signup bonus. Some cards offer a “bonus” of $100 or more if you can meet a minimum spending requirement within the first three months. As long as you pay your balance in full each month, this is truly free money for the taking! Here are the top offers for 2016:

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sapphire_preferred_card smallChase Sapphire Preferred® Card – Want an even bigger bonus? Consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead.  With this card, you’ll earn an amazing 50,000 points after you spend just $4,000 on your card within 90 days. If you turn in those points for cash, they are worth $500! Obviously, you’ll want to pay your balance in full to avoid interest. As long as you meet the minimum spending requirement, this $500 is yours to spend. Plus, this card comes with no annual fee. Read here to learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card .

If neither of those offers sound ideal, you can also check out our post on the best cash back offers currently available:

2. Inbox Dollars – InboxDollarsYou can earn free cash by changing your search engine to InboxDollars. You’ll get a free $5 bonus when you sign up! This will take a bit longer to get you to $100, but it’s still easy money by using their search engine, watching videos (seriously), printing coupons and a variety of other things. Plus, you get $5 just for signing up (just name and email address) by clicking HERE.

3. SwagBucks – Similar to Inbox Dollars in that you can get free cash by swapping your search engine.  SwagBucks also pays you for the shopping you already do online as well as a bunch of other everyday online activities.  You can get $5 for signing up HERE.

4. Sell your used cell phones, iPad or Mac – Your used electronic equipment may have value, particularly if it’s recent and in good condition. Check out Gazelle.com. They give you an estimate on your equipment, and the better stuff could fetch some real money.

5. Resell unused gift cards – Check your wallet and your dresser – you probably have unused gift cards. Some may even be to merchants you don’t frequent. If that’s the case, get some cash back on them by selling them on CardPool. You won’t get the full value of the cards, but it’s better than having them sit unused.

6. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – Selling your junk

One of the best and easiest ways to make money fast is by selling what you have – or that you can acquire on the cheap. It also has a secondary benefit in that it keeps the clutter in your life to a minimum.

  • Have a garage sale – We average about $150 per garage sale so you can earn some decent cash without even leaving your house.
  • Sell on Craigslist – What you can’t sell at your garage sale, you may be able to sell on Craigslist. This is especially good for selling large items.

7. Sell on eBayeBay is an excellent place to sell small, high value items, especially if they’re unique.

8. Sell other people’s stuff on Craigslist or eBay – This is taking selling on Craigslist and eBay to a higher level. You’re not just selling your own stuff, you’re getting more stuff to sell from friends and neighbors. Give them a cut of the take and you’ll have plenty to sell forever.

9. Amazon – Similar to eBay, Amazon.com may work better for entertainment media, such as books, music and movies.

10. Flea markets and swap meets – This is the garages sale concept taken on the road to a place where there are a lot more potential customers.

11. Consignment shops – There are different items you can sell on consignment, but it tends to work best for furniture and clothing.

12. Collect and sell scrap metal – If you have a light pick-up truck or just a good trailer, you can collect scrap metal from neighborhoods, building sites and junkyards, then sell it to scrap metal dealers. Check out scrap metal prices, then do a Google search on “where can I sell scrap metal in (my town)”.

13. Sell your stuff to a pawn shop – You won’t get retail price for your merchandise, but it offers a quick sale for cash.

14. Gold jewelry and silverware – Take your gold jewelry and silverware to gold dealers or jewelers and you’ll likely fetch a better price than going to the “we buy gold” storefronts populating strip malls.

15. Musical instruments – There’s a brisk market for used musical instruments (check out the prices for brand new ones and you’ll immediately see why). You can sell them on Craigslist for top dollar, but if you want quick cash, offer to sell them to music stores.

16.  Sell homemade crafts – If you can make handicrafts, Etsy could be the place to sell them. If making crafts is an ongoing hobby, you could have an ongoing cash source from the site.

17. Resell your moving boxes – You probably paid at about $200 on your last move if you have an average size home. Someone else may be more than willing to pay you 50 cents on the dollar for them. Try Craigslist.

18. Return old purchases or gifts – If you’ve received gifts you really don’t want – and they’re still in the packages – try returning them. Some retailers will take them back up to a year later.

Quick cash on the job

Your job is one of the best and most convenient places to make some extra cash. You may have to think a little bit out of the box, so try these on for starters.

19. Volunteer for overtime – Most of us shrink away from overtime because of the extra hours. But if you need money, let your supervisor know that you’re available to work.

20. Contract for an ugly job at work – As an alternative to working overtime, you can offer to contract for jobs at work that nobody else wants. Offer to work on the jobs for a flat fee that will be paid outside your regular paycheck.

21. Employee referral program – If your employer offers a bonus to refer new employees to them, take advantage of it and start referring. It’ll be the easiest money you’ll ever make.

22. Customer referral program – Likewise, see if your employer might also have a customer referral program. If they do, put on your salesman’s hat and start beating the bushes for potential customers.

23. Make a killer suggestion – Many employers have a suggestion box, but most employees ignore it. If the company pays a bonus for workable suggestions, get busy. You may get the bonus because no one else participates.

Quick cash off the job

You can often make some quick cash doing jobs that require no special skills, just a desire to do them. And you can find them all around you.  These are also great ways for teens to make some quick cash.

24. Baby sitting – Where I live babysitters earn $10 an hour. Pull a couple of five hour gigs this weekend, and you’ll have $100.

25. Pet sitting – The nice part of this type of sitting is that you don’t have to stay with the pet for hours. Usually, you’re just looking in on it every couple of hours, then walking it and feeding it as necessary. Because of that you can maintain several pet sitting jobs simultaneously.

26. House sitting – People who travel frequently, especially on a long-term basis; may need someone to watch their homes for a fee. You can check local newspapers and Craigslist for opportunities. If you’d like to use a central site, MindAHome.com can provide an online source of clients.

27. Temporary part time jobs – You can get a seasonal part-time job based on summer, back-to-school, any of the major holidays or even during snow season. A couple of weeks of part-time work can easily get you $100 and a whole lot more.

28. Become a referral source for a sales person or company – If you know any real estate agents, insurance agents, car dealers or just about any one who sells for a living, ask about being a compensated referral source for them. A $100 referral isn’t hard to get.

29. Sell photos on ShutterstockShutterstock.com is a giant site that allows you to post and sell your photos online for a fee. Functioning something like eBay for photos, it’s a central place to sell your photos.

30. Turn your photography skills to cash – If you’ve checked photographers prices lately you know they can be prohibitive. If you’re good at photography, you might be able to photograph a special event or two for at least $100.

31. Become an instructor at a local gym – If you think that the only people who work in gyms are personal trainers, guess again. If you know yoga, zumba, jazzercise, cycling or just about any other activity that keeps people moving, there may be a teaching position waiting for you at the gym.

