Gov. Wolf signs industrial hemp law

HARRISBURG — Three months after Pennsylvania legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law Wednesday allowing for greater cultivation of hemp, another cannabis plant.Farmers will be able to cultivate hemp in connection with state and academic research program as a result. The state Agriculture Department will oversee these programs. The law brings Pennsylvania in line with a recent federal law that allows hemp pilot programs at universities [...]

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Best Credit Report Site

I am guessing that a lot of The Simple Dollar readers already know their credit score. Even if you can’t recite the exact numbers off the top of your head, you probably know the general range. (I’m in the mid-700s.) I am also guessing that a lot of readers don’t regularly check their credit reports. Sure, there are a few of you who have calendar reminders to get your free, federally mandated credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com, but the rest of us haven’t looked at a credit report in years.

The problem? One out of every five people has an error on at least one of their credit reports. That’s direct from the FTC. Even worse, 5 percent of those errors “could lead to…paying more for products such as auto loans and insurance.” So you need to be checking your three credit reports for errors. There was an error on one of my credit reports, and there might be an error on yours.

The Simple Dollar’s Top Picks for Best Credit Report Site

• MyFICO: Best for people who want to improve their credit right now.
• Identity Guard: Best for people who want identity theft protection with a focus on credit monitoring.
• Honorable mentions: AnnualCreditReport.com (that’s the free one!) and IdentityForce.

It took me around 19 hours to research and review 22 different credit report sites to find which was the best to improve — and protect — your credit.

I was able to eliminate more than half of the services right away because they didn’t provide a complete set of credit reports and scores. Dan Crimmins, financial coach with the firm Crimmins Wealth Management in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, and author of award-winning financial blog Roots of Wealth, explains: “A good service should provide credit scores and credit reports from all three credit agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. These reports allow you to verify that the information is correct and that no one is stealing your identity or committing fraud using your accounts, Social Security number, or other personal information.”

Yes, Crimmins is referencing both credit monitoring and identity theft monitoring, both of which are essential components of a top-level credit report site. (Some services bill themselves primarily as a credit report site with identity theft monitoring included, and other services consider themselves an identity protection tool that also track credit reports and credit scores — the marketing doesn’t matter as long as you’re getting all the necessary information.) To make my top picks, I also looked for credit report sites that offered educational tools to help you improve your credit, from calculators to help you predict your future credit score to articles and blogs to help you make smart personal finance decisions.

MyFICO: Best for People Who Want to Improve Their Credit

The Fair Isaac Corporation, now known as FICO, is one of the biggest names in credit scores. It makes sense that its credit report service would be focused on helping you get that FICO score as high as possible. It’s also what puts the company at the top of my list — myFICO makes it so easy to track and improve your credit score. It’s $30 per month, which is more expensive than the three-bureau options offered by my other picks, but if your credit needs work, the extra cash is totally worth it.

MyFICO contextualizes your credit reports.

I don’t know if you’ve read your credit reports recently, but they are not designed to be understood at a glance. You have to figure out, on your own, that “COMENITY BANK/ATYLRLMC” means “Ann Taylor MasterCard.” (It had great rewards.) Then you have to look at every box representing every month that you’ve had that card open, to make sure there aren’t any errors, like a reported late payment when you’ve always paid on time.

MyFICO’s credit report comparison tool, including reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

MyFICO gives you everything you need to know about your credit reports on a single screen. If you want to see anything in more detail, you can click through and learn more about the positive and negative items on your credit reports — and whether you need to dispute anything.

Identity Guard and IdentityForce both combine your three credit reports into a side-by-side comparison report, which makes it slightly easier to compare information collected by each bureau. However, the services don’t contextualize that information, which means you’re still doing the work of translating credit-report-ese into comprehensible language.

AnnualCreditReport.com, of course, does none of that. You get your three credit reports for free, and you’re on your own.

An Experian credit report provided by AnnualCreditReport.com.

MyFICO’s Score Simulator shows you what you can do right now to improve your credit.

This is my favorite myFICO feature. The Score Simulator allows you to test out various scenarios that might affect your credit, from applying for a new credit card to making your next few payments on time instead of late. (MyFICO doesn’t judge.) If you’re thinking about applying for a home loan, myFICO gives you a list of credit-building actions to consider (and simulate) so you can see what your credit score might look like three months down the road.

You’ll notice, as you use the Score Simulator, that each of the three credit bureaus treats these actions slightly differently. Consolidating my credit card balances, for example, might make my TransUnion score go up by 10 points and my Experian score go down by 10 points.

MyFICO’s Score Simulator lets you see how different actions could affect your credit scores.

If you’re curious about why doing something like consolidating your debt can make one credit score go up and another credit score go down, it’s because the three bureaus each analyze and value credit data differently. (For more on that subject, read myFICO’s “Why are my scores different for the 3 credit bureaus?”)

If you want to get your credit score as high as possible, maybe because you’re apartment-hunting or shopping for a loan, take some time to figure out exactly which steps will get you there. (The Score Simulator lets you combine actions into multi-step scenarios, like “pay down your debt” followed by “increase your credit limit.” It’s that thorough.) Even if you only have one month to improve your credit, myFICO can help you boost that score.

Identity Guard and IdentityForce both offer credit simulator tools, but they don’t include myFICO’s graphics and they don’t give you as many simulation options. They also don’t suggest steps to take before applying for a mortgage or an auto loan. You can still test scenarios and their potential effects on your credit score, but the tools aren’t as versatile as the one myFICO offers.

MyFICO graphs your credit score’s ups and downs.

MyFICO and Identity Guard both include mobile apps that allow you to view your credit score and receive alerts, but myFICO’s app has an extra feature: a graph that illustrates how your credit score changes from day to day. (This graph is also available in the desktop interface.)

My TransUnion score, for example, went up after I made my monthly credit card payments and went down after I charged a few purchases to my credit cards. My Equifax score went up and stayed up. My Experian score didn’t change.

If you’re right between two credit categories (like “good” vs. “very good”), you can use these graphs — and the data they provide about why your credit score changed — to bump your credit score up into the higher category right before you fill out an apartment application or do something else that might involve a credit score check. Even if you’re not on the cusp of a better credit category, it’s still fun to watch the numbers go up and down. MyFICO is the only service I tested that provided a credit score graph, which is one more reason why it was my top pick.

MyFICO provides a quick link to the dispute process.

MyFICO made it very easy for me to start the dispute process for the one error I found on my Equifax report (it listed a former address as my current one). I followed a link from myFICO to Equifax’s site, and from there followed the instructions to file a dispute — and learned that this error appeared to have already been resolved. Credit reports are constantly pulling in new information about you, so it looked like Equifax had already figured out its mistake. If the error hadn’t been resolved, it would have been relatively simple to submit my current address; after that, it’s on the credit bureaus to confirm the information and update the credit report (or deny the dispute request).

