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Looking For Higher Interest Rates-Check Out These Online Banks

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The average interest rate on a savings account is a measly 0.09 percent. If you want to see your savings grow faster, online banks can be a great choice. Since their overhead costs are lower, many of these banks can offer customers higher interest rates, including some in excess of 2 percent. If you aren’t sure where to go to get a great rate, here are a few online banks worth checking out.

Betterment

Betterment, the robo-advisor, has hopped into the world of high-yield savings accounts with its Betterment Everyday option. Along with a great rate of up to 2.69 percent APY, you won’t have to deal with any fees. Plus, there are no minimum balance requirements, ensuring even a smaller account can start earning solid interest.

UFB Direct

With a UFB High Yield Savings account, you can earn up to 2.25 percent APY. There are no minimum deposit requirements or maintenance and services fees. In order to land that rate, you do need at least $10,000 in the account. Otherwise, you won’t earn any interest.

CIT Bank

CIT Bank’s Savings Builder Account comes gives you the ability to earn up to 2.30 percent APY. If you want to earn the highest rate, you either need a balance at or above $25,000 or make a $100+ deposit each month. You get daily compound interest to up your earning potential and don’t have to deal with any maintenance fees along the way.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

The high-yield online savings account through Marcus by Goldman Sachs gives you a chance to earn up to 2.15 percent APY. There is no minimum balance requirement for the account and no transaction or monthly maintenance fees. If you want to make a little more on your money, you can also explore their CD options.

SoFi

From a company that initially focused on student loan refinancing options, SoFi’s Money is a strong online savings account option with an up to 2.00 percent APY. This option is also fee-free and, for added convenience, you won’t have to deal with any ATM withdrawal fees either at any ATM that accepts Visa. If you get charged a fee, SoFi will reimburse you automatically.

Ally Bank

One of the most recognized names in online-only banking, Ally’s savings accounts can earn up to 2.10 percent APY. Like many of the others on this list, there are no minimum balance requirements or monthly maintenance fees. The account also has daily compounding interest, helping your money grow even faster. Plus, Ally is known for exceptional customer support, which is great if you have any questions or want a hand opening an account.

CIBC

CIBC originated in Canada but is now available in the US. The Agility online savings account can earn up to 2.39 percent APY, making it incredibly competitive. There are also no maintenance fees, so you won’t lose any of your cash along the way. You do have to deposit at least $1,000 to get started, but that’s about the closest thing to a drawback you’ll find here.

All of the high-interest online savings account above are worth exploring if you want to earn more with your money. Consider checking out the above online banks and see which one might work for you.

 

Do you use an online bank because of the higher interest rates? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

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Which of the Latest IPOs Are Best For Your Portfolio?

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IPOs have been making headlines throughout the first half of 2019. Lyft, Pinterest, and Uber are all huge names that have gone public this year. Many other large companies are working toward doing the same. But not every IPO is a great bet. For example, Lyft truly didn’t live up to the hype when it launched. So you want to be cautious. If you want to know which IPOs deserve your attention, here are a few worth exploring.

Okta

Okta is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that helps businesses keep their cloud-based data secure. While Okta’s IPO date was in 2017, there is still a ton of potential for growth hear. Its customer base has climbed steadily each year. This includes in the $100k+ customer segment. Plus, Okta tends to become ingrained in its customer’s landscape. Which makes them less likely to make a switch once they hop on board.

Roku

Another company with an IPO date in 2017 that you shouldn’t ignore today is Roku. The Roku platform is an incredibly popular method for streaming to televisions and is increasingly being sold as a built-in system in TVs. Roku is steadily adding customer accounts and nearly 8.9 billion of hours were streamed through them in Q1 2019 alone.

Plus, Roku has a range of income streams, including cuts from streaming giants like Netflix, and popular rental and purchase platforms, such as Amazon. The new Disney streaming service is also going to be stream-able through Roku devices. These collaborations have created another connection to the entertainment giant. Roku even gets a cut of the ad revenue from YouTube videos people watch through the platform.