32. Write product review articles for blogs – If you’re a tech junkie and buy a lot of new products, you may be able to do paid reviews on blogs. Blogs often have affiliate arrangements with tech products and will pay for user reviews.

33. Bartend for an event or a weekend – If you can bartend you can pick up a quick hundred (or more) working a couple of weekend parties or even a wedding.

34. Join a focus group – Universities, marketing groups and research organizations will often pay participants in focus groups. Check with schools in your area as well as Craigslist to see what’s happening.

35. Be a session musician – If you can play guitar, drums, keyboards and even some wind and string instruments’ you may be able to get work as a session musician in a band or orchestra. In some cases you can make well over $100 for just a single session.

36. Become a moving billboard – If you don’t mind having a large commercial sign on your car – or having it “wrapped” in ad material, you can earn up to $400 per month with FreeCarMedia.com.

37. Moving furniture – Some people are making local moves without the benefit of a professional moving company. If you don’t mind (really) hard work, you may be able to pick up $100 or more this weekend. Check the ads on Craigslist.

38. Cutting lawns – Even people who cut their own lawns get in a jam from time to time and need someone to pinch hit for them. They could be going on vacation or dealing with an illness or injury. Two or three cuts could get you to $100 in no time.

39. Painting – Do you know anyone who needs a room or two painted? If you’re handy when it comes to painting, offer to do it for them for $100 per room – plus paint.

40. Spring or fall clean-ups – Seasonal yard clean-ups are more involved than regular lawn cutting. It may involve weeding flower beds, trimming hedges, raking leaves and cleaning out other debris. $100 a job should be the minimum.

41. Shoveling snow – I’ve known kids who have made well over $50 shoveling in the local neighborhood after just a modest snowfall. Just a couple of storms will get you to $100 just from knocking on doors during the late stages of the storm.

42. Cleaning houses – Some people let the house cleaning go a bit too long, then they don’t want to even attempt it. Others get a little busy and just need some help. You should be able to pick up $100 or more just from cleaning a couple of houses.

43. Wash, wax and detail cars – Some people actually like cleaning cars. Most of us hate it. If you’re one who likes it, you can make some easy money working for those of us who’d rather not.

44. Cleaning gutters – If being up on a ladder doesn’t scare you, you can make a quick $100 (at least) on just a single job.

45. Setting up pools for the summer – Everybody loves having a pool, except when it comes time to set it up for the summer. If you know how to do it, you can make an easy $100 on just a couple of jobs. And when fall comes and it’s time to close them down, you can come back for Round Two.

46. Setting up holiday decorations – Everybody loves holiday decorations too, but not nearly everyone like putting them up – or taking them down. At Halloween and Christmas you can probably get at least $100 to put up decorations, then take them down later.

47. Taking surveys – Some companies will pay you for your opinions. Check out MySurvey.com as a place to find them. You earn points which you can redeem for cash.

InboxDollarsYou can earn free cash by taking surveys with InboxDollars. You’ll earn a $5.00 bonus when you sign up! You can also use it as your primary search engine and make even more money. Plus, there are several other ways to earn money. Click here to see them all!

You can also free cash by doing what you’re already doing online with Swagbucks. Get $5 just for signing up (just name and email address) by clicking here.

48. Mystery shopper – This is one of the most popular recommendations when it comes to making extra cash, but you need a reliable source of jobs. Mystery Shopping Providers Association can be that source.

49. Participate in marketing research – Companies are always performing market research on both new and existing products and services. Sign up with a service like Concepts Consumer Research to advertise your availability.

50. Clean carpets – Have you ever cleaned your own carpets? If so, go rent a machine and clean someone else’s – for cash.

51. Carpool – and be the driver – If you have coworkers (or people who work in the area you do), offer to drive them in for a fee. $25 per week per person could bring in $100 with just two riders for two weeks. Try advertising in the company newsletter, or posting the offer on bulletin boards around the office.

Micro-projects

In general, micro-projects are small projects that pay no more than a few dollars each. You make money by doing several in a short amount of time, and there are websites available that you can do them through.

52. GigwalkGigwalk involves taking photos, picking up menus and various other small assignments in your area. It
works on an app that you download onto your phone. You receive the job orders, accept them and confirm that the job is complete.

53. Mechanical Turk – This is a work-at-home arrangement and it’s part of Amazon.com. Mechanical Turk pays a few dollars per assignment, typically involving work such as writing product reviews, editing and related tasks.

54. TaskRabbit – Similar to Gigwalk, but you can also access the assignments online, as well as by a phone app. TaskRabbit is limited to just a few cities.

55. CloudFactoryCloudFactory participants mainly enter, collect, process or categorizes data for companies, primarily for employers based in various emerging markets.

56. FOAP – You enter and sell your photos to commercial interests through their site. They can be sold on FOAP for $10, with 50% paid to the site.

57. PleaseBringMe – A travel barter exchange between individuals, rather than employers, with PleaseBringMe you perform tasks for pay that are unique to your home country.

58. BidOnMyGig – The service isn’t available yet, but BidOnMyGig allows clients to post projects online and have qualified service providers bid on them. The qualified service provider is of course you.

59. EXEC Cleaning – As the name implies, EXEC Cleaning involves the providing the services of an executive assistant, but on a personal level. It could involve getting lunch, delivering documents or even cleaning an executives house.

60. MobileWorksMobileWorks involves jobs as a technical virtual assistant, including online research, tagging images and creative writing, and you must speak English.

61. PinDone – Available only in California, PinDone involves tasks such as doing mail outs and driving someone to the airport. The pay seems decent for the tasks, but you do have bid on them, and reputation within the site is important.

62. WeGoLook – As you might guess from the name, WeGoLook has you working as an inspector at large. You will inspect buildings, cars or some other high value item, verify that it exists, that it works, take photos, and write any necessary reports.

63. PostMates – This service involves being a virtual go-fer. Post Mates is a delivery service where you may be asked to pick up coffee, lunch, groceries or anything the customer requests.

64. Fiverr – More technical but simple tasks that you post on the site. Fiverr pays $5 per job, and includes work such as tasks on websites and related jobs.

65. Agent Anything – Mostly for colleges students, Agent Anything can involve running errands, engaging in marketing activities or even doing temp work.

66. UserTesting.com – Roughly speaking, UserTesting.com involves doing reviews of websites, mostly rating based on user experience.

67. Zaarly.com – Similar to Gigwalk, Zaarly involves running errands in your local area for out of town clients.

68. MiNeeds – Something of a job board for people with defined skills, MiNeeds.com has you competing for jobs.

Using your house to make money

You may be able to pick up $100 or more without ever leaving your house – by using your house to make money.

69. Renting out a room – If it’s permissible in your community, you can rent a room to a boarder for $100 per week, or $400 per month – more if you live in a highly desirable location.