All of the services I tested included links and/or instructions to help you dispute errors on your credit report. MyFICO provided the most visible links, although Identity Guard provided the most thorough instructions. (It was through Identity Guard, not myFICO, that I learned that the bureaus are supposed to respond to credit report disputes within 30 days, as well as what to do if you don’t get a response or if you disagree with the response.) However, it’s worth noting that when it came time to file my own dispute, I clicked the link at myFICO because it was the biggest.

MyFICO monitors your credit — and your day-to-day transactions.

MyFICO keeps an eye on your credit report for any changes that might represent potential identity theft, such as a new credit inquiry or an address change. It also tracks your day-to-day transactions, kind of like Mint, YNAB, or other personal finance tools — but myFICO doesn’t care if you stick to your budget. MyFICO just wants to make sure that every transaction that hits your credit cards or bank accounts is actually yours.

Both myFICO and IdentityForce offer transaction monitoring — Identity Guard does not — and I should mention at this point that I almost neglected to set up myFICO transaction monitoring because its dashboard was a little cluttered and my eyes never went to the below-the-fold, off-to-the-side spot that told me the feature wasn’t turned on. However, once I got the monitoring set up, I found, once again, that myFICO was offering the superior monitoring tool.

With myFICO, you can set up alerts to notify you every time one of your accounts has a transaction over a certain dollar amount. That’s what IdentityForce offers too, but here’s where myFICO does it one better: With myFICO, you can also set up balance change alerts to flag any unusual spending patterns. The idea is that if you usually put $200-250 on your credit card every month, myFICO will let you know if there are charges over that amount. Those charges just might be from an identity thief. (Even though they’re probably from you.)

MyFICO alerts you of potential identity theft threats.

On the subject of identity theft: MyFICO also constantly searches black market websites for your personal information. Identity Guard and IdentityForce also scan black market websites, but myFICO was the only service that sent me any black market alerts during the testing period.

This isn’t to say that I was 100 percent thrilled with myFICO’s black market monitoring. During the testing period, I received four alerts indicating my information had been found on a black market website. Three of the alerts were out-of-date — like, myFICO wanted me to know that one of my passwords had passed through a black market website in 2013 — but one of them was current.

The trouble was that I couldn’t tell what information had been stolen. MyFICO’s alert explained that my email address and one of my passwords had been spotted on a black market site, and that I needed to change my password, but it didn’t give me enough information to determine which password it was. (All I got was the big long string of letters and numbers that websites use to hide my password, not the actual password I had created.)

So I called myFICO’s customer service, conveniently open 24/7, and spoke to a person who told me which password it was. All in all, this wasn’t a great experience. I didn’t like that I couldn’t tell which of my passwords had been stolen, and I didn’t like receiving notifications that one of my passwords might have hit a black market site in the past. (I do mean notifications, by the way. Every time I received a message from myFICO, I got it via text, email, and app alert, simultaneously. If you use myFICO, I suggest turning at least one of those notification tools off.)

Still, I liked that customer service was open 24/7, and I liked that they were able to immediately address my problem. I also appreciate that MyFICO was the only service to warn me of a potential identity threat alert, even though it could have skipped the alerts from events that are now several years behind us.

MyFICO includes an educational blog and an active forum.

Here’s one more thing that MyFICO does better than its competitors: personal finance education.

Identity Guard, IdentityForce, and myFICO all have educational resources and articles, but Identity Guard’s and IdentityForce’s resources are written to provide information rather than inspiration. MyFICO includes a personal finance blog with posts like “Does your credit impact your health?” and “The do’s, don’ts, and what-ifs when choosing a credit card.” It’s not The Simple Dollar, but it’s a great resource — and so is the MyFICO forum, where you can talk to other forum members about personal finance issues. (There’s a whole section devoted to relationships and money.)

With its Score Simulator, its forum, and the tight watch it keeps on your transactions and personal information, myFICO is ready to be the credit mentor you’ve always wanted. Just call it your credit score Dumbledore.

Identity Guard: Best for People Who Just Want to Monitor Their Credit

Identity Guard is a credit report site for people who want set-it-and-forget-it protection. MyFICO is ready to make you an active participant in your heroic journey toward better credit, but Identity Guard is perfectly happy to let you check in once a month or so. Or, you know, wait for the company to contact you. It’s $15 per month for all three credit bureaus, and it includes a free 30-day trial.

This isn’t to say that you can’t use Identity Guard to improve your credit. As I mentioned earlier, the service includes a credit analyzer that lets you test different scenarios and their effect on your credit score, including scenarios that can be completed in the next month.

Although you don’t get myFICO’s simple credit report overview, Identity Guard does let you view all three of your credit reports side by side, which is a good way to see if they’re all showing the same information or if one of them might have an error.

Identity Guard’s mobile app is pretty basic — just your credit scores, a news feed, and the option to receive alerts — and it doesn’t provide the fun credit score graph that myFICO includes. However, the app is still useful because it gives you a summary of the factors that influence your credit score, in case you want to see if any of those factors can be improved. (In my case, I could boost my credit score by taking out a mortgage or an auto loan — which would also mean buying a house or a car, so I’m not going to do that.)

Here are a few of Identity Guard’s other strengths:

Identity Guard makes it easy to see if you’re fully protected.

I love Identity Guard’s dashboard. It’s a quick and easy overview of your protection. As I mentioned above, myFICO’s dashboard was so cluttered with information that it took me several days to realize I hadn’t activated all of its features. Identity Guard gives me a one-stop check-in.

In case you’re wondering why I didn’t turn on the computer-monitoring services, they’re Windows-only. (Sorry, Mac users.)

Identity Guard literally sends you comforting words.

I would like to share the best email I have ever received from a company, ever:

The other credit report sites sent me emails telling me I needed to log into my account and review transactions or deal with identity theft false alarms. Identity Guard told me there was nothing I needed to do.

Identity Guard also sent me a one-month anniversary email that stated: “Good news, from what we can tell no notable activity has been detected with your personal information. If any new activity occurs, we will promptly alert you.” Identity Guard doesn’t offer transaction monitoring, so that explains why I wasn’t getting transaction alerts, but I had wondered why Identity Guard wasn’t sending me the same black market alerts that I was getting from myFICO. It looks like Identity Guard tracks black market sites differently, and only considers “notable activity.” (Which, after my experience with myFICO’s black market alerts, might be a good thing.)

Identity Guard gives you thorough instructions.

MyFICO and Identity Guard were both pretty good at providing instructions and explanations, but Identity Guard was the only site to thoroughly explain the credit report dispute process, how long the process might take to complete, and what to do if the credit bureaus don’t respond within the required 30 days.

The whole time I tested Identity Guard, I felt very secure and comfortable. I knew why it asked me to connect my bank accounts and credit cards, and I knew when I had completed all the steps required to protect myself. If myFICO is your credit score Dumbledore, Identity Guard is the wards around Hogwarts — ready to keep you safe while you go about your day.

Best Credit Report Site Honorable Mentions

AnnualCreditReport.com is the free credit report site developed as a response to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, aka FACTA. The federal government and the credit bureaus agreed that all of us have the right to one free credit report from each of the three bureaus every year, and AnnualCreditReport.com is where you go to get them.

