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الاثنين، 4 يونيو 2018

This Remote Proposal Writer Job With Freckle Education Pays $20/Hr


Interested in a work-from-home job in education that doesn’t require teaching?

Freckle Education is currently looking for a work-from-home proposal writer to join its business operations team.

The education company provides platforms for K-12 teachers that help them better instruct at varying levels without having to create multiple lessons for each day.

This is a part-time gig that pays $20 per hour.

The remote proposal writer will be responsible for finding and responding to requests for proposals (RFPs) that are applicable to Freckle Education.

Applicants should have strong writing skills, the ability to get work done independently and some familiarity with the education field.

If this job doesn’t really pique your interest, no worries. Check out our Jobs page on Facebook; we’re always posting new work-from-home opportunities there.

Remote Proposal Writer at Freckle Education

Pay: $20 per hour

Responsibilities include:

  • Monitoring and tracking RFPs
  • Developing and revising content for proposals
  • Designing, formatting, editing and proofreading all proposals
  • Understanding and developing current education initiatives at Freckle

Applicants for this position must have:

  • A bachelor’s degree in writing or a related field, or equivalent experience
  • Familiarity with the education field
  • Strong writing and editing skills
  • Superior  time management skills
  • Ability to work and meet goals independently

Benefits include:

  • Annual $1,000 stipend for professional development and learning

Apply here for the work-from-home Proposal Writer job at Freckle Education.

Kaitlyn Blount 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.



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How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website with These 10 Lead Generation Strategies

Many businesses seek my advice.

Throughout the years, I have seen many common problems marketers and business owners across various industries encounter. But one thing I’ve been seeing frequently lately, so I thought it was time for me to address it.

Many brands are focusing all their efforts on getting higher conversion rates.

Don’t get me wrong. That’s extremely important for the success of your company. For the most part, conversions ultimately translate to dollars. They encourage sales and contribute to your bottom line.

But before people can convert, they need to find your website first. So, companies put forward strategies such as increasing their spending on advertisements.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with this approach.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could increase leads and website traffic at the same time? It’s possible.

There are ways for you to get more web traffic by focusing directly on lead generation. You’re killing two birds with one stone here.

I’ve narrowed down the top 10 lead generation strategies to help you get more traffic to your website. Here they are.

1. Take advantage of your email list

With so many new content marketing strategies out there today, it can be tempting for brands to forgo the traditional approaches.

But email marketing needs to be part of your advertising foundation. Over the years, email marketing has withstood the test of time.

It’s still one of the most profitable marketing tactics.

Just take a look at how it compares to other direct marketing mediums:

image1 10

Because email is generally inexpensive, it delivers a high ROI per dollar spent.

Email marketing is also extremely versatile. There are lots of different ways for brands to leverage their email subscribers.

One of those methods includes driving more traffic to your website. Encourage your email subscribers to share your content with their friends and family.

As a result, you can generate leads from new website visitors as well as your current subscribers.

Plus, email marketing software makes it easy for you to track and analyze the efficiency of your email campaigns. If you see a spike in website traffic, you’ll be able to know exactly where it came from without making assumptions.

Take advantage of those analytics. Make sure you’re tracking the source of new traffic so you can measure the effectiveness of each email you send.

This will also show you how you’re getting new leads.

2. Increase your social media presence

In this day and age, your company can’t afford to ignore social media.

Across the globe, social media usage has been increasing at a rapid rate for the past decade or so. Just take a look at the user growth across the social networks worldwide:

image2 10

Having a Facebook profile isn’t enough anymore. You need to make sure you have an active presence on other platforms as well, such as:

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Snapchat

Do more than just create a profile. Post content on a daily basis.

Try your best to get more followers. Create posts that encourage engagement. Respond directly to your followers to entice communication.

These actions make it much easier for you to generate new leads.

Just because someone follows your brand on social media doesn’t mean they visit your website. But now, you can post links to your social pages with the intention of driving traffic directly to your website.

Constantly posting links will increase the chances of you getting an increase in clicks and traffic.

Similarly to your email strategy, you can use unique links to track where the traffic is coming from. You’ll be able to determine which social platforms are generating the most traffic and which posts get the highest engagement rates.

3. Start blogging

If your website doesn’t have a blog already, make creating one a priority.

