الخميس، 11 مايو 2017
23 Passive Income Ideas You Can Start Today
Making money while you sleep.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
After reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and 4 Hour Work Week, I became interested obsessed with making passive income.
What is Passive Income?
The common definition of passive income is income that you earn without being actively involved.
That typically means that you continue to make income with no or very little effort on your part to maintain that cash flow.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to lump passive income and portfolio income into the passive category, and active income into the non-passive category – although the IRS categorizes and treats each type of income differently.
You can see why the idea of passive income would be appealing. Typically when someone needs additional income, they get the stereotypical suggestion to “get a part-time job.”
But what if you don’t have the time or energy to put in all those extra hours?
I know I didn't. Plus, that wasn't as appealing as making money without needing to trade my time.
For that, you may need some passive income ideas – ways to make money with little investment of time and effort on your part. And a great benefit of this is if you are trying to pay off debt quickly, this can be a huge help!
Here’s a list of quite a few passive income ideas, so it’s likely that you’ll be able to find at least two or three that cater to your situation and skills.
24 Passive Income Ideas That Will Legit Make You Money While You Sleep:
1. Invest in Lending Club
There is probably no passive income that is more perfect than earning interest on safe investments, such as U.S. Treasury securities and bank certificates of deposit. The problem of course is that those instruments pay paltry returns – generally less than 1%. It may be passive income at its finest, but you’ll never be able to relax or retire on returns that are that low.
That makes now the perfect time to talk about Lending Club. It is a web-based peer-to-peer lending platform where people come to get loans, and investors – looking for high interest opportunities – provide the funds for those loans.
Lending Club provides an opportunity to earn interest rates in excess of 10% per year – which is about 10 times what you will earn on more conventional interest-bearing investments.
Now let’s be clear on one point: those high rates do come at a cost. Unlike bank investments, Lending Club loans can go bad, in which case you will lose principal. However, there are ways to minimize those potential losses. I talked to a LendingClub adviser and they recommend starting out with an initial deposit of $2500. Since you can invest as little as $25 in a single loan, you can actually buy into 100 different loans with a deposit of that level. So you don't have to worry about a single loan going bad and ruining your investment.
Despite the risk of default, it’s very likely that you will earn far more on your investments at Lending Club than you will at a bank and I have averages just under 9% during the eight years I have been investing with them. That is a nice residual income stream. Investing larger sums of money in different ways can be beneficial, whether it be where to invest 10K or where to invest 100K, we can help you get a better understanding of how to invest your money.
2. Invest with a robo-advisor
Putting money into an account and letting an algorithm manage the investments is about as passive as you can get. Robo-advisors like Betterment allow you to set your willingness for risk in the market and then manage the account for you.
The algorithm will do all the work for you and keeps your portfolio balanced. The fees are very reasonable and much less than with an account managed by a person. There are currently two main players in the robo-advisor game:
Wealthfront
My original evaluation of Wealthfront found them to be just OK, but they have made great changes over the last couple of years that make them even or better than Betterment for many people. Their strategy for reducing your tax burden is very well planned out and they have show to be competitive with any robo-advisor on the market. Their new PATH platform gives you a comprehensive view of your finances, putting them on part with Mint or Personal Capital.
What really sets Wealthfront apart from the others is that they charge you no fees for the first $10,000 that you invest with their service. This is a big deal for small investors who want to see their initial investments have the largest impact possible.
Betterment
I have been a long time supporter of betterment and even did an interview with their CEO in my Betterment investing review. Similar to Wealthfront, Betterment is great at reducing any taxes you have to pay on your investments and they work with you to give you the best financial advice through their algorithms. Unlike Wealthfront, you can actually talk to a human being if you want to. Betterment charges the same fees as Wealthfront, but does not wave the fee on the first $10,000 you invest.
My personal experience with Betterment is that their platform is really slick and the investments are very sound. I don't think you can go wrong with either service, but if I am investing a large sum to create a passive income investment, then I would go with Betterment.
3. Try out index funds.
Index funds are a type of mutual fund that provide you with a way to invest in the stock market that is completely passive.
For example, if you invest money in an index fund that is based on the S&P 500 Index, you will be invested in the general market, without having to concern yourself with choosing investments, rebalancing your portfolio, or knowing when to sell or buy individual companies. All that will be handled by the fund which will base the fund portfolio on the makeup of the underlying index.
Trade King is our recommended online broker for buying index funds. They make the research and process of investing into different funds very easy.
We recommend them over other options because if you ever start to look at other types of stock or mutual fund investments (see #5) you already have the account set up and it is easy to move your money over. On top of that the cost to get your account going is super cheap and the cost per trade very affordable.
If you are not familiar with them, check out more details in our Trade King review. They have become one of my best accounts for investing.
With any broker you are free to choose a fund that is based on any index that you want. For example, there are index funds set up for just about every market sector there is – energy, precious metals, banking, emerging markets – you name it. All you have to do is decide that you want to participate, then contribute money and sit back and relax. Your stock portfolio will then be on automatic pilot.
If you are looking toward retirement with your money then we would look at opening a Roth IRA. It will shield your savings from any future taxes and you can withdraw all earning tax free once you hit 59 1/2. It is one of the best ways to save money for retirement.
4. Make money for tasks you'd do anyway
Yes, you can make some money doing some of the things you're already doing.
For example, InboxDollars allows you to make money by searching the web, shopping online, playing games, and more! Swagbucks also allows to to make money doing similar activities. It's amazing. Take advantage of the compensation plan on each of these websites and make some extra money!
You can also make your own schedule with Uber and pick up extra income by driving others around when you are already out and about anyway!
5. Get cash-back rewards on credit cards
If you're already using credit for some of your purchases, pursuing credit card rewards is an absolute no-brainer. Most top rewards cards let you earn anywhere from 1-5% back on your money, and that's with almost no effort on your part!
If you're already using credit for convenience, you can also earn a huge sum of cash in the form of a signup bonus. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card offers one of the best opportunities out there. After spending just $4,000 on the card in 90 days, you'll earn 50,000 points worth $500. On top of that, if you add your spouse as an approved user, you score an extra 5,000 points. That works out to 59,000 points for just $4,000 of spending you were going to do anyway.
Even people who don't spend a lot can normally put that much on credit if they charge regular bills, groceries, gas, insurance, and all of their other expenses on a regular basis.