Can you get by with just AnnualCreditReport.com? Absolutely. Ryan Guina, founder of Cash Money Life and The Military Wallet, explains: “Many people do well with pulling one of their three credit reports every four months. This way you are constantly checking for errors throughout the year and do not get blindsided by a poor score when you need your credit.”

Be aware that the free version is a little more labor-intensive. AnnualCreditReport.com is super bare-bones, and the website looks like it hasn’t been updated much since 2003. The site provides a few educational resources, but you have to do the work of pulling your credit reports — which only takes roughly 10 minutes, but still — and scanning them for errors and potential identity theft issues yourself. You also have to remember to check one of your three credit reports every four months, if that’s your plan.

IdentityForce provides all of the essential tools you need to monitor your credit report and boost your credit score. It’s got credit report monitoring, transaction monitoring, identity theft monitoring, and a simulator to let you see how opening new credit cards or transferring balances might affect your credit score. But none of its features are better than the competitors, and at $24 per month for the package that offers daily credit monitoring, it’s about $9 more each month than Identity Guard and only $6 less than myFICO. It offers transaction monitoring, but not balance change monitoring; it has a credit simulator, but the simulator doesn’t have graphics, and it doesn’t have a mobile app. I elected to give IdentityForce an honorable mention.

Don’t discount credit report sites just because you’re on a budget. The best credit report sites are worth the money.

I know The Simple Dollar is all about thrift, so I asked Joe Saul-Sehy, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast and former financial advisor, why all of us budget-minded individuals should pay a little extra for one of the best credit report services, which will be a few dollars more each month when compared to the lesser quality options. Here’s his response:

“Great question, and ALWAYS the first question you should ask yourself before using an add-on service. ‘Am I getting more for the extra premium I’m paying?’ In the case of myFICO, you get ongoing credit monitoring, so that if someone dings your credit report, you receive notification of the event immediately and some steps to help you resolve the issue. There are also credit suggestions to help you raise your credit score. Identity Guard not only looks at your credit score, but also monitors black markets and exchanges to quickly alert you if your identity or credit accounts have been compromised.”

Since myFICO, Identity Guard, and IdentityForce all offer monthly subscriptions, you could sign up for a credit report site for just a few months, check your credit report, dispute errors, and run a few simulations. That would be the thrifty way to get the benefits of a credit report site without paying for a long-term subscription. If you like what you’re getting, or want to spend more time focusing on improving your credit score, you might decide that the credit report site is worth the money.

Think of credit report sites as “preventative maintenance.”

Even if your credit is good, you can still benefit from a credit report site. Here’s more great advice from Saul-Sehy:

“I’m a proponent of preventative maintenance … so I want to consider my credit reporting service before I need it. That means that, early on, I want to know how to look at my credit, scour through details on the report, and how to interpret my score. Those are all easier activities to learn than they sound. It’s like riding a bike.

By starting early you’ve accomplished a few things.

1. You know how credit works so you’re less likely to get into trouble or be surprised later.
2. You’ll take actions that improve your credit intentionally instead of accidentally backing into good credit.
3. When you need credit, it’s always available.

Plus, you’re less likely to need it often because you’ll see early on how much a poor credit score can hurt you.”

I really appreciated the insight into my credit that I got while testing different credit report services, especially the myFICO tools that showed me just how much my credit score went up and down each month, and how it could continue to go up if I kept paying off my debt. I understand my credit report and my credit score, and what I need to do to, as Saul-Sehy puts it, “improve my credit intentionally.”

Don’t let a credit repair company ruin your credit.

If you’re considering using a credit repair company to improve your credit, be aware that there are a lot of unscrupulous credit repair services out there. It will also cost you hundreds of dollars for a service that might not actually do you that much good. The Simple Dollar has a guide explaining how to tell if a credit repair company is a scam, and I’d suggest reading that thoroughly before signing up with any sites. (Beware of any company that claims it can give you a “new credit identity,” because that identity is very likely to be stolen.)

Even the good credit repair companies are only going to be able to do the same kinds of things you can do on your own, like analyzing your report for errors and starting the dispute process.

You can improve your credit in the short term, but it’s also important to think long term.

When you start poking around a credit report site, you’re probably interested in how to get that credit score up as soon as possible. There are a lot of ways to improve your credit in the short term, but it’s important to know that your credit is also likely to slowly improve over the long term if you continue to practice good credit habits.

There’s also this thing called “aging your credit,” which essentially means that the longer you have a credit account open and in good standing, the more influence it has on your credit score. (This is also why people advise you not to close out credit cards after you pay them off.) If you have negative items on your credit report, from late payments to bankruptcy, those items will have less influence on your credit score over time and many negative items disappear completely after seven years.

So think of what you can do today to improve your credit, but also think of what you want to start doing now to make sure that your credit looks good as it ages. If you need help, use one of those credit simulator tools I mentioned earlier, and see what might happen to your credit in the next few years.

The Bottom Line

Even if you’re already well-acquainted with your credit score, it’s still important to regularly review your credit report and monitor it for errors and potential identity theft. The best credit report sites take care of the monitoring for you while giving you tools and advice to help you improve your credit. If you’re looking to power-level your credit score, try myFICO. If you’d like a general monitoring package, consider Identity Guard. If you’re on a budget, go to AnnualCreditReport.com for your free annual credit reports — but make sure to read them carefully, because one out of five of us is likely to find an error.

Related Articles:

• What is a Good Credit Score?
• Five Ways to Improve Your Credit Score Without a Credit Card
• How to Build Credit

The post Best Credit Report Site appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Waste authority says haulers failed to take solid waste to one of two Monroe County landfills in civil suits

Four garbage haulers broke the law by failing to take solid waste collected in Monroe County to one of the county’s two designated landfills, the Monroe County Municipal Waste Manage Authority charges in separate civil suits.The waste authority — which is designated to implement Monroe County’s waste management plan under state law — requires haulers to deposit all locally collected waste in either the Alliance Landfill in Taylor, Lackawanna [...]

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Ex-justices sue over retirement age

HARRISBURG (AP) — Two retired Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices and a Philadelphia lawyer filed a lawsuit Thursday, asking the state courts to rework a November ballot question that would change the state constitution to give judges five more years before they are forced to retire.Ex-justices Ronald Castille and Stephen Zappala Sr. and lawyer Dick Sprague argue in their Commonwealth Court lawsuit that the current wording will defraud voters because it does not make [...]

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5 Easy Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Sparkle in Less Than 30 Minutes

Time for some real talk: Your LinkedIn profile probably sucks.

I know mine sure did.

If you have one — only 22% of American adults do — you probably haven’t updated it in months, maybe even years.

But a recent comment from one of our Penny Hoarder readers got me thinking: I really should update my profile. And so should you.

Here’s why…

Why You Should FINALLY Update Your LinkedIn Profile

I made my LinkedIn profile several years ago, and, except for a few basic job updates, I’ve barely looked at it.

