Fighting for corrections in insurance coverage

When Joel Piesecki was a kid, he broke the tibia in his leg. After of the bone rubbing against his knee for years, he finally had an MRI to address the pain. The test revealed two things; his pain wouldn’t go away and more was coming.Piesecki is the president of Stroudsburg-based Municipal Software, which provides software solutions for local municipalities. He hires former commuter geeks who gave up their daily trip to the city to join his eight-person company. And they all [...]

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Company says insurance provider can't get it right

When Joel Piesecki was a kid, he broke the tibia in his leg. After of the bone rubbing against his knee for years, he finally had an MRI to address the pain. The test revealed two things; his pain wouldn’t go away and more was coming.Piesecki is the president of Stroudsburg-based Municipal Software, which provides software solutions for local municipalities. He hires former commuter geeks who gave up their daily trip to the city to join his eight-person company. And they all [...]

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6 Work-From-Home Jobs That Are Perfect for Grown-Up Nerds

Forget what the bullies tried to say. Being a nerd is a compliment, not a diss.

You can definitely benefit from all that knowledge and the drive to excel.

Case in point: These six work-from-home jobs are perfect for grown-up nerds.

For Former Debate Club Nerds

Do you know your way around an argument? Do you have the deduction skills to decide what side presents the most persuasive appeal?

Here’s a neat gig that’ll bring you back to your days on the debate team.

1. Debate Tournament Judge at QallOut

QallOut, an online community for live social media video debates, is looking for a part-time debate tournament judge.

Pay: $12 an hour

Responsibilities include:

• Watching debates online
• Creating four- to seven-minute videos assessing the debates and declaring a winner
• Providing constructive criticism on how debaters can improve their arguments

Applicants for this position must have former debate experience. A background in journalism, communications or political science is preferred.

Apply here to be a debate tournament judge for QallOut.

For Gamer Nerds

If your love for gaming hasn’t changed since the days of Super Nintendo, check out this job opening.

2. Gaming Support Professional at Sutherland

Sutherland is looking to hire remote gaming support professionals who can provide customer service and technical support for a large gaming platform.

This is a part-time position, with weekly hours ranging from 20 to 29. Support techs will be expected to work full-time — and potentially overtime — during the week of Dec. 24 to 30 (including Christmas).

Pay: The amount of compensation was not included in the job listing, but I’ve reached out to the company to see if they’ll disclose the expected pay range.

Responsibilities include:

• Responding to and resolving customer problems or needs
• Troubleshooting support issues

Applicants for this position must have:

• Experience as a gamer or a background in gaming technical support
• A minimum of one year of customer service experience
• Technical savvy
• Familiarity with the gaming environment and social networking
• Related equipment including a computer monitor, headset and high-speed internet

Benefits include eligibility for a performance-based incentive bonus.

Apply here to be a gaming support professional at Sutherland.

For STEM Nerds

For the love of STEM, it seems like everyone’s convinced studying science, technology, engineering or math is the path to a winning career. These tutoring jobs will help the next generation excel in those subject areas.

3. Online Math Tutor for Brainfuse

Educational platform Brainfuse is looking for online tutors to teach students college-level calculus, statistics and finite mathematics. This is a contract position where you can create your own schedule.

Pay: $12 to $13 an hour

Responsibilities include tutoring the following subject areas:

• Statistics
• Calculus (multivariable, vector, business)
• Linear algebra
• Differential equations
• Discrete math
• Finite mathematics

Applicants for this position must have:

• A bachelor’s degree
• A computer with a stable internet connection

See here for information on how to apply to this position.

4. Online Science Tutor for Brainfuse

Brainfuse is also hiring for online tutors to teach college biochemistry. This is also a contract position where you can create your own schedule.

Pay: $11 an hour

Responsibilities include teaching students biochemistry on a college level.

Applicants for this position must have:

• A bachelor’s degree
• A computer with a stable internet connection

See here for information on how to apply to this position.

For Nerds into Standardized Testing

Was studying for the SAT or ACT your thing in high school? Got the chops to help others perfect their scores? If so, check out these jobs.

5. SAT/ACT Coach for Testive

Test prep site Testive is looking for coaches who can help students prepare for the SAT and ACT. This is a part-time job with flexible hours.

Pay: $80 per active student (may be additionally compensated for student referrals and students acquired independently)

Responsibilities include:

• Being able to meet with students at least three weekday evenings and/or weekend days per week during the school year
• Meeting with students for approximately 30 minutes per week, or three hours per student each month
• Regularly communicating with students and their parents regarding progress

Applicants for this position must have scored highly on the SAT and/or ACT themselves and have:

• A college degree
• A passion for teaching and learning
• Robust knowledge of the content included in the SAT and ACT

Apply here to be an SAT/ACT coach for Testive.

6. PSAT Tutor for iTutor

Online tutoring site iTutor is looking for part-time PSAT tutors.Bonus: you’ll be able to set your own hours.

Pay: $20 to $40 an hour

Responsibilities include:

• Teaching remotely via webcam, microphone or the online classroom platform
• Administering and assessing assignments and exams

Applicants for this position must have:

• Previous test prep experience
• Previous classroom teaching experience
• Proficiency using technology
• A computer, webcam, microphone and reliable internet access

Benefits include quarterly incentives.

Apply here to be a PSAT tutor through iTutor.

Want to be the first to know about other fun and interesting jobs like this? Like The Penny Hoarder Jobs on Facebook to stay in the loop!

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She thinks nerds are cool.

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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Aldi Is Testing Instacart Delivery, but Will its Frugal Customers Care?

A new pilot program could bring Aldi groceries to your door — for a price.

Aldi announced this morning that it’s partnering with Instacart to deliver groceries to customers in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. If the pilot is successful in these areas, delivery via Instacart could expand to additional markets.

Shoppers in the test areas can shop Aldi products online or using the Instacart mobile app. While Instacart is known for delivering orders in about one hour, deliveries of Aldi groceries can be scheduled up to one week in advance.

