Delta Air Lines flyers can choose among four consumer co-branded airline credit cards, which can accommodate newbies, leisure flyers and seasoned road warriors alike. Delta cards aren't your only choice for earning rewards toward flights, of course. General travel cards also have an allure. But if you're considering Delta-branded cards, which have some specific benefits, choosing the right... The article Which Delta Air Lines Credit Card Should You Get? originally appeared on NerdWallet. ![]()
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Dr. Willem Van Cotthem experimented with this vertical gardening system using recycled plastic bottles stacked and attached to a fence. He began with the 2011 growing season and continued through 2012 with great success. This type of garden is cheap to start and is extremely effective for those who do not have a lot of growing space. A system like this could be built along a fence, wall, or on a balcony. 1/11/2019 0 Comments Top 10 Posts of 2018I always get a little nostalgic at the beginning of a new year and enjoy reflecting back on the year that has past. As always, I continue to be amazed at the opportunities that this blog provides for our family and I'm so grateful for everyone that has supported me on this blogging journey. This blog would be nothing without YOU! Top Blog Posts of 2018I'm continuously looking for ways to improve the blog and serve you guys better. It totally makes my day when you email me or comment on my posts and I absolutely LOVE getting your input. Since I don't always hear from you though, I often look at what posts are the most popular and try to plan some additional blog content around those topics. Sometimes it surprises me! This year, many of your favorite cleaning tips and organization posts from years' past continue to stay in the top 10, along with a couple of fun holiday projects. The home decor posts didn't quite make it into the top 10 but they were close! So here they are – the top 10 blog posts of 2018! Number 10: The January Decluttering ChallengeIf you're ready for a clean and decluttered start to the new year, join in my January decluttering challenge! I know many of you joined me last year and I hope even more join in this year. The post has been updated with all of the 2019 free organization printables for you, so feel free to join in. It's never too late! Number 9: Family Binder Budgeting PrintablesIf you're looking to get your budget on track after the holidays, these printables are a great way to keep track of where your money is going. Get started on the road to financial success! Number 8: Turkey TreatsThese little turkey treats have been a Thanksgiving favorite for a few years now and they've received over 15 million views on my Facebook page! Number 7: Eleven Daily Habits to Keep Your House Clean and TidyIt can be hard to keep up with all of the daily cleaning around your house, but these simple habits can make it so much easier! Number 6: How to Clean Upholstered Chairs and Other UpholsteryIf your upholstery is looking stained and dingy, give these cleaning tips a try. You'll be amazed at how clean they can get! Number 5: How to Remove Burned Food from PotsThis is always a favorite – especially after the holidays! This tip works great for really bad burned on food as well as just a good pot cleaning after a busy cooking season. Number 4: Ten Things to Clean After the FluNo one likes it when the flu comes to visit! Follow these cleaning tips to get your home clean and disinfected, and help it from spreading to everyone else in the household. Number 3: Popsicle Stick SledsThese are one of my favorite craft projects and I love seeing how everyone puts their own spin it! I even added some popsicle stick skis this year! Number 2: How to Organize Bills – Bill Payment Tracker PrintablesI've used these bill tracking printables for a few years now and I have found them SO helpful! Now that many of our bills are just sent electronically I find them even more helpful to keep track of what I have {and haven't!} paid.