MongoDB

Since data is king for many companies, businesses that help them manage it are primed to make waves in the market. MongoDB. They had their IPO date in 2017. The company is a market leader in the data management space. Plus, MongoDB Atlas – a fully managed cloud-based database solution – has experience rapid growth (over 300 percent per year). This database solution will likely still be popular for the foreseeable future.

PagerDuty

With an IPO date earlier in 2019. PagerDuty began as a solution that helps ensure only the right IT personnel at a company ae “paged” when an issue arises that needs to be addressed. Over time, additional service options were added. With these developments, PagerDuty is gaining popularity. This is especially true for companies who are open to spending $100k+ to secure their services.

CrowdStrike Holdings

Another tech option is CrowdStrike. Before its June 12 IPO, the company was highly known in the cybersecurity space, partially for being the company that investigated the 2016 Democratic National Convention service hack. The company uses a variety of cutting-edge technologies. It’s share prices have been strong. With cybersecurity being a top concern for many, CrowdStrike is well-positioned to thrive.

IPOs Can Be Very Volatile

It’s important to note that IPOs can be particularly volatile, especially early on. Plus, just because a name is recognizable doesn’t mean it will garner success. Lyft and Pinterest have both taken dramatic tumbles even though nearly everyone is aware of them. So you can’t rely on name-recognition when cultivating your portfolio. Instead, consider your risk tolerance and only invest if you are comfortable.

Do you have your eye on any recent IPOs? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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5 Things You Can Do to Earn More Tips

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Many servers in restaurants rely on tips to secure their financial well-being. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, establishments like restaurants are only legally required to pay wages of $2.13 per hour unless the person’s tips don’t cover the difference to get them to the regular minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. As a result, many servers need to know how to earn a bigger tip if they want to earn more than the mandated minimum. Even though some states do set higher minimum wage standards for servers, tips are often a vital part of a server’s income.

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CORI: How Uber Drivers Can Become House Flippers

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Uber drivers often don’t make enough money to survive off of that gig alone. Even if you drive full-time, you may not be able to make ends meet as an Uber driver. That’s why so many Uber drivers take on additional jobs. Many drive for multiple companies (Lyft, Amazon, etc.) Others take on extra Uber work, such as delivering Uber Eats. And some are taking advantage of a brand new opportunity to assist a real estate company, doing work for them at the same time that they drive for Uber.

What is CORI?

CORI Corporation is an Atlanta-based real estate investment company. It appears to have just launched this year. It’s headed up by CTO and co-founder Eric Richner who also manages The Richner Group, and We Buy Crappy Houses. Although based in Atlanta, they also work with real estate in Virginia Beach, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

CORI is a company that locates run-down homes, buys them, fixes them up, and sells them. In other words, they are a company of house flippers. They specialize in finding homes that aren’t already on the market. The home is disrepair, but the owner hasn’t moved forward with selling it, yet. They just need someone to approach them and make the right deal. That’s what CORI does.

CORI’s Deal Finders: How Uber Drivers Can Make Money with CORI

What does any of this have to do with Uber? Well, it turns out that Uber drivers are particularly well-suited to finding great homes for CORI to invest in. Uber drivers are out there on the road, all day, every day, driving up and down many different streets. They see homes in disrepair. They see homes that someone could easily fix up and flip. It’s easy for them to provide leads about those homes to CORI.

In fact, CORI has specifically marketed to Uber drivers to get them to do just that. They have a program called Deal Finders. Although they don’t have a main CORI website (the URL just sends you to their Facebook page), they do have a page for their Deal Finders Elite program. Uber drivers can head to the site and sign up to become a Deal Finder, through which they can provide CORI with housing leads.

As you’re driving around picking up and dropping off your Uber rides, you just have to keep an eye out for good houses for the program. As you get used to how it works, finding the right types of houses should become easier and easier. If you’re good at it, then you can earn decent money for your leads. You make money when CORI sells a house that you’ve pointed them to with your leads.