Our post on the top six cash back credit cards for 2017 offers an array of additional options to consider as well. With the right card, you could earn anywhere from 1-5% back on your money with almost no effort on your part.
If travel is your thing, we have seen people who are using bonus offers on travel rewards credit cards to save thousands of dollars on travel each year. You can really score big with these deals.
6. Put your photography to work on the web
Do you like photography? If you do, you may be able to convert it into a passive income source. Photography websites such as Shutterstock and iStockphoto can provide you with platforms to sell your photos. They may offer either a percentage or a flat fee of each photo that is sold to a site client.
In this way, a single photo could represent a residual income opportunity, since it can be sold again and again. You simply need to create your photo portfolio, put it on one or more photo platforms, and then the activity becomes completely passive. All the technicalities of the photo sales are handled through the web platform.
And yes, that's me in a stock photo you can purchase from iStockPhoto.com. My wife is a good photographer and has uploaded a few hundred photos to their platform and makes a good monthly residual income from it.
7. Write an ebook
This can be a lot of work upfront, but once the ebook is created and marketed it can provide you with a passive revenue stream for years. You can either sell the ebook on your own website or offer it as an affiliate arrangement with other websites that provide content related to your ebook.
After speaking to sever ebook authors, many of the tell me that the time spent putting these books together feels like finding free money by the passive stream of income they have today.
8. Sell your own products on the internet
The possibilities here are endless – you can sell just about any product or service that you like. It could be a product you have created and can manufacture on your own or it could be digital in nature (such as software, DVDs, or even instructional videos).
You can set up a dedicated website for this product or service, unless of course you have a website or blog already in place. Alternatively, you can also sell it on an affiliate basis, either by offering it direct to websites and blogs related to your product or service, or through a platform such as ClickBank.
If you make a lot of money in your current job and you're not sure that you can make a similar amount by selling products online, think again. Awhile back, I interviewed Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. In our podcast interview, Steve explained how his wife quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom.
Now, being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job – but Steve Chou's wife also started an online business that replaced her former salary and started bringing in a six-figure income! Wow, right?
You can learn to sell products online too and make quite a bit of money. While it's not entirely passive, it's certainly more passive than getting up and heading out the door to work every morning!
9. Invest in real estate
This probably falls more in the category of semi-passive income, since an investment in real estate is always at least a little bit of an active venture. Still, once you have an investment property that is established and fully rented, it’s mostly a matter of managing the property and keeping it performing well.
Additionally, there are professional property managers who can manage your property for you, usually for around 10% of the monthly rent. This professional management can make the investment much more passive, but will take a bite out of your cash flow.
According to Brandon Turner, an active real estate investor and co-host on the popular BiggerPockets Podcast,
“The key to success with rental properties is buying smart. Not every investment property is going to provide a good return or prove to be passive. Understanding how to analyze potential real estate opportunities is incredibly important. As the old adage goes – you make your money when you buy!”
Another benefit of investing in rental properties is the loan pay down. If you obtain a loan to buy the property, each month your tenants are paying off part of the loan. Once the mortgage on the property has been paid off, your cash flow will increase dramatically, allowing your mediocre investment to skyrocket into a full-fledged retirement program.
It wouldn't take many paid-off properties to provide a pretty great, and mostly-passive, future for you and your family.
10. Make YouTube videos
This is a venture that is growing rapidly. You can create videos in just about any area that you like – music, tutorials, opinions, comedy, movie reviews – anything you want . . . then put them on YouTube. You can then attach Google AdSense to the videos, which will overlay your videos with automatic ads. When viewers click on those ads, you will earn money from AdSense.
The keys will be to create compelling videos, to promote those videos on social media websites, and to create enough of them that your income will be coming from multiple sources. There’s a good bit of work that goes into creating videos, but once a video is done it can become a completely passive cash flow source for a very long time.
Don't think you can find success with YouTube? You sure can. Emily Eddington used her love for makeup and YouTube to quit her full-time job. She has received over 66 million views on YouTube. This former morning news anchor took her passion – makeup – and turned it into a phenomenal success.
11. Buy a blog
Thousands of blogs are created every year, and thousands are either completely abandoned by their owners sometime afterward. If you can buy blogs with a reasonable amount of web traffic – as well as a demonstrated cash flow – it could be a perfect passive income source.
Most blogs employ Google AdSense, which provides a monthly revenue stream based on ads that Google places on the site. There may also be affiliate programs generating additional revenue. Both income sources will be yours once you purchase the blog.
From a financial perspective, blogs usually sell for 24 times their monthly income. So if the site generates $250 a month in income, you can likely buy it for no more than $6,000. Translation: a $6,000 investment will buy you $1,500 per year in cash flow.
You may even be able to purchase the site for less than 24 months earnings, if the site owner is particularly anxious to get out. Some sites have good “evergreen” content that will continue generating revenue even years after the site has gone silent. So a simple $5000 investment can net you ongoing passive income.
Bonus tip: If you were to buy such a site, and then to reinvigorate it with fresh content, you may be able raise the monthly revenue enabling yourself to sell the site at a later date for substantially more than what you paid for it.
Finally, instead of buying a blog, you might want to create your own blog. You can make some money either way!
12. Pay off a credit card (or two or three)
Reducing a fixed expense is the financial equivalent of creating passive income. This is certainly true when it comes to credit cards. Let’s say that you owe $10,000 on a credit card, on which there is a monthly payment equal to 2% of the balance, or $200 per month.
By paying the card off, you’ll be free up $2,400 per year in cash flow that would’ve gone to the monthly payments.
That’s like getting a guaranteed 24% return on a $10,000 investment. Good deal?
You can speed up this process by transferring your current balances to a 0% APR card. You can usually get the promotional rate for 15 months or more and supercharge your credit card payoff.
13. Write a book and collect royalties
Much like writing an ebook, there’s a lot of work upfront. But once that’s done, and the book goes into the sales stage, it becomes a completely passive venture.
This is especially true if you can sell the book to a publisher who will pay you royalties for the distribution and sale of the book. You’ll get a percentage of each sale made, and if the book is fairly popular, the royalties could be substantial. Just as important, the royalties can continue flowing for many years.
