Susan Paige

Everyone is freelancing these days and for good reason. The field offers far more freedom than an ordinary 9 to 5 job. You are in a position to set your own hours. You decide how you work when you work and where you work.

Writing is particularly popular these days, especially academic writing. It almost feels like new academic writers are popping out of the woodwork every single day. The arena keeps attracting interest because it allows you to inject some variety into your writing.

You don’t have to worry about falling into a rut. But how do academic writers make money?

Well, there are three primary avenues:

1). If you’re a beginner, then you’re probably going to work for someone who either has an account on an academic writing website or who deals directly with clients. You still get paid.

Your boss is merely giving you the work he or she can’t get to.

2). Once you grow your confidence and your writing skills, you can find your own freelancing website from which you can open an account that will enable you to receive work directly.

This pays better than the first option. The first option requires you to share your earnings with the person who assigns you the work. But here, you get to keep all the money for yourself. 

Of course, that doesn’t include the cut that the freelancing organization will keep as a fee for connecting you to the client.

3). While freelancing websites definitely simplify matters, you could always deal directly with the clients. This involves opening your own websites, marketing yourself and then hoping against all hope that potential clients will reach out to you.

You need to craft a portfolio of your essays and projects for this approach to work. But dealing directly with clients pays well, for example when they buy term papers online at Copycrafter.net. You can earn thousands of dollars a month, if not more because you don’t have to share your earnings with anyone, not another academic writer and certainly not a freelancing website.

To be clear, you don’t have to open a website to market yourself. Some academic writers choose to focus on building a strong social media presence. But websites are very useful because they provide clients a solid platform whose tools they can use to place orders.

Of course, you shouldn’t expect immediate success. Academic writing pays. But there is a lot of competition. If you’re determined to stand out, you need to keep the following tips in mind:

1). To do academic writing work, you must first learn to write. Now, if you have set your sights on this field, then the chances are quite high that you already know how to write. If that is the case, make an effort to enhance your abilities.

Freelance writers depend heavily on referrals to get work. If you want to shine in a saturated field like academic writing, you need to give your clients a reason to gush to their friends about you.

So make an effort to get better. Take classes where necessary. Become the best writer you could ever hope to be. If you have the skill and talent, you can charge even more money for your work.

2). It is imperative that you nurture an online presence. People need to know that you exist. Some professionals encourage amateur academic writers to start blogs. A blog provides a platform through which you can show off your writing. 

Put some work into producing amazing blog posts and scatter them all over social media. Someone who likes your style will eventually come along. You can’t expect to garner the interest of potential clients if no one knows who you are.

3). You are definitely better off dealing directly with clients. However, if time allows, make an effort to join freelance writing websites. This will allow you to generate helpful connections with other academic writers and even clients. 

You need that kind of network to grow in the freelancing industry.

It is going to take perseverance for you to succeed as an academic writer. You have to spend several hours of each day churning out great work for very little money. But eventually, your hard work will pay off.

Your brand will grow and you will eventually find yourself in a position where you can charge the rates you think you deserve. But it takes time.

Long-term security and protection against inflation: these are the main characteristics of the investment in the precious metal to guarantee a complement 
in the ‘golden age’

Normally when a person carries out his retirement is within the period of the life of the people known as the golden age. Since we refer to the noble metal, a metal associated with wealth, the question may arise, is gold an appropriate asset to channel savings in the face of retirement?

The answer is yes, gold is an asset that offers great attractions to contemplate it as a possible saving destination.

Gold has been considered the active refuge as long as there is a conflict situation both economically and in case of great social tragedies such as wars, the refuge asset is usually not financial assets, but the tangible asset is gold. We have here one of the first characteristics of this type of investment, security.

Being able to invest in gold with an IRA has changed the game for retirees to be able diversify their retirement savings with gold.

Now, that security does not involve stability, gold as any asset can experience price drops.

Gold as any raw material is therefore volatile, it does not respond exclusively to a permanent upward price pattern, but as we well know, those of us who follow that market may have strong fluctuations in their prices.

Of course, we must bear in mind that gold as an investment has an exemplary behavior in the long term, the investment period of the investment channeling for retirement.

