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Best Places to Put Savings From A Side Hustle

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It’s a hard time to look for work in America, and many Americans are looking. Over 45% of Americans earn extra money by working a side hustle. Most of the Americans who do work a side hustle work an extra 12-hours on top of their primary job. And even after all of that extra work, many Americans barely make half of their primary monthly income with a side hustle.

If you are making money from a side hustle, and want to save it for the long term, then try savings bonds.

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Savings Bond

Are you looking for a good place to stash the savings you generate from a side hustle? Then a savings bond may be a good bet for you.

A savings bond is a U.S. government debt security. In other words, when you buy a savings bond you are loaning the American government money to run its operations.

And just like a traditional bond, a savings bond is virtually guaranteed to payout when needed. As long as the American government exists, your return on investment in a savings bond is guaranteed.

A savings bond is similar to a traditional Treasury bond as an investment vehicle but has several distinct differences.

Unlike a traditional Treasury bond, a savings bond only pays interest after it is redeemed. A savings bond is also sometimes called a “zero-coupon” bond.

A coupon rate refers to the interest rate that is credited against a bond over time. For example, a traditional Treasury bond is credited with interest twice a year. A savings bond gains incremental amounts of interest each month.

Unlike a Treasury bond, which pays out the interest that it accrues when you cash it out, a savings bond does not. You must wait about a year before you can cash out a savings bond.

And if you cash out a savings bond before a period of five years, then you lose the last three applicable months of interest.

Taxes on a savings bond are not paid until the bond is redeemed. Taxes are paid via interest payments with most traditional bonds. And taxes on savings bonds are paid only on a national level.

The biggest difference between a traditional bond and a savings bond is that a savings bond still exists after its maturity date.

Types of Savings Bonds

There are basically three kinds of savings bonds, however, only two still currently exist.

The Series E savings bonds were first created During World War II to help fund the war effort. Series E savings bonds were phased out of circulation in 1980 and are no longer issued.

Additionally, if you own a Series E savings bond, you can still cash them in, but they stopped gaining interest in 1980.

The Series EE savings bond were first circulated in 1980 and become the direct replacement for the Series E. Series EE savings bonds are still issued now.

Additionally, if you bought an electronic Series EE bond after June 2003, the U.S. Treasury guarantees that you can redeem it for twice its face value. And if you hold onto an electronic Series EE bond issued in June 2003 or afterward for at least 20 years, it will earn an annual interest rate of 3.5%.

The Series I savings bond offer an enhanced level of protection against inflation relative to the Series EE saving bond. And all Series I savings bonds offer a fixed rate or variable rate interest rate based on the Consumer Price Index.

You can buy savings bonds for any amount between $25 to $10,000 within a 12-month period.

And you can only cash in a savings bond once it is at least 12-months old. Also, if you cash in a savings bond before its five-year maturity, you will lose at least three months of interest.

The Series EE and Series I savings bond for a period of up to 30-years. If you are saving money from a side hustle, you can use a savings bond as a long-term strategy to keep it.

However, one major drawback of the savings bond is the interest rate.

Savings Bond Interest Rates (And other Drawbacks)

Savings bonds are a great way to save money that was hard-earned from a side hustle. However, the biggest major drawback of investing in savings bonds is that they generate minimal interest.

Currently, Series EE savings bonds only offer a 0.10% interest rate. And the Series I savings bond currently offers a 1.68% interest rate – however, that interest rate can vary according to the Consumer Price Index.

Savings bonds are inherently non-transferable, and you cannot sell them to others. If you buy an electronic Treasury bond, you can transfer it to another person’s account.

Still, if you have a long-term savings strategy in mind, saving money from a side hustle in a savings bond is a good way to go.

Side Hustle Strategy

Paper savings bonds can be cashed at banks, check-cashing centers, and other financial institutions. If you buy electronic savings bonds at TreasuryDirect.gov, then you can credit the money on your account and then transfer it to a bank account.

It isn’t easy to work a side hustle in this pandemic-wrecked economy, so consider every option possible to save more of the money you earn.

Consult a financial advisor if possible when you’re trying to save money for the long term.

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Tips to Find the Money You Need to Make Rent

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Find the Money You Need to Make Rent

 

If you can’t find the money you need to make rent, you’re not alone. Millions of people have lost their jobs or had their hours cut due to the pandemic and are struggling to make ends meet. Here are some tips to help you earn enough cash to cover your bills until things turn around. 

Sell Unwanted Belongings

We all have clothes, books, and electronics lying around that we’re not using. Turn your unwanted belongings into extra cash by selling them on Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, or Mercari. Although you probably won’t earn enough from this to cover your entire rent payment, it will still make a dent in what you owe. 

Pick Up Some Freelance Work

Freelancing is a great way to find the money you need to make rent without leaving your house. If you have a skill like writing or graphic design, you can advertise your services and find gigs on social media sites like Reddit and Facebook. Here are a few of my favorite places to find jobs as a freelance writer. 

