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Stock Market Guides Review

February 1, 2024

Reading Time: 5 minutesStock Market Guides offers as a subscription-based service focused on helping people make profits in the stock market. The platform distinguishes itself by delivering data-driven trade alerts backed by meticulous historical backtesting. Central to its operations is a proprietary scanner engineered to identify real-time trading opportunities. Stock Market Guides sets itself apart within the investment world by providing subscribers access to a scanner renowned for its ability to pinpoint historical trade setups with a demonstrated history of success. The platform is adept at tailoring its offerings to suit the needs of both swing traders and long-term investors, leveraging well-established stock chart patterns and technical indicators to formulate trade alerts. This review aims to critically assess Stock Market Guides’ overall value and performance in the context of its specialized tools and services for investors. Let’s begin. Services at Stock Market Guides Stock Market Guides offers trade alerts catering to both stock and option traders.  Here are their services: Stock Picking Service Stock Market Guides will send you trade alerts when their scanner finds a chart pattern or trading indicator where that specific stock has a history of success.  Their trade alerts are sent in real-time by text or email.  They send some stock trade alerts before the market opens and some during market hours.  For each stock pick, they tell you the stock ticker symbol, the time to enter the trade, the time to exit the trade, and the trading strategy that the trade setup is based on. Option Picking Service  Stock Market Guides also offers a service that sends you trade alerts for their option picks. It operates similarly to their stock picking service, as described above, but it’s for options.  That means when they specify a ticker symbol, it’s an option ticker symbol, and it includes the underlying stock, the expiration date, the option type (call or put), and the strike price. Stock Market Guides Trade Alerts Stock Market Guides’ trade alerts provide all the particulars for each trade idea, including the precise ticker symbol, optimal entry and exit points, and the trading strategy used. Additionally, each trade alert links to fundamental data for the underlying stock, such as its industry classification, employee count, and market cap. Stock Market Guides Pros and Cons Stock Market Guides has a unique service that includes a lot of features.  There are things we really like about the service, but they come with some tradeoffs to consider. PROS These guys don’t make stock picks based on hype or exaggeration.  It’s all based on data.  Utilizing a rigorous research methodology known as backtesting, Stock Market Guides analyzes historical data to derive performance metrics for trade setups. Their scanner not only finds stocks and options set up for trade opportunities but also shows the historical track record of the trade setup for that particular stock or option.  It does all this in real-time.  We don’t know of any other service that provides this sort of feature, and we absolutely love it. They send a trade alert each time they make a new stock or option pick.  You can enable the trade alerts to be sent by text or email, whichever is more convenient. They send out regular emails to subscribers that offer analysis about the market and their stock and option picks. Subscribers can ask questions directly to the trading professionals they have on staff.  Their contact information is easy to access, and we found their responsiveness to be wonderful.  Stock Market Guides is different than a lot of other stock picking services.  They provide trade ideas for many different tickers, time frames, and strategies.  This allows you to filter which ones you see and get alerts for.  It’s nice to be able to fine-tune the picks so that you only get ones that are up your alley. They have a lot of guides available to help novices, including tutorials like “How to Buy Stocks” and “How to Read an Options Chain.”  On top of that, their customer support staff has expressed a clear eagerness to help people no matter how basic their questions are. A lot of companies in this industry are, to be blunt, charlatans.  They give you two scoops of hype and try to sell, sell, sell.  It’s different with these guys.  They just lay out the facts, including the risks involved, and seem to be more focused on truly helping people to make informed trading decisions. CONS History can often give us great information about tendencies and trends.  That said, it certainly doesn’t guarantee what the future holds.  We’d certainly rather have visibility into historical performance than not, but there is no guarantee of success.  This holds true for any stock advisory service out there. Sports offer a good example of this phenomenon.  If you have a baseball player who hit at least 30 home runs three years in a row, you might expect that he can do it again in the forthcoming year.  Knowing his track record helps you make a well-informed prediction, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to do it.  This service is one where there are a lot of trade alerts.  With that being the case, there is a lot of discretion left in customers’ hands.  For many people, that’s perfect and exactly what they want.  For others, they might be looking for a service where there is one single trade to follow each week and where there are not a lot of picks to choose from.  Seeing too many picks could lead to analysis paralysis for some people. Stock Market Guides’ Alert Performance Stock Market Guides’ returns for their trade alerts are based on backtesting.  The average annualized return in backtests is notable for each service: If their trade alerts continue to perform at that level, they will offer returns way beyond the market’s normal historical rate of return.  That said, Stock Market Guides makes it clear that these trade alerts come with amplified risk relative to, say, buying and holding a market

