All Articles – Page 5 – Sprout Wealth

What Investments Should I Invest in My 401k?

Investing

John

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Jul 20, 2015

“What Investments Should I Invest in My 401k?” That is a question I would get nearly every day in my job as a stock broker. The question makes sense as I know that many are new to investing in the stock market and are handed a packet with a bunch of information and little direction when they start with a new employer.

When you add to this that many, though certainly not all, 401(k) plans aren’t very good it can be difficult to determine what are the best 401(k) investment options for you. If you’re in that position of not knowing where to start with your 401(k) then hopefully this post will help get you started investing.

Don’t Let Bad 401(k) Investment Options Hold you Back

The key to investing through your 401(k) is to know what kind of match, if any, your employer is providing. If you want to grow your wealth like I am, then the 401(k) match is one of the best ways to do that as it’s free money! How awesome is that?

That being said, there are many who face the situation of having no 401(k) match or bad investment options. My encouragement to you is not to let that hold you back from investing altogether. If there are not any decent investment options and no match then you might want to go the route of starting a Roth or Traditional IRA through an online brokerage, like Motif Investing, but I still like to see people invest in their 401(k)s in most situations. If you’re not certain what online broker to choose from, make sure to check out my list of best online brokers.

The one thing that many don’t realize is that if you do have a crappy 401(k) plan that you have the power to go to your Group Benefits department and ask for improvements. This will not always solve the problem, but it’s their job to help you and your co-workers. Tell them what you want and if those changes aren’t possible ask if they can offer a self-directed 401(k) as an alternative.

Kill the Fees

I hate investment fees. Fees can be a drag on the growth of your investments and many don’t even realize it. I’d like to think that many 401(k) plans would be free of fees, but the sad case is they aren’t. This is even worse when the 401(k) plan has only a few options to choose from. The good news though is that they’re now required to disclose the fees associated with a 401(k).

The problem is many don’t research the fees in their plans and thus end up losing out on money. If your 401(k) has funds that are high in fees then the best general option you have to take is find the funds that are lowest in fees. You may only have a few to choose from in that case, but I’d much rather have a fund that charges .50% or less as in fees opposed to one that’s charging 2%+.

This, again, is a great time for you to speak with your Group Benefits area and ask for changes. You can also use Personal Capital as they offer a free tool that analyzes your fund fees to help you see how you can find lower fee options.

Go With Major Index Funds

The other major challenge many face with their 401(k) investment options is when there are simply too many to choose from. I’ve seen 401(k) plans that offer 50+ mutual funds and ETFs to choose from. I like selection, but this can be overwhelming to someone who is new to investing.

When you’re faced with this situation, I generally suggest that people find the major, low-fee index fund options and go with those. This will, of course, vary with your specific situation, but should get you where you want. Just make sure that you’re not investing in funds that are heavily focused in the same small grouping of stocks as that will not give you true diversification.

The other option to consider in this case is some Target Date funds. People either love or hate Target Date funds. They can be great, but they can also be not so great. The idea is you select what your retirement date is and it has a pre-selected grouping of holdings. That can be good for some, but in a good number of cases they might not offer the best diversification or not fit with your investing style. As with anything related to investing, make sure you do your homework before deciding on what to invest in.

If you want to invest in your 401(k), don’t let the challenges hold you back from starting to save for retirement. A 401(k) can be a great way to begin to grow your wealth but you need to start in order to do it.

When did you start saving for retirement with a 401(k)? Have you ever had to ask your company to offer a better 401k plan? Would you invest in a 401(k) if there was no match offered?

Photo courtesy of: ©Depositphotos.com/karenr

How to Pick Stocks the Right Way

Investing

John

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Jul 14, 2015

14

If you do a quick internet search of how to pick stocks you’re bound to find all sorts of different methods and strategies. Some of them may work while others will not. During my former job in the online brokerage industry I heard even more tricks of how to pick stocks.

Save for the few that would be classified as professional traders many who spent their time picking stocks ended up doing one thing…losing money. How’s that for a post that uses the title of how to pick stocks the right way?! 😉 If you want to get started investing in the stock market I’ve got a secret for you that will help you get started in stock picking.

Are you ready?

Picking Stocks is a Fool’s Errand

Picking stocks is by and large a fool’s errand. Why is it a fool’s errand? It’s pretty cut and dry actually. In most stock picking strategies I’ve seen, the individual doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to investing in the stock market.

