If You Have More Than $1,000 in Your Checking Account, Make These 8 Moves

You’ve done it. You’ve built up a little cushion in your bank account — $1,000! It feels good, right? Those days of checking your account balance in a panic are behind you.

Congrats! You’re on the right path. Now it’s time to think about some longer-term goals. What do you want to accomplish next with your money? Do you need to save more? Do you want to buy a home someday? Invest?

What’s the next step to take? What are some specific things you can do to elevate your finances?

We’ve got some ideas for you:

1. Cancel Your Car Insurance

You might not even realize it, but your car insurance company is probably overcharging you. In fact, they’re kind of counting on you not noticing. Luckily, this problem is easy to fix.

Don’t waste your time browsing insurance sites for a better deal. A company called Insurify shows you all your options at once — people who do this save up to $996 per year.

If you tell them a bit about yourself and your vehicle, they’ll send you personalized quotes so you can compare them and find the best one for you.

Tired of overpaying for car insurance? It takes just five minutes to compare your options with Insurify and see how much you could save on car insurance.

2. Invest in Real Estate Without the Volatility — You Only Need $500

You’re not the only one who daydreams about making money in your sleep. Investing in real estate is one of the best ways to earn passive income. The only problem? You need to have lots of money.

Well, you used to.

With a company called Connect Invest you can get your foot in the door for just $500, investing in what are called short notes. And, if you make your first investment within 40 days of signing up, you can earn a $50 bonus.

Basically, you’re buying the debt that wealthy developers take on to fund their real estate projects — and they have to pay you back, with up to 9% (annualized rate) in interest… while you sleep.

With Connect Invest, you’ll invest for terms of 6, 12, or 24 months, during which you’ll receive monthly fixed-interest payments between 7.5% and 9% (annualized rate). You could earn a legit passive income with those rates — and it’s way higher than what you’d earn with your savings account!

Connect Invest carefully vets each real estate project and borrower. And don’t worry, all loans are backed by real estate collateral. In the rare event of a default, Connect Invest’s sister company will foreclose on the property with the investors’ approval and sell it to recover your investment.

Set up your free account, and start investing today.

3. Set Up Direct Deposit — Pocket $300​

When you set up direct deposit with SoFi Checking and Savings (Member FDIC), they’ll put up to $300 straight into your account. No… really. Just a nice little bonus for making a smart switch.

Why switch? With SoFi, you can earn up to 3.80% APY on savings and 0.50% on checking, plus a 0.70% APY boost for your first 6 months when you set up direct deposit or keep $5K in your account. That’s up to 4.50% APY total. Way better than letting your balance chill at 0.40% APY.

There’s no fees. No gotchas. Make the move to SoFi and get paid to upgrade your finances.

4. You Can Become a Real Estate Investor for as Little as $10

Take a look at some of the world’s wealthiest people. What do they have in common? Many invest in large private real estate deals. And here’s the thing: There’s no reason you can’t, too — for as little as $10. 

An investment called the Fundrise Flagship Fund lets you get started in the world of real estate by giving you access to a low-cost, diversified portfolio of private real estate. The best part? You don’t have to be the landlord. The Flagship Fund does all the heavy lifting.

With an initial investment as low as $10, your money will be invested in the Fund, which already owns more than $1 billion worth of real estate around the country, from apartment complexes to the thriving housing rental market to larger last-mile e-commerce logistics centers.

Want to invest more? Many investors choose to invest $1,000 or more. This is a Fund that can fit any type of investor’s needs. Once invested, you can track your performance from your phone and watch as properties are acquired, improved, and operated. As properties generate cash flow, you could earn money through quarterly dividend payments. And over time, you could earn money off the potential appreciation of the properties. 

So if you want to get started in the world of real-estate investing, it takes just a few minutes to sign up and create an account with the Fundrise Flagship Fund.

This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus. Read them carefully before investing.

5. Get up to $100,000 From This Company

Every month, you make payments toward your credit card debt. But you never seem to make a dent. It’s because of those sky-high interest rates — as much as 24% interest. It can feel impossible to get ahead.

But MoneyLion could help you find offers to cut your interest rate by 70% as soon as tomorrow. 

Here’s how it works: MoneyLion can match you with new loan offers at a lower interest rate — as low as 5.99% APR*. That’s 70%* lower than the average credit card interest rate. And it’s the key to finally getting ahead.

You can use this new loan to pay off all your existing credit card debt, leaving you with one (cheaper) monthly payment that will help you get out of debt faster. If you have a credit score of at least 620, you could get up to $100,000 with no collateral. Terms go up to 240 months.

Worried you won’t qualify? Take two minutes to check online and see if you could cut your credit card interest rate by 70%.

*Based on creditworthiness. Average credit card interest rate is 24.72% as of 8/14/24, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.

6. Get Up to $3,000 in Stock with Active Invest

If you’ve been thinking about investing, now’s the time to jump in. With SoFi Active Invest, you can trade stocks and ETFs with no commissions¹, no account minimums, and no confusing hoops to jump through.

Here’s the best part: Fund an active account and enroll in SoFi plus with as little as $50, and for a limited time, you could earn up to $3,000 in stock². Whether it’s your first trade or your 50th, SoFi makes investing accessible.

You can also take advantage of a 1% IRA match on contributions and rollovers, helping you grow your retirement savings even faster (terms apply).

With SoFi, you can buy and sell stocks with no commissions, so you never have to pay to invest your own money. You’ll also have access to real-time investing news, personalized watchlists, and curated insights to help you make smarter decisions. You can even start with as little as $5 thanks to fractional shares, making it easier than ever to own a piece of the companies you believe in. Plus, as a SoFi member, you’ll be part of a community of investors with access to exclusive events and rate discounts on other SoFi products.

Ready to put your money to work for you? Fund your account, start trading, and see how far SoFi Active Invest can take you.

7. Earn a $200 bonus for everyday purchases

Want to get $200 for spending $500? Yeah, it’s totally a thing.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® card basically pays you for doing what you already do. Groceries? Yep. Gas? For sure. That “just one thing” Target trip that somehow became $87? Absolutely.

Right now, you’ll earn a $200 bonus after you spend just $500 in the first 3 months. That’s a solid chunk of cash for things that were already on your to-purchase list.

Here’s what you get and why it’s kind of a no-brainer:

• $200 bonus after you spend $500 in the first 3 months
• 5% back on travel through Chase Travel℠
• 3% back at restaurants and drugstores
• 1.5% back on everything else
• 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (then 18.99% – 28.49% variable APR)
• No annual fee (because honestly, who wants to pay for a credit card?)

You can redeem cash back anytime—no minimums, no waiting—and your rewards never expire. And yep, you’ll even get free credit score access thanks to Chase Credit Journey.

Oh, and millions of people already use this card, so you’re in pretty good company.Get the full scoop on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card in about 60 seconds—no pressure, just straight-up rewards.

8. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews

If we told you that you could get paid while watching videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh. But we’re serious.

By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket.

Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

Signing up takes about one minute, and you’ll immediately receive a $5 bonus to get you started.