Scholarships awarded to local students

Scholarships awarded to local studentsEast Stroudsburg Elks Lodge in conjunction with the Monroe County Bar Association presented three local students with scholarships from the proceeds of the annual A. Mitchell Palmer award dinner.Gabriella Mohring from Stroudsburg High School received $1,500; Sammantha Imber from Stroudsburg High School received $1,000; and Joseph Camara of Notre Dame received $1,000.Gabriella plans to attend Fairfield University to [...]

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Whether You Rent it or Buy it, You’ll Probably Regret the Home You Choose

Need a reason to stop your procrastination habit of endlessly browsing local real estate listings?

How about all the regrets homebuyers end up shouldering?

A June 2017 online survey of more than 2,200 adults by real estate website Trulia revealed that 51% of those polled who had a role in choosing their current home — whether they own or rent — have regrets.

That’s a decrease of just 1% since 2013, when home prices were at their lowest in the wake of the recession.

What is it that makes so many people feel such regret about where they live? There’s not just one aspect of the buying or renting process to blame, but Trulia did narrow it down to a few key factors.

Major Homebuying and Renting Regret Culprit: Size

Bigger isn’t always better, but when it comes to buying a home, it’s probably best to size up just a smidge.

The size of the home was a major factor in homebuying regrets. Forty-two percent of homeowners surveyed who said they had regrets admitted they purchased a home that was either too big or too small.

Anyone who watches HGTV could have told you that, as every homebuying episode ends with “Well, the kids will have to sleep on bunk beds since there aren’t enough bedrooms” or “There are zero closets in this house, but we’ll make it work!”

Buying a home can be a major triumph, especially if it’s your first. But if you don’t take a good look at your needs — and your expected needs a few years down the road — you might end up feeling cramped with 29 years left on your mortgage.

Financial Security vs. Homebuying

But the size of the home isn’t the only regret. The buyer’s wallet size can also cause some regret.

Twelve percent of people who moved into their home after 2012 “said they wished they had been more financially secure before they decided, compared to 6% of Americans who found their home in 2012 or prior,” Trulia’s report explained.

If that rate of regret isn’t enough for you, consider this: Twenty-six percent of people in households with incomes of $100,000 or more said they believe they couldn’t afford to buy a home in today’s market.

Millennials Lead the Regret Parade

Isolate 18- to 34-year-olds, and a whopping 71% of those surveyed have regrets about their home choice or the process they undertook to choose it.

For college-educated millennials, student loan debt is a major factor in how a twentysomething settles into adult life. The intricacies of the housing market and the buying process are the major roadblocks for cash-strapped millennials.

And some millennials looked at the effects of the housing crisis and decided their American dream didn’t involve owning a home, MarketWatch notes.  

“Americans should be keen to avoid the issues that most commonly lead to regrets: picking the wrong size home, failing to get enough information about the home and neighborhood and, ultimately, making the right choice when it comes to buying or renting,” Trulia’s report concluded.

For now, maybe watching other people struggle through the homebuying process on HGTV is enough to satiate your homebuying dreams?

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer 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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New principal at East Stroudsburg High School North

East Stroudsburg High School North will have a new principal when school starts in August. Longtime administrator Steve Zall has been reassigned as the district’s director of human resources.“I’m very fortunate this was able to come together,” he said. “I have an opportunity to take my experiences, my skill set, and apply it to new and varied responsibilities within our district.”East Stroudsburg Area School District has not had an [...]

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If You Can Prove Ashley Madison Leak Ruined Your Life, You Could Get $3,500

Two years after Canada-based adultery website Ashley Madison announced that a data breach revealed millions of users’ personal information, the company reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against it.

Ashley Madison parent company Ruby Life Inc., formerly Avid Life Media, has agreed to create an $11.2 million fund to settle the lawsuit.

The company was accused of several missteps that put its customers’ privacy at risk, including negligence, breach of contract, and violation of state consumer fraud and protection statutes.

Despite the company’s hefty settlement proposal, lawyers for Ruby Life Inc. say it did nothing wrong and the payout agreement is not an admission of guilt, but rather will help “avoid further expense, inconvenience and burden.”

Along with the settlement, Ruby Life Inc. has also spent a truckload of money — about a quarter of its annual revenue — fortifying its security system to prevent a similar data breach in the future.

A judge still needs to approve the settlement before any cash is paid. Once it’s approved, though, you can get up to $3,500 from the settlement.

Cheated By Ashley Madison? You Could Get Up to $3,500

Once the judge approves the settlement, Ashley Madison will have to create a website with information on how to file a claim. Once that is up and running, we’ll update you.

The amount of money you can claim depends on how much loss you can prove. Here’s a quick list of “recognized losses” that qualify for reimbursement under the settlement.

1. “Full-Delete” Fees

Before the breach, the only way you could delete an Ashley Madison account was to pay a $19 fee. When users paid the fee, they expected their accounts, photos and any messages they sent or received would be gone forever.

In some cases, a single customer could have paid the fee more than once if they had created and deleted multiple accounts.

If you paid the fee and your data leaked anyway, you can file a claim. The most you can get back in deletion fees is $500.

2. Communication Credits

To communicate with other people on the site, you must first purchase credits. You can then spend those credits to start conversations with members.

You can receive up to $500 in these credits back from this settlement.

3. Other Losses

This kind of claim is a catchall. Anything that doesn’t fit into the first two sections could fit in here.

For example, if you were a victim of identify theft due to the data breach and can prove how much you lost financially, you could claim that here. But it’s not limited to identity theft.

The court documents did not specify what other claims could fall under this category. For example, if you paid for a pricy divorce because your significant other learned of your infidelity, or you lost your job due to the breach, you may be able to file a claim. We can’t guarantee your claim will be approved, but it might be worth giving it a shot.

Each claim will be reviewed and approved or denied based on the documentation included.

The cap for this type of claim is $2,000.

4. Everything Else

Once the people in the first three groups are repaid, the remaining money will get split evenly between everyone whose information was released in the breach, even if you can’t prove a financial loss. These people will get $10 to $500 each. depending on their situations and the funds remaining in the settlement fund.

If administration costs and paying those with financial losses exhaust the settlement fund, these people won’t get paid.

It’s also possible that the settlement fund will run out before all the people who experienced financial losses are paid in full. In this case, you can expect a prorated payout.

Finally, if everyone who suffered is paid and there is money left over, it will be donated to a nonprofit focused on digital privacy.

No single person will get more than $3,500. We’ll update you when the settlement is approved and it’s time claim your money.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff 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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This Is the Date When Airfare Drops Dramatically Pretty Much Every Year

Do you know the magic airfare day?

No kidding. There is one specific day when flight prices fall dramatically. That day is… drumroll please… Aug. 22. If you’re planning a hop across the pond, the cheapest days to fly across the Atlantic begin on Aug. 21.

Why the big drop? The kiddos are back in school, so families are less likely to travel. This means airlines have to compete a little harder to fill those seats.

How big is the difference? I jumped on to Priceline.com to run a few tests. I priced out trips for July 25-31 and the same trips for Aug. 22-28. Each trip leaves on a Tuesday and returns on a Monday. Here are the rough averages.

