الأربعاء، 24 مايو 2017
Online Investing for Beginners
If you are a new or small investor, online investing can seem complicated and even intimidating. That’s because there are hundreds of online investment platforms, and even different types. Some are true do-it-yourself type investment platforms, while others offer complete investment management.
Which online investing platform should you choose? Let’s start this discussion by covering the basic types of online investing platforms. A little bit later on, we’ll get into some specific online investment brokers that we have reviewed and feel comfortable recommending.
Discount Brokers
Discount brokers are actually some of the largest online investing platforms available. Some of them hold many hundreds of billions of dollars for millions of individual investors. They provide you with an opportunity to invest in the widest range of assets, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), foreign securities, real estate investment trusts, and futures and options.
The basic idea behind discount brokers is to create the most comprehensive investment environment for self-directed investing. That includes not only a low commission structure, but also a wide selection of investment tools. These can include tools designed to provide basic online investing education, as well as much more sophisticated ones that actually assist you in your investing activities, including high activity trading and options investing.
There is a good bit of variation within the group, and while historically the least expensive platforms have provided the fewest tools, that gap is closing. Now, it’s mostly a matter of choosing the fee structure that you’re most comfortable with, as well as the most important investing tools.
Examples of discount brokers include E*Trade, TDAmeritrade and Scottrade.
Full Service Brokers
Full-service brokers come at a higher cost than discount brokers, however they essentially manage your investment portfolio for you. They also usually require higher account minimums – typically $50,000 or more – than discount brokers, who often have no minimum account balance at all.
When you turn your portfolio over to a full-service broker, they determine your portfolio allocation, rebalance periodically, and handle all purchases and sales of securities in the process. But because they’re full-service brokers, there is a good deal of customer contact. You will generally be apprised of the investment process at all times. You are also usually assigned a financial advisor who mostly acts as a point person between you and the full-service broker.
They may design a custom portfolio for you, or they may place your portfolio into a predetermined managed portfolio that is available to other investors. They may also provide wealth management services to clients who have very large portfolios.
Management fees for full-service brokers are at the very high end of the online investment platform range, typically being well in excess of 1% of the value of your portfolio each year.
Examples of full service investment brokers in include Edward Jones, Raymond James, and Ameriprise Financial.
Mutual Fund Families
Mutual fund families are companies that manage their own group of mutual funds or ETF’s. They can offer anywhere from a dozen to several hundred funds, covering every conceivable market sector and market index. Since each fund within the family is effectively its own managed portfolio, it represents an opportunity to have professional investment management.
A major factor to consider with mutual fund families is their fee structure. Mutual funds often come with “loads” (ETFs typically don’t charge these fees), that can range from 1% to 3% of your investment in a particular fund. These fees can have an impact on your investment return, and are not suitable for high activity trading. You should also favor no-load funds in order to improve this situation.
Examples of mutual fund families include Fidelity Investments, the
Vanguard Group, and American Funds.
Robo Advisors
This is the most recent group of online investment brokers, having only come up in about the last seven or eight years. But they offer professional investment management at very low fees.
For the most part, they provide similar services to full-service online investment brokers, but they do so at only a fraction of the cost. Annual fees charged by robo-advisors typically range between 0.25% and 0.50% per year, compared to 1.0% to 1.5% by traditional full-service brokers.
The entire robo-advisor process is fully automated and completely online. You complete a few questions that determine your investment goals and risk tolerance, and then the investment platform creates a portfolio for you that is based on Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), which is concerned primarily with proper asset allocation, rather than individual security selection.
They will create your portfolio using a very small number of low-cost, index based ETF’s, that represent the entire broad market. Once the portfolio has been created, they will provide rebalancing and even dividend reinvesting, and some will even provide tax loss harvesting in order to keep your tax liability from capital gains to an absolute minimum.
Examples of robo-advisors include Betterment, Wealthfront and Personal Capital.
Now here are some of what we believe to be the top online investment brokers available:
Best Online Broker for Active Traders: E*TRADE
E*TRADE’s fee structure is right about at the middle of the discount broker range. But they offer a full service platform, that allows you to invest in just about anything you can imagine, including stocks, bonds and more than 8,000 mutual funds and ETF’s. They also offer the benefit that you can either be a complete do-it-yourself trader, or get whatever assistance level that you need to help you in your investing activities.
The platform also provides you with an incredible range of trading tools, including free independent research, streaming real-time quotes, customizable planning tools, and everything that you need to manage do-it-yourself investing.
Top IRA Provider: TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade has some superior retirement tools. For example, their IRA Selection tool helps you to determine whether you should make a traditional IRA contribution or a Roth IRA contribution. They also offer a Retirement Calculator tool, that analyzes your information, goals, income, assets and risk tolerance, and then shows you your progress in meeting all of those goals.
They also give you the option to participate either in self-directed investing, or to default to their managed portfolios, Advisor Direct and the Amerivest Portfolios. It’s a good combination if you want a little bit of both kinds of investing – self-directed and broker assisted.
Online Investment Platform With the Top Trading Tools: OptionsHouse
OptionsHouse ranks as the very lowest cost online investing platform, but also provides top-of-the-line trading technology and trading resources. This is especially true if you want to trade options, which is their specialty.
They also offer a feature known as their paperTRADE account, which allows you to practice trading using virtual money, rather than actual cash. That will enable you to hone your trading skills before you actually risk real money.
Lowest Cost Online Investment Platforms: OptionsHouse
At $4.95 per trade, TradeKing offers what are probably the lowest trading fees in the industry. They also offer their managed portfolios, through TradeKing Advisors. Two downsides though: no demo account, and they do charge an annual $50 inactivity fee. But then if you open an account with TradeKing, it’s extremely unlikely that you won’t be an active trader – not with fees that low.