70. Renting out space – If someone needs temporary storage, consider renting out your basement or a spare bedroom.

71. Renting out your garage – You can probably rent out your garage to someone with a need to shelter a car. That should fetch at least $100 per month.

72. Renting out your driveway – If there’s a major event in your area, you may be able to rent out your driveway for a night or a weekend. Keep on top of events in your area and make your driveway available for overflow parking to the facility holding the event.

Putting your specific skills to work

What is it that you’re particularly good at – that other people typically aren’t? There may be a decent payday waiting for you if you can put it into action. These won’t work for everyone, but if there’s one or more that you’re a pro at, go for it!

73. Tutoring – School tutors can easily make $30 an hour and up. That would get you to $100 in no time.

74. Teaching English – For millions of people, English is at best a second language. Offer out your skills to teach them a deeper understanding of the language for a fee. Even at $20 an hour, you’d get to $100 in short order.

75. Teaching music – Can you play a musical instrument? Even if you’re not accomplished, you may be able to teach novices. Offer your services at local senior citizens centers as a start.

76. Refereeing – You know all those people who referee recreation sports? They’re not working for free. If you’re knowledgeable about one or more sports, sign up at the local recreation commission. You can make several hundred dollars in a single, short sports season refereeing young kids.

77. Teaching software packages – Lot’s of people implement common software packages, but don’t have a clue how to use them. If you’re fluent with Word, Excel, PowerPoint or one of a number of common software packages, offer to install them and do basic training. That’s easily worth $100 or more to a lot of people.

78. Setting up new computers/troubleshooting old ones – As easy as modern computers are, a lot of people are intimidated when it comes to setting them up. Some may pay you for simple tasks like setting up passwords, email service and downloading an anti-virus package.

79. Writing blog posts – Are there blogs you like to read because you have specific knowledge of the subject matter? Offer to write articles for them. You should be able to earn at least $20 per article. Write five and you’ll have $100.

80. Bookkeeping – If you have bookkeeping skills, especially with QuickBooks experience, you should be able to pick up bookkeeping jobs that will get you to $100 very quickly. You can do one time jobs, or ongoing to keep the extra cash rolling in.

81. Office organization – There are some very successful people who are complete zeros when it comes to organization. Their offices are a wreck and lost documents can cost them money. If you’re a wiz at making order out of chaos, you may have a chance to organize offices for at least $100 a pop.

82. Light mechanic work – If you can do basic car repairs – changing oil, belts, hoses and spark plugs, or replacing batteries or mufflers, you can easily pick up extra cash. If you can do the repairs at the customer’s home, you can charge even more.

83. Process medical claims – After a major illness or surgery, a person can be inundated with medical claims. If you’re familiar with the process (filing and dealing with insurance companies) you can make some serious money straightening out someone’s medical claims.

84. Editing – You don’t have to be a professional editor to be an editor. If you’re an English major, a writer or a teacher, you may be perfect. You can find editing work on Craigslist that can be either one time assignments, or ongoing – your choice.

85. Set up simple websites – Can you design and set up simple websites? If so, you can easily charge $100 a pop. As little as you think you know, someone else knows a lot less and may see you as an expert.

86. Getting someone’s tax records organized – If you have strong administrative skills and know what certain tax documents look like, you may be able to offer your services to a disorganized someone who needs help organizing their paperwork for preparation. Tough tax season ends April 15, it actually goes to October 15 with extensions. And those who extend that far are usually in the greatest need of organizational help.

87. Graphic design services – There are millions of websites who need all kinds of services, like graphic design work. Offer to do simple jobs for as many sites as you can contact. You can find them on Craigslist sometimes, but direct contact could be more effective.

88. Social media manager – Some people are social media experts. Others don’t even know how to get started. Businesses are realizing the value of the social media. If you’re fluent in the social media, offer your services as a social media manager. You can post updates on Facebook, Twitter and any media that are relevant to a particular business.

89. Staging houses for sale – There’s a transition that takes place between living in a house and selling it. If you know the difference, and how to make a home look like a showplace, you can stage houses for sale. Offer your services to local real estate agents.

90. Event planning – Are you good at planning parties or events? Someone might need your help. Spread the word to everyone you know, and let them know what you can do.

91. Become an affiliate for a product you know and believe in – Everyone with a product or service to sell is looking for agents to sell them. Find products you feel strongly about, and become a dealer. Some higher priced items can fetch a $100 cut quickly.

92. Create or edit videos – YouTube is all the rage – music, how to videos, outrageous demonstrations, product reviews – you name it. If you can create videos, offer your services to businesses.

93. Buy low, sell high – If you have an eye for bargains, you may be able to buy on the cheap – at garage sales, thrift stores and elsewhere – and sell at a profit.

94. Preparing research papers – If you have a knack for research, there are businesses and individuals who could use your services. You can find some of them on Craigslist, or offer your services to local colleges.

Participating in the medical community

The medical community will pay for donations and your participation.

95. Sell blood – You can get $30 – $40 to sell your blood. Three or four donations will get you $100 in just a couple of weeks.

96. Participate in medical studies – A local hospital is offering $600 for people with high blood pressure to participate in medical trials. Hospitals and clinics do this all the time. Enough said?

Change spending habits – for a bit

Sometimes you can find extra money just by changing a habit or two – at least temporarily.

97. Eat on the cheap for a week – If you spend $200 per week for groceries, try going on a beans and rice diet (OK, pasta, potatoes, salads and other low cost foods are good too) for one week. That should cut the bill in half, getting you an extra $100 easily.

98. Eliminate your cable TV service – A typical middle-of-the-road cable TV service runs about $100 per month. Eliminate it and you’ll have an extra $100 this month. And every month after that.

99. Give up Starbucks for a month – Are you a latte fan? At $4 per cup, you’ll save $120 if you give it up for a month.

100. Give up a “sin” for a month – If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, or drink three beers a day, going cold turkey for a month can easily leave you at least $100 richer.

Have you tried any of these? Are there any other ways to make $100 fast that I might have missed?


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Cow Appreciation Day is Here — And That Means Free Chick-Fil-A!


Love Chick-fil-A? Then don’t miss your chance to snag your favorite dish on Cow Appreciation Day — for free.

Mark your calendar to show your appreciation for cows (and chicken sandwiches) on Tuesday, July 12. Stores will celebrate from opening until 7 p.m.

Fun fact: Chick-fil-A first launched its cow campaign in 1995, featuring billboards with three-dimensional cows holding now-iconic “Eat Mor Chikin” signs.

How to Get Free Food at Chick-fil-A

“Adult customers who dress in any type of cow attire, whether it’s head-to-hoof or sporting a cow-spotted accessory, will be rewarded,” a press release said.