Mike Piper from OblivousInvestor.com did just that. He wrote a book, Investing Made Simple, which was sold strictly on Amazon. He had decent success with the first book that he created an entire series of book. Those books now net him over 6 figures per year in residual earnings. Not too shabby.
14. Set up a website selling a product
If there is a product that you are particularly knowledgeable about, you may be able to sell it on a dedicated website. The technique is similar to what you would use for your own product, except that you will not to be concerning yourself with product creation, but only with the sale of someone else’s product.
You may even find after a while that you are able to add other products that are related. Should that happen, the site could generate substantial revenues.
If you are able to have the product drop shipped to customers directly from the manufacturer, you won’t even have to get your hands dirty. That may not be 100% passive, but it’s darn close.
15. Invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs)
In #10 we talked about investing in real estate. But let’s say that you want to invest in real estate, but do it in a truly passive way. You can do that through a real estate investment trust. This is something like a mutual fund holding various real estate projects. The fund is managed by professionals, so you never have to get involved.
One of the big benefits of investing in REITs is that they typically pay higher dividends than stocks, bonds, or bank investments. You can also sell your interest in a REIT anytime you like, which makes it more liquid than owning real estate outright.
16. Become a business silent partner
Do you know of a successful business that needs capital for expansion? If so, you can become something of a small-time angel investor and provide that needed capital. But rather than offering a loan to a business owner, you can treat this as a business opportunity and take an equity position in the business.
In this way, the business owner will handle the day-to-day operations, while you will act as a silent partner who also participates in the profits of the business. You will probably want to look at some business credit card offers in order to get a feel for how to manage your business finances while keeping tracking of how your partner is handling everything.
17. Become a referral source
Every small business needs referral sources in order to maintain sales. Make a list of small business providers that you use on a regular basis and feel you can recommend to others without reservation. Then contact the owners and see if they have any kind of cash referral marketing offers available.
You can do this with accountants, landscapers, electricians, plumbers, carpet cleaning services – the list is endless. Keep a list of these businesses, and be ready to refer them to your friends, family and coworkers. You can earn a fee on each referral just from talking to people.
Don’t overlook referral programs at work either. If your company offers a referral bonus for either new employees or for new customers, then take advantage of that plan. It’s easy money with virtually no work.
18. Rent out unused space with Airbnb
Airbnb is a concept that has only been around for a few years, but it has exploded around the globe. Airbnb allows people to travel all around the world and to stay in accommodations that are a lot less expensive than traditional hotels. They do this by staying with participating Airbnb members who rent out part of their homes to travelers. By participating in Airbnb, you can use your residence to accommodate guests and earn extra money just for renting out space in your home.
Paula Pant, cubicle renegade AffordAnything.com took a stab at making extra money renting out locations exclusively through Airnbnb. Her Airbnb experiment netted her an extra $19,000 in revenue and 1 police visit!
How much you will make will depend upon the size and condition of your home and your location. Naturally, if your home is located in a high cost city, or close to a popular resort, your income will be much higher. It’s a way of earning money on space in your home that might just be sitting empty otherwise.
19. Build an app
Apps can be an incredibly lucrative income source. Think about how many people today have smartphones. Come on, it's just about everybody! People are downloading apps like crazy – and for good reason…
Apps make people's lives easier. Whether it's an app that helps people put together nice pictures for their blog or an app that keeps track of tasks, there are helpful apps out there for everyone.
You might be asking if there are so many apps out there, why would you want to attempt to create an app? Isn't there a lot of competition? Well, yes, but fresh, creative ideas can win. If you can come up with something unique, you can make quite a bit of money. Simple – yet unique – apps can be pretty passive.
Don't know how to code? No problem. First, you can learn. Check out Nathan Barry's success in his inspiring article, How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code. Nathan also put his design expertise to work in an ebook teaching others how they can design their own apps.
Second, you can hire a developer to build your app based on your idea. This could end up being an expensive option, although it will probably yield a professional-looking app.
The end result is an app that has the potential to make you some relatively passive income. Don't downplay the idea to build an app – it's a good one!
20. Create an online course
Everyone is an expert at something. Why not create an online course about your passion?
My buddy Ramit Sethi at IWillTeachYoutobeRich.com is an expert at creating online courses. He has made an insane amount of money selling his lessons. Most people would be happy making a fraction of what he makes online.
There are a number of ways you can produce and host your own online course. One very simple way is to use a website like Teachable.com. Teachable as over three million students and is a great way to get your content in front of others for their consideration.
Once you create an online course, it can work for you while you sleep!
What do you put in your online course? Good question. You can add video lessons, checklists for completing steps you recommend in your video lessons, small ebooks to supplement the lessons, audio files for people listening while traveling, informative interviews with likeminded experts, and a whole bunch more!
In fact, you can create several packages at different price points. Some people will want everything, so you can include ‘the works' for the highest price point and then have two lower price points so that you can receive the largest possible volume of orders.
21. Make an online guide
If writing articles or creating videos isn't your thing, and you want to make money online, try creating an online guide.
A good example of this comes from Pat Flynn's website, SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com. On the website, he has a map of the United States that allows someone to click on any state to see the security guard requirements for that state.
By providing specific information in a guide-like format, you can make money through some of the means already addressed: advertisements through Google AdSense, affiliate links, and even memberships you can sell from your online guide. It's a fantastic idea!
22. Outsource most if not all of your business needs
If you're spending too much of your time on an existing business running it yourself, why not outsource most if not all of your tasks? Yes, it will require you to give up some control, but in many businesses it's the only way to free up your time so you can focus on other tasks that will result in more income.
If you don't want to hire employees, consider hiring freelancers who work as contract laborers. Look for freelancers with a strong work ethic who provide quality results.
Here's a list of tasks that you might want to outsource:
- Bookkeeping
- Writing
- Web design
- Editing
- Task management
- Social media marketing
- and so much more!
Yes, many people can turn their existing businesses into passive income businesses. As long as the main product or service isn't something only you can do, you can transform your business into a passive moneymaker.
23. Try affiliate marketing and make sales
This is a passive income technique that is better suited to people who have blogs and active websites. You can sign up to promote certain products or services on your site, for which you will be paid either a flat fee or a percentage of the amount of the sale completed.
This isn’t as hard to do as you might think, since there are thousands of companies in the world who want to sell their products in as many places as they can.