Instead of making an educated and informed decision they are essentially taking the Wall Street Journal, or anything else listing stock quotes and throwing darts at it to make their investing decisions. Worse yet, investing decisions that are made off of a “hot tip” they heard at a party. Sadly, most of the time that tip will usually fizzle leaving the investor with significant losses. You’d be better served by having a monkey pick the stocks for you.

There is also a not so hidden cost when it comes to trying to pick stocks that many overlook – commissions. If you read my article on investment fees then you know it’s a cost that can put a serious crimp on the overall return of a portfolio. I saw investors who spent tens of thousands of dollars each and every year to not only fare worse than the market did for that year, but also be out all that money in commissions. They were essentially turning investing into betting and were suffering the associated results.

If you Want to Pick Stocks, Do This

Ok, now that I’ve come down on you for trying to pick stocks allow me to take a step back. I know that many like to invest in individual stocks. Heck, I do myself. I don’t know if that makes me a hypocrite or not, but I can guarantee you one thing – each of those investing decisions has been an informed one. It’s not “sexy,” but when you’re investing in the stock market the last thing you want is “sexy.” In fact you want boring!

Assuming you want to include individual stocks as a part of your overall portfolio, please make sure that you’re doing your due diligence. Do you like to pick stocks? Consider some of the following ideas:

What do you use every day? Many of the items you use around the house or in your office are made by companies that have been around for decades. Some of them are even solid dividend paying stocks. Sexy, no, but generally consistent. Like Warren Buffett says, buy what you know and that’s the point here.

What big brands do you enjoy? This is similar to the one above but think about products you love. I’m not going to mention specific stocks, but you get the idea. Those bigger brands are usually solid and have been around for years.

Look at Blue Chip Stocks. The definition of a blue chip stock is a bit generic, but it’s basically a company that is worth tens of billions of dollars and is a leader in its industry. Many of these are going to pay dividends and have been around for years and are usually part of the Dow Jones, S&P 500, etc. It’s also worth pointing out that many solid index funds will hold Blue Chip stocks so that is a great alternative to look at whether you go through someone like Vanguard or Scottrade.

The key in all of this is that if you’re interested in wanting to pick stocks then you need to educate yourself. Of course, we all make mistakes and stocks go down but you can mitigate that by making an informed decision. I know this isn’t exactly “sexy” and may not provide the rush that picking an individual stock and seeing it go crazy does, but sexy is not what you want when it comes to investing in the stock market.

Change Your Mindset

Whenever I spoke to someone who would classify themselves as a stock picker the same thing came up – their mindset was off. Instead of looking at the long-term impact of fees and chasing gains they were focused solely on the short term result. Scoring that next big win was like a rush to them and it didn’t matter what it cost.

Without giving specific advice, your investing goal should be one that’s focused on the long-term. I’m not talking about a year or even five years, but ten and twenty years (if not longer) down the road. Instead of wasting your money and energy trying to beat the market through picking stocks, be content in staying with the market. Like I’ve said before, slow and steady is going to win the race when it comes to investing. Be content in staying with the market because few things are sadder in investing than seeing someone who has wasted considerable amounts of money trying to pick stocks in an effort to “win” only to end up on the losing end.

This is not to say that individual stocks don’t play a part in a well-diversified portfolio, because I believe they do. However, they should generally play second fiddle to things like broadly diversified index funds that are going to keep you with the market.

Do you like to pick stocks? What strategies do you use to make an educated decision when selecting individual stocks? What was your worst investing mistake?

Photo courtesy of: ©Depositphotos.com/olly18

How to Make Money as a Virtual Assistant

Robin McDaniel

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Jul 13, 2015

7

How to Make Money as a Virtual Assistant

When I first started freelance writing, I kept getting asked about virtual assistant work as well. Apparently VA work and freelance writing often go hand in hand, but VA work? I had no idea what a virtual assistant was, much less how to make money at it.

Virtual assistants are definitely a growing need for many businesses today, and you likely already have enough online skills to learn how to make money working from home as a VA. Because there are so many different, easy ways to make money, working as a virtual assistant is one of the best work-from-home jobs to make money on the side that there is out there. Here’s how to make money as a virtual assistant.

