How to Handle the Financial Advantages of Others Without Feeling Hopeless

Over the last few days, several people asked me for my thoughts on the recent college admissions cheating scandal, where a number of people were charged with various forms of fraud as a result of paying large amounts of money to secure their children’s admission to prestigious universities often through fraudulent means. Many people interpreted this story as an example of people with financial wealth buying opportunities for their children that others do not have, thus ensuring that the wealthy gobble up most of the opportunities and making the path to success harder for less wealthy Americans.

This question from Heather was pretty clear:

What are your thoughts on the college cheating scandal? I find it deeply upsetting and frustrating. I tried very hard to get into a top school when I was in college and exceeded their standards for test scores and GPA but my family was middle class and couldn’t buy my way in so I didn’t get in to any of the schools I wanted. Now I have three kids and although my husband and I do well I can’t just come up with $500K to buy their way into a good school. It just feels hopeless, like the entire deck is stacked against us. Why should I even save much for their college when I know my kids are very likely to just go to the local state school unless they get really really lucky? It’s all just a scam to keep us working.

Anger. Frustration. Hopelessness. A sense that no matter how many good financial moves you make, if you don’t have a wealthy “guardian angel” grabbing opportunities for you and pushing obstacles out of the way for you, you’re going to be left trying to overcome lots of obstacles for ever fewer opportunities. Those are the feelings I’ve read from several readers and, to an extent, I’ve felt myself upon reading news like this. Wealth means that some people play by different rules, and if you don’t have wealth, it can seem pretty hard to compete.

How does a person of average income not feel like the deck is stacked against them? How does a person of average income not feel hopeless?

Sarah and I are probably a little above average in terms of national income, but not exorbitantly so. We’re definitely in the “ordinary income level” side of the equation.

My feeling on this cheating scandal is this: what exactly is it that I can do to make it better? If I were a financial regulator or an FBI agent, I may have a role to play; aside from that, it’s largely in the hands of society’s mechanisms, and they did catch these people.

Thus, if there’s nothing I can directly do to impact such misuse of wealth and power, it does not benefit me to worry about it or let it impact what I’m doing in my own life going forward. Rather, the best thing I can do is maximize my own opportunities. If I waste my energy worrying about the unfairness of it all, that’s energy that I didn’t use opening other doors in life.

Here are some of the things we do and some of the beliefs we hold that help us overcome a sense of hopelessness in the face of enormous financial advantages of others.

Unless You’re Jeff Bezos, There’s Always Someone Higher on the Mountain

Virtually everyone on earth lives their life with the understanding that there are people wealthier than they are. That’s simply a fact of life. As long as someone has more than someone else, there will always be someone out there with more than you unless you happen to be the wealthiest person on earth.

Like it or not, that higher level of wealth confers some advantages. It enables people with more wealth to achieve things and open doors that you simply cannot. Again, this is simply a fact of life. You can’t change it.

You should never let a fact of life that’s outside of your control cause you to despair or alter your own plans. Do not devote energy or time to things you cannot control.

Instead, devote energy and time to the things you can control, such as the actions you take each day and how you choose to express your feelings to the world.

You – not some rich person – get to decide how you spend your days. You and you alone get to decide how you’re going to spend your time and your money. Don’t let anyone take that from you. Your freedom of choice and freedom of thought and freedom of action are always yours. This is a key idea that we’re going to return to throughout this article.

Abundance, Not Scarcity

One view that often leads to hopelessness in situations like this is the idea that there are only so many slots to go around and that if one slot is gobbled up by a cheater, then there’s one less slot for everyone else.

This relies on a scarcity mindset, that there are a set number of chances for success in life and once that fixed number is taken up, there’s no chance of success for anyone else.

I consider that kind of thinking to be utterly self-defeating, and it also doesn’t match with what I’ve seen in the real world. The world is actually an abundant place. Opportunities appear and multiply all the time. Twenty years ago, I could have never dreamed that I could start a publishing platform from my own home and raise it to the point where I could be completely self-employed by it, but the opportunity came about. I didn’t take anyone else’s “spot.” At my taekwondo school, you earn a black belt through personal effort; there’s not some fixed cap on how many black belts exist in the world. I can list many, many stories like this.

The truth is that focused effort creates opportunities. There aren’t a fixed number of opportunities out there. When someone works hard at something, they often make new opportunities for themselves and for others.

If you busted your tail to get into your perfect school and then you didn’t get in, that doesn’t mean the time was wasted. What you’ve actually done with all that effort is create a ton of opportunities for yourself. You now have access to tons of schools and, even more, you’re prepared for the next set of challenges life will give you.

• Read more: Breaking Through the Money Scarcity Mindset

Nothing Is Guaranteed – Your Efforts Just Improve the Odds

Everything you do in life serves mostly to improve the odds of an outcome that you want. If you want a good job, you try to get into a good school (which improves your odds of getting a good job) and then to do well in the classes at whatever school you get into.

Some with all of the opportunity in the world can utterly fail. At the same time, someone with almost no opportunity at all can succeed.

What’s the difference between the two? Pure chance plays a role, but hard work plays a big role, as does smart work – not just effort for effort’s sake, but effort towards achieving a goal.

If you want something, put it in your sights and work towards it. You’re never going to guarantee that you get what it is that you want, but every step is going to increase your chances of getting there.

Yes, some people start off with better chances than you and some people start off with worse chances. That has very little to do with your own chances. If you take the right actions, your chances of the outcome you want go up. If you do nothing or take the wrong actions, your chances of the outcome you want go down.

Any sufficiently big ambition you have in life has some chance of succeeding and some chance of failing. Even doing your absolute best is not a guarantee of success – it’s merely a higher likelihood than doing nothing at all. Almost always, when you don’t succeed, you can look back at your own missteps along the way and hopefully learn from that to try again or to help others.

That’s it. It doesn’t matter what some rich person is doing. It doesn’t matter what obstacles have been moved out of the way of someone else. That’s a given. That’s something you can’t control. What matters is what you do to improve your own odds of achieving the success you want.

A rich person buying their way into an elite school is pretty unfair, but does that excuse you not doing your absolute best to get in there? No. It has nothing to do with it. If you do your absolute best, then you’ve maximized your chances, and that’s all you can do. It’s very rare that any of us do our absolute best, though, and we can always look at ways to improve.

This is why my best advice to everyone is to just do your absolute best at whatever it is you’re doing. Don’t slack off. Don’t waste your efforts. When you do that, all you’re doing is reducing your own chances of success. Above all else, don’t worry about the situation that others have, because it has no bearing on whether you put in the maximum effort to succeed or not.

• Read more: Planting Seeds for the Future

If You Want To Make Money and Succeed, Be Valuable to Others in Ways Not Easily Replicated

That’s the recipe for success for most people. It’s not about having doors unlocked for you. It’s not about having obstacles moved out of the way for you. That might get you in the door, but what’s going to keep you there and help you move up is being valuable in ways that aren’t easy to replicate.

What can you offer that’s not easily replicated? Honestly, at many jobs, the things you can offer that are often not replicated is a cheery and friendly demeanor and a good work ethic. That is often the difference maker at many jobs.

The thing to remember is this: The more replaceable you are at a job, the less incentive anyone has to reward you for just doing the minimum. If anyone off the street could do the minimum at your job, then they’re probably not going to pay you well. If there are tens of thousands of people with the skills needed for your job, you’re probably not going to get paid well.

What are you doing to set yourself apart? What are you doing that you can point at and say, “This brings value to my employer and it’s not something they could easily replace”?

Again, those things come back to effort above all else. The only advantage that wealth and opportunity really confer is that initial foot in the door. Beyond that, it’s about who can produce genuine value.