You can find affiliate offers either by contacting vendors directly, or on dedicated websites, such as ClickBank. It’s always best if the product or service is one that you are either very interested in or is highly relevant to your website.
Bonus: Purchase high dividend stocks.
By building a portfolio of high dividend stocks, you can create regular passive income at an annual rate that is much higher than what you get on bank investments.
Just as important, since high dividend stocks are stocks, there is always the potential for capital appreciation. In that way, you can earn passive income from two sources – dividends and capital gains.
You can make this process very easy and affordable by opening an account with Loyal3. They have over 65 preselected large companies that you can buy as much or as little as you want with no fees. 42 of the 65 stocks available on Loyal3 pay dividends and 27 of them have raised their dividend annually for at least 5 years. You cannot get simpler than someone else picking the companies or cheaper than no fees.
If you want to do the research and investing yourself, you will need a brokerage account to purchase these stocks and complete the research needed.
I’ve purposely provided a long list of passive income ideas in the hope that there is something on this list for everyone.
Have you tried one of these or are you thinking about trying one of these ideas now? Leave a comment! I look forward to hearing from you.
The post 23 Passive Income Ideas You Can Start Today appeared first on Good Financial Cents.
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Business briefs, Friday, May 12, 2017
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This Company is Hiring Dozens of Skilled Employees to Work From Home
Many of the work-from-home jobs we tell you about are focused on things like customer service or travel planning.
These opportunities often don’t require degrees or certifications and instead rely on what hiring agents call “soft skills” like problem solving or conflict resolution.
But we also know some of our readers are looking for home-based jobs that tap into skills on the other end of the spectrum — jobs that require things like a background in computer programming or project management.
If that’s you, then you’ll definitely want to hear about a batch of work-from-home jobs that might be right up your alley.
Dell is hiring dozens of remote workers all around the country to fill a variety of openings. For these jobs, hard skills are definitely required.
The available jobs run the gamut from tech-based positions like Senior Systems Engineer to degreed positions like Business Operations Advisor.
In fact, there are at least six full pages of job listings on Dell’s website spanning the U.S. and Canada.
Here are a few of the openings you’ll find:
Senior Consultant, IT Security
This job asks applicants to have experience using a variety of programming languages, including Python, C and C++. You’ll also need a background in information security best practices, forensic analysis and reverse engineering mobile ARM architecture binaries. A BA/BS in engineering/computer science is required but a Master’s or PhD is preferred.
Talent Acquisition Advisor
This position requires at least six years of full lifecycle recruiting experience or eight or more years of equivalent work experience. You’ll also need to know how to work with common recruiting platforms like Taleo, MS Office Suite, PeopleSoft and WorkDay.
Principal Support Engineer
Applicants for this job need a strong background in IT networking, experience working with Windows Active Directory and a familiarity with shared storage solution vSAN. You’ll also need to understand FC, iSCSI and clustering technologies, and have a working knowledge of standard backup and recovery tools.
Senior Business Development Manager
To apply for this position, you’ll need a BA/BS degree and at least eight years of experience in the software technology industry. Contract negotiation skills are a requirement, as is a history of working for a large global system integrator. Experience with Software-as-a-Service and Deloitte or other large GSIs is preferred.
Job Benefits at Dell
Dell offers some snazzy perks and benefits that include:
- Health and wellness programs
- Career development opportunities
- Employee Assistance Program
- Medical, dental and vision insurance
- Life and disability insurance
If you’re interested in landing one of these sweet gigs, spend some time brushing up on what to expect during an interview at Dell and what to know before you apply.
If none of the openings at Dell grab you, be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook jobs page. We post work-from-home jobs there all the time.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She likes bringing readers new work-from-home opportunities so look her up on Twitter (@lisah) if you’ve got a hot lead to share.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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4 Career Tips to Help Military Spouses Succeed No Matter Where They Live
Military spouses often face two major obstacles to building a career and earning a steady income:
- You’re raising a family.
- Your spouse’s military career moves your family to a new city every two or three years.
It’s no surprise unemployment among military spouses is historically two to three times higher than the national average.
So how can you take control of your career and earn steady income while supporting your family’s lifestyle?
We talked to Tara Glenn, who previously served and met her husband in the Navy, and Caitlin Deigel, a hair stylist and also a Navy wife. Both have found creative ways to make money around their family’s obligations.
Here are their best job tips for military spouses:
1. Use Your Connections
To accommodate her pregnancy and care for her youngest child, Glenn started selling baked goods.
The business was inexpensive to start, she could do it on her own schedule and she could tap into her network for sales.
In addition to selling at the local farmers market, she reached out to parents at her kids’ school, to military neighbors and through Facebook. She earns about $500 to $600 in a good month after costs.
2. Be Adaptable
“The key to success and efficiency — whether it’s in the business world, military life or civilian life — is adaptability,” Deigel explained. She adjusts her focus depending on her business and home needs so she can give her best to both.
Glenn added, “Keep an open mind when it comes to employment.” Aside from her military service, she’s worked as a school photographer, gas station attendant and cashier over the years.
Your career path may not be straightforward, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work towards success.
3. Start With Your Passion
Deigel’s marriage has moved her from one end of the country to another.
To incorporate her experience as a hair stylist, her business management degree and her passion for volunteering she used to do at a homeless shelter, Deigel developed Social Worth, an online platform to provide free haircuts to the homeless.
“It is a happy coincidence that the business I want to run pairs well with military life,” Deigel told us.
Deigel can set her own schedule and priorities, so she’s available for extra responsibilities at home depending on her husband’s assignments.
4. Do Location-Independent Work
What’s great about Deigel’s business is she can take it wherever she goes.
“As long as I succeed in the (area) where we are living now, I can move the business and grow it in a new area when we have to move again,” she says.
Whether you want to own your own business or work for someone else, consider jobs that aren’t tied to a physical location.
Where to Find Jobs for Military Spouses
Freelance writing, graphic design or web design are great places to start if you’re creatively inclined.
You might also want to check out R. Riveter, a company created specifically to employ military spouses, wherever you are.
For more ideas, here are 15 super flexible jobs that are perfect for military spouses.
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).
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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This New App Automatically Gets You Money Back for Eating and Drinking Out
Like many people, I spend too much money on food and drink.
