We often don’t consider the reliability of a car when it’s running properly. Instead, we just expect our car to continue working, and the more it does, the less we think about the possibility of a breakdown.
If your car has a history of breaking down, perhaps you are a little more cognizant of what constitutes a reliable vehicle. Does your car start smoothly or sputter? Does your engine overheat? How many miles has your car traveled without an issue?
Your answer to these questions may impact your perception of how reliable your own make and model is, but we wanted to take a more analytical approach.
What cars are most reliable, and does our perception of reliability have a basis in reality or is it conjecture? At The Simple Dollar, we wanted to answer this question, so we surveyed Americans about the countries they believe manufacture the most reliable cars and compared these responses to the 2019 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study from J.D. Power.
Patriotism vs. pragmatism in perceived auto reliability
Even though 54% of Americans believe Toyota and Honda are the most reliable car brands, both being Japanese-made vehicles, the majority (40%) of respondents still believe cars made in America are most reliable.
29% of Americans cited Japan as the country with the most reliable cars, and only 18% believe German-made are the most reliable.
South Korea, the country of origin for auto manufacturers like Hyundai and Kia, is believed to be most reliable by a mere 3% of Americans. Sweden, UK and Italy are believed to be most reliable by a combined 8% of Americans.
According to J.D. Power, however, the countries that manufacture the most reliable vehicles are in almost the exact opposite order. Looking at the geographical representation of car manufacturers above and below the industry standard for reliability, Germany had the most car brands above the industry standard.
Of the car brands that scored above the industry standard, Germany represents 35%. Japan, on the other hand, had 5 brands below the industry standard for reliability, but only 4 above.
Which car brand do you most associate with reliability?
We asked Americans which individual car brands they believe are most reliable, we included 6 top-selling brands in America including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Chevy, Toyota, Honda and Ford. Here are the brands perceived by Americans to be the most reliable:
32% of Americans think Toyota makes the most reliable cars
Toyota is often heralded for its efficiencies in manufacturing, including just-in-time inventory management and the empowerment of assembly line workers to make real-time decisions. It also has some of the most popular cars in the U.S. with 25% of thetop 20 selling vehicles in 2018manufactured by Toyota.
The top 20 makes and models of 2018 sold a combined 6.9 million vehicles. Toyota’s Rav4, Camry, Corolla, Tacoma, and Highlander models, comprised more than 1.5 million of these vehicles. This means the combined unit sales from Toyota accounts for 22% of the top-selling cars in the U.S.
22% of Americans believe Honda manufacturing is the most reliable
Americans also hold Honda, another Japanese auto manufacturer in high regard.
With 22% of Americans perceiving Honda to make the most reliable vehicles, it’s no wonder that Honda sold more than 1.4 million vehicles to Americans in 2018. Honda’s market share in the top 20 selling vehicles of 2018 is slightly less impressive at 15%. Their top-selling vehicles include the CR-V, Civic and Accord, which sold a combined 995,844 cars in 2018.
Only 16% of Americans associate Ford with reliability
Given the F-series pickup truck was the top-selling vehicle in 2018, with more than 900,000 trucks sold, it’s interesting that only 16% of Americans believe Ford manufactures the most reliable vehicles.
What countries actuallymanufacture the most reliable cars?
We analyzed J.D. Power’s dependability study to create a score for the brands with the most reliable manufacturing. J.D. Power’s study analyzes the number of issues per 100 vehicles, the higher number of issues per ca(r)pita (pun intended), indicates a less reliable manufacturer.
Given the industry baseline of issues per 100 vehicles, we analyzed the country of origin for each brand to determine the countries manufacturing vehicles with the most reliable cars compared to those with the least.
We discovered that most Americans believe cars made in the U.S. are more reliable than those manufactured in other countries, however according to J.D. Power’s dependability study, this is not true. In fact, more U.S. car brands fall below the industry standard of problems per 100 vehicles than above industry standard. When asked about individual car brands, Toyota and Honda were cited by Americans as the most reliable. According to J.D. Power, Germany manufactures the most reliable vehicles.
Methodology
Google Surveys was used to pose two questions to the general American population between October 7th and 9th, 2019. 2,000 Americans were surveyed about the countries they believe manufacture the most reliable vehicles and the individual brands they believe to be most reliable.
Finding the best web hosting provider for your website can challenging. With so many options to choose from, sometimes it can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But if you’re an experienced WordPress user, then it will be much easier for you to narrow down your choices. WP Engine should definitely be on your shortlist of web hosting options to consider.
In fact, WP Engine ranks high on my list of the best web hosting for WordPress. This is the hosting provider that we use here at Quick Sprout, and we’re very happy with it.
WP Engine offers managed hosting for WordPress. So if this sounds like the type of hosting solution that you’re looking for, you can use this guide to help you make a decision.
I’ve reviewed all of the different WP Engine plan options. I’ll also explain why WP Engine stands out as a top web host, and cover any potential drawbacks as well.
WP Engine Web Hosting Plans
WP Engine has four hosting plans for you to consider:
Startup
Growth
Scale
Custom
All plans come with more than 35 StudioPress themes, 24/7 chat support, free site transfers, an SSL certificate, and a global CDN. Below you’ll find an in-depth review of each plan that includes the price, features, and benefits.
Startup
The Startup hosting plan is ideal for a blog or a smaller website. It comes with all of the basic hosting features that you should need to accommodate up to 25,000 visits per month.
The Startup rate is $35 per month. But if you prepay and sign up for an annual contract, you’ll get two months for free.
Your website will have 10 GB of local storage and 50 GB of bandwidth per month. This is pretty good if you compare it to other entry-level hosting plans on the market.
