This is a satiric-critical piece of Penny Hoarder's recent rehash of articles they've done in the past, shilling similar tools for each calendar year that provide incentives for them but not nearly enough incentives for you. I created this post to not only review why I think most of the tools listed in that article are pieces of crap, but also to leverage their name in Google's search engine algorithm. I thought it was a win-win to provide value to you, first by steering you clear of apps that provide no real value, and second by inching my way up the search engine ladder to become the foremost neo-personal finance website that offers real value.
First, I test each and every app that I shill extensively. That way, I know of the quality that I am churning out in each and every blog post. You should know that I spend a few hours on each blog post, and I consistently post-edit grammatical errors as I find them periodically throughout the day thereafter. Not to mention the time I take to carefully curate images for each blog post and YouTube video. If I find that some of the apps that I've shilled do not work anymore, I always aim to make sure that I notate that in some form either via a follow up post or video mentioning that. It is wise to note that there is a shelf life for all passive income apps or platforms no matter how long they have been in the game.
So in order for you to take advantage of the free $1,200 or more stimulus check from the Cares Act which Trump and the Federal government just signed and passed, here are five tips you can use to position yourself for success in the future.
1. Download This App To Get Up To $1,400 In Stock
No I'm not talking about
But now there is a new sheriff in town and that is Webull. The reason why Webull is light years superior to Robinhood is in the fact that they have much quicker trades, have a software platform for both Mac and Windows PC's and offer level 1 price quotes and time and sales data, with much improved and increasingly upgrading trade indicators and charts.
They allow you to have an edge in investing by routing orders quicker than traditionally free apps like Robinhood. If you sign up you can get up to 2 stocks free at up to $1,400 in value using my referral link.
2. Instead Of $1,000,000 in Term-life Insurance, Get $10 For Signing Up to M1Finance And Buy Up Some Dividend Companies
I tried clicking on Penny Hoarder's link for their Bestow ref-link and got directed to nowhere on 3 browsers. So I'm assuming they no longer have a promotion with that company, or the company no longer exists. But here is why I think even just $5 a month, when you have no other assets but $1,200 in your checking account is dumb.
In their article, they mention how for just $5 a month, you can purchase a term life insurance program with zero medical checks and prior history, and an overall quick approval process to be eligible for a $1,000,000 insurance coverage or death benefit. The problem is, it is a very succinct ad-copy that does not talk about what life insurance truly entails. Normally, life insurance requires at least 2 to 3 years of consistent payments before one is eligible for death benefits, or there may be a significant delay in payments; and if you are a healthy person, the 10 year term life can quickly expire leaving you with $600 over the course of 10 years sunk.
Another problem is, $5 is simply too small a premium to pay for a $1,000,000 term life insurance. Sure, there could be technology firms out there that can scour and pinch some deals together for you, but $5 seems to be too small of a price to pay for such a large sum of money. There is a thing called risk management that insurance companies have you go through in order to see what your premiums are, depending on how old you are, what your prior medical history is, type of work; and etc. Most insurance companies will not give a flat fee of $5 per month for someone up to 54 years of age because younger kids will have lower rates than someone who is pushing 60.
What's better? Investing in yourself by using M1Finance to compound your gains; by buying fractional shares of dividend-paying companies that reinvest over the long run? Or spending $5 or more dollars to lock your cash in an insurance policy with early penalty fees; and a requirement of at least 2 to 3 years of premium payments? Term-life doesn't build up equity or cash-value FYI.
In M1Finance you can choose an individual, or Roth IRA & or Traditional IRA to maximize tax deferred incentives as your portfolio grows. By investing early and often, your portfolio will compound before you know it so long as you stay consistent. Don't be disenfranchised by the small dividends early on. By year 2 or 3, your dividends will increase markedly, and then skyrocket before you know it at the 5 to 10 year mark.
Why is this much better than a sleazy $5 per month $1,000,000 life insurance (term) policy? Because you own the assets and they are not frozen (unless you choose the Roth or Traditional IRA, which is now penalty-free to withdraw due to the Cares Act for a few months). This means your stock or bond portfolio is under your ownership and not under the Insurance company's investment portfolio. It is a highly liquid account which you can use to buy up more dividend-growth paying stocks at bargain deals especially when the market goes further south due to the pandemic and global market meltdowns.
Life Insurance is good when you can afford it. When you have just $1,200 in your checking account, you won't be able to afford even just $5 per month for "$1,000,000 in term-life insurance policy". It's just not feasible for multiple reasons.