Orlando to Los Angeles    

July fare: $275

August fare: $182

Washington, D.C. to Denver

July fare: $354

August fare: $281

Tampa to Minneapolis

July fare: $538

August fare: $203

Chicago to Las Vegas

July fare: $361

August fare: $150

Wow. It’s no joke. The smallest gap was from Washington, D.C. to Denver, and even that was a savings of $73 per ticket. If my wife and I wanted to hop a plane back to see our friends in Minneapolis, we could save a whopping $335 per ticket. That’s like getting the hotel for free. No futon crashing for us!

If you don’t have kids and are planning a getaway, consider pushing it back to late August or after. Fall prices tend to stay competitive until the holiday season rolls around in late November. Book early for a post-summer getaway to save big on your next vacation.

Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.

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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I Compared Pet Insurance Plans to See What’s Best for My Fur Babies

Earlier this year, my family dog managed to rack up a $4,000 vet bill.

Bandit had become so sick he wouldn’t eat or drink; he couldn’t even stand up.

“What do you do?” my dad, the (typically) frugal father he is, shrugged. (Bandit is his favorite child, by the way.)

Our dog spent two nights in the animal hospital hooked up to an IV, getting X-rays… being all mopey.

Then he was fine. The vet never figured out what was wrong with him, and my parents were slapped with a $4,000 bill.

Luckily, they could pay it.

Me? A few months ago, I unexpectedly adopted a kitten (found her on the highway). I love her with my whole heart, and if something happened to her, I’d be devastated.

But if I got a $4,000 bill? Quite frankly, I’d be screwed.

That sparked slight panic (like everything else), so I started looking into pet insurance.

So What’s Pet Insurance?

Americans will spend $16.62 billion on vet care this year, according to the American Pet Products Association.

And individual pet owners shouldn’t be shocked if they incur at least one $2,000 to $4,000 bill for emergency pet care at some point in their pet’s life, according to Louise Murray, D.V.M., a veterinarian and vice president of the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital.

OK, so we’ve established that vet bills can be expensive, especially the surprise kind.

That’s where pet insurance can help. Typically, these plans cover some part of the bill from any illnesses or injuries.

“If we're going to love a pet and treat them like part of the family, then we should be sure that we're prepared if something happens, because it always does,” says Kristen Lynch, the executive director of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA).

“Life happens, right?”

In fact, her mini poodle, Seamus, used to get sick almost every spring. She couldn’t figure it out. He’d have to go to the vet where they’d give him barium and do X-rays. Then he’d be fine.

Turns out, he was snacking on cherry pits under her deck, and the barium cleared the blockages out.

“The little rat,” Lynch says with a chuckle. “No one’s allowed to eat cherries on my deck anymore.”

Each time this happened, she relied on her pet insurance. She’s had Seamus insured since he was about 12 weeks old. She estimates she’s saved about $5,000 so far.

How Does Pet Insurance Work?

Typically, each plan has an annual deductible, which you have to satisfy before the insurance kicks in. You also pay a monthly premium.

Your annual deductible and monthly premium are based on the plan you choose (more details on that later) — as well as the co-insurance, the percentage you’ll have to pay out of pocket.

At the vet, you still have to pay the bill, but once you file the claim, it’s usually processed within five working days, according to Lynch. So you can charge the bill to your credit card and should be reimbursed by time that payment is due.

Sometimes the vet will work directly with the insurance company if the bill is steep or more complicated.

Here’s an example: A couple of summers ago, Lynch says a pair of dogs attacked Seamus in the park. The total vet bill reached $2,000.

“My deductible was $350 at the time, and co-insurance was 20%, so I got $1,320 back,” Lynch explains.

She put the bill on credit, but received her claim before the next bill was due — which she says has always happened.

So… How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?

Now that Lynch has some numbers rolling around in my head, I wanted to figure out how much pet insurance typically costs.

The average cost of pet insurance for dogs is $22 a month. For cats, it’s about $16 a month, according to Consumer Reports.

I decided to do my own calculations, too, which might help give you an idea of how much your pet’s insurance could cost. But remember, these premiums will vary depending on the company and coverage you choose, as well as the benefits you want.

“You get what you pay for when it comes to coverage,” Lynch says.

At the most basic level, though, these premiums are calculated based on your location, as well as your pet’s species, breed and age.

Based on reviews from Canine Journal, I decided to compare Pets Best Insurance, Petplan Insurance and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance.

Note: All pet insurance companies offer immediate policy quotes, so you can get an idea of how much insurance will cost you.

Subject No. 1

Meet Bandit. (You already met him, I guess.) We think he’s about 9 years old now. He’s a medium-sized mutt, and other than some allergies and the incident earlier this year, he’s pretty healthy.

Here are the quotes I received for him as of mid-July 2017):

 

• Petplan Pet Insurance: $72.59/month
  

 

• $15,000 annual coverage
• $250 annual deductible
• 80% reimbursement

 

• Pets Best Pet Insurance: $70.83/month
  

 

• $5,000 annual coverage
• $250 annual deductible
• 80% reimbursement

 

• Healthy Paws Pet Insurance: $35.01/month
  

 

• Unlimited annual coverage
• $750 annual deductible
• 60% reimbursement

Notice that the monthly premiums will vary.

For example, Petplan and Pets Best have seemingly more expensive monthly plans, but these two also reimburse you a larger percentage of your bill and require lower annual deductibles ($250 versus $750).

Subject No. 2

Now meet Josie. She’s about 12 weeks old. She’s the stray I found in the middle of the highway. She’s young, spry and healthy.

Here are the quotes I received for her as of mid-July 2017:

 

• Petplan Pet Insurance: $16.97/month
  

 

• $15,000 annual coverage
• $250 annual deductible
• 80% reimbursement

 

• Pets Best Pet Insurance: $13.60/month
  

 

• $5,000 annual coverage
• $250 annual deductible
• 80% reimbursement

 

• Healthy Paws Pet Insurance: $21.58/month
  

 

• Unlimited annual coverage
• $200 annual deductible
• 80% reimbursement

In Josie’s case, Healthy Paws requires a higher monthly premium, but the annual coverage and deductible are lower (if only by $50).

You’ll want to do some math here and determine if you’d rather pay more upfront or if you’d rather pay more on a monthly basis. That’ll be up to you.

Here’s What to Consider When Shopping for Pet Insurance

Now that numbers are swimming around in your head, you’ll want to dig into each of these plans a bit to see what each one offers — and which is best for your furbaby.

Here’s what you should look for when shopping around for pet insurance:

1. Know Your Pet’s Needs

Many pet insurance policies cover dogs and cats, though you can find some for other species if you poke around.

Take into consideration any predisposed medical conditions for your pet’s breed. For example, some dog breeds are more likely to develop arthritis or diabetes. How much will it cost to treat those ailments?

Lynch says she asked her vet: “What’s a really common condition for a poodle to have? How much would it cost if that happened?”

That’ll help you determine what level of coverage you’ll need.

2. Understand What’s Covered

It’s important to study an insurance plan’s coverage.

Most plans cover accidents, injuries and illnesses, diagnostic treatments, cancer treatments, surgery and prescription medications, among other expenses.

Pre-existing conditions, anything related to pregnancy or birth, routine or preventative treatments or the price of death (after a certain age) are typically not covered, according to NAPHIA.