It doesn’t matter what type of business you have or what industry you’re in. Blogging is one of my favorite ways to increase website traffic and generate new leads.

Take a minute to analyze your brand. What are you offering? Is it important enough for people to visit your site on a daily basis? How about once a week?

Realistically, the answer is probably not.

But if you have a blog, it gives people a reason to keep coming back. Blogs also help improve your SEO because you’re constantly adding new content to your page, but we’ll discuss that in greater detail later on.

As a result of your improved SEO strategy, your organic lead generation will increase as well. The more often you post, the more traffic and leads you’ll get.

Just take a look at how publishing frequency impacts the results bloggers see on their websites:

image3 10

The strongest results came from the most frequent posts.

You can even pair your blogging strategy with some of the other tactics I’ve previously discussed.

Each time you write a new blog post, you can email it to your subscribers. Post about it on social media. Now you’re able to generate new leads and get more traffic from multiple sources with just one blog post.

Take your blogging strategy to the next level by guest blogging on other websites. While you may not think this is beneficial to you, it’s a great way to increase your site traffic.

That’s because you can use guest posts to consistently build backlinks leading to your website.

Now, readers who may not be familiar with your brand can click on those links and be redirected to your site as new leads.

4. Produce video content

Consumers want more videos from brands.

That’s why 87% of marketers produce video content online. Videos yield a 157% increase in organic search traffic as well.

Furthermore, 46% of consumers act after watching a video advertisement.

Give the people what they want. Your business should have a YouTube channel set up, and you need to add new videos to it on a regular basis.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to produce video content. It’s easy to create and edit your videos in-house.

People would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. This is a top reason why marketers say video content helped them increase website traffic.

image4 10

You need to have videos on your website.

Add videos to your emails and social media pages. You can even embed video links into your blogs.

This is a strategy I have been using in my blog posts for years now. Here’s an example of one I used recently:

image9 4

Ultimately, videos can help you generate new leads and increase your website traffic.

If you’re not producing them right now, you need to start as soon as possible to maximize your reach.

5. Build unique infographics

In addition to videos, you can also use other visual elements to enhance your content.

Infographics are another top option for you to consider. By creating unique infographics, you can drastically improve your website traffic.

You can use these visuals in many different ways.

Here’s something to keep in mind. When people use search engines, they don’t always just look for web results.

In fact, research shows that 63% of searches via Google Images result in clicks that generate website traffic.

If people are searching the web for images, you’ll be in the relevant search results if you have infographics on your site.

Plus, once you develop a reputation for producing high quality and accurate infographics, you’ll become an authoritative source of information.

Now other websites can use your infographics to enhance their own content. As a result, you’ll get more referral links, which will drive more traffic to your site.

As previously discussed, backlinks will continue to improve your SEO ranking, which will ultimately improve your organic search traffic as well. This way, you’re generating new leads from multiple sources.

Just make sure your infographics are always accurate and up to date. Any time new research gets conducted, update your old infographics with new data.

6. Focus on your goal

To come up with an effective lead generation strategy, one of the first things you need to do is determine your goal.

Sure, your company may have several goals. But just stick with one at a time.

Are you trying to sell your newest product? Do you want to add new subscribers to your email list? Are you trying to get website visitors to download your ebook?

Once you choose one goal, you can design your site accordingly. Here’s an example from the Orange Hill Development website:

image10 3

Based on this landing page, it’s clear what their goal is. They obviously want to get website visitors to download their ebook.

You also want to make sure all your other promotions are aligned with this goal and follow the same approach.

For example, let’s say you send an email to your subscribers about your newest product. You provide a link for them to click on to increase your website traffic.

If that landing page doesn’t provide them with more information or a way to purchase the product, it’s not in line with your goal.

In this example, the link should bring website visitors to a page where they can buy the product with a couple of clicks.

7. Create simple forms

Once people land on your website, you want to make sure a new lead is generated.

Otherwise, your increased traffic is wasted.

One of the best ways to do this is to have lead generation forms on your homepage as well as other pages of your site. That way, no matter where the visitor navigates, they will always see the form.

But you need to make sure you’re only asking for important information. You want this process to be as quick as possible.

If it looks as if your lead generation form is going to take forever to fill out, people won’t do it.