Number 1: How to Clean your Washing MachineThis post has been my number one post for 4 years running! There are lots of helpful tips to get your front loader looking and working its best. You might just love your front loader again! And there you have it – the top 10 blog posts of 2018! Thank-you again for such a wonderful year and I look forward to connecting with you more in the year ahead. As always, please let me know if there are any specific post ideas that would be helpful for you. I love to hear from you and I hope that we can continue to build this little community together. Top Home and DIY Bloggers Best PostsIf you're looking for more home and DIY inspiration, please take a minute to check out my DIY and Home blogger friends' top posts from 2018! This is the very best the web has to offer and you're sure to find some amazing ideas! TIDBITS | Miss Mustard Seed | Farmhouse on Boone | Maison De Pax | A Burst of Beautiful Simply Designing | Bless'er House | Taryn Whiteaker Designs | Designthusiasm | Unskinny Boppy Live Laugh Rowe | Kendra John Designs | House by Hoff | So Much Better With Age | Life On Virginia Street ZDesign At Home | Town and Country Living | Shabbyfufu | Happy Happy Nester | Stacy Risenmay Cherished bliss | Clean and Scentsible | anderson + grant | The Happy Housie | Summer Adams Decor Gold Designs | Maison de Cinq | Seeking Lavender Lane The post Top 10 Posts of 2018 appeared first on Clean and Scentsible. ![]() Well, this was certainly a surprise. The first business Friday of each month is when the Labor Department releases data on the jobs sector. The actual unemployment rate, which compares the number of people actively looking for work with the number of people working. This rate rose from November to January from 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent. At first glance that seems to show the jobs market is actually getting worse because the unemployment rate inched up 0.2 percentage points. However, the way the rate is calculated also considers the number of people who got back into the job-hunting game. The more important number from the Labor Department report is how many new jobs were created in December. Analysts were expecting a solid number but something closer to 177,000 new jobs. Instead, the number of new jobs hit 312,000. That's a lot. Further, wage gains increased by 3.2 percent which is the fastest pace in nearly nine years. With more money in consumer's pockets that can help keep an economy rolling as consumers feel more confident about their jobs and their financial position. Okay, so does all this tell us about the future of mortgage rates? The Federal Reserve hiked the Federal Funds rate by 0.25 percent in December. In November, Fed Chair Powell reaffirmed there could be two more such hikes in 2019 but didn't make as strong of a commitment to the move as with previous comments. And on January 4 of this year, Powell said the Fed 'will be patient' with monetary policy as it sits back and watches how the overall economy performs. While the Federal Reserve doesn't affect your standard 30 year fixed rate it does provide investors with guidance on what the economy may do in the future. That standard 30 year fixed rate is tied to a specific bond and just like any other bond, when there is a greater demand for a bond, the yield falls. Investors don't buy bonds for a large return but instead is a safety channel from uncertain equity markets. When the economy is buzzing right along, investors will tend to sell bonds and allocate more money into stocks. This tells us that if this trend continues, we will in fact see higher mortgage rates ahead. There are those that are pointing out this strong jobs report is unsustainable and there are other recent economic reports that show some weakness in the economy and the stock boom will be short lived. If that's the case, while rates might be higher soon, they won't be as high as the December jobs numbers would indicate. With the excitement generated by Southwest Airlines' limited-time welcome offer that includes a promotional Companion Pass and 30,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points, many travelers may be dreaming of all the places they can bring a friend or family member in 2019. But before you decide to charge $4,000 over three months on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest... The article Is the Southwest Companion Pass Sign-Up Bonus Worth It? originally appeared on NerdWallet. ![]() ![]() Amy Chorew, the VP of Learning at Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, interviewed three top brokers to gain insights on their best practices for lead generation. John Jackson from John Jackson Neighborhood Real Estate, Lane Hornung from 8z Real Estate, and Heather Bush from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Capital Area were excited to share their expertise. John Jackson,John Jackson Neighborhood Real Estate: Racing for ApproachableJohn takes a friendly approach to lead generation. By being both approachable and desirable, his brokerage finds much success in being able to convert leads. To make their presence known, the traditional avenues of open houses and Facebook ads are used. However, their major investment lies in nurturing client relationships rather than cold leads. As an avid runner, John heavily