This Pay-Per-Mile Car Insurance Company Offers Plans Starting at $29/Month

Just because you have a car doesn’t mean you have to jump in and rev it up every time you need a snack or have to run to the post office.

You might choose to walk, run or bike — especially if you live in an urban area. Maybe you’re a bit of a health nut, and you like to get your steps in. Or you want to reduce your carbon footprint. Maybe it’s just faster (and cheaper) than finding parking.

Whatever your reason, driving less could save you some serious money on car insurance.

If you drive less than about 2,500 miles per year, you could get car insurance for as little as $29 per month with a pay-per-mile car insurance company.

Drive Less to Pay Less for Car Insurance

If you don’t drive a lot, it’s worth checking out Metromile, an insurer that lets you pay by the mile.

If you aren’t spending much time in the driver’s seat, you shouldn’t have to pay much. For example, if you only drive 5,000 miles per year, you could save $611, according to Metromile’s calculations.

Approximately 65% of drivers overpay on car insurance to balance out those who drive a lot, according to Metromile. Its pay-per-mile system is ideal for people who drive less than 30 miles per day, or about 200 miles a week.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Your car must be a 1996 or newer to qualify.
• After signing up, the company will mail you a free device that plugs into your car and tracks mileage (that’s how it saves you money!).

Find out whether it’ll help you save by snagging a free quote. If you don’t drive much, this is a slam dunk. It could also be just the nudge you need to drive a little less and use your own legs a little more.

Plus, think how sweet your calves are gonna look when you do some more walking and biking. Totally worth it.

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.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2WYIn6t

The 5 Best WordPress Cache Plugins – (Winter 2019 Review)

How fast is your website?

You might think your website is fast — but how fast is fast enough? You may be surprised that 47% of Internet users expect web pages to load in two seconds or less and they mean it: 40% of people will abandon websites that don’t load within three seconds.

That’s right. A second could cost you 40% of your website traffic.

To put that number into perspective, we’ll go through a hypothetical example. Let’s say your website has 1,000 unique visitors per week. You have a 5% conversion rate (which is generous, considering the average global conversion rate for an ecommerce website is 2.86%), and your average order value is $100.

This translates to $5,000 per week and $260,000 per year. Not bad, right?

But if your website took longer than 3 seconds to load, you’d lose 40% of that traffic, and you’d actually earn $104,000 less than that.

Let’s look at the other way. Imagine you have that same website: 1,000 unique visitors per week, a 5% conversion rate, but your load time is 3 seconds. If you improved your load time, you might capture 40% more visitors. If everything stayed the same, you’d suddenly have 1,667 visitors (since you’d originally had that many but 40% jumped ship when they didn’t want to wait). If they still convert at 5%, then that means you’re making an additional $3,335 in sales per week, or $173,420 a year in sales you were losing because your load time was too slow.

Depending on your volume, slow loading times could be costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Here’s something else to consider: of the 40% of visitors who abandon your site, 80% of those people won’t return.

Fortunately, there’s a way for you to speed up your website loading times. What’s the solution? Caching.

What is caching?

Let’s start with the basics. A request to your server is required each time someone visits a page on your site. The server sends those results to the user’s web browser.

On the user’s end, they see your website as the final product. Your website is complete with things like headers, menus, images, videos, blog content, and everything else that makes your site unique.

The server needs to process each request before delivering the final page to the user. Depending on the complexity of your website, sometimes this can take a long time.

That’s where caching comes into the equation. Caching stores recently viewed content, such as a web page, so server requests won’t be as in depth.

Here’s a visual representation of what caching looks like.

Simply put, caching means less work is required for pages to be viewed on your website. As a result, your site will load much faster.

Why do you need a WordPress caching plugin?

Without a WordPress caching plugin, requests for every element of your website need to be made to the server each time someone visits your site, even if they’ve seen the content before.

A caching plugin will:

• Speed up your website
• Increase the user experience
• Reduce the strain on your server
• Improve SEO
• Lower your TTFB (time to first byte)

Caching plugins will generate a static HTML page of your site, which will be saved on your server. Whenever someone visits your site, the plugin will display the lighter HTML version as opposed to the heavy PHP scripts.

There are tons of caching plugins out there that claim to speed up your website. How can you possibly know which one to install? Truthfully, it’s nearly impossible to determine which plugin is the fastest. Depending on the website content, what works for one site may not work as well for another. With that said, there are definitely certain caching plugins that stand above the rest. I took the time to identify the best WordPress cache plugins for you to consider.

1. W3 Total Cache

With more than one million active installs, W3 Total Cache is one of the most popular WordPress cache plugins on the market.

W3 Total Cache is an open-source plugin, which is completely free to use. A free install gives you access to all of the features, and you won’t be pitched any upsells after the fact.

I included this on my list of best WordPress cache plugins because it offers minifications that save bandwidth, HTTP compression, as well as feed optimization.

This plugin works for both mobile and desktop versions of your website. W3 Total Cache integrates with your website’s CDN. It’s also helpful for sites with SSL certificates, making it a top choice for ecommerce websites.

You should keep in mind that W3 Total Cache can be a bit complex to use. Even though it’s a popular choice, it may not be the best option for WordPress beginners. There are 16 pages in the settings section of this plugin, for example. However, you won’t have to manually configure all of these options. The default settings work well right out of the box. So unless you’re a developer who has lots of experience with these options, I’d recommend sticking to the defaults.

If you want that type of added customization, there is a separate setting for each type of caching. You can have different settings for things like:

• Object caching
• Page caching
• Browser caching
• Database caching

The list goes on and on. It’s tough to find this type of in-depth customization for free on other WordPress cache plugins.

2. WP Rocket

WP Rocket has the simplest design of all cache plugins for WordPress. You won’t have any problems installing this plugin and getting it set up quickly. The overall simplicity of WP Rocket is what makes it one of the best WordPress cache plugins, which is why it’s great for beginners.

With that said, WP Rocket also has advanced settings that can be customized by developers or site owners who have a bit more technical knowledge.