Here are a couple of examples of what is and isn’t covered:

All of Petplan Insurance plans, as mentioned above, cover:

• Accidents and injuries
• Illnesses
• Veterinary exam fees
• Imaging (MRI, cat scan, ultrasound)
• Diagnostic treatments
• Prescription medications
• Cancer treatments
• Non-dental routine dental treatments
• Surgery and rehabilitation
• Alternative therapies
• Referral and specialist treatment

Pet Best Pet Insurance includes much of the same coverage, if not a little more:

• Accidents
• Illnesses
• Cancer treatments
• Hereditary and congenital conditions
• Emergency care, hospitalization and surgery
• Prescription medications
• Ongoing and chronic conditions
• Diagnostics
• Older pets
• Full coverage even when not spayed/neutered
• Behavioral conditions
• Prosthetic devices and wheelchairs
• Euthanasia
• Coverage while traveling (anywhere in the U.S. Canada or Puerto Rico)

3. Consider Other Factors

Here are a few other questions you can ask yourself:

• What type of specialists are covered? If your dog is predisposed to eye problems, make sure an optometrist will be covered.
• Is there an age limit? Is there a minimum age?
• How easy is it to file? Can I just download an app?
• Is there an incident limit if my pet’s just having a really rough year?

If you’re ever in doubt, have a conversation with a veterinarian.

So Who Needs Pet Insurance?

It just depends, and that decision is up to you. In the meantime, here’s another article that might help you make that decision: Is Pet Insurance Worth It?

For Lynch, it just makes sense.

“It’s most of us who live month to month that pet insurance is designed for,” she says. “I save each month as part of my budget, but I also have coverage because it makes sense. I have so many other plans for my spending money and savings that I’d rather not have the financial surprise.”

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She shares way too many pictures of her cat with the office. If you’d like to see some, too, just find me on Twitter.

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A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Finding and Understanding Your Credit Report

What are some major milestones you hope to hit in your lifetime?

Graduate college? Buy a car? Get a job? Find a mate and pop out a baby or two? Own a cute abode? Travel to every state? Retire comfortably… maybe even on an island?

We can all dream, but the reality is many factors can hold you back from achieving these goals — including this virtual thing in cyberspace called your credit report.

“Credit reports have a pretty ubiquitous role in our financial lives today,” says Rod Griffin, the director of public education at Experian.

However, studies have found that many Americans simply disregard their credit reports.

The State of Credit Reports in the U.S.

A 2016 Credit.com survey revealed some insights into the state of credit reports in the U.S. Among those who don’t check theirs:

• Nearly 40% of millennials say they don’t know where to get a credit report.

• 34% overall say they’ve never thought about checking their credit report.

• 29% say they pay their bills on time, so there’s no point in checking their credit report.

• 26% say they don’t think it’s important.

• 19% say they already know their credit score, so they don’t need to pull a report.

• 13% say they’re afraid to even look.

Because we all seem a little lost or scared, let’s start at square one when it comes to credit reports: What the heck are these things?

Here’s Your Credit Report Definition

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently defined it:

“A credit report is a statement that has information about your credit activity and current credit situation, such as loan-paying history and the status of your credit accounts.”

You don’t just have one credit report. Chances are, you have several — including one from each of the Big Three credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They snag information from various reporting sources and compile it into your credit report.

What Does a Credit Report Include?

Naturally, you might think a credit report only includes credit information.

That’s false.

“...a credit report isn't just about credit,” Griffin says.

“Everything in your credit report is debt related, aside from things like your identity. We need to know who you are — so, your name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, etc. That helps us verify who you are.”

Here’s exactly what a credit report includes, according to Experian:

• Your personal information: your name, aliases, birthday, Social Security number, current and past addresses, phone numbers, and current and past employers.

• Your accounts: your credit accounts, including credit cards and installment loans like mortgages or auto loans; creditor names; account numbers; balances; payment history; and account status (i.e. past due).

• Public records: court judgments (though Griffin says the majority of these are being omitted from credit reports), bankruptcies, tax liens.

• Recent inquiries: who has pulled your credit report and when.

Each of the three agencies could have different information about you.

What’s not included on your credit report? Surprisingly, your credit score.

Credit Report vs. Credit Score: Nope, They’re Not Synonymous

“The credit report does not include a credit score,” Griffin explains.

He encourages consumers to think of it this way: “The analogy I use is a credit report is like the paper you write in high school, and the credit score is like the grade the teacher gives you.”

The credit score is a three-digit number that represents the information in your credit report.

Why Is Checking a Credit Report Important?

Think only your credit score is important in making big financial decisions?

It is important, but your credit score is the result of whatever’s in your report.

“The risk factors provided with the score describe what information from your credit report had the most effect on the score,” Griffin says.

By combing through your credit report, you can see what you need to do to increase that credit score — whether it’s to pay off a bill in collections or make a credit card payment. (More on all this later.)

Checking a credit report can also help you spot signs of identity theft.

Steve Weisman, professor at Bentley University and author of the fraud and identity theft blog Scamicide, encourages consumers to regularly take a look at each of their three major credit reports.

Comb through to see what’s not yours.

“Credit cards, overdue bills and anything out of the ordinary that is not yours should be disputed with the credit reporting agencies,” Weisman says.

Sometimes, he reminds us, it’s not even identity theft. It might be that the credit reporting agency made a mistake, “which is understandable with the millions of pieces of information they process.”

If you ever spot anything that points to identity theft or a mistake in reporting, visit the agency and file a dispute. You can do this online.

Here’s How a Bad Credit Report Can Affect You

Now that you know what a credit report is and why it’s so important, consider how a bad credit report can affect you.

Here are just a few ways:

1. Job Opportunities

Did you know employers can review a limited version of your credit report? They need your written permission, of course.

(This is when you can be thankful your credit score doesn’t show up on your credit report, right?)

“The credit report could affect job opportunities, especially if you're going to manage a company's money, or it's a security-sensitive role,” Griffin says.

For example, if you’re going to be the director of public education at a major credit bureau (cough, Griffin, cough), your employer will check your credit report.

“I can tell you that from experience, which makes perfect sense,” he says. “If I'm going to talk about credit reports, I need to take care of my credit report.”

An employer might also check your report if you’re going to work at, say, a chemical factory. They’re going to want to confirm your identity.

2. Your Ability to Get a Loan or Open a Credit Card

If you have poor credit history, lenders might not want to help you out, and your application could be denied.

Or, perhaps, your interest rates increase, causing you to pay more over time.

“When you apply for credit, including credit cards, student loans, auto loans and mortgage loans, lenders check your credit report to make decisions about whether or not to grant you credit and about the rates and terms you qualify for,” Experian says.

3. Your Insurance Rates

Applying for any type of insurance?

Insurance companies might check your credit report and credit scores.

“The report and scores help determine that you will be able to pay your monthly premiums and the risk that you may make a claim, which helps them set fair rates based on risk,” Griffin says.

4. Your Ability to Rent

Just like a potential employer might pull your credit report, a potential landlord can do the same. They’ll use the information to determine whether you’ll be able to pay your rent on time.

5. Your Utility Deposits — and Even Cell Phone Plans

When you open an account with a utility company, it checks your credit report as part of your application, looking in particular at your credit history.

If you have bad credit, these companies might be more apt to charge you a security deposit.

Things are no different for cell phone providers — your plan might be affected by your credit history, as well.

Here’s How to Get Your Free Credit Report

You should never have to pay to access your credit report.

And no, it won’t hurt your credit — no matter how many times you check it.

“People are often afraid to check their credit report,” Griffin says. “I don't know why. It's usually not as bad as you think. You might be surprised — probably will be surprised.”