Since I unsubscribed from emails (why does LinkedIn send SO MANY?), the simple act of logging in can be pretty overwhelming. Usually, I see all the notifications and quickly sign off.

But then, I read a comment one of our fantastic Penny Hoarders left on our Facebook page.

We asked, “Do you use LinkedIn? Has it helped you find a job?” — and Amie’s reply was:

Yup. My boyfriend was recruited for a great engineering position and the day he started his job was the same day I received a terrific offer from an environmental construction company who reached out to me via LinkedIn. Neither of us were in the job market at the time we were contacted and our combined income is ~$140k.

They both got jobs from using LinkedIn? Real, live, high-paying jobs? I didn’t know that was even a possibility.  

Not that I need a job (‘cause I work at The Penny Hoarder!) — but when I learned people have had success with LinkedIn (passive success at that!), I decided it was high time for a profile makeover.

5 LinkedIn Profile Tips: Stand Out in Less Than 30 Minutes

Improving your LinkedIn profile doesn’t need to take long. A half-hour is all you need to make a huge difference.

One tip: Recruiters use keywords like “sold,” “achieved” and “built” when searching for candidates, so be sure to sprinkle powerful words throughout your freshly updated profile.

1. Customize Your URL

You’ve got a customized URL for your Facebook and Instagram pages — so why not LinkedIn?

It looks more professional (and is way easier to remember) if you make your URL something like http://ift.tt/1matMi8. Here’s a tutorial that shows you how.

2. Delete That Selfie

How’s your profile photo? If it’s a selfie, or has your buddies cropped out on either side of you, it’s gotta go.

Your photo’s your first impression; make it count.

Nowadays, everyone carries a camera in their pocket, so get outside in some natural light and have a friend snap a few nice, professional-looking headshots.

3. Write a Killer Headline

Other than your photo, your headline is often the only thing people will see, since those are the only things that pop up on search pages. You have a generous 120 characters to sell yourself — use them!

Include your title first, and then consider adding one (or more) of the following:

Strengths: What sets you apart from the other people in your position? This is also a great spot to include some industry keywords.

Services: What can you offer the reader? Consulting services? Custom logo design? Make it known right from the start!  

Personality: Show off your humor or silly side. By reflecting your true self, you’re more likely to attract employers who are a good fit.

Here are some resources on creating smart and helpful LinkedIn headlines.

4. Spruce Up Your Summary

Who are you and why do you rock? Of course, that will probably be difficult to sum up in a few paragraphs, but the summary is your opportunity to try.

To make the most of your summary, William Arruda says, “you must be able to express your personal brand in 2,000 characters and glorious 3D, creating a dazzling picture of who you are and what makes you great.”

Need some guidance on how to do it? I LOVE his detailed strategy.

5. Ask for Recommendations

It might sound scary, but don’t skip this step!

LinkedIn makes it really easy to write and request recommendations. Job search strategist Mir Garvy recommends you have “at least three,” and says one to two recommendations for every 50 connections is a “good guideline.”

To request one from a supervisor or colleague, click on the arrow near your profile photo, and click “Ask to be recommended.” They’ll receive a request; once it’s submitted, all you have to do is click “Add to profile.”

If you’re feeling hesitant, try writing a recommendation for someone first — then ask them to reciprocate.

Woohoo! At this point, your profile should be lookin’ pretty fly.

Ask a friend to proofread it, and when you’re all done, click on “View profile as” to make sure it shows up correctly to your visitors.

Then, who knows? If you’re anything like Amie and her boyfriend, opportunity could come knocking!

Your Turn: When’s the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile?

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

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GF¢ 067: 7 Mistakes Investors Make Planning For Retirement

Few investors, if any, sail through life without making mistakes, but when it comes to retirement investing, serious missteps can cost you.

And cost you big!

Through the years in working with retirees and soon to be retirees all across the U.S. we’ve identified the 7 common mistakes that investors make that can potentially ruin their retirement.

Most of these mistakes could be avoided, but it takes having the right information to help you make an informed decision.

And that’s why we created this complimentary course.

Because we want you to retire when you want with as much money as you need to live your life how you want.

If there’s any chance you feel you’re making one of these mistakes in your retirement planning, we strongly encourage you to go through this course.

Remember: a wise investor is an informed investor, and we want you to be both.

And how do become a wiser investor?  You educate yourself!

If you enjoyed this podcast, then you’ll really enjoy this course that Andrew Rogers, my Director of Financial Planning, and I created:  7 Mistakes Investors Make Planning For Retirement.  This course is free (currently) so get enrolled while you can!

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This Travelocity Anniversary Sale Means You Can Get Hotel Prices From 1996

1996 was a pretty good year. It was the year of the Spice Girls’ “Spice,” the beginning of AskJeeves (remember that?!) and the reelection of Bill Clinton.

It was also the year Travelocity launched.

And the travel booking engine is celebrating its 20th anniversary in a pretty fun way: by rolling back some hotel prices to what they were in 1996.

How to Get Travelocity Hotels at 1996 Prices

You won’t find all of Travelocity’s massive hotel inventory in the sale — the vast majority are in international destinations — but if you’re looking for an exotic getaway, it’s well worth a look.

More than 1,000 hotels around the world are advertising prices from 1996, and some of the deals are pretty killer.

You could save 50% at the Wildwood Hotel in St. Louis. Or pay $55 a night for what’s normally a $275 hotel room at Disney World.

Though, for some reason, the site is promoting bookings between August 29 and September 2, I found availability on lots of other dates.

“There aren’t any specific travel date restrictions for this promotion,” Keith Nowak, Travelocity’s director of communications, confirmed in an email. “Just enter your destination and dates, and our site will find the ‘1996 pricing’ deals that match those criteria.”

In destinations that are already cheap, the prices are rock-bottom.

Seriously, you could get a weekend at a hotel for the same price as a nice dinner out. You do, of course, have to get there — but if you’re collecting frequent flyer miles and points, that shouldn’t be that hard.

You could, for example, save 74% at the insane-looking The ONE Legian in Bali, paying $32 per night instead of $120 for four-star luxury and infinity pools.

Or pay $19 per night, instead of $55, at this boutique hotel in Chiang Mai. (I spent that on ONE DRINK at a Dierks Bentley concert last week — no, I don’t want to talk about it.)

The sale runs from now through July 29, 2016.

Although I’m relieved that the scrunchies and platform sandals of my youth aren’t making a comeback, I’m pretty delighted these hotel prices are!

Your Turn: Will you jump on any of these hotel sales?

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

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9 Genius Ways Pokemon Go Can Help You Earn Money This Weekend

I confess: I don’t know what a Pokemon is, exactly. I also don’t want anyone to explain it to me, but thank you, anyway.

But I do know that where there’s a craze attracting thousands of people of all ages, creeds, shapes and sizes, there’s money to be made.