Top 6 Online Banks in Europe

March 6, 2023

Reading Time: 5 minutesThe best online banks in Europe have a few things in common: security, trust, and low fees. We use these three parameters to rank which online banks in Europe are the best when opening an account. But what exactly is an online bank? Banking has changed a lot in recent years. Nowadays, an online bank is a practical solution to making payments, receiving money, and managing finances. Not only that, but online banks are gaining a lot of popularity. In 2020, online banks worldwide had more than 2.5 billion active users. The practicality of online banking makes these establishments a popular choice for anyone that looks to manage finances online. So which are the best six online banks in Europe? The Top 6 Best Online Banks in Europe We picked up six banks we believe to be the best based on our research. These banks aren’t ranked in any particular order. What’s important is that the six picks on this list come with high user trust, low fees, and top-notch security. So let’s get into it. Wise One of the biggest problems in traditional banking is making international payments in foreign currencies. For obvious reasons, traditional banks keep foreign currencies unusable in your account and force you to exchange.  Online banks, like Wise, eliminate this problem by allowing you to open multi-currency bank accounts. And the best part about the service is that it’s available in Europe and more than 140 countries. With Wise, you can easily set up USD, GBP, EUR, and accounts in other currencies. Users receive bank details for each currency. For example, if you open a EUR account, Wise provides a SWIFT and IBAN, sort code, account number, etc. To view the details of each account, you will need to go into the specific currency account. There’s even the option to copy the information. The great thing about Wise is that you can make international payments with ease. Opening an account is free, and Wise is transparent about the fee structure. With that said, the fees are some of the lowest in the industry. You can open accounts in more than 50 currencies. They even have a debit card you can use in any establishment that accepts Visa/Mastercard. For ATM withdrawals, it’s free so long as you’re not withdrawing over 200 EUR per month. We covered Wise in our Best 5 Payoneer Alternatives for Freelancers and Businesses guide. Revolut Revolut is one of the top digital banks in Europe for several reasons. The online bank grew its customer base from 1.5 million to 10 million in the past two years. The online bank is best known for its relatively low fees. Not only that, Revolut offers traditional banking services such as loans, currency exchange, international payments, and more. In recent times, Revolut has allowed cryptocurrency trading. With Revolut, you can open multiple currency accounts and order a multi-currency spending card. There’s even the option to use a virtual debit card for online shopping. With every new currency account you open, Revolut gives you IBAN/SWIFT, account number, etc. It’s truly one of the best digital banks in Europe. Setting up an account is also free. You can create accounts in more than 150 currencies and even receive cashback. When using the Revolut spending or debit cards, you receive cashback on travel insurance, FX trading, and general spending. Considering that, Revolut has managed to cement itself as one of the most popular European online banks.  N26 N26 is one of the most established and largest European banks. Although N26 is a licensed traditional bank, it offers clients a wide range of financial services, making it one of the top digital banks in Europe. Moreover, with more than 5 million active users, N26 offers something that few other banks do – an insured EUR bank account. You can ensure up to $100,000 and receive a debit card to spend in stores or make online purchases. EUR withdrawals are free, and N26 is transparent with its fees and costs. With that said, N26 has some of the lowest costs in the industry and allows individuals and freelancers the option to select from three plans. The free plan is perfect for everyone that wants to give N26 a try. The free plan gives you unlimited deposits, access to a virtual Mastercard debit card, and options to make free SEPA transfers. You can even connect the card with online payment platforms like Google Pay and Apple Pay. All this makes N26 one of the best online banks in Europe. Curve Curve markets itself as an “all-in-one-place ” for all things finance-related. With Curve, you can use their free debit Mastercard to make in-store and online purchases. Not only that, but you can also connect other accounts and manage them. Multi-account management is what separates Curve from the rest of the top online banks in Europe. Curve comes with a mobile app, as with every other online bank on this list, where you can manage the different accounts. Curve also offers cashback rewards for spending money on Uber. As of late, Curve incorporated its cashback rewards with popular streaming services Netflix and Spotify. Creating an account is free, and managing finances has never been easier with Curve. Considering all that, Curve deserves to appear on our best online banks in Europe list.  Nuri We’ve added Nuri to this list as it is one of the best online banks in Europe for cryptocurrency purchases. Nuri, formerly Bitwala, is a neobank for all things cryptocurrency-related. For everyone wanting a seamless solution to manage finances and crypto investments, Nuri is the online bank for Europeans to go with. With Nuri, you can trade cryptocurrencies and even earn an annual interest rate for holding Bitcoin and Ethereum. The European online bank is looking to expand more into cryptocurrencies and hopes to incorporate other popular altcoins besides Bitcoin and Ethereum. Nuri also offers other services, such as saving and investing outside cryptocurrencies. The online bank is available in over

What Is A Wedge Deal and Is It A Good Real Estate Investment Strategy?

