Looking back on the previous year is always a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see everything laid out in a one year period. I get to see what I did and didn’t do, reflect on everything, etc. So, I am happy to publish my 2019 year in review.
I almost didn't put this together this year, but I realized that it's nice to write this each year so that I have a nice memory to look back at later.
You can read my 2018 year in review here. You can find 2017's here.
2019 was a super interesting year.
We sailed to the Bahamas, bought a van for hurricane season and explored the U.S., then sailed back to the Bahamas (which is where we are now).
We saw beautiful mountains, oceans, beaches, deserts, and everything in between.
2019 was a wonderful year full of travel and great memories. It had its ups and downs, just like for any person, but overall it was an amazing year and I'm grateful for the life that I get to live.
We're really loving how life is currently going too. We love having our sailboat as it's a very exciting way to travel, and we also love having our van so that we can still do all of the land travel that we love.
You can read more about our life on a sailboat here – Welcome To Paradise – We’re Living On A Sailboat!
You can find life updates in the last year here:
- Why I Took A Year Long Blog + Social Media Semi-Sabbatical
- The Honest Truth About Van Dwelling: Answers To The Most Common Van Life Questions
- Living On A Boat – The Good, The Bad, And The Beautiful
- Is Full-Time Traveling As Good As It Sounds?
Also, if you're not following me on Instagram yet, I definitely recommend doing so. You can see even more photos and stories of the places we are visiting.
Here's what we did in 2019:
Anchored in the Florida Keys
January – The Florida Keys and Bahamas
2019 started by sailing the Florida Keys to the Bahamas. It was the first time we had left the U.S. with our sailboat.
It was a crazy month because we were doing something brand new to us – bringing our dogs by boat to another country. Bahamas is relatively easy to do this with, though, so it went smoothly!
There was quite a bad storm that arrived right after we sailed to Bimini, Bahamas, so we were “stuck” there for a while. It was a nice spot, though, so we definitely did not complain!
Sailing (well, motoring because there was no wind) in the Bahamas
February – Grand Bahama and Berry Islands
In February, we sailed from Bimini to Grand Bahama, and then to the Berry Islands.
We were only in Grand Bahama for a little less than a week, and then we sailed over the Great Harbour Cay in the Berries. Great Harbour Cay was an amazing spot, with a great boating and local community. We ordered homemade bread that was delivered right to the boat, pizza that was delivered to the boat, there were BBQ nights at the marina, we were invited to someone's home and had a delicious wahoo soup, and more.
After Great Harbour Cay, we sailed south to Chub Cay. We had a friend coming to visit us, so we stayed put for a little bit and enjoyed the area. We made a lot of friends on Chub while we were there in February, and they all remembered us when we came back in December of 2019, which was fun!
Sharks in the Exumas at the marina
March – New Providence Island, the Exumas, and Eleuthera
After the Berry Islands, we sailed south to Nassau.
One of my favorite spots on New Providence Island was going to the Queen’s Staircase. Pictures don’t do this place justice – we were surprised by how beautiful it was! The area was carved in 1794 out of limestone rock and is crazy looking!
We explored all of the other touristy spots too, restocked up on groceries because it had been a while, and waited for a weather window to sail south.
Then, we sailed to the Exumas! Well, just the northern islands, but it was still a ton of fun. We swam with sharks, snorkeled, kayaked, went to the island of iguanas, and more.
Next, we sailed over to Eleuthera. We had gone on a family vacation to Eleuthera in 2018 so we really wanted to bring our boat there because we loved it so much!
Back in Florida after sailing the Bahamas
April – Florida
In April (it may have been the last week of March), we sailed back to Florida.
Since we had bought our boat the previous year, we had quite a bit of repairs and upgrades that needed to be done (the previous year of sailing was more of a shakedown). We also lost our prop as we were going down the New River in Florida, which was no fun but thankfully did not end in disaster.
We had to rent a house for the month because dogs are not allowed in the boatyard at Lauderdale Marine Center, and the slip that we were in for some of the time was extremely far from any grass (we were surrounded by concrete and the river).
Hauling our boat out of the water for some maintenance
May – Florida and Memphis
The repairs and warranty work took a lot longer than we had expected, which caused us to change our plans for making our way up the east coast. While our Lagoon catamaran has been great, our warranty issues have mainly been outside companies such as B&G (our electronics and navigation, which has been replaced numerous times now).
So, instead, we had to quickly find a spot for hurricane season because we realized we wouldn't be able to make it far north in time (not with our dogs, at least, which we try to travel more slowly with).
We called quite a few places but since it was such a last moment decision, no one had room for us anywhere on the east coast within several hundred miles.
We called the marina we had spent the previous hurricane season at, in St. Pete, and they had one spot available. So, we sailed over to the east coast of Florida in the first week of June.
Also in May, we decided to buy a van.
Why did we get a van? In the previous hurricane season (in 2018), we mainly stayed on our boat. We traveled away from it a bit, but for 2019's hurricane season we wanted to do something different. We talked to so many sailors, and we quickly learned that many take a few months away from their boat each year during hurricane season, and now we completely get it.
