Why and How to Diversify with Real Estate – REITS + Real Estate Crowdfunding
Guest columnist, Joseph Hogue, CFA Don’t let the headaches of real estate investing keep you from diversifying your portfolio into one of the best long-term assets. Despite what you might hear on the 3am infomercials, real estate investing is hard work. Barbara explained in an earlier post about why she gave up being a landlord decades ago because of the constant headaches. I can relate. I started buying rental property early in my 20s. I had worked as a commercial real estate agent and wanted in on the cash returns and seemingly endless appreciation that was just getting started in 2002. I soon realized why real estate investing is far from the passive income strategy many websites make it out to be. Have you ever been called at 5am to light someone’s pilot light on a water heater? I have…many times. Wondering? Should I Buy Foreclosed Real Estate? Besides...
read moreAchieve Simple Financial Success with 5 Good Financial Habits
Guest Contributor, Tina Roth Developing ‘good habits’ has become an industry. From Charles Duhigg of The Power of Habit to Gretchen Rubin’s, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits–to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life, creating good habits is important across the spectrum or our lives. This article will show you how to be financially successful with a few good financial habits. Simple financial success is not rocket science. Start early, start small and with practice you can learn how to become financially successful. Financial Success Definition Simple financial success is defined as the achievement of your personal finance goals. There’s a reason that they’re called “personal” finance goals, and that’s because they’re defined by you, not by society. The key to financial success is not reaching some arbitrary goal like achieve 1 net worth of $5,000,000 and retire by 40. That might...
read morePros and Cons of REITs – Should I Invest?
Are REITs a Good Investment? A Brief Lesson in Diversification Long before Modern Portfolio Theory proved the benefit of diversification, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” was practiced. Intuitively, it makes sense to spread your income and investing risk around. The rationale behind diversification and asset allocation is that when one asset goes down in value, another may go up. Spread your investments and risk around and you’ll decrease the volatility of your returns. For example, invest only in one stock market mutual fund and when the stock market falls 20% in a bad year, so do your investment returns. Add a bond mutual fund to the stock fund and even if the returns on the stock fund fall, the bond fund’s returns might go up 15% and make your total portfolio value more stable. *This article contains affiliate links to help pay for this website. Add real estate to the...
read more7 Unique Ways to Save Money – Financial Freedom Within Reach
Top 7 Unique Ways to Save Money – Financial Freedom Within Reach By Barbara Friedberg in Saving Saving is one of the most challenging aspects of “adulting.” While most people want to save, only a few accomplish it. But for those who do, the results of saving up life-changing. Look at saving money through a unique lens. Replace the “money” reference with “freedom”. The more money you save, the more freedom you have in your future life. Here are top 7 unique ways to save money and achieve financial freedom: 1. Unique Way to Save Money – Divvy Up Your Paycheck Adjust your thinking about your paycheck. It’s your path to freedom. Divide your paycheck between your checking, savings, investment and 401(k) accounts. Spend what’s in your checking. Savings account is for emergencies. Investment account is for mid-term goals and investing in the financial markets. You 401(k) is for retirement. This unique saving...
read moreCheckbook IRA – Ultimate Guide to a Self-Directed IRA
What is a Checkbook IRA? A Checkbook IRA includes the features of a traditional or Roth IRA, but has one distinct difference: the account holder, not a custodian, has control over the investments. This makes Checkbook IRAs a good option for hands-on, confident investors. It lowers the amount of fees paid to account custodians and makes access to your IRA quicker and easier. *This article contains affiliate links to help pay for this website. Checkbook IRAs are also good choices for investors who want to own nontraditional investments within the account, like foreclosures, gold, raw land, and even LLCs. However, there are many rules surrounding Checkbook IRAs, including limitations on some investments and hefty fees for breaking the rules. For this reason, checkbook IRAs are not good options for novice investors. If you value flexibility and speed, and have some investing experience under your belt, you might be a...
read moreBillshark Review-Save Money on Your Bills
Billshark is a company specializing in negotiating down your bills and canceling the subscriptions you no longer use. This Billshark Review will show how the app can save you time and money. Whether the Billshark Ap is best for you depends on many factors. Most important among these are your aversion to negotiating bills yourself and the cost of your time. Whatever you decide, please don’t leave money on the table: your bills can be lower for the asking. *This article contains affiliate links to help pay for this website. What is Billshark? Billshark is an online service that helps you negotiate, or cancel, your subscription services bills. More specifically, Billshark app can lower your internet, wireless, Pay TV, and satellite radio subscription fees. Billshark promises to save you 25%, or more, on your monthly subscription services bills and boasts a 90% successful negotiation rate. More impressively, the largest...
read moreHow to Become a Millionaire by 40
A millionaire by the time you turn 40? It sounds unbelievable, right? But if you are in your early 20s, fresh out of college, starting a new job, and have the will to become a millionaire as soon as possible, you can make that happen before you turn 40. It will require some self-discipline. *This article contains affiliate links to help pay for this website. You can learn to mentally and emotionally commit to the goal. This means you may have to give up on certain experiences and possessions that many young people enjoy that early in their lives. You can train yourself to stay the course until you reach the goal. The steps are clear – minimize your living expense, maximize your savings, get a side hustle, and invest. 7 Strategies to Help You Make Your First Million by 40 1. Start a 401(k) Early and Make Maximum...
read more15 Personal Finance Blogs by People of Color
Finance and investing success is for all, not just for a priviledged few who grew up in the “right” communities and went to the “best” schools. With the connectivity of the global community and the democratization of information, there still exists a divide between the “haves” and the “have nots.” One way to level the financial playing field is though education and mentoring. These outstanding people of color are teaching others smart money practices. To create financial success, learn the money rules early and follow those who are successfully creating wealth, from all realms of society. With that in mind, let me introduce financial publishers who are making a difference. Each of these influencers shares one of their favorite blog posts. Please follow them and learn more about how to succeed with your money. The personal finance blogs are listed in random order. Top Financial Blogs by People of...
read more51 Ways to Drastically Cut Expenses
51 Ways to Drastically Cut Expenses Now and Still Enjoy Life By, Maria Nedeva, PhD Knowing how to drastically cut expenses and still enjoy the more beautiful things in life is an art form worth mastering. With mindfulness and practice, you’ll uncover surprising ways to cut household expenses. Understand how the $100 dollars you save today will grow in the future. Here is a hint – invested in an index fund at 7% average annual return it could be worth $760 in thirty years. Whether you wish to reduce your spending because you are saving towards your big dream or you must cut expenses to the bone because of reduced income, there is likely one fear that stops you – the fear of having to forego all the joys of life. What if I told you that you could save the down payment on your dream house, invest for...
read moreIs a 10% Return Good or Bad? How Are Your Investments Performing?
Are Your Investment Returns Good or Bad? Do you know how well your investments are performing? Are you wondering if a 10% return is good or bad? Do you know the annual rate of return of your investments? What about how well your investments are performing when compared with a standard benchmark? Ever since a friend asked me to look over her investments and tell her if she’s doing well I’ve wanted to help investors answer this question; “What is a good rate of return and what is a bad rate of return?” Most individuals don’t know if their investment returns are good or bad. Even investors with financial advisors don’t know how to evaluate their rates of returns. Many financial advisors don’t offer their clients the investment portfolio annual rate of return compared with the returns of unmanaged indexes. And that’s a big problem. You’re hiring a financial...
read moreHow to Build Wealth with Money Strategies + Investing Books
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