So if you’re wondering what to do this weekend while everyone you know chases video game monsters around town on their smartphones, here are some clever ways to make money off Pokemon Go and join the fun — even if you’re not playing it.

1. Drop a Lure at Your Garage Sale or Lemonade Stand

Comstock/Getty

Local retail businesses, bars and restaurants have caught on fast.

They’re placing Pokemon Go Lures at their shops to attract players (dubbed “trainers,” because they’re catching, caring for and training Pokemon for battle).

Even if you don’t run a business, you and your family can attract some patrons to your weekend side hustle by placing a Lure, which attracts Pokemon to your location for 30 minutes.

Those Pokemon, in turn, will attract trainers, who may want a break or a quick refreshment to refuel for the day’s hunt.

If you rent a stand at a local farmers market or flea market, you could attract some extra business the same way. Just be mindful your PokeStop doesn’t encourage eager trainers to gather in the way of shoppers who want to enjoy the rest of the market!

2. Run a Refreshment and Recharging Station

Christopher Robbins/Getty

If you don’t want to lure players to you, go to them!

Running around parks and neighborhoods all day with an augmented reality game running full blast isn’t kind to a phone’s battery.

Help keep the game Go-ing by setting up a recharging station at a popular park or other hotspot.

Set up a table with a portable power bank (or a few), and charge a few bucks to allow players to recharge their phone’s batteries. You could even run an extension cord to your house or garage, or set up a generator outside if the space allows it.

While you’re there, help the players recharge, too!

Offer refreshments like bottled water, granola bars, trail mix and other snacks. Stock up in bulk at Sam’s Club or Costco, and you could a make a profit reselling them.

Without a permit, you may have to rely on donations to earn money instead of direct sales. Be sure to check the rules in your area before setting up shop.

3. Sell Photos and Videos of the Action

Michael Blann/Getty

Have you seen blogs, news stories and social media covering Pokemon Go over the past few weeks?

They need unique photos of the action!

Enjoy an afternoon at your local parks, and snap photos of players gathering — I promise you’ll see them. Contact the photo or images editor at your local news outlets to sell them, or upload them to the live news marketplace at Alamy.

The craze isn’t going away anytime soon, either, so consider selling some photos through stock photography sites for evergreen use, as well.

But make sure when you’re taking pictures of people — even in public — that you know whether your intended use will require a model or property release. Come prepared with your documents in a model release app.

4. Coach Local Businesses on How to Make Money

AzmanJaka/Getty

Are businesses in your town lagging behind this trend? Offer to catch them up.

For a small fee, you can explain the phenomenon to local business owners and teach them how — and why — to place a Lure to attract trainers. If you’re teaching them well, they’ll understand how quickly they can make their money back.

Help groups of local businesses work together with pub crawls or scavenger hunts to attract patrons all over town.

The fee is up to you. Depending on your relationship with the business owner, you could ask for around $25-$100 for 30-60 minutes of your time. Or take a free meal or a few drinks.

5. Offer to Watch Kids or Pets

Brand X Pictures/Getty

You could also offer to watch kids, or walk or feed dogs for your friends who want a few free hours to hunt Pokemon.

Earn $20-$40 for an afternoon of hanging out with another soul who doesn’t care about the game. If you don’t know anyone with children or dog-children at home, try DogVacay to find pet-sitting jobs in your area.

On the flip side, you could chaperone groups of younger players, so reluctant parents don’t have to spend Saturday afternoon hunting Pika-whatevers when they could probably use some rest.

6. Make Money Off Your Pokemon-Hunting Prowess

Whatever the game, you’ll always find players who want to get ahead as fast as possible, without concern for the journey. And they’re willing to pay for it.

If you happen to be a top-notch Pokemon trainer, you could sell your services to others who don’t have the time or energy to hunt on their own.

Or you could give up your account altogether for a pretty penny. One Pokemon-loaded account sold for $1,500 on eBay, Gizmodo reported. But they had Magikarps, so, you know. You’ve gotta be good.

7. Drive Players Around

CaseyHillPhoto/Getty

Sure, fresh air and exercise are great incidental benefits of a video game that incorporates your real-life surroundings.

But some players aren’t able to walk for extended periods due to injury, disability or other factors — and you can help!

Offer your driving services via gig sites like Craigslist, TaskRabbit or Fiverr — or just post it on Facebook. Drivers in major cities are charging around $20-$30 per hour, according to Gizmodo.

8. Get the Best Gigs

If you don’t already have them, create accounts with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and TaskRabbit.

The work is different between these sites, but the strategy for earning money is the same: Find well-paying gigs you can complete quickly.

The more work you can turn around, the more money you’ll make for your time.

While other Taskers and Turkers are occupied with Pokemon Go, take the opportunity to claim some of the best gigs and earn extra money this weekend.

9. Sell Custom Walking Sticks

rweisswald/Getty

Remember all the walking I mentioned? Add to it that being rustic and artisanal is so in right now, and you’ve got a prime market for walking sticks!

Harvest free wood from your own or a friend’s property or public land, and whittle one-of-a-kind designs to appeal to Pokemon Go players.

Offer them for sale at a recharging station, or take custom orders to match each trainer’s character. Depending on the skill involved, your sticks could go from anywhere between $8-$10, or up to $60 if you find a real die-hard fan of the craft.

Your Turn: How are you getting involved in the Pokemon Go craze?

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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Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2016

The top travel credit cards offer a lot more than points on your everyday spending. With a solid plan in place, credit card rewards can actually make your travel dreams come true.

Imagine flying business class to Tokyo for pennies on the dollar or spending five nights at a luxury resort in the Maldives for the cost of a boat ride to your secluded private island.

With travel rewards, all of that and more could be yours; all it takes is some planning, some time to build up your stash of points, and a few strategic cards that make sense with your travel goals and finding the best frequent flyer credit card for you.

And if it’s family travel you’re after, travel credit cards are the perfect tool. By putting almost all of your everyday spending on a top travel credit card, you can earn enough points to score free hotel stays, almost-free domestic and international flights, and plenty of other travel experiences your family might not be able to afford otherwise.

Best Travel Credit Cards for 2016

Before we dig into the details, let’s take a closer look at our top picks among all of the best travel rewards credit cards:

• Best All-Around – Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Easiest Signup Bonus – BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card
• Most Flexible Rewards – Citi ThankYou^® Premier Card
• No Blackout Dates – Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard
• Best Airline Specific Travel Rewards Card – Citi^®/ AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® MasterCard^®
• Most Valuable Points – Starwood Preferred Guest^® Credit Card from American Express
• Best Hotel Rewards – Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Best All-Around Travel Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers more than just a huge signup bonus. As part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, this card doles out points that are highly celebrated and touted as some of the most valuable in the industry.

After spending just $4,000 on your card within 90 days, you’ll earn 50,000 points worth $625 in travel if you book through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. And if you don’t want to book travel directly, you have several other options including transferring your points to the top airline and hotel transfer partners in the business or redeeming them for gift cards or cash back (if you are going to do cashback you should consider a cashback rewards card instead).