You should be asking yourself this question every day if you’re in the job market or you’re in a situation where you want to succeed. Furthermore, you should be encouraging your children to think the same way.

• Read more: The Best Career Advice I’ve Ever Received

Your Job as a Parent Is to Equip Your Child With the Tools to Succeed

So, there are two basic lessons here that are worth teaching your child. First, you can’t worry about what other people are doing, because it just takes away from what you’re doing. Yes, there are always going to be people with advantages. That changes nothing about whether or not you can put in the effort to create your own advantages. Second, the more smart effort you put into something, the better your chances of success. This is about you and not about anyone else. The flip side is also true – you maximize your chances of failure by doing nothing (or, in some cases, working against your goal).

Baked into those two ideas are a lot of good tactics for parenting.

Encourage your child’s work ethic and effort above all else. Don’t talk about the result (grades, getting into a good school, winning awards) nearly as much as the effort (studying, self-learning, being a positive force in the community). Why? The rewards – good grades, etc. – are the likely outcome of the effort – studying, etc. You want to laud the effort – let the rewards be their own reward. If you simply further reward the reward, the skills they need to achieve things will atrophy – they’ll just aim for the shortest path to whatever that reward is, and that won’t build any sort of skills they need for the future.

Encourage them to take on challenges. Nudge your child toward taking on the challenging option when they’re faced with a choice. Should they take an AP class? If it seems like they have a chance of being successful, sure. Should they try out for the musical? Absolutely.

Sure, sometimes they’re going to fail, but quite often, if you encourage their effort, they’ll figure out how to succeed. Both are valuable – failure often teaches more than success, and success is often the reward for hard work.

Don’t cover up for their mistakes. When your child messes up, they need to be held accountable for those mistakes. You should not step in and clean up those mistakes. If your child doesn’t get an A on their report card, don’t badger the teacher until they have an A. Rather, figure out what they need to do to move themselves into an A. If your child skips class, let them suffer the consequences for that. You might work with a teacher or administrator to prevent permanent damage to their future, but they should absolutely face real consequences now.

This needs to start small. If your child doesn’t do a household chore, what is the consequence for that? Here, it’s simple: They don’t get their preferred electronic device. That stays in a basket they can’t touch until certain things are done.

Clearing the Path Doesn’t Help Your Child Become a Problem Solver

So, let’s roll back to the issue that launched this article: the whole college admissions cheating scandal. In that scandal, the parents were using their wealth to remove obstacles from their child’s path.

Those children didn’t have to build any work ethic.

Those children were not challenged in any way.

Those children did not have to face any problems or overcome them.

They might get their foot in the door, but are they equipped to succeed? Can they handle the obstacles life throws at them? Are they prepared to face actual challenges? If parents have been constantly removing obstacles, then they’re not ready for those challenges.

Removing obstacles for your child can help them get their foot in the door, but when they start facing real challenges that you can’t just buy their way out of, they’re going to be woefully unprepared.

Who is going to be prepared? The person who knows how to handle challenges. The person who knows how to solve problems.

It might be a little harder to get your foot in the door, but when you do, you’re ready.

Being Disheartened

For most of this article, I’ve tried to focus on the fact that this is about your path, not theirs. The advantages that other people have might feel unfair, but those advantages have no real bearing on the path ahead of you. The harder and smarter you work, the more advantages you open for yourself.

That doesn’t mean that it won’t feel unfair sometimes, that you won’t feel disheartened sometimes. I think everyone does, sometimes.

There are two things I always keep in mind for those disheartened moments.

First, those other people are not my story. Someone cheating to get into a college might be unfortunate, but it really honestly has no bearing on whether or not I succeed at the challenge set before me. There are always going to be reasons why people gobble up an opportunity that might have been mine. All I can do is make sure I’m as ready as possible to snag those opportunities.

Second, the only person that really decides my own success or failure is me. Yes, obstacles can come flying in from out of nowhere and knock you off your path, but those obstacles would have flown in anyway. If you work hard to stay on that path, then you have a good chance of getting to where you want to go. If you don’t, you’re probably not getting there. It’s the only thing you can really control, so start controlling it and stop worrying about what you can’t control.

Taking One Step Forward Is Better Than Taking No Steps Forward

So, what do you do today about all of this? You put one foot in front of the other one.

What is the big thing you want out of life? What can you do today to move yourself in the direction of that big thing? Ask yourself that and take action on that every single day and you will move in that direction.

Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Don’t worry about what other people are thinking. Let the mechanisms of society work to fix those problems (unless you’re part of those mechanisms, in which case you should get cracking).

Worry about what you’re doing, make today a genuine step toward where you want to go, stop worrying about what others are doing unless it directly impacts you, and the rest will take care of itself.

• Read more: Doing Something Is Always Better Than Doing Nothing

Some Additional Reading

This article is a distillation of a bunch of ideas I’ve collected over the years that have helped me overcome a lot of sense of feeling jealous and upset and hopeless over the success of others and helped me to focus on where I can actually make change happen in my own life. If you found these thoughts useful, here are three books I highly recommend reading.

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday focuses on the idea that the very things that demoralize and frustrate you are the things that are often the foundation of the success you want to build.

How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci is a book-length description of how to live by the philosophy of stoicism in the modern world. Stoicism taught me to separate the things I can control – my internal emotions and thoughts and, to an extent, my actions – from the things I cannot control – the rest of the world.

Aristotle’s Way by Edith Hall similarly takes a school of thought and directly applies it to modern life, something I wrote about a few months ago. The idea behind this book is that, to paraphrase Hall, the good life is found by aiming to maximise happiness by living virtuously, fulfilling your own potential as a human, and engaging with others – family, friends and fellow citizens – in mutually beneficial activities. The financial advantages of others play no role in any of this.

These three books take different approaches to the same core idea, that someone else’s advantages really play no role in whether you have a successful or joyous life or not; that success and joy is up to you and the things you already control.

Good luck.

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This Little-Known Move Saved This Woman More Than $1,300/Year on Student Loans

How Can Photoshop Help My Home Business?

Over the past decade, technology has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. The advancements that have been made have been nothing short of extraordinary. Smartphones, wireless internet, Bluetooth connections, and all the different apps and devices have completely changed our lives. Technology has also become an indispensable part of your business and the […]

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Why Your Credit Needs an Emergency Fund

Believe it or not, neither the amount of money you earn nor how much you have in the bank or in your wallet has an impact on your credit scores.

Credit scoring models, like FICO and VantageScore, don’t consider your income or other wealth related metrics. This means you have the potential to earn great credit scores whether you earn millions of dollars per year or you earn the minimum wage.

But although income and wealth metrics aren’t factored into your credit scores, a lack of savings can still hurt your credit, albeit indirectly. For example, if you don’t have an emergency fund, you’re putting your financial and credit health at risk.

Emergencies are, by definition, urgent. If you don’t have money set aside to cover unexpected, immediate expenses, you’ll most likely have to borrow the money to cover them. Depending on the urgency of your situation, you may even feel forced to use a financing option that could hurt your credit or cost you a lot of money in the long run.

Here are a couple of common ways people cover urgent expenses when they don’t have an emergency fund.

Option #1: Using a Credit Card

Using a credit card to cover an emergency expense is easy, if you have enough available credit on your account. However, easy isn’t synonymous with good.

When you use a credit card to cover a large expense, like a car repair bill, it can turn into a costly mistake. Interest rates on credit card accounts are notoriously high, often in the high teens or higher. If you charge more on your credit card than you can afford to pay off in a month, those high interest fees will pile up quickly.

