If You Have More Than $1,000 in Your Checking Account, Make These 6 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. 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.
2. 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 $1,100 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. No phone calls. No spam. Just happy customers (4.8 rating on Trustpilot).
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.
3. Get Up to 3.90% APY With This High-Yield Cash Account
It’s hard not to cringe when you see a bank statement full of fees. With Wealthfront, you can forget those annoying bank fees and earn a whopping 3.25% APY through partner banks on your cash — nearly 8x the national average savings rate.
Enjoy unlimited transfers, same-day withdrawals, zero account fees, and no minimum balance requirements to earn 3.25% APY1. Right now, Wealthfront is giving your savings a little boost with an extra 0.65% APY for three months on up to $150,000. That brings your total to 3.90% variable APY when you open your first Cash Account as a Wealthfront client.
And, you can get started with Wealthfront with only a $1 (terms and conditions apply).
Join Wealthfront today and make your money work for you— not your bank.
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. Earn Up to $100 this Month By Answering Survey Questions About the News — It’s Anonymous
The news is a heated subject these days. It’s hard not to have an opinion on it.
Good news: A website called YouGov will pay you up to $100 or more this month just to answer survey questions about politics, the economy, and other hot news topics.
Plus, it’s totally anonymous, so no one will judge you for that hot take.
When you take a quick survey (some are less than three minutes), you’ll earn points you can exchange for up to $100 in cash or gift cards to places like Walmart and Amazon. Plus, Penny Hoarder readers will get an extra 500 points for registering and another 1,000 points after completing their first survey.
Signing up and taking your first survey takes just a few minutes, and you’ll receive your points immediately.
6. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company
If you have credit card debt, you know. The anxiety, the interest rates, the fear you’re never going to escape… but a website called AmONE wants to help.
If you owe your credit card companies $100,000 or less, AmONE will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every single one of your balances.
The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have lower interest rates (AmONE rates start at 6.40% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster.
It takes less than a minute and just 10 questions to see what loans you qualify for.