You can also cold email businesses to let them know about what you do and see if they need your services. But before you start looking for work, make sure you have a few examples of past projects that you can show to potential clients. If you don’t have any portfolio pieces, you can make a few and put them on a simple website to attract clients. 

Deliver Takeout and Groceries

Many people have been getting groceries and takeout delivered to their homes because they don’t feel safe going out due to the pandemic. As a result, lots of grocery stores are looking for in-store shoppers and restaurants are hiring delivery drivers. You can also pick up delivery work on your schedule by signing up for apps like Uber Eats, Instacart, DoorDash, Postmates, and Grubhub. 

Teach English Online

Many people in countries where English isn’t the primary language hire online tutors to help them improve their diction. You can create a profile on sites like Italki and Preply to find students who need your assistance and will pay you well for it. 

There are also lots of language learning companies that hire native English speakers to tutor kids and adults, including VIPKid, Palfish, and Qkids. They usually pay $15 to $20 per hour, so you’ll definitely find the money you need to make rent if you get the job. 

Additionally, you can find freelance jobs from these marketplaces.

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Apply to Be a Focus Group Participant

Companies that are performing market research often look for focus group participants online. If you land one of these gigs, you’ll get paid $50 or more for a short interview, which will help you find the money you need to make rent. 

One month I made nearly $500 just for giving companies my opinions. Below are a few of the websites I use to apply for focus groups. 

  • Respondent 
  • User Interviews 
  • UserTesting 
  • PingPong 

Donate Plasma

Do you want to get paid and help others at the same time? Scientists are using plasma to try to develop a treatment for the coronavirus, so they need people to donate. You can earn $300 per month or more by donating plasma while helping advance COVID-19 research. It’s a win-win!

If you don’t have stable employment, it’s difficult to find the money you need to make rent. Hopefully, these tips will help you earn enough side income to cover all of your bills. 

If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.
Check out these helpful tools to help you save more. For investing advice, visit The Motley Fool.

What is the Minimum Wage in Georgia?

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What is the Minimum Wage in Georgia?

 

If you’re job hunting in the Peach State, you may be wondering, what is the current minimum wage in Georgia? 

Wages in the South tend to be on the lower end of the spectrum, and unfortunately, Georgia is no exception. If you have kids or extra expenses like medical debt, an entry-level job that pays the minimum amount may not be enough to keep you financially comfortable. 

To help you determine if an entry-level job will be enough to meet your needs or if you’ll need to pick up some side work, here’s an overview of the minimum wage in Georgia. 

What is a Minimum Wage?

The minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate businesses can pay covered nonexempt employees without breaking the law. Most hourly workers are considered covered nonexempt, except for certain types of employees like trainees and people who make tips.

Currently, the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour. States, cities, and counties can also pass their own minimum wage laws. Nearly 30 states have decided to raise the minimum wage in their jurisdiction above the federal standard. 

But two states, Georgia and Wyoming, actually have a lower minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. That doesn’t mean businesses can pay their employees less than the federal minimum of $7.25, however.

What is the Minimum Wage in Georgia?

Although the minimum wage in Georgia is technically $5.15 per hour, employers are required to pay their employees a minimum of $7.25 an hour per the federal standard. However, certain employees may be paid less. 

Employers are allowed to pay workers who are in training $4.25 per hour during the first 90 days of employment. Tipped workers can also be paid at a lower rate of $2.13 per hour as long as their tips bring them up to the federal minimum wage. 

Higher Minimum Wages

Some cities in Georgia have a higher cost of living and have raised their minimum wage to ensure that workers can afford their bills. In 2017, Clarkston raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour. Employers in Atlanta also have to pay their workers at least $15 per hour.

Many politicians have been trying to raise the minimum wage in Georgia to $15 per hour for several years. Unfortunately, nothing has come of it so far. But Georgia workers will see their wages increase if President Biden’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is successful. 

Is It a Living Wage?

The living wage for each state is the amount of income it takes to cover basic expenses like housing, food, and healthcare. It doesn’t include any extra money for savings, travel, or entertainment. 

According to MIT, the living wage for one adult without kids in Georgia is $15.36 per hour. The current minimum wage falls short of that by $8.11.

Because the minimum wage hasn’t kept pace with the cost of living in the state, you may find it hard to get by with an entry-level job. You might have to live with roommates or pick up side hustles like delivering pizzas to afford your bills. 

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Do you think the minimum wage in Georgia is high enough? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. Check out these helpful tools to help you save more. For investing advice, visit The Motley Fool.

The Impact of Social Media on Investing

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Whether it is an influencer on Reddit or YouTube or professional traders and institutions on Linkedin and Twitter. Social media’s impact on investing is undeniable. However, before you jump on your favorite platform to get advice. Make sure you know what you are doing.