Try using a site like Free Credit Report, a product of Experian.

Enter your basic information, including the last four digits of your Social Security number. Don’t worry — this is just used to verify your identity. You’ll also create a username and secure password, so you can check in when your report is updated every 30 days.

The nicest part is it’s actually free. You don’t have to enter a credit card number, so you don’t risk a surprise charge in the future.

On the first page of your credit report, you’ll find your accounts summary and debt summary.

Under “accounts,” you’ll find your open accounts as well as their balances, credit limits, usage and year opened.

Click over to “collections”… gasp… and see what’s in there.

Click over to “inquiries” to see which businesses have requested hard inquiries, which remain on your credit report for 25 months.

Take some time to look through these tabs. Read the summaries Free Credit Report offers at the top of each page. For example, under collections, it reads:

Collections are accounts that are seriously overdue and may have been turned over to a collection agency. Collection accounts are deleted from your credit history seven years from the original delinquency date of the original account that you failed to pay as agreed. Having a collection account on your Credit Report can have a negative impact to your Credit Score.

This will help you shape up your credit report and, in turn, your credit score.

You’ll also be able to spot any fishy activity or misinformation, as Weisman suggested.

This platform will make you pay to see your credit score, but there are plenty of other sites to get that for free. We recommend you try Credit Sesame for a free credit score and report card.

So, go ahead and take a deep breath. Now you know why it’s important to pull your credit report — and how to do so.

No more excuses!

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s embarrassed to admit she never checked her credit report until less than a year ago… But she feels oh-so relieved by checking it regularly now.

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Here’s One Career That Actually Did Well During the Great Recession

The Great Recession crippled the U.S. economy, putting nearly one-in-10 Americans out of work.

But there was one career that thrived during the downturn: nursing.

Between 2007 and 2010, employment for nurses grew 7.6%, while the number of jobs throughout the entire economy tumbled 5.4%. In fact, since as far back as 2002, there have been about 50,000 new nursing jobs created every year, according to a new study released by by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics this week.

Not only that, but hourly pay also jumped 8.4% to $32.56 an hour. Now you probably see why health care jobs keep popping up as some of the best careers to pursue in the next decade, even if you want to work part time.

That’s a lot more handy than the annual free Chipotle day.

BLS researchers concluded another recession is inevitably on the way, and that with an aging population in the United States, demand for registered nurses will only continue to grow.

How Nursing Jobs Can Help You Survive the Next Recession

Unlike a lot of health care jobs we’ve talked about in the past, to become a registered nurse you’ll need a bachelor’s degree, according to a BLS summary of the profession. (This study just looked at registered nurses.)

But with a median annual salary of $68,450 and the number of jobs in this career expected to expand 16% by 2024 — more than double the average increase for all jobs — it’s worth it to consider the investment.

Niche has compiled a list of the best colleges in the U.S. for nurses. You can use the slider on the left to adjust the maximum amount you want to spend on a four-year degree.

Still, there are other nursing careers that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) make about $26,590 annually, and demand for this job will is slated to increase 17% by 2024. Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) earn roughly $44,000 per year and jobs are expected to grow 16% over the next seven years.

Seriously, how can you pass up a recession-proof career where you can also make such a difference? We’re finding it pretty dang difficult.

Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist 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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Why you need a ‘will’ for your pension

A properly written will ensures that your assets end up where you want them when you die. But did you know you should also do the same for your pension?

Unlike your property, savings and other investments, your pension does not form part of your estate on your death, and that means it won’t be covered by your will.

Exactly who gets your pension savings when you die is, perhaps rather surprisingly, down to the discretion of your pension provider. It will make its decision based on any information it has or manages to acquire once you have died.

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In order to help them make these decisions, providers ask policyholders to complete an ‘expression of wishes’ or ‘nomination’ form. This allows you to tell them what you want to happen to your money in the event of your death.

Although it may not have been compulsory to complete it, you will have received one when you first opened your pension. “When people are doing the paperwork, they are thinking about their pension and where they will invest the money. They often put death benefits on the backburner,” says Martin Tilley, director of technical services at Dentons Pension Management.

However, failure to complete your form could cause a lot of problems for those you leave behind.

At best, without any instructions from you, there may be a delay in paying your pension to your dependants; at worst, it could create an expensive tax bill or go to the wrong people altogether.

“Your loved ones may need the money quickly, but if we don’t know where the money needs to be paid we will need to do some investigating,” explains Mr Tilley.

“We may look to the will for guidance, but all of this takes time – often several months. We need to make sure we have investigated everything properly in case our decision ends up being challenged.”

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The provider may also need to consult the executor of your will to find out more about what you would have intended.

Yet, however thorough the provider is, there is no guarantee that its decision will be the same as yours.

Andrew Tully, pensions technical director at Retirement Advantage, adds: “We will investigate potential beneficiaries and then make our own decision. It may well be a partner or child, but it is not uncommon for people to have complicated family situations.”

Likewise, while a will may provide a good indication of how you want your wealth to be distributed when you die, following the pension freedoms this may not always be the case.

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As of April 2015, money left in pensions can be passed on to anyone you like – they do not have to be your spouse or a financial dependant. If you die before your 75th birthday, that money can be passed tax free and if you die after turning 75, income tax only becomes payable when your beneficiaries start to withdraw the money.

Coupled with the fact that the money won’t be subject to inheritance tax (however old you are when you die), pensions are now a very useful weapon in the tax-planning armoury. Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown, says that the death benefits on pensions are now so good that you may want to hold on to your pension for as long as you can. “In many cases, it’s now better to spend non-pension savings before you spend your pension,” he says.

This will be particularly important for those who want to pass money down to younger generations without lumbering them with a big tax bill.

“If a client has a pension and the spouse doesn’t need the money it might make sense to leave it to the children or grandchildren, bypassing the problem of money going back into the estate [where it would be subject to tax].”

Mr Tilley adds: “This is a tremendous tax-planning opportunity. However, if your grandchildren [or whoever you want to inherit] aren’t listed on the expression of wishes form the pension company won’t know that you want the money to go to them.”

On your death, your beneficiaries can have the choice of taking the money as a lump sum or leaving it invested and withdrawing it as they need it – which, again, would allow them to manage their tax position. However, Mr Tilley warns that not all pensions are geared up to allow policyholders to fully take advantage of the pension freedoms. “It’s important to check your scheme has the flexibility to do this.”

If it doesn’t you may want to consider a transfer to one that does.

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However, while pension providers will seek to accommodate your wishes, they do have a legal duty to ensure that money is paid to the appropriate people and, as such, it’s important to note that expression of wishes forms are not legally binding.

Mr Cox explains: “If, for example, you’ve left a pension to a person that you are unconnected to, but have dependent children, the pension company would have to look into it. They need to make a decision they can defend.”

He does, however, add that such interventions are very unusual and if anyone was not happy with the decision made by the pension trustees they do have the right to challenge it via the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The fact that these forms are not legally binding is not a reason to ignore them. Whether you didn’t complete the expression of wishes form when you set up your pension, or you did it so long ago that your circumstances have changed, it’s important to get in touch with your pension provider to make sure they know where you would like your money to go.

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As Mr Tilley says: “If you don’t complete the form, you are opening the door for something to go wrong.”