March 6, 2023

Reading Time: 4 minutesA wedge deal in real estate is purchasing a property worth less than the potential market value. In real estate investing, a wedge refers to a strategy where the buyer scouts for properties that have the potential to be worth around the market value with minor cosmetic work. The strategy includes making low-cost renovations. A property that needs high-expense renovations isn’t a good match for this strategy. This guide will look at what a wedge deal is, how effective it is, how to make the strategy work for you, and provide several tips to identify possible investments.  Is A Wedge Deal A Good Real Estate Investing Strategy? A wedge deal is a good real estate investing strategy if you do it right. Since renovations are crucial to making the strategy work, it’s only a good deal if you can renovate the home and still make a profit. If you put too much money into the renovations, you will end up paying more than what you’ll be getting in return. Therefore, the upfront and subsequent renovation costs are a crucial part of making wedge deal work in real estate.  There are many ways to make money through real estate. A wedge deal is one way to turn a quick profit. But considering that real estate is a local market, plenty of factors will determine if you can make a profit out of a wedge. For any real estate investor who wants to wedge a house, the key concept is to avoid properties with extensive repair needs.  How To Make A Wedge Deal Work For You? Any experienced real estate investor will tell you that wedge deals in real estate are difficult to come by. A house below market price doesn’t just miraculously fall on your lap. To make the strategy work for you, you must do your research. That’s why eager real estate investors that look for wedge deals spend more time identifying a potential property. While real estate wedge deal experts have all kinds of means of identifying a wedge deal, here are a few things to consider that will help you do it much more efficiently. Not every seller is desperate to sell their property for any amount. Some sellers face personal issues that play a crucial role in getting the property below the market value. You need to be on the lookout for sellers going through a divorce, facing debt, and displacement.  These sellers are more motivated to sell due to the circumstances they find themselves in.  Another way to make a wedge deal strategy pay off is to look specifically for properties in need of renovation. In real estate investing, looks are everything. A buyer will never commit to a property that looks terrible. Regardless of the price, modern homes sell for much more and much faster. A deteriorating property or a property in poor condition will sell for much cheaper.  But that doesn’t mean the property can’t be worked on and brought back to life. But even so, there are renovations you have to avoid. For example, a property that needs a new roof isn’t a good real estate wedge deal. But you can work if the property needs replacing kitchen cabinets or repainting. So even if you are looking at properties in terrible condition, not every property will work for a wedge deal.  Where To Find Good Properties To Wedge?  So that begs the question, where do you look for eager sellers or properties in terrible condition? Well, there are a few ways to go about it. Since real estate is local, you need to narrow your search and scout for sellers or properties in a targeted market.   But what does this mean? Put yourself in their position. If you are moving to another city and need to sell your house fast, where would you list it? The big real estate websites are a natural place to start. Websites such as Zillow, FSBO.com, Foreclosure.com, and Realtor.com should be some of your starting places. While many will tell you that MLS (multiple listing services) is the worst place to look, the opposite is true. You can find good deals through MLS. In addition, some eager sellers are more than willing to list their property below the market value if they find themselves in specific circumstances.  But probably the best way to look for real estate wedge deals is to contact for sale by owner houses. Unfortunately, FSBO houses aren’t as visible as houses sold by agents. Thus, FSBO sellers get significantly less exposure. However, most FSBO sellers want to save the 2-3.5% agent commission, so they might be more willing to sell under the market value. There are plenty of other ways to find real estate wedge deals. All you need to do is look hard enough. Conclusion To summarize, a wedge deal in real estate can be a good investment strategy if you do it right. To ensure you’re getting a good deal, look for house deals that require low-cost renovations and sell well under the market price.  FAQ What Is a Wedge Deal In Real Estate? A wedge deal in real estate is a property that sells for less than the potential market value. A wedge deal is often considered a real estate deal.  What Is Real Estate Wedging? Real estate wedging refers to a process of identifying properties worth less than the potential market value. It is a process where investors identify properties that can potentially resell for more significant profits after low-cost renovations.