Utilize Your Knowledge of Social Media

You probably thought your obsession with social media was just a time suck, but if you’re really good at using Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, it can be a valuable asset to online business owners who are working on growing their online presence. Put it to good use!

Social media has a huge following online, so it’s important for businesses to have a strong online presence. Promoting products on these websites takes a lot of time, and many company owners need their time spent elsewhere. They also may not have the knowledge or the time to optimize their social media profiles, so they are happy to hire that work out.

Create Appealing Images for Pinterest

Pinterest in particular has recently helped many online businesses surge ahead with their page views, and business owners want to capitalize on that. Pinterest has become huge due to its appealing images, but not everyone knows how to make a Pinterest-worthy Pin.

There are specifications to the size and look of each Pin in order to garner the most views, so if you have strong image-making skills, then you could easily turn that into a money maker.

It Could Be as Simple as Sending Out Emails

Many companies need help sending out emails such as newsletters, announcements, subscriptions, and general mass company mailings. Other smaller business owners simply need help reading and answering daily emails that don’t necessarily need immediate attention.

A virtual assistant can easily help with this need by answering everyday emails and responding on the business owner’s behalf. And the last time I checked, anyone who’s ever been on the internet knows how to send an email, so it’s probably a skill you already have.

Send Out Invoices and Handle Bookkeeping

As a freelance writer, sending out invoices is partly exciting (since I get paid), but mostly a very menial task that takes me far too long to handle. I’m also not the greatest at keeping records and organizing invoices, so I’d love to have someone else do it for me.

If you are good with numbers, organizing, and bookkeeping, you will find tons of business owners who need help on this end of things. Being a business owner doesn’t automatically mean that you know how to handle bookkeeping responsibilities, so they often hire this work out to someone who can handle it.

Editing and Proofreading

Have an eye for grammatical errors and paragraph layout? There are many websites that hire writers but also need an editor to handle such tasks as editorial calendars, post editing, and proofreading.

If you can manage an online calendar to schedule new blog posts and help freelance writers clean up their posts, then you can make money at it. As a freelance writer, I work with editors every week, so I know they are out there and getting paid for it. If you’re not a writer, but would like to become one, there are courses available that can help you get paid to write for blogs.

Start and Run a Website

Perhaps you know of a business who could use a better online presence. If you see a need, a great way to do this is to offer to build and start a blog for that company..

The best part is that you don’t have to learn how to write code to build a website. If you have already started a website or blog of your own, then you already have all of the skills that you need.

Almost Anyone Can Be A Virtual Assistant

If you are looking for a great, easy way to make extra money assess what skills you already have to see what you could offer a potential client. Just because someone owns their own website doesn’t mean they already have all the online skills they need to make it successful, so learn how to market yourself, approach some companies, and start utilizing your online skills to earn some extra money.

What are some tasks you’d love to hire out or have others help you with? How do you make money as a virtual assistant? Do you seek out work from local businesses or do you find them locally?

When Should You Quit Your Job to Grow Your Side Hustle?

General

Robin McDaniel

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Jun 22, 2015

6

When Should You Quit Your Job to Grow Your Side Hustle?

I’m thrilled to join the team at Sprout Wealth! After all, it was only about a year and a half ago that I seriously began to contemplate creating a side hustle of my own and leaving my job. I was inspired by so many personal finance bloggers out there, Frugal Rules being one of those blogs, and decided I wanted to be one of them. So I started a blog, found a freelancing mentor, and jumped into the deep end of side hustling without looking back.

I’d never worked for myself before or even considered it, but I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons on the way that I wouldn’t have otherwise. It was simply a natural progression in my life, something that was bound to happen, but starting was the hard part.

If you’ve already found your niche in the side hustle world, congratulations. You’ve hopefully found something that you’re good at, something that you enjoy doing, and something that allows you to make extra money. A lot of people never make it to that point, so you should take pride in that.

But how do you decide when you should quit your job to grow your side hustle even more? If your side hustle becomes somewhat successful, it’s a question you’re bound to face eventually, and it’s a great decision to make, although it’s not one to be made lightly. If you are contemplating taking your side hustle on full-time, make sure you’ve covered these bases first.

Evaluate Your Income

The biggest thing to consider, for obvious reasons, is your income. Many side hustlers decide to leave their jobs when their side income equals or exceeds their full-time income. That is certainly a perfect time to turn in your two week notice, but depending on your situation you may not even need to wait that long.

