By Holly Reisem Hanna When I started my nursing career (many moons ago), I envisioned myself working directly with patients in a hospital setting. But after a grueling year of working on the hospital floor, I decided to switch gears and try a desk job, specifically as a Prior Authorization Nurse for the Texas Medicaid […]
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There really is no excuse for failing to select a strong password, one that is hard for a hacker to crack.
It’s quite easy, for example, to string three random words together, beginning each with a capital letter, because complexity makes it harder for the hackers, while you get a memorable password.
Yet, left to our own devices, most of us would take a simple eight letter password and use it on every account, from banking to utilities, from our home computer to buying theatre tickets.
Research carried out by credit reference agency Experian earlier this year, found that more than half (55%) of the 2,001 people surveyed use the same password for multiple online logins.
To make matters worse, passwords will probably be based on something highly personal, such as the company we work for or our child’s name.
These are the possibilities that a hacker will try first in trying to gain access to our accounts.
And just to top it off, you put all your favourite things on social media for everyone, including hackers, to read. Never publicise anything that you use as a password – or better still, pick passwords that are based on things that you would never mention in public.
Among the most common passwords are: password; monkey; football; 123456; and 123123. But while this is a good start, you should avoid these as they are far too easy for cyber criminals to crack.
The best way to create a strong password is to use three random words because length gives complexity.
The strongest passwords also contain a mixture of capital and lower case letters, numbers and symbols – so you can simply supplement these within your three random words.
One possibility is to substitute numbers or symbols that look similar to letters, such as 1 or ! for I; 4 for A; *, 0 or () for O; or 8 for B. You could substitute * for A or S since that is the first letter of the word asterisk and of star.
Do remember, though, that the more obvious a substitution is, the more likely a hacker is to guess it.
Another idea is to use the first letters from the line of a song lyric, preferably an obscure one. Use a different line of the song for each password.
Or select a book on your bookshelf and use the opening words on a page, using separate pages for each account.
Some sites tell you when you create a password whether it is weak, medium or strong. It should not need saying that you should ensure that yours are strong. The warning is there for your own good. Do not ignore it.
The main problem is to remember all your passwords, especially if you follow sensible advice to have a different password for each account.
The idea behind picking three random words to create your password is not only because it’s strong, but also so you can pick something that’s memorable to you but not easily guessable to others.
At the very least, have a strong separate password that’s easy to memorise for your email account, which is typically the gateway to your identity and to other financial information. Make sure that this password is completely different from any others you use. Accounts that don’t have money in are obviously less important than those where a hacker can cost you cash.
Do not store a list of your passwords anywhere on your computer or written down on paper in your house. If anyone succeeds in hacking into it they will take the list and use it. Also, do not tell your computer to save a password unless the account in unimportant.
If you must write passwords down in order to remember them, encrypt them in a way that is familiar to you but makes them indecipherable by others.
Those who simply cannot cope with multiple passwords may find that the solution lies with online password managers. These online accounts, which are available as free and paid-for services, typically store all your log-in details and protect them with a single master password.
The big worry with these services is whether the information is safely stored in the cloud, given that other supposedly safe websites have been hacked.
One provider Moneywise spoke to says data is encrypted and decrypted on your device and that the master password is not accessible even by the company itself. It adds that authentication when logging in requires two steps to provide extra security.
Ensure you check how safe your passwords are before signing up to these services. For more information about password managers, see 17 ways to protect your money in 2017.
But it is not only you who needs to keep passwords secret. You are relying on any site you use to be equally careful.
If any company that holds your password has its computer system hacked, you should assume that your password has been stolen and will be used fraudulently. Do not wait for the company to admit passwords have been stolen.
If this happens to you, and you use the same password on other accounts, then you need to change your password on every account immediately.
Making and memorising strong passwords may seem a lot of boring effort. It is, however, a lot less stress than having your bank account cleared out.
For more information on this and tips on how to protect yourself online, visit the Moneywise hub in partnership with Cyber Aware - Stay secure online: How to be Cyber Aware - and see Cyberaware.gov.uk.
Please also take a few seconds to fill in the below poll.
Your world shifts when you gain the title of mom or dad. You’ll learn new things about yourself, and you’re bound to come across incredible moments you just have to share with those around you.
Why not get paid for telling those parenthood stories?
These five parenting sites dole out cash for accepted submissions.
FamilyFun focuses on families with kids from 3 to 12. It accepts article queries and completed work on topics including crafts, food, travel and more.
Compensation varies depending on which section you choose to write for and the length of your piece.
On the low end, you can receive $100 for submitting a photograph paired with a 50- to 200-word first-person piece on how your family has fun. On the high end, you could get paid $1.25 per word for a 3,000-word feature story and earn $3,750 if your query is accepted.
It could take up to eight weeks to receive a response to your submission. See here for more information.
Parent Co. focuses on parenthood topics from positive, informed and sometimes lighthearted perspectives. The publication accepts a variety of submissions, including personal essays, research-backed investigations, timely reporting, reviews and roundups.
Writers can get paid $50 to $150 for previously unpublished work, plus they have an opportunity to receive bonuses up to $300 based on how much engagement the article receives on social media.
The site notifies writers within three weeks to inform them if their submission has been accepted.
The publication also hosts a monthly writer contest that solicits creative nonfiction content — 500 to 800 words long — based on a specific theme that changes each month. The contest pays $150 for the winning submission. Finalists whose pieces are shared on Parent Co’s Facebook page can receive up to $300 based on social media engagement.
See here for more information about writing for Parent Co.
Focus on the Family is a Christian-based publication with marriage and parenting content. This magazine publishes practical parenting advice, articles teaching children about biblical lessons, features on well-known Christian personalities and stories told from unique perspectives such as adoptive families, blended families or single-parent families.
The magazine’s call-for-submissions page outlines the type of content editors are immediately seeking. For example, until Dec. 7, 2017, the publication is accepting 600-word stories about helping children in blended families deal with isolation. Compensation for accepted submission is $200.
There is also an ongoing call for 50- to 300-word submissions on practical ideas for parenting children in specific age groups. These submissions pay $50 if accepted.
