Category: Learn How To Make Money

Have you ever heard the term ‘Neither a lender nor borrower be’? Sounds like great words of wisdom, unless you need cash on the hip in rapid fashion. It’s always difficult to tiptoe around the issue of the best and worst consumer loans in the United States, and in reality, the choices you make are usually linked directly to how desperate you are.

Let us help you to circumnavigate the murky world of consumer loans in the United States so you can make a decision based on common sense instead of necessity.

Best Consumer Loans in the United States

Making a mistake by choosing the wrong option can not only leave you in debt for thousands of dollars, but the debt can dramatically increase and seemingly go on forever making your life a living hell. Here are your best 3 options for consumer loans in the United States:

#1 – Personal Loans from Friends

If you have wealthy friends with surplus amounts of cash, taking a small personal loan from friends or family is easily the best option. Assuming you are going to pay it back of course. Because no-one wants to be in debt to a friend or a family member for too long.

By taking this option, you will cut down the interest rates to a bare minimum. Many friends will charge very little in the way of interest if any at all, so as long as it’s a small loan and you are planning to pay it back within a reasonable agreed time limit, this is the best consumer loan option by a country mile.

#2 – Personal Unsecured Loans

If you are a younger person who doesn’t have many assets to leverage or you are a parent looking to borrow money to send your kids to college, an unsecured personal loan is a great option. Personal loans are more suited to those borrowing smaller amounts up to $30,000.

A personal loan doesn’t borrow against anything valuable such as a property, and although that means the interest rates are commonly higher, you won’t lose your property if you default on the payment.

Interest rates on personal loans average at around 11%, but if you have a clean credit rating and search around, you could find something in the region of 5.5%, which is less than a credit card.

#3 – Remortgage your Property with Home Equity

If you are a homeowner or have been paying a mortgage on a property for a while and need cash, remortgaging your property, or a portion of it, is a great way to inject some much-needed cash flow. Refinancing your house or getting a home equity loan is a sensible approach because the repayment methods are usually from 5 to 20 years long, giving you lots of time to pay it back. And you still have a house at the end of it all!

The interest rates on home equity loans are generally in the 5% to 6% region, but please beware of the tax laws pertaining to deductibility if you are not using the cash for home improvements.

Worst Consumer Loan Options in the United States

Now we have discussed the best options, it’s time to explore the worst consumer loan options in the United States so you can sidestep the common mistakes that Americans make every year.

#1 – Short Term Payday Loans

Have you ever been strapped for cash and was so desperate you considered a payday loan? Make sure you think twice before getting one. A report from Pew Charitable Trusts back in 2013 detailed that only 14% of Americans who took payday loans could afford to pay back the loans with monthly payments.

The report showed that payday loans are extremely unaffordable and on average leave the borrowers in debt for an average of five months. Payday loans allow you to borrow money on hours you have already worked but have yet been paid for. Although it seems like a great idea for a short-term loan until you get paid, 76% of these payday loans are renewals that go on for months until you have finally paid up.

Payday loan providers will also need access to your bank account in some way so they can direct debit from your accounts. And you will be hounded if you fail to make your payments. Be wary of this option.

#2 – Pawn Shop Loans

Although pawn shop loans do a get a bad rap, there are some pros and cons. If you are looking for a short-term loan, and are willing to put up an item for collateral, they are safer than payday loans.

However, in some states, interest rates on pawn shop loans can reach up to 37%, and other fees that come with the loan you will still have to pay. The plus factors are if you default on the payment, you will only lose your collateral and will not be hounded by debt collectors.

#3 – Auto Title Loans

Auto Title Loans are short term loans where you have to put your car or vehicle titles up as collateral. These kinds of loans are usually for a period of 30-days, which is a quick turnaround if you can make the payment, but if not, they can sell your car to recoup the loan.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

If you are working just meters away from where you sleep, you are either in prison or a freelance writer. The two can be entirely interchangeable. Just me? I am constantly asked how it’s possible to make money writing online. The main answer is by putting in the work and knowing which route to take.

I have been a freelance writer for over 10-years and have seen the industry evolve and move away from magazine and newspaper writing to a brave new world of online content creation.