For example, say you make a $5,000 charge on your credit card with a 20% APR but you can only afford to pay $100 per month on the debt. If you keep paying only $100 per month, it would take you nine years and one month to pay off that expense. During that time, you would pay an extra $5,840 in interest fees – more than double the initial cost, and an expense that could have been avoided entirely if you had an emergency fund.

To make matters worse, that $5,000 in new credit card debt may damage your credit scores even if you make every payment on time. Why? Because credit scoring models pay attention to the relationship between your credit card limits and your credit card balances. When your credit reports show that you’re utilizing a high percentage of your available credit limits, your scores will likely suffer.

• Read more: Why Is Credit Utilization Such a Big Deal?

Option #2: Taking Out a Loan

If you have decent credit, taking out a personal loan from your bank to cover an emergency expense might not be such a bad idea. With good credit, you may be able to obtain a reasonable interest rate and affordable monthly payments.

However, when you have credit problems, getting a quick loan at a low interest rate might not be possible. In desperation, many people feel forced to turn to high-rate loans from online lenders. Even worse, some people will turn to payday lenders, title loan companies, and other short-term, asset-based lending options. The annualized interest rates on these types of loans can reach as high as several hundred percent, and some of them are even outlawed in certain states.

It’s easy to get in over your head financially when you take out high interest loans. Before you know it, you might have trouble keeping up with your payments, and a downward credit score spiral could begin.

Start Your Emergency Fund

Think about the recent partial government shutdown that delayed one or two paychecks for some government workers. There was a real possibility that, if the shutdown went on for several more months, people could have defaulted on car loans, credit card bills, and even mortgages. The need for an emergency fund is legitimate and real.

Now think about what would happen if you lost your job or your hours were cut back. How long could you make your payments?

Building an emergency fund doesn’t just protect you financially; it’s also a smart way to protect your credit. All it takes is setting aside some money each week or each month — even just $5 or $10 a week is a start — into a high-interest savings account. Make the transfer automatic, so you don’t forget and you don’t miss it. (Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started building a healthy emergency fund of your own.)

Even if you don’t feel like you can afford to save money aggressively right now, make the decision to get started with small amounts. When it comes to saving money, something is always better than nothing – no matter how small.

More by John Ulzheimer:

• Three Ways to Raise Your Credit Score Fast
• The Perfect Credit Score (and Why You Shouldn’t Obsess Over It)
• UltraFICO vs. Experian Boost: Two New Ways to Build Your Credit

John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. The author of four books on the subject, Ulzheimer has been featured thousands of times over the past decade in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, The Los Angeles Times, CNBC, and countless others. With professional experience at both Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.

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I’ve waited months for my TSB compensation

Moneywise helps a reader still waiting for payment

Does the £100 compensation offered by TSB to disgruntled customers after their computer chaos last year actually exist? I have been to the Financial Conduct Authority and it ordered the TSB to pay me. I haven’t been paid and have told TSB, but still there’s nothing.

SH/Reading

You first contacted me about your problems with TSB last year when you couldn’t get at your cash because of the bank’s widely reported computer problems.

We helped you unlock your account and get your cash, at which point you understandably decided enough was enough and switched to another bank. That seems to have sparked the problem with your £100 compensation for the disruption. When you tried calling the bank to find out what was going on, you were told that as you were now not a customer, telephone banking couldn’t help you. Unbelievable!

You were told to pop to a local branch but as TSB shut the nearest one, that would have involved a day trip for you, which you naturally declined to do.

After we exchanged comments about the issue on social media, your cheque suddenly turned up, which must have been a coincidence.

I asked TSB how many others were still waiting for their compensation.

A TSB spokesperson told me: “We would like to apologise to any of our customers who may still be waiting for a resolution to their complaint. We are working as hard and as quickly as we can, but we can guarantee that no customer will be left out of pocket as a result of migration and no complaint will go unanswered. As at the end of January, we have resolved around 90% (181,000) of all the customer complaints received since migration.”

OUTCOME: TSB agrees to pay £100 compensation

Simon Read is a a money writer and broadcaster. He was personal finance editor at The Independent and is an expert on BBC1’s Right On The Money

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How can I avoid going into the 40% tax bracket?

Question

I currently earn just below the 40% income tax threshold and have two questions. Firstly, I am likely to get a bonus at work, does that count as part of my main income as it would push me into the higher tax bracket? Secondly, even a small pay rise is likely to move me into the 40% rate. Can I do anything to offset it? For example, pay the excess straight into my company pension?

From

DS/Ripon

Congratulations on getting a bonus, this is good news. The bad news is that it will be taxed as earnings in exactly the same way as your income, so will be potentially liable to income tax at your marginal rate and national insurance contributions. This means that the amount of extra money you get in your pocket may be less than you think as you’ll be paying more tax.

There may be other disadvantages – for example, if you receive child benefit and your income increases to more than £50,000 a year. In this situation, there is an income tax charge of 1% of the amount of child benefit received for every £100 of income over £50,000. So those earning a net income of £60,000 or more will effectively lose all of their child benefit.

There are ways that you can reduce your income for tax purposes, the most common of which is to invest into a pension. The money you invest can potentially benefit from tax relief of 40%, compared with 20% for a basic-rate taxpayer. This can reduce the amount of income tax you pay on your earnings and bonus and protect your entitlement to child benefit if you are affected.

You need to be aware of tax changes planned from 6 April, such as the personal allowance increasing to £12,500, which means people will have more tax-free income and the higher rate threshold rising to £50,000, meaning fewer people will pay income tax at the higher rate.

This latter change might mean you are not pushed into a higher tax bracket after all, depending on the amounts in question. These changes apply in England and Wales; there are different tax rates in Scotland. Visit Gov.uk/scottish-income-tax for more details.

Tax rules can be confusing, so if you’re not really sure what you’re doing, you should take independent financial advice.

Patrick Connolly is a certified financial planner at Chase de Vere

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American Home Shield Review | Protect What Matters

We invest a great deal of money into our homes—not only in regards to the physical structure, but on interior design, added features, and, of course, the items inside.

To help protect us financially, items often come with a warranty, offering a repair or replacement if the piece breaks down.

Many of us would not think twice about taking out a warranty for our refrigerator or washing machine. When it comes to our properties, however, many homeowners are not prepared or covered in the event of an incident.

A home warranty can help to protect you and offer both peace of mind and financial compensation, but first you need to pick the right home warranty provider.

About American Home Shield

American Home Shield’s History

American Home Shield tops our list of the best home warranties. It is a firm providing home protection plans, which are specially designed to cover some of the most common issues and system breakdowns which may occur within your home.

Operating since 1971, they claim to cover over 1.4 million homeowners across 49 states. They also boast a team of more than 10,000 contractors who can provide the services you need to get your home up and running.

How It Works

American Home Shield has a simplified process for coverage. The system works on the basis of a twelve-month contract.

You pick your plan, pay a month’s premium, and have your contract activated fifteen days later.

From this date, you are fully covered. Plans come in a range of options and can be paid via monthly payments to help make them more affordable.

How to Make a Claim

If you need to make a claim, you can contact American Home Shields via the website or phone, 24/7. This will put you in touch with a service representative, who will arrange for a contractor to be sent to your property.

It’s important to note that you will only be contracted by your contractor during regular business hours, despite the customer claim line having 24/7 accessibility.

The company claim that all of their contractors are of the highest quality to ensure that their customers remain completely satisfied, though some feedback has expressed concerns with the contractor they received.

How American Home Shield Assesses Claims

Upon arrival, the contractor will request a trade call service fee paid directly to them to start the process for them to diagnose the issue.

They will contact American Home Shield before taking any further action to check that your plan covers the problem before repairing or replacing the system.

While the consensus is that this phase is carried out effectively in most cases, there have been reports of some contractors failing to diagnose the issue after receiving the fee.