Basically, wear “anything cowlike” to receive a free entree. It’s good for breakfast or the lunch/dinner menu, depending when you arrive.

Your little ones can also get a kid’s meal for their efforts.

Not sure what to order? Skip right to the sweets and redeem your entree for a milkshake, iced coffee, frosted coffee or frosted lemonade.

For something heartier, go for one of three salad options.

Of course, you can’t go wrong with the Chick-fil-A classic chicken sandwich.

The Rules Have Changed, But It’s Still a Good Deal

Cow Appreciation Day is now in its 12th year. Longtime Chick-fil-A fans may remember the event taking place on a Friday, but in 2015, it was moved to a Tuesday for an experience that’s less hectic than the typical Friday fast-food rush.

The event also used to require donning an entire cow costume in exchange for a full free meal. Managers could, at their discretion, reward patrons partially dressed as cows (think hats and headbands) with a free entree.

But now, it’s a little simpler to earn your free food.

Now, About Your Costume

Even though you don’t need to be fully dressed as a cow, you might be tempted to order a cow costume on Amazon just for the occasion.

But it’ll take you a few years of Cow Appreciation Day visits to earn enough free sandwiches to pay for the costume — unless you’re anticipating some serious time on the Halloween party circuit.

The absolute easiest way to get in on this party was designed with the DIY inept in mind: Cut out irregularly shaped “spots” from black paper and tape them to a white T-shirt.

If you’d like to wear your cow tee again next year, make the shapes out of black felt and use fabric glue to attach them to your shirt.

Meanwhile, if you’re hoping to keep the kids (or, let’s be honest, your grown friends) busy for an afternoon, try making cow masks from paper plates or construction paper.

Your Turn: Will you line up for Cow Appreciation Day this year?

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

The post Cow Appreciation Day is Here — And That Means Free Chick-Fil-A! appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.



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Attention Kohl’s Shoppers: Here’s an Easy Way to Score a $10 Gift Card

Kohl’s can be a dangerous place.

I often head in there just to “take a look” — and leave with an armful of bargains.

If you’re a Kohl’s-lover like me, you have to check this out: We found an easy way to get a free $10 gift card!

How to Get a $10 Gift Card to Kohl’s

The trick is signing up for a website called MyPoints, a cash-back site that rewards you for activities like shopping online, printing coupons, taking surveys, playing games and watching videos.

And right now, you can take advantage of this special offer: You’ll get a $10 gift certificate of your choice when you spend $20 on anything.

Here’s how to get yours:

  1. Sign up for MyPoints with your name and email address, or your Facebook account.
  1. Within 30 days, log into the portal and spend at least $20 at one of its many partner retailers.
  1. MyPoints will then give you 1,750-point bonus — enough for a $10 gift certificate!
  1. You can either request your gift certificate online or in the mail. If Kohl’s isn’t your thing, you can also redeem your points for a gift card for Amazon, Walmart, Target or a slew of other stores.

How to Make it Even Better

True Penny Hoarders know this is a great deal — but also know there are ways to make it even better.

For example, here’s how you could use MyPoints to save an extra 36% on your Kohl’s purchase:

  1. Sign up for MyPoints with your email or Facebook account.
  1. Buy $20 of merchandise on Kohls.com through MyPoints. Choose in-store pickup so you don’t have to pay for shipping.
  1. Earn rewards points for your purchase: MyPoints offers two points per dollar at Kohl’s — equal to 1.35% cash back.
  1. Claim your $10 Kohl’s gift card to use on your next purchase.
  1. Again, shop Kohl’s through MyPoints to earn 1.35% cash back.
  1. Pay with a cash-back credit card like the Barclaycard CashForward World Mastercard, and earn an additional 1.5% in cash rewards.

That’s $30 of Kohl’s goodies for just $19.30. (And if you find some coupon codes, you could save even more!)

The Fine Print

This offer is available to all new members.

You need to join MyPoints now and spend $20 on shopping or travel within 30 days. You’ll be awarded 1,750 points, redeemable for a $10 gift card of your choice.

After shopping, rewards points will appear in your account within 30 days (though it usually takes less than five!).

If you request a physical gift card, it should arrive in the mail within two weeks; e-gift cards show up in your inbox within 30 minutes.

Your Turn: What’s your favorite department store?

Disclosure: Here’s a toast to the affiliate links in this post. May we all be just a little richer today.

The post Attention Kohl’s Shoppers: Here’s an Easy Way to Score a $10 Gift Card appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.



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This Company is Hiring a Writer to Work From Home — With Killer Benefits


If you’re in the market for a flexible, full-time position, Zapier has some cool opportunities that might be a fit.

The Silicon Valley-based startup, which helps businesses automate workflows, is hiring a Marketing Specialist. This multifarious content marketing position lets you work from home and comes with a load of benefits.

What You’ll Do

Zapier helps businesses automate their work by integrating apps like Gmail and Dropbox, which help free up their employees’ time.

Think: How to be more productive as a team of remote workers, or how to use apps like Evernote to make your workday easier.

Because it’s a startup, everyone does a little bit of everything. The Marketing Specialist in particular will be responsible for things like:

  • Maintaining relationships with partners — major brands like Google, Mailchimp and social networks
  • Creating marketing content like blog posts, webinars and how-to guides
  • Experimenting with strategies to teach new audiences about Zapier
  • Curating use cases and success stories to showcase what Zapier offers customers

The position doesn’t require a specific degree or set of credentials. The listing states:

“We believe that credentials don’t say everything. Our CTO has a finance degree. Our CEO has an engineering degree. Our CPO has a mechanical engineering degree. What you love doing is way more important than the credentials you have.”

So what does Zapier want its Marketing Specialist to “love doing”?

The position involves copywriting and content creation, so you should love writing and know how to craft smart copy.

You should know how to communicate with an audience and provide a positive customer experience while promoting growth.

As with any startup, you should be eager to learn and willing to take on tasks you’ve never done before. The word “experiment” in the workplace should excite, not terrify, you.

And, as the title suggests, you should love marketing. Read blogs or books on the topic in your free time and know the latest online marketing trends.

Work From Home and Get Awesome Benefits

The listing doesn’t explicitly call this a full-time position, but the benefits suggest you would be a full-time employee with the company, even as a remote worker.

Salary is based on experience — so hone your negotiation chops! And you’ll get these benefits:

  • Health care, including dental and vision coverage
  • 401(k) with a 4% company match
  • Profit sharing
  • Two or three annual company retreats to “awesome places”
  • Pick your own equipment (laptop, monitor and software), and the company provides it

To apply, send an introductory email and complete two short copywriting exercises to showcase your skills.

If this doesn’t sound like a fit, Zapier is also hiring a Developer Marketing Manager, API Engineer and Customer Champion, all with the option to work from home.

Your Turn: Are you looking for a work-from-home job? Will you apply to Zapier?