To have the best of both worlds (in our minds, for us), mountains and beaches, we quickly realized that having a 4×4 van along with the boat is exactly what we want. We’ll mainly be living/cruising on the boat, but we also have a van so that we can still do all the hiking, biking, and rock climbing that we crave as well.
When we sold our motorhome before our boat purchase, we already agreed at that point that we’d get a van to travel in when we’re off the boat. So, yes, this was all in the original plan.
While waiting on a repair on the boat to begin, we decided to do a shakedown road trip to Wes's parents in Memphis too.
It was a pretty crazy month!
Hiking in New Hampshire
June – Sail to St. Pete
After we sailed over to St. Pete, I then flew to New Hampshire for a weekend filled with yoga, rock climbing, hiking, and yummy food. It was a fun-filled several days where I didn't work and simply just relaxed.
When I got back, we tucked the boat away so that we could live and travel in the van for a few months. Since it's hurricane season, our sailing was limited anyway so it's a perfect time to take a break from the boat and go explore in the van.
Hiking a 14er in Colorado
July and August- Colorado and Utah
For the summer in our van, we decided that we wanted to take it kind of easy and explore one of our favorite areas – Utah and Colorado. We also decided that we wanted to hike as many 14ers (mountains over 14,000 feet) that we could squeeze in, as well as mountain bike as much as we could.
We started out by hiking Mount Elbert, which is an “easier” 14er. But at 14,439 feet it was a tiring hike after living at sea level on the boat for so long, haha! We also hiked several other 14ers – Missouri Mountain, Quandary, Lincoln, Cameron, Democrat, Sherman, Bross Trail, and one or two others but they are escaping me at the moment and I did a horrible job of tracking what we did this past summer.
We found so many amazing backcountry spots all summer long, and our 4×4 van made it possible to go to some of the craziest beautiful places.
Between July through September while we were in the van, we also spent a ton of time visiting my sister in Fruita, Colorado, which was great! A question I receive often about traveling full-time is if it’s lonely. Traveling/living in the van was so great over the summer- we visited some amazing places and spent lots of time with family and friends.
Exploring Utah
September – Utah and Colorado
We were trying to wait for it to cool down before we went to Utah, but it seemed to take forever so we just went anyway. It was 100 degrees pretty much every day we were in Utah – but it's one of our favorite states so we sucked it up and enjoyed it!
We did the Burr Trail, Robbers Roost, Moab, Montezuma Canyon, Goblin Valley, Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Capital Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and so much more.
We also spent several days in Estes Park, Colorado, and Wes was a groomsman in his friend's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and a nice break from the heat in Utah.
Van life at Wes' family's property in Missouri
October – Annapolis and back to SV Paradise
In October, we raced across the country over to Annapolis to attend the sailboat show. We stopped along the way at many friends and family's driveways too (Fruita, Longmont, Columbia, St. Louis, Bentonville, and others) because we knew it would be a long time before we saw many of our favorite people again.
We were going to head north in the van and explore Maine and Canada afterward, but realized that we missed the boat too much. So, we decided to end our van summer a little early and head back to the boat.
We knew we had a lot to do to get the boat ready, and while we were gone some things had decided to break (that is just #boatlife for ya). Due to that, we spent around the next month getting the boat prepped to leave Florida.
Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas
November – St. Pete
In November, I quickly flew to Chicago at the last moment to see family due to a family emergency. It was a sad visit so I won't say too much about it.
We were also still driving the van around town to complete errands, and we finally put the van away in storage in mid-November.
We then did an overnight sail to the Dry Tortugas. We explored there for a few nights, then sailed to Key West.
Sailing from Bimini to Chub Cay
December – Bahamas
While in Key West, we waited for our next weather window to cross over to the Bahamas.
We sailed to Bimini from the Florida Keys. Our goal was to be in the southern Exumas by Christmas because we had family visiting. Due to that, we sailed through the Bahamas very quickly – hopping from Bimini to the Berries, to the Exumas all within a week or two. It was all mainly areas that we had sailed to earlier in the year, so we were excited to head somewhere new.
In December, we had Wes's brother and his family on SV Paradise for Christmas. Yes, we had 7 people and 2 dogs on our sailboat for 8 days! And, it was a great time. Having visitors on the boat is always great because it can be quite some time before we see a familiar face again.
And, that is my whole 2019 wrap up!
It's nice putting these together because it forces me to remember some of the smaller moments that happened throughout the year that I probably would have otherwise would have forgotten about.
What's the plan for 2020?
For 2020, we have all sorts of very loose plans.
Our year tends to go very differently from how we think it'll go each year, so we're just seeing how life goes. We may go south, we may go north, we may go to the moon – who knows?
Okay, no moon travel, but you get what I mean!
We have an idea of what we will be doing, but I don't want to spoil it just yet. Stay tuned!
That's the great thing about full-time traveling – it doesn't really matter too much because I know we will have a great time regardless!
Here are my 2020 goals:
- Get at least three months ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. I fell majorly behind in 2019 as I took an unexpected break from a lot of things in life, haha. Being ahead in blog posts makes life much more enjoyable because I can focus on other things knowing that the majority of my writing work is already done. This is one of my major 2020 goals!