“We know customers are looking for new ways to save time and money,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart said in a release. “Instacart provides easy access to our low prices at the click of a button.”

Aldi has about 1,700 stores in 35 states across the U.S., but plans to expand to 2,500 stores by the end of 2022.

Want to try it for yourself? Aldi’s statement says new Instacart users can take $20 off their first order with code ALDIDELIVERY. The offer expires Sept. 30.

Does a Fancy Delivery Service Mesh with Aldi’s Low Prices?

Aldi’s atmosphere is unabashedly no-frills. To keep prices low, you bag your own groceries, and you must deposit a quarter to access a shopping cart.

So why partner with a delivery service like Instacart? It’s really more like, “Why not?”

Grocery competition is fierce right now, and Aldi’s expansion plan has it poised to become the third largest grocer in the country. Now’s the time for Aldi to introduce its house brands — 90% of its stock is exclusive to Aldi stores — to as much of the general public as possible.

But will Instacart’s convenience cancel out any savings you might glean from a well-planned trip to Aldi?

Some chains available for delivery via Instacart charge higher prices if you shop through the service, and as you probably expected, delivery isn’t exactly free.

If the Aldi pilot is successful, we’ll be keeping an eye on how those purported savings stack up when there’s a price put on the convenience factor.

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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Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma: Which App Is Better for Your Credit Score?

Talk to anyone with massive debt and poor credit, and you’ll learn one thing for sure: The hardest thing about improving your credit score is knowing where to even begin.

I know from experience.

I have nearly $60,000 in debt and a credit score below 600. I was paralyzed by these awful numbers — one unbelievably high, the other embarrassingly low — so, for years, I did nothing.

Then I started writing about personal finance, and I learned some companies exist specifically to help you wrap your head around your credit history.

No scammy promises to drastically raise your credit score. No massive upfront fees for services that never deliver. No late-night commercials that look like they were designed on Microsoft Word in the 90s.

I wish I’d heard of this years ago…

Last year, I signed up for Credit Sesame — a free service that shows me my credit score and credit report, plus suggests steps I can take to improve my score.

It’s gone up 66 points already!

But now I’m wondering if I can do even better with Credit Karma. This service looks similar to Credit Sesame — free credit score, report and recommendations, all with the goal of improving your credit.

Because each is free — so no risk in joining — I signed up for Credit Karma to see how it compares.

Here’s what I learned…

What You Get With Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma

Let’s start with the similarities.

These services have a lot in common and both work with the same goal: to help you maintain or improve your credit score.

With both apps, you’ll get:

• Access to your free credit score.

• To see what’s on your credit report.

• Recommendations for services and actions to improve your credit score.

Both are free to use. The companies make money from the lenders and other services they recommend.

Both apps make your credit report easy to understand. Their designs are quite different, but both let you see:

• Your credit score

• Which factors affect your score

• How much each factor matters

• What, exactly, is on your credit report

• What you can do to improve any pain points that are hurting your score

Both even include a color-coded system, so you can see at a glance how you’re doing in each area: Green is good, yellow is so-so and red is bad.

What’s Different Between Credit Sesame and Credit Karma?

They both have similar interfaces, though Credit Karma’s has a slightly more modern, user-friendly feel.

Which Reports You’ll See

Looking beyond cosmetics, the first difference you’ll see between the apps is Credit Karma gives you access to reports from two credit reporting bureaus: TransUnion and Equifax.

It shows the credit score each bureau reports for you, plus what each includes on your credit report.

Credit Sesame shows the same, but only from TransUnion.

Why does that matter? You don’t have just one credit score — you actually have several, reported by multiple agencies, and they’re not always the same.

Debt Information

One thing Credit Sesame includes on your dashboard that I didn’t see anywhere on Credit Karma is total debt.

Your debt — from student loans, mortgage, auto loans, whatever — is a key part of your credit score, so it’s nice to see up front what you’re dealing with.

Identity Theft Protection

A major benefit Credit Sesame has over Credit Karma is identity theft insurance.

Both services monitor your credit reports and alert you of major changes — but only Credit Sesame actually insures you against damages.

It provides $50,000 in identity theft insurance, plus fraud resolution assistance, for free — just for being a member.

Other Small Differences…

I also noticed a few less important differences between the services:

• Credit Sesame offers a few more options to help you improve your credit score.  While Credit Karma focuses on financial offers — credit cards and lenders — Credit Sesame also refers you to services that can help with delinquencies or late payments on your report.

• Credit Karma lets you search for your unclaimed money in government databases.

• Credit Karma features a community forum and member reviews of the products it recommends.

Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma: The Verdict

Which service you choose is probably more a matter of personal taste than anything else.

If you have poor credit and want to improve it, Credit Sesame might have a slight edge with a wider variety of affiliate offers and the clarity of your total debt balance.

If you want to apply for a major loan soon — like a mortgage or auto loan — Credit Karma’s reports from two major bureaus (versus one) could help you see important differences in reporting.

That could be beneficial, because you don’t know which report your lender will pull. Only seeing one report could give you false confidence in applying for a loan.

In my case, my main goal is improving poor credit, and I like seeing my total debt in one place. (Well, “like” might not be the right word…). So, I’m going to stick with Credit Sesame.

Want to cover your bases? Use both.

Both services are free to use and sign up only takes a few minutes. With access to both, you can be sure you’re not missing any helpful advice or recommendations that could help you improve your credit score.

Here’s the link to sign up with Credit Sesame.

Here’s the link to sign up with Credit Karma.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a senior writer/newsletter editor 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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Lawsuit Says Cheesecake Factory Has Some Seriously Sketchy Tipping Math

When restaurants print the suggested gratuity at the bottom of a receipt, it can be helpful for everyone.

It saves diners from calculating complicated percentages on a full stomach, and it makes sure the service staff is adequately tipped for their work. Everyone leaves happy.

That is, until restaurants start gaming the system and leaving their customers feeling cheated.

That’s how a Cheesecake Factory customer felt after she realized incorrect percentages were being printed on receipts, BuzzFeed News reported.