Pricing starts at $49 per year for one website. WP Rocket also has a developer plan that’s $249 annually for unlimited sites.

I know what some of you are thinking, Why should I pay for this when there are so many free WordPress cache plugins available?

Simply put, you get what you pay for. For $50 per year, I’d rather have a plugin with an easy setup and smooth interface. Plus, WP Rocket comes with extra features that you won’t find in free cache plugins. It indexes your website on search engines to help improve your SEO ranking and all JavaScript, HTML, and CSS files get minified to boost page loading speed. Another benefit of this plugin is the “images on request” feature. This means that images only get loaded when they are visible on the screen. So if you have pages with lots of images deeper in the scroll, they won’t be loaded initially. This dramatically improves your loading time. This plugin also helps optimize your Google Fonts, which is something that’s not offered by most cache plugins I’ve used.

Overall, WP Rocket is one of the best WordPress cache plugins for beginners and experienced developers alike.

3. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache has more than two million active installations. I’m not saying you should always follow what other people are doing, but numbers this high are usually a pretty good indication of quality.

This plugin is completely free as well. So it’s a great option if you’re hesitant about spending money on a WordPress plugin.

WP Super Cache creates static HTML files and displays them instead of heavier PHP scripts. The plugin offers three different modes of caching:

• Simple
• Expert
• WP-cache caching

Most of you can get away with using simple mode. You’ll need a custom permalink, but this option is much easier to configure and doesn’t require you to change your .htaccess file. The majority of web pages will still be dynamic in simple caching mode.

As you might have guessed, expert mode is a bit more complex. Unless you’re experienced with coding and web development, I would not recommend this setting to you. It requires an Apache mod_rewrite module as well as modifications to your .htaccess file. If you don’t know what you’re doing, improper modifications of these files can be detrimental to your website.

WP-cache caching mode is used to cache content for known website visitors. This is ideal for those of you who have users who are logged in, leave comments, or need to be shown custom content.

If you don’t want to things to get too complicated, you can always just stick with simple mode, but the fact that WP Super Cache has so many other options makes it one of the best WordPress caching plugins.

4. Hyper Cache

Hyper Cache was designed with WordPress blogs in mind. It will work on every blog, without any complex configurations. Hyper Cache optimizes your bandwidth and ultimately boosts the page loading speed of your WordPress blog.

You can install Hyper Cache with ease and the process is very fast. I’d say this is one of the best WordPress cache plugins for users who are beginners and don’t want to manage tons of different cache settings. With this plugin, you can implement the “set it and forget it” mentality. So once you have it installed, you don’t have to do much of anything after the initial configuration.

You’ll notice that some of the settings may have some odd names that you’re unfamiliar with but Hyper Cache comes provides recommendations and detailed information about which should be activated and how each setting impacts your website.

Like some of the other options on our list, Hyper Cache is free. It offers CDN support and has mobile-friendly caching as well. It’s a great tool to have for those of you who have blogs with lots of comments.

Something that I found interesting about Hyper Cache is the way that this plugin completes website backups. The cache folders aren’t included in your backups, meaning the backup files will be smaller and save you space.

While this plugin should be a top consideration for WordPress bloggers, I wouldn’t recommend it for more complex sites, such as ecommerce platforms. If you fall into that category, you’d be better off with a more advanced plugin from this list.

5. Comet Cache

Comet Cache has a quick and easy installation process. Once installed, you’ll find that the navigation on the dashboard is extremely user friendly.

I like this plugin because it’s so informative. You’ll find tons of resources that will tell you everything there is to know about caching. This will help you configure the settings to optimize the performance of your own WordPress site.

You’ll have plenty of different options for caching with Comet Cache:

• Pages
• Posts
• Tags
• Categories

If you’re looking for simple customization, this plugin is definitely one that you should consider. The ability to cache users who are logged in makes Comet Cache a top option for membership websites.

Comet Cache has both free and paid versions. Most of you can probably get away with the free WordPress plugin, but the paid upgrades offer better features. If you upgrade your plugin, you’ll have the option for automatic and intelligent cache clearing. Basically, this feature allows you to configure all of your settings from the beginning, and then have a “hands-free” approach moving forward.

Conclusion

Installing a WordPress cache plugin will boost your website speed and improve the user experience. Now that we’ve established why caching plugins are important, the question becomes, Which is the best WordPress cache plugin?

It depends what you’re looking for. Some plugins are designed for ecommerce websites, while others are intended for WordPress blogs. Some cache plugins are made for beginners, while others have more complex settings for advanced developers.

Do you want a free WordPress cache plugin? Or are you looking for a paid version?

Based on all of this information, I narrowed down my list to the top five options to consider. There is something for everyone on this list, based on the type of website you have, your technical experience, and the type of settings you want to apply. Use this guide as a reference to help you find the best WordPress cache plugin for your website.

Source Quick Sprout http://bit.ly/2RXdUlx

Balancing Financial Success and Meaningful Life Experiences

Megan writes in with a great question:

It seems to me that working toward financial success by spending significantly less than you earn is directly opposed toward having a life full of meaningful experiences. For most Americans spending 30-40% less than you earn puts you in a hand-to-mouth existence, cutting off opportunities for things like travel. How do you square those two things?

This is a really important topic, one that I briefly addressed a long time ago but one that I think deserves a much more thorough discussion.

The first thing that we need to look at is what exactly constitutes a meaningful life experience? I don’t think there is a universal answer to that question. However, I will share my own definition: a meaningful life experience is a life experience that changes or strongly reaffirms your perspective on the world and your place in it.

Because that definition is so focused on the self, it’s fairly hard to definitively say that one particular experience is “meaningful” and another is not, because what is “meaningful” is entirely connected to the person having that experience. What is meaningful for me is not necessarily meaningful for you, and vice versa. It is important to keep this in mind, because later in this article, when I’m discussing specific meaningful life experiences, I can really only rely on (a) what’s meaningful for me and (b) what’s said to be meaningful by lots of other people. That does not necessarily guarantee that such experiences will be meaningful for you, or vice versa.