Benefits of American Home Shield’s Process

There are some bonuses to the system. First, your plan is fully transferable, ensuring that you are covered even if you move from your house to another one during your policy period.

The policies are also ‘all risk,’ meaning that everything will be included unless explicitly stated; any exclusions will be made clear to you when you take out the plan.

Types of Plans

As we have mentioned, there are a variety of plan types available, depending on your needs. Pricing may vary according to location but can be paid via affordable monthly payments. The policies on offer include:

Systems Plan

Usually retailing at around $32 per month, this covers the repair or replacement—where possible— of any components in the air conditioning and heating units of your home, as well as plumbing and electrical systems.

Appliance Plan

Like the systems plan, this coverage is offered at around $32 per month. The appliance plan covers components in refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers, and other key household appliances.

If the appliance is covered, either a repair or replacement will be carried out, depending on what is needed.

Combo Plan

Offered at around $42 per month, this option combines the Systems and Appliance plans, providing all of the benefits of both with financial savings.

If you like the comprehensive coverage offered by both types of policies, the combo plan is an excellent way to save money.

Build Your Own

As the name suggests, this policy allows you to cover at least ten items, while picking and choosing the coverage you need. The price is dependant on what you prefer.

Each monthly payment can also be adjusted by altering the trade service fee which is paid to the contractor when they visit your home. The set amounts are for $75, $100 and $200; the higher priced options will reduce the price you pay per month.

What is Covered

Each plan is different, but there is a general list of appliances and components which are covered by the policies:

Covered Under Systems Plan

• Air conditioning including ductwork
• Electrical
• Heating
• Plumbing
• Garbage disposal
• Water heaters
• Instant hot and cold water dispensers
• Ceiling fans
• Central vacuums
• Doorbells
• Smoke detectors

Covered Under Appliances Plan

• Dishwashers
• Refrigerators
• Clothes washers and dryers
• Ranges, ovens, and cooktops
• Freestanding Icemakers
• Built-in microwaves
• Garage door openers
• Trash compactors
• Built-in food processors

Add-ons

As a bonus, there are a few optional add ons which can be purchased as part of the build your own plan. Elements covered here include:

• Pools and spas
• Well pumps
• Septic pumps
• Water softeners

What is Not Covered

As with any policy, it is essential to be aware of what is not included. The fine print of the paperwork includes a few stipulations.

Be sure to consider the following factors:

• Exact items listed: If you have updated your dryer but not informed American Home Shield, you will not be covered for that item.
• Malfunctions covered by a warranty: If an item is covered by a manufacturer’s warranty, American Home Shield reserves the right to decide whether the item will be replaced or repaired or not.
• Selection: Homeowners also do not get to choose the item if it is replaced; this is at the discretion of the contractor and doesn’t have to be a match in terms of the color, model, size, or brand.
• Cash alternatives: If the contractor decides that they cannot repair the component, they may also offer a cash alternative.

It is always worth reading the small print before signing for a plan or policy as it will make your life easier and eliminate any expectations or confusion in the event of a claim.

Alternatives to American Home Shield

Pros and Cons of American Home Shield

Pros

Pros of taking out a policy include:

• Adaptability: A range of protection plans which can be adapted according to your needs
• Comparison: The monthly repayments will almost certainly cost less than repairing or replacing your appliance or system as an individual
• Access: You can file a claim 24/7
• Coverage: Offers protection and reassurance even after the expiration of a manufacturer’s warranty

Cons

• Time: Contractors will only contact you and carry out work during regular business hours
• Quality of contractors: There have been reports of some low-quality contractors being sent to the home of customers, and those who are only interested in the fee
• Cost: Building up some savings and a network of reliable tradespeople may be a cheaper alternative

In Conclusion

Taking out a home protection policy can be a great way to protect your home and belongings, providing peace of mind and a financial safety net if anything goes wrong, and eliminating the need to worry or search for a contractor to fix the problem fast.

American Home Shield offers a variety of flexible and affordable plans to suit every lifestyle and budget and help to protect homeowners from high bills later on.

As with any policy, however, exclusions and exceptions apply, and it is a good idea to make sure you are fully aware of these before committing.

The post American Home Shield Review | Protect What Matters appeared first on Good Financial Cents®.

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This Masked Man Makes an Extra $200/Week as a Mexican Wrestler, or Luchador

How to Add Adsense to Your Website

You’ve spent countless hours designing and updating your website. But you’re not getting paid for all of your hard work.

Rather than letting your efforts go to waste, you can monetize your website by adding Google AdSense.

What is Google AdSense?

In short, AdSense is an advertising network run by Google. It’s a free way for websites to make money by displaying targeted Google advertisements on their sites.

Advertisements come in all shapes and sizes. Your site can display images, videos, text, and interactive ads as a monetization strategy.

Arguably the best part about Google AdSense (aside from the cost — it’s free) is that you won’t have to deal with advertisers directly. Everything gets handled through Google’s platform, so you don’t have to worry about collecting money or maintaining relationships when you’re hosting ads.

Google does all of that work for you. It collects money from the advertisers, keeps 32% for its role in facilitating the process, and the remaining 68% goes to the publisher (you).

It’s essentially a hassle-free way to earn money by displaying ads on your website.

How AdSense works

AdSense is based on a bidding system, which is referred to as an “ad auction.”

Advertisers determine how much they are willing to pay for their ads to be displayed by setting a maximum bid price. Google automatically connects advertisers with publishers who have relevant users for the advertisements.

For example, if you run a blog for new mothers about getting through that first pregnancy, your website visitors won’t see ads related to skateboarding targeted at teenage boys.

If more advertisers bid to be displayed on your site, bids will increase as well in order to stay competitive. In this case, you’ll be able to earn more money as a publisher.

Google uses a tool called Ad Rank to determine which ads will appear on your website. This is the basic formula used by Ad Rank.

Quality score is extremely important, which is why it equally weighted with the bid. Quality score is measured by predicted click-through rates based on past performance as well as other relevant factors, such as keywords.

This means that an ad with a lower bid could win an auction if they have a high quality score, even if other advertisers had a higher bid.

That’s because Google wants to make sure that the ads get clicked, which is a win-win-win scenario for your website, the advertiser, and Google.

Getting paid with AdSense (bid types)

Website owners get paid based on various bid types for the ads they display.

• CPC (cost per click)
• CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
• Active View CPM (active view cost per thousand impressions)
• CPE (cost per engagement)

CPC

With the CPC monetization strategy, you’ll get paid for each time a website visitor clicks on an ad displayed on your website. Depending on the content of the ad, some advertisers are willing to pay higher rates for clicks than others.

CPM

In the advertising world, the “M” in CPM stands for mille, which is Latin for thousand. So, Cost Per Thousand — or the cost per 1,000 impressions. In this case, publishers are paid for displaying the ad, regardless if a user clicks on it or not.

CPM bids are typically lower than CPC bids since the fee structure is not contingent on the user taking an action. Google will display whichever ad type (CPM or CPC) is expected to earn more revenue for the publisher, which is in Google’s best interest, since they take a 32% share of the revenue.

Active View CPM

In order to get paid for Active View CPM ads, the impressions must be measured as “viewable.” This means that at least 50% of an ad needs to be shown on the screen for at least one second.

These bids will be higher than traditional CPM bids since the chances of a website visitor actually seeing the ad are increased.

CPE

Cost per engagement is based on how active a user is with an advertisement. For example, let’s say an advertiser decides to run a lightbox ad. These formats are expandable — they take up a large portion of the screen if they’re clicked on. If a website visitor hovers over a lightbox ad for more than two seconds, the ad will expand. This is the type of engagement that is required for CPE payouts.