OptionsHouse’s trading fees match those of TradeKing at $4.95 per trade. They have no annual fees whatsoever, and a solid trading platform as indicated in the previous section.
Best Fully Hands-off Online Investment Platform: Betterment
This award goes to Betterment, the heavyweight champion of the robo-advisor world. It’s a very low cost way to obtain professional investment management, and you can open an account with no money whatsoever. It’s a completely hands-off online investing platform, which means that you complete an application, answer a few investment related questions, fund your account, and Betterment handles everything for you from there forever more.
Betterment charges an annual fee equal to just 0.25% of your account balance. That means you can have $10,000 managed for $25 per year, or $100,000 managed for just $250. That includes portfolio selection, rebalancing, and even tax loss harvesting. That’s a lot of management for a very low fee.
Most Creative Online Investment Platform: Motif Investing
If you ever had a fantasy of running your own mutual fund, then Motif Investing maybe just the online investment platform for you. When you invest through Motif, you create mini mutual funds, which are referred to as motifs. You can either invest in existing motifs created by others, or you can create your own.
Some examples of existing motifs include Tablet Takeover, Shale Oil, Rising Interest Rates, and Battling Cancer. If you want to create your own motif, you need at least $300, and then you can invest in as many as 30 different stocks for one low price of $9.95, regardless of the actual amount invested in the motif. It’s an opportunity to mix creativity with your online investing activities.
GFC’s List of Brokers for Online Investing
We’ve prepared a table summarizing some of the most important features of the following online investing platforms:
| Broker/Category | Broker Type | Account Minimum | Annual Fee | Commissions | Best For | Current Promotions |
| Scottrade | Discount | $500 | N/A | $7.00 | Self-directed investors | $100 – $2,500 cash bonus for new accounts $25,000 to $1 million+ |
| Betterment | Robo-advisor | None | 0.25% | N/A | Fully managed account | N/A |
| E*TRADE | Discount | $500 | N/A | $7.99 | Self-directed | $200 – $2,500 cash bonus for new accounts $25,000 to $1 million+ |
| TradeStation | Discount | $5,000 | $99.95 per month, can be waived with high trading activity | $4.99 per trade, or 1 cent per share | Self-directed, especially options | $500 – $1,500 commission rebates on new accounts 0 to $250,000+ |
| Firstrade | Discount | None | N/A | $6.95 | Self-directed | $100 – $1,000 in free trading commissions |
| TD Ameritrade | Discount | None | N/A | $9.99 | Self-directed | $100 – $600 when you open an account of $25,000 – $250,000 |
| OptionsHouse | Discount | None | N/A | $4.95 | Self-directed, especially options | $1,000 commission free trades |
| TradeKing | Discount | None | $50 inactivity fee | $4.95 | Self-directed | $500 – $1,000 free trades when you open a new account with $500 – $5,000 |
| Motif Investing | Custom investment platform | $300 | N/A | $9.95 per 30-stock “motif” | Self-directed/Create your own funds | $150 if you open an account with at least $2,000 |
| Wealthfront | Robo-advisor | $500 | 0.25% | N/A | Fully Managed Account | First $10,000 managed free |
| T. Rowe Price | Discount & mutual funds | $2,500 | None | $9.95 | Self-directed | N/A |
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Purr-fect Job Alert! 5 Jobs for People Who Love to Hang Out With Pets
Sometimes, leaving your pet in the morning when it’s time to go to work feels like the hardest thing you’ll do all day.
There’s just something about that wet, snuffly nose or that needy *meow* that makes you want to call in sick, climb back into bed and cuddle your wonderful furry best-friend while you binge a season of “LA Ink” and seriously entertain the idea of getting your cat’s face tattooed on your bicep. (No, you’re weird.)
But somebody has to put the kibble on the table.
5 Pet Care Jobs That are Purr-fect for Animal Lovers
So, what if I told you that the sting of leaving your pet each morning could be lessened considerably? What if I told you that there are jobs that let you hang out with animals all day long?
Well, there are.
1. Cat Cuddler
This job is exactly what it sounds like. Just Cats, a veterinary clinic and cattery in Dublin, Ireland, is looking for a full-time cat cuddler to soothe nervous cat patients in the clinic.
The ideal candidate, according to the listing, will have “gentle hands, capable of petting and stroking cats for long periods of time,” and should be soft-spoken and “capable of cat whispering.”
Just Cats mentions that applicants have a distinct advantage if they’re able to understand different types of purrs.
If this sounds similar to your own very specific skill set, you can find more information and apply to become a professional cat cuddler (with cattitude) here.
2. Semi-Pro Dog Walker
With Wag! you can make all of your dog-walking dreams come true. (Because who doesn’t want to get paid to hang with pups all day?!)
The company is always looking for new walkers to sign up through the Wag! app, and the process is pretty quick and easy. After you apply, you’ll go through a vetting (hah) process that aims to ensure you’re serious about the dog walking life.
According to the Wag! website, dog walkers can make up to $25 per hour hanging out with man’s best friend — so this one seems like an easy decision.
3. Cat Cafe Hosts
Cat cafes are popping up across the country, and while they’re super trendy and 100% Instagrammable, the primary goal of these feline-friendly coffee shops is encouraging cat adoptions.
Typical positions at a cat cafe include cat room hosts and wranglers, along with baristas and cafe attendants.
While these cat cafes are in California, Minnesota and Washington D.C., there’s probably already a cat cafe in your city — so be sure to check around for any job openings near you!
(And if you’re thinking about opening your own cat cafe, here are some things to consider first.)
4. Pet Massage Therapist
Some sad news: when pets get old or injured, their bodies hurt just like humans’ do.
Some happy news: you can become certified as a pet massage therapist and help alleviate the pain (that apparently doesn’t have the decency to stay away from the purest creatures on this Earth).