The Best 5 Payoneer Alternatives For Freelancers and Businesses in 2022

March 6, 2023

Reading Time: 7 minutesIt’s no secret that freelancers and businesses search for Payoneer alternatives to continue operating within their spheres. But why is this sudden shift in needing an alternative payment system? Payoneer was the holy grail of the freelance and business world. However, as of February 1st, 2022, Payoneer updated its TOS (terms of service) and expanded the list of prohibited transactions. In Payoneer’s statement, you can see which transactions the company deems illegal. The list includes basic transactions that long-standing members have been doing for years.  So naturally, people were shocked when Facebook groups started spamming with calls for help due to funds being frozen or outright accounts terminated due to violation of the TOS.  The sudden change in Payoneer’s behavior was met with disappointment and anger among the wider community. So that’s why we’re here to tell you all about the best 5 Payoneer alternatives freelancers and businesses can use. But first, let’s explain what Payoneer is for those who don’t know. What Is Payoneer, and What’s Their Business Model? Payoneer is an international payment platform where anyone can send and receive payments for goods and services. The service launched in 2005 and became available in most countries where other payment platforms weren’t. Freelancers and businesses who operate online adopted Payoneer immediately.  As of 2005, the team has worked tirelessly to make Payoneer available to everyone. It supports more than 150 currencies, with members being able to open balances for each specific currency.  More so, Payoneer allows users to order physical and virtual cards to pay in-store, online, and make ATM withdrawals. Members can also send or receive money to anyone with a Payoneer account. Freelancers can send invoices, and businesses can pay for their services. The Payoneer ecosystem was one of the best in the online payment world. But if it is one of the best, why is the business and freelance community looking for Payoneer alternatives?  If you read the previous section, balance freezing and account terminations are common after February 2022. So you would panic if that happened to you. So that brings us to the topic of our article. What are the best Payoneer alternatives for freelancers and businesses? Stick around as we’ll get into that. Best 5 Payoneer Alternatives  Below is a quick rundown of the best Payoneer alternatives for freelancers and businesses in 2022. The list includes the following: We’ve also included a table that lays out the most relevant information freelancers and businesses need to determine which Payoneer alternative works best for them. PayPal Send and receive international paymentsSubscriptions and recurring paymentsBusiness integration featuresFree and easy setupAUD, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, EUR High transaction fees for US sellers Stripe Send and receive international paymentsSubscriptions and recurring paymentsBusiness integration featuresAUD, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, EUR High transaction fees for US businesses Razorpay Send and receive paymentsLow transaction feesPayPal cross-platform capability Available Only in India and INR (Indian Rupees) Skrill Send and receive international paymentsSupports 3,000+ banks worldwideBusiness integration featuresAUD, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, EUR No subscriptions and recurring payments Wise Send and receive international paymentsAutomatic currency conversionTransparent fees AUD, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, EUR Only bank to bank transfersCurrency conversion fees With that said, let’s jump into the list. PayPal Many consider PayPal the best online payment system in the world. PayPal is a well-known name in the community, and you’ve probably heard about it. PayPal is a Payoneer competitor in many respects, hence why there is an ongoing Payoneer vs. PayPal debate in the community.  What makes PayPal one of the best Payoneer alternatives, and one of the best Payoneer competitors, is that you can easily send and receive payments. Recurring payments and subscription payments are also made possible through PayPal. But what makes PayPal so impressive is that it is the most widely-used payment system in the world. Plenty of apps that pay instantly use PayPal as a means for users to withdraw funds. As such, there are many proven ways to earn PayPal money instantly.  To sum up the Payoneer vs. PayPal debate, here’s what freelancers and businesses need to know about the prominent Payoneer competitor:  PayPal Advantages PayPay Drawbacks Stripe Stripe is yet another global brand in the online payment community. Unlike PayPal and Payoneer, Stripe enables businesses to create discounts & coupons. It’s a feature that sets Stripe apart from the rest of the competition. This feature is a core reason why many online businesses prefer Stripe over Payoneer, and why many are actively choosing Stripe. Here is a summary of why Stripe is a worthy Payoneer alternative and competitor:  Stripe Advantages Stripe Drawbacks Razorpay Razorpay emerged as a surprising alternative to Payoneer for non-US freelancers and businesses. The payment platform is the preferred option for the Indian markets. Although not as popular as some other payment platforms, Razorpay gives users access to a quick and reliable payment system with cross-platform capabilities. Considering the Indian market preference for Razorpay over Payoneer, here is what you need to know about this particular Payoneer alternative: Razorpay Advantages Razorpay Drawbacks Skrill Skrill is an excellent Payoneer alternative and one of the few apps like PayPal. The payment system is a combination of both Payoneer and PayPal. Users can send and receive payments directly to their Skrill account, bank account, and use the app’s card to make in-store or online purchases. Users can also send and receive payments by providing their email addresses. So usability is an excellent feature on Skrill. Just like Payoneer and PayPal, Skrill is a global payment system that both businesses and freelancers can use. Here is a rundown of what makes Skrill one of the best Payoneer alternatives: Skrill Advantages Skrill Drawbacks Wise (Former TransferWise) Wise rebranded from TransferWise some time ago. But users should know that the online payment platform and its features and capabilities stayed the same. Wise is an excellent Payoneer online platform alternative as it operates as an online payment platform where freelancers and businesses can send and receive payments for goods and services. Funds can be transferred to your