5 tips for a hassle-free inheritance:

1. Name all of your intended beneficiaries to avoid any confusion. “A husband might say leave 50% to my wife and 50% to the children. But is that ‘our’ children only, or should it include children from a previous marriage?” says Martin Tilly, director of technical services at Dentons Pensions Management.

2. Also include your beneficiaries’ relationship to you.

3. As with wills, quote proportions as percentages rather than fixed sums as you don’t know how much money will remain when you die.

4. Make life as easy as possible for your executors. “Get a copy of your expression of wishes form and leave it with your will,” suggests Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown.

5. Update your expression of wishes form whenever your circumstances change or you update your will. Pension companies should allow you to do this free of charge. “An IFA will get you to review it regularly, but if you don’t have one it’s important to contact the company yourself,” adds Mr Tilley.

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These Theme Parks Will Seriously Pay You to Scare People (One Pays $25/Hr!)

Halloween may not be on your radar just yet, but if working as a zombie is on your bucket list, you’ll want to pay attention.

Theme parks across the country are currently hiring seasonal workers to be a part of their Halloween-themed festivities. Think of it as extended trick-or-treating, except instead of candy you’ll get a paycheck and free park admission.

These gigs are temporary — but fun — and you’re sure to walk away with a fun story to tell. Happy haunting!

Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is looking for seasonal entertainers to scare guests during Howl-O-Scream.

Busch Gardens will provide the costume, makeup and masks needed to get you in character, but you’ll need to bring your own black pants and black shoes.

You have to be 18 years old and be able to walk, stand or perform physical activity for prolonged periods of time. You must be available between the hours of 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. during event nights and some rehearsals.

Previous experience as a performer helps but is not required.

Pay starts at $9.75 an hour.

Auditions are Aug. 11 and 12, but you must apply first to secure an audition spot.

See here for more information or to apply.

Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, is also looking for scare squad event performers. Pay starts at $9.40 an hour. There will also be spots available for 16- and 17-year-old applicants. Apply here.

SeaWorld

SeaWorld San Diego is looking for performers for its Halloween Spooktacular Event. These seasonal workers will dance and engage guests while portraying different characters, including members of SeaWorld’s spooky school of fish.

You’ll need to be 18 years old and have previous performing arts experience. You also should be able to lift up to 50 pounds and be able to stand or walk for long periods of time.

Pay is $18 an hour during rehearsals and $25 an hour for shows. Work benefits include free park admission and complimentary tickets.

Auditions are Aug. 5, but you’ll first need to apply. To audition, you’ll need to prepare a one-minute family-friendly comedic monologue and be prepared to perform a character improv or read from a script.

Rehearsal dates start Aug. 21. The Spooktacular shows occur on Saturdays and Sundays from September 23 to October 29.

See here for more details or to apply.

Six Flags

Six Flags is hiring seasonal employees to be part of Fright Fest at various locations.

The amusement parks are looking to fill slots for scary characters, character escorts, makeup artists, performers and other related roles.

This job posting for a zombie/scare actor at Six Flags St. Louis requires applicants to be at least 16 years old. In addition to “competitive wages,” the job includes free tickets and employee discounts. You must be comfortable wearing a costume, makeup and possibly prosthetics.

Other roles may have different requirements. See here to check if the park nearest you is hiring.

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She grew up wanting to go to Fright Fest at Six Flags every year but never went. Last year, she attended the Halloween Spooktacular at Sesame Place.

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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Nine Skills Worth Learning for Any Career – and How to Learn Them

I recently had the pleasure of reading Scott Adams’ book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. At one point in the book, Adams refers to a set of skills that will serve a person well in succeeding in virtually any career path that they might choose:

Public speaking
Psychology
Business writing
Accounting basics
Design basics
Conversation
Overcoming shyness
Second language
Golf
Proper grammar
Persuasion
Technology basics
Proper voice technique

I found this list quite compelling, but I would actually trim it down to just nine key skills by eliminating and merging a few:

Public speaking
Social skills
Business writing
Psychology
A second language
Persuasion
Technology basics
Accounting basics
Design basics

It is my belief that any person out there who seeks to have a better job – or seeks to improve their side business – can benefit from improving all of these skills. They make you more valuable in your current career path. They open up more doors for finding new and better jobs. They make it possible to effectively move into management and leadership positions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re working as a nighttime cashier at a gas station or as a computer programmer or as a lab equipment salesperson, these tools will open doors for you.

What does that add up to? It adds up to a higher income, and with a higher income, you can eliminate your debts much more quickly and save for the future with much greater ease, particularly if you keep lifestyle inflation in check.

The best part? You can build them all in your spare time at minimal cost, and can even build them during your downtime at your current job. It just requires the willingness to improve.

Let’s take a look at how you can improve each of these skills.

Skill #1: Public Speaking

Let me be clear on exactly what I mean by “public speaking.” It is my belief that you’re doing public speaking every time you’re speaking to a group of people on a topic. A manager gathering together several members of their staff for an announcement or a meeting is doing public speaking, for example. A person trying to explain the ins and outs of a project to three coworkers is doing public speaking. It’s not just a person standing on a stage delivering a speech to an audience, though that is definitely one part of it.

The truth is that most people in the workplace do some flavor of public speaking pretty regularly, especially if they find themselves in any position where they’re trusted by others. People will gather around and listen, and if you can deliver a great message to them, they’ll trust you and listen to you even more.

That’s a great place to be in. The person who stands up and speaks, even when its scary, is the person who builds a natural reputation as a leader, as a go-to person. That person is the one who is going to receive a lot of opportunities and a lot of rewards along the way. You’re going to have strong relationships with your coworkers, with the people who work under you, and with your supervisor and their supervisors, too. That’s a position from which you can build a great career.

Key Book to Read: Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
This is an incredibly readable book about the art of public speaking, written in a conversational tone that makes it easy to keep going and breeze through the pages, but buried in there is some of the best advice on public speaking that you’ll find anywhere. Perhaps what I appreciate most about it is the focus on preparation and the value of it. Preparation for public speaking is an enormous part of success and Scott really nails the reason why: it comes down to respect for the audience, and they can sense that respect.

Daily Practice: Speak to a group of people
Always be on the lookout for opportunities to speak to a group of people on a topic. Volunteer to speak at meetings at work. Volunteer to present ideas informally to groups. Volunteer to give speeches to represent your company. Look for opportunities to do that outside of your workplace, too, by doing presentations for civic groups. You’ll burn away any stage fright you might have, relegating it to mere butterflies (which are actually useful), and you’ll have many opportunities to practice the principles you’ve learned in the book.

Skill #2: Socializing

Simply being comfortable in a crowded room and knowing how to strike up conversations with people you don’t know where they walk away happy to have met you is a powerful skill for anyone to have. That’s socializing and while it comes natural for some people, it’s something that’s very uncomfortable for many others (myself included).

Rather than seeing a group of people as something to be intimidated by, successful people typically see such a group as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to learn things. It’s an opportunity to build friendships and personal relationships. It’s an opportunity to build some bridges to your future.

Thus, people who are comfortable around people they don’t know and are able to strike up meaningful conversations with them tend to earn a lot of benefits along the way. They build relationships. They get opportunities. They learn things. Those doors are closed to the people who avoid crowds and those that stay quiet on the periphery.