Does it sound attractive to wake up in the comfort of your own home, or in some exotic location, make a coffee and start work? If so, here are some tips and 5 steps to make money writing online

Step #1 – Making a Start and Finding a Niche

It obviously helps if you have a firm grasp of language and have at least a rudimentary level of writing skills. What kind of writer do you want to be? What are you interested in? Is it just about making money or are you looking to become an expert in a certain area while making money at the same time? Finding a niche is important, especially to begin with.

Writing about what you are interested in could be a good starting point. I figured out early in my online writing career that writing marketing pieces for businesses is a good earner. To begin with, write about something you are familiar with and the rest will soon work itself out.

Step #2 – Getting Your Writing Out There

The vast majority of online writing jobs you will apply for request writing samples or links to previous articles posted online. A good way to initially get your name and writing out there is to create your own blog site. In this day and age, it is an easy process. You could also volunteer to write for free for some websites as well in the beginning.

Creating your own blog is a great strategy to post a variety of articles live on the internet with links you can send to potential clients, but it is also the ideal platform to practice, hone and streamline your writing skills. You can easily use your pre-existing Facebook account to promote the articles to get some views and feedback.

Step #3 – Building a Reputation on Freelance Sites

How can you go from a few blog articles to actually make money writing online? A good way to start is by joining several online freelance jobs sites. Some of the most popular ones are Upwork, Freelance.com, and Problogger.

These kinds of sites require you to bid with other writers for jobs posted by potential clients.

You will have to compete with other writers for the jobs, but if you are realistic with your starting prices and are willing to sacrifice and underbid other writers, you will find jobs. The more jobs you do on these sites, the more your reputation grows, which will result in better-paid jobs. You can then increase your rates accordingly.

Step #4 – Job Hunting to Make Money Online

Make yourself a quality resume, a quality cover letter, gather your links to articles you have already posted online and get started applying for jobs. The ‘Writing Jobs’ section on Craigslist is a good place to start.

I also use other online job platforms such as Indeed jobs. You can search for “content writers needed” on Google and refine the search to the past month or week to find the most recent opportunities.

If you are for example looking to write cryptocurrency news articles, then bombard the main crypto news sites with your CV and application. That goes for any writing sector you are interested in. It’s a numbers game. The more you apply for, the greater the chance you will find something.

Step #5 – Creating an Affiliate Marketing Website

Did you know that writers and marketers are making money by selling other people’s products without physically keeping any stock?

Websites such as Amazon and eBay offer affiliate marketing programs where you can create websites and write reviews about products and make a commission on the sales. Some writers own several sites selling all manner of products. It’s something that you need to look into.

To make money writing online, you will first need to find a niche and voice, get your work out there, apply for loads of jobs and work hard. There is no magic formula to success other than hard work, persistence, and self-belief.

Featured image from Pixabay.

Sometimes it’s worth spending the extra cash to get a decent ROI on your purchase–whether that comes back to you in the shape of a better job, a decent sun tan, or a healthy and happy lifestyle. Wasting money, on the other hand, is pretty much never a good idea.

We’re not talking about the bottles of Bollinger you bought for everyone at the bar after you had a few too many. At least that brought you (and everyone else) some temporary happiness.

No, there are a ton of other ways that you’re wasting money without even realizing–basically spending on things that give you absolutely nothing in return and only detract from your life. Here are the top five.

1. Banking Fees

Research suggests that most of us are more loyal to our banks than our partners. The average US adult has used the same checking account for 16 years. They stay married for about seven.

Not because they’re especially satisfied with the service they get but simply because changing your bank account can be a big freaking hassle.

And yet, by not shopping around, you’re probably wasting money every month without realizing it. Small costs that add up over time can be more harmful than those one-off splurges at the bar that bought you instant gratification at the very least.

If you allow your account to go overdrawn every other month, use ATMs that are close by instead of operated by your bank, or are saving money before finishing off paying a debt, you need to look closer at your finances.

2. Buying the Same Thing Twice

If you’re too lazy to double check whether you have something hidden in your cupboard, you may end up buying it twice. If we’re talking about a bottle of ketchup, that’s hardly a problem, since you’ll at least use it when the other one finishes.