How to Use CORI’s Deal Finders Program

Once you go to the website, you’ll click on the big yellow button that says, “let’s do this.” That will take you to a page that tells you that you’re signing up to do “Driving for Dollars.” What does that mean? They explain:

“Driving for Dollars is the term used for locating and logging properties, that are either in bad shape or vacant, while using any method of transportation.”

So, you don’t actually have to be an Uber driver, or any type of driver at all, in order to become part of the Deal Finders program. If you’re a flaneur who enjoys walking the streets of your city every day, you can sign up to become a Deal Finder with CORI. That said, they’ve explicitly marketed to rideshare drivers because of how convenient it is for them to incorporate house-finding into their existing work.

After entering your name, you’ll get a little bit more information about the job. You’ll learn that your job is essentially to find houses that are in disrepair. You’ll photograph them and log them into the system using a unique mobile app. Then you’ll add tags to help the flippers understand more about the house. For example, you might tag that it has fire damage or that it’s a vacant building.

How Much Money Can An Uber Drive Make with CORI?

According to the site, you receive payment whenever you provide a lead that turns into a closed property deal. In other words, if you provide terrible leads and CORI doesn’t buy, then sell, the houses then you don’t make money. However, if you excel at providing leads, then you can make some cash. In fact, the more good leads that you provide, the more money you can make per lead.

They call their payment on closed property deals a “performance bonus.” You get your performance bonus when the sale happens. So, first, you provide the lead through the app. Then CORI may buy the house, fix it up, and sell it. You earn money based on the amount of profit CORI makes with that sale.

If the sale’s profit exceeded $15,000, then you’ll get a $1500 performance bonus. If the deal was for between $5000 and $15,000, then you’ll get $1000. And if the deal was for less than $5000, then you’ll still get $500. In other words, you more or less get 10% of the deal price on average.

Moreover, if you successfully send 3+ good deals that close, then you are guaranteed 10%. For example, if you send them a lead that results in a $40000 profit for CORI, then you’ll get a $4000 performance bonus. You would have only gotten $1500 if you hadn’t already sent some great leads, but if you’ve sent more than three successful leads, then you get this better-guaranteed price.

If you really love this work, then you can make even more money. “Deal Finders that send over 50 properties will be eligible for payment of $1 per approved lead, for every 50 leads.” Therefore, you might make a little bit of cash even when it doesn’t lead to a property sale.

You can receive payments via check, Paypal, Venmo, or “cash app.”

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5 Key Tips for Making Money Online

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Earning extra cash doesn’t require you to get a part-time job or log more hours at your current one. You can make money off your existing belongings by selling them online.

Long gone are the days where consignment shops and garage sales were the only ways to unload your goods. The Internet has created several avenues to sell items, whether it’s through a marketplace or social media. Thanks to advanced technology and mobile apps, it takes little effort to showcase your belonging and rake in the extra cash.

But not every venue will be a success. Just like there are niche stores in the physical world, the same applies to the Internet. Figuring out what to sell, how to price, and where to list it will ensure you’re successful.

5 Steps to Make Money Selling Things Online

1. Gather Your Inventory

Before you can get to the business of selling your used belongings, you have to gather your inventory. The first place to look is in your home. Undoubtedly, there are a lot of coveted items collecting dust. The more of it you can uncover, the more money you stand to make.

Gather small electronics — such as unused mobile phones, digital cameras, or portable hard drives — as well as gently used clothing and toys. You can sell pots and pans, decorations, and shoes. Pretty much anything can be hawked online, granted it isn’t stained or damaged and is in working order. Take the opportunity to categorize the items as you rummage through your home. You’ll likely sell your electronics on a different venue than your clothing.

When deciding whether to keep or sell an item, ask yourself when is the last time you used it. If the answer is more than a year, it should go in the sell pile. Your belongings have sentimental value, but if you hold onto everything, you won’t have an opportunity to make extra cash. Take a picture and file it in a memory box instead of clinging to the physical item.