It’s a basic plan with straightforward pricing, but WP Engine gives you the option to add-on some extra features during the checkout process.
While they may sound appealing, you can skip these. I really can’t justify the additional costs for an entry-level plan. A small personal blog with under 25,000 visitors won’t need these extras to run smoothly.
If you’re going to spring for anything, the enhanced site security would be my only recommendation.
Growth
There is a significant jump in price from the Starter plan to the Growth plan. But you’ll benefit from plenty of extra resources as well.
The Growth plan starts at $115 per month.
It includes hosting for 5 WordPress sites, 100,000 monthly visits, 20 GB of storage, and 200 GB of bandwidth per month. These features make the Growth plan an appealing option for growing businesses.
Another big difference between the Startup and Growth plan is the level of customer support. With Startup, you’re limited 24/7 live chat support (although that’s still good for an entry-level hosting plan).
But Growth also comes with 24/7 phone support. So this is a huge bonus for those of you who would rather get on the phone and talk to an agent as opposed to chatting online.
Even if you’re only expecting 40,000 or 50,000 monthly visitors, you’ll need to upgrade to the Growth plan. WP Engine charges overages for exceeding monthly traffic limits, but we’ll talk about that in greater detail later on.
Scale
As the name implies, the Scale plan is made for websites that have scaled beyond the limits of other plans.
For $290 per month, your plan can accommodate 400,000 visitors per month. You’ll also get 30 GB of storage, 400 GB of bandwidth, and hosting for 15 websites.
Those are enough resources to keep your site running smoothly even with increased visitors and traffic surges.
The features included with the Scale plan are actually pretty comparable to the Growth plan. So the major difference is really just the ability to accommodate more traffic and the extra resources to support it as well.
This plan is best for large websites and WordPress users that want to host multiple sites on one plan.
Custom
WP Engine offers custom plans for enterprise-level websites. With up to 1 TB of local storage and 400+ GB of bandwidth per month, the custom plans can accommodate millions of monthly visits to your site.
Here’s a side by side comparison of the plans to put this into perspective for you.
As you can imagine, only a small percentage of websites would be interested in the custom plan.
For a higher price point, the plan comes with some free extras that are normally paid add-ons for the other plans. These extras include WordPress multisite, GeoTarget, and content performance.
To get rates for the custom pricing solutions, you’ll need to get in touch with a WP Engine sales specialist. They’ll work out the details with you to figure out how much resources your website needs.
Benefits of Using WP Engine For Web Hosting
Using WP Engine as your hosting provider definitely has its fair share of perks. I’ve identified and explained the top benefits of signing up for one of their hosting plans below.
Risk-free trial
It’s no secret that WP Engine is a bit pricey compared to the competition. To get the best possible rate, you need to commit to an annual contract. Some of you might be hesitant to commit for so long at a high rate.
Fortunately, WP Engine has a 60-day risk free period for their hosting plans. If you’re not happy with the service, you can opt-out and get refunded.
60 days is double the standard guarantee for most hosting providers in the industry.
Furthermore, the fact that WP Engine offers this is a testament to how they feel about their services. They wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t think you’d be satisfied. This offer is enough of a reason to try them out if you’re on the fence about an annual commitment.
Transparent pricing
Although on the high-end, I love the fact that WP Engine’s pricing is straightforward and transparent. That can’t be said for the majority of web hosting providers in the industry.
It’s pretty common for hosting providers to advertise really low rates but only apply them to 36 or 48 month contracts that are prepaid in-full. Then when those contracts expire, the renewal rates will double, triple, or even quadruple.
WP Engine doesn’t do that.
The monthly contracts remain the same price even after your first contract is up. You can get two months free if you prepay for a year, but they’ll never force you to commit longer than that.
Outstanding service
As a managed WordPress hosting provider, WP Engine really stands out amongst the competition in terms of its service. This is where the higher costs of these plans can be justified.
You won’t have to do anything aside from running your website. The team over at WP Engine will maintain everything at the server level, including the security.
WP Engine has hundreds of employees on their support team as well as on their outreach and development team. Other providers with less than 30 employees just can’t match that level of technical support.
You’ll never have to worry about updates, security, your tech stack, or server optimizations. All of this is handled for you.
The 24/7 live chat with every plan is a huge bonus as well. 24/7 phone support also comes free with every plan except for the Startup option.
As a WP Engine customer, I’ve been impressed with the quick and informed responses whenever I’ve reached out to the support team.
Strong performance
No matter how impressive the features and bonuses are, a web hosting provider is useless if the performance of your website is lacking. This is definitely not an area where WP Engine falls short.
Each plan has more than enough resources to accommodate the appropriate website sizes and volumes of traffic. This translates to high uptime rates and blazing fast loading speed.
Since their hosting solutions are built for WordPress, everything is optimized for peak performance. Other hosting providers with cookie-cutter hosting for any CMS just can’t deliver as well in this area.
Security
WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS. This means that WordPress sites are vulnerable to attacks. In fact, as of 2019, 90% of all hacked sites run on WordPress. That number is up from 83% in 2018.
But WP Engine goes the extra mile to protect your site at every level. They block more than 150 million attacks per day.
One of the reasons why WordPress sites get hacked is because their software isn’t up to date. You won’t have to worry about maintaining these updates manually. WP Engine will handle it for you to ensure that old software isn’t making your site a target to malware.
Developer friendly
WP Engine has tools and resources that make it easy for developers to host a website. They provide easy and automated on-click setups for faster deployment.
You’ll also benefit from an integrated DevKit for the WordPress framework. This translates to smoother launches and fluid maintenance.