Gold is one of the goods that best defend against inflation; with it it is almost certain that we have guaranteed inflation. We see, therefore, another of its characteristics: even when it is volatile and an investor can have losses in the short and medium term, it is discard able to lose in the long term not only the value of the investment but the purchasing power of the amount dedicated to the Gold purchase.

Long term, safe asset for complicated moments, and long-term profitable beating or conserving purchasing power, but what about liquidity?

Gold, an asset that has strong preferences from families and savers, is tremendously liquid, buying or selling gold bars is extremely easy and practically also immediately.

There are multiple options that provide investors with firm prices for buying and selling: liquidity with a quick sale is virtually guaranteed. Of course, you have to be careful with its fraction ability

One of the most traditional mistakes is to buy a significant amount of money in a single piece, bullion generally. This performance is the least criticizable: if tomorrow I need a small liquidity, having a very large piece or pieces will have to sell a very high value position when what I want is only a fraction of its value.

Before this event, the general advice is to invest in several pieces of different weights. In this way, when we have the possibility of having to sell, we can choose the piece and adapt the sale only to the part we need to deal with this need for liquidity..

Many will ask that, once the gold is bought, what do we do with it, take it home with the risk that this entails or the increase that an anti-theft policy on bullion can entail?

The solution to this problem is provided by the same houses, brokers, who have heavily guarded security cameras and maximum security and that for an amount of money for their custody solve the problem.

But there is a characteristic that has gold, its physical possession, the fact of seeing it, of touching it, of having it in our hands with the attractiveness that it has, makes people resistant to its sale. No, it is not the same to make liquidity, to sell financial assets that we do not see, that we do not touch, than to sell something physical.

As my dear Galicians would say, Morriña enters when one has to sell a piece of gold, something tangible and physical. That impediment, or that barrier, if preferred, makes the person very prudent and think well if it is really necessary to part with all or part of their assets in gold. This issue is tremendously important; it should be borne in mind that the savings materialized in the orange metal has a clear objective: retirement. In any case and as noted above, its sale is easy,

We already have a whole argument in favor of this investment. By the way, and that serves as a reference, gold is one of the assets preferred by German savers, those European citizens to whom our thinking is directed when we talk about pensions and standard of living in retirement.

The Germans, more at this time, have increased their possession of gold. They, like the Spaniards, think in terms of maximum security, in turn they see that banks offer very low interest rates, thresholds that do not reach inflation levels and therefore drain future purchasing power.

But taking up the thread of this article, we cannot ignore the legal aspects and the taxes that the purchase, sale and possession of gold entail.

The purchase of gold must be declared to the Treasury or we may have problems of great depth and tremendously expensive future. The declaration is an administrative act of great simplicity and that in many occasions is provided by the same broker with which we operate. Therefore, so far we see again the simplicity of the operation.

Of course, taxation remains. We go first with VAT; do we have to pay VAT for the purchase of gold? As established by European regulations, the acquisition of physical investment gold is not taxed with VAT from 2 grams, provided it has a purity greater than 99.5 percent in the case of bullion and 90 percent in the of the coins, in case you opt for the purchase of these pieces instead of bullion.

This absence of VAT is not general; it is only applicable to the concept of gold for investment. As for personal income tax, the taxable event will occur when the investor sells bullion. At that time and in the declaration corresponding to that year, you must pay taxes.

Taxation is similar to the reimbursement of shares of an investment fund: The difference between the net amount obtained from the sale and the amount paid at the time will be considered a loss or capital gain. Therefore, the result will be integrated into the base of savings that which is taxed under scheme 19-21-23 percent as the limits set by law are exceeded.

As you can see, the scheme is very simple, the legal procedures also, and, of course, its taxation is framed within very simple schemes. Recall that capital gains generated by an individual over 65 years of age, reinvested before six months and with a maximum of 240,000 in an annuity are exempt from taxation.

There are other possible ways to invest in gold through financial notes, investment funds, whether physical or synthetic, but we will deal with this in future issues.

One caveat: when a person invests in gold, he must be very concerned about the entity with which he operates, his reputation, his history must be seen, in short, the investor must be informed of who he is dealing with and who is going to deposit his gold. There are international houses of recognized prestige and maximum solvency, it is necessary to take precautions in this regard.