- Work less than 40 hours per week. For the most part, I am working less than 40 hours per week. However, there are some weeks when I spend all day and night on my laptop, not even sure where the day went. Due to that, I would like to continue to work on a better work/life balance.
- Be more present. My main goal in 2020 (just like with 2019) is to be more present. I’m excited for the year of travel and sailing we have ahead of us, and I want to enjoy it as much as we can. I’ve been so focused on the business the last several years, that I want this year to be focused on life outside of the business. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE running Making Sense of Cents, and that’s what makes it so hard to break away and be more present outside of work.
- Read 5 books. I have only read one book in the last several years that wasn't work or sailing/boat related. I would like to get back to reading books that have nothing to do with trying to learn something, haha.
What are your life, business, and travel plans for 2020? What was your favorite part of 2019?
The post My Year In Review – Where I Went And What Happened in 2019 appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
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With a potential war with Iran emerging, refinancing now is a smart move. Investors are fleeing to the safety of bonds and mortgage rates are subsequently declining once more. If you missed the large refinance window in 2H2019, it’s back again! In this article, I’ll share with you all the mortgage refinance fees you actually
The post All The Mortgage Refinance Fees In A No-Cost Refinance appeared first on Financial Samurai.
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Do you want to go beyond saving for retirement? Here’s what you need to know about investing for building wealth.
Why Investing for Building Wealth is More Important than Investing for Retirement
A lot will happen between now and the time you reach 65 (or 66 or 67). Back-loading your investments for the last few years of your life could mean living on a shoestring between now and then. No one knows how long we’re going to live. It’s possible you won’t live very long after you retire and some may never even reach that age. That reality should cause us all to build a generous amount of carpe diem (“seize the day”) into our lives. True enough, everyone wants to retire well. But investing for building wealth has even more benefits:- Wealth will lower your dependence on your job, giving you more options in life.
- It eliminates short-term stress, creating a healthier life.
- You’ll be able to have the experiences, adventures and lifestyle of your choosing much sooner in life. There will be no need to wait until retirement to live life. (Please read the very short story The Station, by Robert J. Hastings.)
- Investing for building wealth may enable you to retire very early in life.
- It can help you enjoy a series of short retirements during your life.
- Should you burn out on your current career, you can make a career change, even if it involves taking a big pay cut.
- You’ll be able to provide for your family more generously and contribute to charitable causes.
- Building wealth now reduces reliance on dedicated retirement savings.
The Foundation of Investing for Building Wealth: Live Beneath Your Means
Live within your means because, other than inheriting a fortune, there’s no way to build wealth without it. Whatever your income level, you must live on less to create the extra that will go into savings and investments. The better you are at living beneath your means, the faster you’ll attain wealth. Most people are content with saving 10% or 15% of their income, mainly through a retirement savings plan. But if you hope to achieve wealth early in life, you need to think more in terms of 30%, 40%, or even 50%. Some believe that level of sacrificial savings is impossible. But that argument is invalidated by the fact that millions of people do just that. Will it mean giving up some or many of the comforts of the suburban lifestyle? Absolutely! Related: Is it Better to Earn More Money or Spend Less? There’s a price to pay for everything in life, whether it’s building a career, losing weight, achieving athletic excellence, or saving for retirement. You should expect nothing less when investing for building wealth. Once again, the more successful you are at living beneath your means, the faster you’ll become wealthy. But saving money is only half the equation. The other half is what you do with it, and that will require consistent and relentless investing.How to Invest for Building Wealth
To build wealth, you must earn returns much higher than what’s available on safe, fixed-income investments. What should you invest in?Invest in Stocks
There are different ways to do that, but the easiest and most convenient way for most investors will be with stocks. Stocks represent equity in revenue-generating companies. As they grow over time and earnings rise, stock prices increase. The very long-term return on stocks going all the way back to 1926 is about 10%, including price growth and dividends. If you’re serious about building wealth, you must participate in that kind of return. Stocks and other equity investments should represent most of your investment portfolio. There are different ways to own stocks:Individual stocks
This method will work best if you have a large portfolio and can diversify across many companies. It also helps if you’re an experienced, successful investor. You’ll also need a good, full-service discount broker to keep trading fees low. Examples include Fidelity and Schwab, the two largest investment brokers in the world.Mutual funds
Mutual funds are portfolios of stocks. They’re typically actively managed as the fund manager attempts to outperform the general market. Unfortunately, the vast majority don’t, which makes them more than a little speculative.Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
Closely related to mutual funds are ETFs. Each is also a portfolio of stocks. But the major difference is that ETFs are tied to an underlying index, like the S&P 500, or specific industry sector indexes. They don’t try to outperform the market, but only to match it. This has resulted in better long-term investment performance than mutual funds. Equally important, ETFs have lower fees than mutual funds. Those lower fees further improve investment performance.Robo-advisors
These are online, automated investment platforms that create and manage your investment portfolio for you. That includes an appropriate mix of equities and fixed-income investments. Some robos also add alternative asset classes, such as real estate and precious metals. Two of the best robo-advisors are Wealthfront and Betterment. Each provides complete portfolio management for a low annual fee of just 0.25%. That means you can have $100,000 professionally managed for just $250 per year.Invest in Real Estate