SSH gateway access
Genesis Framework
Dynamic content blocks that are reusable
35+ premium themes for WordPress
Third-party tools for builds and debugging
Push and pull deployments
These are just a handful of the developer-specific benefits provided by WP Engine.
Other Considerations
WP Engine isn’t perfect. So before you sign up for one of the hosting plans that we’ve discussed above, there are a few drawbacks and other considerations that you should keep in mind.
Not for beginners
I do not recommend WP Engine if you’re new to web hosting or WordPress. If this is the first website that you’re launching from scratch, you should look elsewhere.
For the price, you can do better with another provider. But WP Engine definitely isn’t trying to appeal to everyone with their pricing structure.
This web host is made for pros and experienced webmasters. The developer-friendly tools and benefits are worth it if you know what you’re doing and how to use them.
Businesses that are established and running on WordPress already should consider switching to WP Engine if they aren’t satisfied with their current hosting plans.
High entry-level pricing
As I’ve mentioned a few times already throughout this review, WP Engine has high prices compared to the competition.
Starting at $35 per month, the entry-level plans are ten times higher than some of the alternative hosting options out there. So if this is out of your price range, you can check out my guide on the best cheap web hosting to find another provider.
With that said, it’s worth mentioning again that WP Engine doesn’t spike their rates when your contract renews. If you’re comparing entry-level plans, the rate may not seem significantly higher when you factor in the renewal costs and hidden fees charged by other hosts.
However, once you get beyond the Starter plan, the price points aren’t even in the same ballpark as other shared web hosting options. WP Engine is expensive.
WordPress specific
This should be pretty clear, but I had to mention it to ensure there wasn’t any confusion.
If you’re not using WordPress, you can’t consider using WP Engine as a hosting provider. This alienates anyone who is using another CMS to run their website.
Overage fees
I briefly mentioned this earlier, but I want to talk about it in greater detail. The WP Engine plans have traffic limits.
Normally, a web hosting provider will tell you roughly how much traffic your plan can accommodate. If you go over that number, it will impact the performance of your website.
But WP Engine has a different approach. Rather than throttling down your website resources to hurt your performance, they simply charge you extra for exceeding your limits. Depending on your plan, you’ll pay an extra $1 to $2 per every 1,000 monthly site visits over your limit.
This can be costly, considering the drastic jumps of traffic limits between plans.
For example, let’s say you’re on the Growth plan, paying $115 per month for up to 100,000 monthly visits. As your business grows, you may start getting 200,000 visits per month, which would cost you an additional $200 per month. At that point, it would be more cost-effective to upgrade your plan, even though you still aren’t coming close to the 400,000 limit on the next tier.
The structure of these overage fees could force you to upgrade to a higher plan from the beginning in order to avoid these extra charges.
Conclusion
WP Engine is arguably the best managed WordPress hosting provider on the market today. Although it’s not for everyone.
I only recommend WP Engine to advanced WordPress users and pros. The high entry-level pricing isn’t worth it for new or small websites.
I’d only consider using WP Engine if you were ready to sign up for the Growth or Scale plans. The Startup plan is likely too basic to accommodate your needs.
In terms of service, it’s tough to find other providers out there that match the level of excellence set by WP Engine. As a satisfied WP Engine customer, I’m happy to recommend this web host to you as well.
We’re living longer than ever before, and doing so in better health. So what can you do when you retire and want to keep your mind sharp or need to gain additional skills to stay competitive at work?
For many, the answer is to go back to school. But tuition can be prohibitively expensive.
At the same time, schools want their classrooms to be full of engaged students, regardless of age. In the interest of continuing education, many colleges and universities offer reduced or free college tuition to senior citizens (typically, adults 60 and up, although the rules vary).
In fact, we found at least one option in every state!
Free (or Cheap) College for Seniors in Every State
While some institutions only allow senior students to audit classes, many offer the chance to earn credits toward a degree at a reduced — or completely waived — tuition rate.
Does your state have a continuing education you can use in your golden years? Find out below!
1. Alabama
Alabama seniors can attend any two-year institution within the state tuition-free.
Adults 60 and oldershould contact the financial aid office at any community college for admission and eligibility details.
2. Alaska
TheUniversity of Alaskawaives tuition for senior-citizen residents who receive full social security benefits. Seniors must wait until the first day of classes to enroll to ensure that there’s space remaining; they must also complete a tuition-waiver form.
Additional costs such as student activity, health center and lab fees are not covered; the student must pay them directly.
3. Arizona
All 10 campuses ofMaricopa Community Collegeallow senior citizens to take classes for credit at 50% of the full tuition cost.
Students 65 and older must register between the first and second class sessions of the semester to ensure space is available.
4. Arkansas
Arkansaswaives tuitionfor anyone 60 and over who wants to work toward an undergraduate or graduate degree at state institutions.
Student fees may apply and senior citizens may only register for classes with space available.
5. California
California State Universitywaives all tuition and dramatically reduces campus fees for residents age 60 or older.
6. Colorado
Students age 55 and older may attend class on a space-available basis atColorado State University. There is no tuition fee, but visitors don’t get credit for attending class.
At theUniversity of Colorado Denver, persons aged 60 and above may enroll on a no-credit basis to attend up to two classes per semester as auditors when space is available.
Courses with a lab component are excluded, along with computer courses.
7. Connecticut
Residents 62 and up may attendstate colleges, including community colleges, for free on a space-available basis.
AtCentral Connecticut State University,for example, tuition is waived for any resident over the age of 62 who applies for full- or part-time admission for a degree-granting program.
Senior students may also take non-credit courses on a space-available basis and have tuition waived. All students must still pay all other fees.