As a pet massage therapist, you can make as much as $50 per hour — so a full-time pet masseuse would be set to make a pretty penny.
Take note: the regulations regarding pet massage therapy are a little hazy, so you’ll want to check out the specific rules in your state before you get started.
5. Put Your Pup to Work
If you need a little extra help bringing home the Beggin’ Strips, have your dog pitch in.
Here are five ways your dog can help earn a little income on the side — because even Fido has to earn his keep.
But Why Stop There?
There are a tons of ways to make money while hanging with our furry friends — including becoming a doggie chauffeur or a pet photographer (both very real things).
For more ideas, check out this list of 10 ways to earn while spending time with other people’s dogs!
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. Shout out to Oliver, the perfect kitten who helps her keep her eye on the (salmon flavored) prize.
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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Want to Lower Your Student Loan Payments? You Might Want to Consider This
More than 1 million student loan borrowers defaulted on their loans last year. Odds are, many will default again, even after they’ve cleared their name with debt collectors.
Why? Most don’t set up an affordable payment plan.
It’s great to get your loans out of default with a few small payments, stop the incessant calls from debt collectors and clear a nasty mark from your credit history.
But you can’t stop there.
You have to move forward with repaying your student loans. If you’re stuck with the standard payment plan you had before default, can you still make the monthly payments?
What to Do If You Still Can’t Afford Student Loan Payments
If you’re in default on your federal student loans and want to avoid collections — or you struggle with payments and want to avoid default — consider applying for a direct consolidation loan.
This federal loan lets you combine multiple loans into one new one and takes an average weighted interest rate. You’ll only have to make one payment each month, and you have more time to pay off your balance.
Cons? The longer repayment period means your balance will spend more time accruing interest. While it’ll make life easier each month, it could cost you more money over the next 10 or 20 years.
If you’re thinking, “Fine, I just want to make it to July,” read on.
How to Apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan
You can apply for a direct consolidation loan here. You’ll need to log in with your Federal Student Aid ID and password or create one.
You’ll either apply online, or print the forms and mail them in. Then, a consolidation officer will magically whip those multiple loans into one simple, tasty, consolidated loan pie.
Unless your loans are in deferment, forbearance or a grace period, make sure you keep making normal student loan payments while you wait to hear back about your consolidation loan.
Once you take out a direct consolidation loan, you can also automatically sign up for a better repayment plan that will set you up with more affordable monthly payments.
What’s an Income-Driven Repayment Plan?
Whether you’ve defaulted or not, you might want to consider an income-driven repayment plan for your federal student loans.
These plans set your monthly payment as a percentage of your discretionary income.
Now, this gets tricky, because you may have heard all of these terms:
- Pay As You Earn (PAYE Plan)
- Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR Plan)
- Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR Plan)
- Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE Plan)
These names all sound like different ways to say the same thing, but they’re distinct plans. Most likely, you’ll want a PAYE or IBR plan, but check this chart to see what’s best for your situation.
“Income-driven repayment,” BTW, is an umbrella term for all these options. Someone please take away the DOE’s thesaurus.
Depending on your repayment plan eligibility, the main differences you’ll see among the plans are the percentage of your income allocated to the monthly payment (10%, 15% or 20%), whether your spouse’s income counts, and after how many years your balance will be forgiven (20 or 25 years).
Apply for income-driven repayment plans here. If you’re not sure which is best for you, you can let the loan service put you on the one with the lowest monthly payment.
One More Thing… What is Student Loan Refinancing?
How does this tricky term fit into the mix?
Refinancing works a lot like direct consolidation loans, except you do it through a private lender instead of the federal government.
Through a company like Credible, you can refinance federal and private student loans.
Credible replaces your multiple loans with a single loan, potentially with a lower interest rate and/or lower monthly payment, which could help you save money now and long term.
OK, Thanks for Clearing That Up
You’re welcome, and best wishes.
Disclosure: Here’s a toast to the affiliate links in this post. May we all be just a little richer today.
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a senior 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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We Can All Use a Little TIme Off: How to Unplug from Work While on Vacation
Quiz time!
When it comes to using vacation time, do you:
- Put off planning your vacation and never quite get around to taking one
- Use up every last vacation day you’ve earned
Don’t worry, there’s no right or wrong answer, so you can tell me.
If you answered number one, you’ve got plenty of company.
A new survey by Glassdoor revealed that, of the U.S. workers who get vacation time or paid time off, those employees, on average, only take about half of their allotted time.
If you answered number two, I have another question for you.
Do you unplug from work when you’re on vacation, or do you still check your messages and email?
Still check your messages? So do two out of three Americans Glassdoor surveyed (including me!).
Unplugging is hard to do, and sometimes our workplaces can make it even harder. Roughly 29% of employees have been contacted by a coworker while on vacation, and 25% say they’ve been contacted by the boss (that’s an email you have to answer, right?).
“While taking a vacation may make employees temporarily feel behind, they should realize that stepping away from work and fully disconnecting carries a ripple effect of benefits,” said Glassdoor chief human resources officer Carmel Galvin. “It allows employees to return to work feeling more productive, creative, recharged and reenergized.”
The survey also found some workers think taking vacation time may cost them a promotion or raise (though sometimes the opposite may be true).
If you need incentive to leave your laptop behind next time you take time off, consider this: around 14% of survey respondents said family members have complained when they saw them working on vacation.
But if your vacation partner constantly has their nose in their work email instead of relaxing, they might feel like they have a good reason for it.
Project: Time Off looked into what drives people to work while on vacation and discovered something interesting.
A quarter of the workers they surveyed said they’re afraid taking time off will make them seem less dedicated to their job or that it would show how easily someone else could do their work.