3. Use Upromise To Pay Down Your Student Loan Debt Or Create A 529 College Savings Plan
I scoured the web and ended up finding this gem on another website. I am not affiliated with this platform but I thought it would serve you as it does me. This is simply another cashback platform that isn't as intuitive as Rakuten, Lolli, or Cashdirectclub, but it is passive and does not require much maintenance.
There are a few ways to earn cashback: using your linked credit card to dine in select restaurants (you have to search for it on their website first), shop on their offer page with linked merchants such as QVC, or sign up to their Mastercard to earn cashback on everything (which I don't recommend unless you have enough cashflow and have seen that their offer provides more value than their interest rate).
All you do is you link your most used credit card (mine is SavorOne), and leave it alone by purchasing things or dining in restaurants as you would naturally; you will get cashback if they are a merchant they work with. The cashback reporting system is delayed on this platform, but they still work. In my area, there are few options for restaurants that work, but I can't complain at another opportunity to either set up my future kids for success with a 529 college plan, or pay off my student loan debts quicker.
4. Use Rakuten, Lolli, and Cashdirectclub At The Same Time and Earn Multiple Cashbacks
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| Get cashback in Bitcoin for purchasing through approved merchants with Lolli |
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| Get Cashback for Shopping At Participating Retailers |
5. Become Recession Proof And Provide Value to People During These Times
If you come from a corporate background like I do, working menial jobs like delivering food can be embarrassing and downright humiliating. However, I purposefully did this even while working a corporate job for 2 reasons:
1. I wanted to get outside of my comfort zone and increase my morals
For most people who come from a lap of luxury or were spoiled in a middle class background like I was, it was usually embarrassing and underneath me to work menial working class jobs. This was because I was groomed to be ashamed of such. Like my parents, I was raised to overvalue one job as being more valuable than another regardless of profitability.
I did such type of work because I wanted to get outside of my comfort zone, some of it because I am shy by nature, but also because I wanted to tackle a slew of things:
- Fear & Social Anxiety
- Embracing the spirit of capitalism and the value of hard work by doing the things no one wants to do; Tunnel vision. Empathizing with everyone and focusing on the bottom line
- Increase thick skin by embracing the idea of potentially meeting someone I know while delivering a package or food item
- Work on customer service and face to face human interaction (this builds high quality value of sales and rapport, while also increasing tips)
2. I Wanted to Offer a Better Life for Myself and My Sick Dog at the Time
My dog was sick at the time and despite being in a great entry-level corporate gig at the time, all of my time and energy was focused on work and less on spending valuable time with my dog. I felt so guilty for years because most of his life was staying at home waiting for me to get home, and when I went home, I was usually the most depressed and angriest human being on the planet because of lack of support from parents or having a terrible work experience. Also from not living out my value systems while getting older and having my prime years leave me every year while not pursuing my core needs.
This is still a sore subject for me as my dog recently passed away on January 1, 2020 while undergoing much pain, while not having the support of any of my family members. When he passed, I had more free time and drive to provide the best life for not only myself, but for others in a new economy that is embracing technology and remote work; or that requires a new depth of skills. Everything I do now is to provide value for others with my dog in mind.
Although doing these gigs caused me to spend much time outside and less time with my dog, I did them to provide the help that my dog needed medically. I know exactly what it feels like to feel helpless, anxious, and fear of failure and paralysis (like my dog having medical failure while I'm away doing a gig).
My mantra or "why":
Every day I wake up, I journal each day and what needs to get done. The first thing I notate is what time I went to sleep, and what time I woke up. This gives me subconscious data to improve upon this over the long run without chastising myself for sleeping late or waking up late. Without having a negative moral response to this, I start the day with solemnity and embedded mindset of what happened in the morning and my body naturally responds to it by making a conscious choice of sleeping earlier.
The second thing I do is I write down my Why: "To give WooJoo (my dog) the best life he ever had and give him 100% attention and care; never cutting corners."
OR something similar like "To give the people I care about 100% care with cost being no issue, and NEVER cutting corners".
When you have lack of resources, you tend to cut corners. This fact alone drives me to never ever cut corners when it comes to providing value for my loved ones EVER again. This also increases my embedded drive to do the best work I can to reach my targets.
Money is becoming more inflated each year, so it is getting costlier to provide the resources one needs to care for their loved ones. The middle class is the new working class, so if you or I want to be able to take care of our loved ones with cost being no burden, we have to reach for the top.
Solutions: The Gig Economy. I will write a new blog post on this on my other blog at DiviMonopoly.com so be on the lookout for that.
Disclaimer: I'm not a financial advisor. I just know a lot of shit.
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