Tax Return Transcripts: How to Get Copies of Your Old Tax Returns from the Internal Revenue Service

The IRS recommends that you keep tax records for at least three years. If you need a tax return transcript, review these available options for getting one.

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8 Of 9 Financially Vulnerable Americans Used Tax Refunds To Pay Bills: New Survey Shows Many Americans Living on the Financial Edge

According to a new survey, 87% of financially vulnerable Americans used their tax refunds to pay bills. Discover the other popular uses for tax refunds.

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When Lost Luggage Is Reclaimed for Good

Ever lost a bag when traveling? This story might just warm your heart and help to ease your pain.

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The Four States of the Apocalypse: Conn., Ill., NJ and NY Are Careening Off a Progressive Cliff

One year ago in these pages, we predicted that the Trump tax reform would supercharge the national economy but could cause big financial problems for the five highest-tax states: California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. We were right.

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When Lost Luggage Is Reclaimed for Good

Ever lost a bag when traveling? This story might just warm your heart and help to ease your pain.

Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2Vni9ZN

If You Work From Home, Here Are 11 Tax Deductions You Need to Know About

A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Budget You Can Actually Stick to

If you’re anything like me, you’re perpetually swinging between vowing to cut all unnecessary spending cold turkey and humming “Treat Yo’self” as you order your third UberEats meal in 12 hours.

Which one you’re doing depends on the day — and how long it’s been since your last paycheck.

The result: a pitiful savings account balance, scrimping to pay the minimum on your credit card and feeling like you’re still living paycheck to paycheck even though your income has come a long way since your first job out of college.

You know there is a way to solve this problem. You know that if you just create a budget — and by some miracle, stick to it — you could finally get the financial freedom everyone else seems to have already figured out.

You also know budgeting is a buzzkill.

But if you give it a genuine shot, we promise that we will, too. We’re in this together.

How to Budget in 4 Easy Steps

Creating a budget doesn’t have to be a grueling process. If you take some time to prepare and learn how to budget in a way that makes the most sense for your lifestyle, you can start on the road toward controlling your personal finances in no time.

We’ve laid out exactly what you need to do in four pretty simple steps.

Step 1: Know How Much You Make and Spend

Before you can make a budget that works, you need to know your numbers. We like to focus on a monthly budget, since most bills are due once a month. Log in to your bank account online, and grab your last couple months’ worth of bank statements. While you’re at it, grab your credit card statements, too.

First, write down your monthly income.

This should be your take-home pay for the month. That’s the money you earn minus deductions for taxes, Medicare, Social Security, health insurance contributions and allocations to retirement accounts like your 401(k) or Roth IRA.

If you have irregular income, it’s best to take a look at what you’ve earned over a longer period of time — the past six months, say — and use the monthly average for your budget.

But don’t just stop there. Add any extra money that comes in from your side hustles. Child support payments. Recurring bonuses or stipends. Financial aid payments. Include it all.

Your next step is the painful part: It’s time to log your monthly expenses.

Start with the recurring stuff: Your rent or mortgage, car note, car insurance, cell phone bill, internet, utilities and debt payments. Don’t forget the fun stuff, like your cable TV, Netflix and Spotify Premium accounts.

From here, you’ll want to start adding up your discretionary expenses. Analyze your spending habits. How much are you spending on shopping, eating out and drinks with friends?

To get a full picture, you can put these things in categories. For example, movies, concerts and museum visits can all go under entertainment. Your gym membership, yoga membership and the drop-in rate on that one CrossFit class can all go under fitness.

Look at a few months of statements to get an average for this part, too. That will give you a more accurate picture of your finances.

Step 2: Set Your Financial Goals

If you’re going to succeed at this budgeting game, you need have an idea of what you’re hoping to accomplish.

It can be a simple short-term savings goal like funding a vacation with your college besties. Or a long-term one, like learning to budget so your kid can go to college without student loan debt.

Set a goal, and make it good — your financial plan could be the only thing that stops you from swiping your debit card to buy yet another pair of shoes this weekend.

I take it a step further and mix my financial goals with my personal ones.

For example, I tend to overspend on restaurant meals. But budgeting less for eating out means I cook more healthy meals at home, so I save while staying on track to accomplish my weight loss goals, too. Then, I can use the money I save to build up my emergency fund or pay down debt a bit faster and continue toward my goal of becoming debt-free.

Step 3: Find Your Favorite Budgeting Method

Once you have a complete picture of your finances, it’s time to pick the budgeting method that works best for you. The one you choose will depend on how much time and energy you have to devote to it.

If you feel comfortable creating an old-fashioned budget worksheet in Excel, you can do that. We’ve got a few super simple ideas you can try if charts make your eyes glaze over.

But even after you’ve picked your favorite budgeting method, don’t be afraid to bend it a little to fit your financial situation.

Bare-Bones Budget

You don’t have to spend several hours each month working on a budget. The easiest way to budget is to grab a pen and paper and simply write down how much you make and how much you need to spend on the essentials — like housing, utilities, food and debt repayment. You save the rest.

That’s it. You’re done.

I’d suggest keeping that sheet of paper somewhere visible to remind you to rein in your spending.

Zero-Based Budget

The zero-based budget takes the bare-bones budget one step further. The goal here is to get to zero at the end of each month. It helps you account for each dollar on the way.

Write down how much you make, and divide it to cover all your bills, savings and discretionary spending until you hit $0 at the end of the month.

Although this plan encourages you to get down to nothing, the idea isn’t to spend without regard; it’s to make sure every dollar goes exactly where you intend for it to go every month.

50/20/30 Budget

This takes all the guesswork out of deciding which expenses should stay in your budget and which ones need to go.