Finally, many people wonder why part of their assets they can or should allocate to this type of investment. Normally it is practically accepted by all that between 5 or 10 percent of the estate is appropriate, although some amount somewhat higher and facing retirement does not pose major problems.

If there is any operation of vital importance to determine the success of your investment, that will be none other than the sales you develop in the stock markets. And especially it will be very important, not only to optimize the investment, but to protect your savings from scenarios especially unfavorable for your interests. You should know when to execute your sales order, and under what conditions.

Surely the difference of applying an optimal sale to one that is not will be enormous, and there will be many euros at stake, which you should not forgive under any circumstances. Surely, more than once in your history as a small investor, you have asked yourself why you did not execute this order, and in this way you would have saved yourself a lot of displeasure for the change. From now on you will no longer have excuses to repeat this unpleasant situation.

The first recommendation to successfully develop your operations in the equity markets is to know when and under what situations you have to sell your shares on the stock markets. In some cases, it will be simply to close the operations and enjoy the capital gains generated from your operation. But in other cases it will be a little more complicated, and its main objective will be to protect the invested capital, even avoiding that the losses worsen and settle definitively during the next trading sessions and learn the best stocks to buy

However, this decision, which will be very personal, will depend on other variables that are not linked to the financial markets, much less to the share price. On the one hand, the profile you present as a retail investor. If you are aggressive, conservative or intermediate will determine in some way the order of sale. The same is true for the term to which you direct your investment: short, medium or long. Depending on all these factors, and some others that you will find in this article, you will have to develop your sales in the markets in one way or another.

In order to help you develop a correct investment strategy, you will have to follow a series of guidelines that will be very useful to you every time you consider closing operations. In addition, it won’t cost you much to apply them, as they are suitable for all types of investors.

Some of them may be intuitive, or you may even have applied them once in your life. But surely others will be foreign to your usual behavior, but may get you out of more than one predicament in your relations with the equity markets. Even from certainly original approaches, and that you didn’t even know.

First Tip: adjusting to resistances

The first point of reference for executing sell orders is to close on the approach of some significant level of resistance in the quotes. Normally they will stop the bullish trend of the affected values, and that could even be the signal to undertake important corrections from these levels. However, if the resistances are overcome, the potential for appreciation is enormous. Although it is not advisable that you risk excessively, and you should choose to apply the sales to enjoy the gains made.

Likewise, the supports are other levels of great importance for your investment. Not in vain, when they are violated, they will be the perfect excuse for you to close operations quickly. Unless you expose yourself to losses accumulating in your investment portfolio definitively. This is why it is so important for you to respect these levels that the quotations present, and according to them, to formalize your sales in the equity markets.

Second Tip: in the face of liquidity needs

If your investment is generating profits, and for any reason, you need liquidity to face some personal expenses: debts to third parties, payment of bills, or financing the next trip with your family, you should not let the occasion pass and sell your shares. Do not try to squeeze the maximum capital gains that can be generated, because any setback in the financial markets can ruin your profits in the stock market.

Third Tip: after large revaluations

In a scenario where your shares have appreciated as a result of a prolonged uptrend, it will be one of the moments when you will have to plant yourself to close the trades. Not in vain, you risk that stocks tend to correct their prices, even very sharply. To the point of limiting, or even nullifying, part of your profits. It is not worth continuing with open positions in the stock markets.

Especially important are the levels of overbuying, which give very clear indications that in the next sessions sales will take precedence over purchases. It is another of the scenarios that must involve you to finalize operations, even temporarily. Even with the possibility that later you can buy back the shares, but with cheaper prices.

Fourth Tip: before any sign of weakness

Maybe everything fits perfectly in the investment portfolio you made a few years ago. But in the event of any weakness, either in the stock markets or in the company of which you are a shareholder, it will help you to get rid of your shares as quickly as possible. Not in vain, it could be the prelude to more intense corrective movements.

One of the most useful strategies to check this state will be that the minimums in its price will be decreasing. All a signal that will imply that the change of tendency has been installed definitively in the value that you have taken positions. The best solution will start from the order you give to the bank to sell your participation.