The GameStop Drama

GameStop sells video gaming equipment at retail outlets and online. Analysts had long regarded it as a declining stock. Suddenly in January this year, the stock took off. Its price increased more than 7,200 percent in one year.

What caused this unprecedented leap in the stock price? A Redditt thread (r/WallStreetBets) with 9.4 million subscribers. When influencers touted the stock, readers rushed to buy GameStop. Subsequently, other platforms saw increased postings on the stock.

Sprout Social, a social media management and optimization company, tracked mentions on social media. It found 1,582,000 Tweets and 1,465 YouTube videos about GameStop from January 20 to 27. Sprout Social concluded there was a direct relation between social media mentions of GameStop and the rise in stock price.

Social Media Impact on Investing

The surge in the price of GameStop was unprecedented. However, the social media impact on investing is not new.

The Securities and Exchange Commission began allowing publicly traded businesses to report news and earnings reports on Twitter in 2013. The result was an increased flow of information directly to investors. Consequently, it also had unintended results.

At a 2016 American Diabetes Association conference, attendees were told of a diabetes drug from Novo Nordisk. The information was supposed to be confidential but was posted on several Twitter accounts. Investors who jumped on Novo Nordisk stock had a rude awakening the next day. The stock fell on news that its diabetes drug was less effective than hoped.

Social media as an indicator of investment success

Sometimes it is not financial information or recommendations that move a stock.

A prime example is the swell of interest in the movie The Hunger Games. Some investors noticed a large increase in hashtags related to the books. As a result, these investors bought shares in the company when Lionsgate acquired the movie rights.

In its opening week, March 2012, The Hunger Games movie grossed $152.5 million, the third-largest at that time. Lionsgate stock jumped 77 percent.

Institutional investors using social media

A recent study found 80 percent of institutional investors use social media in their work. And 30 percent say that use has helped them make an investment decision.

The study, Institutional investing in the Digital Age: How Social Media Informs and Shapes the Investing Process, was done by Greenwich Associates. They surveyed 256 corporate and public pension funds, insurance companies, and other institutions in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

“These results show that social media is influencing decisions that can result in the allocations of billions of investment dollars around the world,” says Dan Connell, Head of Market Structure and Technology at Greenwich Associates and author of the study. “With approximately 40% of the institutions globally expecting to increase their use of social media in the coming year, we’re projecting a further, rapid increase of social media influence in institutional investment markets.”

Dangers of social media’s impact on investing

As the Greenwich study shows. Most institutional investors get and provide their information through Twitter newsfeeds and LinkedIn. Likewise, more novice investors are turning to Reddit and YouTube for information and recommendation.

The criticism of investment advice from Reddit and Twitter contributors with names such as Roaring Kitty, Fage 138, and SaintHakop, is that their information may be speculative and based on emotion instead of value.

Forty-eight percent of those surveyed by Greenwich say the social media information prompts them to conduct further research instead of acting on impulse.

After hearings on the GameStop run-up, Democratic congressperson David Scott said that kind of social media investing is, “a threat to the future of our financial system”.

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Is GameStop a good choice for investors? Would you use Reddit or other social media platforms to find investments for your portfolio? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. Check out these helpful tools to help you save more. For investing advice, visit The Motley Fool.

Learning Personal Finance From The Military

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personal finance lessons from the military

I had a lot of time to spend learning personal finance tricks from the military. I spent nearly 14 years serving in the U.S. Air Force, and while I was not a part of a military finance operation (military finance is a topic for another day) I did work as a reporter for Air Force News Agency and as such did a lot of writing about military money matters. Believe it or not, financial responsibility is a major part of a military career and as an officer or enlisted member you can get into a lot of trouble if you don’t handle your finances properly.

Personal Finance Lessons

What did I learn from those experiences? One big one for those (me) who hadn’t earned quite that much money in one place before was managing my current income while planning on future needs. The first time you’re forced to reconcile you spending today with the big car payment coming tomorrow, it can be a real eye-opener.

What I took away from this as a very young person was that I needed to look at my finances like a chess game instead of…well, maybe poker.

Another lesson I learned was how to think like a business person when trying to work out typical personal finance issues like an auto loan.

Interest And Other Expenses

The military has an option for those who are being assigned or reassigned to a new base in the U.S. or overseas; you are allowed to apply for an advance on your pay which is then paid back over a fixed period of time by a deduction from your military pay.

That sounds pretty straightforward, but once I started doing the math on this “advance pay” I realized that what I had been given access to was an interest-free loan with no fees to pay of any kind. Let’s say a month’s pay for a junior enlisted person is $3000.

That is NOT an accurate number, it’s an arbitrary one. But for the example, we’ll take a single month’s pay and divide it over 12 equal payments and add five percent interest. This $3K loan costs you over $200 in the interest fees alone, let alone the origination fee your lender will hit you with.