What if you only make 90%, 75% or even 60% of the income at your day job? If you are in a good financial position, consider if your budget can handle a cut in pay. It’s certainly worth it to take a pay cut to pursue a side hustle that you love doing, assuming you can handle it financially.

Many jobs don’t utilize our best skills or our creativity, and that can be frustrating, but you can change that if you pursue your side hustle full-time. Wouldn’t you take a cut in pay to do something you love rather than drudging away all day in an impersonal cubicle?

Get Ready to Answer to Yourself

Clearly you won’t have a boss once you quit your job. Your only boss will be you. This means that you’ll have to have the discipline to continue to put yourself out there and do your best work in order to earn an income. It also means that you’ll have unlimited earning potential, something that you probably didn’t have at your old job.

At your full-time job, you probably wasted a couple of hours a day, but still got paid the same as if you had busted your tail for a full eight hours. In working for yourself you will be able to maximize your work days instead of wasting time until the clock reaches 5 p.m.

Branch Out and Network, Network, Network

Working for yourself, you’ll be forced to network a lot more and that was hard for me to swallow as an introvert. However, it’s necessary if you want to grow your business.

Let the people around you know what you’re doing and give them a chance to offer you support. If they don’t, don’t sweat it. I was so afraid of what others would think of my decision, but ultimately, you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.

Before You Quit Your Job…

Before you leave your job, build up an emergency fund of at least six months of expenses. While working for yourself is amazing in so many ways, it can also be a little scary at times and financially unpredictable. Prepare for that ahead of time so you don’t panic later.

It’s also a good idea to check health insurance rates first. Shopping for insurance through brokers attempting to comply with the new health insurance laws was an eye opening experience for me, one that had me briefly questioning if I could still leave my job. You can easily check rates for health insurance through sites like eHealthInsurance.

Ultimately, I still made the leap, but I now have more expensive insurance premiums for the worst coverage I’ve ever had. I definitely lost a great benefit from my previous employer, but we beefed up our emergency fund just in case we needed it for health care costs which, thankfully, we’ve yet to use.

You Will Be Okay

I know it can be scary to leave a comfortable job with great benefits and plenty of job security. Believe me, I’ve been there recently. I got sick even thinking about turning in my notice and was shaking when I finally did it, but I’m so glad I finally made that leap.

So go ahead if you’re ready. Be a quitter, just this once.

Have you quit your job as a result of your side hustle growing? How much do you think you should be making prior to taking the leap? What’s one thing that scares you about working for yourself that has held you back?

5 Best Investing Books For Beginners

John

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Jun 16, 2015

34

A common question I’ve received over the years is, ‘What are the best investing books for beginners?’ It’s an understandable question as we unfortunately don’t champion investing education in our society. Added to that all the information that’s out there on investing in the stock market and it can be difficult to know where to get reputable information.

While I’d like to think that some of the investing education in the personal finance space is good, many want to go beyond that and are looking for the best investing books to start reading. That said, if you’re new to investing in the stock market, or investing with $1,000 or less, education is vital as you want to make sure you’re making educated decisions.

With that in mind, I thought it would be good to cover some of the top investing books out there, whether you are a beginner or not. As a disclaimer, I have read the majority of the books on the list and the one or two I haven’t, I’ve read major chunks of. This is also not to be meant an exhaustive list, but merely a sampling of my picks for best books on investing.

If you’re looking for a nice gift for the reader in your life, Amazon has a great limited time deal with Kindles starting at $79 and Kindle Fires starting at $99!

A Random Walk Down Wall Street

If you are looking for one book to read on investing, then A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel is one you should choose. What makes Random Walk one of the best investing books? Quite simply, Malkiel takes some very heady information and makes it so anyone can read and understand it – which can be very difficult to do.

What I particularly like about Malkiel’s work is that he basically holds to a buy and hold approach to investing. Stock picking might be considered “fun,” but by and large, most investors are going to be better served by a long term approach to investing that is focused on passively managed index funds that will track the market. That alone is one major reason why I consider Random Walk one of the best investing books for beginners.

The Intelligent Investor

As the title communicates, The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham, is for someone who wants to be wise about his or her investing. The Intelligent Investor was written by Graham back in 1934, but much of his thoughts on investing still hold true today.