The Price Spectrum of Meaningful Activities

Let’s say you sit down and make a list of the most meaningful and memorable experiences of the last month, the last year, and of your whole life. Just make a list of them. Which experiences in your life have been truly profound and meaningful for you?

I could make a pretty nice list. Off the top of my head, mine would include the following several items:

+ You might think I’d write about my wedding, but it was actually part of my honeymoon with my wife that felt incredibly memorable to me. We were on a train and she was sitting next to me with her back resting on me reading a book while I was looking out the window at the English countryside and I had this realization that we were now a married couple.

+ About three days after we brought our son home from the hospital, he fell asleep on my chest on our couch and I fell asleep there, too. He slept for almost six hours straight, which was the longest period of time he’d slept thus far. When he started to stir, it woke me up, and I looked at him with my sleepy eyes. His mouth was moving as though he was hungry, but he wasn’t upset yet. Rather, he seemed to really look at me for the first time. That was the moment that parenthood really clicked into place for me.

+ We were on a family hike on a long trail at Yellowstone that led into some backcountry terrain that was littered with small hot springs. It was a really cold day, but because we were in this tight little area with so much spring activity, it was almost warm there. It was so far back on the trails that it seemed like no one else was around, so we all sat down and took off our backpacks and our coats and watched the springs and mud holes bubble around us. My children had been arguing some earlier in the day but they suddenly seemed to really appreciate each other as they sat next to each other in a huddle and just looked around, and my wife grabbed my hand, and everything just felt good.

+ The first time I had a really meaningful meditation session, a few years ago. I often lose track of time when meditating and so I set a timer if I’ve got any other commitments, but this day I just sat down without a timer. About twenty five minutes in, probably my longest meditation session I’d ever done to that point, I had a really profound experience. It felt like I simultaneously noticed everything in the room at the same time, as though I felt connected to everything. This was a hugely profound and memorable experience for me.

+ I was standing in the Art Institute of Chicago looking at the Vincent van Gogh painting The Bedroom / Bedroom at Arles. It’s one of my favorite paintings and I just stood there enjoying it deeply, kind of lost in my own thought. After a bit, my daughter came up beside me and quietly said, “That painting looks real and not real at the same time.” I said, “I know,” and we stood there staring at it for a while longer.

I could go on and on naming these kinds of things, but you get the idea.

The thing is, I can put each of these experiences on a spectrum in terms of cost.

The meditation moment was absolutely free. The moment with my son was essentially free. The hike in Yellowstone was relatively inexpensive, as was the stop at the Art Institute of Chicago (we have family and friends in Chicago and visit them somewhat regularly). The only truly expensive moment on that list was the moment during the train ride in England.

The lesson is this: a lot of the truly impactful experiences in my life didn’t really cost that much. Yes, some did, but many others came without a stiff price tag attached.

If I were to focus solely on inexpensive life experiences, I would really only cut out one of those five experiences. The other ones could be recreated fairly closely for a small amount of money; two of them would have a small cost and the other two would basically be free.

To further test this idea, I made a list of fifty meaningful experiences in my life. I won’t bore you with that full list, but I entered them all in a spreadsheet and then estimated the cost to me personally to recreate each one of them as close as I possibly could (some of them are impossible, so I just did my best). 41 out of 50 of those experiences could be recreated for less than $200. 27 out of 50 of those experiences could be recreated for less than $10.

What’s the lesson here? You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a lot of meaningful life experiences. When I made a list of fifty meaningful life experiences from my own life, more than half of them were essentially free, and another 14 weren’t quite free but could be recreated for less than $200. If I cut out all of the expensive meaningful life experiences I’ve had, I’d lose less than 20% of them.

Living an inexpensive lifestyle does not mean cutting out meaningful life experiences, at least not for me. My life has been chock full of meaningful experiences and a frugal lifestyle doesn’t choke them off in the least.

Trimming the Expensive Life Experiences

The next thing I ask myself, however, is what was the truly meaningful element of each experience. With the Yellowstone hike, it was the moment with my family where we had all been exercising together and spending time together. With the moment holding my son, it was simply father-son bonding. At the Art Institute, it was father-daughter bonding mixed with art appreciation. Even with the train ride, it was a moment of bonding with my wife.

It turns out that most of the expensive experiences that really impacted me could have happened in a different context. For example, I likely would have had some sort of epiphany about my wife regardless of whether we were on a train in England or not; we could have had a honeymoon almost anywhere that we hadn’t been before and I would have had a similar moment.

This isn’t to say that travel or high-priced experiences aren’t worthwhile; they are. They’re just not a guarantee of a meaningful life experience, and quite often the meaningful life experiences you have through those events can be found elsewhere.

Thus, I don’t think you have to have an endless string of expensive events in your life in order to have a lot of meaningful experiences. Rather, I’ve found that most of the meaningful experiences in my life are actually payoffs in a way; they often come as the result of some sort of sustained effort.

Let me dig into what I mean by that.

The Garden of Life: Frequent Sources of My Own Meaningful Life Experiences

Looking back across my list of fifty meaningful life experiences, I’ve noticed that there were a number of consistent threads throughout those experiences. I view those elements as being “spiritual gardens” of a sort, as they are life elements that can be cultivated over time and provide consistent meaningful experiences where that cultivation really pays off.

In other words, I’ve found that the vast majority of meaningful experiences in my life were capstones on top of a large investment of time and energy and emotion rather than an investment of money. I like the garden analogy because the blooms of a beautiful garden only occur when you’ve spent a lot of time out there with them and they mean more if you’ve had your hands in the soil and pulled out the weeds and added the fertilizer yourself.

If you cultivate some “gardens” in your life, they’ll consistently provide you with happiness and with a steady drip of meaningful experiences.

Here are the nine “gardens” I really noticed in my life as strong sources of meaningful experiences. There are many possible “gardens” that people might cultivate in their lives; these are just sources of meaningful experiences from my own life. I often find that deeply meaningful experiences come when these gardens overlap in my life. It is strongly worth noting that cultivating these “gardens” is much more of an investment of time, energy, and emotion rather than money.