Now the restaurant chain is facing a class-action lawsuit.

This Lawsuit Says the Chain’s Suggested Tip Is Wildly Inflated

The lawsuit was filed after Marcel Goldman, a Cheesecake Factory customer, says she split the bill with a friend. Goldman’s share of the bill was $38.50, and the receipt broke down the suggested gratuity like this:

• 15% — $11.55
• 18% — $13.86
• 20% — $15.40
• 22% — $16.94

Goldman tipped the amount listed for 20%, which is what we suggest you tip servers at sit-down restaurants in our Ultimate Guide to Tipping.

The problem is that $15.40 was not actually 20% of her half of the check; it was 20% of the total check. That meant Goldman, trusting what was printed on her receipt, ended up tipping twice as much as she meant to tip.

The practice of printing suggested gratuity amounts for the full check on split checks happens at 200 Cheesecake Factory locations and the chain’s 13 Grand Lux Cafe locations nationwide, according to the lawsuit.

While Goldman says she’s not asking for hardworking service industry professionals to be paid less, she and her attorney want restaurants to be honest with customers who dine with them.

“Consumers should be aware,” Goldman’s attorney, Julian Hammond, told BuzzFeed News. “Why are we left to our own devices to do arithmetic acrobatics when the suggested gratuity represented is not true? The mathematic calculation is misleading. It must end; it needs to change.”

Cheesecake Factory’s Tip Math Has Been Questioned Before

Cheesecake Factory has been called out for its creative tip calculation in the past, BuzzFeed News reports.

Customers have called the company out on Twitter for printing tip calculations based on check totals after tax rather than the pretax subtotal. Customers thought this practice was also misleading.

Here’s what Cheesecake Factory spokesperson Alethea Rowe had to say about the math on their receipts.

“​All gratuity amounts listed on our guest checks are suggestions only,” Rowe said. “Guests are free to tip as they please. We believe our guests appreciate service provided by our hardworking staff and tip accordingly.​”​

The lesson here: Tip your wait staff well, but do your own math.

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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Here’s One Way to Reduce Your Stress at Work — and It’s Not What You Think

There’s an old adage that goes something like this:

No one ever lies on their deathbed thinking, “Man, I wish I’d spent more of my life working.”

In theory, it’s easy to promise ourselves we’ll compartmentalize our professional and personal lives, working when it’s time to work and playing when it’s time to play.

In reality, many of us never really mentally clock out when we leave work at the end of the day.

I get it. It’s hard not to think about our jobs outside of working hours, especially when we’re constantly bombarded with advice on how to maximize performance to get ahead.

From productivity apps we didn’t know we needed to work methods designed to make sure we stay hyper-focused on the task at hand, we seem to be almost pathologically concerned with wringing out every last drop of energy we possess to stay relevant at our jobs.

So is it any wonder that work stress is on the rise and even gives some of us nightmares?

You Have Permission to Care Less About Work

Philosopher and business consultant Andrew Taggart says the key to work satisfaction is to simply care less about it.

Taggart isn’t suggesting workers shirk their responsibilities or make as little effort as they can get away with and still draw a paycheck.

Instead, Taggart recommends we relax the emotional grip our jobs have on us and think about who we could become if we weren’t constantly trying to get ahead at work.

The goal isn’t to become indifferent to our jobs — in fact, apathy is likely to land you on the unemployment line.

Rather, the key is to stop believing that the key to happiness lies in how successful you are at work and free space in your mind to be open to experiences that enrich you as a person and not as a worker bee.

“By caring about work a little less, we can afford ourselves experiences of what is truly meaningful, and let us rest for a while in the unfolding present,” says Taggart.

Easier Said Than Done?

Learning how to care less about work without becoming totally detached can be difficult.

So what’s the trick?

“Rather than caring about everything, choose what’s most important and let go of the pressure on the things that don’t matter to you so much,” suggests clinical psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd.

Maybe that means taking a mental health day off work rather than trying to keep your perfect attendance streak going indefinitely. Perhaps it means leaving your company-issued laptop at the office or not checking your work email “one last time” before bed.

For me, it means turning off work notifications on my phone the minute my workday is over. I’ve yet to regret not being available 24/7 in the event of a catastrophic writing emergency.

Caring less about your job may seem counterintuitive to success, but you won’t get anywhere at work if you flame out.

“It’s great to want to be helpful and make a difference at work, but you have to take care of yourself first,” notes author Kelly O’Laughlin. “You aren’t helping anyone if you burn out and quit. Putting in slightly less effort in times of high stress doesn’t mean you don’t care about your job; it means you care about yourself more.”

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’ll lie on her deathbed thinking, “Man, I wish I’d spent more of my life riding roller coasters.”

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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Sephora Announced Weekly Deals Through Nov. 1, and We’re Kinda Freaking Out

Sephora lovers, I’m about to give you the best news of your week.

I know you might love finding the best eyeliner or lipstick on the cheap, but Sephora is finally giving us a way indulge a little without totally blowing our budgets.

Every week from now until Nov. 1, Sephora will offer deals and freebies both online and in stores through its Weekly Wow program.

I repeat: Sephora is having a deal EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. For more than two months.

You get a contour kit! You get some falsies! EVERYBODY GETS SOME FAB MAKEUP FOR CHEAP!

How to Get Sephora’s Weekly Wow Deals

If you love Sephora but hate the price, trust me — I understand. It’s incredibly easy to walk in there and spend what seems like $400 on two things. (I’m exaggerating here, but seriously, it all adds up quickly.)

According to Glamour, the makeup giant’s sales are infrequent and planned months in advance — which makes this new promo huge.

To get in on the weekly deals, all you need to do is keep an eye on Sephora’s social media accounts or emails for the announcement of the current week’s deals.

To put things into perspective for you, the first deal consisted of 50% off Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kits and Stila eyeshadow palettes.  

Thanks, Sephora!

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Amazon Is Giving Refunds for Fake Eclipse Glasses — Are Your Glasses Safe?