8. Delaware
The University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and Delaware Technical and Community Collegeall permit state residentsage 60 or older to audit or take classes for credit for free.
At theUniversity of Delaware, students wishing to use the program must apply for admission on a space-available basis. Some graduate degrees may be eligible, as well.
Participants must pay all related student fees and buy their own textbooks.
9. District of Columbia
Senior citizens 65 and up may audit undergraduate courses fromGeorgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies. These students pay a fee of $50 per course.
10. Florida
The Florida college systemwaivesapplication, tuition and student fees for those age 60 and above, but colleges will award no credit and will grant admission on a space-available basis.
Fun fact:Florida Atlantic University’s Lifelong Learning Societyhas the largest adult continuing education program in the U.S. It even has its own auditorium on campus to help serve FAU’s 27,000 new registrants each year.
11. Georgia
Georgia residents age 62 and above may take classes on a space-available basis for free at the state’spublic colleges.
Seniors may choose to take classes for credit or continuing education, but they must apply through the regular admissions process at their school of choice.
12. Hawaii
TheSenior Citizen Visitor Programat the University of Hawaii and state community colleges allows senior residents to attend courses free of charge.
Schools will not award credit nor will they keep permanent records of students’ class history.
13. Idaho
Programs in Idaho vary based on institution, but some schools offer good deals. TheCollege of Southern Idahooffers a Gold Card for students age 60 years and older, which allows them to take non-credit classes tuition-free.
AtBoise State University, Idaho residents who are at least 65 years old can audit classes on a space-available basis for free except for applicable special course fees.
14. Illinois
Upon admission, any senior citizen age 65 and up who meet income requirements can attend regular credit courses atIllinois public institutionsfor free. Lab, student and other fees still apply.
15. Indiana
Purdue UniversityandIndiana Universityeach offer programs that allow retired residents age 60 and to take up to nine credit hours per semester and pay just 50% of in-state tuition fees.
16. Iowa
Private institutionSimpson Collegein Indianola allows people 65 and older to take one non-credit class for free per semester. Course are open on a space-available basis and do not include lab courses.
17. Kansas
Kansas residents60 and oldercan audit courses at state institutions on a space-available basis without paying tuition.
Tuition and fees are waived forstudents age 65 and oldertaking classes on a space-available basis. Residents must be admitted to a state-supported school to take advantage of this discount.
19. Louisiana
Students age 55 and up attendingLouisiana state schoolsreceive free tuition and 50% off books and materials at the campus student bookstore.
20. Maine
Senior citizens 65 and up may attend undergraduate classes as degree-seeking or audit students in theUniversity of Maine Systemfor free, subject to space availability.
21. Maryland
Any student in theUniversity of Maryland System who’sretired and over the age of 60 may have tuition waived, even for degree-granting programs.
22. Massachusetts
Residents age 60 or older can take at least three credits per semester at any state-supported school in Massachusetts andreceive free tuition.
23. Michigan
Opportunities for seniors in Michigan vary by institution.
AtMichigan Tech, for example, students 60 and older can have tuition waived for up to two courses per semester. Seniors must apply through the admissions office.
Western Michigan Universityinvites seniors 62 and older to register for one class per semester tuition-free.
AtWayne State Universityin Detroit, seniors 60 and up receive a 75% discount on tuition, but must pay registration and related fees.
24. Minnesota
Minnesotawaives tuitionfor senior citizens 62 and older, but fees may vary by school. At theUniversity of Minnesota, seniors pay a $10 fee per credit, but can audit for free.
25. Mississippi
There’s no statewide benefit in Mississippi, but some schools have programs for seniors.
Mississippi State Universityprovides a waiver to residents age 60 or older for classes offered on the Starkville or Meridian campuses or by the Center for Distance Education. Seniors are limited to six semester hours per semester and a maximum of 18 credit hours per calendar year, where space is available.
University of Mississippi’s Office of Professional Development and Lifelong Learning allows seniors 65 and older to take one class per semester at any UM campus.
26. Missouri
Missouri residents age 65 and older are exempt from paying tuition atstate-supported institutionsfor classes attended on non-credit basis. Schools may limit the number of students who receive the tuition benefit based on space availability.
27. Montana
TheMontana University Systemoffers a tuition waiver for in-state residents 65 years of age or older. Campus and registration fees are not waived.
28. Nebraska
Several Nebraska colleges offer waivers to senior citizens.Chadron Collegeallows adults 65 and up to audit one course per semester for free.
AtMid-Plains Community College, seniors 62 and older who are in-state or residents of border states Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming pay $33 per credit hour.
29. Nevada
TheUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegasallows seniors 62 and up to take autumn and spring courses free of charge. They pay 50% tuition for summer classes. Lab and other course fees are not covered.
30. New Hampshire
University of New Hampshireoffers residents 65 and older free tuition for two credit-bearing classes per academic year on a space-available basis, so long as they’re not enrolled in a degree program.
31. New Jersey
Rutgers Universityallows retired New Jersey residents 62 and older to audit courses for free in the spring and fall semesters at its Camden, New Brunswick and Newark campuses, space permitting.
32. New Mexico
New Mexico offersreduced tuitionof just $5 per credit hour to state residents 65 and older.
For-credit classes are eligible as well as auditing; senior citizens can take no more than six credit hours per semester. The program is offered on a space-available basis and students are responsible for paying any additional course fees.
33. New York
Many schools offer free or reduced tuition for senior citizens.Queens Collegeallows residents 60 and up to audit any course on a space-available basis after completing a Senior Citizen Auditor Application and paying $80 per semester.
AtSUNY Purchase, New York state residents 60 and older can enroll tuition-free in a maximum of two credit-bearing, on-campus courses in which space is available. They pay a $50 audit fee, $20 ID processing fee and any course fees.