The magazine’s writers’ guidelines detail the general content editors seek throughout the year. Pay starts at 25 cents per word for most submissions.
Her View from Home is a lifestyle site with stories told from the perspective of mothers. The site accepts 600- to 800-word pieces about parenting, family, health, grief and other topics.
Payment is based on how many unique views your article receives. On the low end, writers get paid $5 if their post receives 250 to 500 unique views. On the high end, writers receive $100 for posts that get over 4,000 views.
Writers can also submit previously published content for the chance to earn $50 if their republished piece receives 10,000 or more new unique views.
The site states it attempts to reply to submissions within two weeks. See here for more information.
Babygaga focuses on pregnancy and babies. This publication accepts submissions that cover topics including gestation symptoms, pregnancy fitness, newborn facts, DIY projects and more.
Though the site states all published pieces are paid, it does not detail the amount of compensation.
Interested writers must fill out a contributor application form that includes three ideas for potential articles. See here for more information.
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She enjoys writing about parenting and money.
Editorial assistant Jessica Gray contributed to this post.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a branding issue.
The government watchdog agency was created after the 2008 financial crisis to look out for the interests of consumers and make sure none of our financial institutions could run amok at our expense.
Since then, it has taken on federal and private student loan servicers, payday lenders, subprime auto lenders, credit reporting agencies and big banks accused of unfair, deceptive or abusive practices.
With Director Richard Cordray at the helm, the CFPB has imposed about $12 billion in fines on financial institutions and returned it to consumers who were wronged.
But major leadership changes are coming to the agency following Cordray’s resignation.
On Friday, the CFPB issued a press release announcing Leandra English as deputy director of the bureau. The assignment would mean English, Cordray’s former chief of staff, would become the acting director in Cordray’s absence.
The same day, the White House issued a press release naming Mick Mulvaney, the current White House budget director, as interim director. Mulvaney has actively worked to limit the CFPB’s power in the past, Reuters reported.
As the drama plays out, many people still have no idea what the CFPB is or what its employees do every day. Now may be the time to learn.
The agency’s most notable actions include a lawsuit against Navient, one of the largest federal student loan servicers. The CFPB accused the company of steering borrowers into more expensive repayment plans despite a public commitment to help borrowers manage their loans in a way that works for them.
In response to the CFPB lawsuit, Navient admitted that “there is no expectation that the servicer will act in the interest of the consumer,” Bloomberg reported.
The CFPB also forced Wells Fargo to pay a $100 million fine after the discovery of its widespread practice of creating unauthorized customer accounts to boost profits.
Those may sound like major wins if you were impacted by either either company’s questionable tactics. But since the CFPB’s creation by the Obama administration in 2011, the bureau has faced opposition because of its broad powers to regulate, fine and sue financial institutions.
U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas, called the agency “the most powerful, least accountable agency in U.S. History” in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
Hensarling said the CFPB’s meddling is hurting — not helping — consumers.
“Since the CFPB’s advent, the number of banks offering free checking has drastically declined, while many bank fees have increased,” Hensarling wrote. “Mortgage originations and auto loans have become more expensive for many Americans.”
As Cordray exits, new leadership will play a significant role in the CFPB’s future and how the agency will protect consumers and wield its power.
But determining who will run the agency this week is more difficult than it sounds.
The political drama over who will lead the CFPB has played out on Twitter and in court.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who pushed for the CFPB’s created, tweeted screenshots of the Dodd-Frank Act and accused President Donald Trump of violating it by naming an interim director.
On Saturday, Trump called the CFPB a “total disaster.”
“Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. We will bring it back to life!” Trump tweeted.
Then on Sunday, CBS reported that English filed a federal lawsuit to block Trump and Mulvaney from taking over the bureau.
On Monday, both English and Mulvaney reported for work. Both also sent emails to staffers signed them as “acting director.”
Mulvaney’s email also told CFPB employees to report any additional communication from English and invited his new employees to visit his office to “grab a donut” in honor of his first day on the job.
It’s not clear who will really lead the agency for now, but while that’s being figured out, Trump will have to get to work choosing a new permanent director.
That person, who Congress will need to confirm, will get to decide if the CFPB continues to be the regulatory force that its proponents want it to be — or if its power is stripped away, as its critics hope.
Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Citibank will pay $6.5 million for sloppy moves it allegedly made while servicing private student loans.
Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray announced the settlement before his scheduled departure from the bureau last week. “Citibank’s servicing failures made it more costly and confusing for borrowers trying to pay back their student loans,” he said in a statement.
According to the CFPB’s statement, Citibank committed four sins against student loan borrowers from 2006 to 2015:
Under the settlement, Citibank will pay $3.75 million in refunds to customers who were charged late fees, overcharged for minimum payments or charged unnecessary interest, or who were victims of other faulty servicing practices. Citibank will also pay a $2.75 million fine to the CFPB’s civil penalty fund.
The settlement also requires Citibank to make changes to the way it manages student loans. The servicer will provide further information to borrowers who were denied a co-signer release and to those who were eligible for a tax deduction for the interest they paid. A new policy will reverse any fees made in error, the statement noted.
Lisa Rowan is a senior writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
‘Tis the season for holiday hiring.
Yes, I know it isn’t even Halloween yet, but as stores are increasing their staffing to handle all the upcoming seasonal demand, you’ll continue to see these types of job openings on our site and Facebook page.
The latest holiday job we’re highlighting: Williams-Sonoma, the coveted kitchen-and-home brand, is looking for full-time seasonal customer service associates.
This work-from-home position connects associates with customers by phone, email or live chat to provide assistance with orders, returns and replacements, among other related duties.
To score this gig, you should have a high school diploma or equivalent, as well as strong data entry, typing and communication skills. You’ll need to be able to navigate through multiple systems and internet pages.
Having a year or two of previous customer service experience will look good on your application.
Since this is a remote job, you’ll need a desktop computer or laptop, high-speed internet and a home phone or cell phone with a compatible headset. The listing says you’ll receive more detailed requirements about what else you’ll need during the application process.