Strong relationships with other people The strong relationships I have with my parents, my wife, my children, and a few key friends have been a constant source of meaningful experiences in my life. Most of the deeply meaningful experiences in my life have involved at least one person with whom I’ve cultivated a strong relationship with. Sometimes the key experiences come from the process of relationship building; at other times, they come from sharing an experience with that person.

Reading and learning For me, meaningful experiences often come from reading and learning new ideas. Understanding something new (or in a new way) or being absorbed into a story by a skillful writer is often the source of deeply meaningful experiences for me.

Introspection has consistently provided me with deep, meaningful life experiences. I noted earlier that one of my first powerful meditation experiences was a truly meaningful experience in my life; I’ve also found them in journaling and in other introspective activities where I gain some greater understanding of myself.

Exploring nature I tend to have meaningful experiences when I’m outdoors and in a natural environment. A lot of my most meaningful experiences occurred in forests and national parks and state parks, hiking in the backcountry or walking along an interesting trail.

Exploring art A surprising number of my meaningful life experiences have come from visiting art museums and art installations. I would not have expected this, actually, but when I made my list of “fifty memorable things,” art popped up surprisingly often.

Trying new things I’ve found that simply trying new things often becomes a source of a memorable experience, particularly when I’m doing it with someone I have a strong relationship with or when that experience draws on skills that I already have.

Visiting new places, though they don’t have to be far flung Memorable experiences often occur in my life when I’m in a new place where I don’t have an inherent familiarity with the location and there’s something new around every bend. Having said that, this does not inherently require extensive travel; I’ve had meaningful experiences in small towns in Iowa that I’ve never visited before. It’s simply the newness of the place to me.

Intense personal challenge (flow state) Whenever I take on an intense personal challenge, something that really draws on my physical and mental abilities and forces me to perform to the maximum of my abilities and thus draws my focus so strongly that I lose track of time and place (this is often called “flow”). I find that, while those sessions themselves aren’t memorable, that feeling afterwards, where I feel calm and content and really happy with what I’ve done, is often very memorable, particularly when I’ve done something quite big over a lot of “flow” sessions. I’ve felt it after intense workouts, after really productive writing sessions, and so on.

Charitable work This is something of a “meta” mix of focused effort, new experiences, and spending time with people I care about, but I find that charitable work popped up regularly on my list of meaningful life experiences. I think it’s just something I’ve done a lot because it’s a great mix of elements that are otherwise meaningful to me.

Meaningful Life Experiences and Money

In the end, for me personally, I don’t need to spend a lot of money to have a ton of meaningful and profound life experiences. I can find them in my own home or in my own neighborhood with regularity, or with short distance travel from my home.

While there are meaningful experiences to be found in things like travel and expensive experiences near your home, they don’t need to be a frequently repeated source of meaningful experiences in your life. Rather, meaningful experiences can be found and cultivated by investing time and love and energy into things, not just money.

In the end, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that meaningful experiences are often the result of an investment, but that investment does not have to be an investment of money. If you’re willing to invest other resources in your life into “gardens” that will eventually grow into sources of meaningful experiences, then you can have a deeply fulfilling life full of meaningful experiences without frequently spending money trying to seek out those experiences.

Use your money instead to build and secure those “gardens” that produce meaningful life experiences. Eliminate debt. Build an emergency fund. Start building toward financial independence. Those things will lower the stress of your life and likely make it much easier to enjoy meaningful life experiences while also building toward the big dreams that you have in a sustainable way.

Good luck!

The post Balancing Financial Success and Meaningful Life Experiences appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2BxFxfE

Cryptocurrency and Taxes: A Starter Guide

As the 10th anniversary of Bitcoin passes by, murky waters continue to cloud the crypto seascape. Skeptics, supporters and talking heads alike have tabled the same questions that arose when cryptocurrency cannonballed into the public discourse in 2009: How exactly does it work? How can we ensure its security? Which cryptocurrency might emerge as the dominant medium of exchange?

Chief among them: Just how exactly can we account for them at tax time?

Hardly every (or any) crypto concern has met its solution. But in certain cases, the benefits of time, research, trial and error have given curious investors a few guardrails to grip. And on the issue of taxes and cryptocurrency, we’ve done our best to reveal everything you need to know in this guide. 

Why It Matters to Crypto Investors

In the eyes of the U.S. Government, Bitcoin is not, in the case of the average investor, money. Only money is money. Perhaps no one has said it better than the IRS themselves:

“Virtual currency is a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value. In some environments, it operates like “real” currency — i.e., the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that is designated as legal tender, circulates, and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance — but it does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction.”

So why does that matter for you, the potentially average investor? This notion alone — that cryptocurrency should be treated as something other than legal tender (and in the case of the United States, treated as property) — leads to an unsurprising endpoint: Tax dodging.

Intentional or not, people who incur even nominal losses or gains on the crypto markets may submit to the temptation of avoiding taxes altogether to avoid already-involuted tax laws seeping into their newest investment vehicle.

But the stakes are grave. Recent reports have seen crypto investors face prison time and as much as $250,000 penalties for mistakes or (“mistakes”) on their tax filings.

Long and short? When you invest in cryptocurrency, it’s important to get your taxes right the first time around.

Where to Start

Whether it’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ripple, Monero, Zcash (…we could keep going…) or any other type of cryptocurrency, you should always start in the same place.

Someone or something knows taxes better than you do.

It’s 2019. So you better believe the best tax software available has already built modules for crypto investors. Hunt around for the one that fits your crypto habits best — it shouldn’t take long.

Better still, programs like BitcoinTaxes and CryptoTrader can help you all along the way, accounting for all your tax obligations with as little as a spreadsheet documenting your trades. Pair them with your trusted tax software and life gets much, much easier.

How Your Cryptocurrency is Actually Taxed

While it’s nice to have the 1s and 0s on your side at tax time, nothing can supplant a real working knowledge of how crypto taxation works. The most important thing to know is that reporting is up to you. Freelancers, investors and those with retirement accounts are likely accustomed to banks, companies and financial custodians mailing the appropriate forms at the appropriate time. Not so much with crypto.