Take a look at how conversion rates are affected by the number of form fields required:

image7 10

Based on this research, it appears three is the magic number. But generally speaking, you can see that conversion rates decrease as the number of form fields increase.

In some instances, the only thing you might need is the email address.

Now, you have a way to contact your subscribers for follow-up information, which can ultimately be used to drive more traffic to your site, as I previously discussed.

8. Broadcast live videos

When it comes to marketing, live video streaming is a relatively new concept.

But many social media platforms have recently implemented this feature, so it’s time for you to take advantage of it.

  • Facebook Live
  • YouTube Live
  • Instagram Live Story

All of these are ways for you to connect with your audience. This also relates to the previously discussed topic of having an active social media presence.

Your live video streams can be used to get more people to visit your website.

Direct them to a landing page you use to generate new leads. Now you’re able to kill two birds with one stone.

Ultimately, live video streaming also has a positive impact on sales:

image5 10

To get the full effect, you should be going live on a regular basis.

You’ll gain a strong audience of viewers and increase the chances of driving more website traffic and generating leads.

9. Use influencer marketing to establish credibility

If your website is credible, you’ll be able to generate more site traffic.

One of the best ways to gain credibility is to leverage your relationships with influencers. You can approach this tactic in many different ways.

If you have the means, you can use celebrities to promote your brand.

That’s because these people are already known and trusted. Working with a celebrity shows your brand is legitimate.

Their endorsements will reach a wider audience. The problem is it’s obvious to consumers these celebrities are getting paid to pitch your products or services.

As an alternative solution, you can use micro influencers to increase your product credibility.

One of the top reasons why I’m an advocate for using micro influencers is because they have high engagement rates with their followers.

image8 9

Get these people to post about your products, and you will get more traffic to your website.

Your new leads will be more likely to trust your brand if the recommendation comes from a social influencer.

Now you’ll have an easier time generating conversions and ultimately drive higher profits.

10. Improve your SEO

A great way to generate leads and traffic is through search engine optimization.

As you can see from what we’ve already talked about, implementing some of these other lead generation strategies will automatically help your SEO.

But by using other tools to improve your SEO, such as keyword research, you’ll be able to get more traffic from organic search results.

That’s because when someone is looking for something online, whether it’s a product or service, they’ll probably start with a Google search.

In fact, 85% of consumers use Google to help them find information about products before they make a purchase.

image6 10

Someone doesn’t even have to know your company exists right now. But you can still get them to visit your website if you can master your SEO strategy.

Now that they’ve found your site from a search engine, it will be easier for you to generate a new lead as well.

Conclusion

Website traffic and lead generation.

These concepts are different, but each of them is crucial when it comes to the success of your business.

The key here is finding a way to improve both of them at the same time.

I recommend you shift your focus to lead generation. If you apply the strategies I’ve listed above to generate new leads, you’ll also be able to increase your website traffic.

More traffic and new leads will translate to higher conversion rates and extra cash in your pocket.

How is your company increasing your website traffic by scaling lead generation tactics?



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Three Ways Student Loan Debt Is Holding Back Home Buyers

Young adults with the American dream of homeownership are increasingly waking up to something else: the reality of the student loan crisis.

A study by the Federal Reserve revealed that for every 10 percent increase in student loan debt a person holds, there’s a one to two percentage point drop in the homeownership rate during the first five years after exiting school. And the Federal Reserve Bank of New York determined that up to 35 percent of the decline in homeownership among adults 28 to 30 can be chalked up to student loan debt.

Some may shrug off those statistics or attribute them to the uncertainty of life and one’s career path in the years immediately after college. But the fact is that 83 percent of people age 22 to 35 with student loan debt who have not bought a house blame it squarely on their overwhelming loans – not their age, and not their careers.

The Federal Reserve points out that as student debt in this country more than doubled over the course of 10 years, home ownership markedly declined.

“I think student loans are our next big financial crisis as a nation,” said Jennifer Beeston, the vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate Mortgage. “Student loans are the largest issue I’m currently seeing in potential homeowners. In many cases their student loan payments are as much or more than mortgage payments.”

To be fair, owning a home with a white picket fence out front — and the ongoing maintenance costs — is not everyone’s dream. But for those who do have such aspirations, monthly student loan payments are proving to be a triple whammy.