One of the reasons why I believe Investor is one of the best books on investing is that he teaches you to minimize losses and find the real value of a company. Essentially, he argues how to limit risk in the light of long term investing. If that’s not enough to convince you, Graham was Warren Buffett’s mentor.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

More experienced investors will notice The Little Book of Common Sense Investing as it is written by the founder of Vanguard – John Bogle. What I believe makes Common Sense of the best investing books is that it’s clear and straightforward. One would think that would be easy to find when it comes to books on investing, but unfortunately it’s not.

The book, in my opinion, is summed up by a quote by Bogle – “Investing is all about common sense.” That quote is simple, yet powerful. We often make investing out to be difficult or follow some silly fad when it really doesn’t have to be any of that. Bogle, argues for straight-forward investing, made up largely of index funds that have a long term view…not following the herd.

The Essays of Warren Buffett

What makes The Essays of Warren Buffett, one of the best investing books is that, well, it’s written by Buffett! Anyone who follows Warren Buffett or Berkshire Hathaway is well aware of his annual shareholder letters. The editor, Lawrence Cunnigham, has taken much of Buffett’s writing and collated it, by topic, so it’s easy to read and follow.

What I appreciate about Essays is that it allows you as an investor insight as to what Buffett looks for in a company. As Buffett has aptly stated, his holding period is forever so if you’re more into active trading then this book may not be for you. But, if you want to read more into the foolishness of investing with the trends and the wisdom in long-term investing then this book is for you.

One Up on Wall Street

The last book on my best investing books is One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch. Lynch is known by more savvy investors as he was a higher up at Fidelity and then led the popular Magellan Fund. As with the other books listed here, Lynch discusses how to analyze the merit of a company and investing for the long term…notice a trend here?

What I appreciate about Lynch is that he says “normal” investors can do quite well for themselves when it comes to investing. As opposed to following the hot trends, Lynch encourages investors to invest in what’s right in front of them or what they know. This is all taken with the long-term approach that is meant to build wealth.

If you noticed a trend with my best books on investing, there is. The idea that investing needs to be difficult or that it has to be “sexy” is one that is a fool’s errand for many, especially for those new to investing. Instead of trying to beat the market or follow the latest fad, you’re much better served by making investing as simple as can be for yourself.

While not exciting, I’d much rather be with the market and watch my portfolio grow over time…because that is sexy to me! If you’re new to investing or looking for some resources to help start the education process hopefully one of these books will get you started in the right direction.

Do you have any books that you would add to the best investing books list? How did you teach yourself as you started investing? Which is sexier to you – following the hot trend or watching your portfolio grow?

Photo courtesy of: StockMonkeys.com

The Sky Is Falling!

Investing

John

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May 5, 2015

2

“Stocks are about to fall 40% – at least”

“Bad sign? Retail investors all in”

“Here’s what you should really sell in May”

These are all headlines I’ve read over the past week. While all completely different articles, they point to one thing – that signs are pointing to some sort of seismic shift in the stock market that is going to leave our online brokerage accounts in absolute shambles.

That’s the last thing I want. We’ve built a nice portfolio and we should want to protect it. That should mean that it’s about time to sell everything and take my ball home to set on the headline while the dust settles…right?!

Heck no!

These headlines, and other mass media stories claiming that it’s time to get out of the stock market are meant to do two things:

Get more viewers/eyeballs to consume their content
Use fear to get you to take some sort of action

There is one problem, well many really, that come out of this cycle. You begin to question your senses. You begin to question whether or not you’re a fool for even thinking of investing in the stock market. You then begin to wonder if you’ll ever be able to reach the goals you have in life if the market does what all the prognosticators say it will.

What do all of those things have in common? Emotion and plenty of it. Listen, I get it. I spoke with countless people who saw their 401(k) plans get sliced in half in the course of a few short months. The last thing I want is to see that happen again. However, what I do know is that those writing the above headlines and the talking heads on TV have no idea what’s going on for you. They have no special crystal ball telling them what the S&P is going to do three weeks from now. Rather, they are simply doing their job to try and get you to take action.

How Do I Not Feed the Beast?

Now that we know that these headlines and talking heads are only meant to get us to take action, a question is begged – what are we supposed to do? The calls to take action and to be fearful are all around us. How can you stay confident in your investment plan with the media beast telling you to do something?

