Walk With Money » Amp http://www.walkwithmoney.com Take A Walk On The Wealthy Side Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:32:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 Your Income Is Your Greatest Wealth Building Asset http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-income-is-your-greatest-wealth-building-asset/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-income-is-your-greatest-wealth-building-asset/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:20:03 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-income-is-your-greatest-wealth-building-asset/ Read the whole article...]]> For those of us who like to read (and write) information on personal finance subjects, we spend energy on a wide range of wealth building strategies.  Too often we ignore the concept of making money because we feel it’s something outside our control.  After all, our employer pays us, we don’t pay ourselves, right?  The reality is that your income is your greatest wealth building asset.

61b27 Making Money Your Income Is Your Greatest Wealth Building Asset

Photo by Photos8.com via Flickr

Keeping & Growing Income

The first thing to focus on is keeping and growing your income.  Obviously, this is a concern for many people today considering the high unemployment in America.  If you’re wanting to improve your financial situation, you must re-establish your income even if it means taking a less-than-ideal job.  If you have a job still, do what you can to keep it — and if you’re in the minority with an opportunity for a raise or other opportunities, take advantage them!

Next, I believe it’s worthwhile to pursue additional income opportunities to create income outside your “main job.”  This has been a main focus of my blogging for a couple years now — finding ways to make extra money to improve one’s financial situation.  You can read some of my past posts here at Moolonomy or check out my online income page for more information.

Letting Your Income Work

Now, letting your income work for you is what almost all Americans struggle to do.  What do I mean by this?  I mean letting your income actually building your wealth.  Instead, most Americans inhibit their income and put obstacles in front of it and prevent it from building wealth.

For example, the biggest obstacle is debt.  By tacking on insane levels of debt, we fail to let our income build wealth.  How?  Well, big chunks of our income immediately go towards paying ...

]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-income-is-your-greatest-wealth-building-asset/feed/ 1 BB&T Customer Service Nightmare and How to Avoid Overdraft Fees http://www.walkwithmoney.com/bbt-customer-service-nightmare-and-how-to-avoid-overdraft-fees/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/bbt-customer-service-nightmare-and-how-to-avoid-overdraft-fees/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:20:02 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/bbt-customer-service-nightmare-and-how-to-avoid-overdraft-fees/ Read the whole article...]]> I had a really bad banking experience last week – actually, it took place over 7 days and is still not quite over. I was going to blog about it and rat out the bank, but then some halfway decent customer service changed my mind. When I logged into my account today and saw YET ANOTHER FEE, I changed it back – so here goes the saga.

cac71 Bad Customer Service BB&T Customer Service Nightmare and How to Avoid Overdraft Fees

Photo by Worak via Flickr

Background

I have held an account at BB&T for over three years. It’s a regional bank that was the only brick-and-mortar near my first apartment. Since opening, I’ve moved twice and had the opportunity to switch to national banks with more branches and more readily-available ATMs. However, I have remained a loyal customer to BB&T, direct depositing my paychecks and running all checks and bill payments through that account – since my rent alone is $1500 a month, this is not an insignificant amount of money!

I maintain both a checking and savings account with BB&T, keeping at least $800-900 across the two accounts at any given time and more when I am going to pay bills. However, in the interest (haha) of earning a little more interest, I keep most of my cash in an online account with a better rate. I periodically make transfers to pay my bills, including my rent.

The Situation

I was going away for the 4th and wrote my July rent check on June 30. Knowing that I did not have enough cash in my checking account to cover it, I transferred $1075 from my online savings account to my BB&T checking. I then left out of town until the 5th.

Late on the 5th (Monday), I logged into my checking account and saw TWO overdraft fees ($70 total). Turns out the transfer went the wrong way — OUT of my checking instead of INTO my checking. I’m still not sure whether this was my fault or the bank’s, but we’ll go ahead and call it mine — I scheduled the transaction in a hurry, anxious to get to the beach!