Historically, real estate has been one of the very best wealth building investments. This has been true for the middle class, for whom the family homestead is often the largest single investment. Much like stocks, there are several ways you can invest in real estate.Buying a home
This is the most basic form of real estate ownership. Even if the value of your home never increases, you’ll build wealth by paying off the mortgage. The $300,000 home purchased today with a $270,000 mortgage, will represent a $300,000 capital asset in 30 years when the mortgage is paid off. But house prices have steadily risen throughout history. According to the US Census Bureau, the median price of a home in the US was $113,000 in January 1989. By the first quarter of 2019, the median price reached $307,700. That’s nearly triple the value. So if you pay off the mortgage on your $300,000 house purchased today, in 30 years – based on historical performance – you’ll have $900,000 of equity in it.Buying investment property
This is not an investment for everyone. It requires the ability to spot a deal, and a willingness to manage the property and get your hands dirty. But the same principle that applies to buying an owner-occupied home also works for investment property. You pay off the mortgage, and over time, the property will increase in value. An investment property has a major advantage over an owner-occupied home. You can collect rents from the tenants to make the monthly payment. Your tenants are helping you build equity in your investment property. Owning two or three such properties could make you wealthy quicker than a retirement plan can.Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
REITs are mutual funds that hold real estate. Most commonly, a REIT holds a portfolio of either commercial property, large apartment complexes, or a mix of both. A well-managed REIT can produce higher returns than the general real estate market. The 10-year performance of REITs is more than 16% per year. That’s 60% higher than the long-term average annual return on the S&P 500. If you don’t want to get involved in direct investment property ownership, REITs may be the next best alternative. A mix of REITs and stock ETFs can provide a well-diversified equity portfolio, producing generous returns in a variety of market settings.Real estate crowdfunding
Real estate crowdfunding is a relatively new investment type. It’s a form of peer-to-peer lending (or equity investing), except the borrowers are real estate investors and not consumers. There are different real estate crowdfunding platforms. Some may invest only in residential properties, others in commercial. Some will do small residential properties, others only large ones. And a few even do property flipping. Depending on the platform, you could either be an equity investor, a debt investor, or a combination of both. These are high-risk investments, because they aren’t particularly liquid. However, some offer consistent double-digit returns on relatively small investments. Two that have been reviewed here on Dough Roller are Fundrise and PeerStreet. Real estate crowdfunding isn’t for everyone, but if you have a high appetite for risk and a desire for very specific real estate investments, they’re worth checking out.Fixed-Income Investments
Because of the current low interest rates, you won’t get wealthy with fixed-income investments. But they do have a necessary place in any portfolio. At a minimum, having a portion of your portfolio in fixed-income investments will reduce overall volatility. They can also provide a source of funds so you can take advantage of new investment opportunities or bottom feed after a decline in the stock market. There are many fixed-income investments, but two of the most common – and the safest – are online bank investments and U.S. Treasury securities. Online savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) pay rates well above typical local banks. For example, American Express Personal Savings is currently paying over 2% APY, with no monthly fees and no minimum initial investment. BBVA Compass is currently paying 2.80% APY on its one-year CDs, with a minimum initial investment of just $500. Alternatively, you can also invest directly in US Treasury securities. You can earn 2.39% APY on a six-month Treasury bill with a minimum investment of only $25. Also, since Treasuries are issued directly by the US Government, your investment is fully guaranteed. There’s no FDIC insurance and no $250,000 maximum per depositor. They’re the perfect safe investment for large investors.Build a Business
One advantage of having a business is that it enables you to combine earning a living with building wealth. And it doesn’t come just from generating handsome profits. Many businesses – started with very little capital – became million-dollar entities. The owners could eventually sell them for millions of dollars. Personal finance blogs are an example. Several personal finance blogs – begun by individuals on a shoestring – sold for millions of dollars. This is not unique to blogs either. It’s possible with any business, even one that doesn’t own real estate or other physical assets. In most cases, the buyer of a business is paying for the company’s cash flow. For example, a service business that generates $1 million in gross revenue per year might sell for $2 million. The buyer is purchasing the seller’s “book of business”. They’ll do this because buying an existing business with a stable cash flow is often less capital intensive than building one from the ground up. If you’re self-employed, or have a desire to be, do all you can to build up the revenue of your business. When the day comes that you’re ready to move on to the next adventure in life, you may find a buyer willing to pay a not-so-small fortune for it.Stay Out of Debt
Debt will be a necessary evil if you plan to invest directly in real estate, either in a personal home or one or more investment properties. But apart from that, debt should always be kept to an absolute minimum. The problem with debt is that it a) reduces income, and b) lowers your net worth. A person with both a large asset base and substantial debt may not be worth nearly as much as he or she thinks. Related: DR Podcast 298: Paying Off Debt vs. Investing Staying out of debt gives you more control over both your cash flow and your wealth. A debt-free position will enable you to build wealth by default. If you’re serious about investing for building wealth, keeping debt to an absolute minimum will be a necessary strategy.Retirement Investing
It may seem somewhat ironic to include retirement investing in a general discussion of investing for building wealth. But since building wealth can (and should) come from multiple sources, retirement savings have to be considered. Retirement investing has major advantages over other types of investing. Consider the following:- Your plan contributions are generally tax deductible.