According to the job listings, the salary for seasonal customer service associates is $11 to $11.50 per hour depending on location, and associates are expected to work 30 to 50 hours a week. You could end up earning between $330 and $575 a week, pre-tax.
Some locations offer virtual training while others require you to live within one-and-a-half hours of a Care Center and train in person. Training is paid.
Williams-Sonoma also offers promotional opportunities, contests and reward and recognition programs, but I saved the best work benefit for last — a 40% employee discount on most merchandise!
Just be careful you don’t spend all your hard-earned money buying kitchenware and home decor items with your discount!
See here to apply for the seasonal customer service position with Williams-Sonoma.
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. The 40% discount has her thinking about filling out an application herself. She wants ALL the things!
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Typically, when companies look to improve their conversion rates, they focus on their CTA buttons or value propositions.
Businesses also like to A/B test certain elements of their pages to see which versions convert the best.
Don’t get me wrong: these are all valid ways to improve conversions.
But something that’s sometimes overlooked is the simplicity of the website.
Far too often I see websites try to jam too much information into a very small space.
The navigation is confusing, and it’s overwhelming for anyone viewing the site.
If this is starting to sound like the layout of your website, it could be the reason why your conversion rates are unsatisfactory.
Even if you don’t think your design is too cluttered, there’s always room for improvement.
A slight rise in conversions could mean a significant increase in your annual revenue.
Below, I outline some reasons why simplicity can optimize your conversion rates.
You’ll learn some proven strategies that focus website visitors on your CTA and any other element of your site you want to emphasize.
It’s time to clean up the clutter and simplify the layout of your pages.
Here’s why modest designs have the highest performing conversions.
If you have too much going on all over your website, it will take longer to load.
Don’t think it’s a big deal?
Think again.
When a web page takes longer than 4 seconds to load, the bounce rate increases by 100%.
Once your site hits the 8 second mark for loading time, the bounce rate jumps to 150%.
If you can speed up the load time, your bounce rate will improve as well.
Think about how much potential you’re missing out on over a couple of seconds.
Getting your page to load in less than 4 seconds should be your goal.
To accomplish this, you have to get rid of unnecessary elements on each page.
This is especially true for ecommerce websites.
Why?
Take a look at how speed effects shopping cart abandonment:
According to survey respondents, four of the top reasons for shopping cart abandonment were related to the speed of the website.
What elements can you remove to get your page to load faster?
Those are just a few places to start.
Visuals are definitely an important feature to have on your website. Just don’t go overboard with them.
Simplify the photos so the images are smaller and can load faster.
When your pages have simple layouts, you have more control over what visitors see.
If the site is too cluttered, your CTA button may be obscured.
You don’t want people to be confused about whatever action you want them to take.
Some examples of CTAs:
Basically, whatever your CTA is, it needs to be the clearest item on the page.
Here’s a great example from Unbounce:
Notice how open and free of clutter the page is.
There are no complicated images or visuals to distract the user.
The text is minimal, and it explains exactly what their company does.
Now the user can focus on the CTA because the options are so limited.
The site visitor can:
Sure, there is a menu that visitors can navigate through as well. But based on the design, it’s clearly not made to be the primary focus.
Their menu at the top of the screen has the smallest text on the page.
If Unbounce tried to jam a detailed description of each section of their menu, the page would be too overwhelming.
So they did the right thing here by keeping it simple.
I use this same strategy on my own website as well.
When someone visits my page, their eyes are immediately drawn to my different CTA buttons.
There’s nothing else to distract them.
If you’re looking for help to find out what users see when they’re looking at your page, try using a service such as Crazy Egg.
You can analyze a heat map that shows what visitors’ eyes get drawn to when they’re viewing your website.
This is really helpful in terms of CTA placement when you’re simplifying your design.
People aren’t going to read all the content on your page.
It can be disappointing because I know what it’s like to put much hard work, time, and effort into every word on a website.
But that’s the reality.
Break up the content on your page to make it easier for visitors to scan it.
If you’re writing in long paragraphs without any breaks, it’s going to be difficult to get your message across to the audience.
Here are some tips to break up content and make it easier for visitors to scan through your page:
Take a look at how visuals are used to accomplish this goal:
The most common types of visuals to break up content are:
Take this into consideration when you’re deciding what to include on your page.
Stick to the suggestions at the top of this list.
When you get down to GIFs, complex images like that can slow down your loading time.
Keep it simple with some relevant infographics and photos.
Simple navigation piggybacks on my last point.
Let’s go through an example to illustrate what I mean.
Here’s the homepage for Square:
It’s super clean and easy to read.
If a visitor wants to get started, they can simply select the size and type of their business.
There’s nothing confusing about this navigation because the options are narrow.
The CTA is clear: “Sign Up With Square.”
When someone visiting the website wants to learn more, their options are limited, so they are forced to scroll.
As you continue to navigate down the homepage, you learn more information about the product.
Look at how the screenshot above reflects the points I talked about earlier.
From here, the user has no other option but to continue scrolling.
Now they have even more information about the product, and there’s a CTA button in this section as well.
There’s no messy sidebar or confusing menu.
It’s so easy for the visitor to navigate that it’s impossible for them to get lost.
This also impacts the page loading time.
Each time a user has to click on a new page to find more information, you risk having an issue with loading, which, as we saw earlier, will negatively impact your bounce rate.
But Square eliminates that problem but putting all the information on the homepage.
Once you get to the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a much larger menu on the footer.
Can you imagine if this was the first thing you saw at the very top of the page?
You’d be so overwhelmed that you’d have no idea where to get started.
There are nearly 40 options to choose from.
It’s fine at the footer because at this point the user already has an idea of what they’re looking for.
But I know you’ve been to websites that have menus like this at the top of their pages.
Bad idea.
If your website looks like this right now, you need to simplify it right away if you want to improve your conversion rates.
If you’ve been running a website for any length of time now, you know that bugs and minor issues are bound to happen.
It’s inevitable.
The key is being able to identify those problems and get them fixed right away.
Here are some of the most common types of problems with a website:
All of these can negatively impact your conversion rates.
If your site is too cluttered, it’s hard to keep the page code organized.