As it happens, that very week I had made the decision to stop using my credit card for everything (earning points and paying it off monthly of course) and switch to using my debit card in an effort to curb spending. I had some pending debit card items from July 1st that reduced my “available balance” to right around $1,050 — so when the $1,075 transfer came out, it caused an overdraft. An auto-payment went through after, causing another overdraft. I called to confirm that pending transactions mattered when assessing overdraft fees. I then transferred $300 into my account from my BB&T savings — more than enough to bring the account back to positive AND cover the 3 remaining pending transactions. I also transferred $2,000 from my online savings account to checking — $1,000 to make up for the accidental withdrawal and $1,000 to cover the original deposit I was TRYING to make to cover my rent check. I made it very clear to the customer service rep that I did not want to receive MORE overdrafts for those pending transactions. She didn’t really understand my point that since they caused the original overdrafts by locking up funds that WERE available, they shouldn’t ALSO cause their own overdrafts.

Every other time I have ever transferred funds from savings to checking within the same bank, they credit immediately. Guess what — this time, they didn’t. And so the three pending transactions went through and caused an additional $105 in overdrafts. When I called to complain, noting that I had a $300 pending deposit, I was told pending transactions don’t count — OH WAIT, but when the pending transactions were debits they sure did! I asked politely if any of the charges could be reversed and was told no. I then said “I need to either talk to someone who can fix this, or talk to someone who can close my account.” The customer ...

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]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/bbt-customer-service-nightmare-and-how-to-avoid-overdraft-fees/feed/ 0 How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-let-you-work-from-home/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-let-you-work-from-home/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:20:08 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-let-you-work-from-home/ Read the whole article...]]>
ac7de work from home 1[1] How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home

Americans spend an average of 50 minutes a day commuting to and from work.

That's about 200 hours a year wasted in traffic jams. With telecommuting, you can reclaim that time and spend more of it with your family!

In a recent guest post we did for My Life Scoop we shared 8 great tips on how to convince your boss to let you work from home. Here are two key tips from that article.

List the Ways Telework Will Benefit the Company

While your boss may be receptive your needs, the company’s needs will trump yours.

ac7de work from home 4 How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home

Get stats from government agencies and other companies to support your case, and be sure to zone in on the ones most relevant to your industry. Kate Lister and Tom Harnish, authors of the definitive telecommuting guide, Undress for Success, have compiled a comprehensive list of convincing statistics. For example, did you know:

  • Best Buy, British Telecom, Dow Chemical and many others show that teleworkers are 35-40% more productive.
  • AT&T's teleworkers work 5 more hours at home than their office workers.
  • Sun Microsystems' employees spend 60% of the commuting time they save performing work for the company.
  • 72% of ...

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    ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-let-you-work-from-home/feed/ 1 Is This the Best Search Engine Ever for New & Used Cars? http://www.walkwithmoney.com/is-this-the-best-search-engine-ever-for-new-used-cars/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/is-this-the-best-search-engine-ever-for-new-used-cars/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 02:20:06 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/is-this-the-best-search-engine-ever-for-new-used-cars/ Read the whole article...]]>
    Auto Tempest

    The site is one I found quite by accident. I'm not in the market for a used car, I was actually looking for a quote from Bill Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and stumbled upon this gem. Ahh, I love the Internet. The site is called AutoTempest.com. It's only in Beta right now, but the results are awesome!

    In the past, when I was searching for a used car, I would bring up the usual suspects — cars.com, kbb.com, edmunds.com. With three windows or tabs open, I would flick between them all looking for the best price, the lowest miles, and the best financing option available.

    That was time-consuming and a hassle. But I never thought any more about it until I started pushing the buttons of this new site. (It's like Kayak.com but for new and used cars.) As regular Wise Bread readers know, I'm a huge fan of sites and gadgets that save you time and money. Put a check mark next to both of those categories for AutoTempest.com.

    The interface is simple enough. Enter the make and model of the car you're looking for, along with the location, year, price and mileage. Sure, those are the usual features, but AutoTempest goes a little further.

    a64df EDd9Y Is This the Best Search Engine Ever for New & Used Cars?

    With the advanced search, you can add-in transmission, body style, seller type, and even choose to search collector or niche sites.

    <img ...