But when this starts happening on a more regular basis with items that you don’t need two of… you’re wasting money that could go toward something that does add value to your life.

Whether it’s a cheese grater or a coffeemaker, a set of headphones or a travel pillow, you probably just need the one.

And, going back to the ketchup, if you routinely grocery shop without checking what you have in the cupboard, remember plenty of items expire. That really is throwing money down the drain.

3. Overpriced Items

This basically applies to anything that you could have gotten cheaper somewhere else. While oftentimes you pay for the convenience of buying something from a local store rather than heading to one far from your home, if you fall into this habit, you’re routinely wasting money.

So before you make your next lazy purchase, calculate the value of your time. If it’s worth spending the extra to give you convenience, by all means, pay a premium. But if you have the time to shop around, it’s worth training yourself to do so.

4. Paying for a Brand Name

It’s not the same buying an iPhone or a Huawei, granted. And neither is it if you want a quality watch that will last the distance of your life. But, is it really worth spending three times as much for a branded pair or undies or everyday grocery items like mayonnaise?

Most of the time you can find comfortable clothes that have no brand and make significant savings. So, at least, for your essential items like T-shirts and pants, go for a cheaper version.

If you want to pimp your ride, spend the extra on a branded coat, jeans, or glasses–something that people will actually notice.

And if you must buy branded dishwasher tablets or culinary sauces because you really see the difference, that’s up to you. But if you can find unbranded items three times cheaper, why find yourself wasting money hand over fist to buy them simply because the publicity has beaten its way into the back of your mind?

5. Single-Use Items

This is where something called false economy often comes into play. It may be cheaper to buy a disposable razor because the one with the replacement parts costs more, but remember, the expensive one lasts longer.

The same applies to items you need right now that will never have a future utility. Like an inflatable flamingo on vacation or an all-weather jacket when you live near the equator.

Shop around for the best bank account for you. Your needs change over time. Start cutting down on branded items, avoid buying duplicates and keep on-off purchase expenses to a minimum or you’ll end up leaking money like a faucet.

Images from Shutterstock.

Investors often find themselves at crossroads between what they view as a safe asset and what is being promoted as a promising asset. The majority of the time, these people tend to choose the safer option by putting their money into real estate, bonds, and stocks. But only a handful of people know that investing in comic books has lower risks and can be slightly more secure.

Comic books attracted the masses as soon as DC published the Action Comics #1 in 1938. Marvel also joined the industry after publishing Marvel Comics #1 in 1939.

We explored the world of these comic book superheroes to make a list of three reasons you should be diversifying your investment portfolio by purchasing rare comic books.

1. DC Superhero Debut Comic Books Are Worth $1 to $5 Million

Action Comics #1 introduced Superman to the entire world and was sold for only 10 cents in 1938. Now, only 50 to 100 copies of this comic book are left in the world.

In 2011, famous actor Nicholas Cage sold his copy for $2.11 million. However, the value passed $3 million in 2014, when another near mint (grade 9.0) copy was bought by Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles on eBay for $3.2 million. Last year, the price was recorded to have soared past $5.5 million.

In 1939, Batman made his debut in Detective Comics #27. This copy is currently valued at $2 million, while Superman’s origin story Superman #1 is worth $1 million. It’s worth noting that these values will continue to increase in the coming years.

2. Marvel Comics Will Become More Valuable

Marvel’s fanbase grew after the successful release of Iron Man in 2008. This year, Avengers: Infinity War earned over $2 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time.

Now apart from comic book fans, moviegoers are also trying to purchase the original arcs of these characters, which is why these rare copies are expected to become more expensive.

For instance, a copy ofAmazing Fantasy #15, which introduced Spiderman in 1962, was sold for $1.1 million in 2012. Other comics include X-Men #1 worth over $490,000 and Iron Man’s Tales of Suspense #39 worth more than $375,000.

3. Comics Are More Liquid than Other Investment Assets

It’s important to know which comic book will give you a higher return on your investment. It can be an original superhero story or any other arc which isn’t easily available in the market anymore.

Zurzolo said that around 150,000 to 300,000 people attend comic conventions every year. These individuals have enough money to spend thousands of dollars on rare comics because ‘nowadays it’s cool to be a nerd’.