With the 50/20/30 plan, 50% of your money goes to essential expenses like housing, utilities and your car payment. From there, 20% will go to financial goals like savings and investments. The final 30% is yours to spend on the fun stuff like restaurants, movies and drinks with friends.

Cash Envelope Budget

The cash envelope system is good for those who have problems overspending on variable expenses like groceries or entertainment.

Review your monthly income and average expenses to determine how much you spend in each category. Then take out your envelopes, label them by spending category and fill them up with their cash allocations. (You don’t need to use envelopes for fixed costs like rent or car insurance.)

When you’ve spent all the cash in an envelope, you can no longer spend in that category for the rest of the month.  

Step 4: Find the Best Budgeting Tools for You

Remember when I said you’re not alone in this quest to budget your money? Well, there are some apps and books that can help.

Budgeting Apps

While budgeting by hand works great, your smartphone can streamline it.

• Mint: My favorite free app is Mint, which is available on iPhone and Android devices, and is also accessible at Mint.com. You connect your bank account and credit cards, then you set a dollar amount for how much you plan to spend in each category.

Mint will automatically analyze your spending and notify you when you get close to your budget limit or overspend. It’s pretty easy to use and can save you lots of time. The only downside is that the “You’ve exceeded your budget” emails can sometimes feel a little judgmental.

• EveryDollar: If you’re a fan of the zero-based budget, EveryDollar is the free app for you. It’s also perfect for side hustlers whose income can fluctuate from month to month. As you manually track your spending with the app, use it to make sure every dollar you make is accounted for.
• Prism: This isn’t technically a budgeting tool, but it’s still worth mentioning. Prism is a free app that puts all your bills in one place, so you always know exactly how much money you have and how much you owe.

You can connect everything from rent and car insurance to student loan payments and your Tidal music streaming account, and you can pay your bills right from the app.

• You Need a Budget: This started out as an app and then became a book, too. It hinges on four rules:

1. Give every dollar a job.
2. Embrace your true expenses, not your ideal ones.
3. Roll with the punches, and adjust your budget as you spend.
4. “Age your money,” meaning hold onto it longer, and start to break the habits that leave you living paycheck to paycheck.

You Need a Budget is more hands-on than other apps. It’s also the only option that’s not free. After the 34-day free trial, you’ll pay $6.99 per month for the service.

Budgeting Books

These books will get you on the path to becoming a budgeting pro in no time.

• “The One Week Budget”: This book is an Amazon bestseller by Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche. We’ve even got a copy in our library at The Penny Hoarder HQ. Through a series of worksheets, it walks you through how to analyze your income, track your spending and pay down debt fast so you can get back to saving for the life you want.
• “The Total Money Makeover”: This book was written by financial guru Dave Ramsey. A few Penny Hoarders who have paid off heaps of debt swear by his teachings. His book is also an Amazon bestseller and could be the perfect place to start if you want to break some of those not-so-great money habits and start building a budget that works.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

Senior Writer Nicole Dow contributed to this post.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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

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Considering Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? Read This Before You Decide

Filing for bankruptcy is never an easy choice.

But sometimes, it can feel like the only way to escape the vice grip of debt and move on with life.

Most personal bankruptcy filers will turn to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which offers almost total debt forgiveness and a quick discharge time.

But before you can get a fresh start from a Chapter 7, you should know the basics — and what to expect from the process.

What Is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

In researching your options, you’ll find there are two common types of bankruptcy for individuals and couples: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. While similar in many ways, they differ in some big areas.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also known as “liquidation bankruptcy,” is a bankruptcy by which individuals or couples who are deemed to not have a high enough income to pay back debts can absolve themselves through liquidating their assets.

If the liquidation doesn’t cover the entire debt, then the remaining balance is typically forgiven.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy, also known as “wage-earner bankruptcy,” is for those whose income or other qualifiers make them ineligible for Chapter 7.

These individuals or couples will work with a trustee to create a payment plan lasting three to five years to repay most of their debt, and they won’t have to liquidate any assets unless they choose to.

Of the two, Chapter 7 is by far the most popular.

Here’s how to determine if you qualify (and how to file).

Before You Can File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Before you file, you’ll have to determine if you qualify for Chapter 7. Seeking professional advice from a bankruptcy attorney is the only real way to determine your eligibility, but if you haven’t committed to getting one yet, here’s what they’ll look for.

The Means Test

Because the basis for Chapter 7 bankruptcy is not having the means to pay your debts, the first step in the process is a “means test.”

The means test is a form you’ll file with information on your income, expenses and family size to determine whether you have enough disposable income to repay your debts.

If your income falls below the median income for your state and family size, then you’re more likely to qualify. If not, it’s still possible you can qualify. You’ll have to report your last six months of “necessary” expenses to show that the money left over — your disposable income — isn’t enough to make your debt payments.

Credit Counseling

You’ll have to participate in a pre-bankruptcy counseling session with an approved credit counselor. The Department of Justice provides a list of approved credit counseling agencies in each state, but you can also do it online or over the phone.

This session is meant to give you an idea as to whether you really need to file for bankruptcy or if an informal repayment plan would be better. It’ll also help you with budgeting in hopes that you won’t repeat the bankruptcy process in the future.

The fee for this credit counseling session can range from $25-$50 and lasts 90-120 minutes.

Bankruptcy History

The last thing that can make you ineligible for filing is your history with bankruptcy. You’re ineligible to file if you’ve had another bankruptcy case dismissed within the last 180 days.

You’re also ineligible for discharge if you’ve had debt forgiven in a previous Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in the past eight years or a Chapter 13 case in the past six years.

How Much Does a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cost?