Transferring to one of Chase’s travel partners can be especially lucrative since all points transfer at a 1:1 ratio. Your current options include:

• United Airlines
• Southwest Airlines
• British Airways
• Korean Air
• Singapore KrisFlyer
• Virgin Atlantic
• Hyatt
• Marriott
• Ritz-Carlton
• IHG
• Amtrak

If you want to earn flexible rewards you can use in a number of ways, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is probably your best bet. Here are the details you should consider before you pull the trigger and start racking up rewards:

• Read here to learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Earn 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 within 90 days of account opening
• Earn 2X points on travel and dining, plus 1X points on all purchases
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Free primary auto coverage, plus trip cancellation/interruption insurance

BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card: Easy-to-Earn Signup Bonus

While the BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card isn’t one that would normally make our list, this card currently sits here because of its increased signup bonus and low minimum spending requirement.

With this card, you’ll score an online bonus of 20,000 points worth $200 after you spend just $1,000 on the card within 90 days. In addition to the bonus, you’ll also earn an unlimited 1.5 points on every dollar you spend.

While the points you earn with this card don’t transfer to specific hotel or airline loyalty programs, they are good for travel with any hotel chain or airline. Simply book any type of travel you want, then redeem your points in the form of a statement credit. It’s as simple as that.

Before you sign up, here are some more details to consider:

• Read here to learn more about the BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card
• Earn 1.5 points for every dollar you spend
• No annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
• Spend $1,000 on your card within 90 days and earn 20,000 bonus points worth $200 in travel
• 0% Introductory APR for 12 billing cycles for purchases, then 15.24% – 23.24% Variable APR

Citi ThankYou^® Premier Card: Great for Flexible Rewards

In a lot of ways, the Citi ThankYou^® Premier Card is similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Both cards allow you to earn flexible points you can redeem in more than one way, and both have their share of lucrative transfer partners to take advantage of.

The biggest difference, however, is that the Citi ThankYou^® Premier Card earns points in the Citi ThankYou program – not Chase Ultimate Rewards.

The current offer on this card lets you earn 40,000 points after you spend just $3,000 on the card within 90 days of account opening. Plus, you’ll earn 3X ThankYou points on travel including gas, 2X ThankYou Points on dining out and entertainment, and 1X ThankYou Points on all other purchases. The bonus itself is worth $400 in gift cards or $500 in airfare booked through the Citi travel portal. Meanwhile, you could also consider transferring your points to the following transfer partners:

• Hilton HHonors
• Asia Miles
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• Etihad Guest
• Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
• Flying Blue
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airlines Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Virgin America Elevate
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Before you sign up for the Citi ThankYou^® Premier Card, you should explore its key features:

• Earn 40,000 points after you spend $3,000 on your new card within 90 days
• Earn 3X ThankYou points on travel including gas, 2X ThankYou Points on dining out and entertainment, and 1X ThankYou Points on all other purchases
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year
• Points never expire and your earnings are unlimited
• No foreign transaction fees

Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard^®: Book Travel with No Blackout Dates

The unique way the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard^® doles out points makes it one of the most transparent travel credit cards currently on the market. With this card, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar spent on all purchases, plus a signup bonus worth 40,000 points – or $400 in travel – after you spend just $3,000 within the first 90 days. That’s enough for one free round-trip domestic flight or several nights at your favorite lower-tier hotel or resort!

The cool thing about this card is that you can book any type of travel without worrying about blackout dates or capacity controls. Simply book any travel experience, flight, or hotel stay that works for your schedule with your card, then redeem your points as a statement credit.

The Barclaycard is also a good card for 0% APR on balance transfers. All transfers must be made during the first 45 days, plus no foreign transaction fees.

Most details you should know include:

• Earn 40,000 “miles” worth $400 in travel after you spend $3,000 on your card within 90 days
• Earn 2X miles for every dollar you spend
• No foreign transaction fees
• $89 annual fee, waived the first year

Citi^®/ AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® MasterCard^®: Best Airline Credit Card

The Citi^®/ AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® MasterCard^® is the perfect card for anyone with a focus on international or domestic itineraries. Either way, the American AAdvantage program is known for offering plenty of availability (most of the time) and airline partners that make it easy to find award flights to nearly anywhere in the world.

With this card, you’ll earn 30,000 American AAdvantage miles after you spend just $1,000 on the card within 90 days. Even after the upcoming devaluation, that’s enough miles for one round-trip domestic flight. Better yet, this card awards you and four travel companions with a free checked bag on domestic itineraries, group 1 boarding on American flights, and no foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad.

• Earn 30,000 American AAdvantage miles after you spend $1,000 on your new card within 90 days
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Free checked bag for you and up to four travel companions

Starwood Preferred Guest^® Credit Card from American Express: Most Valuable Points

While the Starwood Preferred Guest^® Credit Card from American Express may be a hotel credit card first and foremost, it offers both utility and usefulness for those seeking airline miles as well.

The driving force behind this card’s flexibility is the fact that you can transfer your starpoints to more than 30 airline transfer partners, many of which cannot be transferred to through any other program.

And since free rooms start at just 3,000 points per night, the Starwood Preferred Guest^® Credit Card from American Express makes it easy to earn free hotel stays quickly. Currently, this card offers 25,000 points after you spend just $3,000 within 90 days, plus 1 point per dollar spent on all purchases. Meanwhile, you’ll earn free Boingo WiFi at more than 1 million Boingo hotspots worldwide.

Before you sign up and start earning free hotel stays or points to transfer to your favorite airline, consider these key details:

• Earn 25,000 points after you spend $3,000 on your card within the first 90 days
• No foreign transaction fees
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year

Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card: Earn Free Stays at Thousands of Hotels Worldwide

The Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card is easily one of the most useful hotel credit cards in the business. The current offer on this card is also one of the most lucrative. For a limited time, you’ll earn 80,000 points after you spend just $3,000 on the card within 90 days – plus and additional 7,500 points if you add an authorized user and they also make a purchase. Score!

Other perks include a free one-night stay at any Category 1-5 property on your card holder anniversary. Meanwhile, you’ll earn 5X points on Marriott purchases, 2X points one airfare purchased from airlines, car rental agencies, and at restaurants, and 1 points per dollar spent everywhere else.

Before you sign up, consider these pertinent details as well:

• Read here to learn more about the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card
• Earn 80,000 points after you spend $3,000 on the card within 90 days!
• Earn an additional 7,500 points for adding an authorized user who also makes a purchase during the first 90 days
• Get a free Category 1-5 hotel stay after on your account anniversary
• $85 annual fee

Rules for Getting the Most Out of Your Travel Credit Card

Before you sign up for any of the best credit card offers, it’s important to set yourself up for success. For most people, that means creating a long-term plan to pursue the upside of credit card rewards while minimizing your exposure to the downside.

Here are some tips that can help you earn an almost unlimited number of points and miles without getting in over your head – or worse, spiraling into credit card debt:

Rule #1 Only spend what you can afford to repay right away.