- Investments held within the plan produce tax-deferred income.
- Retirement assets are generally shielded from lawsuits and creditor liens.
Traditional IRA
This is the most basic form of retirement plan, and virtually everyone with earned income is eligible. You can contribute up to $6,000 per year, or $7,000 if you’re 50 or older. Contributions are generally tax-deductible and investment income accumulates on a tax-deferred basis. One of the biggest advantages is that you can create a self-directed IRA, where you can choose and manage your own investments. There are many excellent investment platforms where you can do that.Roth IRA
A Roth IRA is like a traditional IRA. The primary difference is that your contributions are not tax-deductible. However, distributions taken from a Roth IRA are tax-free, as long as you are at least 59 ½ and have participated in a plan for at least five years. There are also excellent investment platforms for Roth IRAs.Self-employed retirement plans
There are three primary retirement plans you can set up if you’re self-employed. A SIMPLE IRA works just like a traditional IRA, but with a more generous contribution amount. You can contribute up to $13,000 of earned income per year, or $16,000 if you’re 50 or older. You can also add an employer matching contribution of between 2% and 3% of your earnings. A SEP IRA has even higher contribution limits than a SIMPLE IRA. For 2019, you can contribute the lesser of:- 25% of your compensation, or
- $56,000.
Employer-sponsored retirement plans
There are several types of employer-sponsored retirement plans,and you should absolutely participate in one if your employer offers it. The most common is the 401(k) plan. It’s offered by most large employers and many smaller ones. You can contribute up to $19,000 per year, or $25,000 if you’re 50 or older. Many 401(k) plans also come with an employer matching contribution. Most often, the employer will match 50% of the employee contribution up to a certain limit, like 3%, 5%, or 10%. Some plans even come with a Roth option. A close relative of the 401(k) is the 403(b) plan. It works just the way 401(k) plans do, but it’s offered by governments and nonprofit organizations. Some also have a Roth option. The Thrift Savings Plan is also similar to the 401(k) plan and is available for federal employees and members of the military. Whichever plan you choose, retirement investing is a big part of investing for building wealth throughout life.Bottom Line on Investing for Building Wealth
We’ve covered a lot of territory in this article, so let’s summarize the process of investing for building wealth in a few bullet points:- Live beneath your means – it will be the primary source of capital to build wealth.
- Save and invest consistently and relentlessly – it’s how you’ll grow your savings and convert them into income-generating wealth.
- Maximize retirement contributions – they’ll add valuable tax deferral to your long-term wealth building strategy.
- Stay out of debt – it reduces income and lowers your net worth.
- Combine several investments – invest mostly in stocks and real estate for growth, but have a small amount in fixed-income investments for safety, liquidity, and lower volatility.
The post Investing for Building Wealth appeared first on The Dough Roller.
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Hold onto your wallets, a new investment platform with a familiar name is making it’s way to America. We’ll tell you all about it in our eToro review.
Everything from sending money to saving money has gone social and app-based these days, so why not trading? More online trading platforms are seeking to make trading easier for everyday investors. And one of the early comers to this market was eToro. This trading platform started more than ten years ago with the goal of disrupting trading so that everyday investors could get into the game. Now, it offers a robust array of tools and a great interface for investors interested in doing their own trading. It also offers a social trading platform that’s an interesting twist on traditional trading.
Is eToro a Scam?
Because it looks different from many other trading platforms, some people think eToro is a scam. But that’s not the case – eToro is legit. They’re a licensed brokerage registered by the Cypriot Investment Firm (CIF). And they’re regulated in Europe by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Although eToro is currently not an investing option for Americans, it soon will be (see next section below). But Europeans who are interested in trading in stocks, currency and other investments can use eToro to do so. eToro describes the system as a Straight-Through-Processing platform. This means you, the investor, can basically leverage eToro’s broker license to access investments directly. The platform, of course, charges a fee for the service. eToro also operates on a No Dealing Desk model, which means that they don’t change the price between you and the market. When you put in an order to make a trade during active market hours, eToro automatically transfers and processes the trade. They can’t change the pricing on their end, though prices can change due to market changes. eToro is monitored and regulated by FCA and CySEC. So, in short, no, it is not a scam. eToro is legit. With that said, trading platforms like this do have some pitfalls for less experienced investors. We’ll talk about those later in the article.Cryptocurrency Trading Launching in the U.S.
This platform isn’t currently available in the United States. It had been for a period of time, and then it pulled out of United States markets. But eToro recently announced that it will be launching a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States again. Users who are interested in eToro can sign up to be added to the waitlist (Click eToro USA under the Help and Education menu on the bottom of the webpage). The platform for U.S. investors will be similar, including many of the social features we’ll tell you about in then next section. However, the platform will start by only allowing investments in 10 cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Dash
- EOS
- Ethereum
- Ethereum Classic
- Litecoin
- NEO
- Stellar
- XRP
eToro Features
One of the interesting features of eToro is that it doesn’t necessarily focus on just short-term day trades or long-term investments. It offers both. So if you’re interested in doing your own investment trading on a short-term basis but also want to invest for the long haul, eToro can give you what you need to do it. Some of the features of eToro include:- Social Trading: eToro offers something like a social media platform for traders. With Social Trading, you can see what other investors are up to. And if you like what they’re doing, you can use their CopyTrader feature to invest your money in the same way.