I’m looking at my recent credit card purchases right now — and I’m cringing…
- $3.53 for coffee this morning
- $9.80 at Panera yesterday
- $34.16 for beers this past Saturday (that’s for two people)
- $29 for brews this past Thursday (I need to explain this one. I was at a concert. I ordered two beers, which were for my parents. It cost $29. Ridiculous.)
I need to stop here before I embarrass myself too much.
But… you knew there was a “but” coming… Swagbucks just released a new app called Swagbucks Local that rewards when you dine out with its partnered vendors.
Not Familiar with Swagbucks? Let Me Explain
Most simply, Swagbucks is a rewards site.
You earn Swagbucks (SBs, which act as points) for doing various tasks, such as shopping, searching the internet, taking surveys or watching videos.
Once you collect a certain amount of SBs, you can exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Target, Starbucks and Walmart.
For example, right now, if you earn 500 SBs, you can snag a $5 Amazon card.
So… What’s Swagbucks Local?
Swagbucks Local is just another way to stock up on SBs. But instead of taking surveys or watching videos, you don’t really have to do anything but download the app and connect your credit or debit card.
That’s because you earn points when you dine at local restaurants, buy coffee from your go-to cafe or hit up your favorite dive bar.
There’s no need to ask your barista, “Hey, do you do the Swagbucks thing?” All you have to do is search the map on the app to see which establishments are participating in your area.
Don’t want to put that much planning into it? That’s fine, too.
Swagbucks Local automatically registers when you’ve swiped your card at a participating eatery and will reward you in SBs.
Here’s How to Download Swagbucks Local and Start Earning SBs
This is easy. That’s coming from me, someone who has little patience for new apps and downloads.
Here’s how I set up Swagbucks Local:
- Download the app in the iTunes store or on Google Play for Android users. It’s free.
- If you have an existing Swagbucks account, go ahead and sign in. If not, create an account.
- Link your debit and/or credit cards. I simply linked my credit card because that’s what I use exclusively, but you can link as many cards as you want — as long as they’re Visa or American Express.
- Peruse the map. Right now, Swagbucks Local is live in more than 2,000 areas (and continues to grow). You’ll see which local spots offer SBs with purchases.
Or, you can skip this step. Once you have your credit or debit card(s) connected, Swagbucks registers if you make a purchase at an affiliated vendor. You don’t have to do a thing; it’ll automatically reward you.
The number of SBs you earn per dollar will depend on the location. In my area, many eateries and coffee shops are offering 7 SB per dollar. So that $3.53 coffee I bought this morning? 25 SBs.
When you sign up and link a card right now, you’ll also automatically bank 100 SBs.
So I’m already a quarter of the way to a $5 gift card. And I feel a little less guilty splurging on coffee this morning. I mean, it was a lavender vanilla latte… No way I can make that thing at home!
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. Swagbucks has always intimidated her for some reason, but Swagbucks Local is way easy.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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Costco Was Just Named the Best Place to Work in America — Here’s Why
If you’re looking for a job, you might want to take your resume over to your nearest Costco.
Why? Well, the popular warehouse giant was just named America’s Best Employer of 2017 (plus, it’s one of those companies that seems to be constantly hiring).
Better Than Google?!
Forbes, in conjunction with Statista, asked 30,000 employees from large companies across the U.S. this important question: On a scale of 1-10, how likely would you be to recommend your employer to a friend or family member?
They also asked employees to evaluate their companies based on pay, workplace condition and environment and culture.
Of the 500 companies that made the list, Costco came in first, with a score of 9.58 out of 10.
In 2016, Costco ranked third on the list, with Marathon Petroleum claiming the number one spot and Google nabbing number two. This year, Google again comes in at a close second, while REI makes its first-ever appearance on the list at third place with a score of 9.53.
And yeah, this does indeed mean that Costco is now considered a better company to work for than the infamous-for-employee-happiness (and for replacing stairs with slides) Google.
How Costco Was Named the Best Company to Work For
So what is it that makes Costco such an awesome place to work?
In short: everything.
Costco is known for providing even its part-time employees with some pretty great benefits, including health coverage, dependent care assistance programs and 401(k) plans.
The company also offers a starting pay of $13 per hour, with cashiers earning an average of $14.44 per hour, according to Glassdoor.
Costco’s President and CEO, Craig Jelinek, has been vocal in the past about raising the federal minimum wage, saying that “it’s a lot more profitable in the long term to minimize employee turnover and maximize employee productivity, commitment and loyalty.”
(The strategy seems to be working — or at least so says Costco’s number one ranking this year.)
And because the company tends to “hire from within,” it’s not unheard of for a long-term employee to end up earning a six-figure salary.
If you’re interested in working for the Best Employer of 2017, you can check out all of Costco’s career opportunities here, or find a location near you and search current openings.
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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Trader Joe’s Wine in a Can Will Class Up Your Tailgating for 99 Cents a Pop
O Trader Joe’s, how I love thee.
Aside from just generally being awesome, the grocery store is also known for its Two Buck Chuck wines — an affordable collection of vinos that doesn’t lack in taste or quality. (Check out our wine snob’s review here.)
In case you needed yet another reason to love TJ’s (seriously? You’re still on the fence about it?), the company recently announced a new product that will blow your mind.
And it’s just in time for summer.
Trader Joe’s Introduces New Canned Wine
On April 29, TJ’s announced it will offer sparkling Italian wine in four-pack cases. The company partnered up with an Italian supplier to create its line of Simpler Wines Italian Sparkling Wine .
Two flavors are currently available: a white wine with hints of honeydew and fresh-cut herbs, and a rosé.
That’s right. I said it — rosé.
Let’s imagine the possibilities, friends.
You’re on a giant pink flamingo floaty in your pool, and you feel a bead of sweat form on your forehead. To freshen up, you grab a can of wine out of your cooler, pop it open and return to your summer bliss. No safety hazards of popping corks required.
You now live a life of immense luxury and barely have to lift a precious finger while seeking your bourgeois beverage of choice.
Your picnics will no longer require the stress of gathering the appropriate cups and lugging around an entire bottle of wine — not to mention the risk of spilling the leftovers everywhere on your way back home.
And you know what? Tailgating at country concerts is about to get 10 times classier — I can’t wait to see people try to shotgun these things.
A four-pack of 187-milliliter cans will cost $3.99 — that’s about 99 cents per can.
At that price, I’m willing to drink my wine out of a can for the entire summer. Try and stop me. I dare you.
Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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Blue Cross, Lyft Team Up to Make Sure You Always Have a Ride to the Doctor
If you’re sick, the last thing you want to deal with is figuring out how you’re going to get to your doctor’s appointment.
Even worse, missing a preventative care appointment because you can’t find a ride can be detrimental to your well-being.
Blue Cross Blue Shield has noticed that a lack of transportation in certain areas has created a barrier for those in need of non-emergency medical attention. Now it’s teaming up with Lyft to fix the problem.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Will Soon Offer Free Lyft Rides
Blue Cross Blue Shield reports that an estimated 3.6 million Americans miss or delay medical appointments due to a lack of reliable transportation.
To help, the insurer plans to offer some policyholders no-cost Lyft rides to medical appointments. According to CNN Tech, the free-ride pilot will start in August or September,.
Patients won’t be able to use the Lyft app to access free rides.
Patients will schedule their free rides through their doctor or BCBS, according to Forbes. An alert on their phone will notify the patient of their scheduled ride.
The program will be available with company-sponsored insurance plans, but BCBS is considering expanding it to those who have insurance through Medicare Advantage or the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
The free-ride pilot will begin in metropolitan and rural areas where public transportation is scarce. BCBS will announce specific details on the pilot markets later.
A statement from BCBS said that the partnership will be a “critical way to help make our communities stronger and families healthier.”
Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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Financial Planning for a Digital Nomad Life
A few weeks ago, Sarah and I had a pretty frank discussion about what we would be doing right now if we didn’t have children. She has, at various times, expressed some interest in teaching English as a foreign language in other countries and I, being a writer who submits all of my work electronically, could effectively work anywhere.
We could effectively be nomads, in other words. Sarah could work almost anywhere where English is a desired subject. I could work almost anywhere where there is a reasonable internet connection as the work I do is essentially location independent. We could easily move on an annual basis, if not more frequently, if we so chose. We could settle in one area for six months or a year or two years, then move on.
The modern world has made this kind of nomadic life much more available to a much wider group of people. Anyone who deals in information and has a broad skill set can effectively be a digital nomad, for example, and when you mix that in with other career paths that offer some freedom and flexibility for travel (such as being a teacher of English as a foreign language), you open the barn doors wide to a life in which you’re not truly settled in any one place for your entire adult life.
That type of life creates an entirely different set of financial challenges than what most Americans face. The lifestyle offers some very clear benefits – the sheer joy of exploring the world – with some interesting restrictions, such as a lack of a permanent home and serious constraints on possessions. It’s a balancing act, and one I want to explore a little bit today.
I spent some of the time between that conversation with my wife and the writing of this article getting ahold of a few people I know who are effectively nomads. They tend to move around frequently and have jobs or businesses that enable them to continue working with a relatively high income as they do it. I asked them for the best “money tricks” they’ve figured out, and this is a compilation of those things. I intentionally excluded ideas that really only work in specific areas and specific career paths, instead sticking with stuff that works for most people who would attempt such a lifestyle.
First of all, let’s look at some of the financial benefits of being a nomad, digital or otherwise.
Minimal investment in physical goods: In order to be prepared to move constantly, nomads rarely accumulate a significant amount of stuff. If you know that you might move from Raleigh, N.C., to Kyoto, Japan, one year and then move to Barcelona, Spain, the next year and then move to Lima, Peru, the next year, you’re not going to want to deal with hauling a lot of possessions around the world.
Thus, most nomads tend to try to live out of one or two suitcases and a carry-on bag. They don’t accumulate many clothes or many possessions. That means that they don’t have to invest much of their money into nonperishables. They have no reason to own a television, for example; if they decide they want one, they’re likely to rent it, because there is a huge personal drawback to owning one, or they’ll figure out another solution to watching the programming they want to watch.
- Related: The Small Bag Experiment
Small apartments: If you don’t have a lot of possessions, you don’t need a ton of space, so a small apartment works quite well for a digital nomad. If all of your possessions fit in a couple of suitcases, why exactly do you need thousands of square feet (or even hundreds)?
If you’re using small living spaces, then it’s likely that you’re paying very little in rent, too. You’re in a position where it’s almost impossible for buying a home to make sense, because the overhead of even a small house – insurance, property taxes, and so on, let alone the maintenance and other such costs – is going to be far more expensive than that of a small apartment.
Access to low cost of living areas: If you can work from anywhere, you can thus choose to live in places that have a low cost of living. For example, I can very easily work in most small towns in America, especially those that have internet access at the library. I could work in many cities around the world, in particular ones in countries with a lower cost of living than the United States.
By being an actual resident of those places, a nomad wouldn’t be facing “tourist” costs, for the most part. They could move in and avoid the tourist areas, paying much lower costs by doing what the locals do because, well, a nomad is effectively a temporary “local.”
At the same time, being a digital nomad has a bunch of drawbacks as well.
Internet access is an absolute requirement: A digital nomad submits his or her work via the internet and almost always uses a ton of digital tools to create that work, most of which use the internet in some capacity. Thus, in order to maintain a career, you have to always have access to the internet, and that means you’re often paying for it (like at a coffee shop where you are expected to buy the product they sell) or doing a ton of footwork to find free access (like at a library).
If you’re regularly working in coffee shops or restaurants, the cost of internet access is going to really add up.
Work is slow and it’s tough to “grow” a career: Unless you’re able to work really efficiently in constantly changing environments at different times with different noise levels and different internet connection qualities and different cell phone signal qualities, often without things like scanners or printers at easy convenience, you’re going to find that your productivity is much lower than if you have a true permanent (or semi-permanent) home office or desk job where all of those things are strongly established. These factors cut into your daily productivity, which makes it harder to grow a career or a business (though you can definitely maintain one).
Travel costs are high: Even if you’re settling in a new area for a year at a time, you’re still moving once a year. That means finding and paying deposits on a new apartment and perhaps new utilities. If you’re traveling internationally, that means paying for visas and other travel-related costs. If you’re staying for longer periods, then you’re not really a nomad any more and you’re settling in. If you have reasons to ever travel back home, that’s going to also add to your travel costs – it turns out that family ties are quite expensive when you live on the other side of the country or of the world.
If you travel internationally, money management can be tricky: You’re going to have to learn about transferring money from country to country and what the rules are for banking within another country. Typically, you won’t be able to just keep using the same bank you always have and the same accounts you always have, and moving money across the border can be challenging.