Once you’ve checked those three boxes, then you’re ready to file. But be prepared for the costs. The initial filing fee for Chapter 7 — as of February 2019 — is $335.

If you can’t afford the fee, you can either ask the court to split it into four payments or apply for a fee waiver when you’re submitting your initial bankruptcy petition. You’re usually only eligible for a fee waiver if your household income is at least 150% below federal poverty guidelines.

You’ll also need to pay your bankruptcy attorney, which can cost anywhere from $500 to $3,500, depending on where you live.

The Cons of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

The major downside to Chapter 7 bankruptcy is obvious: potentially having to give up many of your treasured things. But there are other drawbacks you may not think of.

• It will ruin your credit and stay on your credit report for up to 10 years.
  
• If you’re behind on your mortgage or car payments, then you will likely have to forfeit them.
  
• You’ll lose any luxury possessions and nonexempt property you own.
  
• It won’t automatically absolve you of the responsibility of alimony, child support or repaying student loans and mortgage liens.

The Pros of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

But the upside is great, too: You can get much of your debt discharged and be able to start fresh. Other positives include:

• Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be completed in three to six months (versus three to five years for a Chapter 13.)
  
• You get to keep all your salary and wages after you file.
  
• Most states allow you to keep your home and car, especially if you’re current on payments.
  
• Chapter 7 bankruptcy can aid in getting a family court order to dismiss child support and alimony payments.
  
• There’s no debt limit to qualify.

If you owe far more than your assets and/or property are worth, Chapter 7 bankruptcy could make financial sense.

Still, while some of your property won’t be taken and sold to repay creditors, much of it will be. Chapter 7 bankruptcy might be better for renters who don’t stand to lose their homes or for others with few assets.

For one contributor to The Penny Hoarder, who told her bankruptcy story under an assumed name, filing Chapter 7 wasn’t just a financial decision; it was an emotional one, too.

After filing bankruptcy when she was more than $100,000 in debt with a $28,000 salary, she battled feelings of guilt, shame and failure as she worked to get her finances back on track.

Take that into consideration when you’re making your own bankruptcy decision.

How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Once you’ve determined your eligibility and counted the costs, things really get moving. Here’s a step-by-step guide to the process.

1. File Your Formal Petition

Your formal Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition includes submitting many forms and your filing fee or waiver application to your local bankruptcy court.

2. Submit Documents to a Bankruptcy Trustee

You’ll need to submit proof of the information you submitted in your initial petition to your bankruptcy trustee. The trustee will be in charge of executing your bankruptcy. They’ll round up your property, sell it, challenge creditors if needed and monitor your eligibility for Chapter 7 throughout the proceedings.  

3. Attend the Meeting of Creditors

You’ll attend one meeting with your trustee and creditors after filing. You and your trustee will review the documents you sent them with the creditors, and they will, in turn, inquire about your finances and property.

That’s usually the end, unless there’s a need for more investigation or documents, in which case your trustee will schedule another meeting.  

Be aware that if you don’t show up to your meeting, the court will dismiss your bankruptcy case.

4. Take the Debtor Education Course

To get your discharge, you’ll have to take one more course called the Debtor Education Course. This one is about two hours long and can usually be taken with the same agency you did your pre-bankruptcy counseling with.

You won’t want to procrastinate on this. You only have 60 days after your initial meeting of creditors to file your completion certificate with the court.

Failing to file your completion certificate will cause the court to dismiss your case, and you’ll have to pay the filing fee again to reopen it. You’ll also probably have to file an extra petition requesting they accept the late certificate.

5. Get Your Discharge

Once you’ve followed the steps, the court will officially discharge your qualifying debts and close your case.

Be sure to hold onto your discharge order, because while creditors will no longer have any claim to your debt, some may still try to come for it. All you’ll have to do is send them a copy of that discharge order to get them off your back.

What to Expect After You File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Between filing and discharge, there are a few events you should look out for.

Automatic Stay

Once you file bankruptcy, creditors and collectors will have to stop trying to collect their money while the case plays out. That’s called an “automatic stay.”

If a company continues to try to collect during the stay, it’s violating a court order. Let the company know in writing, and the collections will likely stop. If they don’t, notify the bankruptcy court, and they’ll likely pursue litigation against the company.

Seizing of Assets

Your trustee will handle all of this for you. In the unlikely case your home is one of those assets, the trustee cannot come over without first consulting you. And if there’s any disagreement as to what is included in the bankruptcy estate, you can file forms to dispute.

Receiving Reaffirmation Agreements

For secured debts that you want to hold onto — usually your primary mortgage and car loans — you’ll have to sign a reaffirmation agreement for each debt, which will waive the discharge of that particular debt. These will be sent to your attorney and will have to be signed by both you and the creditor before you receive your discharge order.

Jen Smith is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder and author of “Meal Planning on a Budget.” She gives money-saving and debt-payoff tips on Instagram at @modernfrugality.

Former staff writer Desiree Stennett contributed to this post.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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

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The Pros and Cons of Coworking Spaces

Coworking spaces are on a tremendous growth curve. But are they all they're cracked up to be?

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Best Social Media WordPress Plugin – (Review Updated for Winter of 2019)

Social media has undoubtedly changed the way we live. It’s also changed the way we market ourselves, our businesses, and our websites.

If you have a website in 2019, you definitely want some type of social media integration.

You want your website visitors to engage with you on social media, and you want your social media followers to convert on your website. This won’t happen unless you make it as easy as possible.

Let me give you an example: You wrote and published a killer blog post. A reader loves your post and wants to share it with their friends on social media. How do they do this?