If you bought a pair of glasses to watch the upcoming solar eclipse, you might want to double-check that they’re legit.

Amazon just announced that potentially counterfeit solar eclipse glasses are out on the market, putting consumers’ health and safety at risk.

Do you know if your glasses are affected?

Fake Eclipse Glasses Were Being Sold on Amazon

To watch a total solar eclipse, wearing extremely dark glasses is required. Without them, you could experience permanent eye damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

With the eclipse coming on Aug. 21, vendors have been capitalizing on our obsession with “eclipse glasses” — but not all of the glasses are safe.

Amazon hasn’t released a full list of which products were not up to standards, but it has contacted and refunded customers who may have bought fake glasses, CNNMoney reports.

Additionally, it has taken down other listings for glasses that may be inadequate.

How to Safely Watch the Solar Eclipse

If you’re still on the market for eclipse glasses, be sure to buy them from a trusted vendor. The American Astronomical Society has released a full list of legitimate eclipse glasses vendors here.  

If your glasses aren’t on the list, you may want to reconsider using them. Even if they have an International Organization for Standardization seal, they may not provide adequate protection.

Don’t have the spare bucks to buy some? No worries — we found a way to make a solar eclipse viewer with things you already have at home.

Have fun — and most importantly, be safe!

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Questions About Lying Managers, Freebies, Long Vacations, Coupon Sections, and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Navigating career difficulties
2. Handling an untrustworthy manager
3. Planning out retirement spending
4. Preparing for personal sabbatical
5. Climbing out of debt
6. Leaving entire estate to child
7. Investment house closing?
8. Easiest way to read classics?
9. Cousin won’t stop selling Scentsy
10. Taking freebies
11. Pantry waste
12. Getting multiple copies of coupons

If I were to draw one conclusion from the last several years of The Simple Dollar, it’s this:

Money does not buy happiness, but it can buy some degree of security.

Happiness is a fleeting thing. What most of us are really seeking is contentment – a day-to-day good feeling about our life. Money doesn’t buy that, outside of the small amount needed to meet basic shelter and calorie needs. Everything else beyond that doesn’t seem to really contribute to contentment (but it can be pretty effective at creating bursts of happiness).

What money can do, however, is provide some protection for contentment. It can ensure that your basic needs are met for a long time into the future, if you’re wise with it.

The trick, then, is to find that contentment. Along the way, don’t give into the urge to use money to find a short-term burst of happiness, because that just fades quickly. Instead, find what makes you content and use your money to protect and preserve and perhaps gently enhance that, whatever that is.

Personal finance is valuable, but it doesn’t directly buy happiness. Instead, it just preserves contentment. You have to find contentment on your own.

This is an idea I expressed at length a few weeks ago, but it feels incredibly true in the last few weeks.

Q1: Navigating career difficulties

I’m in a difficult spot in my career and feel that you’re uniquely suited to offer some great advice due to your background and point of view.

Some backstory: I work in financial sales for a major retail bank, something I’ve done basically my entire career. In 2016 I left a company and position that I was fairly happy with for a new position that gave me much more freedom. I took the position even though the salary was below market for that type of position because of the company culture and the freedom that came with the role. For the most part, I was able to manage my own schedule, manage my own sales process and develop my own strategies. I had a great manager who was helpful and supportive in every way I needed without being overbearing. I was honestly able to say that I would have been happy spending the rest of my career there. Then early in 2017, the company decided to lay off my department’s management team and merge our department with another. Since then, they have gradually eliminated most everything that attracted me to the role. My schedule is now strictly controlled by the manager, my sales process is extremely micromanaged and the company culture has shifted from one that I would recommend to anyone looking for a job, to one where I would recommend new applicants run away screaming.

At this point, I can’t see any circumstances that would keep me at my current company. I’m actively searching and networking for new jobs, and have already put in a few applications. My questions are about what to do between now and then.

The numerous negative changes, coupled with the fact that I’ve made up my mind to leave have made it extremely difficult to perform at the same high level that I did last year. I can’t seem to find the motivation to do more than just the bare minimum to keep from endangering my job. I keep thinking that I don’t want to do more for a company that I no longer believe in and will be leaving soon. Another part of me is aware that this mindset is bad both in the short run (I don’t know how long it will take me to move and lower production means lower bonuses) and the long run (at some point my lack of motivation will become very apparent to more people than just my direct manager, and who knows when I’ll work with them again). What do you suggest to break out of this negativity?
– David

This is not your job any more. This is nothing more than paid preparation for the next step in your life, whatever it may be. Your path leads elsewhere. Right now, someone is simply paying you to build skills that you’ll use effectively in the next stage of your life.

That doesn’t mean that you fluff off all work. It means that you approach it in terms of maximizing the long term value for yourself. That should be your focus in every action you take at work.

You’re not burning bridges, because that’s not going to help you long term. You are building relationships, but only the ones that might help you long term. You are doing the absolute minimum on tasks that won’t help you long term, and giving much more concerted effort to things that will either produce products or build skills that will be helpful to you in the next stage.

Everything is about the next stage. Try to get into training programs that will make you a better worker later. Focus on tasks that really work over the skills you’ll need later. Build relationships that may prove useful later. Look at every aspect of your day from the perspective of six months from now, when you’re walking out the door for the last time and walking in the door of another business. What can you do today to maximize your value at that point?

Thinking of your job in this way completely changes the whole picture. It changes almost every choice you make throughout the day. Things that once seemed urgent and important decline in vitality rapidly, and vice versa.

David has a follow-up question regarding specific aspects of his current job.

Q2: Handling an untrustworthy manager

My new manager is a huge part of the problem and I’m unsure how to deal with her. In addition to lying about multiple work related situations, she continually steals my clients (which takes away from my bonus but doesn’t affect hers at all), forces me to do work that is not part of my job, amongst other things. If I were planning on staying, I would address these issues through joint meetings with her and her manager, but since I’m leaving, I don’t know if it’s worth it. Additionally, she is the type of person who would use that conflict as an excuse to “go after” me. As I said, I’m sort of doing the bare minimum right now so there are probably not any ways she could “manage me out” but it’s a fine line and you never know. Do you think it’s worth it to address some of the issues with her or continue to law low?

Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice.
– David

It’s not worth it. Treat her as an obstacle at this point. Minimize your interactions with her. Reject tasks that aren’t part of your job that don’t help you with the long term (as discussed above), and if that causes a problem with her, simply take that individual bit up to her supervisor. Spell out that your plate is currently overflowing anyway and that adding this new, extra tasks just ensures that other tasks won’t get done well, if at all.

I think you’re already doing these things, but I strongly suggest doing them with the “six months out” perspective I gave you above. What can you do today to make that “six months out” version of yourself be in the best possible situation? Having him get fired isn’t good, so try to avoid that, but choose among your work tasks in terms of the ones that puts your “six months out” self in the best possible state.

She’s going to be the company’s problem and not your problem soon enough.

If you do actually care about others at the company that may be affected by her bad behavior down the line, leave a quiet note for her supervisor as you leave. Have an exit interview with that person and flat-out state that you’re fairly sure that she’s stealing from clients but that you don’t have evidence and point to some things to watch. Don’t directly accuse her, but just point to some things that she’s doing. This might help some of the people you leave behind from being dragged down by her.

Q3: Planning out retirement spending

My husband and I have retired, and are now looking at how to spend our retirement savings. We have two rentals (paid off) that bring income, plus our own home (we owe $40,000). We have heard that with our investments (of our IRAs etc.) we can safely spend 4% of those assets yearly. Does this include the value of our homes? Does this include our monthly income? What do we base the 4% number on? I think that it should be based on our assets, not including our income. My husband thinks we should include our yearly income. For example: if we have $500,000 in assets including our, IRA accounts, 403B accounts, we could withdraw $20,000 per year for 25 years. We would still own 3 properties. My husband thinks we should include our income of $55,000 per year and also withdraw another $2,200 from our savings per year.

We would like to travel now, while we still are able to (we are 67 and 65), so we are wondering if we should have a reverse mortgage on our home (which is worth approximately $300,000 (conservatively) so that we could eliminate the mortgage we are paying and perhaps use that money for travel.

What are your thoughts on this?
– Maria

The 4% number should be based on those assets with which you would be fine living without in thirty years. If there’s an asset that you can’t accept losing at any point, it shouldn’t be a part of that 4%. Your primary residence is probably in that category.

I think it’s a mistake to include both the value of the rental properties you own as well as the income they generate. Eventually, to obtain that 4%, you’re going to need to sell one of the rental properties, and when that happens, you’re going to lose a significant portion of your retirement savings in one swoop. I would either include the value of the properties (because you view them as liquid) or the income they generate (because you don’t think you’ll ever sell them).

This brings us around to the question of a reverse mortgage. Does it make sense or not? A reverse mortgage comes with a bundle of pros and cons which are nicely summarized here. Basically, if you go into it understanding some of the risks and accept that the fees and interest are fairly high and that you’re likely leaving an estate with almost nothing in it to your children (if you have any), it can be a way to generate some additional income in retirement. It depends on how much you currently owe on the house, though, and I wouldn’t sign one unless it allows the longest survivor of the two of you to live in the house until death.

Q4: Preparing for personal sabbatical

I am 29 years old, single, no children. I got a great job straight out of college and have been working here ever since. I have received good to great performance reviews every year. My career feels as stable as it can possibly be.

One of my dreams since I was pretty young was to spend several months walking the Appalachian Trail, and I have decided to do so next spring. I have talked to my boss about the possibility of doing so and he is open to the idea. The idea would be that I would essentially take a four month unpaid vacation to do this, leaving work sometime around May 1 and returning around September 1. I am an accountant and our busiest months are in February, March, and April; our summer months are always slow.

What can I do to financially prepare for this adventure?
– Connor

The first thing I would do is make sure that your insurance is taken care of during this trip. Does your insurance package at work cover you during your time on the Trail? If not, you’re going to want some kind of insurance package to ensure that you’re covered in the event of something like a broken leg or a broken arm or some other severe ailment. You’re going to walk thousands of miles in a few months. There are, quite simply, risks involved with that, and you don’t want to lose everything because you weren’t prepared.

What I would do is sit down with my boss and try to get this worked out as an unpaid vacation, so that you retain your benefits without actually receiving a paycheck.

Assuming you have that, your next step would be to build up a very sizable emergency fund, one that will sustain your living expenses during this endeavor. While I’m sure that you’re relying on camping during this trek, there will still be food expenses and other incidentals along the way and you won’t have money coming in. Start saving as much cash as you can, right in a savings account.

You’re also going to want to invest the time to thoroughly research the trip and make sure you’re approaching it with as much wisdom and foreknowledge as possible. Take advantage of the people who have done this before and use what they learned to make sure this adventure goes smoothly.

Q5: Climbing out of debt

I’ve been climbing out of debt and poor past practices for a few years now and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been reading quite a bit of blogs including the Simple Dollar. All of them mention having an emergency fund which I totally agree. What I do not understand, is why I would have a large emergency fund of 3-6 months of take-home pay while having credit card debt. I can see keeping a small amount, say $1000, in an emergency fund but why wouldn’t I want to payoff the credit cards that have a high interest rate after saving the small cushion? The cards, after the small cushion, would be the emergency fund until they are all paid off at which I would then boost up the emergency fund.
– Evan

In general, the recommendation is to build a small emergency fund – $1,000 to $2,000 – and then start addressing high interest debt, like your credit cards. Only when the high interest debt is out of the way (with high interest meaning anything with an interest rate in double figures) should you start building a larger emergency fund (when you reach that point, I suggest automating it with automatic transfers from your checking account each week or month).

Of course, while you’re doing this, if you have to tap your emergency fund, slow down the extra payments on the debt and replenish it before continuing. Try to avoid using your credit cards as any kind of emergency fund.