Furthermore, most of the highly sought-after comic books are limited in numbers. They are not being mass produced, hence, this investment won’t blow up like a bubble.

Apart from Marvel and DC, comics such as The Walking Dead are also immensely famous. Once you start investing in comic books, you will need to keep a track of your collection and make sure that they are in perfect condition. You should also look out for upcoming superhero movies which will help you identify which comics will appreciate in value in the future.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Most people simply don’t have a millionaire mindset. But if you want to get ahead of the pack, there are some common habits that can help you achieve your goals.

Author and researcher Tom Corley did an extensive survey of 233 rich people in 2004. Of the wealthy, 177 were self-made millionaires. More than 100 poor people were also included in the research. The differences he found could be your ticket to success, but it might also be more work than you think.

One of the biggest things that millionaires possess is patience. Making money takes time. If you want to build a stable, affluent lifestyle, be ready to wait for your hard work to pay off. Many of the millionaires that Tom Corley interviewed worked daily to hone their skills, no matter what was going on in their lives.

Keeping a positive mental attitude was another habit that millionaires seemed to cultivate, which might explain why they are able to persevere to reach higher than most people ever do. People who get down on themselves aren’t likely to have much confidence, nor are they going to inspire anyone else to reach for their personal best.

The Millionaire Mindset: Never Stop Learning

According to Tom Corley, the rich never stop increasing their knowledge base. Think about it for a minute, do you think Elon Musk stopped teaching himself when he left university?

Of course, he didn’t.

In super competitive fields like technology, the big players have to keep on top of the current trends. State of the art materials and manufacturing processes are some of the things that can give a business an edge, so making sure you are on top of what is happening today is vital if you want to compete.

Tom Corley’s research found that the average self-made millionaire read for at least half an hour a day, and many spent time connecting with their mentors who could offer additional insight that simply wouldn’t be available to the general public.

Do You Take Care of Yourself?

Here’s an open secret: healthy people do better in life.

Unsurprisingly, Tom Corley found that self-made millionaires exercised for at least half an hour a day, ate healthy food, and found time to create relaxation. All of these things will make a person more attractive, but being healthy also gives people more energy and endurance.

Who wants to deal with an unattractive person who can’t control their emotions?

Again, the answer is a simple one. No one does.

Making sure you can control yourself, and not openly offend people is a trait that millionaires say is important. The reasons why this is the case should be obvious. People can choose to deal with you professionally, or not.

If you are affable, intelligent and attractive, you will probably get more business than an uncontrollable blob of anger that spews hateful ideas at anyone they come in contact with.

It all seems so simple, no?

Never Underestimate the Power of Positivity

Despite what most people project on millionaires, it isn’t easy to get to the top. Once a person has money and a successful business, the headaches can grow. Positivity lets you get past the rough stuff, and make it to the finish line.

David Meltzer grew up in a poor family, but it didn’t keep it from becoming a multi-millionaire, twice. He had to overcome some seriously bad circumstances to make his mark on the world of sports and marketing. Born into a big family that was supported by his single mother, he knew how bad things can get when there isn’t enough money to go around.

Instead of being a victim of his circumstances, David Meltzer kept positive and built up a powerful marketing business that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He talks about his life experiences here, on ‘The Passionate Few.” The takeaway is simple; don’t let anything keep you from being positive, and your life will get better.

Being positive also attracts millionaires, apparently. One of the things that most millionaires from Tom Corley’s survey avoided was negativity, and toxic people.

Knowing people who have money, and great connections are better than being surrounded by losers who b***h non-stop about what they don’t have.

If David Meltzer let the poverty of his childhood haunt him for the rest of his life, he would never have built up his business. The same ideas apply to anyone, no matter what you want to accomplish!

Featured image from Shutterstock.

A new study by the American Psychological Association implies that if you’re a “nice” person, you’re less likely to become a millionaire.

The study, published on October 11, 2018, concluded that compared to their less agreeable peers:

“Nice people may be at greater risk of bankruptcy and other financial hardships.”

It’s not because nice people are more cooperative, but because if you’re nice, you might not value money as much as, well, not-so-nice people!