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).

The post This Company is Hiring a Writer to Work From Home — With Killer Benefits appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.



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Retro Fitness to open second Monroe County location

Despite being the largest planned gym in the entire franchise, the Stroudsburg Retro Fitness facility exceeded the expectations of its general manager.Since opening in the spring of 2015, the facility has become Retro Fitness’ fastest growing site, Brittney Goldstein said, posting the largest pre-sale numbers and membership growth of any gyms in the franchise.With that growth and demand has come room to expand, which Goldstein, along with owner Kevin Brody, will be doing [...]

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How to Ethically Use Your Customers’ Pain as a Powerful Marketing Tactic

pain

Pain is often a difficult subject to talk about.

But if you think about it, the entire point of being in business is to address customer pain points.

Why do I say this? Because the two biggest reasons why people spend money is to either 1) pursue pleasure or 2) ease pain.

Some people think it’s unethical to use pain as a marketing tactic.

I disagree.

Why? Because everyone is experiencing some level of pain already, and they are looking for ways to relieve it. That’s why they are interested in your product or service.

The field of neuromarketing has opened up new perspectives in how we understand and address our customers’ pain.

This method has been summed up in a New York Times article “The Secret of Neuromarketing: Go for the Pain.” It cites a marketing agency that focuses on pain as its primary method of marketing.

The company’s CEO is known as the “Chief Pain Officer.”

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When you use pain as a marketing tactic—reminding the customer of their discomfort, for example—you also offer a relief to that pain.

Obviously, there’s a right and a wrong way to do this. In the thick of marketing action, we don’t always know where the lines are drawn.

Among BuzzFeed’s endless archive of clickbait listicles is a list of the top 10 worst jokes comedian Gilbert Gottfried made after hearing of the 2011 tsunami that devastated Fukushima and other parts of Japan, leading to the Daiichi power plant meltdown.

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Critics say he went way too far way too soon. I agree. Gottfried was released from his contract as Aflac Duck.

It may seem insensitive, but the man is a comedian who also notoriously opened a Friars’ Club Roast in NYC a few months after 9/11 with a bang.

Gottfried’s job is to entertain people through humor in times of pain. Maybe he was trying to alleviate pain during a trying time. But at the same time, he screwed up.

Pain isn’t a laughing matter, especially when it involves suffering and death.

We as marketers need to keep that in mind. We also need to realize that simply addressing pain isn’t enough. We need to genuinely understand the critical pain points, empathize with the situation, and focus on a solution.

Ethics matter, especially in the field of marketing. And when you use pain to get your customers’ attention, doing it ethically is even more important.

Here are a few best practices businesses can use to address customer pain in an ethical way.

Target pain by opening lines of communication

The only way you can learn about your customers’ pain is through communication.

Communication is a two-way street. As a marketer, you communicate through your content. Your audience, in turn, communicates through social feedback, analytics, and other commentary.

Maybe you’re wondering, Okay, but what about understanding the customer’s pain?

That’s somewhat more difficult to get at.

But that’s not where you start the process, either.

The process starts with authenticity and transparency. And that starts with you.

A recent MarketingLand survey found 99% of consumers are willing to share information with companies so long as they ask permission first. Trust is a big part of convincing people to communicate.

Transparency and authenticity are vital components of building consumer trust, especially online.

Your livelihood as a marketer depends on your ability to be authentic and transparent.

Businesses aren’t inherently trustworthy. Just take a look at a trust index for businesses around the world during 2015 and 2016.

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Your customer base or audience must first trust you before you can understand their pain.

Why? Because pain is a sensitive and very personal thing.

In fact, pain is often seen as a form of weakness, and I’m much more likely to admit my pain to friends and family than to a profiteering business out to get my money.

Here are the two fundamental questions you should ask about your customers when you are seeking to understand their pain from a position of trust.

1. What pains do my customers have?

A business that successfully resolves a pain point is on the path to success. In order to address pain, you need to understand which pains a customer has.

What makes a person uncomfortable, scared, frustrated, angry, or sick?

Learning these triggers helps you understand how you can resolve them.

2. Which particular pain does my business address?

In order to sell a product or service, you need to be able to explain how your product or service can relieve your customer’s pain.

A recent survey of corporate executives found that to learn what customers think, companies employ nearly a dozen different techniques.

All involve either technology or customer interaction, and an extensive use of surveys and analytics.

image16

Of course, our business technology and how we interact with customers is often a pain point itself.

Consumer Reports continuously monitors how consumers feel about companies. A recent survey found technology hasn’t really improved how businesses interact with customers.

Despite astronomical leaps in technology over the past 30 years, many customers have the same gripes when it comes to dealing with companies and customer service.

image17

Finding out what people think is often a headache for companies, but by opening up communication online, I’ve learned quite a bit about my customers.

Using analytics and surveys to understand your customer’s pain is the most ethical method.

Take the survey above, for example. If your business has a customer service department, you should understand what kinds of things may irritate your customers.

These numbers tell you something very important: 75% of your callers will be frustrated if they can’t get a live person on the phone.

Now you know their pain.

And you know how to resolve it: get them in touch with a live person ASAP.

Let me provide a simple example using these two questions:

  1. What pains do my customers have?
  2. Which particular pain does my business address?

First, let’s find out the pain. To make this example super obvious, I’ll focus on a real physical pain: headaches.

You start with doing some research on your customers. You get data on headaches.

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You realize that those who suffer from headaches most frequently are women aged 18-44.

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Based on that information, you develop an advertisement targeting that demographic and promising to relieve their pain.

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It’s simple, ethical, and effective.

  • Figure out the pain.
  • Understand how you solve that pain.
  • Create a marketing approach that brings the two together.

Why pain context matters

Obviously, the model above is just scratching the surface.

Tools and technology are rapidly advancing, meaning we can access an increasing amount of data and intel on our customers—all completely ethically, of course.

Google and other search giants are already moving toward a contextual Internet. This means search algorithms will take the context of the content surrounding a link into consideration along with the context in which the browser is searching.

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A combination of contextual search and advancements in AI is leading to a world where predictive searches are becoming smarter and smarter. In turn, we need to adapt our websites and content to succeed in the future of search.

Google’s semantic search updates have been moving toward this future.

image10

Let’s say I’m experiencing hunger pains and searching online for a pizza. My search will indicate whether I’m looking for a pizza recipe or pizza delivery.

“Pizza order las vegas” is pretty obvious. Google knows I want someone to bring a pizza to my apartment.

image06

A different pizza-related query gives me completely different results.

image01

When analyzing keywords for which you’re ranking in the SERPs, consider the context in which visitors are reaching your site. Pay special attention to query type and intent. These issues have a huge impact on bounce rates, conversion rates, and other KPIs.