Anytime you need to make an update, it becomes a complicated process.
There’s just too much room for error.
Having a simple design will make it easier for you to code, build, update, and edit the site.
How much does it cost you to host your website?
If your site is complex, you’ll need extra storage space.
Prices vary from platform to platform, but here’s an example from SiteGround’s web hosting plans:
There’s a 300% price increase between 10 GB of web space and 30 GB of storage space.
I realize the price points also come with other upgrade features, but from a storage standpoint, it’s going to be cheaper for you if the page design is simple.
You can put the money you’re saving towards another aspect of your business.
That money can help you from a marketing perspective to generate new leads and eventually increase conversions.
Have you ever been on a website and thought it didn’t seem legitimate?
I have.
It’s a weird feeling getting instantly worried about cyber security.
You don’t want your website visitors to get this feeling when they’re navigating your site.
Having too much clutter can make it seem like you’re trying to hide something, even if that’s not the case.
Having images and advertisements everywhere feels too salesy.
Even if you’re selling something, you don’t want to come off like you’re trying to force it down the user’s throat.
Earlier we discussed some reasons for shopping cart abandonment as it relates to the speed of your site.
This graph explains that trust also impacts conversions on your page:
For an ecommerce store, this could be a deadly mistake.
The customer wants your product or services, but they are hesitant to complete the purchase because they don’t think their credit card information is secure.
They’ll just go to another website where they feel safe and make the purchase from your competition instead.
If you’re looking to improve the conversion rates on your website, take a look at the design of your pages.
Those of you who have too much clutter overwhelm your visitors.
Go back to the drawing board.
Simplicity needs to be your goal.
Simple designs help your pages load faster, reducing your bounce rates.
Without distractions on the page, your CTA button will be clear and obvious.
Users won’t have to search for it to take the action you want them to take.
Modest designs also make it easier for people to skim through your content.
This is beneficial for you because you’ll have complete control over what their eyes see on the screen.
Limit their options, and make your points stand out.
A simple website design is also less expensive for you to host.
You can put that extra money towards another marketing campaign that improves conversions.
Simple websites also help you establish more trust with the visitors.
If your design is too complex or sketchy, you’ll have trouble getting conversions.
What elements of your website do you plan on eliminating to cut down the clutter?
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. Space in super-tight budget
2. Exercise equipment
3. Holiday decorations for new apartment
4. Stock market versus home ownership
5. Portable office backpack
6. Balance transfer drawbacks
7. Reality show warning
8. Worried about automation
9. Homemade gifts and feeling cheap
10. Holiday cards worth it?
11. One or two cars?
12. Regrets?
This time of the year, I start to get a LOT of questions about the holiday season. People want advice on gifts, family relations, budgeting, and so on.
I typically write an article discussing frugal gift ideas early each December in order to clear out a lot of those questions at once (you can expect that post sometime in the next ten days or so), but the reality is that the holidays are on the minds of a lot of Americans right now and it can be a real financial struggle to figure out how to make the holidays as wonderful as you want them to be.
Remember just one thing: very few people will ever judge you based on how much you spend if you are thoughtful with what you do. If you make thoughtful choices that really reflect the recipient in your choice or do something special that goes beyond what can be bought in stores, people really aren’t going to care about the price tag at all.
In other words, don’t spend yourself into oblivion this year or any year. The people that you’re giving gifts to wouldn’t want that. Instead, find ways to be thoughtful without spending too much.
I am currently in my early thirties, single, and renting in Jersey City, NJ (right across from New York City). I don’t own a car or have any dependents and my commute costs are paid by my company. I have approximately $9k in CC debt at 0% until 4/2019 and no savings other than about $9k in 401k. I have a budget set and don’t splurge on clothing, dinners out, or much else. After taxes I take home about $2600 monthly after contributing 5% to my Roth 401k (no match until 1/2018) then I hope to increase that. My expenses are as follows: Rent $1600 for a Studio apt within 2 miles of work, Savings of $400 to pay off my CC debt, $140 CC payment, $160 food, $65 for Internet/TV combined and $60 cell phone plus smaller expenses ($25 haircut, $20 laundry, $8 TiVo) I have little spare time and have high medical costs (doctors, prescriptions, etc.). Without starting a side gig like working part-time or blogging, I don’t see where I can cut my budget or how I can earn more. Any advice?
– Will
The most obvious thing I can think of is to seek out a roommate. That single move will knock off $800 from your rent, which would be a life changer for you.
To take a different approach, you could sit down with your boss and talk about what you would need to do specifically to earn a raise. What benchmarks do you need to hit to earn more? Your boss should be able to give you some guidance here.
Another thing to consider is that if you just ride this out for a while, those credit cards are going to go away, freeing up quite a bit of money each month for you.
You’re headed in the right direction and you have a few options, but things are tight for now. The biggest ingredient in financial improvement is patience.
I want to buy some free weights and a treadmill for home exercise during the winter. (didn’t really get how cold Wisconsin was going to be!! lol!) Is it okay to buy these at a used sporting goods store?
– Mary
Both of those items should be completely fine to buy from a used sporting goods store. You may also want to consider shopping on Craigslist for those things, as they often show up there.
There are very few sporting goods that are a bad idea to buy secondhand. I would hesitate to buy any gear that’s safety-related secondhand, as it may have suffered damage already and be less effective at protecting you. Almost all other equipment should be fine.
One final tip: before you invest in home equipment, make sure that you’re actually going to have a home exercise routine that makes the equipment worth it. Do you already exercise at home with a routine of some kind? If not, I wouldn’t buy everything all at once. Buy things a piece at a time and see if you actually stick to a routine, or else you’re just buying some expensive laundry racks.
My fiance and I moved in together in August. Before that I lived with four other people in a rented house. This is the first year that I have needed holiday decorations. I want to make things look Christmas-y but we don’t have a lot of money. Thrift shops have nothing but junk.
– Dana
For your first Christmas, go minimal. Do things like “wrapping” your pictures so that they look like gifts hanging on the wall, or making centerpieces out of pine cones or cuttings from pine trees. Have a very small, very basic tree, with stringed popcorn kernels as decoration.