The answer is very difficult and one that can be hard to do, but here it is:

Ignore it!

It’s that simple. You don’t have to go through any special steps. You don’t have to be in some inner circle. You simply have to ignore the talking heads. That’s it. It’s really that simple.

Now, I realize that might be easier said than done at times. But you need to take the calls to fear with a Mt. Everest sized grain of salt.

Yes, there are times when you need to analyze your investment plan. There are times when you need to rebalance your portfolio. There are times when you might need to sell an underperformer. However, none of those should be when stoked by fear.

Oh, and if you need something historical to allay your fear of massive losses – consider this…in every decade in the past century, except for one, the stock market has produced a positive return. The worst decade, the 1930’s, produced a return of just under -1 percent. For such a horrible (economically speaking) decade, I’d call that a win. 🙂

Why do you think we fall prey to calls that the sky is falling in the stock market? How often do you analyze your investment portfolio? How easy is it for you to ignore the horde?

Photo courtesy of: ©Depositphotos.com/kirs-ua

4 Simple Ways to Grow Wealth

John

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Apr 21, 2015

8

We all have different ways we want to enjoy life. Some want to travel the world, some want to have a comfortable retirement and so on. I guarantee that many of the things you want to do require one thing – money. I got this neat little infographic from our friends over at Motif Investing. It’s a perfect fit for Sprout Wealth as it’s about simple ways to grow your wealth.

There are a fair number of posts on the site devoted to growing wealth – from seasonal opportunities to more niche options. What can tend to get lost in that is the basics. The basics may not be exciting or cutting edge, but they can help you ultimately to enjoy life the way you want to.

The infographic shares four simple ways to grow wealth, as they relate to investing, and those are as follows:

Small amounts make a difference
Start saving early
Diversification is your friend
Minimize investment expenses

Investing and Growing Wealth

I’m obviously a big fan of investing. Far too few do it the wise way, but when done it is one of the best ways to grow your wealth – if not the best. Unfortunately, too many complicate it and make it into something that it shouldn’t be and end up chasing gains instead of looking at investing with the long haul in mind.

That’s what I appreciate about the infographic from Motif Investing. It offers a simple and straightforward way to grow your wealth. I don’t necessarily agree with their latte factor argument as you really can’t cut your way to wealth.

However, I believe their larger point is on target as they’re talking about small amounts when it comes to investing. Too many, myself included at one point, allow the amount they’re starting with hold them back from investing. As the table under point #2 shows, starting early, even with a relatively small amount, can have a significant impact over time. Exciting, no, but definitely possible.

4 Investment Strategies to Grow Wealth – An infographic by the team at Motif Investing.

Why do you think we can tend to overcomplicate growing of wealth or investing? Where do you stand on the latte factor? When did you start investing?

Photo courtesy of: ©Depositphotos.com

When Should You Fire A Client?

John

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Apr 14, 2015

9

Whether you have a side hustle, run your own business or work in a traditional office setting, you know how vital it is to have clients. For the first two, clients are the lifeblood of your business (well, that and great word of mouth marketing). This can lead to the belief that you should always keep a client. After all, it costs more to get a new client so why would you want to fire a client? Fewer clients means less money – right?

As many know, my wife and I run our own business, and I do a fair amount of freelance writing on the side. Over the years, we have learned one thing – that not all clients are created equal. Some are great, and you do all you reasonably can to keep them and make them happy. Unfortunately, not every client is like that. With that in mind, I’m going to look at why or when you may want to consider firing a client.

They Never Pay You on Time

Cash flow is incredibly important for small businesses, and if you run a side hustle those funds may mean the difference between paying extra towards debt, saving extra for retirement, etc. for a given month. Regardless, you’re going to feel that delay in payment.

If you have a client who is constantly and consistently paying you late, it might be time to consider cutting said client loose. Of course, if a client is good otherwise, you will want to discuss what solutions there might be to getting you paid on time. We ran into this with a client recently. They were constantly paying late but when we asked if they could pay us via direct deposit they jumped at the chance. You can also do things like add a penalty fee if they don’t pay after a certain period. If they’re unbending, then they very well might not be worth the hassle anymore.

They Don’t Know What A Calendar is

I’m a planner by nature, but know that in many cases life doesn’t happen that way. And that’s ok. Last minute projects come up, and they need to get done. That’s perfectly understandable. It becomes an issue when every project is last minute, hair on fire, just has to be done NOW kind of thing.