Although you may rank well for a particular search term, your sustainable performance depends on the content’s ability to address either the consumer’s pain or pleasure.

If all you’re selling is a pizza dress, while I may find it mildly interesting, it’s not going to relieve my hunger pains.

image19

Contextual search is actually one of the main components of machine learning and AI. Instead of traditional column- and cell-based databases, data in graph databases is stored in nodes, which allow for data relationships to be created.

Here’s what a graph database entails:

image15

Graph database platforms such as Neo4j power much of the personalization and recommendation software used in search engines, social media feeds, digital TV interfaces, and much more.

The information can be…complicated.

image21

But the results are extraordinary.

In the context of a movie search, a graph database would take into account which actors and directors are in the movie along with the rating, genre, and availability of online streaming services.

image14

All of this information is then paired with previous choices made by friends of the searcher or people of similar demographics and interests to present personalized contextual search results.

You can get similar information by looking at your search trends.

How do you get this information?

image11

The information you see can help you understand what people are typing in when they see your site in the SERPs or when they click through to your website.

Search queries give powerful insights into the kind of pain people are experiencing and the kind of solutions they are looking for.

Data that includes queries, pages, countries, devices, impressions, CTR, and dates provides great contextual information. You can use this information to understand, address, and promise to relieve your customer’s pain.

If you do sell a pizza dress, for example, certainly a keyword focus on “Pizza Dress” is a good idea as is focusing on “Funny Dress,” “Creative Dress,” and other contextual ideas that may draw customers.

I wouldn’t waste money advertising to pizza customers, though, because it’s a competitive keyword, and these searchers are not interested in a dress they can’t eat.

5 ethical best practices for addressing pain

Since we’re talking about ethics, we need to address privacy as well.

Today’s customers are jittery about privacy, and with good reason. We’re in an age of increasing data breaches.

image04

If we’re truly exercising ethical behavior, let’s make sure we’re respecting the customer’s privacy.

Following these five best practices will ensure you address your customers’ pain without taking away their control, eroding their trust, or risking their displeasure.

1. Ask permission and provide awareness

By this point, Google Analytics has existed long enough that the layman has a general idea of how information is being shared and used.

I’ll share my info with any site for this kind of personalization:

image20

Mobile devices are such a personal item that permission checks have become a regulatory requirement. It’s now generally best practice everywhere online.

You are even required to make your site visitors aware of the use of cookies.

image00

Always ask for whatever permissions you can. Be transparent about notifying visitors of the type of information you’re tracking and why.

2. Be mindful of the time

Back in the days of analog telephones, a lot of consumer protection laws were enacted by state and federal governments to limit the hours a person can be contacted.

Although the web provides seemingly unlimited access to data, it’s still important to be mindful of the times when people are working, sleeping, eating, etc. before bothering them with your pitch and becoming a pain point yourself.

Here’s when people are typically using their devices:

image03

Understanding the timing of your communications with customers helps you reach them more efficiently when you need to.

This is especially important if you use real time marketing tactics such as push notifications or SMS.

3. Know your role

Always remember you’re a guest in someone else’s life.

Like any other friendship or relationship, your relationship with your customers has boundaries. You don’t ask for too much. You don’t stick around longer than you should.

Above all, you treat the customer with professionalism and respect.

4. Act only with good business intent

Banks and other secure institutions flag celebrity and other high-value accounts to ensure they’re protected. This is just one extra layer on top of several other layers of information protection, which is why people trust banks with their personal financial information.

This same discipline should be practiced by every level of your company in order to build customer trust.

Build the kind of relationship that a patient may have with a physician, and customers will open up about their pain.

5. Document, and track everything

It’s important to track the analytics even when it comes to pain and satisfaction levels.

What kind of pain is your customer experiencing? How are you working to resolve it?

Take this Starbucks graph of customer satisfaction, for example.

image02

Without documentation, Starbucks would have had a difficult time figuring out why scores dipped in 2009, 2012, and 2015.

Tracking metrics across the board makes it much easier to figure out what and why went wrong, and what to do about it.

Another reason for careful tracking and documentation is the ethical reason. If you’re willing to document what you’re doing, it establishes your ethical standards.

Documentation enables transparency and provides proof of the tracking you’re doing.

Conclusion

Pain is an unavoidable part of the human condition.

We all feel it at one point or another in our lives, and often the pain is shared among many.

Businesses exist to ease pain. You as a marketer should be able to learn how your customers feel so you can address any pain they have. This takes a commitment to building mutual trust.

Tracking information is necessary to research and evaluate pain points, but this data must be collected, analyzed, and acted upon ethically.

What is your perspective on the role of pain in marketing? How do you work to address pain in your customers’ lives?



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Questions About CNBC, Wireless Internet, Slow Cookers, and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. The value of CNBC
2. Should I refinance?
3. Student loans or savings depletion?
4. Wireless service question
5. Questions about slow cookers
6. Roth IRA or 401(k)?
7. Using 401(k) to pay debt
8. Controlling odor with laundry soap
9. Uber basics
10. IRA basics
11. Disney Rewards Visa question
12. Summer book recommendations

I am mildly claustrophobic. Although I don’t break down into a panic, I don’t like to be in enclosed places and my brain is shouting “LEAVE! LEAVE! LEAVE!” whenever I find myself in such a place.

A few days ago, my family and I camped for two nights at Maquoketa Caves State Park, in eastern Iowa. As you might guess from the name, the park contains a lot of caves, many of them quite small.

I walked through several caves with my family, some large enough (like Dance Hall Cave) to not really bother me, while others made me want to run.

The last cave we visited on our longest hike was one called Ice Cave. It was one that led downwards off of the trail and because of the descent it was very cool inside.

The ceiling was low and I simply didn’t want to go down inside, so I told my wife and kids that I’d wait out on the trail.

After a minute or so, though, one of my children (my oldest son) came back to the cave entrance and told me that the ceiling was much higher inside the cave and that the temperature was surprisingly low in there. Then, he asked me to come down inside the cave with them.

I hesitated for a bit, but then he said he’d rather wait out on the trail with me. A few seconds later, my daughter came over and said the same thing.

I asked if they had explored the cave all the way through and they both said they hadn’t, but that they’d rather come back to the trail with me than explore the cave without me.

That really got to me, so I went down into the cave with the two of them and explored it with them. Believe it or not, the sense of claustrophobia didn’t really hit me at all.

Some things are bigger than fear.