34. North Carolina
Tuition and registration fees are waived for residents age 65 years or older attendingNorth Carolina community colleges. Audit options may be available at other schools.
At theUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington, for example, senior citizens may audit classes for free after getting the instructor’s permission and submitting an application. Lab, studio, performance, distance education, independent study, internship and special topic courses are excluded.
35. North Dakota
Programs vary by institution in North Dakota. AtBismarck State, for example, senior citizens 65 and older can audit one course tuition-free per semester on a space-available basis. They’re still responsible for other course fees.
36. Ohio
Ohio residentsat least 60 years old may attend class at any state college for free. Senior-citizen students do not receive credit and can only register on a space-available basis.
37. Oklahoma
Oklahoma state colleges and universitieswaive tuition and feesfor senior citizens 65+ who wish to audit classes on a space-available basis.
38. Oregon
Oregon State Universityallows senior citizens at least 65 years old to audit classes for free.
The University of Oregonalso waives fees for seniors 65 and older auditing classes on a space-available basis.
39. Pennsylvania
Clarion Universityoffers a tuition waiver for residents 62 and up to audit classes. AtBloomsburg University, you only need to be 60 to take tuition-free classes on a space-available basis.
There can be additional benefits at the community college level:Bucks County Community College, for example, waives for-credit course tuition for seniors 65 and up so long as they register after students paying full tuition.
40. Rhode Island
The Rhode Island General Assembly has enacted legislation granting a tuition waiver to certain income-qualified permanent RI residents who are at least 60 years of age on a space available basis.
Interested persons must submit a Senior Citizen Means Test to verify they are of limited income. AFAFSAis required for all degree-seeking senior students.
The $30 late registration fee will only be waived on the designated “Waiver Registration Day” (Jan. 16) for those students who pay the required applicable fees on that date.
41. South Carolina
Residents60 and abovecan attend classes at state schools on a credit or noncredit basis, pending space available, for free. The school must grant admission via its normal procedures.
Technology, lab and other fees are the responsibility of the student.
42. South Dakota
Residents 65 and older can attend public universities inSouth Dakotaat 55% of the normal cost of tuition for undergraduate or graduate in-person courses on a main university campus.
Interested adults should apply through the regular admissions system and the school will automatically grant the discount upon admission. Student fees are not waived.
43. Tennessee
Tennessee residents65 and oldermay enroll in tuition-free courses for credit at state schools and community colleges.
Student will still pay application and course fees.
At theUniversity of Texas at DallasandLone Star College, undergrad students 65 and older must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA to receive a tuition waiver for up to six credit hours per semester.
45. Utah
Residents age 62 and up may enroll tuition-free at astate institution, space permitting; a quarterly registration fee is required.
At theUniversity of Utah, for example, seniors can audit most classes on a space-available basis and only have to pay a fee of $25 per semester.
46. Vermont
Vermonters over the age of 65 can audit one class per semester tuition-free on a space-available basis in theVermont State College system. Students can take additional classes at a 50% discount of the tuition rate
They’ll still have to pay administration and course fees for all classes.
47. Virginia
Under the amended terms of theSenior Citizens Higher Education Act of 1974, Virginia residents over 60 years old who earn a taxable income of less than $23,850 annually can audit up to three courses per term for free on a space-available basis at any public institution.
48. Washington
Institutions in Washington arerequiredto partially or fully waive tuition fees for residents age 60 or older who are enrolled for credit on a space-available basis. Nominal fees may apply to students auditing courses.
Some schools limit senior citizens to a certain number of classes or credits; for example,Washington State Universitycaps the waiver at six credits for the fall and spring semesters.
49. West Virginia
Although senior students atWest Virginia Universityapplying for credit must use the regular admissions form, those wishing to be non-degree students pay just $5 to apply.
Prices vary depending upon the institution.Duke University, for example, has a $45 annual membership fee, and then charges $25 to $150 per class.
OLLI classes don’t count toward a degree, but if you’re looking for personal development opportunities among older adults, these courses can provide opportunities that mix in the campus experience, too.
Lisa Rowan is a former writer at The Penny Hoarder. Staff writer/editor Tiffany Wendeln Connors and former SEO analystJacquelyn Pica 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.
You have a little money saved up. Nice. But it’s just sitting in a bank account earning between 1 and 2% interest. At that rate, your money is going to grow at a snail’s pace. You know you could invest in the stock market, but what if it crashes?
If you’re looking for a way to invest your money that gives you a good amount of control over the riskandyou can make more than you would by keeping your money in the bank, then peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is worth a look.
What Is Peer-to-Peer Lending?
Peer-to-peer lending is a system that matches people who need loans with private investors who are willing to lend money.
P2P lending is a system that matches people who need loans with private investors who are willing to lend money. No banks needed. (You may also hear it referred to as “crowdfunding.”) Loans can be for anything from debt consolidation to payday loans or even small business loans.
To become an investor in P2P lending, you would first set up an account with a P2P website. You’ll likely be required to make a minimum deposit of at least $1,000. You don’t have to invest all of it at once, but you need to have that much money available. The reason for the $1,000 minimum is that you’ll use it to invest in multiple loan notes, thus diversifying your money. This minimizes your risk.
Once you sign up, you can choose your investments. Would you rather earn a smaller return (6% or lower) on low-risk loans, or would you prefer to go for big returns (10% and above) with high-risk loans? As with a bank, the lending platform determines loan risk by credit scores, employment, and other borrower traits.
You don’t have to go it alone, either. You can open a joint account with your spouse or other investors who share your investment goals.
Who Can Invest in P2P Lending?