How to add Google AdSense to your website in 7 easy steps

Now that you understand the basics of AdSense and how it works, it’s time to get it set up on your website. Believe it or not, this actually isn’t very complicated. You can put AdSense on your website in just four steps.

Step 1: Set up your site

Before you get started, you need to have an existing website. You can’t apply for AdSense on a hypothetical or future site. So for those of you who are in the process of creating a new website or have an “under construction” landing page, you need to hold off before applying.

If you’re at this stage, I have a few guides that can help you out:

• How to Start a Blog That Makes Money in 12 Easy Steps — The Complete Beginner’s Guide
• How to Create a Website in 120 Minutes — Step-by-Step
• 7 Reasons Why You Do NOT Need to Hire a Website Designer
• The Best WordPress Themes For Blogs – 2019 Review
• Brand New Blog. No Traffic. Here’s What to Do.
• How to Make Yourself Write a Blog Post Every Day

Step 2: Make sure your site is in compliance

Google does not just accept any website into this program. You need to meet their eligibility requirements to be considered.

This means that you must have an easy to use navigation. Elements need to be lined up properly. Text must be easy to read. All of the functionality of your site has to work properly.

AdSense won’t work with any publishers that sell counterfeit goods on their website. Any publishers in the AdSense program aren’t allowed to receive traffic from certain sources, such as paid-to-click programs or unsolicited emails.

Google has a responsibility to its advertisers. Businesses don’t want their ads associated with certain types of websites, so it’s Google’s responsibility to review your website content before you get accepted. These are some examples of content that cannot be included on pages with Google ads:

• Mature or adult content
• Shocking content
• Excessive profanity
• Malware or adware
• Drugs or drug paraphernalia
• Sales of alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, weapons, or ammunition
• Illegal activity
• Hateful content or discrimination against religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, etc.

For the full list refer to Google’s eligibility requirements for AdSense. You need to make sure your site complies with all of the guidelines before you apply, or your application will just be rejected.

Step 3: Apply to AdSense

Now that your website is up and running, you’re ready to apply to AdSense.

The first thing you need to do is navigate to the Google AdSense website.

From the Home tab, look for the Sign Up Now button, and click it to start the application process.

Step 4: Configure your ads

Now you have to determine which types of advertisements you want to be displayed on your website.

On the left side of your dashboard, look for the Content option. Once you click on Content, there will be a drop-down menu with some additional options. From here, you’ll want to click on the Ad Units menu.

This is where you’ll select things like the ad type, ad size, style, and everything else associated with the advertising space that advertisers will be bidding for.

When choosing a size, it’s in your best interest to go with one of the options recommended by Google. While there are a wide variety of choices, Google gives you recommendations based on the most popular sizes for advertisers.

For ad style options, you can control how text ads are displayed on your site. The best way to do this is to match the style with your website’s color scheme.

Step 5: Copy and paste the AdSense code onto your site

After you’re done configuring your ads, scroll to the bottom of the page.

Click on the “save and get code” button.

Google will automatically generate a code for you to add to your website, which will look something like this.

Next, you’re going to copy and paste this code to your website. If you’re using WordPress, you can do this by using widgets.

From the administrative dashboard, go to Appearance and find Widgets.

Paste the custom AdSense URL, then you and just drag and drop the code into the widget area where you want it displayed on your website.

Alternatively, you can use plugins to help you manage your ads. I’d recommend the AdSanity plugin for this.

Step 6: Update your privacy policy

When AdSense is enabled, you need to include a privacy policy on your website. This is in place to let your website visitors know that an ad network is displaying ads on your site.

Here’s the full Google resource for required content in your privacy policy.

Step 7: Verify your address

Once you start generating earnings from Google AdSense, you’ll receive a card from Google in the mail. Before you can withdraw your earnings, you’ll need to make sure your address has been verified.

The card will include a PIN associated with your AdSense account. Just follow the instructions on your card for verifying the PIN online.

Once the PIN and address have been verified, you’ll be able to cash out payments when your account reaches the specified payment threshold.

Google AdSense best practices

Now that you’ve got AdSense installed on your website, you’ll want to make sure that you’re getting the most out of being a publisher. There are certain do’s and don’ts you need to be aware of.

Following these best practices will help you earn more money and reduce your chances of violating Google’s policies.

Never click on your own ads

Since AdSense is based on clicks and other engagement, clicking an advertisement on your own website is considered fraudulent. It’s important that you don’t let any family members in your household click on those ads either.

Google won’t be able to tell the difference between you or your spouse if you’re living together. If they see clicks coming from your house to ads on your website, they can remove you from the AdSense program.

Don’t display ads on your ecommerce site

This isn’t a violation of Google’s policy, but it’s not in the best interest for driving conversions on your website. Remember, AdSense is based on relevancy. So it’s possible (and likely) that one of your competitors’ ads could appear on your website.

If this happens, you could be driving visitors away from your website to a competitor’s site instead. The amount you’ll get paid for displaying the ad isn’t worth the lost sale. Furthermore, ads can distract users from your CTAs and sales copy, even if they aren’t associated with your competition.

So, I wouldn’t recommend AdSense to any websites selling products or services.

Run different ad units

Everyone has different preferences. Different website visitors might be attracted to different styles and types of ads displayed on your website.

If you’re just running the same ad unit over and over again, you could be leaving some money on the table. For example, let’s say you’re only running text and display ad units right now. You can probably earn more as a publisher by running native ads.

But you won’t know this for certain until you experiment with different ad units.

Find the best placement

In addition to experimenting with ad units, you’ll also want to test different areas of your website for displaying ads. You can’t assume that the first place you put your ad is the best.

I’d recommend checking out Google’s best practices for ad placements based on the type of website you have. They have different suggestions for:

• Blogs
• Gaming sites
• News sites
• Travel sites
• Sports sites
• Classifieds
• Forums

It’s also a good idea to look at some of the most popular and successful websites in your industry. Look at their ad placements. If you notice a common formula across the board, you can try to replicate that as well.

Create content and drive traffic

AdSense isn’t a magic ticket to making money on your website. It’s 100% reliant on your website traffic. So you need to be constantly creating new content and coming up with ways to get more people to your website.

If you’re in a rut with creating content, you might want to read these guides:

• 7 Tools for Generating Infinite Content Ideas for Your Blog
• 10 Lessons Seth Godin Can Teach You About Blogging
• 35 Blogging Ideas That Are Guaranteed to Be Popular Topics

The more traffic you have, the greater chances you’ll have of getting ads seen, clicked, and engaged with.

You can’t just put yourself on autopilot once you add AdSense to your website. It’s imperative that you continue doing all the good things that brought people to your website in the first place. This will be the best way for you to earn money.

In sum: It’s easy to add AdSense to your website

There you have it. You can add Google AdSense to your website in just seven steps.

I’d recommend AdSense for any website that isn’t already selling a product or service. There are tons of other ad networks out there, but Google is definitely the most reputable. AdSense is free for publishers, so there is no harm in trying it out.

Be sure to use this guide as a reference when you’re ready to set up AdSense. Follow my seven-step guide and your site will soon be earning money with ads.

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Get Free Rita’s Italian Ice on March 20 Plus a Chance to Win Ice for a Year

Regardless of what the cold weather and snow storms up North want us to believe right now, the start of spring is riiiiight around the corner.

And to celebrate the promise of warmer days ahead, Rita’s Italian Ice is back with its 27th annual First Day of Spring Free Italian Ice Giveaway.

Whether you call it water ice (questionable to this Southerner), gelato (fancy but incorrect) or just plain old Italian ice, it’s all the same delicious (and free!) stuff.