I wasn’t getting “free money” as much as I was given a “free loan”. And that woke me up to paying attention–a LOT more attention–to the costs of things.

Add It Up

How much does your GrubHub delivery order cost if you don’t use GrubHub but order in person instead? Those extra costs–the delivery fee, the driver’s tip, and processing fees–add up and if you look at a year’s worth of those fees and do the math, you begin to see what I was seeing way back then.

For me personally the moral of the story is to pay attention to the add-on costs of EVERYTHING. The same way I think people should feel a wee bit insulted when offered 10% off (because they are just basically waiving the sales tax instead of giving you a real discount) on something, I think people should feel insulted when they get socked with these hidden or extra fees they (likely) don’t see coming until after they have added up those costs over time.

 

Looking for Products to Sell? Bstock May Be Able to Help

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B-Stock for products to sell

If you’re a seller, finding products can be one of your biggest challenges. Securing low-cost products that will attract buyers isn’t always easy. Luckily, there are some options that are worth exploring. If you’re looking for products, check out B-Stock for products to sell. If you aren’t familiar with B-Stock, here’s how it may be able to help.

About B-Stock Merchandise

First, it’s important to understand that “B-Stock” is both a type of merchandise condition and a company name. When it comes to merchandise, B-stock is usually comprised of customer returns, floor display models, and other goods that have been removed from their original packaging.

Usually, once the packaging has been opened, the item is no longer considered new. Instead, it’s viewed as used, even if the original purchaser did nothing more than open the box and remove the item.

While many of the items haven’t actually been used in the traditional sense and are fully functional. However, the fact that the original packaging was opened means the items can’t always be sold as A-stock, another tern for new merchandise.

At times, B-stock also includes brand new items that have some kind of damage. For example, scratch-and-dent models may have been damaged in transit. The issue is purely cosmetic, but because the product isn’t in the proper new condition, it becomes B-stock.

In some cases, refurbished items are also viewed as B-stock. However, some consider those items to be in a different category, as they were technically repaired in some fashion.

B-Stock the Company: What It Is and How It Works

As mentioned above, B-stock refers both to a merchandise category and a company. When it comes to the company, B-Stock is an online network that connects people and companies to B-stock merchandise purchase opportunities, mainly auctions. The goods can include customer returns, retailer or manufacturer overstock, and other items being liquidated by a store or item producer.

Through B-Stock, you can search for items that may interest you. Once you find one, you are directed to the proper marketplace for signup. After your registration is approved, you can begin bidding on that listing, as well as other available through that specific marketplace.

Essentially, B-Stock is a simple platform for connecting with marketplaces that auction off B-stock merchandise. It can centralize your search and make you aware of opportunities that you may miss otherwise. Additionally, it can make managing your auction bidding easier.

To put it simply, B-Stock is all about assisting you with product sourcing for affordable products that you may want to resell. The company doesn’t actually sell the items. Instead, they connect you with sellers.

How B-Stock Auctions Work: An Overview

Once you find an auction that interests you, you’ll have to go through the bidding process. There are no “buy it now” options. Instead, you can enter your maximum bid for a listing, and the system will adjust your personal bid as the auction progresses.

For example, if a listing has a starting bid of $500, and you’re willing to pay up to $1,500, when you enter $1,500 as your maximum bid, your initial bid will show as $500. Then, if someone else enters a $600 bid, the system will automatically enter a new bid in your name for one increment higher. If the bid increment is $50, your bid would then be $650.

The system will continue to outbid other bidders in your name until either the auction closes and you win, or your maximum bid has been reached. If a new bid comes in that exceeds your maximum, the system will not enter a new bid in your name unless you approve a new maximum bid.

Who Can Use B-Stock for Products?

B-Stock officially focuses on the B2B marketplace. As a result, you’ll need to have a business license in order to access the auctions and make purchases.

Additionally, since B-Stock is a portal for accessing a range of marketplaces, other requirements can vary depending on the marketplace you want to tap. Every marketplace is run by a different company, and each one can set its own criteria. As long as you are a qualified buyer based on the application requirements, you’ll be able to bid on auctions you find on B-Stock.

If you win, you’ll receive a notification. In that, you’ll find payment instructions. After you submit payment, you can provide shipping instructions based on the options available.

Is B-Stock Only for Resellers?

Yes, B-Stock is only for resellers. B-Stock specifically features auctions for merchandise that is going to be resold. As a result, you have to be a certified reseller, ensuring you have a place to resell the merchandise once it is officially yours. If you’re looking for items for any other purpose, you’ll need to go another route to purchase them.

Have you tried B-Stock for products to sell? If so, what was your experience with B-Stock like? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. Check out these helpful tools to help you save more. For investing advice, visit The Motley Fool.