Then, on December 26th or 27th, head out to the stores and buy decorations for the following year. Right after Christmas, holiday decorations of all kinds go on sale at most department stores, making it a perfect time to stock up.
Put those items into storage and pull them out next year. You’ll have plenty of things to decorate with at the right price.
If a person buys a house with the intent of living there for more than ten years, doesn’t it make sense to make the smallest possible mortgage payments and put extra money into retirement? The stock market returns 7% a year on average over the long term but mortgages are at like 4.5%.
– Connie
On average, over a period of longer than ten years, you’ll be money ahead by putting money into your retirement account and investing it aggressively than making extra payments on your mortgage.
However, the “floor” – the worst likely outcome – is better for putting money into your mortgage than into the stock market.
That’s what makes investing tricky. Paying off your house mortgage early is a safer investment than the stock market. Some significant percentage of the time – 30% or so – it’s going to be financially better to pay off your mortgage. The other 70% of the time, the stock market is better. However, the worst case scenario for stocks is a loss, whereas paying off your mortgage your mortgage is always a gain.
That’s why it’s hard to say that there is strictly a right or wrong answer to this question, because it all relies on estimates of future returns. The only right answer is to spend less than you earn and do something worthwhile with the difference, whether it’s putting money away for retirement or paying down your mortgage.
You’ve mentioned a few times that you have a North Face backpack that you use as a portable office. What do you carry around in there?
– Nicholas
My trusty “portable office” has pretty much everything I need to work almost anywhere. Here are the contents, which vary slightly at any given moment but are pretty consistent:
+ My laptop and laptop charger
+ A charger for my cell phone
+ A rechargeable external battery
+ A headset for listening to audio and occasionally making Skype calls
+ Several pens
+ A couple of notebooks – one is more of a writing pad
+ A book or two
+ A magazine or two
+ An empty water bottle
+ A few granola bars and (usually) a protein shake or two
+ A toothbrush and a small container of toothpaste
+ A few breath mints
+ A multitool
I can handle almost everything that my professional life might throw at me with those items. I just keep everything packed all the time.
Are there any drawbacks to transferring your credit card balance to another card? I got an offer for 0% interest balance transfer for 12 months and that would save me about $1,200 in interest.
– Sharon
There are a few drawbacks.
One, some balance transfers charge a balance transfer fee. This is usually just tacked onto the balance transfer amount – a balance transfer of $1,000 with a $50 fee would become a new balance of $1,050.
Two, the interest rate on a transferred balance once that initial offer runs out is often really high. A 32.9% interest rate is completely normal with a balance transfer.
A final indirect issue: it is common for people who have recently transferred a balance to suddenly have a bunch of available credit, and then they use it up in short order. That puts them in an even worse place than they were before.
Be aware of those drawbacks and be careful to avoid them.
I just wanted to offer a “warning” to any of your readers who might be persuaded to take on DIY projects or make lifestyle choices based on reality shows. Most people on reality shows are fairly wealthy to begin with. Many of them have trust funds or receive a great deal of “outpatient financial care” from their parents which enables lifestyle choices that are impossible for most Americans. Many of the choices made are showy but very impractical for the long term. Treat such shows as pure entertainment, not DIY or lifestyle advice.
– Shari
The vast majority of “reality programming” on television should be treated solely as entertainment and nothing more.
As a viewer, you are barred from seeing the full reality of the situation. You don’t see the finances of the people involved. You don’t see the lifestyle choices and requirements involved off screen. You don’t see how the people on the show are being compensated for whatever is happening on the show. Are the producers paying for this? How much?
Because of that, I have a hard time seeing any value in most reality shows beyond the pure entertainment factor of the situation.
I am worried that in the near future my job will be eliminated by automation. I do not have any training for anything else other than entry level retail.
I work in part supply. Basically my job is to pick parts out of a large warehouse and put them in bins to be shipped down a conveyor belt to [an assembly line].
Parts of the system have always been robots but over the last few years they have installed more sophisticated stuff and now there are only a handful of people up here left. We do the trickier tasks but it is clear that it is just a matter of time before robots replace us too.
What should I do? The people who were replaced before were “bought out” but I don’t want to trust that.
– Stephen
Get ahead of this. Talk to your supervisor about what you would need to do to become a technician for the robots that do the part picking. You already have a ton of domain knowledge about how the warehouse actually runs. Combining that with the technical skills for managing the arms would make you very valuable, and your employer would probably be interested in helping you to transition to that new job (as it would be far cheaper than retraining someone on your domain knowledge).
So, my first step would be to talk to your supervisor about it. Tell him or her that you can see which way the wind is blowing and you want to get ahead of it and actually be a part of what’s to come instead of becoming obsolete.
If they’re excited about it and want to help you train, take advantage of it. Dive in deep and learn as much as you can.
If they seem indifferent, you should expect that they’re planning to downsize you. At that point, you need to figure out what you want to do next and prepare for the cost of transitioning to a new job or career. Take advantage of the job you have for the time being to pay for the cost of classes or whatever else you need for a new position.
I don’t have much money and want to make homemade gifts for everyone but I feel so cheap when everyone else is buying each other nice things and I’m giving people bundles of cookies and jars of jam. I feel like such a pathetic cheapskate and so I end up feeling bad and buying people stuff too.
– Chari
Here’s what I’ve found about homemade gifts: they’re the most loved of gifts if you really put in the extra step to personalize them.
For example, if your sister really, really loves apples and you make homemade apple butter for her and put it in a jar and put a note in with it about the time the two of you enjoyed apple butter together, that’s going to utterly blow away any store bought gift she’s likely to receive.
It’s that personal touch that makes handmade gifts excel. It’s not just making a bunch of jars of jam and giving them to everyone regardless of their personal tastes. It’s about finding some way to connect the gift you make specifically to the recipient so that they feel like you made it just for them – and you did. That’s when homemade gifts feel really special.
You have time. Spend some time thinking about something that the person you’re giving to will really like and make that thing, whatever it is. That’s the key to a mind-blowing homemade gift.