Debt to Income Ratio

One of the key measures lenders consider when reviewing a mortgage application is an individual’s overall debt to income ratio. With student loan payments eating up a vast portion of the money borrowers have to live on each month, it has become increasingly challenging to pass this test successfully.

“As expensive as college has become, and with as much debt as the average graduate has, it’s difficult to add a mortgage to their monthly payments for the first few years after finding your career,” said Mike Windle, retirement planning specialist at C. Curtis Financial Group in Plymouth, Mich. “The biggest reason why student loans are impacting home ownership is its toll on debt to income.”

The good news is that more and more graduates are landing jobs right out of college, Windle said. However, it still takes most people as long as a decade to pay off their student loans.

Beeston, who has been a mortgage lender for more than a decade, says in recent years the amount of education-related debt her clients walk in with has skyrocketed.

“I spend every day talking to people about their finances. Over the last three years I have seen student loans becoming progressively more of an issue,” said Beeston. “Ten years ago, $100,000 in student loan debt would have been out of the norm. Now I see it every day.”

“I’m seeing people putting off buying a home because of their student loans,” Beeston continued. “This is not just doctors and lawyers facing this level of debt. I’m seeing it across the board.”

Credit Score

While federal student loans can offer some relief in times of financial hardship, such as deferment or forbearance, private loans typically don’t. And often when borrowers can’t make ends meet after college, they let student loan payments slide, falling behind a month or two or neglecting their loans entirely. This is one of the worst things to do if you hope to buy a home in the near future.

“If you default on your student loans, the hit to your credit score can cripple your ability to purchase your first home for up to seven years,” said Windle.

The student loan delinquency rate is currently around 10 percent.

While improving your credit score is typically something that takes time, you can also try providing mortgage lenders a letter of explanation, detailing the circumstances that led to the delinquency.

Saving a Down Payment

Squirreling away the down payment for a home is the third major obstacle faced by those saddled with enormous student debt. With a big chunk of your income getting siphoned off toward student loans, saving up the standard down payment — 20 percent of the purchase price — can become a distant dream, taking years to achieve.

On this front, Windle suggests not rushing to buy a home before you have enough money accumulated. Doing so may be far more expensive. Without 20 percent down, you’ll likely be required to pay PMI – private mortgage insurance, a fee that protects the lender if you stop making payments on the loan. The PMI fee is added to your monthly mortgage payment.

“I tell my clients not to rush. Take the time to save up and accumulate 20 percent so you don’t have to pay PMI,” advised Windle.

For those seeking a way around the 20 percent, Windle suggests researching Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan programs, some of which provide mortgages to those who have as little as 3.5% for a down payment. These same programs often have lower credit score requirements, as low as 580 in some cases.

The FHA offers adjustable rate and fixed rate loans, which allow for financing up to 96.5 percent of the purchase, keeping closing costs and down payments to a minimum.

What’s more, lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have also become more responsive to the challenges faced by student loan holders, said Rick Bechtel, executive vice president and head of U.S. mortgage banking at TD Bank.

“This need is known even at those levels,” said Bechtel. “So you will see all kinds of programs today that require three percent down or one percent down. And these are not just programs for low and moderate income people.”

“The programs that existed up until the last year or two would allow for the low down payment only if you were low to moderate income. That was a trick box for many applicants,” Bechtel added. “But now you’re looking at one percent or three percent down programs that are not specific to low to moderate-income borrowers. There’s now a program for everybody.”

Additional Steps to Take

One of the most common pieces of advice offered by financial experts is to refinance your student loans if homeownership is on your to-do list.

A good refinancing program can lower monthly payments, making them more manageable and thus freeing up cash to put toward other things, such as saving up a down payment or paying a mortgage. Federal student loans also offer income-based repayment plans.

“It is hard to believe the number of people who have still not worked their way into an income-based repayment plan,” said Bechtel.

Few people are aware that mortgage lenders will now use the lower, income-driven student loan payment amount when calculating an applicant’s debt to income ratio. That’s a clear departure from previous policy — and a beneficial one if you’ve got student debt.

There was a time when regardless of what the actual monthly student loan payment was, lenders would still determine debt to income ratio based on the total student debt amount averaged out over the term of the student loan, Bechtel explained. The shift to acknowledging the lower monthly income-based payment is a big win for mortgage applicants.