Q1: The value of CNBC

I’d like to offer a different take on the recent CNBC value question. The reader asked what is the point of “showing these guys all day long talking about how this specific stock is hot”. While I’m not a fan of most of the talking heads stuff while the market is open, there is some value in CNBC if you know where to look. I was not initially not a fan of the show Mad Money as I thought Jim Cramer was just a talking head, but I found there is some value in his show. He often talks about the reasons why a market is performing like it is, has segments on technical analysis, and other market related advice. If you are someone with no interest in stocks you won’t find what he has to say valuable, but if you do, there is a lot of good information if you are looking for it. Just my two cents.
– Carl

There is useful info on CNBC. It’s not a barren wasteland devoid of worthwhile personal finance information. It’s just that the bits of useful information are surrounded by self-promotion, commercial breaks, and discussion of financial topics that are completely useless to the individual investor.

The problem is that it makes for a pretty bad signal-to-noise ratio, meaning that in order to ferret out the good parts, you have to wade through a lot of questionable stuff to find it.

For me, I find it much more worthwhile to just read a personal finance book by a reputable author. The information contained in that book is almost entirely useful, there are no commercial breaks, and the book is geared toward personal finance.

Q2: Should I refinance?

I am about 18 months into a 30 yr mortgage with ~390k outstanding principal on a house worth about 560k at 3.875%. My bank offered me a refinance with ~$3000 closing costs with a new rate of 3.25%. By my math I would ROI in about 1.5 years. Refinancing seems like a no-brainer (I’ll be staying in my house at least that long), but I am not sure if I’m missing anything that would make this a bad idea. Thoughts?
– Jim

You’re not missing anything. You’re just seeing the large impact of a reduction in interest rates. It’s huge.

If you ever have an opportunity to reduce your interest rate on a loan by more than 10%, it’s probably worth it (depending on the closing costs). Here, you’re reducing your interest rate by more than 16%. Such a reduction has a giant impact, one that’s going to save you quite a bit of money.

Why would a bank do this, then? The biggest one is to keep you as a customer. They may be concerned that you will refinance elsewhere, so this is a situation where you benefit from market competition.

Q3: Student loans or savings depletion?

Is it better to deplete a savings account to pay for college or leave some in savings and take out a private loan. I already have scholarship and federal loans.
– Sandra

It really depends on other factors in your life. This is one of those questions that really taps into the “personal” aspect of personal finance.

Do you have a history of following through with goals and plans? Do you have friends and family in the area who are supportive of you and are willing to help you out in a pinch? Do you have anyone who is dependent on you? Those are key questions here.

The stronger your support network is, the more you can draw from your savings account. If you have no support locally, you need to leave money behind as an emergency fund.

In any case, I’d leave at least some behind in savings to serve as an emergency fund. If you have nothing at all in there, you’re begging for an emergency to happen – a car failure or a personal emergency or something else.

Q4: Wireless service question

I am a property manager and we signed a bulk contract for a fiber network internet service for our whole property. They are required to provide a minimum number of mbps to each residence. That’s all the contract specified. Now I am getting complaints from residents about speed and when we submitted several tests, the provider said only hard-wired tests are valid. We were shocked since most people access the internet wirelessly. Are they right? We feel since the contract didn’t specify that the 30mbps had to be “wired” speed, that they should be providing 30 mbps speeds even if accessed wirelessly. Can you give me any input on what ISPs are talking about exactly when they advertise “30mbps?”
– Julie

Service providers will almost never guarantee a wi-fi speed because there are just too many variables when it comes to wi-fi data. For one, other people can jump onto wi-fi networks and use up the bandwidth, which cuts the speed for everyone. For another, distance from the wi-fi point and atmospheric conditions and interference can drastically cut speed over wi-fi, things that really don’t affect wired internet speeds.

If you’re not getting 30 Mbps over your wi-fi network, there are a lot of potential culprits to blame. Is your network password protected? Are there a lot of devices accessing the network? Is there anything interfering with the signal, like phones in the same frequency range or other wi-fi networks on the same frequency?

All of those factors can cause drops in wi-fi speed compared to the speed coming out of the wire and there’s no reasonable way a service provider can guarantee anything in those conditions.

You need to attach a computer of some kind directly to their router and see what kind of speed you’re getting through there. If that’s well below 30 Mbps, then you have an issue. If it’s at 30 Mbps but you’re getting far less than that over wi-fi, then it’s a wi-fi issue that you need to fix separately.

Q5: Questions about slow cookers

I read your article about five ingredient crock pot meals. Just wondering how you’d cook the chili, pot roast, and shredded beef? Also, does ground beef cook okay in a slow cooker?
– Ellen

Meats tend to cook just fine in the slow cooker. Back in the day, we cooked meaty chilis, pot roasts, shredded beef, shredded chicken, whole chickens, ground beef, and all sorts of other things right in the slow cooker without any problems.

All you need to do is to check the temperature of the food when you get home. Is the meat at or above the appropriate temperature to be considered safe to eat? If it is, then you’re good to go. Most slow cookers, even on low, get meat to at least that temperature over several hours.

If you have a good slow cooker, the instructions in a slow cooker cookbook will virtually never lead you wrong. Just use a thermometer to check the temperature if you’re in doubt and don’t eat anything that’s obviously undercooked (but that’s true no matter how you cook meat).

Q6: Roth IRA or 401(k)?

I just changed jobs and with that change came a huge raise — to me anyway. I’m wondering what to do with some if the money.

I am currently 55 and my husband is 60. Last year we bought a house with a 15 yr mortgage and have $131,292.37 left at 3.375% interest. My husband would like to pay that off in 9 years so we can retire. Our current payment is $623. principal, $369.26 for interest and $278.01 for escrow. We plan on adding another principal payment every month and then some to pay down the debt.

My 401K is at $208,000.00 and I contribute 15% while my company contributes 3%. I would like to up my contribution by 2% (still way below the max allowable) but I’m uncertain if I should input that 2% into the 401K pre-tax or into a Roth post tax. Other than the current and future tax implications, is a Roth better than a 401K? And if so, why?

And would it be better to pay off the mortgage rather than up the contributions to the maximum allowable for the 401K?
– Lois

Ignoring the tax implications entirely, Roth IRAs have one major advantage over 401(k)s: you control which investment house you use and which investments you choose, while your 401(k) is run by whatever company your employer chose and your investment options are usually pretty limited.

Even if the company managing your 401(k) is a good one and they offer quite a few choices, the options simply don’t compare to what you can find if you can choose the investment firm yourself and have access to all of the investment options from each company, which is what you get with a Roth.

If you include the tax implications, I think that it makes a lot of sense to hedge your bets when it comes to taxes and have some of your money in pre-tax retirement accounts (401(k)) and post-tax retirement accounts (Roth IRA).

Q7: Using 401(k) to pay debt

I need help quickly – I am 69 – planning to retire in February 2017 at 70. I have over $40,000 worth of debt (timeshare, credit cards, car note). My rent is $2500/month; I am married; earnings are $106,000/year; my husband is 72, social security is $1,600/month; I have $325,000 in my 401K. I wish to consult with my administrator regarding taking out enough money to pay all of the aforementioned debt before I retire in February, 2017. Thoughts please.
– Carrie

I would absolutely not take that money out before 2017 because of taxes.