If you’re credit for the sole purpose of earning rewards, the most important thing you can do is avoid paying credit card interest at all costs! Paying interest will mostly likely cancel out the value of your rewards, which defeats the purpose of having a rewards card to begin with!

To avoid getting into debt, only use your card for purchases you know you can pay off right away. Never use your card for unplanned expenses or “splurges,” and pay your entire bill promptly as soon as you receive it.

Rule #2 Use your credit card as a compliment to your monthly budget – not in place of it.

If you’re worried using credit might cause you to overspend, try using your credit card as a compliment to a monthly budget you create.

Write out a list of expenses you can charge on your credit card – then use your card to fulfill your spending plan for the month. Once you have put all of your planned monthly expenses on credit, feel free to pack your card away or stick it in the back of your wallet. The best way to make credit work in your favor is to only use it for planned expenses, and use it conjunction with a monthly budget or spending plan.

Rule #3 Rack up extra points by using your card for everyday spending, but pay it off right away.

The easiest way to rack up rewards quickly is to focus your credit spending on bills and expenses you needed to pay anyway – things like groceries, gas, and utility bills. However, some of these expenses tend to take on a life of their own if left unchecked. This works VERY well for business owners who use a travel card as their business credit card.

If you want to stay on track, it might be smart to “check in” with your credit card bill at least once per week as the month progresses. That way, you won’t be surprised when your monthly bill arrives in the mail.

When it does, however, you should pay it off right away. Don’t let a balance carry over or you could easily wind up with a revolving balance that will only grow over time.

Rule #4 Keep track of rewards details in a simple spreadsheet.

If you get to the point where you’re juggling multiple rewards cards, it’s extremely smart to keep track of any pertinent details in a simple spreadsheet. Factors you may want to track include when you signed up for a new card, when you earned the signup bonus, and when the annual fee comes due.

By keeping track of all of your rewards cards in one place, you can check in for a “snapshot” of your comprehensive rewards plan at any time.

Rule #5 Don’t forget to budget your entire trip – not just the parts you got for free.

The final rule to follow when using credit card rewards for travel is to budget for your entire trip – not just the parts you paid for with rewards. If you’re flying somewhere on airline miles, for example, you’ll need to budget for a hotel stay, food and drink, and entertainment once you arrive at your destination.

While travel rewards can make nearly any trip a lot more affordable, you shouldn’t let a lack of planning destroy your budget. Earning enough rewards for a free flight or hotel for a week is an awesome plan, but you still need to have money to eat, have fun, and enjoy yourself. And if you don’t plan ahead, you could wind up spending significantly more money than you ever dreamed.

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How to Avoid the Temptation to Spend Money on “Free-to-Play” Online Games

Max wrote in with a great question that started off in the reader mailbag, but eventually grew into a rather long post. Here’s what he had to say:

Most good mobile games are free to play but they offer optional purchases that make the game a little easier or give you a boost or a cosmetic improvement. When you are struggling with a challenging part of the game it is really tempting to buy especially when you like the game and have played it a lot. These are the ultimate impulse buys. How do you stop them?

With the recent incredible popularity of Pokemon Go alongside the enduring popularity of other free-to-play games like League of Legends, it’s pretty obvious that companies have figured out some very smart techniques for making a lot of money off of something that seems to be “free” on the surface. Let’s take a look at how such games make money and what you can do as a consumer to keep cash in your pocket.

How the “Free-to-Play” Model Works

Pokemon Go follows more or less the same “free to play” model as many, many other online games.

First of all, such games offer very addictive gameplay with lots of “micro-rewards” during the game. The games often revolve around short bursts of gameplay that offer mild rewards in an almost constant stream as you collect more Pokemon, gain gameplay levels, find more items, and so on. The games are often very simple in their gameplay and can be digested in relatively short bursts (particularly on cell phones). This constant stream of short bursts of gameplay and mild rewards for that gameplay is inherently very psychologically addictive. It’s the equivalent of a bag of potato chips, in other words; when you’ve got a bag open in front of you, it’s tempting to just keep eating one more because of the burst of flavor you get as a “reward.”

The games typically start off with very easy to access “victories,” then slowly ramp up the “difficulty” of these victories. At first, the gameplay is very straightforward and the rewards are very easy to access. When you start playing Pokemon Go, for instance, it’s easy to collect a lot of Pokemon very quickly and level up through the first several levels in a pretty short period of time.

However, that steady stream of micro-rewards slows down after a while. Either it takes longer to reach the next level or next upgrade in the game (often transitioning from seconds to minutes to hours to days) or other players become relatively stronger than you which impedes your continued progress in the game. In essence, the game continually sets up progressively harder and harder challenges to receive the same type of reward.

This is the point at which such games make money. When continuing progress in a game becomes difficult, the game offers purchases that will make that continuous progress more easy. They’ll offer a purchase that allows you to buy advanced items within the game that do things like reduce the wait time or improve your relative strength against other players. For a time, this speeds up the micro-rewards the game has to offer – you can suddenly catch Pokemon by the bundle again, for example, or you’re more efficient at hatching your Pokemon eggs for a while.

Eventually, though, the benefits of that item that you paid for wear off and you’re back to square one.

At this point, one of three things happen. One, you give up on the game entirely or scarcely play it. Two, you accept that your progress is going to be progressively slower and look for other goals within the game. Three, you give into a cycle of optional purchases for these in-game boosts.

Obviously, the game creators prefer that you choose the third option (though the second option isn’t terrible for them as it maintains the chances that you might make purchases down the road or receive gift purchases from others).

Another strategy that “free to play” game makers like to use is the continual production of new items at a very fast rate, faster than most people can hope to acquire them in game through normal means. These are also available for purchase for those who are less patient or have less free time.

In a nutshell, a “free to play” game tries to hook the player with free gameplay that’s simple to pick up and addictive thanks to lots of quick rewards, then stretches out those rewards while offering you the possibility of making purchases to speed up the rewards for a while. It’s a pretty smart business model, to be honest, and it works really well if it’s built on the back of a compelling game.

My Experience with “Free-to-Play” Games

Over the years, I’ve played a number of free-to-play games and learned the hard way about the temptation of the purchases that they offer.

My biggest weakness was with the computer game League of Legends, which I played off and on for several years. I would play the game for spells, then delete it, then return to it months later. During the interim, many new characters would be released for the game, so when I returned to the game, I was often tempted to “catch up” by buying the latest characters in the game. I have not played the game in more than a year.

I have had much more successful experiences with many different mobile free-to-play games including Clash Royale and Marvel Puzzle Quest. In both cases, I was able to resist the temptation to make purchases in the game and just enjoyed playing the game itself without the urge to continually chase more and more upgrades within the game. I’m playing Pokemon Go with my son currently and I’m finding the same thing to be true again with this game – I’m enjoying it without the need to buy more.

Strategies for Avoiding the “Optional Purchase” Temptation

So, how exactly did I “switch off” the desire to keep spending money on these free to play games? Here are some of the strategies I’ve used over the years, mostly with great success.