    ]]>     http://www.walkwithmoney.com/is-this-the-best-search-engine-ever-for-new-used-cars/feed/ 1     Professional Home Inspection Service Checklist – Tips & What’s Included http://www.walkwithmoney.com/professional-home-inspection-service-checklist-tips-whats-included/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/professional-home-inspection-service-checklist-tips-whats-included/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:20:12 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/professional-home-inspection-service-checklist-tips-whats-included/ Read the whole article...]]> If you are about to purchase your first home, there are several things you need to do. It does not matter if the home is brand new and has never been lived in; get the inspection anyway.

    The first and most important thing you need to do is get pre-approved for a mortgage, unless you are fortunate enough to be paying in cash. By getting pre-approved for a mortgage BEFORE you start shopping for a home, you will know how much home you can afford and avoid wasting time looking at homes that are beyond your price range. There is nothing worse than finding the home you like, then applying for the mortgage only to be told you can't afford the house.

    The second is to find your perfect home. One piece of advice I can offer here is to look at as many homes as you need to to ensure you get the home that is perfect for you. You are probably making one of the largest purchases of your life so you want to get it right. If you don't like your home after you purchase it, you can't take it back and ask for a refund.

    One you find that perfect home, the third and perhaps, the second most important thing to do behind getting a mortgage pre-approval is to get a home inspection. This is one expense in the homebuying process that you do not want to overlook.

    A home inspection can help identify those problems that may be hiding deep behind the walls of your potential home. As a buyer, you may be too busy checking out how many bedrooms the home has, how many bathrooms the home has or how large a lot the home is. You may even be too busy thinking about the neighborhood or the school district. You probably aren't looking at the little cracks in the wall or know that there is an electrical issue that could cause your home to burn down.

    Spending a few hundred dollars on a home inspection can save you from making ...

    ]]>     http://www.walkwithmoney.com/professional-home-inspection-service-checklist-tips-whats-included/feed/ 0     How to Save Money During the Early Days of a Startup http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-save-money-during-the-early-days-of-a-startup/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-save-money-during-the-early-days-of-a-startup/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:20:08 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-save-money-during-the-early-days-of-a-startup/ Read the whole article...]]>

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    There’s a lot of commentary on how to start a business, how to court investors, and how to sell a business. One theme that consistently falls through the cracks, however, is what it takes to, and what it is like to start up and run your own company on the ground level. For many young entrepreneurs, the thought of using investor money to help build your dream sounds like just like that — a dream. And while generating funding and starting out with a size-able amount of seed money can help a business get off the ground quickly, there are down sides to bringing others on board with the business that invariably will become ‘your baby’. If you have just taken the plunge, or are about to, and for those thinking about bootstrapping (even for business people that are just trying to save), I’ve laid down some tips that I’ve learned by doing, as a young entrepreneur and investor.

    P&L / Project Costing

    18529 0czQN How to Save Money During the Early Days of a Startup

    Damon Duncan

    This is very important. Upon starting your business, it should quickly become apparent that you have some customers that are more profitable then others. Ones that take less time and generate more profit. Conversely, there are the customers that take more time, and generate less profit for you. Breaking down each customer into its own profit & loss (P&L) statement helps you understand who they are and what characteristics they have in common. Once you’ve identified the characteristics of the ‘high profit’ customers, you can then go after them. It’s worth spending the time to analyze your clients in a cost-benefit way, so that you can scale your business’s operations and your profits.

    Generate Financial Reports Monthly

    9969c 0A6vH How to Save Money During the Early Days of a Startup

    University of Denver

    “What you measure gets managed” Peter Drucker once quipped, and that is why its important to review your financial reports monthly (if not more often). Much like it is important to monitor the profit/loss of your customer base, it is important to see where the money is coming and going each month. Many companies start out with several types ...

    ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/how-to-save-money-during-the-early-days-of-a-startup/feed/ 1 Wow, look what Earn1k members are already doing http://www.walkwithmoney.com/wow-look-what-earn1k-members-are-already-doing/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/wow-look-what-earn1k-members-are-already-doing/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:20:06 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/wow-look-what-earn1k-members-are-already-doing/ Read the whole article...]]>

    Wow, look what Earn1k members are already doing

    5 comments — written on February 21st, 2010

    Note: I’m giving 2 talks at Stanford TONIGHT (Monday, 2/22, 5:30pm & 7:30pm). If you’re around, please stop by and say hi.