Fifth Tip: acting without greed

Don’t try to force profits on equities, and that old saying, which is applied in a disciplined manner in stock markets and says “the last euro will be taken by another”, may help. A good piece of advice, which will undoubtedly help you on more than one occasion, and which the most experienced investors can vouch for in terms of its application and the profits it generates.

It is preferable, on the other hand, not to rush into the bullish course of a share, rather than being trapped in the market. And this situation can lead to bad sales, many of them with significant losses that will burden your personal assets. To avoid these cases, so common among retail investors, the most favorable strategy to defend your interests will be to apply a sales order that limits losses. It will be possible through the known stop loss, which will help you achieve the objectives.

Sixth Tip: assume the mistakes made

In the end, everything may be as simple as you’ve made a mistake in choosing the securities that make up your investment portfolio. Or simply their quotes do not move as you had initially planned. In this case, you will have to recognize the error and sell the shares directly, losing money in the operation. There will be no choice if you do not want your situation to become more unfavourable to your interests.

In addition, it will serve to redirect your investment strategy towards other listed companies, which probably have better prospects of growth in their prices. And with which to amortize the failure of your previous contact with the markets. You can even opt for stocks with a very high dividend yield of up to 8%. They will compensate for the accumulated losses from the previous action.

Seventh Tip: adjust to the real price of the shares

One of the most objective parameters for selling your equity positions will be that when stocks approach their target price, that’s when you’ll have to get rid of them. In this sense, the data provided by brokers will help you to develop the selling process. Rarely are they exceeded in price by more than 10%. It is not worth the risk to reach these levels.

Another very different thing is that your investments are quoted very far from these prices, so that the margins to follow in your positions will be more flexible. And with enough distance to achieve the desired goals from the beginning.

Tip Eighth: Running Away From Unfavorable News

In the face of any news, or noteworthy event that damages the price of your shares, the quickest strategy to protect your savings will be none other than to sell your shares. In these situations, which are also common in the financial markets, it is not uncommon for the main intermediaries to make downward revisions to their target price.

Also the negative news about the evolution of the economy at a global level are transferred to the prices of the companies, which depreciate in a few sessions of the stock market. Of course, you can remedy this if, faced with the first signs of weakness in the markets, you finally decide to close all the positions you have open at that time.

Ninth Tip: with symptoms of exhaustion

Many times the intuition of the investor himself is decisive to see how share prices are going to evolve over the next few weeks. Until they come to the conclusion that the security in question has little to go on, or at least that its potential for appreciation has been exhausted. It won’t be the time to risk your buying positions.

Signals showing this situation, on the other hand, can be perfectly visualized through a graph. Showing, if necessary, to show how the general positions of the sellers are clearly imposed on the buyers. It will not be worth it to you to continue in the market, even if your positions are not really winning. From this perspective, technical analysis will be the best tool you have to detect these signs of weakening.

 

Cybercrimes have surpassed physical theft, and with more and more people becoming connected via their mobile devices, wearables, and smart home technologies, it’s hard to imagine that cyber theft will slow down.

If you’re a small business owner with a tech product like a web application or software, security should be your number one concern for your customers. If you collect customer data of any kind, including email addresses and passwords, names, addresses, or credit card information, you are at risk for cyber-attacks and monetary theft.

If your security systems are tight, cyber-attacks will be much, much less likely to occur and your company won’t be at risk to lose money, data, and customer trust. Adopting a widely used and open-source platform like Kubernetes can not only help develop and run your web application more efficiently but can help with security and security concerns. Kubernetes is a cloud-based technology that has skyrocketed in popularity and has become the most widely used container orchestrator on the market.

How secure is Kubernetes?

Because Kubernetes is open-source and has thousands of developers, researchers, and security professionals contributing to the platform, its features and functionalities have rapidly enhanced – most notably, its built-in security features. The mission for Kubernetes security environments has always been to keep out cyber hackers and find and stop them if they manage to break in.

The security considerations for containers and Kubernetes make that mission more difficult, since containers need to be connected and be able to talk with one another, making it tough to find out which containers have security gaps or zero-day vulnerabilities and increasing the amount of monitoring you need to do to look out for breaches.