10 Proven Ways To Earn PayPal Money Instantly

March 13, 2023

Reading Time: 7 minutesIf you want to earn PayPal money instantly, know that there are at least ten proven ways to do so. PayPal is one of the most popular online payment systems that operate globally. As of 2021, PayPal has more than 392 million active users. With PayPal, you can perform tasks on other platforms and get paid for your time. Since platforms use PayPal as a payment system, you can sign up to these platforms and earn free PayPal money. By the end of this article, you will know the ten proven ways to earn PayPal money instantly. So with all that said, let’s start. Earn PayPal Money Instantly By Completing Online Surveys Online surveys are, by far, the easiest way to earn PayPal money instantly. Most of you are familiar with online survey sites like Swagbucks and Survey Junkey. Both sites allow cash withdrawals through PayPal, but there’s also the option to get paid through gift cards. To earn PayPal money through online surveys, you need to sign up to these sites. Depending on your geographical location, you can earn anywhere between $50 and $300 each month by completing surveys. Swagbucks and Survey Junkey give you more ways to earn free PayPal money. But you can also perform other tasks to earn free PayPal money. Tasks like watching videos, playing games, and shopping give you more options to earn PayPal money. Due to the popularity of survey websites, many are actively signing up for game apps that pay instantly to PayPal. While Swagbucks and Survey Junkey are the two most popular online survey sites, you can also sign up for other survey sites such as PrizeRebel, Inbox Dollars, Branded Surveys, etc. Earn PayPal Money By Taking Freelance Jobs It’s natural to assume that many freelance websites would have PayPal as an option to withdraw money. However, freelancing doesn’t give you free PayPal money. You can sign up to these platforms and join the growing gig economy.   The two most popular freelancing platforms are Upwork and Fiverr. Both incorporate PayPal as a payment system, and you can do all kinds of freelance work. Popular ideas include copywriting, digital marketing, graphics design, web development, software development, SEO, etc. If you have a talent for some of these, you can easily earn PayPal money instantly. The wonderful thing about freelancing is that you can turn it into a full-time job. If you’re good at it, you can ditch your low-salary job and get paid through PayPal doing something you love. Earn PayPal Money By Selling Products Launching your very own eCommerce store presents a life-changing opportunity. Not only is eCommerce one of the fastest-growing trends, but eCommerce sales worldwide surpassed $5.5 trillion in 2022.  The reason why eCommerce is so big in 2022 is down to the shift in consumer behavior. Statista says that 56% of consumers prefer online shopping. The reasons they give are down to convenience and prices.  But another reason why eCommerce is growing is that consumers have more ways to pay for items. PayPal presents an alternative to established payment methods. eCommerce stores can easily set up a PayPal payment terminal and start making money. And you can do that as well. If you have a talent for crafting or an idea worth selling, you can launch an eCommerce store and start earning PayPal money. Popular product ideas include selling artwork, crafts, and customized graphics, or you can give the dropshipping model a try. Regardless, selling products online has never been easier. What’s more important is that getting paid for those products has never been easier thanks to PayPal.   Earn PayPal Money Instantly By Buying Stuff Online  If selling products isn’t your thing, how about getting paid by spending money? In 2022, there are so many ways to get paid free PayPal money. And this method is indeed free! To make sense of what this means, we have to look at the growing trend of apps that pay instantly through PayPal. One of the most popular of these apps is Ibotta. Ibotta is an app that helps you with grocery shopping online. But there’s a twist. You can shop for groceries online and get paid via PayPal. Ibotta’s business model is close to genius. The cashback app partners with supermarkets and grocery stores to help bring their inventory online. For every purchase you make, Ibotta rewards you with a cashback. All you need to do is scan the receipt using the app.  If you really want to adopt Ibotta as your go-to grocery shopping buddy, you can refer friends and earn even more money. And the best part about it? You get paid via PayPal! Ibotta and similar cashback apps that pay instantly, such as Rakuten, give you even more ways to earn free PayPal money. Earn PayPal Money Instantly By Playing Games This is probably the method that most gamers are reading about in 2022. What better way for gamers to earn PayPal money than to do what gamers do – play games.  Similar to survey websites and apps, some apps let you play games and get paid real PayPal money. One of the most popular apps that allow you to earn PayPal money instantly by playing games is MistPlay.  MistPlay’s motto is “Disvoer, Play, Cashout.” Simple enough, you earn PayPal money instantly by discovering games and playing them. It’s that easy. There are no twists or turns with MistPlay. You download MistPlay on your smartphone and start earning free PayPal money. While there are plenty of other apps that do the same, we’d like to give a special mention to Lucktastic, Wealth Words, and AppNana. If you want the entire list, make sure to check out our guide on the 15 best PayPal games that pay real money in 2022. Earn PayPal Money Instantly By Browsing Websites Now, hear us out. You won’t be browsing websites as much as you’ll be asked to give your opinions about them. But the fun part is that you don’t need to be a