If you take the money out in 2016, you’re going to be paying a high income tax rate on that withdrawal because it will count as income in addition to your normal salary. Your normal earnings are $106,000 per year, so if you withdraw another $40,000 from your 401(k) it will be as if your income this year is $146,000 and that last $40,000 will be in a pretty high tax bracket.

If you wait until next year, you’ll only bring in $15,000 or so in salary (depending on when exactly you retire) so that extra $40,000 withdrawal will only bump you up to $55,000 (you’ll also need to withdraw more throughout the year to live on). This means you’ll pay substantially less taxes if you wait until 2017 to withdraw the money.

You’ll want to talk to your administrator before doing anything, but if I were you, I’d withdraw money early in 2017 to pay off the debt rather than now.

Q8: Controlling odor with laundry soap

Do you have suggestions that would help me get fresher smelling laundry? I don’t use fels naptha soap, maybe I should but do all else as you say~ use slivers and ends of soap bars. I love the consistency of the soap but is there something I can add (baking soda? vinegar) into the mix to make it combat mildew or mold smell? Our water is hard/we use a filter system.
– Erin

Both vinegar and baking soda will work here, but do not add both as they react together.

If you choose to use baking soda, mix that right into your laundry soap mix. Add an equal amount of baking soda as you do borax to your mix and you’ll be fine.

If you choose to add vinegar, add vinegar to your laundry softener compartment before each load – half a cup will do just fine.

Both of those things will help a lot with laundry odor. Don’t do both, though, unless you want a ton of foam everywhere.

Q9: Uber basics

I am all signed with Uber to be a driver. How do I know if there are driving opportunities?
– Aaron

I’d suggest watching this Uber driver training video to help you get started on what you need to do. Once you’re all signed up, the app will tell you if there are driving opportunities nearby and you just snag them as they pop up.

Having talked to a few people who do occasional Uber driving, they tend to be able to constantly find driving opportunities in busy areas, but they get rarer when you’re away from downtown areas or airports.

For those unfamiliar with this, Uber is essentially a taxi service except that people in normal cars do the driving and you contact these drivers using a smartphone app. It’s kind of an alternative to the taxi system.

Q10: IRA basics

Your blog, and most other personal finance blogs out there, recommend using Vanguard for your investments. However, I see very little about how to structure these accounts within Vanguard, particularly for a couple. Can you help?

Do my wife and I each have to create separate accounts? Can some accounts be linked together anyway because they are shared investments? Is it possible to create multiple IRA accounts, so I don’t have to keep all of my rollovers together in one account? I love how at Ally and most banking sites, you can have multiple accounts, and I would like to do the same with Vanguard, so that I can separate my investment funds.

I just read JL Collins new book, The Simple Path to Wealth, and he talks about just needing a handful of funds, but without any detail about how to set them up correctly. Can you buy two different mutual funds (Stock index fund and bond index fund) within 1 IRA account, or do you need an IRA account for each separately?
– Bill

You each need to create separate accounts (as far as I can tell), but you can give each other permission to view the holdings and settings for each other’s accounts within Vanguard. Just visit the “Account Settings” link, then click on “Account Permissions” within there and it’s very straightforward.

You can buy as many funds as you want within a single IRA. You do not need separate IRAs for each fund that you want to buy, unless you want to set up another IRA with another investment firm because you want, say, a Fidelity fund and a Vanguard fund without paying brokerage fees. If all of your funds that you want are at Vanguard, then you can hold them all within a single Vanguard IRA.

You absolutely can have multiple IRAs, but they are effectively treated as one for tax purposes and contribution limits by the IRA. It also makes management more time consuming. Unless you have a strong investment-related reason to do so, you’re far better off investing the time to get everything together in one place so you don’t have to constantly deal with it in the future.

Q11: Disney Rewards Visa question

One of my friends say she is earning excellent ‘rewards’ with a Disney rewards visa. What do you think of these cards? Good or no? I currently use a hotel rewards visa with the IHG rewards and earn lots of free nights by running household expenses through this card. I would like to earn ‘rewards’ for our upcoming Disney vacation but I hesitate to apply for a new card and switch from my current IHG card. Just thought I’d ask your thoughts on this.
– Marilyn

The actual rate you earn is reasonable – 2% on most purchases and 1% on everything else – but the reward you earn is pretty restrictive. The card appears to pay out rewards in the form of “Disney Dream Reward Dollars,” which is basically credit for things on your Disney vacation.

While that’s good if you’re planning such a vacation in the near future, it’s not a good reward at all if you don’t plan on visiting a Disney park or buying a lot of Disney-themed goods in the near future or if something interferes with your trip.

A much better approach would be to get a card that offers more general use rewards, like a card that gives you a discount at your favorite retailer (like, say, a Target Visa if you shop there frequently, or an Amazon Visa) or one that offers actual cash back rewards. Then, take what you save from those rewards and put that money aside for a Disney vacation. That way, if the Disney vacation doesn’t pan out, you have cash rather than relatively unusable Disney Dream Reward Dollars.

Q12: Summer book recommendations

Any plans for a summer book recommendations post? I’ve found some books I’ve really enjoyed through past posts.
– Kelly

Here are some recent releases I’ve read that I highly recommend. All of these came out in the first part of 2016 and should be easily available at your local library. Two of them are novels and two of them are nonfiction books.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverence by Angela Duckworth is a wonderful book about the usefulness of “grit,” which Duckworth essentially defines as a person’s willingness to stick with something through the challenges. Her argument is that “grit” is one of the key things that brings about success in almost every area in life. Most of the book focuses on strategies for building “grit” within yourself. It’s a great read, especially if you find yourself aimless or afraid to tackle challenges.

The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin had the third and final book, The City of Shadows, released earlier this year. The series is a very character driven story about what happens after a handful of people who were given a drug intended to drastically increase human longevity instead turn into something akin to vampires (though somehow more relatable, which somehow makes them more horrorific) and then escape into the wild. What makes this trilogy really work for me is the characters – the characters draw you in to this setting and really leave you feeling invested in the events.

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren is a memoir by a female scientist who writes wonderfully both about the challenges of being a scientist and about being a woman in a scientific field, but also about how the passions and mindset that led her into her field wrap throughout every dimension of her life. If you’ve ever wanted to understand what drives a scientist, this is something that is incredibly worth reading.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx is a novel about several generations of two logging families, starting with the earliest generations that fought against things like Native Americans and diseases and injuries, and as the story moves on to later generations, about how they handle what happens when the woodlands that previously seemed infinite eventually run out of trees to cut down. This is one of the best novels of historical fiction I’ve ever read.

Hopefully you can find something within these four books that really hits home for you.

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

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