supports athletic events that are not necessarily client-focused. By sponsoring local races and having the company name on running bibs, the brokerage is able to present itself to the local public in a community-oriented way. John believes that inspiration and a bit of runner's high, first- or second-hand, will inspire the public. While it is always a challenge to define measurable market presence, being approachable, knowledgeable and desirable makes prospective clients want to engage. Sixty percent of leads are company-driven and agents drive the other 40 percent in a high-support setup. John makes it part of his responsibility to be the inside sales person. He nurtures leads and matures them before handing them off to a team member. A shared Google doc tracks hot, warm and cold statuses as well as every communication sent to all leads, regardless of how they were shaped. Agents can count on these leads, but are also incentivized to nurture their own. Lane Hornung,8z Real Estate: Get visualLane believes in the power of a visual to explain his approach to lead generation, which is driven by numbers. He imagines the process as a triangle – internet, sphere and hyperlocal. The first side of the triangle is dedicated to new lead generation sourced from the internet using SEO, organic and paid traffic, Facebook campaigns for market listing ads and name recognition ads. Ads are hyperlocal, within a half-mile radius of the brokerage in most cases. The sphere, which is the foundation, is next, where sweat equity ensures measurable leads. Finally, the high-support brokerage uses SEO, Facebook market listings and a digital farming strategy in which each agent is assigned a neighborhood. Leads are given to the client care team to improve the prospective client's chance of closing to 10 percent or better. Heather Bush,Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Capital Area: Relocation, relocation, relocationHeather harnesses the power of technology and outsourcing for lead generation. Her brokerage's unique system focuses on relocation as a primary source of business. Military personnel must buy and sell houses quickly for deployment or new assignments. Additionally, members of the corporate world also need a reliable agent to help with their specific housing needs. This niche has proven quite lucrative for the brokerage. Opt City is a referral source that does away with upfront costs and requires payment only upon closing for brokerages. Inquiries are filtered and nurtured until the lead is warm enough to be handed off to an agent. Clients are introduced with a live, warm phone transfer. Agents start with lower quality leads until their performance score indicates that they're ready to receive a higher volume and improved leads. Another tool, Cartus, is a leader in global/logistical relocation services for military personnel and corporations. As a Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate in-house resource, ZAP provides lead generation strategic insights. With the website and app, the client begins the homebuying process by selecting their preferences. Online activity is meticulously tracked and algorithms indicate when a transaction is imminent. Agents receive metrics and insights to boost daily and long-term projections. Heather believes that while resources aid in lead generation, ultimately, what makes a transaction is the relationship. By getting to know clients and addressing their specific needs and lifestyle, a lifelong connection can be formed that will result in referrals upon referrals. Follow-up is essential with market news, design advice and other relevant information. Visit our AllThingsRE Facebook Page to view the full panel live, or click here. No matter your approach, consider leveraging these insights to help shape and improve your business in 2019. The post Three Approaches to Lead Generation for 2019 appeared first on Clean Slate.
The future of the oil market has increasingly been called into question as a variety of factors continue to impact global supply and demand, including US sanctions against Iran and the negotiations between OPEC and non-OPEC nations. However, the largest driving force of change is the rise of renewable energies. The growth of investment in alternative energies has started to cause oil companies to reconsider their role in the future of energy production, and we are already seeing adjustments to supply and demand forecasts. With so many questions about the future of oil, trading provider IG is taking a look at what trends we might start seeing in the oil market. The firm's presenter Sara Walker will be speaking to industry experts Malcolm Graham-Wood and Spencer Welch to discuss a range of topics including:
There will be a live Q&A during the session, so viewers can put forward any topics they'd like Malcolm and Spencer to discuss, or any questions they want answered. They can post questions to the #IGCommodityChat Community page, or by using #IGCommodityChat on Twitter or Facebook. To watch the live video stream, tune in at 1pm (UK time) on Thursday 29 November via IG's trading platform, or the company's YouTube, Facebook or Twitter pages. For more information, please contact Irene Castaneda ([email protected]). About IG: IG empowers informed, decisive, adventurous people to access opportunities in over 15,000 financial markets. With a strong focus on innovation and technology, the company puts client needs at the heart of everything it does. IG's vision is to be a global leader in retail trading and investments. Established in 1974 as the world's first financial spread betting firm, it continued leading the way by launching the world's first online and iPhone trading services. IG is now an award-winning, multi-platform trading company, the world's No.1 provider of CFDs* and a global leader in forex. It provides leveraged services with negative balance protection, and offers an execution-only share dealing service in the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands. IG has recently launched a range of affordable, fully managed investment portfolios, to provide a comprehensive offering to investors and active traders. It is a member of the FTSE 250, with offices across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East – plus the US, where it offers on-exchange limited risk derivatives via the Nadex brand. Risk warning: Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. *Based on revenue excluding FX (published financial statements, February 2018); for forex based on number of primary relationships with FX traders (Investment Trends UK Leveraged Trading Report released August 2018). The post #IGCommodityChat: the murky future of oil appeared first on Personal Income. 1/8/2019 0 Comments Financial SEER: A Way To Quantify Risk Tolerance And Determine Appropriate Equity Exposure
One of my primary goals on Financial Samurai is to help readers build meaningful wealth in a risk-appropriate manner. Because I started my career soon after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, I've experienced a lot of carnage as many international college students in the US had to drop out due to a sudden and massive devaluation of their respective home country's currencies. I fully appreciate how hazardous the road to building great wealth can be. Even the best-made plans can be laid to waste due to some unforeseen exogenous variable. We always hope for good surprises along the way. Unfortunately, life always has a way of kicking us in the face after knocking us in the teeth. Let's always be thankful for what we have and demonstrate kindness to those who are experiencing difficult times. Most investors overestimate their risk tolerance, especially investors who've only been investing with significant capital since 2009. Once the losses start piling up, it's not only the melancholy of losing money that starts getting to you, it's the growing fear that your job might also be at risk. You might also erroneously think that the richer you get, the higher your risk tolerance. After all, the more money you have, the bigger your buffer. This is a fallacy because the more money you have, the larger your potential loss. For most rational people, their lifestyles don't inflate commensurately with their wealth. This is why even rich people can't resist a free rubber chicken lunch. Further, there will come a time when your investment returns have a larger impact on your net worth than your earnings. As a result, the richer you are, the more dismayed you will be to lose money. Your main hope for recovery is a rebound in investment performance because your work earnings won't contribute much at all. How Most Of Us Rescue Our InvestmentsThe reason we all continue to fight in this difficult world is because we have hope. But eventually, our hope fades because our brains and bodies slow down. When we're younger, we often think ourselves to be invincible. Then, eventually, we start experiencing the realities of aging. It is due to our fading abilities that we must bring down our risk exposure as we age. It is only the rare bird that goes all-in after making enough money to last a lifetime to try and make so much more. Sometimes they turn into billionaires like Elon Musk. But most of the time they end up going broke and filled with regret. The only way most of us can rescue our investments after a market swoon is through contributions from earned income i.e. our salaries. We tell ourselves that when the markets are down, that's alright because we'll simply invest more at lower prices. However, lower prices don't necessarily mean better value if estimates are cut, but all other things being equal, we like to trick ourselves into believing we're getting a better deal all the same. To understand reward, we must first understand risk. Since 1929, the median bear market price decline is 33.51%, while the average bear market price decline is 35.43% since 1929. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that the next bear market could also bring equity valuations down by 35% over an 8 – 10 month period. Let me share a quantifiable way to measure how much equity exposure you should have based on your risk tolerance. I'm calling it the Financial Samurai Equity Exposure Rule or Financial SEER. It's an appropriate acronym because seer means a person who is supposed to be able, through supernatural insight, to see what the future holds. How To Quantify Your Risk ToleranceMost people just regularly invest in stocks over time through dollar cost averaging. They have little concept of whether the amount of stocks they have as part of their portfolio or their net worth is risk appropriate. Hence, to quantify your risk tolerance based on your existing portfolio, use the following formula: (Public Equity Exposure X 35%) / Monthly Gross Income. For example, let's say you have $500,000 in equities and make $10,000 a month. To quantify your risk tolerance, the formula is: $500,000 X 35% = $175,000 / $10,000 = 17.5. This formula tells you that you will need to work an 17.5 ADDITIONAL months of your life to earn a GROSS income equal to how much you lost in a -35% bear market. After taxes, you're really only making around $8,000 a month, so you will actually have to work closer to 22 more months and contribute 100% of your after-tax income to be whole. But it gets worse. Given you need to pay for basic living expenses, you need to work even longer than 22 months. Good thing stocks tend to rebound after an average bear market duration of 10 months, if you can hold on. Given everybody has a different tax rate, I've simplified the formula using a gross monthly income figure instead of a net monthly income figure. Feel free to adjust the Risk Tolerance Multiple based on your personal income tax situation. Quantifying risk tolerance by calculating working months is the best way to go because time is money. The more you value your time, the more you hate your job, and the less you desire to work, the lower your risk tolerance. The classic scenario is a 68-year-old retiree with a $1,000,000 portfolio living off $20,000 a year in Social Security and $20,000 in dividend income from his portfolio. If his portfolio loses 30% of its value because it is way overweight equities, it is almost impossible to recover the lost $300,000 on his $20,000 a year fixed income. His dividend income may likely be cut as well as companies hold onto their cash for survival. The only thing this retiree can do is pray the market eventually goes up while cutting spending. How To Determine Appropriate Equity ExposureAfter you have quantified your risk tolerance by assigning a Risk Tolerance Multiple = the number of months you need to work to make up for your potential bear market loss, take a look at this guide below. My guide will not only give you an idea of what your Risk Tolerance Multiple is, but it will also give you an idea of what your maximum equity exposure should be based on your risk tolerance. Solutions! My advice to all investors is to not risk more than 18 months worth of gross salary on your equity investments using an assumed 35% average bear market decline in your public investment portfolio. In other words, if you make $10,000 a month, the most you should risk is a $180,000 loss on a $514,285 pure equity portfolio. The Max Equity Exposure formula = (Your Monthly Salary X 18) / 35%. You can certainly have a larger overall public investment portfolio than $514,285 in this example, but I wouldn't risk much more than $514,285 in equities only if you have only a $10,000 a month gross salary. You can have $514,285 max in equities plus $250,000 in AAA-rated municipal bonds if you wish, for a reasonable 67%/33% equities fixed income split. Your total portfolio size would therefore be $764,285. Adjust The Assumptions As You See FitIf you think the next bear market will only decline by 25%, feel free to use 25% in the Max Equity Exposure formula. In the above example, the result would be ($10,000 X 18) / 25% = $720,000 of maximum equity exposure for someone making $120,000 a year. If you just got promoted and plan to see 20% YoY earnings growth for the next five years, you could use your current monthly salary and a higher Risk Tolerance Multiple to determine your equity exposure. For example, let's say you currently make $10,000 a month, but expect to make $20,000 a month in five years, You also think stocks will go down by 25% at most. The calculation would therefore be: ($10,000 X 36) / 25% = $1,440,000 as your target or maximum equity exposure. If you decide to live like a hermit in a low cost town in the middle of nowhere, you could increase your Risk Tolerance Multiple to 36. But you've got to question your money priorities for trying to make a bigger return only to never spend your rewards. Remember, whatever your Risk Tolerance Multiple is, you will have to increase it by 1.2 – 3X to truly calculate how many more years you will need to work to recover from your bear market losses due to taxes and general living expenses. It is a judgment call regarding how much equity risk you should take. If you've quadrupled your net worth after a 9-year bull market, it's probably wise to lower your risk exposure multiple. Conversely, after a 30%+ correction in equities, it's probably wise to increase your risk exposure multiple. The closer you get to retirement, the lower your multiple should be as well. Nobody wants to get close to the financially free finish line only to break a leg and get carted off in an ambulance. Be A Rational Investor With Financial SEERThe valuation of everything is dependent on current and future earnings. It takes time and energy to create those earnings from your job or your business. If you are seriously burning out, please dial down risk and give yourself some time to heal. For the average person in a normal economic cycle, a gross Risk Tolerance Multiple of 18 is my recommendation. Most people have the fortitude to waste up to around 2-3 years of their