However, thanks to the collective minds of the open-source contributors, Kubernetes security components are quite developed and secure. Since Kubernetes is a rapidly developing technology, it’s quite complex, meaning it can be easy to gloss over the security settings and leaving them at default. Take the time to understand how to configure the security components to match your application’s needs.

Rose-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Configuring RBAC is crucial for maintaining the security of containerized workloads. It’s essentially regulating access of individual users in your organization to network or computer resources. You’ll want to specify your Roles—access within a namespace—and ClusterRoles—access across namespaces and clusters—to ensure you’re not granting unnecessary permissions to people who don’t need access. You should also try and avoid duplicating permissions where possible, as it creates security blind spots, and keep on top of removing inactive or unused roles.

Network Policies

It’s important to also configure Kubernetes Network Policies, as they enable the equivalent of firewalls, which protects pod-to-pod and pod-to-network communications from breaches. It’s best practice to isolate your pods and apply at least one network policy to each pod. You can do this quickly by applying a “deny all” policy as the default. Then, you need to allow some of the assets to communicate with the internet, and you can do this by creating labels and creating a network policy that targets those labels. Lastly, you’ll need to allow all necessary pod-to-pod communication. Otherwise, your application may not function as intended.

Along with your regular security practices, ensuring your software using Kubernetes is protected can majorly decrease the risk of hacking and monetary theft, which could save your business both in the short term and long term by avoiding a breach.

The auto insurance that you have will make sure that you have all the right policies that will protect you and your vehicle. Can you imagine how you will pay for the damage that was done to your car when you get into an accident?

What if you forget that you have not pulled the handbrake and it rolls towards another vehicle? Do you think that this incident will be covered by the right car insurance company? There are different car insurance policies that will be offered by various companies. In fact, you can check on https://www.cheapautoinsurance.com/. Without the right car insurance, you may have very angry people who will run after you plus no money to pay for your debts.

It does not matter whether you are driving a nice car or you are driving a vehicle that you have been using for a long time.

Some Car Insurance Terms You Should Know

How will you know how much car insurance you need when you are not even sure what the terms mean? The more familiar you are with the various terms, the better you will understand what car insurance you need to get.

•  Car Insurance Premium – This is the amount that you are going to spend on your coverage. There are different payment options that are available for you. You can pay monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually. There are various things that will be considered when your premium is being decided such as your age, your driving record, your deductible, and so much more.
•  Coverage Limit – You need to know the maximum amount that your policy will be able to take. The higher the coverage amount, the easier it will be for you to get the right coverage for your vehicle.
•  No-Fault and At-Fault – There are still some places in the world wherein getting car insurance is not exactly necessary. Even so, you need to get the right car insurance to be sure that you will be covered whether you are at-fault which means that the accident is your fault or if you have no fault in the accident which means that the other party caused the accident.

Types of Car Insurance Policies Available

What are the different car insurance policies that will be part of your car insurance package? It is just right that you will know the basic things that will be part of your coverage:

•  Liability Coverage – This will not offer any coverage for your vehicle but you can be sure that your wallet will be protected. The insurance coverage will be in charge of paying for the medical costs of the other party if in case the accident is your fault. Remember that you need a lot of liability insurance so this is something that you have to think about to be sure.
•  Comprehensive Coverage – This is the type of coverage that will protect your vehicle whether it has been stolen or if natural disasters have pelted your car in different ways. Whether the damage is because of a fire, a limb or a branch falling on your windshield, and so much more, this is one of the coverages that you need.
•  Collision Coverage – Accidents are always unexpected and they may occur anytime but this type of coverage will allow you to repair or replace your vehicle after the accident. No matter whether it is your fault or the other party’s fault, your insurance company will still pay for the damages done to your car.

Personal Injury Protection

You should always take care of yourself but what if you get into an accident? This can be a problem and it can be an even bigger problem when you do not have enough money to spend so that you can improve your health again. There are also some other things that will be part of this coverage such as the following:

•  Medical expenses
•  Different types of therapy
•  Funeral costs
•  Lost wages
•  Substitute services

If in case you do not know what substitute services are, this is the type of care that you would get if you were unable to care for your child because of your condition. This may also be useful if you were unable to do household chores for a certain period of time.