And one last consideration, for the lucky few who have someone in their life who’s generous enough to help with the loans: Don’t squander the opportunity.

“If you have a family member who is willing to pay off your student loans, take them up on it. I often hear, ‘My parents would pay them off but I don’t want them to have to,’” said Beeston. “If anyone is offering, it’s because they know how crippling student loan debt can be.”

Related Articles:

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Questions About Vermont, Towels, Roth 401(k)s, Library Science, 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. Second job or frugal living?
2. Move to Vermont?
3. TPD and Social Security
4. Interest calculations
5. Online car auctions
6. Uses for old towels?
7. Long shift brown bagging
8. Regular versus Roth 401(k)
9. Handling unethical coworker
10. Your Money or Your Life
11. Child’s career as a librarian
12. Trade war?

As I write this, I’m sitting under a giant shade tree watching my children play in a swimming pool. I have a cool drink sitting next to me. I’m stretched out in comfortable clothes on a sunny June day that’s not overly hot. I feel good. I feel happy.

Let’s do this. On with the questions.

Q1: Second job or frugal living?

For the last 3-4 years my job has been handing out tons of overtime hours and I’ve been gobbling them up. Now my job is back down to 40 hours a week and will be for a while. I was doing good getting the house paid off and I want to keep it going. Am I better off getting a part time job or spending that time cranking down on my expenditures?
– Daniel

For the moment, I would crank down on the expenditures. Block off a certain amount of time a week (say, 10-20 hours) to take care of a bunch of things that will save you money over the long haul, like properly air sealing your home and making a bunch of meals for the freezer and replacing anything in your home that isn’t energy efficient and doing any minor home repairs that need doing and doing full maintenance on your home and car(s). The return on a lot of that stuff is really good, but it’s stuff that often falls through the cracks in a busy life.

Once you’ve caught up on all of that stuff and exhausted everything you can think of, then consider getting a part time job if the overtime hours at work haven’t come back online yet. It’s very possible that in a few months your workplace is humming again and there is plenty of overtime available for you. If not, get a different job.

Just don’t waste that extra time. Don’t get into a habit of watching Sportscenter every day or browsing the web for a couple hours each day. Do something with that time.

Q2: Move to Vermont?

Want to move to Vermont with us? Low cost of living, pretty good state tax rates, nice living, and $10,000 for you to get set up!
– Kevin

If I were in the market for a big move, I would consider this type of arrangement. I like living in northern states because I like the alternation of seasons and some really cold snowy periods in the winter, which Vermont has, just like Iowa. I’ve visited New England and like the area.

Honestly, if I were at a different point in life, it would be fairly tempting, as I can essentially work from anywhere. The biggest pull for us to stay here in Iowa is the social ties, to tell the truth. I can work anywhere and my wife can easily find work virtually anywhere. It’s mostly just the social ties that keep us in place.

However, if you work remotely, like a wide variety of seasonal weather, and are looking for a nice area to live with a low cost of living, Vermont is well worth considering. (Honestly, Iowa is, too.)

Q3: TPD and Social Security

My enquiry is whether to hire financial planner regarding a TPD payment and I am on a disability pension. How does it affect my social security benefits.
– Bill

I would probably contact an accountant, not because of an effect on your Social Security (I don’t believe there should be any), but because of taxes. You’re in an area where taxes can be fairly tricky and you want to make absolutely sure that if you are liable for any taxes, you are keeping out enough money to cover them.

I’m not sure a financial planner is necessary. A stop at a local H&R Block office should be adequate to figure out an issue like this at very little cost.

I don’t believe your Social Security benefits will be affected (given the very few details here).

Q4: Interest calculations

Can you calculate the correct interest rate owing in a default judgment on $3399.14 at 24%?
– Chris

It depends on how the interest is compounded, which means how often interest on the debt is calculated and added to the balance.

The easiest method is if the interest is compounded yearly. In that case, you simply multiply the balance by the interest rate. You’d just multiply $3,399.14 by 0.24 and you’d get $815.79. Pretty easy!

However, many debts are compounded differently. One method is to compound monthly, which means that you calculate the interest for the first month, add it to the balance, then use this new balance to calculate the interest for the next month, and so on. In that case, the monthly interest rate is 2% (24% per year divided by 12 months in a year, giving 2% per month).