You can try and make up for this by making them aware that you’ll be charging more, but they may not be open for that. While everything in life doesn’t fit in a nice, neat little package you must set boundaries – otherwise you’re liable to get burned out. If they’re unwilling to make changes, then it might be time to fire them.

They Want You to Work for Free

You know the client. You send them your rate sheet or give them a quote, and they shoot back a response wanting a significant reduction in price. Personally speaking, we build a little wiggle room in pricing for our business. We realize people have different resources and want to be able to show goodwill by negotiating. That is not working for free. That is sound business.

However, when they want to undercut you and expect you to work at a fraction of your rate that should be a major warning sign. We’ve taken on clients in the past, for a variety of reasons, who have acted in this way from the get go, and it has almost always turned out bad. The reason behind this? They begin asking demanding things or changes that weren’t originally agreed upon and become a nuisance. This is no way to grow a business or side hustle and is not worth the heartache.

If I Fire A Client Won’t I Make Less Money?

Being a site devoted to growing wealth, it would stand to reason that we would do pretty much anything to avoid losing money. Firing a client flies in the face of making more money emotionally. We start to wonder if we’ll be able to replace them. We start to wonder what we’ll do without that income.

I’ll let you in on a little secret…you’re worth more and can make more by cutting them loose.

Why is this? It’s because in many cases this problem client is causing you to work more on a mental or emotional level and thus keeping you from maximizing your time. This can and will hold you back in many cases from taking on work that you might enjoy or make even more money from. That’s also not to mention the fact that if you work online, then there is a lot of opportunity out there and plenty of people willing to pay you what you’re worth.

This list isn’t meant to be exhaustive, but to help you look over clients you might have that could actually be holding you back. Fear or doubt play a part in this many times, but don’t let them hold you back from making more money and being happier and healthier while doing it.

Have you ever had to fire a client? What was the experience like? What are some other reasons why you might cut a client loose? What do you do to protect against taking problematic clients in the first place?

5 Unusual Ways to Make Money I Wouldn’t Do

John

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Apr 7, 2015

6

5 Unusual Ways to Make Money I Wouldn’t Do

There are a variety of ways to make money. Your job is likely the main source of income and there are a variety of other ways to make more money outside of that. A lot of those ways have been covered on the site – from investing to side hustles to affiliate marketing, there are endless ways to earn extra income.

The beauty of many of those ways is that you need little to no formal education to try them out. However, there are more unusual ways to make money that are worth considering. I guess it depends on the situation, your need and what you’re willing to do to make extra cash. I have done my fair share of crazy things (like selling my plasma to pay off debt). Whether you need quick cash or a good laugh, some of these crazy ways to make extra money just might help.

Work for NASA

If you’re relatively healthy and have no problem being limited to bedrest for hours at a time, then NASA just might have the job for you. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it though as you can potentially make up to $18,000 for the gig.

The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of exercise on muscles and other health related issues. You can sign up here, but be forewarned that you might need to commit up to 105 days for the study. That’s a lot of time in bed!

Take Selfies

If you spend a lot of time on your phone taking selfies, then you could be sitting on a crazy way to make some extra income. By using the Stylinity app you can tag products you may be looking at and share said selfies across your social media platforms.

The money-making opportunity comes up when friends of yours click on the item, which results in you earning credits that can be taken out as cash. You won’t get rich with it, and sort of works like affiliate marketing, but it can be a way to make a little money off something you would already be doing anyway.

Sell Your Poop

Ok, this is where the unusual ways to make money turn from off the wall to nasty. I kid you not, you can make up to $13,000 per year selling your feces. OpenBiome is a nonprofit organization that is fighting a particular virus that causes gastrointestinal issues.

How does the poop help? I’m not a scientist, but they apparently use it to help cure individuals suffering from said gastrointestinal issues. I don’t know that I could do it – but the more you send in the more you can make, even if your poop is “healthy.” 🙂

Rent out Your Friendship

Have you ever moved to a new city and struggled to make new friends? Well, if you have, then you know how hard it can be. The solution? Renting out your friendship. According to the RentAFriend website, there are a variety of ways you can be a friend to someone – from those new to your city to those not wanting to go to a movie on their own to someone simply looking for objective advice.