Given these factors, here are some strategies for financial planning for people who are digital nomads or are considering becoming digital nomads.
Build a career or a business that allows you to be location-independent.
If you don’t have this as a ground floor, you’re not going to be able to be a nomad unless you’re willing to accept entry-level work wherever you go. What the internet provides, really, is the possibility of a job that pays well without location dependence, which is what makes a nomadic lifestyle really work today. Without that kind of established career or business, you’re going to be relying on entry-level work wherever you go, which provides no financial security at all. You can do that, of course, but it’s not going to provide you with a viable long-term financial future. When you’re older and much less able to get around, what will you have?
Building a business or a career that gives you location independence and enough income to spend significantly less than you earn gives you a great deal of freedom. You don’t have the weight of an uncertain future around your neck while doing this because, eventually, you’ll be able to rely on the money you’ve saved and no longer need to work, which is a destination that eventually everyone reaches as they age. You also have the financial flexibility you need to get up and move when it feels right to do so.
How do you do this? Well, you need to either move into a career path that allows for total telecommuting or build a business that gives you the same freedom. In terms of careers, many IT and computer programming jobs allow this, as do many different sales jobs and some jobs in the medical and health related fields. Some design jobs allow this, too. As for businesses, things like running a YouTube channel or blogging or podcasting can allow for being a digital nomad, but it’s going to take a lot of work to build these things before it’s sustainable. If you have a career to piggyback on, you may find that a consulting business can work well for being a nomad, too.
Establish a ‘home country’ where you intend to live when you’re finished.
This is the country where you should have your primary savings, particularly retirement savings. It’s the place you’ll go to when your years of being a nomad come to a close. This also gives you a basis by which to study the laws and understand how funds can be transferred into and out of that country. You’ll mostly want to be sending money into that country. You’ll likely want to retain citizenship there and also want to understand the travel restrictions for citizens living abroad.
So, let’s say you choose the United States, but you’re now thinking of living in Thailand for a year. You’ll then need to study travel and banking relationships between Thailand and the United States. How long can you stay there? What documentation will you need? How easy is it to transfer money from Thailand to the United States? How will taxes work?
One big advantage of having a singular “home country” is that most of the knowledge you pick up is transferable. Many of the relationships that one nation has with other nations are the same between all of those other nations, so you’ll quickly learn how to be a U.S. citizen abroad or a Canadian citizen abroad or whatever you may choose.
You may find that a different home country suits your needs later on in your travels, depending on the relationships that you build, and that’s fine, but that’s a bridge you can cross later on.
Keep most of your accounts in that home country, along with things like insurance.
In general, you’ll want to do all of your financial planning within your home country. You’ll want to find out how insurance coverage works when you’re abroad, particularly health insurance. For example, if you’re a U.S. citizen living in Thailand, what are your health care options?
You’ll definitely want to have retirement accounts in the country you intend to wind up in, because it will make your retirement years much easier. You don’t have to worry about the nuance of moving retirement accounts across borders, because you’ll likely be hit with a large amount of taxes when you attempt to do so. Even if you choose to reside abroad for a very long time, it may still make sense to leave the accounts in your “home country,” whichever it may be.
If at all possible, keep your actual pay within that country as well and only transfer out your living expenses as needed. If you can get paid in your home country, put money into retirement in that country, keep your primary banking in that country, and only transfer funds into your current living area as needed, it keeps everything much simpler.
Open local accounts as necessary for your work, but close them out when you leave.
In terms of paying the bills and covering expenses where you happen to be living, nothing beats the convenience of local banking options. Just open an account at a local financial institution, transfer money in from your “real” bank in your home country to live off of, and then empty out and close that account when you’re leaving the area. It’s that simple.
This allows you to keep all of your primary financial accounts in your home country where you have a strong understanding of the rules and minimizes your financial dealings in a country where you may not know all of the rules. If the local economy runs into trouble or you find yourself dealing with some other issues in that area, you’ll find it’s much better to have all of your assets somewhere else. You can leave easily and never return.
I highly recommend choosing large international banks for your local banking services. The large multinational banks are stable and are very friendly to moves abroad. You may even find that you can maintain a “local” account with them as you move around.
Establish a tight budget for yourself that ensures you spend far less than you earn in a typical month and save the difference.
If you’re choosing a digital nomad’s lifestyle, you’re going to want to keep your day-to-day expenses very low, and that means living by a tight budget. Know what you’re spending on housing, on food, on utilities, on local working expenses (like internet access and cell phones), on entertainment, on local exploration, and stick to it. Put a strong cap on all of your variable areas of spending (like entertainment) so that you have a firm grip on the money you’re transferring in and don’t need to “top it off” with extra funding.
That way, you can pretty much automate all of your finances. You can set things up so that you’re paid automatically into your primary checking account, and from that checking account you’re putting money aside for taxes, putting money aside for retirement, and transferring money to yourself locally for day-to-day use. Your budget is automatic and thus it becomes really easy.
It is a good idea to maintain a local “buffer” – an emergency fund – that provides enough money for you to survive for a few days and get a plane ticket out of the area if an emergency occurs. You don’t want to be caught empty handed in a true emergency where your job or your business is collapsing or the local economy is collapsing or a disaster is imminent. Cash is king, so make sure you have a pool of cash always available.
Borrow things instead of buying them.
If you’re only living in a place for a short while, it makes little sense to buy things to keep permanently. Instead, you should focus on borrowing things and renting things. Rent a furnished place to live, or else buy inexpensive furnishings locally that you can quickly resell when you leave. If you need tools, find ways to borrow or rent them locally. Use libraries and other lending institutions.
You’re far better off paying a little to borrow something than paying a lot to own something that you can’t take with you. Basically, view everything that’s not in your suitcase as something you won’t own a year from now and make decisions accordingly.
Know all of the local rules for emergencies and health care as soon as you arrive.
What exactly do you need to do if you have a health care situation? Who do you call? How will you pay for it? You should research this before you ever leave and one of your first tasks upon arrival is to make sure you’ve done everything you can to make these things as smooth as possible. Not doing this can result in a gigantic bill simply because you didn’t know the local rules.
Have a very clear backup plan for your career and your life.