Most crypto exchanges will issue a reminder or an official statement if you’ve exceeded a certain amount in gains on the year — somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000. Set an alarm or notch it on your calendar, because barring gains like that, you won’t get another reminder.

A couple more baseline items:

Anytime you sell cryptocurrency, you’ll be taxed.

That means it’s taxable income if you converted crypto assets into non-crypto assets, such as cash, goods and services.

Anytime you used cryptocurrency to buy something, you’ll be taxed.

Some cryptocurrencies have had to outgrow their reputation as the underworld’s medium of exchange, and to do so, federal agencies have gotten serious about accounting for every transaction that takes place, digital or not. Does it fly against crypto’s creed to become a truly anonymous ledger? It’s up for debate. But we’re light years away from a world of loosely governed, unregulated exchanged — until then, we all play by the same rules.

Some other factors you’ll have to consider

• Take stock of the type of cryptocurrency you own. While almost every cryptocurrency is taxed in the same fashion, there is a scenario where variety matters: Selling one cryptocurrency for another results in a taxable event. Be sure to consult an accountant before you attempt to offset your losses via washsale or any other technique.
• Keep tabs on the fair market value of the virtual currency measured in U.S. dollars, as of the date it was received. For U.S. tax purposes, transactions using virtual currency must be reported in U.S. dollars.
• Know how you got it. Remember earlier when we mentioned that cryptocurrency is treated like property under U.S. tax law? That means their purchase and sale gets the same treatment as any other capital loss or gain. So, in turn, know how you used it, too.
• Know how long you’ve owned it. Tax rates depend on how long you’ve held on to a property — in this case, your crypto. If you hold onto your cryptocurrency for under a year, you’ll be taxed at short-term rates. If you’ve held it over a year, you’ll be taxed at long-term rates. Long-term rates are typically more favorable than short-term rates, so that might be something to bear in mind as you evaluate your trading strategy. The IRS has a comprehensive resource for navigating the relevant responsibilities to Uncle Sam.

What About Mining?

Most cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin being the most visible, allow users to “mine” that currency and in essence bring new monetary units into existence. Mining is a computing-intensive task that wards away most casual speculators and investors, but for those with the time, interest and horsepower to do it, it can be a valuable endeavor.

In the case of Bitcoin, the IRS assess mining income as business income like any other. As long as you’ve produced the equivalent of $400 USD or more in a calendar year, you’ll need to report it. If you own all of your own mining hardware, software and equipment, then a Schedule C is in order. Schedule C accounts for an ordinary income tax, plus a 15.3% self-employment taxes.

According to Coindesk, you may stand to benefit if your mining operation has already incorporated as a business and your net income exceeds $60,000. Business tax rules could be a little more generous, eliminating (or at least reducing) that additional 15.3%.

What About Cryptocurrency as Income?

There’s an added element for employers who pay out in cryptocurrency — each and every transaction must be converted to its USD equivalent at the time of transaction, then reported to the IRS on a standard W-2. Employees (and the self-employed) must do the same, reporting their W-2 wages in dollars at their worth on the day they were received.

Can You Pay Taxes in Crypto?

Yes, you can. For the investors and evangelists so devoted that American dollars are a thing of their past, there are states which allow crypto payments for crypto taxation. Ohio staked its claim as the first to accept cryptocurrency as tax payment.

Efforts to incorporate cryptocurrency payments in other states haven’t been quite as successful, but it never hurts to check with your state’s department of taxation.

Keeping Track of Your Transactions

All of that adds up to one thing: keep a log of your transactions. However you want to do it. By hand, by spreadsheet or by software, a log of your transactions is an indispensable tool during tax season. Whether you’re an employer, employee or investor, the last thing you want to do is going rooting through your past transactions, sifting through dates, times, gains and losses when you could have had them at your fingertips all along. Think simple — it doesn’t have to be a complicated template. Something like this:

Of course, that’s a crude interpretation of what the tax services might recommend. Take this as another reminder to set yourself up with the proper accounting software before you start buying, selling or mining. That’s another place you won’t want to play catch-up.

On Charity

Many charities accept crypto payments. After all, why shouldn’t they? It’s another avenue for getting resources to the people who need it most.

As Forbes points out, charitable contributions of any form are treated kindly by the IRS. They come without capital gains tax, and allow donors to deduct the fair market value from the donated sum. Moreover, most charities are tax exempt. So should they choose to turn around and sell your donation on behalf of their cause, they won’t be taxed for it.

The Bottom Line

Cryptocurrency taxation is complicated, but far from impossible. In most cases, it serves an investor well to mentally frame it as property. In Bulletin 2014-21, the IRS states it as plainly as can be:

“For federal tax purposes, virtual currency is treated as property. General tax principles applicable to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency.”

Beyond that, it’s on you to have the right people and programs in your corner. Do yourself a favor and find an accountant who has experience in the territory, and don’t hesitate to spend a few extra dollars on software that’ll help you organize your transactions on the fly.

If trading cryptocurrency is worth the risks, then surely a little safeguarding at tax time is worth the reward.

 

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Inheriting a tidy sum? Spend it wisely

Has a relative or friend left you money in their will? If you’re not sure what to do with it, read our step-by-step guide to how to make the most of that extra cash

Perhaps you are thinking of using your inheritance windfall to pay off your mortgage or would rather invest it or use the opportunity to help others. Your approach will depend on how much you receive and your circumstances, but before you get carried away, here are the main points to consider.

Don’t rush into a decision

The average inheritance is £11,000, peaking at £33,000 for people approaching retirement, according to the Office for National Statistics, while more than half of us expect one, according to research by the Co-op. However, as welcome as a cash lump sum might be, inheriting money is bittersweet as it often comes from the loss of a loved one. Grief can cloud your judgement and you will no doubt want to do justice to the person who has left you the money and worked hard to earn it, so never rush into financial decisions.