Here’s where it gets tricky: Peer-to-peer lending isn’t open to everyone.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has determined that even if banks aren’t involved, some rules do need to be in place to governcrowdfunding for investors.
Here are the basic restrictions to investing in P2P lending:
Ifeitheryour annual incomeoryour net worth is less than $107,000 during any 12-month period:
You can invest up to $2,200.
OR
You can invest up to 5% of your annual income or net worth (whichever is less).
Ifbothyour annual incomeandyour net worth are $107,000 or more during any 12-month period:
You can invest up to 10% of your annual income or your net worth (whichever is less).
No matter what your annual income or net worth, you can’t invest more than $107,000.
In other words, you can’t invest your whole nest egg at once. But, even if you’re only making $30,000 per year, you can still invest up to $2,200 annually. If you don’t know your net worth, use anet worth calculatorto figure it out.
Investors must also use a peer-to-peer lending platform that is registered with the SEC and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). You must use an approved website or app as a broker. That means no company can come to you directly to solicit investments.
The SEC also cautions investors to understand the risks of P2P lending. These loans inherently come with risk, so you should only invest money that you can afford to lose.
Pros and Cons of Investing in P2P Lending
P2P lending has only been around since 2005, and it’s still gaining traction with both borrowers and investors. For that reason, some of the pros and cons are still being discovered. However, we do know a few things:
Pros
It’s relatively fast and easy to set up your account and get started.
The transactions are all done online or on your phone. No awkward trips to a bank or meeting borrowers first-hand.
Investors can get a much higher return for their money than they would by keeping it in a bank or investing in a long-termcertificate of deposit.
You can choose your level of risk/reward.
Some sites let you invest as little as $25 per loan. You don’t have to fund an entire loan, thus minimizing your risk in case of default.
You’ll receive monthly payments of principal plus interest as the loans are paid off.
Cons
Many of these loans are used for debt consolidation, which means they are inherently higher risk than some other types of loans.
These platforms are not FDIC-insured the way banks are, so if a borrower defaults on their loan, no one is paying back your money.
It’s still a young industry, which means we don’t yet know how it will respond to a market crash or an economic downturn.
Once you’ve loaned the money, you’re in it for the long haul. There are no secondary markets where you can sell off your loans to get out. That may change in the near future, but for now, you have to assume your money will be tied up in that loan until it is paid back.
Your investment earns diminishing returns. You’ll earn less and less interest as the loan is paid back. You’ll need to reinvest it if you want to continue earning interest with it.
5 of the Best P2P Lending Websites for Investors
New broker sites and apps are popping up all the time, but these five are consistently listed among the best in the business. You may want to start out with one of these tried-and-true P2P sites.
Lending Club
The first P2P company to become publicly traded,Lending Clubis the big dog on the market. You need $1,000 to get started, but you have the option of going solo or with a joint account. You can lend as little as $25 per loan, so you can diversify your money and protect yourself from default loans.
You can also automate your lending portfolio based on your risk preferences so you don’t have to hand-pick which borrowers are right for you.
Upstart
Upstartboasts that they look at more than just credit scores when evaluating borrowers, so if you’re looking for a site that is trying to help the little guy, Upstart could be your jam. Of course, that means that some of the loans carry a higher risk, but that also means the potential for higher returns.
Another of Upstart’s perks is the investor’s ability to open an IRA. That comes withsome tax benefitsfor your investments.
Prosper Marketplace
Prosperis the original peer-to-peer lending site. Started in 2005, it was the first one to hit the market and it’s still going strong today. Prosper has a user-friendly phone app to keep on top of your investments.
One major perk of Prosper is that you can get started with just $25. However, Prosper suggests that you invest $2,500 – 100 x $25 notes – to have your money properly diversified.
Peerform
If you are looking to get into the P2P investing market but don’t know where to start, you may want to check outPeerform. Peerform allows you to diversify using16 categories. You also have the option to take on a full loan rather than just a fraction of a loan, if that sounds attractive to you. Peerform requires you to be an “accredited investor” to take part, so read up on their rules before trying to jump in.
Funding Circle
If you have a passion for small business,Funding Circleis your stop. The platform’s owners tried to get funding for their own small business but were shot down repeatedly. By “repeatedly,” we mean 96 times. So, they decided to create a solution that would connect small business owners in the U.S. and UK with investors.
No bad debt consolidation loans here. While Funding Circle does require $50,000 to open your account, you can invest as little as $500 at a time.
Tyler Omothis a freelance writer covering topics from personal finance to career advice and even lawn care. His work has been featured on TopResume.com, Writersweekly.com and more. He is also the author of over 70 educational books for children and a proud parent of twin toddlers.
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.
Ever since I started my financial turnaround many years ago, one of my favorite things to do has been to calculate my net worth and compare it to my balance from a month before or from a year before, just to see that I’m still going in the right direction.
Often, it’s hard to see financial improvement in my day to day life because, well, I’m still working every day and my wife is as well. We don’t have enough to retire. At the same time, we have enough put aside that we can handle almost any emergency life might throw at is, including a big job loss. Our money stress is low and there’s not much that could change to make it lower.
So, looking at numbers is often the only way I have to make sure we’re still marching toward our biggest goals – retiring early, paying for a significant part of our children’s educations, and so on.
Are we still moving toward our goals?
I track this in a number of ways. I look at our net worth (our total assets minus our total debts). I look at our retirement account balances. I look at our 529 account balances. I used to look at our debts before we paid them all off. I want to see positive growth in all of those things.
As much as I’d like to say that every month is a step forward, the truth is that it’s not. There are months where, for a wide variety of reasons, our net worth actually went down rather than up.