So, you’d multiply $3,399.14 by 0.02 to get $67.98. You’d then add that to the original $3,399.14 balance, giving you a new balance of $3,467.12. That’s the first month. You’d then multiply $3,467.12 by 0.02 to get $69.34, and then you’d add $69.34 to $3,465.12 to get $3,534.46. That’s the second month. You repeat that process through twelve months. I ran the numbers here and your total interest rate if it’s compounded monthly is $911.79. (Notice how this is almost $100 more than compounded annually.)

So, before you can calculate this out for certain – and this is the kind of calculation you want to get right – ask what the compounding frequency is.

Q5: Online car auctions

Have you thought of maybe doing an article on purchasing a car through an online car auction? I was looking for a cheap car and bid $300 each, on a local online site, for 2 different cars. The first car I was outbid however I did get the second one which is a Honda CRV which had been a repo car which had been abandoned at a local apartment complex. I paid cash for it and it has saved me lots of $$$ as my last car I made payments on. I do not live in an area with public transportation. I did have to have it fixed which I had done at a local small mechanic shop. I am LOVING driving it.
– Tammy

That’s a great buy, Tammy, and I’m glad you’re able to have found a good car for the price. However, in my experience with public car auctions, you got quite lucky. Most of the time, cars in public auctions tend to be junk, and unless there’s some kind of inspection or certification provided, you have little hope that it’ll last long at all.

I tend to trust the advice of Popular Mechanics on buying a car at auction, which is to basically avoid public auctions unless you’re a skilled mechanic.

I do know some people who buy cars at such auctions for the purpose of dismantling them and selling parts and scrapping the rest, but, again, those people fall into the “mechanic” department. They know how to extract a few hundred dollars in value from a cheaply-bought abandoned car.

Q6: Uses for old towels?

What do you do with worn out towels? We use them for garage rags. Any other good use for them?
– Dan

One of my closest friends will cut up old towels (when they’re no longer as plush as they once were) and use them for drying rags and general kitchen rags. They don’t even bother to hem them, arguing that when they start to fray badly, they’ll just toss them. I’m not sure how many uses they get out of them, but they definitely last for a while.

There was a woman who lived near me when I was a kid who took about 20 old towels and sewed them together to make a picnic blanket. She kept it in a picnic basket all the time. It was kind of strange looking, but really soft to sit on.

We used to use old towels as a temporary “changing table” for our children. We kept an old bath towel in our diaper bag and would lay it out almost anywhere we were at and used it to change diapers.

The “rag bag” is the obvious choice for old towels, but there are more uses than just cleaning up messes!

Q7: Long shift brown bagging

I usually take my lunch to work and on days when I don’t I just eat some Pringles or whatever I can scrounge up but I am stuck when it comes to long days where I work 14 hours and have two meal breaks? There’s a Taco Bell across the street and that’s what a lot of us do.
– Arne

I used to have a really awkward schedule of three 12 hours days a week. My solution on those days was to simply bring a “double lunch” in a big bag. I’d use an ice pack to keep it cold and put 3-4 sandwiches and a bunch of other odds and ends in there. I’d eat about half during my noon break and the other half during my 5 o’clock break.

Use a lunch bag like this one and an ice pack like this one. Pack two entire lunches in the same bag. Eat half of it during your first break. Eat the rest during your second break. That’s all you need to do.

The initial cost of a bag like that and a few ice packs might be $20, but every day you fill up that bag and take it, you’re saving money versus a Taco Bell run, and it won’t take long for it to really add up.

Q8: Regular versus Roth 401(k)

My workplace allows me to contribute to either a Roth 401(k) or a regular 401(k) though their matching goes into the regular regardless of what I choose. Which one is the better deal for me? I tried to read up on this on other websites but it was really hard to read and figure out the difference.
– James

When you put money into a regular 401(k), the money comes out of your pay before taxes are calculated. This means that, say, a $100 contribution to a regular 401(k) will only impact your take-home pay by $80 or so. However, when you withdraw money from a regular 401(k) in retirement, you have to pay taxes on everything you withdraw.