I’ll fully admit that I’m an introvert and that my instinct is to avoid such crowds or to stay quiet at the edge of groups, but I’ve witnessed time and time again that when I force myself out of that shell and actually converse with people in a meaningful way that causes them to walk away with positive feelings, I reap some enormous rewards. My primary tool? I just ask questions and listen carefully and follow up on what they’re saying. I learn things. People like me. If I ask meaningful follow-ups, they’ll usually remember me, too. It takes practice, but it’s incredibly worth it.

Key Book to Read: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This book might be dated, but it’s a handbook on how to carry on an effective face-to-face conversation, written almost purely with the introvert in mind. For someone who finds these things to be natural, this book can seem a bit mechanical, but for the rest of us, this book is practically a revelation. (I’d also recommend Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz as a follow-up.)

Daily Practice: Carry on a conversation with someone new and with someone old
Have a conversation with someone you don’t know and also have a conversation with someone you’ve known for a while and perhaps fallen out of touch with. In both cases, make it your goal to learn something new and interesting about the person and send the person away feeling better about themselves. Let them do a lot of the talking and make it your goal to learn about them and their ideas rather than just sharing your own thoughts.

Skill #3: Business Writing

The key to successful business writing is clarity and confidence. You need to be able to express your ideas clearly and succinctly so that the other person understands what you are trying to say. You also need to be able to put forth those ideas with a sense of confidence so that others actually read and value what you’re writing.

These aren’t natural skills. They take practice. Almost everyone can write out an idea, but it takes a lot of work to be able to write out an idea clearly and briefly. It takes skill to be able to share a proposal with confidence in your words (without sounding arrogant).

It is clarity and brevity and confidence that makes a person into an effective communicator in the workplace, and a person that can effectively communicate is a person that is able to keep ideas flowing around the modern workplace, often gets credit for things, and often gets their ideas and thoughts noticed and used. It’s an incredibly valuable skill to have.

Key Book to Read: Writing that Works by Kenneth Roman
This book offers a ton of useful advice on keeping your writing clear and brief, as well as many suggestions for making your writing confident and persuasive (we’ll get back to persuasion in a bit). It’s littered with specific, actionable tips that you can directly use in your writing to improve its effectiveness in your workplace.

Daily Practice: Write down or revise a description of a task you do regularly
One great way to practice communicating information in a business setting is to start documenting your regular tasks. Try writing a standard operating procedure for a task that you do regularly, then read it to yourself. Does it sound clear? Does it sound succinct? Spend time polishing it until it seems as clear as possible in the fewest words possible, then share it with a coworker for suggestions and improvement. Doing this regularly will naturally improve your business writing skills, as this practice highlights clarity and brevity in your writing. Plus, it enables you to create useful documentation for your work along the way, which is actually a useful result.

Skill #4: Applied Psychology

This is a very broad subject that you can easily learn about for the rest of your life, but by simply thinking about it and learning about it at all, you can take a major step forward in your attitudes and habits in the workplace.

The key focus of applied psychology at work is understanding what other people genuinely desire and altering your actions and words accordingly to maximize the value you get from that. Rather than looking strictly at a list of tasks to do, look instead at the desires and ambitions and goals of your coworkers and customers and how you can help fulfill them.

When you start evaluating situations in terms of what other people want out of them and hope to get out of them, and then evaluating how you can get the most value out of helping them succeed, you’re going to find yourself succeeding wildly.

This can take infinite forms, from writing a thank you note to putting a bit of polish on a project in a certain area, from helping someone fit in a little better to understanding what results are truly important to your boss. Knowing those things – and then shaping your workplace actions around them – can make a tremendous difference when it comes to your career success. It’s not just about completing a list of tasks – it’s about how you complete them, which ones you prioritize, and how you help others achieve their ambitions along the way.

Key Book to Read: Drive by Daniel Pink
There are many, many books I could recommend here, as applied psychology is an enormously popular book topic, but for the purposes that a person might use applied psychology in the workplace, few books click better than Daniel Pink’s Drive.

The focus of this book is what drives people to work hard and how to tap into that. Most people aren’t really driven by threats or negativity or a call to altruism for altruism’s sake. They’re driven by a desire to control their own destiny, to do creative work, and to make the world a better place on their own terms. Those are the core motivations that separate ordinary work from great work. Drive‘s focus is on how you can tap into that, both within yourself and within others.

Daily Practice: Try to evaluate what motivates someone else to do something you didn’t expect
Most of the time, the people around you do things for rational reasons, once you understand their motivations. They might not act in ways you fully expect, but their reasoning is clear.

However, that doesn’t stop us from misunderstanding what they’re doing and why they’re doing it and how they’re trying to do it. We often interpret people as being incompetent or misguided or greedy when we’re often not fully understanding their motivations. In short, we end up with a broader misunderstanding of that person because we didn’t happen to fully understand why they’re doing something.

Don’t let that happen. Spend a bit of time each day reflecting on the unexpected behavior of a person. Why did they behave that way? What motivated them to do so? Did it make sense?

This simple exercise can be done nearly anywhere and will go a long way toward improving your understanding of the psychology of other people, particularly when complemented with readings on applied psychology.

Skill #5: A Second Language

The ability to speak a second language means that you can converse natively with people who do not speak your primary language, opening the door to communication to a much wider range of people than before. It also enables you to be of assistance to people who speak English as a second language.

This turns out to be an incredibly powerful addition to your resume in almost any career path. If your career points you in a direction that requires you to speak at any time with people who are not native English speakers, conversational ability in their native language is a huge boon for you. This might mean serving customers who speak native Tagalog or engaging with coworkers who speak Punjabi. This might mean talking to a tradesman who speaks only Spanish or to a contractor who speaks only French. There are many, many situations like this in the world; the value in being able to speak across that barrier with little effort is enormous.

Key Book to Read: Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner
While Fluent Forever won’t directly teach you a specific language, what it will do is teach you how to learn that language (and any other language) efficiently and thoroughly, moving you toward spoken and written fluency very quickly. It can serve as your handbook in foreign language study.

Obviously, beyond this, you’ll need additional tools to learn the language that you want to learn. I’ve already prepared a long list of additional materials for language learning at a low cost.

Speaking of which…

Daily Practice: Complete a Duolingo lesson in your chosen language

As I mentioned above, I recently discussed methods for learning a new language inexpensively and those methods start with Duolingo, which is perhaps the most accessible tool that has yet existed for free language learning for a broad audience.

Simply download Duolingo to your phone, choose the language you want to learn, and dive into the lessons. Commit to completing at least one lesson per day until you’ve completed the learning track for that language. You’ll find yourself at a simple conversational level in that language, one that you can build upon with these additional tools.

Skill #6: Persuasion

The simple ability to persuade someone to come to a particular conclusion or course of action is an incredibly powerful skill to have. It can help you directly in persuading people to give you opportunities and raises. It can also help indirectly in perhaps even more powerful ways, as you can use persuasion to steer elements of your workplace in particular directions.

It all comes down to the ability to persuade, which is a mix of the social skills mentioned above and the applied psychology mentioned above with a healthy dollop of knowing what words to use and when.

Key Book to Read: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

If there’s one book to read on how to become more persuasive, it’s this one. This is simply a master class on how to become more persuasive in your words, your actions, and your presentation.

While the core ideas of this book can fit on a few pages, this book shines in the examples: in sales, in office situations, in marketing, in customer relations. Over and over again, this book succeeds at translating dry principles into action, which is why it stands out so well.

Daily Practice: Engage in a persuasive discussion

Remember, your goal here isn’t to prove that you’re right and that the other person is wrong. Your goal is to persuade the other person to simply have a higher view of an idea that they might have rejected or to lower their view of an idea that they have.