Even now, when I know that such months are a normal thing sometimes (and this can even be true over the course of a quarter or even a year), it is still frustrating and disheartening. It can feel like we’re taking a big step back in our financial journey, even when we’re putting in the constant effort to keep moving forward and to keep our lifestyle from inflating and to say no to any number of things we might enjoy for a brief while at an unnecessary expense.
How can that happen?
A big expense of some kind. Last year, we replaced a vehicle, moving from a 2004 Honda Pilot to a 2014 Toyota Sienna. We paid for it out of pocket, but our net worth still took a significant hit. We also did some remodeling of our home in order to give each child their own bedroom and provide sleeping accommodations for handicapped guests in our home. Again, while that may have provided a small increase in our home’s value, the cost of the project as a whole absolutely did not pay for itself.
A bad month/quarter/year for investments. This becomes more and more true over time as a person has more and more of their net worth in investments that can potentially be volatile. If you have most of your net worth wrapped up in stock investments, for example, a downturn in the stock market can easily cause more short term losses than you can make up with your income.
Falling back into bad spending habits. Let’s say that Sarah and I just splurge like crazy for a month and we end up spending more than we bring in. We haven’t done so in a long time (except for perhaps one month when we were traveling a ton a year or two ago), but it can potentially happen. This is probably the worst reason, as it indicates a failure of something I can control, whereas the others are largely outside of my control.
Some combination of the above. Sometimes, these things bunch up together to create a seriously difficult month. An unexpected event occurs at the same time as a stock market dive or at the same time as a bad spending month.
Each of these issues has a different strategy that helps.
First, if you have a big expense of some kind and it’s a known and planned-for expense, don’t include the money you’re saving for that big expense in your normal net worth. This is a lesson I learned over time. If I know a big expense is coming up, I start saving for it, but I don’t include the savings account I’m using for those savings in my net worth. Instead, the money going out is just a normal monthly expense, like paying the electric bill.
I have a savings account I use solely for known upcoming expenses. I save for things like property taxes and annual insurance bills and for replacement cars. This keeps known big expenses from causing my net worth to dive.
Second, if you consistently have big expenses that are unexpected that cause your net worth to drop, don’t include your emergency fund in your net worth. This is a good pairing with the above strategy. If you regularly have unplanned expenses that exceed what you can handle and you’re tapping your emergency fund for them, that means you’ve got very uneven expenses and thus you should consider your emergency fund as more of a tool for “evening things out,” and thus you shouldn’t include your emergency fund as part of your net worth.
Third, if investment volatility is really bothering you, focus instead on how much you added to your investments this month, not the return on that investment. In other words, if there’s a month where your investments go down in value, just ignore that drop for the month. It’s not something you can really control at all. Rather, focus on the contributions that you made. You bought more shares, which means that when their value does go up, you’ll improve even faster.
This is the hardest element to just write out of your net worth calculations, but it’s also the easiest one to recognize, so I don’t really let it bother me too much. If I see my net worth dropped during a month with an investment drop, I basically ignore it.
Fourth, if you’re concerned that your spending is going up, focus solely on your budget, not your net worth. Look at how much money came in via your paychecks, and how much money went out via your expenses. Ideally, you should have spent a lot less than you earned, especially if you cut out things like big unexpected expenses and big planned expenses, as noted above.
I calculate this by looking solely at our family income minus the bills we paid, any expenses taken out via a debit card, and any expenses put on a credit card. That number should still be a solid positive. If it’s not, then there’s a real problem with spending that needs to be addressed. If it’s positive but not as big as I’d like, there’s still a problem with spending.
What if there are multiple factors at work? In general, whenever it looks like my net worth has gone down for a month, I look at all of these factors, regardless of the one that seems like it might have the most impact. I’ll stop and look at my budget – take-home income minus actual spending – at any point when I suspect things aren’t right.
What if you feel like a failure? Sometimes, when you have a bad month, you’ll walk away from it feeling like you seriously failed. You’ve made all this progress, only to take steps backward?
Here are a few things to remember if you find yourself feeling that way.
First, recognize that the path to financial success is not a straight line; it’s a zig-zagging trail with some segments that actually go away from the goal for a bit. There is no big financial goal in life that anyone just walks toward in a straight line. Your progress will not be perfectly steady; sometimes, there will be steps backward. That’s okay. This is true for everyone with a big goal of almost any kind, but particularly a financial goal where so many things can make you take a temporary step back.
Second, most of the things that cause you to take a step backward are out of your control. You can’t control unexpected events. You can’t control catastrophes. You can’t control sudden drops in the stock market. They happen. They’re not your fault. There’s no use in getting overly upset by them. Rather, you should view them as things you can handle because you prepared for them (in the case of unplanned or planned expenses) or as opportunities because of a downshift in the market, meaning you’re able to buy more shares this month because the share price is cheaper.
Third, if this does point you toward a spending issue, it’s better off to notice it now and start taking action than to not notice it until it becomes a serious problem. It is far better to notice the molehill than to ignore it until it becomes a mountain. Sure, the molehill is annoying and it does take some effort to get rid of the mole, but it’s a lot better than dealing with huge issues. This is a sign that you should fix things now before they become really problematic, and that, again, is a good thing.
Furthermore, many people go through periods where they really struggle with their spending. People discover new hobbies or undergo life changes or simply drift into more expensive habits. It happens. What is most important for your financial success is that you notice it, you evaluate what’s most important to you, and you make changes accordingly.
A step backward isn’t the end of the world. What’s most important is that you notice them, that you understand what caused them, and that if it’s something under your control, you take appropriate action in line with what’s really important to you.