Without the proper tools, the person would have to copy your blog link, navigate to the social platform, login, and manually paste the link before sharing it. This process involves too many steps, multiple browsing screens, and too much room for error. The person may ultimately decide that it’s just not worth going through all of those steps to share your post. That decision may not even be conscious — they may get distracted and move on to something else, leaving your post unshared.

Social media WordPress plugins can make it easy for website visitors to share with just one click.

As a result, you’ll benefit from higher engagement rates on your social media profiles and your website alike. That’s just one example of why you need to install a social media plugin to your WordPress site. As we continue through this guide and review the best social media WordPress plugins, you’ll learn about the additional benefits.

Top features to look for in a social media WordPress plugin

Before we analyze specific plugins, I want to take a moment to identify some of the functionalities to keep your eye on when searching for a social media plugin:

Social icons — This shows your website visitors that you have social media pages. If they click on an icon, they’ll automatically be directed to the corresponding profile.

Social logins — Allow people to sign into customer profiles using their social media accounts. This makes it easier on your customers since they won’t have to create brand new usernames and passwords to access content on your website.

Social sharing icons — Website visitors can share content from your site to their social media profiles with just one click.

Social feeds — Showcase your social media feeds directly on your website. This feature gives your website visitors an idea of what to expect if they follow your profiles.

Social locking — Restrict your best content with a social locking tool. Content can be unlocked if a website visitor makes a specified action, such as following you or sharing content on social media.

Social comments — Enhance the conversation in your comments section by adding social media comments to your posts. This is a great way to drive engagement and get more blog comments.

Automated posting — Instead of manually posting your website content on social media, you can take advantage of plugins that do this for you.

Now that you know the top features of the best social media WordPress plugins, it’s time to check out the top options to consider.

1. Social Warfare

Social Warfare is considered among the best social media WordPress plugins because it’s so simple. Other plugins have a reputation for slowing down your website, but that shouldn’t happen with Social Warfare.

This plugin is designed to increase shares by adding social sharing icons to your website. You can add buttons for the most popular social media networks, including:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Pinterest

If you upgrade to Social Warfare Pro, you’ll gain access to share buttons for other platforms like Reddit, WhatsApp, Buffer, Tumblr, Pocket, and more.

Social Warfare also lets you choose exactly where you want to place the sharing buttons. You can add them above your content, below your content, in both of these locations, or manually place them on your pages. This plugin offers floating share icons as well — as a user scrolls your site, the sharing buttons remain in view at all times.

Social Warfare allows you to track your results with UTM parameters. You can view analytics to see how well your sharing icons are performing so you can tweak them, if necessary.

2. Instagram Feed

As the name implies, the Instagram Feed WordPress plugin lets you share your Instagram content directly on your website. By adding your Instagram posts to your website, visitors will have a better idea of what type of content you share on that platform. And, they won’t have to search for your profile on Instagram. This is a great way to increase your Instagram followers. It’s also a great way to keep your site updated with the fresh images you’re posting on Instagram.

Setting up the plugin is easy. All you need to do is link your Instagram account and determine where you want the feed displayed on your website.

There is a premium version of this plugin that comes with features like:

• Shoppable feeds
• Ability to filter content based on hashtags
• Popup lightboxes
• Hashtag feeds
• Advanced moderation for hiding or showcasing specific posts
• Post comments for user feeds

For one website, you can purchase the pro license for $39. But if you just want the basic feed on your website, you can stick with the free version and save a few bucks.

3. Social Locker

Social Locker is definitely one of my favorite social media WordPress plugins. Personally, I love the whole concept behind how this plugin works.

Here’s the thing. Just adding social sharing icons to your website doesn’t necessarily give people a reason to follow you or share your content. You can increase those chances by installing this plugin.

That’s because Social Locker restricts your premium content. For example, let’s say you have an ebook on your website. As opposed to charging for downloads, you use social media engagement as a currency. If someone follows, likes, or shares content on your website, the ebook is unlocked.

Here’s an example of what this would look like from the perspective of a website visitor:

For those of you who normally charge for various types of content on your website and don’t want to give it away for free, you can use these social engagements to generate discounts for that content.

Maybe you have an online video tutorial that you normally charge to view. With Social Locker, you can choose to offer the video at a discount if a user shares your content.

This plugin helps you drive social media traffic while simultaneously gaining quality followers. It’s a great way to generate new leads and drive conversions with social media integration on your website.

4. Super Socializer

Allowing your website visitors to create a customer profile benefits everyone — the user will receive more personalized content, and you’ll be able to learn more information about your customers so you can target them accordingly. It’s a win-win situation.

In order for this strategy to be effective, people need to create these profiles in the first place. That’s easier said than done.

Think about it for a minute: What steps does someone need to take to create a profile? At a minimum, they need to provide you with some personal information and create a username and password. People have so many accounts to keep track of on various websites. Is your site important enough to them to go through this?

You can increase your chances of getting more visitors to do this by integrating your sign up and login process with social media. Super Socializer is perfect for this.

Now users can create an account and login with just one click since they’re likely already signed in to their social media profiles. Plus, they won’t have to remember a new username and password.

Another benefit of this plugin is that you’ll get access to more information about your website visitors. You can target people accordingly based on their social media likes and habits. You can also enable social comments with Super Socializer. This is a great way to drive conversation and get more comments on your blog posts.

Overall, this plugin definitely has more advanced features and functionality that goes far beyond simple social sharing icons, although it does have those options as well. If you want an all in one plugin for social logins, social comments, and social sharing, Super Socializer is worth checking out.

5. Revive Old Post

What happens to your blog posts after you publish them? In a perfect world, they remain relevant in terms of SEO forever, but that doesn’t necessarily help you out on social media.