You can pick up your icy treat on March 20 between noon and 9 p.m. at any of the more than 600 Rita’s locations.

Last year, Rita’s gave away almost 1 million cups of Italian ice during the nine-hour promotion period.

Win Free Rita’s Ice for a Year!

But wait, there’s more! Rita’s is also giving away free Rita’s ice for a year to one lucky spring lover.

To enter for a chance to win, all you have to do is post how excited you are for the First Day of Spring — points for creativity. Post a picture to social media using #RitasFirstDayofSpringContest starting March 20 through March 22 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Rita’s will select one fan at the end of the contest.

Grace Schweizer is the email content writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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

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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Questions About Rewarding Children, Tents, Store Brands, Hidden Spending, and More!

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Handling income bump
2. Partner hides bad spending habits
3. Urgent purchases
4. Personal finance books to avoid
5. Rewarding children for good grades
6. Bullet journaling and “notebook method”
7. Frustrated with credit card debt
8. 401(k) investment options
9. Confessions of a comfortable Christian
10. Store brands aren’t always cheaper
11. Inexpensive good tent for camping
12. Basics needed for teaching chess

When I write during the day, the family dog is almost always right at my feet. He often lays right on top of my feet, keeping my toes warm but also making me loathe to even move them.

The nice thing about this is that it’s a great reminder of someone approaching our house or of his need to go to the bathroom. Those are the two reasons he jumps up – he hears someone approaching our house or he needs to use the bathroom. In either case, I know it’s time for me to get up, too.

He has become my own little reminder to get up and stretch and move around every once in a while.

On with the questions.

Q1: Handling income bump

My income is about to increase (from mid $60,000s to $100,000 with bonus opportunities as well). I’m pretty financially savvy but am curious how you might approach a big change like this. I plan to save most of my income (and fight lifestyle inflation best I can), eliminate the last $4,000 of student debt I have as soon as possible, and save significantly more money towards my savings for a down payment on a home. I have other small savings goals as well, all in Ally savings accounts. I have no other debt and don’t plan on acquiring any. My biggest challenge is my new company does not have a 401k. If it did, I would max it out no question. I already max out my Roth IRA every year. My questions are: Should I switch to a traditional IRA instead of a Roth? And where should I save for retirement with no 401k? Should I open a brokerage account and invest like I normally would in index or mutual funds? I’m worried I don’t have enough tax-deferred options, but I also don’t think $6,000 in a traditional IRA will make a huge difference in my tax bill nor is it enough to drop me to a lower tax bracket. Is there anything else I should be doing differently with this change in income? I’m in my mid-20s, unmarried with no kids.
– Stacia

If you’re not self-employed, are earning a salary over the Roth IRA income limit, and your employer doesn’t offer a 401(k), your options are pretty limited. As you note, a traditional IRA is an option. Unless you’re making a very large income ($190K or above), your traditional IRA contributions are tax deductible, so that’s a decent benefit. Still, that only covers a some of what you want to put away.

Outside of that, you should probably open an ordinary taxable brokerage account and start stowing away money in there. While there aren’t really any tax benefits for doing so, just quietly sticking your money into an index fund, reinvesting the dividends, and paying the small tax bill on the dividends each year is going to build a nice nest egg for you. There’s also no restrictions on it, so if you decide to go start working for a charity at 45, you can start drawing down that money at that time if you so choose.

So, if I were you, I’d contribute to a traditional IRA assuming that you can get value out of the tax deduction, then put more in an ordinary brokerage account.

Q2: Partner hides bad spending habits

I recently found out that when my husband buys stuff at the store, he almost always takes extra cash out and uses it as pocket money for various things. So, he might spend $160 at the store and then takes out an extra $60 so that it shows up on the bank statement as $220 at the store.

I figured this out recently when I looked at a few grocery receipts and saw that it didn’t match what was on our bank statement.

This hasn’t caused any real financial problems for us. We don’t have any credit card debt or anything and we both contribute to retirement. I still feel like it’s dishonest.

I have not decided how to talk this over with him. I am worried that I’m going to get really mad in this conversation especially if he denies it or acts like it’s not a problem.

Do you have any advice?
– Ellen

If it’s not causing you any financial problems, my first suggestion to you would be to figure out why exactly this is upsetting you so much.

Is he directly lying to you about the withdrawals? If not, I don’t think he’s being dishonest.

Is he using the money for something detrimental to your marriage? If not, I don’t think he’s being cruel.

Do you feel as though you should have some “mad money” as well if he does? If that’s the case, you could simply do it yourself, or bring it up as a conversation topic with your husband.

I would really, really suggest that you dig into why exactly you’re upset before talking about it with him, though. Why are you upset? Whatever your answer is, why does that make you upset? Keep doing that until you get to a real core answer. That’s the thing you should talk about with your husband.

I don’t think you’re blowing your concern out of proportion – you have a right to be concerned and should be. I just think your concern is unfocused at this point, and coming into this conversation with a lack of focus is probably going to be bad for everyone involved. Spend some time thinking about what really bothers you about this before you talk about it. Figure out what outcome you would really like, and whether it’s actually fair to both of you.

Most likely, your husband doesn’t consider it dishonest nor mean nor does he consider it a big deal. He probably just wants some pocket money so he can go out to lunch with coworkers or easily buy gifts without the numbers showing up on a bank statement. Keep it in mind that he probably genuinely feels like he’s not doing anything wrong at all, so he’s very likely to get defensive if you are angry and confront him in a strong way.

In other words, be calm, think through the situation thoroughly, give your husband the benefit of the doubt, consider what outcome you would like, and then enter into the conversation with a cool head and a rational plan. It’ll go better for everyone involved.

I think, in general, when you’re upset with your spouse’s behavior, taking the time to really figure out what’s going on and how it bothers you without immediately entering into an emotional argument is going to benefit everyone involved.

Q3: Urgent purchases

Since you’re into boardgames, i think you’ll understand this. waiting for a month before making a purchase certainly makes sense, but what happens when you’re into certain collectibles (action figures, for example) and waiting means risking a sell-out and/or having to chase a figure for double or triple the price on the aftermarket, only because you waited so much?
– Harry

I set aside part of my hobby money each month for the unexpected. I keep it as pocket money so that when I stumble upon something surprising, like a huge sale or something like that, I have enough money that’s already budgeted for to buy that thing.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you budget $100 for your hobby each month. You might plan ahead to spend $60 of it on carefully researched purchases, but the other $40 goes into your wallet for the purpose of buying unexpected items. That way, when you do come across something special, you can act without worrying about it.

I always have an ongoing list of board games that I’ll pick up if I ever see them on deep discount somewhere, and I set aside enough of my hobby budget each month so that I can jump on such deals if I find them.

Q4: Personal finance books to avoid

Found a list of good personal finance books on your site and you say most personal finance books are good and have value particularly for their target audience. Do you have any that people should avoid?
– Mark

I’m not a big fan of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books by Robert Kiyosaki. Some people find them inspirational, but there are a lot of inspirational personal finance and entrepreneurship books that don’t fall into some of the traps this book falls into. The book offers pretty bad advice, encourages people to spend their money on Ferraris and such things, and refers to those who disagree with anything in the book as “hamsters.” If you want inspiration, go elsewhere. If you want good advice, go elsewhere.

I generally don’t find much value in books that “guarantee” or promise financial returns that are beyond the average annual return of the stock market. Literally no one can beat the market consistently outside of people with enormous amounts of assets under their belt that can manipulate entire investment markets. Stick with books that discuss low cost ways to match the stock market.

I also generally find more value in books that are focused on principles above all else and supports those principles with examples rather than books that are focused on “timely tips.” “Timely” books don’t age very well. If the first chapter or two isn’t highly applicable today to at least some people, then just put the book aside.