2. Choose the Correct Venue to Sell Your Belongings

Once you’ve amassed your merchandise, you have to choose where you want to sell it, which can be tricky, especially on the Internet. Different target markets use the Internet differently. For instance, eBay may work for some items, whereas a mobile app like LetGo — where you sell in-person — may work better for other belongings.

To narrow it down, research the different apps or websites to gauge what types of items sell the most. Let’s say you have a lot of electronic equipment to unload. Tech-focused websites, which attract the right audience, are better venues than a general marketplace platform. Clothing and toys may sell better with a mobile app in which you meet the buyer in person, while designer clothes will sell more effectively on websites that focus on used apparel.

If you have any bulky items that will cost you money to ship, you’re better off sticking to local websites where the buyer is expected to pick up the item. And although it’s one of the older sites, Craigslist is still a popular platform to sell used furniture.

Be mindful of fees when choosing a website to sell on. They will vary and will eat into your profits. Be sure to factor in the likelihood of the product selling quickly on each website. You may be willing to give up a little profit if it means you get the cash sooner. If you need quick cash and are sitting on an old cellphone, there are third-party websites that will buy them from you. You won’t get as much as if you sold it in a private transaction, but it’s a quick and effortless way to shore up a little extra money.

3. Price Your Items Accordingly

A surefire way to see your used goods languish online is to price them incorrectly. It’s tempting to want to get the most money possible, but if you price your items higher than your rivals, you may not get any buyers at all. You may have been willing to pay $200 for a pair of designer jeans but that doesn’t mean anyone will pay $150 for them used. Anytime you sell used goods, there are emotions involved. But you need to keep them in check. The goal is to make money, not to keep the item forever.

Pricing your item too low can also hurt your sales prospects. People may wonder why you’re so cheap, assuming something is wrong with the item. That’s not to say you can’t price it attractively if you are looking for a quick sale, just don’t go too much below your competitors.

To figure out your range, check out the competition. Take the average of your rivals and start there. If you think you’re sitting on something slightly better, then price it a little higher. If it’s more worn than the competition, price it lower. Ultimately, you should price your items based on your desired outcome. Do you want to sell your item fast and take what you can get for it? Or, are you willing to wait until you can sell the item to the highest bidder?

Make sure you include a product description that is accompanied with photos when listing your items for sale. Be as descriptive as possible, including a list of all defects and imperfections. People want to know exactly what they are buying. The more details you provide, the smoother the transaction will go. You don’t want to get a bad rating because you weren’t honest in your product description. That could harm repeat business.

4. Ship Quickly

E-commerce can be impulsive, but it lacks immediate gratification. It is your job to give your buyers as near instant gratification as possible. To do that, you have to ship any items you sell quickly. If you sit on an order, you may end up in a situation where you are backed up with orders. Procrastination could also set in — an order placed a day earlier may not get shipped out for a week. That is not acceptable if you have more items to sell. Your reputation is everything when selling your products online. If your items arrive quickly and securely, customers will appreciate it, and the positive word-of-mouth will spread.

Neatness also matters when shipping your items. So does personalization. Take the time to ensure your orders are packaged correctly and include a handwritten note. Wrapping the item in nice tissue paper or a specialty box can also go a long way towards boosting goodwill.

Keep in mind that consumers like to shop with sellers who have 100% positive feedback. Delayed shipping can make a bad impression and hurt your ranking. If you use USPS, check to see if shipping Priority is just as cost-effective as standard first class shipping. Even if it costs a few extra dollars, you can significantly improve your reputation as a seller.

5. Value Your Seller Feedback Rating

Customer service is everything, particularly on the Internet where consumers can’t touch the product or interact face-to-face with the seller. That’s why it is imperative that you maintain as high of a positive rating as possible. The aim is to maintain a 100% positive rating, or close to it. Consumers tend to gravitate toward the sellers who have top ratings, good reviews, and who are quick to respond to customer complaints. If they make a mistake, they always overcompensate to take care of the buyer. That means paying for return shipping costs, being quick to respond to any issues or concerns, and ensuring products arrive quickly and in one piece.