Here’s another question for you. How are you deciding what to share on your social platforms each day? It’s not always easy to come up with ideas for social media posts.

The Revive Old Post WordPress plugin by Revive Social provides a solution to both of these questions. This plugin automatically shares your previously published content on your social media platforms like:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Pinterest

Revive Old Post can share more than just your blog posts. It can also share pages, custom posts, and media from your website. The plugin will automatically fetch images from your content and attach them to the social media post.

You’ll have complete control over how each post is shared. Maybe you just want the title of your post or page. Some of you may want more, such as a hashtag or additional text.

Revive Old Post can be integrated with your Google Analytics profile. This is ideal for campaign tracking to see how well these links are performing. Overall, it’s a great way to automate your social media posting while simultaneously driving traffic to your website.

BONUS: Revive Network

Revive Social has another plugin, called the Revive Network. This plugin is designed specifically for Facebook and Twitter. It’s made for sharing content from other websites in your industry on social media. This is a great way to expand your professional network, in addition to sharing relevant information on your website. It’s great for those of you who don’t have an active blog or lots of content of your own.

6. Kiwi Social Share

Kiwi Social Share is designed for the average WordPress user. If you’re looking for a plugin that’s easy to install, setup, and won’t confuse you with too many complex features, you’ll definitely want to take a closer look at this option.

With Kiwi Social Share, you’ll be able to create custom icons for social media sharing on your website. You can customize the position of the icons, as well as enable a floating bar that’s always in view. Kiwi Social Share also gives you the option to change the size and shape of the sharing buttons.

It has a “click to tweet” function for specific phrases as well. So if you’re writing a blog and want to highlight one of your favorite quotes, users can share that quote via Twitter with a link back to your blog.

Kiwi Social Share doesn’t slow down your website and lets you create social sharing icons that are visually appealing to your visitors. Installing this plugin puts you in a great position to increase engagement on your website and gain more exposure on social media.

Conclusion

It’s obvious that your website and social media profiles need to be working together to generate optimal results. So what’s the best social media WordPress plugin? It depends on what you’re looking for.

Some of you might just want to add something simple, like social sharing icons to your blog posts or Instagram feeds to your landing pages. While others might be looking for features that are a bit more advanced, like restricting content based on social media actions.

Maybe you want an all-in-one plugin that also has features like social signups and logins.

Do you want to automate your social media posts with your previously published content? There’s a plugin for that too.

As you can see from this guide, there’s a social media WordPress plugin for everyone based on your specific needs. Now, share this post with a friend who needs it. Naturally, there are social buttons right here for you to do just that.

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The Pros and Cons of Coworking Spaces

Coworking spaces are on a tremendous growth curve. But are they all they're cracked up to be?

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Fund Briefing: Is now the right time to invest in UK companies?

With Brexit woes continuing, it is a challenging time for UK companies. But investment experts say that doesn’t mean you should neglect your UK funds

The ongoing Brexit negotiations, international trade tensions, waves of political uncertainty and mixed economic news have certainly made people extremely nervous.

This anxiety is perhaps one reason why £319 million was withdrawn from UK funds during November alone, according to the Investment Association (IA). It is a challenging time, agrees Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown. “UK companies are also dealing with a significant Brexit headwind, with heightened levels of uncertainty putting business off investment and damaging consumer confidence.”

However, no one knows how Brexit will pan out and it could take many years before everything is finalised, so people can’t totally ignore the UK, argues Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services. “There are bound to be some ups and downs along the way, but I think long-term investors should still consider buying – and definitely not selling – UK equity funds,” he says. “We have some world-class companies of all sizes and they should be able to prosper in 
the future.”

In fact, now could actually be a good time to buy, he says.

“The asset class is very much unloved by overseas investors, so is actually reasonable value at the moment. I believe a lot of the bad Brexit news is already priced in,” he adds. It is also worth considering that many companies in the FTSE 100 are multinational, with around 70% of their revenues generated from overseas markets. This means they are more likely to be affected by global, rather than UK-centric, issues.

For investors wanting exposure to the UK stock market, there are three main Investment Association sectors to search for funds: UK All Companies, UK Smaller Companies and UK Equity Income sectors. Each has a different focus.

Funds in UK All Companies invest at least 80% of their assets in UK equities, which have a primary objective of achieving capital growth, while the UK Smaller Companies has at least 80% in firms forming the bottom 10% by market capitalisation. Meanwhile, funds in UK Equity Income invest at least 80% in UK equities, focusing on dividend-paying companies that are expected to pay a rising income over time. The sector you choose will depend on your outlook and investment goals.

“We actually prefer UK equity income at the moment as the stock market is yielding close to 4.8%, so even if price returns are zero, you are still getting a decent income return,” says Mr McDermott. This is because there are two ways of making money from investing in company shares: if they go up in value and if the companies pay out a dividend. Even if values are not rising, you still may get an income from dividends. 

Whichever sector you prefer, there are certain qualities to look for in a fund manager. “They must have a clear process which they stick to, even when their style or asset class is out of favour,” he adds. “They need to be passionate about their work, pragmatic and be able to separate short-term noise from long-term prospects.”

Patrick Connolly, a chartered financial planner with Chase de Vere, suggests the best way to get broad access to the UK stock market is through low-cost, index tracker funds whose role is to mirror the performance of a particular index. “They have become popular with investors disillusioned with high charging actively managed funds that underperform,” he says. “A FTSE 100 or FTSE All-Share tracker is a good choice and the most experienced passive managers include HSBC, L&G, Fidelity and Vanguard.” He highlights the HSBC FTSE All-Share Index fund. 