Skeptical? The site claims the ability to earn up to $50 per hour, plus free meals, entertainment, etc. for being someone’s friend. Get your mind out of the gutter…it’s only for platonic relationships.

Get Tested

Do you live near a large college or institution that is regularly doing medical testing? If so, you might be able to make money through signing up to be tested for pay through the NIH. The NIH claims to have 300 studies for those who are healthy and can pay a variety of rates.

My wife and I signed up for some testing when we were engaged and made a little under $1,000 for our time. It was simple and really didn’t take a lot of time. We did non-invasive vision studies and our experience was pretty run of the mill. But be forewarned, I’ve read that there are some crazy tests out there.

What are some other unusual ways that you can think of to make money? Would you ever sell your poop in the name of science? What’s the craziest way you’ve ever made extra money?

How to Get Rich Quickly

General

John

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Apr 1, 2015

5

Who doesn’t want to get rich quickly? I mean, you are reading this on a site devoted to growing wealth and finding unique ways to make more money on the side. Sure, many will say you can’t get rich quickly but we like to think outside the box here on Sprout Wealth!

I know we all like to scoff at those commercials that promise you can become rich fast. That response might be warranted for a select few, but by and large I think there are many ways to get rich quick out there – you just need to see the opportunities for what they’re worth. So, if you want to get rich quickly then today’s post is for you. 😉

Get Rich Quickly By Starting a Blog

I’ll let you in on a little secret…starting a blog is one of the best ways to get rich quickly. Think with me for a moment here…you start a blog, throw a few posts on it and you’ll be sitting on a goldmine.

Yes, you do have to work at things like affiliate marketing, networking, etc. but the point is all you need to do is throw up a site and the money will be falling in buckets from the heavens. In fact, it’s so simple that a kid can do it.

Play the Lottery

I know I’ve spoken about winning the lottery before, but if you want to get rich quick then the lottery is one of the best options out there. After all, where can you turn $5 or $10 into hundreds of millions? Save for the casino, there’s no other place I can think of.

People really like playing the Powerball when the jackpot hits astronomic levels but the route I always recommend is the scratch off ticket. I’m not a fan of getting that dust that comes with scratch off tickets all over the place, but the rush of winning money from them is like none other.

Pyramid Schemes

We’ve spoken about pyramid schemes before but that was really off base if you ask me. If you don’t know what a pyramid scheme is, you essentially recruit friends of yours to sell some sort of ~~crap~~ product. It might be for something around the house or natural remedies, but the point is you recruit people to sell a product.

If it sounds too good to be true, trust me, pyramid schemes are one of the best ways to get rich quickly. How is that? It’s because you get to make money off all the sales your friends will make. Yes, it might strain relationships and the products may not be very good but your friends become profit centers for you…not to mention they get to bank some cash too!

Penny Stocks

Penny stocks get a bad rap in my opinion. True, penny stocks don’t have the prestige of Apple, Google or AT&T, but why stick with the blue chips? Penny stocks are a sure fire bet to become rich quick.

Picture this with me. You only have $1,000 to invest in your Etrade account and you want it to go far. You find five penny stocks trading at $.001 and realize you can buy 200,000 shares of each for the $1,000. Tracking with me? Well, just imagine your delight when they all catapult to $10 per share! That $1,000 investment you made just magically turned into $2,000,000. Talk about getting rich quickly!

Churn Credit Cards

Who doesn’t like to go on vacation for free? I know my family and I do, but it doesn’t stop there. There are credit card companies out there who will offer you free cash just to sign up for their card and meet the minimum spending requirement.

True, there is the pesky little problem of the possibility of overspending and damaging your credit score by applying for too many cards at once – but don’t listen to the haters – there can be some real cash to be made in churning credit cards.

The Harsh Reality

If you hadn’t recognized it throughout the post, it’s dripping with heinous amounts of sarcasm – especially since today is April Fools Day. 🙂

Seriously though, if you’re trying to get rich quickly it shows that your perspective is off. Yes, becoming wealthy can be a good thing and can most definitely be done but it’s a process that requires time, effort and a ton of work. A little luck isn’t bad to have either, but it’s often the slow and steady approach to building wealth that does the best.

What are some crazy get rich quick schemes you’ve seen others fall prey to? Have you ever been recruited to be in a pyramid scheme? What do you think is the secret to building wealth?