Try using the techniques from Influence when doing this. The purpose isn’t to be antagonistic, which will typically drive the other person to keeping their views, but in finding ways to relate and connect. That’s the heart of persuasion, and the more you practice it, the easier it will become.

Skill #7: Technology Basics

By this, I don’t simply mean knowing how to use your iPhone or how to Google things. I’m referring to understanding how changes in technology are shaping your field and how to communicate technology challenges to people who are experts in that niche.

For example, when something goes wrong with a point of sale machine at work, how do you communicate the problem to others? “It’s broken” is an incredibly simple answer, and just repeating an error message isn’t helpful, either. What’s the real problem? What’s the model of the machine? Did you verify that all connections are in place? What simple solutions might exist? How can you find all of this information? Can you apply all of that information?

In other words, technology basics means understanding the technology you’re using on a deep enough level to be able to effectively communicate with a technical consultant while also having ideas about the technology solutions to come that will help solve workplace problems (and figuring out how to stay out of the way of that progress and actually harness it for your own career).

Key Book to Read: How to Speak Tech by Vinay Trivedi
This is a great place to start with this type of understanding of technology. This book doesn’t really focus on specific technologies, but instead focuses on how to learn about technologies, how to identify what you need to know about them, and how to communicate that information effectively.

This isn’t just helpful for talking to an IT fix-it guy. It’s helpful in terms of being able to interpret technology articles. It’s helpful in being able to offer input on potential technology changes at work. It’s helpful in terms of being able to present technology ideas. In short, it makes you an “expert” without truly being an expert simply because you can speak the language.

Daily Practice: Read technology news and look up terms you don’t understand
One simple way to build up your technology basics is to regularly read technology articles that pertain to your field in any reasonable way and look up any terms in that article that you don’t fully understand.

For example, if you work in retail, look up articles on point of sale machines and what innovations are coming in that area. Try to identify what would actually be useful in your workplace out of those changes. If you don’t understand some of the pieces, look them up. At that point, you’re prepared to have conversations about this topic with your supervisor, which can do nothing but help your career.

Skill #8: Accounting Basics

The simple knowledge of understanding how money flows in and out of a business can be a huge boon to any professional because, in the end, businesses are designed to make money and accounting is how all of that is tracked.

Again, you don’t need to be a master of accounting to be useful here. You just need to understand accounting concepts and how they might apply to your business. What are accounts receivable? Accounts payable? How might different things be written off?

This type of thinking almost always leads directly to business decisions, because many business decisions are based on accounting data. Understanding how to interpret accounting summaries and how those translate into decisions is not only going to prepare you to start moving into management, but it will immediately help you in terms of discussing matters with your supervisor and understanding some of the decisions being made in your workplace (and, again, how you can avoid the downsides and be prepared for the upsides).

Key Book to Read: Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper
This is a wonderful readable introduction to accounting practices. The intent isn’t to make you into an accountant or an accounting expert, but to make the basics of accounting comprehensible to a layperson.

Remember, the key knowledge that you’re looking for isn’t full accounting ability, but how to translate an understanding of accounting and how to read accounting summaries and translate those into making and understanding useful decisions based on them.

Daily Practice: Evaluate a normal business activity from an accounting perspective
This is how a successful business evaluates everything, from employees to the products that they sell, from the time and effort spent on cleaning and maintenance to the quality of workplace attire. Are those things returning enough value to be worth the cost?

Spend some time thinking through those things and see if you can figure them out on your own. If not, you’ve got the basis for a great discussion with your supervisor, one that will almost always raise your stock in the workplace, because you’re asking the right kinds of questions for business success.

Skill #9: Design Basics

Design basics refers to things like how to assemble a product display that’s attractive to customers or how to alter your website so that it’s more appealing. Often, people understand what they like and don’t like on an intuitive basis, but it’s difficult to explain those differences in words. Understanding design basics makes it much easier to communicate those ideas.

Again, this isn’t about becoming a designer. It’s about being able to communicate with designers and being able to translate those words into real-world things and knowing why, at least in a basic way, a design choice is being made. Why is a store laid out the way that it is? Why are products displayed that way? Those are design choices.

Key Book to Read: The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams
This is the best one-volume book out there for understanding the basics of design when you’re not attempting to become a designer. It gives you what you need to know to think about things from a designer’s perspective and understand some of the terminology and reasoning, but it’s done in layman’s terms without the intent of being a full education in design.

In other words, it’s pretty much perfect for this type of situation. It’s going to give you the tools you need to look at problems from a design perspective and at least understand some of the answers without expanding into a full study of design, which is perfect for most workplace purposes.

Daily Practice: Evaluate the pros and cons of the design of something you’re using
Why are products laid out the way they are on a store shelf? Is there a better way of doing it? What’s wrong with it? What about the layout of the store? What about the design of a website, or the design of a package?

Stop for a moment and ask yourself those questions about something you’re using. Perhaps you’re wandering around in a grocery store looking for something – why is the store designed this way? Is it bad? What is it missing?

The goal isn’t to solve the world’s problems, but to raise your own thinking on such design problems. This will help you again and again in your own career.

The Final Underlying Skill: Honest Self-Evaluation

At the end of the day, the most powerful skill we all have is the ability to honestly self-evaluate ourselves. We can step back, look at what we did right and what we did wrong, and use that information to look for ways to improve in whatever areas are most important to us.

That kind of self-reflection is surprisingly rare. Many people move through life without doing it, or under the assumption that they’re already excellent. Almost none of us are – true excellence is rarely achieved in life, though it is a noble goal. The people that truly excel are the ones to whom success flows like a river, and those people got there either by having an absurd natural talent or by doing a lot of self-evaluation and self-improvement.

Key Book to Read: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
This book is basically the private journal of Marcus Aurelius, the last of Rome’s Five Great Emperors. In it, he spends a lot of time puzzling through how to best live in the world and how to overcome some of the flaws he perceives in himself in terms of how to be an effective leader.

To me, this is the prototype of how to effectively self-reflect. You identify problems without criticizing yourself with unnecessary harshness, then evaluate those problems and seek a better way to live with regard to that problem. It’s all right here, along with some pretty good solutions to the problems of modern life.

Daily Practice: Write in your journal about what you’re grateful for and what your mistakes are
In other words, become Marcus Aurelius. Set aside some time each day to write about what you’re grateful for in the world over the past day or so (I usually try to list five things each day) and then evaluate a problem or mistake in your life and what you could do to improve that flaw. The focus here should be on improving yourself, not forcing your will on others.

The truth is that most of success comes from constantly refining yourself. Most of the tools in this article boil down to that kind of self-refinement, and actually translating that to a daily journal makes refinement into a daily practice.

Some Final Thoughts

It’s not realistic to expect that you’ll attempt to add all of these skills to your life at once. Instead, simply choose one or two of them to add to your life. Adopt a daily practice to improve that skill over time and look for ways to use that burgeoning skill. Over time, that skill will slowly become natural and you can move on to new skills.

If you’re unsure what to start with, I suggest starting with self-reflection. That process will often point you in the direction of the skills you most need to build in the world. Start with a simple daily journal, reflecting on what you’re grateful for and what mistakes you’ve made. After a while, you’ll see some patterns, and solving the source of those patterns is right where you should be.

Good luck!