“The largest holdings in the fund will always be the companies with the highest market capitalisation listed in the UK and these currently include HSBC, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and British American Tobacco,” he adds.

Mr Connolly stresses there are many factors that move share prices, making it impossible for investors to recognise all of them, as well as the potential impact they may have on the performance of a company. “Rather than trying to understand all companies, the best approach for most people is to focus on having diversified exposure to the UK market, alongside exposure to overseas shares and other asset classes, such as fixed interest and property,” he adds.

Andy Parsons, head of investments and product proposition at The Share Centre, advises drip-feeding money into the stock market during volatile periods. “Adopting a ‘little and often’ approach is an achievable strategy that can help reduce exposure to volatility,” he suggests.

One to watch: Liontrust UK Smaller Companies

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L-R: Matt Tonge, Anthony Cross, Julian Fosh and Victoria Stevens

This fund invests in UK smaller companies and seeks to identify those with a durable competitive advantage that will allow them to sustain a higher than average level of profitability for longer than expected.

Its 10 largest holdings include Craneware, which helps healthcare providers optimise their financial performance, and Gamma Communications, which delivers business telecom solutions and owns a voice, data and mobile network.

Other names include RWS Holdings, a leading name in translation services; PayPoint, which offers in store payment services; Iomart Group , a provider of cloud solutions; and Trifast, which is involved in the manufacture and distribution of industrial fastenings.

Around 70% of the fund is invested in stocks on the FTSE AIM index, the successful growth market for flourishing firms that was launched in 1995. It is particularly known for helping smaller and growing companies raise the capital needed for expansion.

Just over 13% of the fund’s assets hail from the FTSE Small Cap (ex IT) index, while there is also representation from FTSE Fledgling Index and the FTSE 250.

This fund is favoured by Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, who points out it is managed by the same successful team behind the Liontrust Special Situations portfolio. “This fund employs the same investment strategy but with a small-cap bias,” he explains. “The managers focus on firms with strong positions within their industries and the fund has a great track record.”

Fund: Liontrust UK Smaller Companies
Managers	Anthony Cross, Julian Fosh, Victoria Stevens & Matt Tonge
Launch date	08-Jan-98
Total fund size	£856.4 million
Minimum initial investment	£1,000
Min top-up investment	£1,000
Initial  charge	Up to 5% on the retail share class
Ongoing charge	1.65%
Annual management fee	1.5% a year
Contact details for retail investors	020 7412 1777

ROB GRIFFIN writes for the Independent, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Express.

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Should I rebalance my pension funds?

As some funds have performed better than others, one reader asks whether it’s time to shake things up

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I have been paying into a work-based Additional Voluntary Contribution pension scheme (AVC) since April 2011. My monthly contributions are split equally between three funds at the medium to higher risk level. As the funds have performed differently, should I rebalance them? And, if so, how frequently?

Initial diagnosis

Whether you’re investing in an AVC, a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) or your workplace scheme, regularly reviewing the underlying investments can make a significant difference to your eventual retirement income.

While a regular review is good practice, Fiona Tait, technical director at Intelligent Pensions, says pension investors often set up a portfolio of investments and then forget about them. “As each fund performs differently, the balance of the portfolio is highly likely to change over time,” she explains. “As it’s the higher risk funds that are likely to perform best, they will form an increasingly larger proportion of the portfolio. As a result, you can find yourself unwittingly taking more risk with your money.”

This has happened to some extent with your portfolio, which is made up of three funds: BlackRock Aquila (50:50) Global Equity Index, Prudential Global Equity and Prudential International Equity. Although you have paid the same into each fund, differing performance means the Prudential International Equity fund now accounts for 36.1% of your portfolio with the BlackRock and Prudential Global Equity funds making up 32.4% and 31.5% respectively. 

Treatment plan

While they have only shifted marginally from equal weighting, Ms Tait says it is sensible to rebalance them: 

“If the fund selection was right when the plan was set up, and if nothing else has changed, then you should look to restore the balance of your funds. This will maintain the same level of investment risk.” 

Undertaking this exercise may also be easier than it sounds. Rather than spending half an hour with a calculator working out what you need to buy and sell, Barnaby Balkwill, financial planner at Ablestoke Planning, says most providers offer an automatic rebalancing option, usually on a quarterly or annual basis. 

“I’d recommend the shortest period of time for rebalancing as a strong movement in the market could mean you’re taking a higher or lower risk than you desire,” he adds. “The major downside is that the money could be allocated from a stronger performing fund into a weaker one, so continue to review your funds at least annually to make sure they’re on track.” 

Additional benefits of treatment

Reviewing your portfolio annually has a number of additional benefits. According to Mr Balkwill, this exercise will ensure you take an appropriate level of risk for your circumstances and that your investments remain in line with your future goals. 

“As you’ll have a guaranteed final salary pension as well as the state pension, you may be able to take a bit more risk with this AVC,” he adds. “Similarly, if your review finds that your income in retirement is facing a shortfall, you may wish to take more risk with your AVC investments.”

He also recommends filling out an attitude-to-risk questionnaire, which most pension and investment providers offer to help you assess how much risk you are prepared to take. Another important factor to weigh up in your annual review is the length of time you have until retirement. With more than 10 years to go, you can probably afford to ride the ups and downs of the stock market, but you may wish to adjust your investments to reduce your exposure to risk once you get closer to retirement.

Scott Wylie, investment manager at wealth management firm Mattioli Woods, adds: “I would certainly look to increase exposure to commercial property and fixed interest. This would create some further diversification but would also reduce overall risk as retirement approaches.” 