The small emergency fund is there to handle things like a car problem or an unexpected emergency trip without having to fall back on credit cards. Your goal should be to pay off credit cards, part of which is learning how to live life without maintaining a balance, and having a small emergency fund really helps with that.

Q6: Leaving entire estate to child

I am a single adult male, 31 years of age. I have worked as a systems analyst for the past eight years, earning enough to pay off all of my student loans and put just shy of $100K aside for the future.

I would like to leave my entire estate to my nephew should something happen to me. He is currently a 1 year old toddler. I have confidence that his parents will raise him with values and encourage independence and learning in him, but they don’t have abundant financial resources. I would like to be able to help him with some of his later life expenses.

Do you have any suggestions? I already have a simple LegalZoom will in place that gives all of my assets to him. Are there further steps I should take?
– Alex

If you have faith that the child will use the money wisely (with guidance from his parents) and the amounts aren’t significant (meaning within six figures), your plan is reasonable.

The challenge here, of course, is that you want to retain full control over those assets when you’re alive. You want to use them for your own life, which means that options such as starting a trust fund for the child really don’t make a whole lot of sense.

I will say that, if you can afford to do so, I would start contributing to a 529 college savings plan for the child. Regardless of what happens to you, that child will likely grow up and have some sort of postsecondary education, and a 529 account will help greatly with that. Whatever you can contribute, as long as you do it consistently, can really help.

Q7: Investment house closing?

I use the app Robinhood to purchase ETFs. Since it’s an app, I realized there’s a fairly high chance that Robinhood will go out of business at some point. What happens to my ETF shares if that happens?
– Adam

From their website:

Robinhood Financial is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). Explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org.

What that means is that up to $500,000 of your securities are insured by the SIPC. If Robinhood ever goes out of business, their insurance will step in and reimburse you in some fashion. Typically, this is done by setting you up with a brokerage account at a different investment firm, one who has taken over the assets of Robinhood.

As long as you’re not investing over $500,000, you should be fine!

Q8: Easiest way to read classics?

I know that Project Gutenberg exists and makes available free copies of classic books that anyone can read. However, their website is a challenge and I don’t really know a convenient way to read them. What is the best way to read public domain classic books for free?
– Daniel

The Project Gutenberg website isn’t too bad to navigate once you know a few tricks (it’s vastly improved from some of the earlier versions). My preferred way to find and read classic books from there is to visit their mobile site, http://m.gutenberg.org/, which has a very nice mobile interface. I prefer it to the desktop one by a large margin unless you’re actually at a computer with a huge screen and, honestly, even then, I still use the mobile site and just make my browser window small.

When visiting the site on mobile, you actually have a lot of options. Let’s say you’re looking at the mobile page for Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays. The easiest way to read immediately is to just click on the “HTML” link, which opens the book in your web browser and you can instantly start reading it by scrolling downwards. The full book is one giant HTML page.

A much better option, if you’re on your phone or a tablet, is to click on the “Kindle (with images)” link. If you have the free Amazon Kindle app on your phone or tablet already, you’ll be prompted with a link to open the book in the Kindle app. Do so and the book will be in your Kindle app, for free, ready to read.

I can’t even tell you how many books I’ve downloaded this way, but the number is quite large. The only catch is that such books are only on the single device you’re using now, so it’s not synced to any other Kindle devices you may have.

Q9: Cousin won’t stop selling Scentsy

I have a cousin who started selling Scentsy and Mary Kay and Pampered Chef stuff a few years ago – yep, all three, and probably some others too if I could remember. At first, those of us in her family were mildly supportive of this and we bought a few items, but after that “success” she started bringing all of her catalogs and sample stuff to every family event, even things like a Sunday lunch at her grandpa’s house. She’d go to everyone asking if they needed more stuff.

Eventually, we started just automatically saying, “Nope, we’re good.” But then when she wouldn’t sell anything to us, she’d go in the other room and sit and look devastated and eventually one or two of us would go buy something from her.

This routine has gone on for years and we’re kind of getting sick of it. Most of us don’t want any more stuff from those companies at all. We don’t want to spend the money on stuff we don’t need. We also kind of resent the fact that she pretty blatantly treats us only as clients for the stuff she’s trying to sell.

What’s the best way to handle this?
– Joel

One of you needs to sit down and have a heart-to-heart conversation with her about this. You need to flat-out express to her that most of the family feels like they are nothing more than clients to her and that she has pretty much permanently tapped out any goodwill she might have towards those products.

It’s likely, from her perspective, that she’s heavily invested in selling those items and she needs to recoup her losses. Most of those businesses require some degree of up front investment from their salespeople, setting them up to sell those wares to family and friends while the people on the ground – like your cousin – have actually absorbed all of the risk. Thus, she feels stuck with all of this stuff.

If that’s her situation, you can feel some sympathy for it, but you should not do anything to encourage her to have any further business with these organizations beyond selling out her stock. You might agree to buy a final piece or two under the understanding that she’s not selling to you guys any more in the future, but that’s at your discretion. The goal here would be to simply get your cousin back into a good place.

Q10: Taking freebies

What are your thoughts on taking freebies from businesses like pens and stuff? Is it unethical to take several if you know you’ll use them? Should I use the free pens at local businesses to stock up on pens? Wife says this is cheesy but I don’t see the problem.
– Andrew

My feeling is that if you ask the proprietor and they say, “Sure, take several!” then you’re okay taking several. If you’re taking several without asking, then you’re probably crossing a line.

I generally think that when tubs of freebies are available at a business, the implication is that you’ll take and use just one, or perhaps two if you’re going to use them immediately (like a breath mint or something). If you’re going to use more than that, just ask. In general, unless the business has a strict policy of one per customer, the person will say, “Sure, take a few!” and then you’re fine.

As for the pens… personally, I get really frustrated with cheap pens. They tend to leak a lot and often at the most inconvenient moments. I’m willing to spend a little bit to get a pen that writes well and won’t leak on me.