“Just like you should never go shopping hungry, don’t walk into a travel agent after receiving an inheritance,”warns Charlie Parker at wealth management firm Sanlam UK. “It may be tempting to change your immediate financial circumstances but before doing so, ask yourself: ‘How can this money be deployed over my lifetime’, remembering this may never happen to you again.”

“Don’t make a sudden decision - you may never get another windfall”

Savings of up to £85,000 are protected in most UK bank and building society accounts if something goes wrong, under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However, in the case of an inheritance, a balance of up to £1 million is protected for six months. This means that you don’t have to move your money straight away over fears it could be vulnerable in the unlikely event that your bank of building society goes bust.

Seek advice

When receiving unexpected money, it’s a good idea to seek advice to ensure you make the best financial decisions.

“Expect to pay from around £500 for advice but this depends on what services your adviser performs for you,” says Karen Barrett at Unbiased. “Your first meeting is usually free, so you can find out exactly what your adviser can offer you and decide whether to proceed. Find a local adviser on Unbiased.co.uk.”

Ditch debt

Start by repaying any money you owe – for example, on credit cards or personal loans.

Jamie Smith-Thompson, managing director of financial planner Portafina, says: “A loan or credit card balance with a high interest rate can feel like a burden, which is all the more reason why it should always be the first to go. Once cleared, it saves you paying back more than you owe in interest and increases your disposable income.”

When prioritising which debts to pay, start with the smallest value first and those incurring the most interest.

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Boost your savings

Your next priority should be an emergency fund of three to six months’ expenditure, so you can handle unexpected costs. Then a mix of savings products will work best – some easy-access and some fixed-rate savings between one and five years.

“Don’t assume you have to stick it all in Cash Isa accounts,” says Andrew Hagger, founder of personal finance website MoneyComms.co.uk.

“Everyone now has a personal savings allowance (PSA), which means as a basic-rate tax payer you can earn up to £1,000 in interest a year without paying any tax on it – £500 for higher-rate taxpayers. Unfortunately, banks and building societies offer lower rates on Cash Isas than on standard savings accounts, another reason not to go totally down the Isa route.

“To give you an idea of amount of interest you could earn and stay within PSA limits, if you had £45,000 in an account paying 2.2% you would earn £990 interest in a year,” he adds.

Minimise your mortgage

An inheritance can be life-changing for those wanting to get on the property ladder or pay off a chunk of their mortgage.

But be aware of your lender’s overpayment limits or you could incur an early redemption charge (ERC), says Ray Boulger, mortgage expert at John Charcol.

Brits reveal their inheritance goals

• Save it
• Invest it
• Don’t know
• Pass it to children or grandchildren, pay off the mortgage or go on holiday
• Home improvements

Source: Co-op Legal Services, October 2018

“Most mortgages allow overpayments of up to 10% a year without incurring an early repayment charge. Therefore, if you happen to receive the windfall at the right time of the year you might be able to repay 20% within a short space of time by using two of the annual ERC free allowances. However, timing varies between lenders, so check first,” he says.

If the windfall is large enough to exceed the ERC-free limit Mr Boulger says it may still be worth overpaying the mortgage, depending on how much the ERC is. “In most cases it will be between 1% and 5%. Once the ERC period has finished (usually when the fixed or discounted rate does) there are normally no limits on overpayment.”

If you have an offset mortgage, you can usually pay as much into your linked offset savings or current account as you like without ERCs, saving on future interest payments.

If you pay off your mortgage, consider cancelling some of your life insurance – assuming you don’t have dependents. If there are people who are financially dependent on you, use freed-up cash to buy life insurance, plus protection in case accident or illness means you are unable to work.

Invest your money

You can invest any money you won’t need for the next five to 10 years in the stock market. Risk is involved but investing over a longer time period gives you time to ride out fluctuations and take advantage of long-term growth. As a result, investments have far more growth potential than money in a savings account.

Invest in a number of funds to spread risk. “Consider a low-cost index tracker, such as Legal & General UK Index, which aims to follow the performance of the UK stock market,” says Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Or opt for actively managed funds, where the fund manager uses their expertise to try to outperform the market. In the UK, we like AXA Framlington UK or Rathbones Income. And if you want to take advantage of growth wherever it is in the world, we like Lindsell Train Global Equity.”

Invest to enjoy far more growth potential than cash in a savings account

The first £20,000 of any investments each year should be in an Isa, which means any gains are free of tax, and any dividends are tax free, too.

Moneywise First 50 Funds can be a good place to start (see Moneywise.co.uk/first-50-funds).

Help out loved ones

Receiving an inheritance offers the chance to help other family members. For example, Mr Smith-Thompson says you can use the Lifetime Isa to help children or grandchildren buy their first home.

“The government will give a 25% bonus on contributions to this and you can save up to £4,000 a year. Or consider a Help to Buy Isa, which includes a bonus of up to £3,000 towards the deposit for a new home. You can also set up a pension for a child. “This offers tax relief on contributions and any growth on the lump sum is not taxed either,” he explains.

Older people who inherit and don’t necessarily need the money may want to pass on the gift. If you act within two years of the deceased’s death, you can draw up a deed of variation to redirect the gift to your chosen beneficiary. This avoids the money becoming part of your estate and subject to inheritance tax (IHT).

What is more, you can make gifts of up to £3,000 in total each year that will fall outside your estate for IHT purposes. You can also give gifts of any size and, so long as you live for at least seven years after making the gift, it will fall outside your estate for tax purposes.

Get professional advice for any money you wish to pass on and protect beneficiaries by making or updating your will.

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Pep up your pension

Kate Smith, head of pensions at investment firm Aegon, shares her top tips for boosting your retirement income:

If you don’t have any pension savings, putting some of your windfall into a pension will set you up for a good start in building savings for later life. This is because you get tax relief on your pension at the highest rate of income tax you pay, ie at 20%, 40% or 45%. You are allowed to pay up to £40,000 a year based on your earnings into a pension up to your 75th birthday and still get tax relief.

If you’re employed, you can pay some of your inheritance into your workplace pension and get tax relief on the amount you pay in. Your employer might even match some or all of your contributions.