Alternative therapies

A more radical approach is also possible, as Mr Wylie explains: “There might be benefits in moving the entire AVC to an alternative pension provider offering a broader range of funds, a wider range of asset classes and ultimately, lower costs.”  

While the prospect of lower charges and greater investment flexibility can be attractive, it is not a move that should be taken lightly. 

“It’s not always suitable,” says Mr Balkwill. “Your employer might not be able to pay regular contributions into another pension, so you may have to leave some of the money in the AVC even if you wish to transfer.”

SAM BARRETT writes for Money Observer, Insurance Post and FTAdviser.com

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Work-at-Home Selling Arts & Crafts Online

When I think about making arts & crafts and selling them, I think back to my childhood days of painting pet rocks, creating pinecone ornaments, and making perfume with the Barbie Perfume Maker and trying to sell them to my neighbors — true story! While I'm not super creative, if you look around on handmade […]

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Money and the Music of Life

Spend five minutes or so watching this great YouTube video, which animates a wonderful short speech by Alan Watts:

Here’s a transcript, to the best of my ability:

Existence, the physical universe, is basically playful. There is no necessity for it whatsoever. It isn’t going anywhere. That is to say it doesn’t have some destination that it ought to arrive at. It is best understood by an analogy with music. Because music, as an art form, is essentially playful. You say that you “play” the piano. You don’t “work” the piano. Why?

Music differs from, say, travel. When you travel, you are trying to get somewhere. One doesn’t make the end of the composition the point of the composition. If that were so, the best conductors would be those who play fastest, and there would be composers who wrote only finales. People would go to concerts to hear one crashing chord, because that’s the end! The same with dancing: you don’t aim at a particular spot in the room at where you should arrive. The whole point of dancing is the dance.

But we don’t see that as something brought by our education into our everyday conduct. We’ve got a system of schooling that gives a completely different impression. It’s all graded, and what we do is we put the child in the corridor of this grade system with a kind of “Come on, kitty kitty kitty!” You go into kindergarten, and that’s a great thing, because when you finish, you go on to first grade. And then, come on, first grade leads to second grade and so on, and then when you get out of grade school you go to high school, and it’s revving up, the thing is coming, and then you go to college and, by jove, you get into graduate school, and when you’re through with graduate school you go out and join the world. Then you get into some racket where you’re selling insurance, and they’ve got that quota to make. And you’re going to make that.

And all the time that thing is coming! It’s coming! It’s coming! That great thing! The success you’re working for! And then one day you wake up about forty years old, you say, “My God, I’ve arrived! I’m there!” And you don’t feel very different from what you’ve always felt.

By expectation, look at people who live to retire, and put those savings away. And then when they hit sixty five, they don’t have any energy left, they’ve gone impotent, and they go rot in a senior citizen’s community.

And it’s because we’ve cheated ourselves the whole way down the line. We thought life by analogy was a journey, a pilgrimage, with a serious purpose at the end and the thing was to get to that end: success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after your death.

But, we miss the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing or to dance the whole way along while the music was being played.

So, let’s dig into this a little.

I’ve mentioned the work of Bronnie Ware before. She’s a hospice worker who kept track of the most common wishes of the dying, and she said that most regrets boiled down to five things:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Those opportunities are right out there in front of us, every single day. Today, you can live a life true to yourself. Today, you can choose not to work so hard. Today, you can choose to have the courage to express your feelings to someone. Today, you can get in touch with friends old and new. Today, you can let yourself be happier.

Can you note something that all of those things have in common? They don’t involve spending money. You don’t need to have a lot of money to live a life true to yourself. You don’t need money to express your feelings to someone. You don’t need money to get in touch with friends old and new. You don’t need money to let yourself be happier.

That fifth one, not working so hard? It’s possibly the most pernicious of all, because people tend to work hard to earn a lot of money, and it turns out that money doesn’t buy happiness. It doesn’t buy the things people want at the end of life.

When I look back at the 40 years of my life, the most unhappy period I had was when I was working incredibly hard and spending every dime I made along the way. I wasn’t building new meaningful friendships and I was letting old friendships atrophy. I was bottling up a lot of feelings inside. I kept telling myself I was happy and that I was going to be happy, but I wasn’t.

It wasn’t until I dropped much of that facade that things got better, and it started with cutting back drastically on my spending. Doing so alleviated so much of the pressure to work so hard; I still work efficiently, but I have time for my hobbies and time for my family and time for my good friends, and there’s no amount of money in the world that would make me want to lose that time again. My life got a lot less stressful, as I didn’t have money worries any more.

It’s that stuff – time spent building friendships and finding new ones, time spent doing things you really love, time spent doing work that’s meaningful to you, time spent without an omnipresent stress of finances breathing over your shoulder, time spent feeling okay being whoever you are rather than molding yourself into something you’re not to appeal to clients and coworkers and bosses and people you think you’re supposed to be socializing with – that’s what Watts is talking about. That’s dancing. That’s music. That’s treating life as something to be lived along the way, rather than hoping you’ll reach some amazing destination that never comes.

Live today, not by spending money, but by not spending it. Money won’t buy anything that will really make you happy. Live today by getting ahold of an old friend. Live today by doing that thing you’ve stuffed down deep inside of yourself because you don’t think it’ll be approved of by the people you think you’re supposed to impress. Live today by writing a letter to an old mentor who changed your life or a teacher who really meant something to you. Tell someone you love them. Turn up some music and dance a little. Laugh. Cry. Think. Every day.

Fill your life with those things instead of things you buy at the store. Take that money you’re not spending and use it to unlock the handcuffs of your life, the ones that keep you chained to a job, the ones that make you afraid of your boss, the ones that make you stressed out about money.