15 Best PayPal Games That Pay Real Money in 2022

May 25, 2022

Reading Time: 10 minutesYou’re probably asking yourself, are any PayPal games that pay real money out there? Sure enough, the answer is yes. But you don’t want to settle on the first you come across. Ideally, you want to do your research on the best one that pays the most and doesn’t waste your time. Considering they’re so many PayPal games out there, researching can be long and arduous. As such, we’ve done the research for you and give you a list of the 15 best PayPal games that pay real money in 2022. Stick around as you’ll want to get your teeth stuck into some of these. How Can You Earn Money By Playing PayPal Games? The way these game apps work is by rewarding you with real money through completing tasks. The task could be to do a survey, fill up a questionnaire, or play games. PayPal partners with these apps and allow you to withdraw to your PayPal account. Bear in mind, the terms of withdrawal are stated in each game or app’s terms of service. Some apps will allow you to withdraw any amount, while others have a limit such as $10, $20, $50, etc. One thing to note before we begin. Apps that pay you through PayPal should not replace your job. These apps serve as an additional income stream to make money in your spare time. But if you manage to sign up for a few and complete tasks in your spare time, you could make a lot of money.  15 PayPal Games That Pay Real Money Below is our list of 15 apps that pay you through PayPal. Let’s start. Swagbucks Swagbucks is one of the most known apps that pay you through PayPal. The app is a community of online surveys where anyone can register and start making money. In the online survey sphere, Swagbucks is the most trusted service. Members who use Swagbucks get rewards by completing surveys, browsing the internet, playing games, etc. One thing to note is that Swagbucks gives you these tasks based on geographical location. A member in the US will have access to more tasks than a member in Chile, for example. As such, there is a big difference in how much you can make. But generally speaking, you can make anywhere between $50 and $600 each month. Swagbucks has a policy of allowing users to withdraw once their balance has at least $25. You can withdraw your Swagbucks balance to your PayPal account or redeem Amazon Gift Cards. MistPlay A games app that you can download to your Andriod smartphone, MistPlay is one of the most well-known apps that pay you through PayPal, Amazon Gift Cards, Visa gift cards, etc. The way MistPlay works is simple. You sign up for the app and discover new games. The app recommends games based on your personal preference. The longer you play these games, the more money you make. You earn money by earning “Units.” Units are sort of like the in-game currency of MistPlay. You can redeem units for Amazon or Google Play cards, PayPal, and even withdraw directly to your Visa. In addition, users get access to weekly contests that they can enter for rewards. But the big prize is the monthly contests that can land you anything from a PS 5 to $400 gift cards. My Points My Points is a platform that rewards cashback. Users can shop through My Points and earn up to 40% back with every purchase. The extensive list of retailers includes the likes of Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Home Depot, and more. With My Points, users have an alternative to earning something back while doing their favorite things. In addition to that, My Points is a platform that rewards users in many other ways. Popular ways to earn include playing games, taking surveys, watching videos, and even reading emails. The platform is everything you need to start making money in your spare time. You can sign up and get a $10 welcome bonus in the form of a Visa or Amazon Gift Card. Lucktastic There are few better PayPal games than the ones at Lucktastic. Users that sign up to the platform have the chance to win big prizes for playing and winning games. The list of games on Lucktastic includes scratching games, spinning games, code-cracking games, and more. Lucktastic also rewards users in the form of gift cards. But the big cash prizes are, by far, the biggest lure. On Lucktastic, users can win anywhere between $1 and $10,000. But don’t get your hopes up too much, as winning the big prize doesn’t happen very often. In one instance, a lucky user played a scratch-card game that reward them $10,000! Regardless of how much you win, the best part about Lucktastic is that you can withdraw to your PayPal account. If you’re solely into apps that pay you through PayPal, give Lucktastic a try. Wealth Words Wealth Words has one of the best PayPal games that users can give a try in hopes to make some serious money. The app is a crossword puzzle game that can turn into a profitable side hustle. The way Wealth Words is simple. You download the app or make an account on their website. The app has many crossword puzzle games that you can play to earn impressive cash rewards. The list of games includes Wordoku, which is a crossword-puzzle version of Sudoku, Quick Wordz, The Third Wave, and more. Each game will require a different approach and strategy to win the big prize. With that said, cash prizes range between $20 and $100, depending on the game. But every time you play, you enter for the chance to win a jackpot. There is one catch. Not every game is free. You have to pay a small price to play the games that reward you the most. Is that a risk you’re willing to make to land a big cash prize? If so, do

Stealth Wealth: The Right Way To Handle Money?