If you’re self-employed, you will need to find your own pension plan. A financial adviser can help you with this or you can start a Self Invested Personal Pension (Sipp) on an investing platform (see our feature on page 73 for how to pick the lowest-cost Sipp platform for you).

If you don’t work, you can pay into a pension, but you’re limited to £3,600 a year, including tax relief. For a basic-rate taxpayer this means you can pay in £2,880 and get a government top-up of £720. You could drip-feed your inheritance into a pension over a number of years.

Take advantage of carry forward rules. If you have already filled up your annual allowance for this tax year, you can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This rule gives you the flexibility to pay in large occasional contributions into your pension such as inheritance payments, and still get tax relief. It is possible to pay in more, but you won’t benefit from tax relief.

If you’re retired, check your pension plan to see if you can add lump sums to your pot to boost your retirement income. The rules are more restrictive if you have started to take a ‘flexi-access’ income, in which case you will have a much lower pension annual allowance of only £4,000 a year. Check whether these rules apply before you pay large inheritance payments into your pension. One tip is to spread pension contributions over a number of years up to age 75.

Sarah Jagger is a freelance journalist, writing for magazines such as Yours, Essentials and Good Housekeeping

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Top tips for a stress-free building project

From finding a builder to writing a contract and knowing what to do if things go wrong, we lay the foundations for a hassle-free renovation

Carrying out home improvements can be one of the priciest things you will do, after buying your home. It can be wonderful when everything goes well, but can cost a lot of money, time and stress if it doesn’t.

Here are our top checklists to make sure building work goes to plan – and to explain your rights when it doesn’t.

10 tips to finding a good builder

1. Get at least three firm written quotes, not just rough estimates. Ignore any that are very different to the other quotes.

   
   

2. Ask friends and family for recommendations. Charity Age UK may be able to provide a list of recommended builders in your area.

   
   

3. If your local council has signed up for it, you can search by postcode for a trader through the Trading Standards Buy With Confidence scheme (Buywithconfidence.gov.uk). Contractors are vetted and are criminal-record checked if they go into people’s homes.

   
   

4. You can also use the government-endorsed TrustMark scheme to find a trader in your area (Trustmark.org.uk/find-a-tradesman). The scheme inspects contractors on site to check the quality of their work.

   
   

5. Another option is the Trading Standards Institute Consumer Codes Approval Scheme (Tradingstandards.uk/commercial-services/approval-and-accreditation/the-consumer-codes-approval-scheme). Traders will have agreed to provide good standards of service, including clear information before a contract is signed and a clear complaints procedure.

   
   

6. You can search for a trader who belongs to a building trade association – try the Federation of Master Builders’ find-a-builder tool (Fmb.org.uk). Alternatively, consumer group the HomeOwners Alliance offers a search tool to find local tradespeople (Hoa.org.uk/services/find-your-tradesman).

   
   

7. Which? operates its Trusted Traders scheme (Trustedtraders.which.co.uk). Members have to sign up to the Which? comprehensive code of conduct and to using a dispute resolution scheme.

   
   

8. Be wary of any builder who can start straight away. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) says: “Builders’ workloads have been rising steadily over the past two years, particularly with home renovations. As more than 40% of builders need at least four months’ notice from consumers, it’s important to note that if a builder is free to start work tomorrow, alarm bells should ring.”

   
   

9. Check to see if the builder has public liability or employer’s insurance. Consider a building warranty that either they or you can take out to help give you further peace of mind.

   
   

10. If the tradesperson hasn’t been personally recommended to you, ask them for contact details of their former customers who are willing to show you their completed building projects and vouch for their work. Don’t just rely on online reviews – particularly the ones on the builder’s own website.

Get at least three firm quotes in writing – not just rough estimates

building-1.jpg

Signing a contract

All professional builders should willingly agree to a contract that includes an agreed staged payment plan. In addition, continuous communication throughout the project is the best way to avoid problems arising.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, advises always using a written contract and agreeing payment terms.

“Payment terms vary from project to project and it’s ultimately down to what the builder and their client agree between themselves,” he says.

However, the FMB generally recommends that the maximum deposit paid to a builder should be 10% of the contract price.

Although it may be time-consuming to prepare a contract, it is invaluable to be able to refer to it while the job is being carried out. It also forms part of your evidence should problems arise – along with photographs you should take as the job progresses.

For peace of mind, you can buy contracts that are pre-prepared with what you need to cover. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has produced its RIBA Domestic Building Contract, designed for homeowners and builders. You can fill it out online for £35 or buy a paper version for £25 (excluding VAT). For more details, visit Architecture.com/ribacontracts.

“Payment terms vary, so it’s up to the builder and client to agree terms”

Your rights when things go wrong

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you are entitled to goods of satisfactory quality that last a reasonable length of time, and services carried out with reasonable skill and care.

If something goes wrong, you should be able to get it fixed, or some of your money returned.

You should first try to work out the issue with the trader who arranged the work, even if some or all of it was subcontracted.

Keep evidence of what went wrong, including paperwork, emails, photos and notes, including dates and times.

If you’re not happy with the job done, you are entitled to ask them to fix it. They should remedy the problem in a reasonable amount of time. If they can’t or won’t finish the job as agreed, you can ask for a refund in line with how bad the problem is.

If you agree to a refund, it will only be on the part of the work that is not up to scratch. You wouldn’t get a full refund on a Rolls-Royce because the iPod dock didn’t work: similarly, you won’t get a full refund when only part of the kitchen is messed up.

Your rights are the same even if you don’t have a written contract. When you told the builder to go ahead, you technically formed a contract at that moment. However, it is much easier to solve disputes if you do have a written contract in place.

If you can’t come to a resolution with the trader and they are a member of a trade association or of one of the schemes mentioned above, contact the association or scheme to see if there is an alternative dispute resolution scheme that could resolve the problem without having to take legal action.

Citizens Advice may also be able to help, or you can phone Trading Standards to make a complaint (03454 04 05 06). It may investigate, educate the trader about the law or take legal action to stop them trading.