- Trading Options: This platform gives you access to a variety of investment options, including stocks, commodities, global equity indices, Forex currency pairs, and more.
- Potential for Commissions: If you’re good at trading, you can participate in the Popular Investor program to get commission when other users copy your trades.
- Simple: eToro was founded on the idea of making trading more accessible. It started as a very visual platform that could introduce even the newest investors to various investing concepts. Though the platform has changed a lot since then, it’s still fairly intuitive and easy to understand.
- Fully Managed Options: As noted above, eToro could work for both those interested in day trading and those who want a managed portfolio option. The CopyFunds program offers managed portfolios on various themes and at various risk levels.
- Mobile App: Maybe you’re interested in managing your own investments but can’t sit in front of your laptop all day. Enter the eToro mobile app. It lets you trade, copy, and follow the trading social feeds on your mobile device.
Opening an Account
Since I’m in the United States, I couldn’t walk through opening an eToro account. However, it’s pretty simple. You just need your email address and your basic information, including phone number and mailing address. You’ll also need to fund your account so that you have something to start trading. Next, you’ll verify your account, which you can do right away or later. To verify, you’ll need a copy of your passport and a valid utility bill. This allows eToro to ensure that the information you’ve entered is valid and accurate. You can fund your account with a credit card, via wire transfer, with Paypal, through Moneybookers, or with Western Union. Deposit amounts range from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $10,000, depending on your funding method. You can find out more about opening an eToro account here.What About Withdrawals?
Once you’ve started earning money on your investments you will, of course, want to be able to withdraw your money from your eToro account. To do this the first time, you’ll need a copy of your passport or another photo ID, both sides of the credit cards that you’ve used to fund your account, and a copy of a recent utility bill. After the first withdrawal, you’ll be able to put in withdrawal requests from your eToro account. These requests are processed within five business days.Copy Trading with eToro
Luckily, if you’re starting out with eToro, you can take advantage of their many tutorial videos, which can teach you the specifics of making different trades. This video, for instance, talks specifically about how to copy traders. Since the social aspect of eToro is its most unique feature, this is one video you’ll want to watch if considering investing through eToro. To copy a trader, you’ll check out the Copy People page. You can search through different traders with portfolios in various risk categories. On this page, you’ll find things like the investor’s recent social activity, their trading habits and history, and their overall risk tolerance. You can also check out their actual portfolio. Once you’ve found an investor you want to copy, you can just click the Copy button in the trader’s profile. You can decide how much of your money you want to put into the trader’s portfolio. Many traders recommend a specific amount to invest in their profile, but how much you actually invest is up to you.
Stop Loss
You can also set a stop loss amount in case the trader starts to lose money. This defaults to 60% of the investment. So if you’re investing $1,000 in a copy position, your stop loss amount will default to $600. If you lose more than $400 with that option, the position will be closed, and the remaining money will go back to your account. Traders sometimes make recommendations in their biographies, too, since some have longer-term investing strategies that account for potential losses. In your portfolio, you can see the traders you have and decide if you want to track 100% with a trader’s portfolio. Or you can add or get rid of specific investments from that portfolio. You can also edit the stop loss information at any time, or stop copying the trader’s future trades.CopyFunds
With eToro, you can access various investment options through your portfolio. But you can also create a long-term investment in a balanced portfolio with CopyFunds. Searching for CopyFunds is similar to searching for traders to copy. You’re able to view Top Trader CopyFunds, or look at CopyFunds that include specific themes. You can look at CopyFunds much like you can look at individual investors to copy and see the historical performance of the fund, its risk score, and more. As with the Copy Trader feature, you can decide how much you want to invest in this type of portfolio. Again, though, remember that these portfolios are meant as a long-term investment.A Note on Cryptocurrency Trading
This platform does allow for cryptocurrencies for investing. However, you can’t transfer cryptocurrencies out of the system yet. In late 2018, eToro is planning to launch a digital wallet, so that you can transfer them outside of the platform. In your portfolio, you can add cryptocurrency investments. When you do this, eToro will purchase the cryptocurrencies on your behalf. So you’ll technically own them. But you cannot transfer them outside of eToro. Instead, you’ll have to cash them out and then make a withdrawal that way. Again, eToro notes that it will likely have a digital wallet option later this year, so be on the lookout for that.Fees and Spreads
One of the common complaints about eToro is that it has relatively high fees for its services and products. The fees vary depending on the investment option. For instance, as of this writing, the spread for Bitcoin is 1.5%, and the spread for stocks is .09% per side. eToro also charges daily fees for buy and sell positions on stocks. It’s important to understand the nuances of eToro’s pricing structure, which you can find here. Conversion fees may apply when you deposit or withdraw funds unless you do this in US dollars.Bonuses and Promotions
As with some other trading platforms, eToro offers a variety of bonuses, which vary from time to time. A recent promo offered users $20 for friends who were invited and then joined the platform. Be on the lookout for other promotional bonuses from eToro in the future.Partner Programs
Besides typical introductory and referral bonuses, eToro also offers a variety of partner programs. These include:- Affiliate Program: Affiliate partnerships are made on a one-to-one basis, but you can earn money by referring others to eToro as an affiliate.