When you put money into a Roth 401(k), the money comes out of your pay after taxes are calculated. This means that a $100 contribution will mean a $100 drop in your paycheck. However, when you withdraw money from a Roth 401(k) in retirement, you’ll owe no taxes on any of it.

I generally lean toward Roth contributions on the whole. I think that there’s more of an overall advantage in paying taxes now rather than later, for a number of reasons. I believe that tax rates will eventually go up, for starters, and I think that the peace of mind of having minimal tax worries in retirement is a valuable thing. If I were you, I’d contribute to the Roth.

Q9: Handling unethical coworker

I’m 28 years old, single, with a solid start to an accounting career. I work as a CPA for [a well known accounting firm] though I hope to be independent in the future.

I recently discovered that an individual in my office is taking fairly large quantities of office supplies. I’m not sure what they’re doing with the supplies. I assume they’re being resold. It’s a clever scheme that seems to have been going on for a while. I have zero doubt about it and have clear cut evidence that it is happening.

The two people I know are involved are senior to me and close friends with my own supervisor who I do not think is involved.

I am not sure what to do. Easy thing is to turn a blind eye to it. The “right” thing is to report it but there’s a good chance my career gets crushed in the process.

What do I do?
– Mark

My gut feeling is to report the theft as anonymously as possible. If your workplace has any sort of mechanism for anonymous whistleblowing, use that route. Based on some message board investigation I did into your company, I believe there is an anonymous whistleblowing mechanism. If there is no such route, I would gather as much evidence as I have that something is really amiss with the office supplies, make sure that what you have is clear cut, wait until a time where your boss doesn’t have a ton on his or her plate, and have a conversation with your boss. If at all possible, do not point fingers at individuals. Simply make the case that there are office supplies disappearing and let your boss decide how to deal with it – that’s what your boss is there for.

You’ve outlined the issues with being a whistleblower quite well. If there was no personal threat to you, then the obvious thing to do is to report the wrongdoing. However, there is a threat to you – this runs a serious risk of damaging your career. You could suffer consequences at work, damage your relationships, lose your job, or even face some level of industry blacklisting.

No matter what you do, do not talk about this with anyone else other than your direct supervisor or with an appropriate human resources person. No one else should hear about it. You should be as far away from rumors about this issue as possible.

Q10: Your Money or Your Life

I noticed that there is a new version of Your Money or Your Life out! It has a bright yellow cover! Is there anything new in the new edition that would make it worth picking up?
– Mandy

If you already own an earlier edition of Your Money or Your Life, there’s probably no reason to pick up the new one. It’s one of those books that’s fairly “timeless” in its advice. Very little of the actual advice has changed since the initial publication.

Having said that, if you’ve never read the book, the latest one is the one worth reading. The biggest change I noted throughout the book is a bit of a realization that today everyone needs to be a bit entrepreneurial in how they approach their professional life. Take on side gigs and consulting gigs, because if you’re skilled, those gigs are out there. Start a side business if you can. This was an angle that was less prevalent in earlier editions.

In terms of philosophy, the book is largely unchanged in the new edition. In terms of the few sections that deal with specific frugal tactics, some of those seem to be updated.

It’s really the same great book it’s always been.

Q11: Child’s career as a librarian

My daughter is 17 years old and really wants to become a librarian. She has worked as a part time helper at the local library for several years, at first unpaid, but now receiving minimum wage and some little perks. She loves it and wants to be a librarian. I have tried to persuade her to follow a path that won’t end up being a part time minimum wage job but she won’t listen.
– Meggie

First of all, if your daughter is really passionate about this, I wouldn’t discourage her from doing it. Instead, I would encourage her to work extremely hard to get into the field with the best resume possible. She’s obviously passionate about the work and has a good head start on the actual work itself and what needs to be done. If she’s sure about this, I would not discourage her.

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a librarian and she had several pieces of advice. First of all, she’d strongly encourage your daughter to get a Masters of Library Science instead of a bachelors degree. She would also encourage your daughter to work at libraries to build as much experience as possible while going through her studies. My friend also encourages your daughter to try to be fully in charge of a summer program of some kind if the library will allow this and then run it for a few years during the summers while going through school. My friend also suggested that your daughter consider taking at least some classes in marketing, because marketing is a big part of a librarian’s job – they’re actively marketing the library all the time. My friend says to not worry about the pay long term as long as your daughter is willing to relocate for a good position – there are always jobs for people with great resumes and MLS degrees.