If you can’t come up with anything, then buy a thoughtful gift. Having to just buy a few gifts means that the holiday is still pretty inexpensive.
Is it worth it to send out holiday cards to people? Seems like an expensive waste of money.
– Charlie
For me, the value of holiday cards depends wholly on the effort I put into them. If I’m just buying a bunch of highly expensive customized cards of which I print off about 100 and hastily mail them out without any additional effort (or merely to stuff a self-congratulatory “family newsletter” in the envelope), I personally don’t feel like it’s worth it. I don’t think there’s enough value there.
The primary value of holiday cards is to genuinely touch base and reconnect with people, and you can do that with a very simple card with a blank inside. If you really want the recipient to have a nice picture of your family or kids, just run off a bunch of prints and put them inside the card.
The problem here is that the blank inside cards not only take time, they take some thought, too. You have to think of something worthwhile to write on the inside that’s personally meaningful to the recipient, and that can be really hard to do. It’s that challenge that makes the personalized card worthwhile.
Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient. What’s more meaningful to you: a card that looks like it was pushed out of a factory somewhere, or a handwritten note that reflects on the relationship between you and that person? The thing is, that handwritten note is usually far less expensive.
While I don’t need to replace my paid off, mid-sized, not terribly fuel-efficient car for hopefully several years, I like thinking ahead. Most of my year-round driving consists of short trips to the grocery store, to church, and to the gym, so usually I consider a subcompact, fuel-efficient car like the Prius C or the Honda Fit. But during the summer months I drive to hiking trails nearly every weekend, and each trip is usually over a hundred miles. I don’t look forward to taking a subcompact with low clearance up steep or poorly maintained Forest Service roads out of cell service.
A friend suggested getting an early 2000s SUV for the trails along with the subcompact for everything else. While I like the idea of having the right car for the right place, I hesitate at paying insurance and maintenance costs on two vehicles. Do you have thoughts on this?
– Stephanie
Well, with the “early 2000s SUV for the trails along with the subcompact for everything else,” you’re basically describing our vehicles. We currently have a 2004 Honda Pilot and a 2009 Toyota Prius in our driveway. My wife uses the Prius for commuting and we use the Pilot for most other uses – my daytime use if needed, hauling the family around, and so on.
What you seem to be looking for is a relatively fuel efficient and low cost all wheel drive sedan. You want the good fuel efficiency for commuting and local errands and the all wheel drive for hiking.
That’s basically Subaru’s wheelhouse – they make several models that fall right into that description. The Impreza (available as sedan or hatchback) and Legacy are both relatively fuel efficient and inexpensive sedans, while the Forester is a very solid inexpensive SUV that’s more roomy but a bit less fuel efficient. You can find them both new and late model used without too much effort.
If you’re willing to spend a little more, I can personally speak very highly of the Toyota RAV4 hybrid SUV, which is a small SUV that gets over 30 MPG both highway and city and has AWD. My in-laws have one and it is a very nice vehicle, though it is about 25-40% more expensive than the Subarus listed above.
Hopefully this gives you some options to look at!
Do you have any big financial regrets? You reflect on your good moves a lot but what ones do you regret?
– Ted
I regret not starting sooner. One might think that I would never regret spending a lot on my twenties, but the only thing that I spent a lot of money on that I don’t regret was my honeymoon with my new wife where we went to Europe. That one thing I wouldn’t undo, but almost everything else that I spent significant money on in my twenties is something I regret.
In more recent years, I regret not getting a better grip on my hobby spending. Overspending my hobby budget has been my most constant financial error in recent years, even though I recognize that most of the “overspending” tends to be on things that I never end up with enough time to really enjoy.
There are times when I regret leaving my research job and switching to work on The Simple Dollar full time, but that’s mostly because I miss the more interesting aspects of the work and a few of my coworkers. I still keep in contact with three of them, almost a decade later. Could I have made it all work for another couple of years? Should I have? I’m not sure if it’s a regret, but a question about my past.
I regret trying to manage all of The Simple Dollar by myself for so long. I should have done something different much sooner, because the stress of managing all aspects of the site from writing to the software that runs it to social media to talking with advertisers to making sure the server was running, all of it, almost completely burnt me out on anything having to do with it in 2010 and 2011. It took me a good year to recover any real passion for writing content for the site.
I have a lot of regrets. Those are just the big ones. The thing is, I try not to dwell on them but instead use them as fuel for making better decisions going forward. I can’t undo the past. All I can do is use the past to make the future better.
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 Exercise Equipment, Balance Transfers, Homemade Gifts, Multiple Cars, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
As I stacked my groceries on the short conveyor belt, I realized I’d missed an important European memo — the one about only buying what you need for a day or two at a time.
The people in the line behind me were each buying only a few vegetables or a package of pork chops and were already becoming antsy. Eggs, butter, shampoo, conditioner, celery… my basket’s contents suddenly seemed endless, and as I approached the cash register, I fumbled with my credit card. It didn’t have the fancy tap-to-pay feature everyone else’s seemed to, as I tried to explain in my faltering Spanish.
I was holding things up and making a fool of myself. And now that I’d finally figured out which end of my card to insert into the reader, I faced yet another obstacle:
Would I like to pay in U.S. dollars or euros?
Considering how much is unfamiliar when you’re traveling in a foreign country, the option to pay in your home currency might seem a welcome convenience — an easy way to understand exactly how much you’re spending. The actual cost is the same either way, right?
Wrong, unfortunately.
The option to pay in U.S. dollars isn’t just a free amenity designed to help make international travelers feel more comfortable and well-informed. Rather, it’s a service called “dynamic currency conversion” or “cardholder preferred currency” — and as with most services, it comes at a cost.
Here’s how it works.
When you settle your bill by credit in a foreign country, the option to pay in “your” money is offered by a third-party operator working in conjunction with the merchant’s bank.
At the point of sale, you have the choice between two different payment options: the actual cost from the price tag in the country’s currency (for example, euros), and a total in currency you’re more familiar with (in my case, U.S. dollars).