- Broker Program: As a broker on eToro, you can get premium customer service and serious payouts.
- Popular Investors: You can also earn money from eToro by becoming a popular investor. If others copy your investments, you can earn a 2% management fee for the portfolios that are copied from your own. You can learn more about the Popular Investors program and how to apply on eToro’s website.
Practice Trading
Not sure if you’re ready to invest with a platform like eToro? Try a free practice account with $100,000 of pretend currency. You can treat this account as if it were your own, taking advantage of all the features eToro offers. This can let you figure out things like how quickly fees would eat into your profits, the best options for you to trade in, and how much you might earn with your trading choices.Customer Service
You can connect with eToro through their online support forum, where you can put in a ticket on a variety of issues. You can also call their customer support line. Partners have a separate customer service program that they can take advantage of. We were unable to test eToro’s customer support processes, but they have middle-of-the-road reviews online. The bottom line is that you should do your research before you put money into eToro, and be sure that you never need to get money out immediately. You may be able to reach customer service easily, but sometimes getting an answer can take a while.Who is it Right For?
If you’ve been thinking of investing in individual stocks and currencies or are simply looking for a new way to make some of your investing decisions, eToro could be for you. Those who qualify could find it an interesting way to invest and potentially earn money on investments over the short term. With that said, this may be a more volatile platform than you’re used to. Be careful to only invest money that you can stand to lose. eToro plasters this disclaimer all over its website because that’s just the nature of the type of investing it does. If you’re looking for long-term investments, eToro’s CopyFunds are an interesting option, though you can probably find lower-fee options on the marketplace, Ally Invest, Merrill Edge and E*Trade, just to name a few. Still, though, eToro’s social feature has appeal. You could use it to check out what top investors are doing so that you can try out their investing strategies and techniques. Try eToro noweToro recently launched a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. Find out which states are first to experience it.The post eToro Review 2020 – New Platform for U.S. Investors appeared first on The Dough Roller.
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Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Susie Moore.
I had the pleasure of meeting Susie last summer and we had a great weekend in New Hampshire hiking, rock climbing, doing yoga, and more! She is so much fun to be around- seriously one of the most upbeat and positive people I have ever met in my whole life.
Her work has been featured on The Today Show, Oprah, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Time Inc, Marie Claire, and more.
Susie’s work and insights have been shared by celebrities and thought leaders including Arianna Huffington, Paulo Coelho, Kris Jenner, and Sara Blakely.
Recently, I shared in a blog post that I am currently taking a course on how to get more media mentions so that I can grow my page views.
This is something that I have always been a big believer in.
I've been featured on Forbes, The Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, and more.
Nearly every day I am asked how I have so many features….
Well, today, you will learn how you can make this a reality for yourself too!
In this interview, you'll learn:
- How she grew her email list by 29,000 subscribers in just 9 months.
- How guest posting has changed her life.
- The steps to take to find high-quality media mentions.
- What a sample pitch looks like.
- Her best two tips for others who are looking to see success.
And more! This interview is packed full of valuable information.
Also, I'm hosting a free webinar with Susie on January 7, 2020. If you are a blogger, on social media, run your own business, and so on, then you will want to attend this free webinar!
In this webinar, you’ll learn…
- The 3 major roadblocks between you and amazing media mentions for your business
- How to leverage what you already have to get PR, from big outlets, for your blog
- Which opportunities actually grow your business, and which don't (warning: you'll be surprised!)
This webinar is something I truly believe in. It is FULL of strategies you can implement easily to help grow your traffic, build your email list, and increase your income. And I can’t think of a better person to teach it than Susie!
Please click here to sign up for the free webinar.
I asked you, my readers, what questions I should ask her, so below are your questions (and some of mine) about Susie's story and how she has accomplished so much. Make sure you're following me on Facebook so you have the opportunity to submit your own questions for the next interview.
Tell me your story. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a life coach who helps women become confidently more visible in their business and life.
My background is in the corporate world, where I used to be a Silicon Valley sales director working in ad tech. My job wasn’t awful and I was well compensated, but it had always been my goal to do more meaningful work.
Also, I really wanted to be independent and work for myself.
So, I started my side hustle as a life coach in 2013. I knew I was passionate about helping people solve their problems in simple, repeatable ways. As soon as I started gaining more and more clients, I knew I had made the right decision!
I was ambitious to grow my business quickly to become a full-time entrepreneur, and one afternoon when bored at my cubicle, I read a MindBodyGreen article about general life advice for happiness.
I thought, “Well, I know a thing or two about happiness and how to achieve it!” and I could put together 500 words and submitted them.
Two weeks later the article went live and was shared nearly 4,000 times. That’s when I knew that this was the key to growing my business.
How did you grow your email list by 29,000 subscribers in just 9 months? What did you do to really grow your business?
I used this one simple strategy – guest posting.