The world changes. Sometimes, what seems like a brilliant idea one year can turn out to be a disastrous one the next year.
No matter how well a digital nomad life seems to be going, make sure that you always have an “escape plan.” What happens if your business collapses? What happens if you lose your job? What happens if you need to go back home to care for an ailing loved one? What if you fall in love? What happens if you get completely bored with your work and lifestyle (trust me, even the most exciting things can become boring as your personality changes, and vice versa)?
You should have a very clear backup plan for each of these situations, particularly the ones where your job or career or business stagnates or fails. You do not want to find yourself sitting halfway around the world with no exit plan if a pink slip suddenly arrives or if you find that your business is losing its primary revenue stream.
What does that plan look like? It should include a plan for getting back to a stable base in your “home country” and then devising the next step in your career.
Coming up with this plan will probably point you toward things you should be doing now to keep some lifelines afloat. You should be maintaining a professional network and a personal network all over the world. You should be keeping your skills sharp as they relate to your field of choice. You probably want to make sure that your name is staying out there in relation to your field, too, so that you have some things to point to if you need to find new employment or revenue streams.
Never forget one key thing: Financial independence frees you from all of the job worries.
The big thing to keep in mind, if you find that you love this kind of life, is true financial independence – meaning having enough money saved and invested so that you can continue to live your life off of only part of the returns on those investments (so the investments will still keep growing and keep up with inflation). Then you can become a true nomad, spending all of your time exploring the various places you’re living and learning about the local cultures.
It’s that attraction that usually convinces people to switch to a nomadic lifestyle, and financial independence means that not only can you continue being a nomad, but you free yourself up from another lifeline that’s holding you back from the freedom to explore.
What does that mean in terms of financial planning? Live. Cheap. That should underline everything you do as a nomad. Live in low-cost areas. Don’t spend much money. Bank everything you can. Head toward financial independence as quickly as possible. If you can do that, the world is your oyster.
Good luck.
Related Articles:
- Here’s What Living Cheaply in Another Country Looks Like
- Living an Amazing Life via the Reverse Retirement Plan
- 31 Days to Financial Independence, Day 1: The Shallows and the Deep
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US stocks slide in early trading; oil heads higher
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Cold-calling firm responsible for 100m nuisance calls hit with record fine
Keurboom Communications Ltd has been fined a record £400,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), after plaguing consumers with 100 million automated calls made over an 18-month period.
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Master Your Mind, Master Your Money
If you ever feel like you don’t have the first idea how to make money, or that you’re not good enough to make money, or that you don’t deserve to make a lot of money, then success coach Jen Sincero’s new book, “You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth,” might be just what you need.
“A lot of people don’t feel that [money is] available to them the way it is for other people somehow,” says Sincero in a phone interview from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “You see somebody with a mansion and a yacht and you feel like they’re a different species,” she says.
“The reason I wrote this book all about mindset is because our minds dictate our actions,” Sincero says. “I think a lot of times in our culture we really focus on actions to take. You know, you’ve got to apply for this job, you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to put yourself out there, and all that stuff.”
Not to demote action from its importance, Sincero says, but some mental groundwork usually needs to happen first.
“If you don’t believe that it’s OK to be rich, or if you don’t believe that you can do it, or if you believe that you’re going to lose all your friends and family if you get rich, your actions are going to be very different than if you’re completely gung-ho and 100% invested in it.” (Note: In her book, Sincero defines “rich” not as having a mansion and a yacht, but as being “able to afford all the things and experiences required to fully experience your most authentic life.”)
Taking risks is a big part of the process, says Sincero — whose first book, “You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life,” topped the New York Times bestseller list, but not until after she’d done the hard work of what’s now become her advice.
“You’ve gotten where you are today by doing what you’re doing, and that is very familiar and safe,” she says. “If you want to transform your financial reality, you have to do a ton of sh*t you’ve never done before, and a lot of stuff that’s really quote-unquote ‘risky’ to you, because it’s the unknown. And in order to participate in the unknown, you have to have a busload of desire and faith and drive behind it — and that is all mindset.”
Sincero weaves her own financial history throughout the book — both the risks involved, and the gratitude (and some faith in what she labels “Universal Intelligence”) that she had to invoke, to get to the secure place she is today. And it’s out of those experiences that she offers these four tips as a starting place for people wanting to change their money mindset:
- Focus carefully, because “what you focus on, you create more of,” she says. “Pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs and words. If you’ve got any crappy ones around money or finance, with your ability or your right to make money, question them, and start changing them up.”
- Hang out with people “who are kicking ass financially,” she says — those who are really positive about money, who make it well, and are excited to make it.
- Take on money-making pursuits that put you outside of your comfort zone as often as you can.
- Don’t just keep doing what you’re doing and hope it’s going to get better. You have to make it a very serious, concentrated focus that you are going to make money. Train your thoughts in that direction, and take action.
Money isn’t everything, but it’s a big, essential part of our lives – so it’s going to improve your life if you can get the hang of it. “Be really aware that this is your one go-around on Planet Earth, and to squander it by being in struggle around money — we need money every single freaking day of our lives, so it’s such a valuable and important piece to get straight with and to succeed at,” Sincero says.
“As a human being on Planet Earth, you need money to thrive, so don’t waste your life pretending you can’t do it, or that you can’t have it, and get on it already.”
Related Articles:
- Seven Books for Building a Whole-Life Perspective Regarding Your Money
- Six Simple Skills Everyone Can Learn to Improve Their Earnings Potential at Work
- Five Salary Negotiation Tips for People Who Hate Talking About Money
- How to Make Money
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Base rate held as policymakers rein in growth forecast
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held the base rate at 0.25% and warned economic growth this year could be weaker than previously expected.
Policymakers voted 7-1 to keep the base rate at its current level – voting the same way as last month.
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Three in ten Moneywise users don’t pay kids pocket money
Three in ten Moneywise users (29%) don’t pay their kids pocket money, according to the results of our recent poll.
This finding comes after research from Halifax shows that the national average pocket money payment is £7.04 per week.
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John Lewis and Waitrose put £36m aside for payroll error
John Lewis and Waitrose staff on the minimum wage may be due a share of £36 million, as the retailers have discovered a potential payroll error.
The John Lewis Partnership, which operates 48 John Lewis shops and 354 Waitrose shops, is working with HMRC to check it has processed payments correctly.
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