What you don’t notice is that the two figures don’t actually match given the live conversion rate. If you grabbed your phone and ran your bill’s total through Google, you’d likely see that you owe less in USD than that “convenient” on-the-fly conversion would have you believe.
That’s because that third-party company wants its cut — so it includes a markup in the converted total. It’s usually on the order of 3% to 5%, but it’s occasionally as high 18%. Yikes.
And when you choose the “convenient” option of paying in dollars instead of euros (or whatever), that company pockets the difference.
Here’s an example.
The €26.50 dinner I had a few nights ago in Barcelona cost $31.26, according to my credit card statement.
(Quick thrifty globe-trotting tip: I always buy everything on my travel rewards credit card and then immediately pay it down, so I can rack up points and afford even more travel.)
But when I asked for la cuenta and the waitress brought over the credit card machine, it asked if I’d rather pay 26.50 in euros… or $32.67 in US dollars, including a 4.5% markup.
Sure, that’s only the difference of a dollar and change, but it’s still a dollar I could have spent elsewhere. Plus, my bill was fairly small since I’m traveling solo. It would have been a lot more if I were feeding a family of four!
So what’s the moral of the story? You’ve heard it before: When in Rome, do as the Romans do… including paying in their currency.
Oh — and when you’re in a tiny market in Barcelona, don’t try to buy a whole week’s worth of groceries.
Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) has written for VinePair, SELF, Ms. Magazine, Roads & Kingdoms, The Write Life, 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, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
I’ll admit it. I got suckered.
I got phished and fell for it.
It was about 10 years ago, and these scams weren’t commonplace just yet. I responded to what looked like an email from my bank verifying my PIN.
Dumb move. My rent money was taken out of my account at an ATM in Romania. Seriously. Luckily, my bank was great about handling it, and it was all resolved.
I told everyone that I had been a victim of identity theft and even went on the local TV station to talk about it. Phishing scams were a relatively new concept back then.
I was wrong. It wasn’t identity theft. It was credit card fraud.
Potato? Potahto? Actually, no. Credit card fraud and identity theft are two different crimes, and the difference is significant. Here’s what you need to know.
Technically, credit card fraud is one type of identity theft. Legal Dictionary defines credit card fraud as “the unauthorized use of an individual’s credit card or card information to make purchases, or to remove funds from the cardholder’s account.”
That means some shady character has gained access to one of your accounts through a stolen card, account number, PIN or anything else that lets them access your account.
Those card skimmers at the gas pumps are a prime example of how credit card fraud occurs. The skimmers steal your card information when you swipe your card for fuel, then the fraudster sells that information on the darknet or uses it to take or spend money from your account.
A simple way to remember the difference between credit card fraud and identity theft is that credit card fraud involves one account getting compromised.
There’s no surefire way to prevent all credit card fraud unless you want to go back to only using cash or trading chickens. There are, however, some ways to minimize your risk.
If you discover that one of your bank or credit card accounts has been compromised, take action right away. The sooner you react, the better chance you have of saving your money.
While credit card fraud is the compromising of one account, identity theft occurs on a broader scale. Identity theft is defined by Legal Dictionary as “the act of stealing another person’s personal identifying information in order to gain access to his financial resources, or obtain access to other benefits, such as money, credit, or insurance benefits.”
In other words, the bad guys have your personal information and can use that to gain access to your accounts, open new accounts or even take out loans in your name.
Or perhaps someone uses your identity to conceal their illegal actions. Maybe they need medical help and don’t have insurance, but you do.
There’s even a problem in the U.S. with child identity theft.
Scary stuff.
If you are getting phone calls or bills in the mail about debts you know nothing about, don’t simply dismiss them. Look into the charges and see if someone is using your information.
Identity theft uses your personal information against you. That means you need to take steps to protect that information from others who might want to use it for their own gain. Here are a few tips.
The steps to prevent and repair identity theft are largely the same as those for credit card fraud, but there are a few added measures.
The easiest way to get started is to go to identitytheft.gov and report your identity theft case. The site will walk you through all of the steps you need to get the situation fixed.
It’s a scary time for these kinds of crimes. We’ve become an increasingly digital society, and our information is out there for the taking. I mean, when one of the three major credit bureaus leaks your information, you know things are bad.
What can you do? Your best bet is to simply keep close tabs on your accounts and passwords, and be smart when you shop online.
If you really want to protect yourself, you can pay a credit monitoring company to alert you if anything looks amiss. Some of them can also help you recover from identity theft.
Credit card fraud and identity theft happen. They’re not the same thing, but they both suck. A bit of diligence now can save you a lot of headaches later.
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, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
By Holly Reisem Hanna One of the questions that I frequently get from readers is … “Can you really make money from home by taking surveys?” and the answer is YES! There are many legitimate websites where you can offer your opinion in exchange for money, rewards, and sweepstake entries. While you're not going to […]
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I got off work early on Oct. 31st, hopped on my bike, and started pedaling down 2nd Avenue in New York. I was feeling the wind on my face as I went over the Manhattan Bridge and into Brooklyn when I heard my phone ring. I ignored it and continued to enjoy the ride and the nice weather. Then it rang again, and soon after, a third time. I figured so many calls in quick succession meant something was up, so I pulled over and checked my phone.
All the calls were from my wife, and I had a worried text from her as well. I immediately called back, fearing she was in trouble. When she picked up the phone sounding scared out of her mind, I was sure something horrible had happened. Thankfully, she was okay. Tragically, eight bicyclists on the other side of town were not.
She was trying to reach me because she had just learned some horrific news: Eight people biking along the West Side Highway bike path were killed by a terrorist who drove a truck onto the path. It was an awful, heartbreaking incident.
My mother immediately called to make sure I was okay. Her relief, though, quickly turned to frustration and confusion when I told her that I’d still be biking to and from work the next day, the same as always. She tried to say it was now especially unsafe to bike, while I argued it would probably be even safer than before, since it was such a big story and drivers were sure to be on high alert.
I also argued that the goal of terror attacks is to instill fear. I wanted to continue biking as a way of making my own little statement. It was important to me that I stay rational. The frenzied news media, a worried mother, and an evil person hoping to strike fear into my heart would not be enough to disrupt my routine.