    * * *

    My Earn1k course — to help you earn your first $1,000 on the side, and beyond — has been live for 3 weeks.

    Instead of telling you how it’s going, I thought I’d let my users do the talking.

    What have you learned in Earn1k that you didn’t know before? Please be SPECIFIC.

    “Having too many ideas is not an acceptable excuse. Also, you don’t need an original idea. Just do better than crappy people.”

    “I learned a better process of how to narrow down a niche by what questions to ask. Learning which areas I should devote more my time to (figuring out what is MOST essential for your business) was also a great lesson because I can sometimes get caught up on some of the non-essential things (i.e. go to networking events, get business cards, etc.)”

    “-To start with a narrow niche focus and broaden if necessary. The point is to actually start doing things that matter.
    -Ask for referrals. Ramit recommends “Referral Flood.” Noah: Ask each client for three referrals, and “Who do you normally hear about this stuff from?”
    -From Tim and Ramit: Don’t rely on willpower. Develop habits to avoid having to think about every detail every time you encounter it. Form new habits to create new behavior.”

    “I thought that online surveys would work well for getting in the head of your market. I found that there is nothing better than meeting face to face with potential clients. The ...

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    ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/wow-look-what-earn1k-members-are-already-doing/feed/ 0 Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course http://www.walkwithmoney.com/announcing-the-%e2%80%9cearn-your-first-1000-on-the-side%e2%80%9d-course/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/announcing-the-%e2%80%9cearn-your-first-1000-on-the-side%e2%80%9d-course/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:20:08 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/announcing-the-%e2%80%9cearn-your-first-1000-on-the-side%e2%80%9d-course/ Read the whole article...]]>

    Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

    38 comments — written on February 4th, 2010

    Today I’m thrilled to announce a totally new course called Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side.

    480f6 earn1k logo Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

    The short version: An all-new course that I’ve been quietly developing for a year, which includes 16 super-specific lessons on finding a profitable idea, testing it, finding clients, pricing, marketing, all designed to help you earn $1,000 (and more) on the side — every month. Also includes hours of gorgeous HD video strategies and tactics, Master Classes from people like Tim Ferriss (4HWW) on specific topics like marketing, time management & productivity, and psychology. Course registration ends tomorrow — click to see course details.

    Q: What’s surprised you so far?

    A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is seriously the best looking, most relevant material I have seen online.”
    –Ned White, Earn1k preview member

    The detailed version: For the last four years, the #1 requested topic on my site has been “how to earn money.” Yet I’ve resisted creating a course for you guys, because most of the “earn money” courses I see are sleazy SEO plays or worthless courses that give you the same information you could find on Google. ‘Pick a market! Make a business plan. Network a lot!’

    Give me a break.

    But last year, when I went on my book tour, I met my readers in Starbucks and Barnes & Nobles in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver…and all over. When I asked them what THEY wanted me to write about, they all said the same thing: how to earn more money.

    I asked them what questions they wanted me to answer, and here were some of the most common:

    • “I already have a full-time job. Can I really earn $1,000 on the side without spending 60 hours/week?”
    • “I don’t know which skills could actually earn me money. How do I decide what to do?”
    • “What can you teach me that’s new? I already know the stuff on Google.”

    Their questions were really surprising.

    That’s when I started seriously thinking about building the single-best course on earning money anywhere. Not just high-level advice, but specific strategies and tactics to help you use your skills, find a market, and charge competitive rates for side income.

    You saw the first 3 weeks of January with all-new posts on earning more money, niche-ing it down, getting in your customers’ heads, and using a step-by-step process to earn money on the side.

    As we’ve worked on this course for the last year, I wish I could go back to all those cities and tell my readers:

    • You DON’T need to spend 60 hours/week to earn $1,000 on the side…
    • You DON’T need to set up a sophisticated website or become an SEO master…
    • You DON’T need to get 10,000 Twitter followers or set up a YouTube/Facebook/LinkedIn page…
    • You DON’T need to create an ebook or product to earn your first $1,000…
    • You DON’T need to become a legal expert on business licenses…

    Instead, you need to spend the majority of your time GETTING PAYING CLIENTS. Amazing when you eliminate all the BS.