Avoid “Freemium” Games Altogether

For a long time, after my expensive turn with League of Legends, I completely avoided new “free to play” games. I was fully aware that I was easily tempted into buying all kinds of items and characters and upgrades within such games, so I just avoided them entirely.

That doesn’t mean I gave up gaming. It just meant that I chose games to play that weren’t connected to a string of micro-purchases to get maximum enjoyment from the game. Instead, I played games like Civilization V and Factorio when I was alone – games that were clearly designed for long-term play without additional purchases – and (preferably) played board games when others were around.

The first thing to note is that if you enjoy playing games, there are a lot of games out there that scratch your gaming itch without needing to get on board the “free to play” bandwagon. As I mentioned, most of my computer gaming time in the last few years has been invested in Civilization V and Factorio which do not have the “free to play” model – both games involve a single purchase (or, in the case of Civ V, just a small handful of additional expansions you can buy in a single bundle) and offer nearly infinite gameplay by themselves. There are many, many great “quick” games for smartphones as well that don’t use the “free to play” strategy – my favorite of all time is Threes.

However, my favorite option here is to not play electronic games at all. I vastly prefer board games because of the face-to-face social interaction that they introduce, which is far richer than any interaction I’ve ever found in the digital realm. Give me a good board game and a set of willing opponents and I’m incredibly happy. You can dabble in board gaming just by going to a community game night, which you can find on Meetup or by searching around on Facebook for groups in your area.

The second thing to recognize is that, although there are worse ways to spend time, electronic games are largely distractions and time-wasters. While they can stimulate the mind, they don’t lead to significant benefits in the real world. You’re far better off spending the time you might use on such a game on something productive that can facilitate real-world opportunities and connections, whether it’s sending an email, reading a thought-provoking article or book chapter, or giving your mother a call. And this is coming from me, a lifelong gamer who still enjoys playing many games.

Gaming can be a part of a healthy, balanced life, but that balance doesn’t have to include free to play games that require an endless stream of money spent on them.

Set Alternative Goals

Of course, you can play free-to-play games without spending money, but the problem is that the games are engineered from the get-go to focus you on goals that strongly encourage optional purchases.

For example, in Pokemon Go, much of the game’s focus is on competing for control of gyms, which requires collection of many Pokemon with the same name, which requires efficient collection of similar Pokemon. Lo and behold, the game sells you items that make it more efficient to collect large quantities of Pokemon in a local area, which is exactly what you need.

My approach for finding fun in such games is to set “alternative” goals for myself. I try to seek out ways to have fun within the game that don’t involve following the same pathway to purchases that the game broadly pushes.

So, within Pokemon Go, my primary goal has been to simply maximize my walking distance. I’m effectively using the game as a pedometer. The game offers some subtle encouragement of this, given that the game includes a mechanism for “hatching” Pokemon from eggs based on your walking distance. I walk a lot, hatch some unusual Pokemon along the way, catch a few if my phone vibrates, and hit any stops along the way. It’s fun and casual and gives me a goal without any need to buy anything.

With League of Legends, I eventually reached a point where I was very focused on mastering one character in each of the five game roles. This didn’t require any additional purchases at all beyond unlocking those characters (which was pretty easy to do). I didn’t worry about whatever character was new or hot at the moment; I just worried about getting good at five very specific characters.

You don’t have to be the ultimate winner at any game you play (in fact, that’s impossible). You just need to have fun, and you can find fun in the better “pay to play” games by defining your own goals.

Limit Playing Time

Many “free to play” games are designed to be able to be played in short bursts whenever it’s convenient, which means that it becomes very easy to play it whenever you have a free moment. This is particularly true on a mobile device, because you can just pop open the game in an instant, play for a little bit at the doctor’s office, and then close it when your bubble of free time passes.

Such short bursts are great for passing time, but it also makes it very easy to become quite addicted to the game and when you’re addicted you’re much more prone to make optional purchases on the spur of the moment.

Thus, one strategy that’s really useful for keeping yourself from making optional purchases is to limit your playing time for such games. I often literally delete all free-to-play games from my phone and computer if I know I need to focus on other things or that I suspect that my temptation to make an optional purchase is growing. These games can easily be downloaded later if you change your mind and decide to play.

I often “purge” my phone of free-to-play games and other distractions, with the goal being that if I keep those distractions off my phone, I’m more likely to do something productive on my phone (like respond to emails and such) than to play a game.

Stay Involved with Other Hobbies

If you’re finding it difficult to turn away from the temptation of free-to-play games, consciously make the decision to spend time on other hobbies in your life, particularly those in which you’ve already invested money so that there’s no need to buy more or those where there’s no need to buy more money.

A few months ago, I was tempted to spend money while playing Clash Royale, a particularly good free-to-play game. I really wanted access to some items that I didn’t have access to yet and this single purchase would push me over the top. I managed to not jump immediately on the impulse, but instead I thought about it for a day or two.

What did I eventually do? Instead of picking up the game again, I deleted it off of my phone, then I picked up a book from my bookshelf that I hadn’t read. Before long, I scarcely remembered the game at all.

If you find that desire gripping you, put the game down for a while. Actively dig into the other hobbies in your life. Spend time on them. Delete the free-to-play game for a while – you can always come back to it later.

You might just find that the strong temptation you were feeling fades into nothingness really quickly.

Cut Off Easy Payment

One of the biggest tricks that a free-to-play game has in its repertoire is the fact that it is so easy to make a purchase within those games. You click a couple of buttons and it’s done, and you can’t even get a refund from it without jumping through a ton of hoops (and even then there’s no guarantee).

If you find yourself tempted by optional purchases within those games, turn off every option on your phone or computer that makes it easy to quickly make payments. Turn off the ability to pay by Touch ID. Delete your stored passwords. Sign out of any payment accounts. Delete credit card numbers.

The goal here is to add steps to the process of making payments so that if you do decide to pay, it’s not as simple as simply swiping a finger or touching a particular spot or hitting the “OK” button. You have to remember and type in a password or two. You have to dig out your credit card. You have to wait for a text (depending on your settings).

The more time you have between your temporary decision to make an optional purchase and the actual point of purchase, the more time you have to question that decision and talk yourself out of spending your hard-earned money for a few additional bits in a free to play game.

Final Thoughts

Free to play games are very effectively designed to be incredibly fun in short bursts, but they’re also designed to tempt you into wanting more and more of the fun and they make that additional fun very slow to access without optional purchases.

If you find yourself tempted by these games and particularly by those optional purchases, step back. Take a breather. Indulge in other hobbies. Make it harder to make those optional purchases. Ask yourself if you’re really having fun. Look for alternate goals that don’t require optional purchases.

By taking those steps, you take away a lot of the temptation and the power of optional purchases in free-to-play games, and by doing that, you keep your spending money right in your pocket where it belongs.

Good luck!

The post How to Avoid the Temptation to Spend Money on “Free-to-Play” Online Games appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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