As I biked to work the next day, I felt proud that I stayed rational in the face of fear. I also realized the same thinking that got me on my bike that morning has also helped me get out of debt, build my emergency fund, and start to wisely invest my money. There is a deep connection between staying rational and keeping your financial life in order.
I have made it part of my overall life plan to ride my bike when the weather permits. I’ve chosen to not let outside events have undue influence on this decision.
I’ve had scary falls while riding my bike, such as the time my tire got stuck in some train tracks when I was in San Francisco. But after falling, I didn’t sit on the ground, wail, wonder why the universe was punishing me, and make plans to sell my now completely untrustworthy bike. I got back up and kept riding.
Similarly, no matter what kind of investment strategy you use, you’re going to have some down years. Some of those periods will be really scary, such as the bursting of the dot-com bubble or the Great Recession of the late 2000s.
When the market went downhill in 2008, the media seized on the narrative that the sky was falling. Anyone who watched or read the financial press would have felt like there was no doubt we were headed for a dreaded “Japan Scenario,” which refers to the fact that Japan’s stock market crashed and then stayed down for a very, very long time.
I fully admit that 2008 was a scary time. The recession was severe, and it was on the verge of being even worse if certain governmental measures didn’t work as well as they did. But, eventually, we came back from the brink. The stock market regained its footing and then some. Anyone who hung on and didn’t sell has been handsomely rewarded in what is now the second-longest bull market in U.S. history.
The worst thing you can do is panic sell when you see your investments starting to go south. Far too many people did this back in 2008, only to lock in their losses and miss out on the roaring comeback of stocks over the following years. When investing, especially in stocks, you’ve got to have a long-term outlook.
Another reason a short-term outlook can hurt is the fact that every time you buy and sell a financial instrument, you have to pay a trading fee. The more active you are as a trader, the more those fees will eat into your returns, hence the common refrain “trading is hazardous to your wealth.”
The fees can get so bad that we’ve created rules to protect people from predatory financial advisors, such as those who use “churning” to rack up big commissions: buying and selling high amounts of stocks and bonds in a short period for no reason other than to rack up high fees. (This is one of many reasons to be careful choosing a financial advisor.)
If you try to actively trade your way out of a bad situation, you’re likely only going to make it worse. You can think of those transaction costs as driving up the overall expense ratio of your portfolio. Seemingly small differences in fees can affect your overall returns over a 40-year investing horizon by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you can hold tight when times get turbulent, you’ll keep your fees down and ensure you don’t sell at the bottom of a market crash.
Every decision can be looked at on a spectrum of risk and return. When riding my bike, I accept the fact that I have an elevated chance of injury when compared with taking public transit. (I wouldn’t be driving a car, so the debate of cycling vs. driving safety can be left for another time.)
But, the way I look at it, the higher risk comes with higher rewards. I get to pocket the money I’d be spending on a gym membership in part because I get a 1.5-hour workout in every day as part of my commute. I get an extra 1.5-hours of natural light and fresh air, as opposed to being in the dank, dark, crowded underground caverns of the subway. And no sleepy, sniveling child has ever accidentally sneezed right into my face while biking. I could go on and on.
This is comparable to how I look at my investments. I invest in a diverse mix of volatile, uncorrelated assets that, in the long term, tend to have a high growth rate. In theory, it would be less risky to put everything I have into cash and CDs. Then I would never lose money in a stock market crash. Unfortunately, I’d also miss out on the magic of compounding interest. No risk, no reward.
Everyone has different financial goals, of course. If you’re a completely risk-averse retiree who is saving up to purchase a boat in the next two years, then sure, put it all in cash. But if you’re younger and still trying to grow your nest egg, being too risk averse has its downsides.
Why do homes sell for less money if someone previously died inside the house?
Fear.
Why don’t people want to live near power lines, despite the fact that the electromagnetic fields they emit have never been proven to be dangerous?
Fear.
Why does my wife want to throw out food that looks and smells perfectly fine just because the expiration date has passed?
Fear.
You can capitalize on this irrationality by making decisions based on data instead of fears and emotions. For instance, if you’ve run the numbers, and you love everything about a house besides its proximity to power lines, you should probably go ahead and get the house.
When biking, I wear a helmet, use front and back lights, obey traffic laws, go slower during bad weather, use turn signals, and ride with the flow of traffic. I see many brave souls weaving through traffic, wearing headphones but not a helmet, and blowing through red lights like they are a two-wheeled ambulance.
These folks will usually arrive at their destination faster than me, but their risk is elevated. Again, it’s a lot like investing.
You can get rich by riding the wave of a leveraged asset bubble and getting out at just the right time. I personally know a few people who are trying to do that via investments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
The problem is, it’s hard to know when to get out. If you grow accustomed to 60% monthly returns, or riding 30 city blocks in five minutes, it becomes your new normal, and you don’t want to stop. The wake-up call will come in the form of a crash, whether financial or on the road.
I much prefer to follow the timeless wisdom from Aesop’s “Tortoise and the Hare” — slow and steady wins the race.
If every cyclist let this one tragic event prevent them from biking, it would have devastating ripple effects. A bigger burden on transit systems and already congested streets, more pollution from burning fossil fuels to get around, and a sense that terrorists are winning by making us live our lives in fear.
All those negative behaviors have analogues with investing. You will wreak havoc on your portfolio if fear and emotion cause you to overreact to risks, make you prone to panic trading, or become too short-sighted to stay the course.
I got a little emotional when I got on my bike the morning after the attack and saw a healthy amount of commuters cycling right alongside me. I felt that we were all making a statement, together. The notoriously ornery New York City crossing guards and traffic workers were even being nice. At one heavy intersection, a crossing guard yelled at the motorists in a thick, unmistakable New York accent to “Let the dang bikah’s cross!” while waving at the cyclists and smiling. Say what you will about the negatives of living in NYC, but the people’s desire to watch out for each other and to stand strong in the face of adversity makes me proud to be a resident.
If we can all work to overcome our irrational fears, we can not only live healthier lives, but we can also do a better job of growing our wealth.
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