How much car insurance do you actually need? It would depend on different factors. If you need to use your vehicle more often, you are going to spend more money on your car insurance. Do not forget that there are also different things that may affect the premiums that you have to pay for that are beyond your control.

Image: pexels.com

Whether you want to open a box of enticing, new-to-you snacks to try each month, or you need frequent refills of your favorite facial treatment, using vitamin subscription services and auto-ship is a cost-effective and convenient way to receive the items you love on a regular basis. And the best part? You don’t have to leave your home to buy them.

One of the latest trends in the world of subscription and auto-shipping services is clothing and furniture subscription. If you’re stuck in a fashion rut or want to try out different styles of clothing without spending a small fortune, you could have high fashion delivered to your door each month.

Trendy and Stylish Clothing Delivered Right to Your Door… What’s Not to Love? 

The advantage of fashion subscriptions is that they allow you to try premium clothing and experiment with different styles and fleeting trends without having to purchase anything. They can help you be more fashionable, especially if you have trouble picking out clothing and mixing and matching pieces on your own.

Some services give you the option to purchase the clothing if you like it or return it if you don’t want to keep it. You may even be allowed to skip a month when you don’t want to receive a new box quite yet. Best of all, you don’t have to spend any time at the shopping mall waiting in long lines or trying on clothes. Popular clothing subscription services include Stitchfix, Le Tote, and Fabletics. Gwynnie Bee is the go-to for plus-sized fashionistas.

Rent the Runway is a popular designer dress rental service that offers dresses for all occasions. They have expanded into the monthly subscription realm with Rent the Runway Unlimited, which allows subscribers to rent clothes for work, weekends, and special occasions. Customers can return or swap items and have the option to buy the clothing after rental at a discount. Rent the Runway Unlimited also includes free shipping and dry cleaning.

With the cost of a clothing subscription box being around $50 per month, it wouldn’t be difficult to stay within the recommended annual clothing budget while using an auto-shipping service. However, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t shop a lot, a clothing subscription is probably overkill.

Furniture Rental: The Wave of the Future?

A fashion subscription is one thing… but a furniture subscription? The business of renting furniture is nothing new but furniture subscriptions are a novel concept. With this up-and-coming subscription model, you can have furniture delivered to you when you rent a new place and then return it when you move out. In exchange for a monthly fee, you can hold onto the furniture for as long as you need to and add, swap, or return pieces. You also have the option to purchase any pieces you’d like to keep.

Feather is a popular furniture subscription service that they say gives customers, “furniture freedom.” Feather offers free delivery and assembly and has partnerships with West Elm, Joybird, Pottery Barn, and Casper. They also offer Feather-branded furniture.

Feather customers can rent bedroom, living room, and dining room furniture. Pricing for Feather’s subscription service is based on each piece you rent. For example, the cost of renting an $899 West Elm sofa starts at $52 per month for 12 months. If you decide after that year that you want to buy the sofa, you would just have to pay the difference, or $275. The shorter the duration of the lease, the higher the monthly cost. For instance, that same sofa would cost $201 per month to rent for two months. Fernish is another such furniture rental service that offers a similar payment structure.

Furniture subscription services are still in their infancy, but if successful in the long-term, these startups could be a real game changer. These services are currently only available in major cities. But the concept is likely to spread to other parts of the country.

What’s the Verdict? Do Subscription Services Actually Save You Money?

From clothing to furniture to entertainment, there is no shortage of subscription services to choose from. But when it comes to saving money and budgeting, subscription services aren’t the most affordable choice. They offer convenience and allow you to try out products without purchasing them in some cases, but when it comes down to dollar amounts, they don’t really make “cents” (pardon the pun).

You’re better off purchasing your own clothing and furniture on sale or secondhand if you want to save money. But for products like food, vitamins and cosmetics, having the option to try out different products and see what you like best could allow you to effortlessly explore what’s out there and experiment with products you normally wouldn’t try. With so many unique subscription services available, it all comes down to what you enjoy and value the most.