In personality research, “niceness” is measured in “agreeableness” and the research’s authors used a standard measure of this personality trait to judge niceness.

They then assessed a group of over 600 participants on their financial success including debt and savings, agreeableness, negotiation styles and how important money was to them. Using a regression analysis and further studies covering a 3-million-person strong data set they concluded:

“Agreeableness was associated with indicators of financial hardship, including lower savings, higher debt and higher default rates.”

This relationship between being nice, and a lack of financial success, said the authors, is driven by the finding that:

“Agreeable people simply care less about money.”

The findings were truer for lower-income individuals who were less financially able to handle their predisposition for not placing enough importance on their finances.

Then Why Are Some Millionaires Really Nice People?

Studies, at the end of the day, are studies. This one, though appearing to be representative, didn’t focus in on the “agreeableness” of millionaires. If we contrast the findings to how charitable some of the world’s richest people are, you’d have to agree some of them are pretty nice people.

Take Bill Gates, for example, he’s been America’s richest man for 24 years according to Forbes, only being knocked off the top spot by Jeff Bezos in 2018. Gates has so far given nearly $33 billion, a massive 41% of his current net worth, to charitable causes. Warren Buffet has given away nearly $26 billion, 39% of his current net worth.

Though, maybe in business and while making their fortunes, these billionaires were almost certainly extremely focused and very shrewd.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

With both traditional stocks and cryptocurrencies seeing steep price declines in the last 36 hours, an article recently written by Marc Howard caught my eye. In “How I Created a Bitcoin Trading Algorithm Using Sentiment Analysis With a 29% Return,” Howard provides a breakdown of how he built the bot.

Using Google Trends, he obtained the data for the preceding 90 days for the terms “BTC USD” and “buy bitcoin.”

Historically, cryptocurrencies have been much more volatile than traditional stocks, and Howard was hoping to use this to his advantage with readily available data from Google. He surmised that if people were searching for terms like “buy bitcoin” and “BTC USD” that market sentiment was good and the price of bitcoin was likely to rise, even from day to day.

He combined this with an analysis of the price of bitcoin over the same 90-day period and set about building the bot with Excel. The results suggested that when the price had risen by more than $80 on the previous day and the ratio of the two terms “buy bitcoin” to “BTC USD” was more than 35%, it would be prudent to place a buy order and conversely sell when the opposite was true.

Using Google Trends

As Howard points out in the article, some of the parameters used, like the prior day price increase of $80, were fairly arbitrary so we thought we would verify the results and consider possible improvements for the bot.

Howard had produced a paper gain of 29% over the 90 day period which compares favorably with a break even from either a daily buy and sell or HODL throughout the period.

We built the Google Sheet above, which is available for download as a local Excel file, and it contains two worksheets, “Marc Howard” and “MoneyMakers”. The “MoneyMakers” worksheet was created before we contacted Howard with our findings, and rather than use the average daily closing price for bitcoin we used the Coinbase closing price.

This was done on the basis that an average price is simply that, an average and an actual exchange price would be closer to reality. Coinbase is one of the biggest exchanges in the US, and we were able to pick up the closing prices with an API whereas Howard manually entered the average closing prices.

In addition to the variances between Coinbase closing prices and average closing prices, we noticed that the Google Trends data in the original report produced by Howard was different from the data we had obtained.

In some cases, the difference was relatively small, but on other days it was quite significant. A Google search confirmed that Google Trends data does vary and even modifying our IP address to various geographical locations didn’t help.

Trading Bot Design

As shown in the screenshot above, we were able to validate the results of a 29% return over the 90-day period by using identical data to Howard. Unfortunately, the bot is quite sensitive to small variances in the input data and using a similar methodology on the Coinbase exchange and accepting variances in Google Trends data would have given a break-even return.

One major weakness in the original design of the bot, as highlighted by Vikram Urun, is that Google Trends doesn’t provide real-time data and is generally two days old, thus rendering the bot unusable.

Howard is looking to enhance the bot in due course and acknowledged the time lag with Google Trends. As a workaround he suggested:

“to change the timespan to Hourly then you can aggregate to a daily metric.“

We commend the work carried out by Marc Howard and look forward to seeing his further iterations of the trading bot.

Featured image from Shutterstock.