    It’s not just about the money

    When I asked readers why they wanted to earn more money, the biggest reason across the board was NOT just about the money.

    Actually, the #1 reason I got from you was to be able to eventually leave your job and work for yourself or travel.

    Knowing this, I focused on not only new tactics to earn more, but the psychology of your own barriers — the barriers that are keeping you in a “meh” job. Are you too busy? Not sure where to start? Nervous about investing thousands into an unproven idea? The Earn1k course breaks it down step-by-step.

    All these barriers (and more) can be systematically tested and used to help grow your side income.

    In fact, here’s what some people said about the the preview version of Earn1k, which contained just a fraction of what the full course contains.

    “I don’t feel scammed! No offense Ramit, but I’ve been burned by empty promises from other online courses. Also, I feel like I’m being taught and pushed to act, rather than merely inspired. It’s completely different than my other experiences. At this place in my life when I’m feeling poised to make changes and earn more money, it would be self-sabotage not to do it.”

    –R. Cree, Earn1k preview member

    “I am surprised how much I have gotten out of it, honestly. I came in thinking I might pick up some tools and tricks that could be used in my current business or to start my next one, but now I want to try freelancing. I knew in the back of my head that I shouldn’t try to make everyone happy, but you really hammered ruthless niching enough that it finally clicked for me. More niche = more rare = more concentrated demand = higher $/hr.”

    –Blake Wager, Earn1k preview member

    “Ramit’s course has already completely changed my perspective from what *I* want to what the *customer* wants. Learning ...

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    ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/announcing-the-%e2%80%9cearn-your-first-1000-on-the-side%e2%80%9d-course/feed/ 1 2010 Fortune’s 25 Top Paying Companies http://www.walkwithmoney.com/2010-fortune%e2%80%99s-25-top-paying-companies/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/2010-fortune%e2%80%99s-25-top-paying-companies/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:20:45 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/2010-fortune%e2%80%99s-25-top-paying-companies/ Read the whole article...]]>



    Fat Stack of BenjaminsEvery year, Forbes puts out it’s full list of the Top 100 companies to work for and every year I look for the two employers I’ve ever had… only really expecting to see one of them (and fairness, there aren’t any major defense contractors on the list). This year, my last company, Booz Allen Hamilton, retained the 52nd spot on the list despite going through some huge organizational changes. I have nothing but good things to say about the organization and the people I had the pleasure of working with while I was there.

    But, enough about why *I* look at the list, let’s see which companies stack up where it matters most – pay.

    2010 Top Ten Paying Companies

    Here are the top ten paying companies of 2010:

    1. Baker Donelson (Law firm) – $319,779
    2. Salesforce.com (CRM software) – $249,607
    3. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe (Law firm) – $245,206
    4. Bingham McCutchen (Law firm) – $233,800
    5. Devon Energy (Energy company) – $187,819
    6. Alston & Bird (Law firm) – $185,938
    7. Perkins ...
      ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/2010-fortune%e2%80%99s-25-top-paying-companies/feed/ 1 Your Take: How Do You Prepare Your Taxes? http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-take-how-do-you-prepare-your-taxes/ http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-take-how-do-you-prepare-your-taxes/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:20:45 +0000 Robert Wilkinson http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-take-how-do-you-prepare-your-taxes/ Read the whole article...]]>



      Busboys & PoetsLast night I had to pleasure to finally meet some of the DC personal finance bloggers and some PR folks at a happy hour (or three) hosted by TurboTax at Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Street. It was a fun event that was really casual and it was nice to meet people I’d only been emailing, instant messaging, or twittering with these last few months and years. Many thanks to the most awesome Chelsea (@TTaxChels) for inviting me!

      In talking with both Scott Gulbransen (@prgully) and Dave Donohue (@davedonohue), I was surprised to learn that most people prepare their taxes the same way their parents did. If your parents did their taxes online with a service like TurboTax, you were more likely to use TurboTax. If they always went to a tax prep place like H&R Block, then ...

      ]]> http://www.walkwithmoney.com/your-take-how-do-you-prepare-your-taxes/feed/ 1