“More than anything else, it’s this fear that ‘I could be seen as replaceable,’” said Katie Denis, senior director at Project: Time Off. “We have these post-recession fears that still linger.”
How to Take a Vacation to Remember
When you’re ready to relax and get away from it all, you’ve got a lot of options that don’t cost a lot of money.
- Get back to nature and go camping on a budget
- If you’re a veteran, you may be eligible for a free vacation
- Consider planning your vacation around shoulder season
- See if your company will pay you to go on vacation
- Don’t let extra travel fees and costs catch you off guard
How to Take a Staycation to Remember
It can be hard to save for a vacation when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. These ideas can help you make the most of the time you have off right in your own hometown.
- Set up a DIY spa day, no reservations required
- Get paid to be a tourist in your own town
- Take a neighborhood treasure hunt
- Get into museums for free if you’re a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch customer
- Look around to find out what free activities for the little ones are available in your town
Whether you stay home or jet off somewhere exotic, it’s important to unplug once in a while, de-stress and maybe practice a little mindfulness.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She loves to travel but sometimes nothing beats a quiet weekend at home. Unplugged, of course.
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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10 Lessons Digital Marketers Can Learn from HBO’s Silicon Valley
Do you like to binge-watch a TV series?
I don’t do it often. Hardly ever, in fact. But yep, I’ve done it before. For me, it’s one of life’s simple pleasures.
Every once in awhile, I’ll find a series totally “binge-worthy.”
It can make you a little crazy, especially if you spend the better part of the night glued to the TV.
But it’s pretty friggin’ enjoyable.
One series in particular that’s binge-worthy is HBO’s Silicon Valley.
If you’re unfamiliar, it’s about a team of young IT entrepreneurs who launch a startup called Pied Piper.
The show chronicles their successes and failures along the way.
It’s super funny and perfect if you’re at all entrepreneurially inclined or just like to geek out on tech.
But I also think there are some golden lessons digital marketers can take away from the show.
After all, even though it’s a comedy series with some wacked out episodes, it does have a lot of truth in it.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Silicon Valley, so I can relate to what’s going on in the show.
The show is legit.
Whether you’ve been at it for years or are new to the game, you can learn something that’s practical, even from a comedy like this one.
Here are 10 lessons to be had from HBO’s Silicon Valley.
1. Being flexible is a huge asset
You’ve probably heard the statistic that eight out of 10 businesses fail within 18 months.
While this stat is debatable (The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 50% of all new businesses make it to their fifth year and one third make it to their tenth year), many businesses do in fact fail.
But if you’re flexible and nimble, you can switch up your game plan to account for change and unexpected curveballs along the way.
In the show, the team’s initial idea was to create a music app for songwriters to ensure they weren’t infringing on any copyrights.
But after getting feedback, they quickly realized this idea wasn’t going to fly.
What did they do?
They took a completely different approach and developed a “compression cloud” solution, widening their demographic significantly.
Just like in the show, adaptability in business is incredibly important in real life.
It’s not always who’s the smartest or who has the most financial backing.
Sometimes, success comes to those who are most able to adapt to change, making the necessary adjustments.
If it’s clear a particular digital marketing technique isn’t working, you may need to change your direction to get the results you’re looking for.
2. Don’t burn bridges or make enemies
Erlich Bachman is a funny guy.
But he’s also quite crude at times.
He has a bad habit of pissing off venture capital firms and thus missing out on valuable funding opportunities.
As a business owner or a marketer, you definitely don’t want to do that.
Relationships are huge.
In many cases, your relationships (or lack thereof) can make or break you.
Don’t take them for granted.
Always make an effort to remain professional even if you don’t always see eye to eye with everyone.
Even if your colleagues’ ideas completely suck, don’t bash them for it.
Instead, conduct yourself with tact.
3. Don’t overlook legalities
We live in an extremely litigation-happy world.
You see it in Silicon Valley—the show and the real thing.
Thankfully, there’s this guy:
He’s very uncool, but he knows how to keep the startup from getting screwed over by lawyers.
And it’s a good thing because “there are over 100 million cases filed in US state courts every year.”
Law is a recurring theme in Silicon Valley, especially as it pertains to intellectual property.
When it comes to digital marketing, you’ll want to have some basic knowledge of branding and trademark law to ensure you’re not overstepping your boundaries or infringing on anyone’s brand identity.
Check out this resource from Branding Strategy Insider for more details on this.
4. Be careful of shameless publicity
There’s an old saying that “any publicity is good publicity.”
But this isn’t always the case.
At one point, Erlich tries to shamelessly generate publicity for himself and Pied Piper.
In the process, he blows through massive wads of cash, nearly ruining the company.
The point is be careful about how your brand is depicted and with whom you choose to align your brand.
And let’s be honest.
It’s not all that difficult to tarnish your brand’s reputation.
Between review sites and social media, a few unsavory comments can quickly bring the walls crumbling down.
Although you can’t totally control how the public perceives your brand, try to stay away from stupid publicity stunts that may do more harm than good.
5. Building a brand is a process
If I’ve learned anything during my time as an entrepreneur, it’s that patience is a huge benefit.
We live in a microwave culture, where instant gratification has become the norm.
And many marketers get frustrated and disillusioned when they don’t see overnight success.
But it doesn’t work like that with branding.
It takes time. Sometimes, it takes several years for any noticeable results to emerge.
In Silicon Valley, the team goes through a lot of twists and turns before Pied Piper becomes a household name.
So, a big part of making it is simply staying the course.
You need to have the mental fortitude to keep moving along and take it step by step.
But the thing I love about branding is the snowball effect, when a brand keeps getting bigger and bigger with time.
While your brand equity may be next to nothing initially, it keeps growing to the point of explosion.
Understanding that branding is a process that takes time should help sustain you when things seem bleak and you’re tempted to give up.