The easiest thing is probably not to do it, but it's almost impossible. Can a company forbid those discussions? We talk with an expert on how to have a civil political discussion at work.
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The easiest thing is probably not to do it, but it's almost impossible. Can a company forbid those discussions? We talk with an expert on how to have a civil political discussion at work.
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2CjXzBW
Grandparents save working parents £6,604 per year in childcare costs
Grandparents are putting in £127 worth of care for their grandchildren every week
Stephen LittleWed, 11/06/2019 - 11:32
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Grandparents save working parents up to £22 billion a year in childare costs, research from workplace pension provider Now: Pensions alongside the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) has found.
This amounts to an average cost of £127 per week that grandparents are putting in caring for their grandchildren, or £6,604 saved every year in childcare costs for parents.
Seven out of 10 mothers considered not returning to work because of childcare costs, despite nine in 10 mothers wanting to, research from NOW and the PPI shows.
The survey questioned of over 2,000 mothers aged under-45 from the UK. It found that seven out of 10 mothers believed that childcare would be impossible without the support of family and friends.
As a result, women are retiring on a pension pot worth around a third the size of men because they are working part-time or taking on care responsibilities, according to NOW.
Women who take time off work are retiring with a pension pot of £51,100, compared to men who have £156,500.
This would be the equivalent to benefit paid as pension contributions based upon the automatic enrolment minimum of 8% under the national living wage, which is currently £8.21 an hour.
The top-up would cost the government around £2.7 billion and benefit over three million women.
NOW: Pensions is also calling for the qualifying earnings band on auto-enrolment to be lowered to improve the pension of part-time workers. Currently, the first £6,136 of a salary is not included in pension contributions.
The pension provider says that these two policies below could reduce the gender pensions gap by around 50%, having increased women’s pots by 114%.
According to the Office for National Statistics, despite the rate of working mothers being at its highest ever at 75%, almost three in 10 mothers with a child aged 14 years and under said they had reduced their working hours because of childcare reasons.
Joanne Segars, chair of trustee at NOW: Pensions, says: “The cost of childcare on the UK economy and latterly, on women’s pensions, needs to be urgently addressed by the government. While it’s encouraging to see that more women than ever are in work, more needs to be done to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to save for a comfortable retirement.
“Whilst auto enrolment continues to give workers the head-start they need to prepare for their retirement, the focus now needs to be on helping mothers return to the workforce.
"We are leaving it to grandparents to provide free childcare when we should be adopting a similar model to our EU counterparts whose economies are benefiting by getting mothers back into the workforce faster.”
Daniela Silcock, head of policy research at Pensions Policy Institute, says: “It’s crucial to note that no solution we modelled from the five-point plan gave women a large enough boost to their pension pot to match that of the average man’s.
“While policy changes, most notably the introduction of a family carer top up and contributions paid on every pound of earnings, go some way to closing the gender pension gap, further social, policy and labour market changes would be required to close the gap entirely.
“More affordable and accessible childcare plus flexible working options would enable more women to return to work and recommence saving into their pension pot earlier.”
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In its purest form, cash is defined as the notes and loose change in your pocket. But, in investment terms, cash is an asset class just like stocks and shares, bonds or property
Jamie JenkinsWed, 11/06/2019 - 08:05
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The saying ‘cash is king’ reflects the belief by some that cash is more valuable than any other form of investment. A healthy dose of cash to stabilise investment portfolios is usually a good idea, but understanding the real value – and potential downsides - of holding onto cash is crucial.
Investors who favour a cash cushion may opt to invest in cash through bank accounts or Isas. A current account will usually pay a very low level of interest, while putting it in a cash savings account or Isa for a year or more may attract a slightly higher rate.
With interest rates currently very low, you may find that none of these cash investment options attract a return high enough to beat inflation, effectively reducing the real value of your savings over time.
Inflation, otherwise known as the increase in the cost of living, currently stands at 1.7%. That means the cost of living is climbing at a rate of 1.7%. For each £100 you’ve spent a year ago, the same things will now cost you £101.70.
When it comes to savings and investing in cash, inflation matters. If you’re earning 1% interest on your cash savings but inflation is ticking along at 1.7%, then after a year your £100 will be worth £101, but the cost of what you might buy has gone up at a faster rate.
This is what we mean by a reduction in real value. And while the sums involved in this example may seem insignificant, it can have a ravaging effect on your savings over many years.
Leaving your money invested in cash over the long-term may not be the best option to reaching your financial goals. The Financial Conduct Authority – the UK’s main financial regulator – has already expressed some concerns about this, particularly when it comes to pensions.
Some people at retirement are invested in cash but don’t appear to have any immediate need for the money, meaning its value starts to erode over time.
Of course, none of this means investing in cash is necessarily a bad thing to do. Where you need immediate access to funds and you want to protect the value from falling in the short term, it’s an entirely reasonable option.
It is also recommended that you always have a cash buffer in case of emergencies. Whether it is an unexpected expense or riding out an investment portfolio drop, having extra cash can definitely come in handy at certain times.
The thing to remember is when you invest your money for the long-term, you’re giving it a chance to grow in value. There is no guidebook to tell us how much and when to invest our money. Ultimately, the longer you leave it invested, the better your chances are of seeing it grow and giving you better returns.
On a very small scale, I hold cash investments for my son. I put aside any spare coins I have in my pocket each day, saving them in a piggy bank. The piggy bank earns no interest but given that Arlo is only one year old, he has an extraordinarily long time horizon for his investments.
I’d better get those savings invested somewhere soon or they will definitely lose value. Who knows, perhaps coins won’t even be legal tender by the time he needs them.
Jamie Jenkins is head of global savings policy at Standard Life
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