It’s important to respond to all customer complaints or requests, both online and offline. Pay close attention to your account so you can respond whenever an inquiry comes up. This is just one more way to keep your feedback rating high and ensure that you get the sale. Even if the customer is rude, keep your composure and remain calm. The more receptive and helpful you are, the more repeat business or favorable reviews you’ll get from that person.

Final Thoughts

Once you’ve become well-versed in selling items online, it’s a good idea to track your results. This is particularly true if you plan on selling more. Time is money, and if you’re wasting it on the wrong website, it will cost you. Make sure to gauge your shipping costs, the time it took to sell the product, and the price customers were willing to pay. This information can be used to improve your strategy the next time around.

In your zest to make extra cash selling your stuff online, remember that it is possible to lose money. Shipping costs and packing materials can add up if you aren’t careful. Don’t price your goods too high, but make sure you make money off of your efforts. Anything you can’t sell can be donated, usually for a tax deduction.

Have you profited from online sales? What are your best tips?

Brian Miller is a freelance writer and entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience. He writes about e-commerce, fitness, and personal finance for dozens of websites. He lives and works in Michigan.

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How to Make Over $60K Working from Home

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Thanks to technological advances, more jobs can be done from home than ever. Between telecommuting employees and freelancers, about 8 million Americans (5.2 percent of the workforce in the U.S.) work from home at least some of the time, based on 2017 US Census Bureau data. Plus, some of the positions are quite lucrative, crossing well over the $60,000 a year mark.

Jobs That Can Be Done From Home—Make More than $60K

If you want to join the ranks of the home-based workforce, you first have to understand that not every skill or profession will help you get there. You won’t be able to do it if all you are doing to filling out surveys; that just isn’t realistic.

Some of the highest paying work from home positions are in the tech sector. Many IT professionals don’t need to interact directly with customers and can communicate with their coworkers online. Plus, logging into systems remotely is pretty simple with the right tools.

Many of these tech roles do require a substantial amount of knowledge and experience. Additionally, most will consider a four-year degree (or beyond) a must-have. But, if you already work as a software developer, business intelligence analyst, help desk/tech support, or something similar, transitioning to a home-based job might not be very challenging. And, when you do, getting a salary above $60,000 a year is pretty plausible.

WFH Jobs—Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Social Media Managers

Accountants and bookkeepers can also do pretty well in work-from-home arrangements. While you will need some education and credentials as well as the right software to start, it is possible to earn a strong salary. In the US, work-from-home CPAs make an average of almost $64,000 a year.

If you are adept at social media, becoming a social media manager could also help you secure a $60,000+ annual salary. Some freelance writers can also pull in at least $60k each year, though that depends on your skill level and if you have expertise in a particularly profitable niche. Some transcribers and translators can also each that salary point.

However, some options don’t require as much experience either. Some people earn over $20 per hour teaching English as a second language even without a teaching degree. If you manage to secure a full-time schedule and qualify for additional incentives or bonuses, hitting the $60,000 mark isn’t out of the question. If you have skills in a particular field, you might be able to tutor in other areas online too, giving you a different path to pursue.

Tips for Landing a Great Work-From-Home Job

As with any job, you want to proceed with caution. Googling work-from-home jobs will give you some decent results, but there will also be some scams in the mix, so you need to be diligent.

If you want to be a remote employee for a company, then heading to sites like Indeed can help you find positions with reputable employers. Just make sure to focus your search on your profession and filter it only to show remote jobs.

For those who would rather freelance their way to $60,000 a year, starting on a freelancer job site could be a smart move. Upwork, Toptal, Freelancer, Guru, and Fiverr all have strong reputations, and they can help you connect with businesses and individuals looking for people with a wide range of skills. Just keep in mind, it can take time to build your freelancing reputation, so, unless you have a strong portfolio of work already, it might take a bit before you cross the $60,000 mark.

Do you work from home? Share your tips in the comments below.

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