6. Embrace mistakes (but learn from them)
I absolutely love this quote from Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek:
If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake.
This simply means that mistakes are an inevitable part of making progress.
I’ve learned not to beat myself up too badly if I botch something or even flat out make a stupid mistake.
I just chalk it up to progress.
In Silicon Valley, people make mistakes all the time, but they always work to get past them.
In digital marketing, you’re likely to make plenty of mistakes along the way.
I know I did (and still do).
But as long as you’re genuinely learning from your mistakes and utilizing that knowledge to improve, you should be good to go.
7. Strive for a healthy work/life balance
Working hard and having a strong work ethic is good and all.
But it shouldn’t come at the cost of your own personal well-being.
I know this all too well because I have workaholic tendencies.
In the show, Richard explains to his doctor that he’s been having night sweats induced by stress.
The doctor explains that this can be a precursor to bed-wetting, which is never a good thing.
It’s quite embarrassing.
Try not to allow yourself to get overwhelmed with your marketing activities.
Strive to find a healthy work/life balance, and recharge your batteries from time to time.
This will make you more effective in your marketing, and you won’t have to worry about being an adult who wets the bed.
8. Keep your eyes on the prize
It’s easy to get distracted in business and marketing.
There are always new techniques and tactics that can distract you from what you’re good at and what’s really working.
For instance, at some point in the show, the team is forced to work on a non-core product, which ended up being a major distraction.
In turn, this created a road block on their path to success.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t experiment, but it’s important to focus on your strengths and not lose sight of the ultimate goal.
9. Quality is key
At one point, Gavin Belson, CEO of a competing company, presents company’s new product Nucleus, which ends up being a complete disaster.
This serves as a reminder that quality should always be of the utmost importance.
You want to put in enough time and energy to ensure your audience is getting the best possible experience.
Whether it’s creating blog content or running your social media campaign, it’s better to focus on quality over quantity.
Taking shortcuts is never the way to go.
10. Make the right hires
If you’re assembling a marketing team, you need to go about it the right way.
Don’t carelessly choose someone without ensuring they’ve got the chops and will mesh with your culture.
A bad hire can kill your vibe and stall your progress.
In the long run, this can also put a damper on morale and be disruptive to team chemistry.
For tips on hiring and creating an awesome team, I suggest reading this article from Wired.
Conclusion
Although Silicon Valley is a comedy, there are many lessons that can be applied to digital marketing and business in general.
In fact, I feel a lot of wisdom can be extracted from this show.
Whether it’s learning to adapt in an ever-changing marketing world, learning from your mistakes, or simply refraining from being a douchebag, the lessons from Silicon Valley can make you a better digital marketer in many ways.
Can you think of any other business- or marketing-related takeaways from the show?
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OPENING BELL: US stocks extend rally to fifth day as tech companies rise
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Choose the Life You Want. Your Wallet Will Thank You.
Whenever I see a headline like that, I can’t help but think that it’s drenched in positive thinking.
Then, I look at a day like yesterday.
Yesterday, I didn’t really feel like working. At all. The motivation to write was nonexistent. I didn’t feel inspired and the words were simply not coming out. So, I got up and headed over to Ledges State Park. I packed a backpack with a lunch, a full water bottle, some bug spray, and a few other odds and ends and I headed out on a solo hike that took me a large portion of the day.
About halfway through, after climbing a big hill, I was completely winded, so I stopped for a while. I sat down against a tree and read a book in the natural light for a while, maybe half an hour or so.
I got back to my car in the mid-afternoon, drove home, and met my kids as they got off the bus. We went on a short geocaching run to see if there was something wrong with our geocache (there was – it had fallen into some water), then we came back home and made supper together.
After supper, I sat out in a comfortable chair on the back deck and read for another hour.
At the end of the day, I felt fantastic – that kind of physical and mental tiredness where all you can think about is going to bed but you feel good because you’ve been using your body and mind so hard.
Here’s the thing: What I described is almost exactly what I want in terms of a normal day-to-day life. That’s the life I want, one where I get exercise and fresh air, where I exercise my mind thoroughly to boot, where I get quality time with the people I care about.
When you break it down, that vision for what I would like my day-to-day life to look like doesn’t require a whole lot of money. I spent a large portion of the day walking on a trail in a state park, which is basically free. I went exploring with my kids – also free. I read a book, which was free from the library. I prepared my own meals, which means that they were about as low cost as possible.
Why? When people visualize their ideal day-to-day life, it’s almost always oriented around experiences, not stuff. It’s all about the things they would do, not stuff they would own. (This isn’t universally true, but it’s extremely common when I hear from readers or have face-to-face conversations.)
I hear about the books they would read, the projects they would work on, the local things they would get involved with. These choices don’t involve having more stuff – typically, they already have all of the stuff they need. They involve time, along with a perception that they currently don’t have enough for the things they want to do.
My question, in response to those desires, is why aren’t you doing those things right now?
The answers are almost always flimsy. A very common answer is “I’m so busy…” but when that statement gets pressed, it’s often hard to nail down what makes them so busy. I’ll often hear about nebulous commitments, too.
The truth? The average American watches five hours of television a day. They also spend somewhere around three hours a day using the internet for non-work purposes (this includes smartphone use). For most people, that’s where a lot of time goes, but it’s time that isn’t noticed very much.
There’s nothing wrong with watching television or using the internet, but when that’s filling your time and creating an impression that you don’t have time for other things, it’s actually blocking you from living the life that you want to live.
So, what does this have to do with personal finance?
Before I figured this issue out about how I was using my time, I used to just throw money at hobbies and interests that I really wanted to devote time to, but I never felt like I had the time.
For example, I often felt like I never had enough time to play strategy board games, something I’ve been passionate about for many years. My solution? I bought a lot of them. I would read the rules before bed. I would think about playing them. But I would never actually get them to the table. This ate up money and eventually filled a lot of shelves.