March 7, 2023

Reading Time: 5 minutesBillionaires don’t need to hide their wealth to avoid taxes. But for the average Joe, it might be better to hide your fortunes than to flash and show before all. That’s essentially the definition of stealth wealth. Steal wealth means hiding your money instead of splashing on designer clothing and fancy cars. The practice of stealth wealth isn’t to avoid paying taxes, but for keeping your fortunes a secret. But you might be asking yourself, why would you hide the fact that you have money? Well, it’s all about being under the radar. While that might seem like something out of Breaking Bad, frugal living does come with its benefits. In this short guide on stealth wealth, we’ll talk about the benefits of practicing stealth wealth. Why Should You Hide Your Money? Even though we gave a thorough and quite story-telling explanation about what stealth wealth is, it doesn’t answer the question of why you should be doing it. Billionaires and millionaires hide their wealth as a means to keep their business to themselves. Some do it as it isn’t in their nature to flash their fortunes. While a completely separate group of rich individuals do it as it presents an investment opportunity. Stealth wealth investing is a particularly niche type of investing that is more common than you might think. Stealth wealth investing is essentially the practice of hiding your investments in a bid to conceal your strategy. Since any avid investor would do anything they can to get their hands on a winning formula, telling everyone about your little secret won’t keep it a secret for long. But stealth wealth can also be a powerful tool for personal finance. Instead of spending outrageous sums of money, you live a middle-class lifestyle. This helps you save money, invest, and plan your financial future with little risk.  But if we look past stealth wealth as a means for the mega-rich to hide their fortunes, why does the average Joe do it? It is more common for billionaires and millionaires to be more interested in practicing stealth wealth. But this guide isn’t interested in exposing their interests in stealth wealth. Instead, we will tell you how you, the average Joe, can benefit from this quite niche practice. Benefits of Stealth Wealth Some of the benefits that come with frugal living will positively shock you so much that you might even start doing it now. While people tend to be proud of their achievements, not everyone should know about your fortunes. So with all that said, here is why you should hide money instead of flashing it. Stealth Wealth Is A Good Way To Spend Less We mentioned at the beginning that stealth wealth can be an excellent tool for personal finance. But what does that mean? Personal finance can mean any number of things. In essence, it means sticking to a budget, saving, and achieving financial freedom. Stealth wealth can help you do that. Since you’re not flashing your money on Instagram, you’re spending a lot less of what you make. Despite 86% of young people wanting the lifestyle of one of these influences, it’s not something you should do. Throwing money for Instagram fame is an excellent way to go broke. So the less you flash your cash, the bigger the chances of preserving your fortune. The more money you end up saving with each paycheck, the easier it is to achieve financial independence.  Since no one can predict what comes next in life, practicing stealth wealth prepares you for every financial emergency possible.  Stealth Wealth Is A Good Way To Avoid Loaning To People We are taught always to help those in need. But sadly, not every person out there is worth helping. Let’s assume that people know you have money. If a friend is in financial need, they’ll likely contact you and ask to borrow some money. While it’s perfectly normal to help our closest friends through tough times, not every friend will pay back. It’s just the rule of nature. Some people don’t solve their problems and end up in more debt. Maybe they have a serious addiction and they’ll use the money to fuel their addiction. When that happens, friendships usually end. You’re not the reason why the friendship ended, they are. You gave what they asked but they won’t pay you back. That puts you in a very tricky situation. Do you continue asking for your money back and risk losing this so-called “friend, or do you back off and give the person more time? It’s a conundrum that very few of us want to find ourselves in. One way to avoid these situations is through practicing stealth wealth. If your friends don’t know about your fortunes, chances are they won’t get offended when you tell them no. You won’t end up looking like a jerk and they’ll move on elsewhere. Stealth Wealth Is A Good Way Of Knowing Who Your Real Friends Are A problem that no doubt many millionaires and billionaires deal with regularly, money can bring the worst in people. If your friends know that you have money, do they even care about you? Are you 100% certain they’re not hanging out with you for your money? If they don’t know about your money, will they even be there?  You’re probably concluding that the benefits of stealth wealth have more to do with what people around you think about you than what the government thinks. But you’d be completely wrong about that. While stealth wealth does fend off unnecessary attention from people, it also fends off the prying eyes of the government.  Stealth Wealth Is A Good Way To Avoid the Government Ultimately, the average Joe can practice stealth wealth for the same reasons rich people do – that’s the whole twist of this article. The less the government knows about you, the more you can go about doing your things. Instead of telling the government that you have all this fortune laying around, why not stay silent and look for clever ways to

What Is Base Rate? Simply Explained

April 19, 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutesA base rate is a banking term that leaves people confused. What is it? What does a base rate represent? How is it calculated? Those are all questions that people ask but have difficulties finding answers to. Well, if you’re interested in what a base rate is, then you’re in the right place. What Is A Base Rate? A base rate is an interest that a country’s central bank charges to commercial banks. You can think of it as an interest rate that every bank pays whenever taking a loan from a central bank. You might think that a base rate is something that doesn’t concern consumers. But it’s absolutely important to understand that the base rate oftentimes depends on the state of a country’s economy. If the economy is bad, the base rate will be higher. A more thriving economy means a central bank can give more favorable rates to commercial banks. In turn, the commercial bank will give more favorable rates to consumers. How Does Base Rate Affect Consumers? Given what we said earlier, no consumer wants a high base rate. Commercial banks will adjust their interest rates based on the central bank’s base rates. So a worst-case scenario would be a high base rate. With that said, these two terms aren’t connected. A commercial bank might still keep its interest rates the same even if the base rate increases. But that would be damaging for the commercial bank’s finances. The higher the base rate, the more expensive loans will become for consumers. As also mentioned previously, a higher base rate suggests that a country is in a poor economy. Higher interest rate loans become more expensive to maintain, which leaves consumers having to pay more. It’s a vicious cycle where the only good outcome is for the base rate to be much lower. After the 2008 financial crisis, central banks decided to keep the base rate low. This, in turn, helped stimulate the economy since banks could offer more favorable loans. So we know the correlation between base and interest rate in regards to loans. But what about interest-based accounts? Consumers with interest-rate savings account benefit from the opposite. If the base rate is low, then they see a lower return on interest payments. But if the base rate is much higher, the consumers will see greater returns. So a good personal finance tip is to open up an interest-based savings account when the base rate is higher. How Is the Base Rate Set? With all that said, how do central banks set the base rate? As mentioned previously, a commercial bank doesn’t have to set the interest rates based on the base rate. But considering that each country has multiple different commercial banks, these establishments will monitor each other’s interest rates and set theirs accordingly. So even if a particular bank offers much lower interest rates, they will be outperformed by the banks with higher rates. Each country’s monetary policy affects the overall banking system. This system is influenced by a couple of factors, such as the total reserve requirements, the total buying and selling of securities, and more. These factors are called market-based factors. Other factors are inflation-based and volatile-based. Commercial banks use a lot of these factors to determine their interest rates. However, since the goal is to maximize profits for shareholders, they will usually turn to the base rate when the base rate is higher. Consumers and businesses, on the other hand, want lower interest rates. So borrowing money when inflation is high is a good way to achieve that. But inflation is a double-edged sword. Ideally, consumers get the best rates when the commercial bank is motivated to lend money.