Finally, going to the small claims court is an option. However, it can take considerable time, money and stress so it is worth trying all other avenues first to find an amicable resolution.

building-3.jpg

A contract should include the following:

• Total price inclusive/exclusive of VAT
• Timescales
• Start and end dates, to include delays and disruptions
• Payment stages
• Specifications of materials and who is buying them
• Insurance and responsibilities for loss/damage
• Liabilities
• How unexpected work will be dealt with
• Health and safety
• Termination/cancellation rights
• Subcontracting
• Dispute resolution

HELEN DEWDNEY is a freelance journalist writing for the Financial Times and Which?, and is the author of How to Complain.

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Best Light Bulbs for Your Buck: Here’s Why We Chose LEDs

Stella & Dot – A Home-Based Business for Style Enthusiasts

Sponsored by Stella & Dot I first heard of  Stella & Dot back in 2007. A friend of a friend had just started selling it and wanted to let me know so I could include it in my research for the website I was going to launch. One look and I immediately fell in love with […]

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Did You Know You Can Appeal Your Financial Aid Package?

So many of life’s purchases, both large and small, involve negotiations. Everything from the amount we pay for a car, to the final price tag on a home, to what we pay for a gym membership involves some level of haggling or back and forth.

Yet when it comes to college tuition — one of the largest debts many people ever take on — very few applicants consider appealing a financial aid award to obtain more money from their school of choice to cover the cost of attendance.

Perhaps it remains a little-known fact that financial aid packages can be appealed. Or perhaps incoming students are uncertain how the process works and opt not to bother. Whatever the case, the fact is you may be leaving thousands of dollars on the table if your financial aid package is less than adequate and you don’t appeal.

“I worked with a family that received an additional $20,000 a year in aid because they appealed,” said former university administrator Sabrina Manville, co-founder of Edmit, a company that helps families make smarter decisions with regard to college finances, including assisting with appeals.

“That large of an amount is unusual,” continued Manville. “The school made a mistake in the calculations in that case. But the average customer I worked with last year got an additional $5,600.”

The key point here, says Manville, is that if your heart is set on a particular school but the financial aid the school is offering makes it difficult to attend, initiating an appeal could help make the school more affordable.

The Factors That Determine Your Financial Aid Award

When a college or university develops your financial aid package, they do so based on a few different pieces of information about you — including your expected financial contributions, your merit, your achievements, and your competitiveness.

“The school is looking at what will make attending affordable for you and what’s going to incentivize you to come,” said Manville. “And they’re thinking about what other offers you might have on the table.”

When weighing all of the information just outlined, often a college will get the financial aid award wrong, resulting in a price of attendance that’s simply not within your reach financially, or that’s not compelling enough based on other offers you have on table, explained Manville.

In such a case, an appeal could very well be your best course of action.

“An appeal is your chance to go back to the school and ask if there’s any additional money available to make it more attractive for you to go there,” said Manville.

• Related: How to Compare Financial Aid Offers

How to Appeal Your Financial Aid Package

It’s important to understand that the financial aid appeal process varies from school to school. Some may have a very strict or formal process by which they’ll review a financial aid appeal, one that may require completing specific forms. In other cases, it may be a more informal procedure, which could simply entail having a conversation with a financial aid officer or writing a financial aid appeal letter.

The first step is to find out what the school’s approach to an appeal is. You can begin by checking its website (Google the school’s name and “financial aid appeal,” suggests Manville). You could also email the school’s financial aid office to find out what the guidelines are. Yet another option is to try calling the school to find out what the process may entail.

“All schools, even the large ones, should have people you can talk to if you have a question about your financial aid,” said Manville. “Usually it’s the financial aid office.”

What Should Your Appeal Include?

When it comes to making the case for more financial aid, your appeal should first and foremost outline any changes in your financial situation that may have occurred since you initially completed your FAFSA application, said Manville.

Perhaps a parent lost a job and is unable to help you pay for college as expected, or you’ve had a significant health expense arise that’s interfering with your ability to pay. All of that information needs to play prominently in your appeal.

“You could also compare the school’s financial aid award to the other options you have on the table, making clear how the offer from the current school makes it hard for you to choose them,” Manville noted. “Ultimately, it’s about getting in touch with the school and making your case. Talk about why you really want to go the school, but why the current award is making it hard.”

Here’s the kicker that so many students fail to realize: Most schools are open to these conversations because it’s their job to enroll students. What’s more, they care about enrolling students who truly want to be there.

To that end, Manville also recommends that students talk about why they really want to go to the school in question when making an appeal. This will underscore that your application was simply not a shot in dark and that attending will be very meaningful. The school will love that.

“You don’t have to restate the entire application essay, but a little reminder about why you’re excited about the school is great,” said Manville.

One last tip: If there’s any updated academic information that might help your case, it’s also important to include that.

Don’t Pay Full Price

While there’s growing awareness that it’s possible to appeal a financial aid package, Manville says most people still don’t realize it’s possible.

But do yourself a favor and approach a college’s price tag with the same savvy consumer attitude you would bring to any other big-ticket purchase.

“You apply to college not knowing what the price will be,” says Manville, “But the price that comes back is not the end of the conversation if it’s a school you really want to go to. Colleges are doing more and more discounting and fewer and fewer people are paying the price listed on website.”

While the increasing trend of colleges discounting their sticker price may be worth a post of its own, for now the key takeaway is that appealing your financial aid package is definitely worth your time. Because any reduction in your final bill means less debt to contend with upon graduation.

“I always tell families that if there’s a gap between what you can afford and what you’ve been awarded in financial aid, an appeal is definitely worth a try,” concluded Manville. “You’ve already been accepted to the school, so they’re not going to rescind that acceptance.”

Mia Taylor is an award-winning journalist with more than two decades of experience. She has worked for some of the nation’s best-known news organizations, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

More by Mia Taylor:

• Five Money Conversations to Have With Your Kids Before They Go to College
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: How to Qualify (and Why So Few People Do)
• Income-Share Agreements: A Fairer Way to Pay for College, or a New Debt Trap?

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