I did a very similar thing with books. I never felt like I had enough time to read a book, something I’ve been passionate about since I was a third grader reading Encyclopedia Brown books. My solution? I bought tons of books. I’d look at the covers and read the back and add them to my bookshelf and rarely actually read them.
Those actions were substitutes for things that I wanted to be doing. They were really expensive, too.
The thing is, they didn’t bring me any lasting joy. They were pretty obvious substitutes for things I wanted to be doing.
A few years ago, I had an epiphany. Any time I wasn’t spending on an actual work task or on a worthwhile home task was time I could be spending on things I truly care about. When I’m distracting myself from work with a YouTube video or when I “veg out” on the couch to watch SportsCenter, I’m sucking away time from those things I really care about.
If I’m tired and I need some “down time,” I either go to bed or I do household tasks that need to be done so that I have free time when I’m more awake.
The end result of this approach is that I usually have an afternoon and an evening to actually play strategic games each week. I usually have time for a multi-hour hiking session once or twice a week when the weather is nice. I set aside at least an hour a day for uninterrupted book reading. I’m spending a few hours a week doing volunteer work, too.
Because of those changes, my desire to buy “stuff” for my interests has greatly abated because now I’m actually getting to enjoy those interests.
The truth is this: Your time use defines the gap between the life you have and the life you want more than your money use. Your money is primarily useful for maintaining that day-to-day life you want and securing your ability to continue to enjoy that life you want going forward.
So, here’s some actions you can directly take to start building the life you want.
First, start scheduling regular blocks of time for things you want to do. For example, I devote Sunday afternoons to board games. I often read for an hour between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day, which borders the arrival of my children coming home from school. I block off my mornings almost every day for work tasks (and I try to do them with minimal distraction and maximum focus) and early afternoon for exercise. I try to block off the first half of one day a week for a hike in a state park. I block off two to three hours each evening for focused family time. Those are things that are important to me that I want to do and I treat them as pretty firm walls.
Outside of those blocks of time, stick to tasks that need to get done. Bear down on your work tasks and your household tasks. Don’t be afraid to spend a whole evening doing household tasks if there’s nothing on television. I’m lucky to be able to use such flexibility for my work tasks as well, meaning that on days when I don’t have blocks of time cordoned off for personal finance tasks.
What you’ll find is that by cutting out tasks that aren’t bringing value into your life, you will suddenly have time for the things in your life that you think you don’t have time for. You will suddenly be able to, in large part, live the life you want to live right now.
Even better, you’ll no longer have that drive to buy things as a substitute for being able to do things. The library started to make a lot more sense to me because now I’m actually reading books instead of merely buying them, for instance. I don’t have time to learn about the latest board games and desire them and buy them because I’m actually playing the games that fill up my shelves (and the shelves of my friends). I have a tighter relationship with my family because I’m actually spending quality time with them and I don’t feel the need to throw money after “special experiences” to make up for time that I didn’t spend with them.
In short, I have a life closer to the one I want to live and I spend a lot less money on stuff for my interests and passions because I’m too busy doing things rather than accumulating items.
Choose the day-to-day life you want to live. Shape the contours of your life to give you the freedom to do those things. You won’t regret it, and neither will your wallet.
Related Articles:
- ‘Wealth Is Doing What You Love to Find Joy and Fulfillment’
- Think You Don’t Have Time to Focus on Your Money? Think Again
- ‘Money Cannot Buy What Time Delivers’
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Here’s My Secret to Saving Money on Quality Clothes
While I was once willing to do just about anything to save money, I’ve learned that some savings strategies work better than others over time. For example, buying the “cheapest” small appliances usually means having to buy them again in a few short years. Ask me how many times I purchased a $17 coffeemaker from Walmart to figure that one out.
The same can be said for clothes. I don’t know how many cheap new outfits I bought from Kohl’s before I finally had enough. Even though I never spent very much at once, I got sick of buying shirts and pants that deteriorated or faded within months.
My Love Affair with Soma
These days, I typically pay a little more for items that have the potential to last longer. And when it comes to clothes, I usually shop for my favorite brands secondhand. Usually.
But, when a friend introduced me to Soma Intimates (they also sell lounge wear and dresses) a few years ago, I instantly fell in love. The great news about Soma is that the clothing barely fades and always holds it shape. I have a bunch of Soma dresses that I wear all spring, summer, and fall – but you could never tell. They don’t wrinkle and they don’t look rundown when you wear them a lot. Many of their dresses have pockets and built-in bras as well, making them the most practical and comfortable pieces of clothing I own.
The bad news about Soma is the problem you find with most high-quality clothing: It’s expensive. One of their maxi dresses (my favorite) can cost $90 or more, and their knee-length dresses are usually at least $60. That’s a lot more than I want to pay for anything – let alone clothes. Yet, Soma clothes last so long, I don’t want to buy anything else.
Save Money on Your Favorite Clothing Brand with Poshmark
Fortunately, I ran into a new way to buy my favorite clothing brand at a discount – and from the comfort of my own home. After looking for Soma dresses on eBay one day, I ran into Poshmark.com.
Poshmark is a secondhand retail marketplace where people focus most of their efforts on high-end clothing brands. On any given day, people are buying and selling clothes and accessories from brands like Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and yes, Soma.
Since prices are set by sellers, there’s no rhyme or reason to how much you can save. Still, there are serious bargains to be had if you prefer to buy specific brands and know exactly what you want.
For example, I’ve scored several of those long Soma maxi-dresses, that are usually $90, for just $15 each plus shipping. I’ve also found and ordered some shorter Soma dresses and cardigans for $8 to $15.