Q11: Pantry waste

I cleaned out my pantry and found myself with several boxes of food items that I’m not going to use that are still good. Seems really weird to sell them on Craigslist. What do I do with them?
– Mary

You might want to consider giving that stuff to the local food pantry. There are a lot of people in your community that could really use that stuff.

At the same time, I’ve got to wonder why you’re throwing out perfectly good food items. My guess is that a food allergy or some other medical issue or dietary change has arisen. If I were in your shoes, I would be figuring out uses for those items, at least anything that I could still eat.

If you’re really intent on selling them and getting some money back, you might want to talk to a neighbor. If you’ve changed diets, simply explain your dietary change and say you’re selling off some food items you bought recently before the change. Give a huge discount and you might get a small amount for the items.

Q12: Getting multiple copies of coupons

I’ve started dabbling in coupons a bit. My husband likes to get the Sunday paper like he did when he was a kid and read it on Sunday mornings so I’ve been digging into the coupons. There’s usually about 3-5 good coupons in a flyer and there are usually 2-4 flyers in a paper so it’s not bad.

The thing is that when I find a good coupon I want to stock up on that item, so I’d like to be able to get multiple coupons of the same kind. How do I do this? I don’t want to go buy a bunch of extra copies of the Sunday paper. Advice?
– Sheila

There are a bunch of ways to do this.

One way is to go to a gas station early on Monday morning and ask if you can scavenge coupon sections from the Sunday papers that they’re about to toss. I know of a gas station near me that does this if you ask, but they seem to have a few people that do this so you can only get the coupons from a few newspapers.

Another way is to ask at the library. Many librarians will put out the Sunday paper for readers on Sunday morning and just toss the coupon section or save it for a patron that asks. Our local libraries have people who get their coupon sections already, but your local library might have them available.

If you stop by a coffee shop or a restaurant on Sundays, you can pillage the coupon section of their newspapers if you’re a customer there. They almost always don’t care if you clip a coupon or two, as long as you don’t destroy the actual content of the newspaper.

You can ask neighbors to save their Sunday papers for you if they get them, too. Tell them you want all of the ads as well – they can just bundle them up and you’ll grab it later on Sunday.

You might also find some success with a paper recycling center. They may allow you to dig through their paper recycling bins to retrieve coupon sections.

Those strategies should net you some coupon sections!

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

The post Questions About Lying Managers, Freebies, Long Vacations, Coupon Sections, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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True money stories from smart people: Can I borrow your crystal ball? Mine seems to be faulty

When we hear of Julius Caesar brushing aside the soothsayer who told him to “beware the Ides of March”, we think he was being dangerously rash. After all, didn’t he know his colleagues were waiting to do a Michael Gove on him… with real daggers?

No, because history (well, Shakespeare) only repeated the one accurate prediction he received that month.

We weren’t told that another prophet – YouGovnus – had just told Caesar that, according to his research, mid- March was looking like a massively auspicious time for visiting the Senate. Also IpsosMorius, having interviewed key lawmakers, had told him that he had a 90% approval rating and could push his agenda on any subject he liked for the next few weeks. No wonder the noble Roman thought his position was strong and stable.

Prophets have abounded in every age, but most of them got it wrong most of the time. Only a handful had a genuine hotline to the divine will – but they’re the only ones whose predictions made it through history.

• True money stories from smart people: Cash is not a dirty word

Perhaps that is why we still cling to the belief that someone, somewhere can tell us what is going to happen before it does, even though if that were the case most bookies would go out of business and astrologer Russell Grant wouldn’t have his unshakeable reputation as a credible authority. Oh, hang on.

Nowadays, we think that technology and Big Data can do better than examining the shape of entrails on an altar, and it enrages us when it patently can’t.

As we’ve seen with the recent spate of elections and referendums, predicting anything is like nailing jelly to the wall. “We know nothing,” said veteran broadcaster Jon Snow as he opened Channel 4 News the night after the last election. So true.

But still, we consumers have come to expect to be told instantly what will happen today, tomorrow, even 50 years from now and when our professional pollsters and futurists get it wrong, we lambast them and declare we will never believe anything they say – until the next time they miraculously foresee what we wanted them to see.

• True money stories from smart people: Complain to gain

So why did I agree to try to forecast the movements of sterling, oil prices, food prices, interest rates and inflation generally for a special ‘costs calculator’ on Comparethemarket.com? A lot of blood, sweat and ruined reputation went into creating it.

It seemed like a good idea to come up with a ‘best case’, ‘worst case’ and ‘likely’ set of scenarios for people’s main expenses over the next year, to give them an idea of what savings they will need to make to get by without slipping into the red. But then suddenly, in a fi t of overpaid-adviser-induced madness, Mrs May called an unnecessary and, in the end, complete dog’s dinner of an election.

Now all bets really are off. Will we have a soft Brexit or maybe no Brexit at all? Will we have a new Prime Minister and another election? Will Lord Buckethead sweep all before him, form a coalition with Mr Fishfinger and invade Brussels demanding curvy bananas? We just don’t know.

• True money stories from smart people: Make your child a millionaire – be a bad parent

Suddenly, where experts were uncertain before, now they’re not even answering the phone. To paraphrase King Lear, “Whom the gods would make mad, they first get them to predict currency movements.” It’s a nightmare, I can tell you that.

So I apologise now if my predictions on that calculator don’t quite match your personal future reality, but at least I’ve given you three scenarios to work with.

One of them is bound to be right.

And here are a few predictions for the next 12 months that I can stand by right now:

• The stock market will go up… and then down… and then up for a bit… and then down again… and then up and then… oh, you know.
• Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall will take it in turns to be on Question Time every single week.
• Everything will be too expensive – unless it’s something nice that we actually want, in which case it will either be “worth it” or “a good investment”.

Oh, and how can you ride the price rises that are likely to happen at least part of the time in the next year? My advice is to:

• spend less;
• earn more; and
• get as much as you can for free.

There, at least that bit wasn’t hard. Who needs crystal balls anyway?

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All About Bonds: How They Work and When to Buy Them

Stocks get most of the play when it comes to investment news, books, and articles, with bonds typically playing the role of the sidekick.