By submitting my life advice hacks to large media outlets like MindBodyGreen, Marie Claire, Business Insider and Huffington Post, the number of people who can see my content has not stopped growing.
Once you put your message out there in a big way, it becomes almost impossible for people not to discover you.
It’s like giving your voice and your message a huge microphone. Because these massive media companies need content.
When you consider the volume of readers these places have spent decades and millions of dollars building, the best move is to add yourself to their mix. Not only does it lend you their massive, curated audience, but it gives you significant credibility and authority.
It seemed crazy not to do it once I saw how effective it was. Especially once I saw how many people aren’t doing it (and still aren’t!).
How can media help to grow a business, such as a blog?
Guest posting is a blogger’s perfect match!
Bloggers are already content creators, and many of them are sitting on gold mines without even knowing it. If you’re a blogger, being in the media is the next natural step.
Editors and producers love bloggers.
Think of your content like lemonade, and your blog as a lemonade stand. You’ve got the best lemonade, and a popular stand loved by locals. But you want to sell more. How about doing a pop up at the city-center’s bustling market one warm and sunny weekend where people are super thirsty? Boom. More people know about your amazing lemonade and your foot traffic is through the roof.
Now that more people know about you, they’re likely to come to your original stand, too (your blog).
And it’s not just organic traffic that I love guest posting to get.
Firstly, lots of guest posts means lots of logos that you can put on your website. Once your ‘Featured In’ page has a dozen logos of leading publications in your field, you’re going to look like an authority in the field.
Because you are!
And secondly, two of my favorite words – domain. authority.
Domain authority means if a well known media outlet like Forbes or Martha Stewart hyperlinks back to your blog, Google is much more likely to trust your blog and move it up in the search rankings.
So there are a few, amazing reasons that blogging and guest posting are a match made in heaven. And the best part? A lot of the time you can repurpose already written blog posts for a guest posts.
So if you’ve got a blog you’re already halfway to winning at guest posting.
Susie guest posts on high-quality websites all the time, such as this screenshot shows from Oprah!
Are we only talking video here? Or, what kind of media?
Guest posting is the root of all of the best publicity and it’s 99% in written form.
Whether the media is an article, blogs, podcasts, television shows or radio interviews, editors and producers are just like us. When they’re looking for expert sources, they google around.
You want to make yourself as easy to find as possible. Therefore guest posting will boost your celebrity advantage for any media platform and can certainly get you on camera.
It got me on the Today show!
Can you go over the steps it takes to get high-quality media mentions?
Absolutely – it’s very simple. Most people over complicate it. You need to know three key things:
- What it is you want to say
- Where your ideal audience are
- The decision maker who can allow you to access that audience – this is what an editor does.
When you marry those three ingredients together, you have the perfect recipe for a successful, viral guest post.
The best thing you can do is start researching topics you want to write about and see where they are already appearing, and let this encourage you!
Editors need content, and fresh content from people just like you and me is what makes the media world go round.
Can you go over what a sample pitch would look like? Who do you send it to?
Many media outlets will have subsections – health, career, relationships, fashion. You need to get your pitch in front of the right person.
For example, you don’t want to be pitching a fashion editor your amazing dating advice, nor would you want to be sending pics of your amazing Thanksgiving side dishes to the career editor.
This type of research is essential, in fact five minutes of it can save hours of wasted time. Your pitch has to include a couple of things – who you are, why you, why your idea is relevant (useful to their readers), what it is that you’re going to share, for example ‘7 interview tips that will get you hired’.
To be clear, you don’t have to have the article written yet, in fact you shouldn’t.
Because once you’ve successfully pitched your piece to the editor, they can help shape the piece to give it the best chance to succeed.
For instance, regarding the article on interview tips they might want five tips instead of seven, and one to have a focus on social media presence. Editors are the audience experts, which is why it’s so great to have their guidance. (I always consider editor feedback to be free writing coaching!).
Do you have to live in a place like NYC or LA to get good media mentions?
Heck no!
I live in Miami, Florida.
Students in my group have had success in Denmark, Italy, Australia, China, where you live makes no difference.
All you need is an internet connection (and some chutzpah!)
Curious, what else do you do to grow your reach? SEO? Social media? Guest posting?
Guest posting is my favorite form of business growth, because it has a whole host of other benefits – discovery, credibility, authority, influencer deals, book deals, and speaking engagements to name a few.
However, I am also a fan of Facebook ads and creating Youtube content. Those work in tandem really well with guest posting.
What is your very best tip (or two) that you have for someone who wants to reach the same success as you?
Firstly, you have to be an action taker to really succeed at guest posting.
Overthinking is the killer of all dreams, and perfection the enemy of progress!
Second, find role models that have achieved what you want to achieve and imitate them!
Are you interested in getting more media mentions, guest posting, and being featured in publications in order to grow your blog or other business?
The post How Susie Grew Her Email List By 29,000+ In 9 months appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
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Although, after eight years, I failed to stay retired, my plan is to return to early retirement glory with two kids by September 1, 2022. From now until September 1, 2022, our plan is to accumulate either $1,500,000 in new capital or figure out a way to consistently generate $5,000 a month in additional gross
The post An Early Retirement Master Plan: FIRE By 45 appeared first on Financial Samurai.
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