Since my kids look good in almost anything and fit easily into their size, I’ve ordered numerous dresses, shirts, and pants for them at $5 to $10 apiece. This is a lot more than I would pay for their clothes at a garage sale, so I only order them dressy and “nicer” stuff – like the dresses we used in our recent family pictures. When it comes to play clothes, I’ll stick to the 50-cent and $1 pieces I pick up at secondhand stores or summer yard sales.
In one of our recent family photos, all three girls are in secondhand clothes from Poshmark.
Poshmark Isn’t Perfect
While Poshmark offers an exceptional opportunity to save money on clothing brands you love, there are some downsides. For starters, you do have to pay shipping on your purchases – and that shipping can add up fast. As of 2017, standard priority shipping on items up to 5 lbs. is $6.49. So if you buy a Soma dress for $20, the total price you’ll pay is $26.49.
You can save on shipping by buying multiple products from a single seller and “bundling” for a lower total shipping cost, but that doesn’t always make sense. If you’re buying stuff you don’t really want just to save on shipping, you’re not really saving money, right?
Another downside that comes with “poshing” is that you don’t have the opportunity to try things on. If you fork over $20 to $30 for a dress and it doesn’t fit, you won’t recoup your costs until you resell it.
Further, some of the sellers on Poshmark are completely unrealistic when it comes to pricing their used items; a small percentage of sellers try to charge way too much. Before you buy anything on Poshmark, make sure you know the retail value of the item first. The bottom line: Not everything you see on Poshmark is drastically discounted or even a good deal.
Five Tips to Make the Most of Poshmark
Even with those downsides in mind, it’s possible to save money on higher-quality clothing brands you love. Here are five tips that can help you get the most out of Poshmark:
#1: Only buy clothing brands you already know and love.
Since you don’t have the opportunity to try on clothing ahead of time, Poshmark.com is a terrible place to experiment with your wardrobe. If you buy clothing you’re not sure you’ll like, you could easily wind up overspending on clothing you won’t wear.
The best Poshmark strategy is one where you’re looking for a specific brand you’re already familiar with and loyal to. For me, that brand is Soma because their clothing always fits and I already know my size. For you, it could be anything – the perfect size and brand of shoes, or your favorite brand of swimsuit. Since my husband only fits into a few brands of jeans, I keep an eye out for those on the site, too.
#2: If something costs more than you want to pay, you can bid a lower price.
One Poshmark feature I love is their “bidding” feature. If you don’t like the asking price, you can bid anything you want instead. My bidding success rate is around 50%. Some sellers are quick to accept your offer, while others want their asking price no matter what.
And if you’re embarrassed to bid, don’t be. Shopping on Poshmark is a lot like anything else in life – you’ll never know if you can get a better deal unless you ask. And if your bid is rejected, you can always bid again.
#3: Don’t forget about shipping.
Since Poshmark purchases are made through individual sellers, shipping costs can be a bear. Paying for shipping doesn’t automatically make your purchase a bad deal, but you do have to keep that extra $6.49 per purchase in mind.
Before you bid on something or buy it at its current asking price, make sure to mentally account for shipping. If you were okay paying $20 for a dress but think $26.49 is too much, you should definitely put in a lower bid or pass.
Don’t forget to add $6.49 to everything you buy…
#4: Watch out for fakes.
Just like eBay or even consignment shops, Poshmark has its share of sellers who try to pass off fakes for the real thing. Fakes aren’t limited to clothing and shoes, either; you can find fake Gucci sunglasses just as easily as you can find counterfeit shirts and pants.
If you’re worried something is fake, you can message the seller directly and ask. And if they lie, you’re still covered.
A feature called Poshmark Protect ensures your funds aren’t released to a seller until your item shows up at your home in good condition. If your item never arrives or it’s not as described, you can reject it.
Here’s how Poshmark’s policy works according to their FAQ’s:
“When you make a purchase on Poshmark, we don’t release payment to the seller until you tell us you’ve received your order as described. You have 3 days after delivery to inform us if the item has been misrepresented by reporting the problem in the Poshmark app or website with supporting photos. If we verify your claim, we’ll send you a label to return the order to the seller and refund your payment. All returns must be shipped back within 5 days of approval to be eligible for a refund.”
#5: Only bundle clothing when it makes sense.
While you can save on shipping and occasionally score a discount by buying more than one item from a single seller, you should proceed with caution. Buying more stuff to save more money is rarely the best idea.
If your goal is saving money, you should strive to buy only what you need while paying as little as you can get away with. Bundling with Poshmark rarely works out in your favor; it helps sellers move more product, but it doesn’t really help you save.
Final Thoughts
If you’re tired of paying for clothing that falls apart, sticking to higher-quality brands can help. And the best way to avoid the quality markup, you’ll need to shop secondhand.
While I love consignment shops and adore garage sales, it’s really hit or miss when it comes to the type of clothing I prefer to wear. And that’s why I keep coming back to Poshmark again and again; if I’m flexible and patient, I can usually find exactly what I want for around ¼ the price. While I typically pay more through Poshmark than I would at a garage sale, I don’t have to drive around aimlessly or dig through piles of clothes, either.
If your goal is saving money and having a wardrobe that stands the test of time, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Holly Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer and the author of Zero Down Your Debt. Johnson shares her obsession with frugality, budgeting, and travel at ClubThrifty.com.
Related Stories:
- The ‘Buy it for Life’ Compendium, Vol. 2
- Eight Strategies for Buying Clothes without Destroying Your Budget
- 12 Items that Pay for Themselves Tenfold or More
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Here’s How Much Identity Thieves Get Paid for Your Stolen Information
What’s someone willing to pay for your credit card number? Your airline ticket? Your Netflix account information?
Not a whole lot. Which is disappointing — in a twisted way, I suppose.