lives to gain back what they've lost from a bear market. But after three years of digging out of a hole, things start to feel hopeless as the average person starts giving up. Remember, things could always be worse! Not only could your stock investments lose more than 35%, you could lose all your home equity due to leverage, your business, your job, and your spouse as well. Please invest rationally and responsibly. I hope the Financial Samurai Equity Exposure Rule (SEER) helps you take the subjective term of risk tolerance and shapes it into something quantifiable. You now have a concrete way of determining your equity exposure and risk tolerance. Financial SEER formulas: Risk Tolerance = (Public Equity Exposure X Expected Percentage Decline) / Monthly Gross Income Maximum Equity Exposure = (Your Monthly Salary X Risk Tolerance Multiple) / Expected Percentage Decline Related Posts: Recommended Net Worth Allocation By Age Or Work Experience The Proper Asset Allocation Of Stocks And Bonds By Age Readers, how do you quantify risk tolerance? How many months are you willing to work to make up for potential losses in your portfolio? Is your equity exposure appropriate for your risk tolerance? What is your Risk Tolerance Multiple? The post Financial SEER: A Way To Quantify Risk Tolerance And Determine Appropriate Equity Exposure appeared first on Financial Samurai. 1/6/2019 0 Comments Season's GreeningsWishing all of our 275,000+ Urban Gardens readers, subscribers and social media followers a great 2019 and thank you for your continued support! Some Holiday Reading: Your Favorite Posts From 2018 1. Grow a Meal a Week in Small Spaces … Read More... The post Season's Greenings appeared first on Urban Gardens. It's easy to find a bathroom in disarray, after all it's one of the smallest rooms in the house that's also used by everyone and guests. Thankfully, there are some bathroom organization ideas that can help shape up your small space! “People are stuck with a lot of clutter and disorganization going on in their bathroom, because they're in and out fast and don't take the time to put things away,” said Susan Stone, a professional organizer in New England. If you're ready to create an organization system to keep your bathroom clutter at bay, keep reading for some great bathroom organization ideas from Stone and another professional organizer! Your space and morning routine will be in order in no time. Only Store Everyday Essentials in a BathroomIf there are items you don't use every day – such as cold medicine or 20 rolls of toilet paper – then it should be stored in a linen closet or storage space outside the bathroom, said Sara Barba of XOXOrganizing. “In any bathroom in a regular-size home, you don't have a ton of space,” she said. “If you go and buy in bulk, I always say don't keep everything in your bathroom. That's going to take a lot of space and it's going to take months to get through all that shampoo, or whatever it is.” If you have a lot of hair products or makeup, only store what you need to get ready the next day. “Maybe just pare it down to what you're actually using,” said Barba. “I have so many hair products for my curly hair and then I have some for when I'm in my straight hair faze. Take the products that you're not using and store them somewhere else until you're ready to use them again.” Bathroom Organization Ideas: Utilize Vertical SpaceInstead of cramping the space under the sink with towels and bathroom necessities, or your bathroom floor with more cabinets, consider adding shelves or hooks on walls or doors to free up storage space. “Hang shelves on walls, or baskets and hooks over the door,” said Stone. “Think vertically, because bathrooms are often space-challenged.” She also suggests adding hooks to the inside of cabinet doors for curling irons or blow dryers, because hanging those items will free up storage space elsewhere. “This reduces the visible clutter on the back of sinks and toilet tanks,” she said. But before you go to the store and buy storage bins, shelves or other bathroom organization supplies, make sure you make room for them by removing what you don't need in your bathroom. “Bins are adding more stuff, and if you're constantly adding stuff your bathroom will start to look really messy,” Barba said. “Make sure you subtract things from your bathroom before you start adding new things.” Reorganize a Bathroom SeasonallyDuring your fall or spring cleaning routines, go through you bathroom and toss expired products, switch out seasonal necessities and toss old linens, said Stone. “You should go through your bathroom once a season, because you'll want to switch out moisturizers in the winter with sunblock in the summer,” she said. “Twice a year, when you're switching out your wardrobe, you should also consider your bathroom products.” This includes getting rid of items you never used – like a shade of lipstick that you hoped would look good, but never did. Or shampoo brands that you were excited to try, but just didn't work out. “Your space is really special, and it should only hold the things you also consider special,” said Stone. The post Bathroom Organization Ideas for Your Small Space appeared first on Public Storage Blog: Decluttering, Moving, Storing Tips – The Organized Life. |
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