Aside from those caveats, most personal finance books are pretty good. There are just differences in tone and differences in who the target audience is.

Q5: Rewarding children for good grades

Do you have any thoughts on whether to reward children for good grades and how to do so effectively? My parents used to give me $5 for every A and $2 for every B but I never felt like it actually motivated me to be a good student.
– Nolan

This is an area where Sarah and I are not in full agreement. I am a big believer of trying to increase the intrinsic reward of good grades through encouragement of effort. Some of the things I try to do at home are to have an electronics free “study hall” for a while after school where there are no electronic distractions and plenty of table space for a set period of time so they might as well study something or do some homework assignment (I actually do this alongside them, reading some personal finance book and taking notes on it, unless they need homework help), to talk a lot about the value of putting forth effort, and to solidly express joy at good results but make sure that the connection to the consistent effort is clear. I don’t really believe in direct rewards for good grades.

Sarah, on the other hand, really valued a reward system like Nolan describes that her parents had, so we’re also replicating that system, too. It’s much the same as your system, but with some inflation and some penalties for low grades. We give them $10 for every semester A, $5 for every semester B, and subtract $10 for every semester grade at a C or below.

I think the dual-pronged approach works pretty well for our kids. At the very least, I think it does the most important thing of all – it conveys that we value putting forth effort in school and that good grades are the result of good effort and that there are other rewards as a result of good grades.

Q6: Bullet journaling and “notebook method”

Your mailbox posts about your friend with the “Notebook”, sounds like the Bullet Journal method. Go to You Tube to watch Ryder Carroll’s videos of his method. Many people have videos about Bullet Journaling, but he started it and uses a wonderful basic system. Actually, I am surprised you have not written about his system as it dovetails David Allen’s Get It Done and Cal Newport’s Deep Work, (they both endorsed Carroll’s book). Ignore the pretty colorful pages that you will find on Pinterest under Bullet Journals. Go with the simple framework.
– Alex

There are definite similarities between the two. I’ve written about Bullet Journal in the past and gave it a trial run a few years ago, but it always felt like just a bit more upkeep than I wanted from a system. My friend’s system is basically an incredibly simplified Bullet Journal.

For me, the best use of paper is for freeform thinking – dumping out my thoughts, jotting down an unstructured note, and so on. I use pen and paper several times a day for this.

However, when I actually want to do something with those things, I find that electronic tools just work better for me. I have a digital calendar, for example, and a digital to-do list and a digital “notebook” to store and flesh out ideas.

Q7: Frustrated with credit card debt

When I was in college I made some bad mistakes and racked up $6K credit card debt on top of my student loans. I got an okay job in my field that will lead to bigger and better things but I only make $32K a year and even though I have roommates that doesn’t leave a whole lot left for getting rid of debt. I have been making minimum payments with an extra $50 a month for 3 years and there’s still $4K in credit card debt left. It feels like a trap I will never get out of.
– Pauline

I want you to sit down and look at the minimum payment you’re making this month. Let’s say it’s $50 – I don’t know what the exact amount is. You’ve said that you’re adding $50 to that minimum payment, right? So, you’d make a payment of $100 on your credit card this month along with your student loan debt, right?

Okay, whatever that total amount is, keep track of it. You’re going to put that much toward your debt every month. Maybe the total is $400 – $100 toward the credit card debt and $300 toward the student loan minimum payments. Keep that amount steady.

Each month, you’ll notice that your minimum payment on your credit card drops a little. The next month, it might be $48, which means that your “extra” payment is $52. The next month, it might be $45, which means that your extra payment is $55. What you’ll notice is that this starts to accelerate – the shrinking of the minimum payment goes faster and faster until it’s gone.

Watch for that. Don’t sweat the total. Watch that minimum payment decline, faster and faster. That’s where you’ll really feel the progress.

One day, it’s gone. So, what do you do? You take that $100 you were using on the credit card and apply it as a $100 extra payment on your student loan with the highest interest rate. Take what you’re paying that first month – your normal monthly payment plus $100 – and hold that amount steady for all future payments on that debt until it’s gone. Each month, the balance on that loan will go down, and over time, that shrinkage will accelerate. Eventually, it disappears, and you roll it forward again into your next student loan.

What happens as you’re doing this is that your progress accelerates. It’s like you’re on a marathon, but rather than going at the same pace or slowing down, you start speeding up. Focus on how you’re speeding up. Don’t sweat how far off the end destination is. Just focus on how the total debt is getting smaller and smaller and the shrinkage is happening faster and faster.

Then, one day, you’re debt free.

A lot of frustration goes away if you know where to focus. Look at your own progress and the improvement in your situation month over month. Look at how much debt vanished, and how much more debt will vanish this month. It feels a lot better.

Q8: 401(k) investment options

Went to sign up for 401(k) at end of workday on Friday. Got everything done but investment choices and there are a lot of them. The HR tried to summarize them but didn’t seem to know what she was talking about. How do I even pick without doing many hours of research?
– David

The important thing to note here is that you’re far better off starting to contribute immediately to a decent investment option than waiting for months before starting to contribute to a “perfect” investment option. There really isn’t a perfect one, for starters, and the gap between the best option and the worst for most 401(k) accounts isn’t that big.

If I were in your shoes, I would simply look for a Target Retirement fund and choose the one that’s closest to the year where I turn 65 (or later, if you think you’re retiring closer to 70 or 75 or whatever). Most 401(k) plans offer these. A Target Retirement fund is one that’s very aggressive when you’re young and gradually gets more and more safe as you grow older (with the returns gradually going down as well).

If a retirement fund isn’t available, if you’re more than ten years away from retirement, I’d put everything into a total stock market index fund. If you’re closer than that, split your contributions 50/50 between a total stock market index fund and a total bond market index fund. Those investments should be available if there’s a long list available to you.

Those choices aren’t perfect, but they’re very solid and will let you get started now. After this, spend some time actually looking at the investment options and figure out what’s right for you.

Q9: Confessions of a comfortable Christian

I know you don’t typically dive into religious topics, but I wanted to get your thoughts on this article: What the Bible Doesn’t Say About Financial Security
– Pete

I think the article hits upon a deep truth in modern American society: the bottom 70% or 80% of income earners, and even some higher than that in high cost of living areas, are not very financially secure themselves.

Yes, this may be due to personal choices, particularly those in their past, but the reality is that most Americans can’t survive even a single missed paycheck, and when you’re in that situation, it’s financially scary to give a lot to charity. Some still do, of course, but it’s risky.

The point of the article isn’t so much to give more to charity, but to realize that the difficulty so many have is that we no longer rely on community but view our burdens as wholly our own. We don’t see ourselves as having a real role in helping our neighbor with his or her burdens, nor do they help us. It’s a call to work on building community, and it’s a call I strongly agree with. There’s a reason I very regularly mention looking for community groups to be a part of – real life communities can be incredibly strong and valuable for all involved.

If you found this article interesting, I strongly recommend reading Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam. It’s one of the most personally influential books I’ve ever read. It convinced me of the value of being more community focused, and you’ll see fingerprints of it all over The Simple Dollar.

Q10: Store brands aren’t always cheaper

While your advice of buying store brands all the time is generally good, sometimes store brands are cheaper. This is particularly true with sales but every once in a while the regular price of a name brand is cheaper than the store brand. If you rush through the store and grab just store brands you might be paying more sometimes.
– Victor

You’re absolutely right. While I rarely see a name brand that’s lower in price than a store brand – it does happen, but it’s pretty rare and the difference is usually tiny – there are lots of situations where a name brand on sale is lower than a store brand.