But bonds are an important part of your portfolio, and the bond market is both larger than the stock market and arguably more complex (as anyone who has read or watched The Big Short knows).

And while you don’t need to be an expert on the entire bond market, having a basic understanding of what bonds are, how they work, and how to use them will help you make better investment decisions.

What Are Bonds?

A bond is simply a loan in which you are the lender and the company or organization that issues the bond is the borrower.

Each bond specifies an amount of money to be borrowed (the principal), a date on which the bond will be paid back (the maturity), and an interest rate to be paid in the meantime.

For example, a company might issue a $1,000 bond that pays 5% interest for 10 years. When you buy the bond, you are loaning the company $1,000 that they can use in their business. In return, you receive $50 in interest every year for 10 years, and once that period is up you will get your $1,000 back.

In a way, you are investing in the company. You’re essentially making a bet that the company will perform well enough to be able to pay back your loan with interest.

But unlike buying stock in the company, buying a bond does not make you a part-owner. You are simply a lender, which comes with both advantages and disadvantages.

The Pros and Cons of Investing in Bonds

Because they’re loans, bonds play a completely different role in your portfolio than stocks. Here are some of the advantages that bonds offer over stocks:

• Regular income: While many stocks pay dividends, those dividends are typically optional and can fluctuate up and down depending on the company’s profits. Bonds, on the other hand, provide consistent and dependable income in the form of the interest payments that are a required part of the loan agreement.
• Bankruptcy preference: If a company goes bankrupt, bondholders are paid back before stockholders. This is one of the big reasons why bonds are considered a safer investment.
• Less risk: Bond prices typically fluctuate much less than stock prices. You can certainly lose money in the bond market, but those losses are usually much smaller than what you experience with the stock market.

But no investment is perfect, and bonds have their share of downsides as well:

• Less upside potential: With less risk comes less return. Given that you are simply a lender, and not an owner, you don’t have the potential for the really big returns that stocks can sometimes provide.
• Risk: While bonds are typically less risky than stocks, you can still lose money. Interest rates could rise, making your bond with a lower interest rate less valuable. The company might go bankrupt and not be able to pay you back. Your bond might be called early, leaving you without the regular income you expected. Typically, longer term bonds are considered more risky simply because there’s more time for things to go wrong.

As with stocks, diversifying your bond portfolio allows you to take advantage of the overall benefits bonds provide without taking on the unnecessary risk of any one bond ruining your portfolio.

The Major Types of Bonds

The bond market is incredibly diverse, with many different types of bonds constructed in many different ways. It would be impossible to cover all the different variations here, but there are some major categories that are worth understanding when choosing bonds for your personal investment portfolio.

1. Treasury Bonds

Treasury bonds are issued by the United States federal government and are the largest sector of the U.S. bond market.

Treasury bonds are also generally considered to be the safest type of bond. With the full backing of the U.S. government, the general consensus is that there is almost no risk of these bonds not being paid back. The flip side is that the interest rates are typically lower than other bonds that come with more risk.

Given this low-risk, low-return dynamic, Treasury bonds are particularly effective as a pure hedge against a stock market crash. Including them in your portfolio won’t make you rich, but they do provide a buffer that should keep some of your money safe even in the worst of times.

2. Corporate Bonds

Corporate bonds are issued by companies rather than the government. They vary widely in both the level of risk and the interest rate offered, largely depending on the strength of the company issuing the bond.

One way to gauge the level of risk in a bond is to review the bond’s credit rating. These ratings are far from perfect, but they can help you get a sense for how likely the company is meet the terms of the bond.

Corporate bonds can be a good middle ground that allow you to benefit from the more conservative nature of bonds without sacrificing as much in the way of returns. But the more you reach for return with your bonds, the more risk you’re taking on, and the less effective your bonds are in balancing out the stock portion of your investments.

3. Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds are issued by local governments, from states all the way down to towns and other governmental agencies. They function much like other bonds, with two unique characteristics:

1. The interest is often tax-free for federal income tax purposes.
2. The interest can also be tax-free for state and city income tax purposes, if you live in the state or city that is issuing the bond.

Those tax characteristics can make municipal bonds particularly attractive for high-income investors who live in high-tax cities or states and are investing within a taxable account. You might sacrifice something in the form of lower interest rates, but the tax breaks can lead to a better after-tax return.

How to Invest in Bonds

Like stocks, you can choose to buy individual bonds or you can invest in mutual funds and ETFs that pool many bonds together in a single investment.

Most brokerages allow you to buy and sell individual bonds, and you can also buy Treasury bonds directly from the federal government. Certain investment strategies, such as liability-driven investing, rely on purchasing individual bonds, but for the most part buying individual bonds is fairly risky due to the lack of diversification and the difficulty of knowing which bonds will outperform.

A simpler approach is to buy mutual funds or ETFs that invest in a wide variety of bonds for you, making it easy to diversify. You can even take an index investing approach with your bonds, allowing you to capture the return of the entire bond market at a minimal cost, which is both easier and more likely to succeed than most other strategies.

Use Bonds Wisely

When you are years away from retirement, bonds primarily serve as a safety valve for your portfolio, balancing out some of the risk of the stock market and making for a smoother ride.

When you’re nearing or in retirement, bonds can serve as more of a driving force in your portfolio, generating reliable income and reducing the risk of a big loss right when you can least afford it.

Either way, understanding bonds and using them wisely can make it easier to reach your investment goals.

Matt Becker, CFP® is a fee-only financial planner and the founder of Mom and Dad Money, where he helps new parents take control of their money so they can take care of their families. His free book, The New Family Financial Road Map, guides parents through the all most important financial decisions that come with starting a family.

Related Articles:

• Why You’re Guaranteed to Lose Money in the Stock Market (and Why That’s OK)
• Roth IRA vs 529 Plan: Which Is Best for College Savings?
• Four Ways to Start Investing Without Much Money

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Want to Help Teachers With Their Classroom Supplies? Here’s What You Can Do