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She Quit a $50K Day Job to Follow Her Dreams — And Earned More by Month 3

Jessica Lawlor is good at being uncomfortable.

She hated her first yoga class, but she went back — and fell deeply enough in love with her practice to become an instructor.

She “didn’t really plan on becoming a writer,” but the title is one in her manifold resume. (Other entries include editor, content manager, speaker, professor, consultant and CEO.)

So it makes sense that her blog, Get Gutsy, is all about finding your best self at the end of your comfort zone. It was also the key to her eventual (and surely uncomfortable) decision to quit her hard-won day job and take on the freelance life full time.

And as it turns out, discomfort is 100% worth it.

Although she’s only been in business for about a year and hasn’t yet celebrated her 30th birthday, Lawlor’s earnings now dwarf the $50,000 salary she left behind.

Here’s her story — and her best advice if you’re looking for some lucrative discomfort of your own.

Quitting Your Job is Scary… But It Can Pay Off Big Time

Lawlor spent six years climbing the ranks in corporate public relations positions after studying the subject at Temple University.

It’s not like she didn’t like her jobs. She worked first in healthcare and later in travel, and PR itself was a blend of all her passions: writing, speaking, creativity and strategy.  

But Lawlor always knew she wanted to work for herself.

She’d been inspired by a book she’d read in college about making a living as a freelance writer. “I had no idea that was even a thing,” she said. She’d always been drawn to writing, and in her freshman year had briefly studied journalism.

Plus, she said, Temple has a reputation for churning out hard workers, hustlers and entrepreneurs. “The word ‘gritty’ is used to describe it a lot.”

Still, when she started her blog, she had no idea it would be the key to her future. It was the fall of 2012, two years after her college graduation.

Lawlor had always been very involved as a student, constantly taking on side gigs, internships and extracurriculars. So after turning the tassel, she found herself at a bit of a loss.

“All of a sudden, all I was doing was working,” Lawlor said. She’d never had so much free time. Even though she logged 40-hour workweeks, it felt like she was on vacation.

So in her free time, she found herself doing some pretty gutsy things in the pursuit of finding new passions — like getting active, losing 40 pounds, and becoming intentional in her networking — writing about it all the while.

One day, she found an interesting email waiting in her inbox.

Greg Galant, CEO and cofounder of Muck Rack, had noticed an article of his had been referenced in Lawlor’s blog. (She had tagged him in a Tweet.)

He wanted to say thanks and to ask if Lawlor did any freelancing — he needed writers for his company.

After she penned a few guest posts for the company blog, Galant upped the ante, asking Lawlor to become his blog’s managing editor. Did she feel like she was up to the job?

Well, maybe not — but remember: Lawlor’s an expert in discomfort.

“I lied and said yes,” she told me. “Fake it ‘til you make it.”

And “make it,” she did. After taking on that first gig, other opportunities began flowing her direction. (You can read more about how she landed her various clients here — Twitter proved an invaluable tool.)

Eventually, waking up at 5 a.m. to keep up with her side hustle stopped making sense. Plus, she’d never been a morning person.

So Lawlor quit her job and took her freelance business full time in December 2015.

Fast forward: now she’s the CEO and founder of Jessica Lawlor & Company, LLC. She has one employee so far, and at one point earned $10,000 in a single month’s time.

In other words, she knocked the freelancing thing out of the park.

Want to Start Your Own Business? Here’s This CEO’s Advice

Even if your day job isn’t well-paid and cushy, it can be terrifying to let it go in pursuit of your dreams.

But if you’ve been fantasizing about starting a business of your own, Lawlor’s story might inspire you to, well, get gutsy.

“There’s more out there than sitting in a cubicle for 40 hours a week,” she promises.

Before you start drafting your resignation, however, here are a few pieces of sound advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

1. Get Hustling and Start Saving — ASAP

Lawlor was freelancing long before she dropped her full-time job to start her business, which was key to her success for two important reasons.

First of all, she was able to save up a $40,000 backup fund in case her plans fell through.

And secondly, it helped her narrow down exactly what she wanted to spend her time doing.

Lawlor dabbled with freelance writing, social media marketing and consulting before eventually finding her main source of income in content management.

“Whatever it is you think you want your business to be, start doing it right now and save that money,” Lawlor advises.

It’s always nice to have some extra side hustle cash — and if worst comes to worst, you’ll learn what you don’t want out of your freelance career.

2. Prioritize and Focus — You Can’t Do Everything

By the time Lawlor had the wherewithal to quit her job, she was working 16 hours almost every weekday.

Whether “work” meant freelance writing at 5 a.m., sitting in her cubicle from 9 to 5, or staying late chatting after teaching evening yoga classes, it was undeniable: Her life was too full.

“I was doing all these cool things, but I didn’t really feel fulfilled,” Lawlor said.

So she made a list of everything she was doing, and circled all the stuff she felt she couldn’t live without.

“The only one I didn’t want to keep was my full time job.”

She knew what she had to do.

Prioritizing and focusing not only helps you avoid burnout, but also enables you to strategize your business. Although Lawlor earns money in a variety of ways, she knows where she needs to spend the majority of her time and energy to continue being successful.

It’s a fact of life, after all: You just can’t do everything. So pick a few things and do them really, really well.

3. Have a Backup Plan and Eliminate Unnecessary Expenses

Lawlor didn’t even think about ditching her day job until she had some considerable savings.

“It eased my worries a ton to have this money to fall back on,” she confided.

One reason Lawlor was able to save up that $40,000 cushion in just three years? For the first six months after starting her company, she lived at home, as she had since college.  

And once she did get her own apartment, Lawlor realized just how nice it had been to have people around during her workday — even if they weren’t actively conversing. (Work-at-home freelance writers quickly learn how isolating their career choice can be.)

“There’s no shame in it,” Lawlor said. “I actually really loved that experience.”

In fact, she still visits and works from her folks’ home on a regular basis.

4. Use, Use, Use That Network

As mentioned above, networking — both online and in real life — was key in the creation and growth of Lawlor’s client base. In fact, she found just about all of her clients through her network rather than via cold calls or emails.

If you’re not a natural networking guru, here’s a piece of sage advice: Use your social media feeds to promote not only your  own work but also that of others.

It’s an easy way to make new connections and strike up possible business opportunities.

5. Be Yourself

It might seem trite, but she swears it’s her secret ingredient.

Whether on Twitter, Facebook or her blog itself, Lawlor makes it a point to be transparent.

She writes about her wins, of course, but blogs about the un-sexy parts of business ownership, too. (Tellingly, the latter of those two posts is exponentially more popular.)

People like authenticity, she’s discovered. She guesses it has to do with the innate disconnect between real life and our carefully-curated online personas.

A reader might “see your Instagram post from the beach on a Monday, but they don’t see what goes into that,” she said. To counteract the dichotomy, Lawlor’s as honest and real as possible.

“We’re all human, we all have our flaws and that’s what people relate to. Being vulnerable,” she added, “has actually helped me get more clients.”

So there’s more incentive than mere authenticity to follow Lawlor’s mandate:

“Be yourself online.”

Hey — no one said it was going to be comfortable.

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) has written for SELF, Ms. Magazine, Roads & Kingdoms, VinePair, The Write Life, Wonderfilled Magazine, Barclaycard’s Travel Blog, Santander Bank’s Prosper and Thrive and other outlets. Her writing focuses on food, wine, travel and frugality.

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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