Symantec Corporation recently released its April 2017 Internet Security Report — 77 pages about last year’s internet happenings. We already wrote about the sobering identity theft statistics here.
But, tucked toward the end of the report is a list of underground marketplace prices. Basically, it’s how much identity thieves are getting for your stolen information.
In the past, Symantec researchers found that credit card and personal information were hot commodities, but there’s an increasing interest in media accounts (think: Netflix, Spotify).
“While the prices they can charge for these accounts are low, if an attacker has compromised a device it is likely they will have this account information anyway, so they attempt to sell it on in an effort to maximize their profits,” the report says.
The underground economy even has a demand for gift cards, airline tickets, Uber accounts… you name it.
Here are some of the going rates for your accounts and information:
- One credit card: 5 cents to $30
- Media streaming services: 10 cents to $10
- Hotel reward program accounts with 100K points: $10 to $20
- Airline frequent flyer miles account with 10K points: $5 to $20
- Taxi app accounts with credit: 5 cents to $1
- Online retail gift cards: 20 to 65 percent of face value
- Restaurant gift cards: 20% to 40% of face value
- Airline ticket and hotel bookings: 10% of face value
- Cash-out money transfer service: 10% to 20% of the account’s value
- Online bank accounts: 0.5% to 10% of the account’s balance
- Retailer accounts: $20 to $50
- Identity (name, Social Security number and birthday: 1 cent to $1.50
- Scanned passports and other documents (like a utility bill): $1 to $3
I’m not going to lie, these price tags made me feel a little cheap (especially the social security one… come on, guys!).
However, I take extra precautions to protect myself — and it’s free.
I signed up for a service called TrueIdentity from TransUnion. There, I can check in on my credit score and sign up for text alerts if someone tries tinkering with my credit.
Now, it won’t tell me if someone’s compromised my Uber account, but it does keep tabs on the big thing: my identity.
Now that you know what you’re worth, I encourage you to combat the thieves with me.
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.
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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Scam watch: investigation opened into ‘storage pod’ pension liberation scams
An investigation into investments in ‘storage pods’, which may be used by fraudsters as pension liberation scams, has been opened by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Specific schemes being investigated include Capita Oak Pension and Henley Retirement Benefit as well as the Westminster Pension Scheme and the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund.
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This Interview Question is the Worst. Here’s How to Handle It Like a Boss
Am I alone in feeling like the scariest part of any job interview is not knowing what questions the hiring manager will ask?
You too? Phew.
I wish interviews were more like school exams.
“We’d like to interview you for this position next Friday at 2:30. In the meantime, here’s this handy study guide. Please review all the questions we plan to ask you and prepare your answers in advance.”
Since that’s just wishful thinking, the best thing any of us can do to prepare for a job interview is think about how we’ll answer some of the most common questions hiring managers ask potential recruits.
One popular question that comes up often is, “What’s your greatest weakness?”
It seems counterproductive to talk about your negative traits when trying to impress people you hope will give you a job — but there’s a method to this madness.
It’s a way for potential employers to find your level of self-awareness and whether you look for opportunities to improve things that some may consider drawbacks.
Mary Ryan, associate director of Career and Leadership Services for Working Professionals at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, says this question helps determine if applicants can “give a genuine answer to an uncomfortable question or have a weakness that would be a deal-breaker for the job at hand.”
“Beats Me” is Probably Not Your Best Choice
There are a few ways to answer this question. Let’s take a look at what constitutes a good response — and what doesn’t.
An interviewer once asked a friend of mine to describe his greatest weakness.
He responded (with a completely straight face, mind you), “Kryptonite.”
Clever, cheeky responses like that are probably not the way to go.
“Likewise, steer clear of clichés,” recommends FlexJobs. “Interviewers tire of people trying to disguise strengths as weaknesses with statements such as ‘I work too hard’ or ‘I’m too passionate about what I do.’”
Your best bet is to answer the question honestly but in a way that focuses on how you address the issue.
“For example, ‘I pride myself on being a ‘big-picture’ guy. I have to admit I sometimes miss small details, but I always make sure I have someone who is detail-oriented on my team,’” suggests employment website Monster.
Above all, don’t lie and tell the interviewer what you think they want to hear.
You might be tempted to claim a weakness you don’t really have, but that approach can easily backfire.
For instance, saying you’re working to overcome a fear of public speaking could come back to bite you if it comes out later you have a side gig as a stand-up comedian.
The only thing worse than having to answer this question is getting busted lying.
Some Interviewers Don’t Like the Question Either
If it makes you feel any better, some hiring experts say asking you about your weaknesses has no place in a job interview.
“You are an interviewer, not a therapist,” says Liz Ryan, CEO and founder of Human Workplace. “It is none of your business what someone’s weaknesses are.”
Nevertheless, if the question comes up, you’ll need to have an answer ready.
Steer clear of anything that makes you sound like a sassy superhero and you should be fine.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. When she answers this question, Lisa always wants to (but never has) follow it up with, “And what’s yours?”
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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Ford Money pulls 4% regular saver following huge demand
Ford Money has withdrawn its market-leading 4% regular saver from sale after an overwhelming number of savers opened an account, with its 4% regular saver Isa also expected to sell out shortly.
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6 Summer Side Hustles for College Students That Can Be Carried On Into The New Semester
By Ashlee Anderson At the start of summer, college students often pick up temp jobs to earn extra money. Lifeguard, camp counselor, food server, and retail worker are some of the go-to summer jobs for college students on break. While these are tried and true ways to put extra money in your pocket over the […]
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A quarter auto-renew travel insurance – shop around to cut costs
Almost a quarter of people simply auto-renew their existing travel insurance policy – even if the price has increased, according to a Moneywise survey of more than 10,000 readers.
Yet holidaymakers could be missing out on big savings by doing this.
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