Remember that the advice of living today like there’s no tomorrow doesn’t have anything to do with shopping, because the kind of joy and meaning that comes from living in a way that blows those regrets to pieces isn’t bought on Amazon. It’s not found on basic cable.

It’s found in doing things that you truly love, deep inside, regardless of what other people think. It’s found in strong relationships with other people. It’s found in having the courage to share your thoughts and feelings. It’s found in simply choosing to be happy about things. Those things don’t require you to spend money, so use that money to make yourself as free as possible to do those things. Get rid of debts. Give yourself a financial foundation so that you don’t have to be under the thumb of a boss ever again, so that you don’t have to feel financial stress ever again.

You won’t find any of that on the shelves of your local Target.

What are you living for?

Read more by Trent Hamm:

• ‘Wealth Is Doing What You Love to Find Joy and Fulfillment’
• Personal Finance Success and the Road to Happiness
• Did I Do My Best Today?

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Funny Money: Gaby Dunn on Getting Your Financial Act Together

New York Times bestselling author and comedian Gaby Dunn talks a lot about money. But not because she’s good with it. She’s the host of the popular Bad With Money podcast, with topics like “Who Can Afford to Have Sex? (aka Babies),” “Death Is F*cking Expensive,” and “The High of the Buy (aka Shopping Addiction).”

Now, Dunn’s first financial self-help book, “Bad With Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together,” is also attracting interest. Like her podcast, it’s comically candid and primarily targeted at millennials and Gen Z, but full of takeaway lessons for just about everyone — starting with this one: We all need to speak honestly about money.

I know it’s something I’ve not done very well these first 44 years of my life. I do a lot of reading on the topic, but I’m not good at divulging my hourly rates as a freelance writer, my credit card debt, or my plans for retirement. And even though my partner is (thankfully) better at the retirement piece, at least, I welcomed this opportunity to ask Dunn what contributes to our lack of communication around our financial situations.

“If I’m being my conspiracy theorist self, then it’s that the people at the top have made it seem tacky, taboo, or have created this aura of shame in order basically to keep everyone from discussing the reality of their situation, so that we can’t make it better,” she says. “The wealthy people don’t want us to have any sort of economic mobility so that we don’t talk to each other and make our situations better.”

Speaking as her non-conspiracy theorist self, Dunn says, “It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. We take it as an intellectual or even a moral failing. We don’t see it as just a thing that happens or a circumstance that might be out of our control. How we were born, what our class is … how much we believed in the power of a college education and then how we graduated into a terrible job market. There are things that are somewhat out of our control but we beat ourselves up and say, we’re bad and we can’t let anyone know about this because it means that we have no self-worth.”

As with many things in life — from relationships and parenting to physical and mental health concerns — the only way to change the status quo is to be vulnerable and talk with one another about our situations. But, as Dunn notes, no one wants to be the first person to do that.

“The first time I had a friend say, ‘I’m saving money right now, I can’t go out,’ I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I thought she was the bravest person I had ever encountered.” After that first moment, Dunn told her friend that not going out or spending any money was totally fine, and so the two changed their plans to stay in.

When Dunn herself started opening up, she says she did get a lot of “primarily men” who told her she was a “little damsel princess” who needed saving and listed off all the things she should be doing differently.

“People will come at you with that sort of condescension, and so that sucks, but I think if you can just smile and nod your way through it, then other people will see what you’re doing and they’ll feel safe. All of a sudden now, because of what I do, all my friends feel safe enough to come and talk to me or ask me questions.”

With the podcast and now the book, people might assume Dunn’s got her financial life in tip-top shape. But that’s not necessarily true. “I don’t want to make it seem like, wow, the book ended and she really has her sh*t together,” she says.

“I mean, nothing’s totally fixed,” she adds. “I have an IRA, so that’s like the biggest change in my life. You know, I still will be like, how did this credit card get full?” And taxes, arguably as certain as death itself, nonetheless still find a way to surprise Dunn each spring. “I was saying to someone, it’s like your period, where every month you’re like, ‘What?!’ And you’re like, no, this happens every month, you dummy. So every year I’m like, ‘Taxes again?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, again.'”

Dunn has learned a lot by talking with more and more people, though. And not only does she put what she can into action, she continues to share what’s worked for her and what hasn’t. If you’re looking for a place to start (or start again), like I have been, maybe give one of these three tips from Dunn a try:

Dive deep into your bank statements: “Print out your bank statement at the end of the year and go through it with a highlighter, and highlight what doesn’t seem good to you. And I’m not talking about, like, the grandiose latte factor, everyone’s eating avocado toast, because that’s just not true,” she says. “I’m talking about like, ‘I paid a lot for parking this year. That seems strange. I shouldn’t do that.'”

Set up healthier habits from the get-go with automated savings: Dunn recommends setting up an automatic transfer to a savings account — something that’s come in particularly handy for those tax bills she always forgets about. “I like setting it up and never looking at it. It just takes money out for savings because I always forget about it, and I’ll look and be like, ‘Ooh, a little money pool.'”

Open up with your friends, and get them on board: If you’re looking to get better with money, see if your friends are willing to join you or have some tips of their own to share. “Talk to your friends and say, ‘Do you guys do anything specific? What do you do? Is there some trick, you know, or is your dad an accountant who can help me? Or what’s up?’” Dunn says. “You could have like a little group hangout money talk day where you, I don’t know, eat cheese and talk about it.”

Read more: 

• Personal Finance 101: How Do I Even Get Started With Saving for Retirement?
• Friendships and the Financial Turnaround
• Enrich Your Life With These Four Financial Podcasts
• Five Powerful, Useful Books I Read This Year (and Five I Plan to Read Next Year)

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