Retirement Tips: Retire Rich and Happy

November 6, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutesIf you’re looking to retire, then planning is key. Unfortunately, you need to build up your finances to enjoy a happy retirement life when you do so. But there is a silver lining in all of this. Thanks to our retirement tips, you too can sit back and enjoy the rest of your days in relative financial safety. To do that, you do need to plan ahead. Considering that everyone should be doing it, we’re here to give you our retirement tips that allow you to plan strategically. Determine How Much Time You Have Until Retirement When building an effective retirement plan, the first phase is all about determining how much time you have left. A retirement plan for a young adult will be much different from an adult with three years left. But what every age group has in common is an investment portfolio. Every person needs an investment portfolio if they want to retire rich and happy. The more time you have until retirement, the more time you have to grow that portfolio. Let’s assume this to be the case. If you have three decades to prepare for retirement, then you can be flexible. The issue is more prominent when planning late. There isn’t much room to wiggle if you only have three years left. With no plan in place and no finances to work with, your time is very much limited. So are your investment options. But one thing that goes in your favor is safety from inflation. Naturally, you can focus your investment portfolio on accumulating passive income. When that’s the case, it’s much wiser to invest in bonds and similar less risky securities than copper stocks, for example. With three decades to prepare for retirement, you can shift your investment portfolio to include more volatile options such as stocks. Investing in stocks does give you better returns than bonds, but only in the long term. So if you have more time to plan, consider the long game instead of the short one. Determine How Much Money You Need To retire rich, means accumulating enough wealth to live a happy retirement life. But a retirement tip that many people overlook is that most people fail to determine how much money they need to do so. Things can change a lot in thirty years. The price of milk might rise as much as double, or inflation could decimate your retirement investment and ruin your plans. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to keep tabs on these topics unless you’re an active observer. Everyone wants to go through easy retirement, but no one bothers to calculate just how much money they need to retire happy. So the next retirement tip is to do just that. But how? Well, we can do that by looking at statistics of current annual spending by retirees. Retirees in 2020 spent $47,259 on average. This number presents nearly $20,000 less than what workers had spent in the same year. So from the get-go, we know that retirees require less money to live. But considering that the cost of living increases every year, you will need to accumulate a greater income until retirement. Discuss Retirement Spending Now that you know how much money retirees need to live a happy retirement, the next thing to do is to discuss spending. With inflation being a thing, just assume that everything will get more expensive when the time to retire comes. So when you and your spouse prepare for retirement, prepare that prices will go up as well. This retirement tip will serve those of you who plan to retire in the next few years. It’s no use discussing retirement spending with your spouse if you have 30 years left in the workforce. Since easy retirement is all about planning, you need to be on the same page with your spouse. That means discussing making huge payments such as a new car or a buying holiday home. Consider the Gig Economy According to Statista, the gig economy is fully operational and worth $347 billion. A good retirement tip and a good personal finance tip is to find new sources of income. Your retirement savings might be well on track to support easy retirement, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for unique opportunities to maximize income. To do that, consider working past retirement. According to JP Morgan Chase’s research department, 1% of all seniors are earning money through online means. There are plenty of work opportunities for seniors in the gig economy. By working on a short-term basis, seniors can find new sources of income through the gig economy. There are plenty of businesses that require short-term workers, and seniors might find all kinds of employment opportunities. Seniors can find work for a company, or complete services and get paid for it. Seniors can work past retirement by working as rideshare drivers, delivery drivers, technical writers, or even rent real estate through Booking and Airbnb. While these are only a handful of examples, working past retirement is a good retirement tip that everyone should consider. Work On A Budget A budge is a handy tool that can help you plan for an easy retirement. Much like discussing retirement spending, this is one of those retirement tips that benefit those who plan to retire in a few years. A budget will help you for easy retirement as it outlines how much money you have and how much you can spend. Based on the result of the calculations, you can allocate more money towards your retirement plan. This could mean investing more in bonds or a retirement account. Since the goal of many workers is to retire rich, a budget doesn’t give you that much room to maneuver. But what a budget does do is help you plan for an easy retirement. Finishing Thoughts Our five retirement tips are here to help you with your retirement plan. Before you even do that, it’s important to have a retirement plan in

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