My usual strategy at the store is to just trust the store brand by default. I don’t worry about the very rare occasion where the store brand is actually more expensive, because checking all of those prices every time just to save $0.10 isn’t worth the effort. What I do watch for are sale price tags; if I see them on a product I’m buying, I do pay attention and see if the sale price is cheaper than the store brand price.

On the occasion when the store brand is on sale, I usually stock up. (Not long ago, there was a big store brand pasta sale at my local store and I definitely stocked up!)

Q11: Inexpensive good tent for camping

Want to go camping with my kids this spring and summer. We moved not too far from a state park and [a national park] is just 15 minutes away. Recommendations for a good one that’s not too expensive?
– Alice

A four person Coleman sun dome tent is perfect for a family wanting to go “car camping” (meaning their campsite is close to where their car is parked and they’re not backpacking a long distance). You can get a larger one if you have a large family or anticipate friends regularly camping with you. This is the model I’m referring to.

You’ll probably want some sleeping bags (which you may already have), too. A good pocketknife is invaluable for things like cutting sticks to roast hot dogs and marshmallows and the like. You’ll want something with which to start a fire – long matches or a lighter. You should save packing paper and newspapers to help you start a campfire. I’d also buy some very long tongs so that you can adjust the campfire a little and also put foil packet meals directly on the coals and pull them off.

Camping honestly isn’t expensive at all. Once you have a few pieces of equipment, the cost is basically the price of the camping site and maybe a bit of wood. Since you’re usually eating food you brought yourself, the cost of eating is pretty low, and the natural environment around you gives you all of the entertainment you’ll need.

Q12: Basics needed for teaching chess

You wrote that your youngest son plays chess. What do you do to teach him the game? My son and daughter are both interested (ages 6 and 4) after seeing people playing in the park but I know little about the game. I bought them an inexpensive chess set but yeah I barely know how to play!
– Tammy

You really have all you need. Everything else you could possibly need until you get to extremely sophisticated play can be found online for free.

There are thousands upon thousands of videos on Youtube explaining how to play chess and delving as deep into the strategy as you want. I don’t know your children or their interest level, but the five video long Chess for Kids series might be a good place to start.

Watch the series with your kids – it’ll teach you and your kids the basic rules in a really gentle way. Then, just play games with them and encourage them to play against each other. If you find that you are better than your kids, one great way to make the game fair is to allow your kids to switch sides once during the first twenty turns of the game – literally turn the board around. You can also “spot” them pieces by starting the game without a piece or two on the board. Be aware that kids can pick up chess incredibly fast and it’s likely you won’t need that advantage for long.

You may find that your kids play it a few times and lose interest, or one or both of them might really take to it. If they do, see if there are any chess clubs in your area and get them involved there. Having a broader community and friends who play can do a lot to encourage a burgeoning interest.

Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

The post Questions About Rewarding Children, Tents, Store Brands, Hidden Spending, and More! appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Best balance transfer and 0% purchase cards

Whether you're planning a big purchase or want to reduce the amount you pay in interest, there are a range of credit cards to suit a variety of spending patterns. 

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Before you take the plunge it is worth thinking about what you want a credit card to do and what you want to use it for.

If you will be clearing your balance in full each month, you may do better out of a cashback or reward card. If you’re planning to travel then check our guide to the best fee-free cards to take abroad.

• Find the best deal for you with Moneywise's comparison tools

This round-up contains our Moneywise Best Buys for balance transfer, money transfer and 0% interest cards - putting you in charge of your money and letting you know how to get the most out of your plastic. 

Top balance transfer credit cards

If you are in debt then a balance transfer card, if used properly, can be a great way to manage that debt and reduce the amount you’ll need to pay back.

Look for a card that offers a substantial 0% period, so you can clear your debt before it reverts to its normal APR and you end up paying interest. Remember 0% interest doesn't mean free - many of these cards will charge a balance transfer fee.

Santander Everyday Credit Card
The current top pick without a fee is the Santander Everyday Credit Card which offers 0% interest on balance transfers for 27 months. It has an APR of 18.9%.

Balance Transfer Credit Card - Post Office Money
25 months 0% balance transfer with 3.00% fee, representative 19.9% APR

This card has the longest 0% period on the market, but a relatively high fee of 2.00%.

Balance Transfer Credit Card - Virgin Money
29 months 0% balance transfer with 1.75% fee, representative 20.9% APR

This card has 29 months at 0% and comes with a fee of 1.75%

Sainsbury’s Nectar Balance Transfer Credit Card
30 months 0% balance transfer with 0% fees, representative 19.9% APR

This card has 30 months at 0% and comes with a fee of 3%.

Barclays Platinum With Balance Transfer
29 months 0% balance transfer with 1.99% fee, representative 19.9% APR

This card has a 0% balance transfers over 29 months with a fee of 2.5%. 

Fee-free balance transfer credit cards

Santander Everyday Credit Card
0% balance transfer for 27 months with no transfer fee, representative 18.9% APR variable

This has a 27-month balance transfer period and charges no monthly account fee.

Sainsbury's Bank Nectar No Balance Transfer Fee Credit Card
0% on balance transfer for 22 months, 20.9% APR variable

This card offers 22 months 0% on balance transfers with no fees to pay.

Santander All In One Credit Card
0% balance transfer for 26 months with no transfer fee but £3 monthly account fee, representative 21.7% APR variable

This account offers 26 months interest free on both balance transfers and new spending, meaning it is a good all-rounder if you're only able to have one card. However, it charges a £3 monthly fee, meaning others could be a better bet.

Longest 0% interest purchase credit cards

If you are going to spend large amounts, find a credit card offering 0% on purchases - ideally one with a long interest-free period that charges a reasonable interest rate after the introductory deal.

Sainsbury’s Bank Nectar Purchase Credit Card
0% on spending for 27 months, representative 20.9% APR variable

This card offers a 27-month interest free purchases period, with 18 months 0% interest for balance transfers (subject to a 2.89% fee in the first three months, rising to a 3% or minimum £3 fee after). You’ll also earn Nectar points as you spend in Sainsbury’s, and elsewhere.

Other cards

If the Sainsbury's Bank card isn't for you, a number of providers are currently offering long interest free periods for purchases.

They are: Tesco (26 months) and Virgin (28 months).

Best credit cards for money transfers

Money transfers work similarly to balance transfers, except the cash is paid into your current account so you can use it to pay off a loan or an overdraft instead of credit card balance.

But remember to watch out for the high fees associated with these accounts - you can often pay between 3% and 4% for money transfers. 

Tesco Bank Clubcard Credit Card (Money Transfer)
0% money transfer for 28 months with 3.94% transfer fee, representative 19.9% APR variable
If you're looking for the longest 0% interest period, then you will have to pay a higher transfer fee. Tesco Bank offers a 28-month transfer period but is subject to a 3.94% fee.

MBNA Platinum Credit Card
0% money transfer fee for 20 months with a 4% transfer fee, representative of 19.9% AER
MBNA's card offers a 20-month transfer period with a 0% fee.

How are Moneywise Best Buys selected?

We look across as much of the market as possible to find the best deals using industry data from Defaqto.

All our picks are nationally available - online, by post or by phone. We try and pick products that are available to both new and existing customers, but we’ll highlight some offers for existing customers if they’re much better than what else is on offer.

We select accounts which offer the longest 0% purchase, balance transfer and money transfer periods - while also taking into account the interest rate after this period. We prioritise cards that do not charge a monthly fee.

We reserve the right to use our discretion at all times.

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• Cards & loans
• Credit cards

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• Moneywise Best Buys

Related stories

• Best cards for overseas spending
• The best credit cards for rewards and cashback
• Are credit scores overrated?

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