I basically agree with my friend. I think you’re better off encouraging your daughter to be a great librarian rather than being mediocre at a somewhat higher paying field that she doesn’t care about.

Q12: Trade war?

Are you worried about the probable trade war between the US and many other countries? How will it affect finances?
– Darren

I don’t talk about politics on The Simple Dollar. However, I will talk about the impact of a trade war, if one were to happen, on the pocketbooks of individual Americans.

A trade war is basically any situation where two (or more) nations try to damage their trade with each other by imposing tariffs (basically, tariffs are taxes on goods that go from one nation to another) or sanctions on each other.

If the United States were to get into a trade war with some of its trading partners, most Americans would primarily see an impact in terms of higher prices at the store on all kinds of things and even on things like their energy bill. Most of the time, tariffs and sanctions are applied to basic goods, the kinds of things that are used to make other products, like steel or aluminum. Those items are then used to make all kinds of things, from underground pipes to construction equipment, from automobiles to silverware.

If the price of the basic commodities like steel and aluminum go up (thanks to tariffs and sanctions), then the price of the goods that are made from those things will go up. This will mean higher prices for you in the store on virtually everything, because higher steel prices will mean higher transportation prices. A big increase in the price of basic goods ripples out through the economy in all kinds of ways, but in the end, it’s mostly passed along to the consumer.

So, why get into a trade war? How does it help the average American? In theory, the purpose of a trade war is to convince the other nation to enter into a more favorable trade agreement. So, in the short term, prices go up, but, assuming that the United States wins any resultant trade war, the result should be a more favorable trade arrangement than existed in the first place, which would help prices.

Will that happen? Is this a good idea? Well… that’s where we start getting into politics, and I’m far from a political prognosticator. The thing you need to know is this: a trade war likely means some higher prices at the store and on your bills, but victory in a trade war likely means lower prices on a variety of things.

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 Vermont, Towels, Roth 401(k)s, Library Science, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.



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Did You Hear? Black Unemployment Plunges to Historic Low Under Trump Economy

The most recent jobs report shows a dramatic drop in black unemployment.

Source CBNNews.com https://ift.tt/2svrDpJ

Don’t Let Time Pass You By: These Tips Will Make Working From Home Easier

This App Makes Your Phone Addiction Pay off — Literally


Sometimes, at night, I catch myself in this weird daze.

I’m tired. I need to sleep. I should roll off the couch and shuffle to my bed. But I can’t.

I’m scrolling through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you anything I scrolled past last night.

The only reason I’m admitting this sad, sad truth is I think other folks can relate. An hour passes, and you’re left wondering what the heck just happened.

Let’s be real: Bad bedtime habits are hard to break, so you might as well make some money instead of totally waste your time.

Download AppKarma, a free rewards app that lets you earn cash and gift cards when you try out gaming apps and watch videos.

How AppKarma Pays You for Scrolling Through Your Phone

Android users can download the AppKarma app directly through the Google Play Store.

iPhone users: AppKarma is not in the app store, but you can use AppKarma from your mobile browser. Click on the link from your iOS device to access the AppKarma web app. Complete the first offer (and earn 100 points!) to get started.

Bonus: Penny Hoarders will get 500 extra points when you sign up, plus you’ll get an email shortly after signing up with a special promo code worth another 750 bonus points.

Here’s how the app works:

Once you download and sign up for the app, open it and start playing to earn rewards.

To earn your first Karma Points, browse through a list of games and other apps. You’ll earn points for each required task you complete.

If you’re an Android user, you can also earn rewards just for playing with the apps you download each day.

As you play, you’ll explore other AppKarma features, such as achievement badges, level-ups and bonuses for even more points. Pro tip: Take a peek at the notifications section, where you’ll find promo codes and even more earning opportunities.

You can exchange your Karma Points for gift cards to Amazon, PayPal, iTunes, Target, Starbucks and Walmart, among other retailers. You’ll get your cards right in the My Rewards section of the app, so you don’t have to wait for a physical card to come in the mail.

When you redeem your points for gift cards, you’ll earn a 5% rebate — so you’ll never be without points.

Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) 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.



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