As far as I know, only one reader of Get Rich Slowly knows me personally. And last week, I was having lunch with my one-person fan club. (Actually, I am not sure she’s even a fan, but she did buy my lunch. Thanks, Lisa!)
“You really stirred up some controversy with one of your recent posts,” Lisa said, a forkful of salad in hand.
“You must mean the one about not paying for our kids’ college, right?” I said.
“Yes, that’s the one. You know, it really made me think.” Without telling me her opinion on the subject, she said, “What do parents really owe their kids? Financially speaking, of course.”
“I actually wanted to write a blog post on that.”
Though Lisa and I went on to talk about all the financial gifts parents can give their children (we decided that parents taking care of their own futures is a great gift to give their children), this post is about cars. Should parents pay for their children’s transportation costs … or not?
A Car With Strings Attached
When I turned 16, I immediately got my driver’s license. I arrived home with a plastic ticket to freedom burning a hole in my wallet. As I understood it, I would be allowed to drive the family car, so I was totally surprised when my mom said my birthday present was parked out behind the garage. Even though my heart rate increased, I tried not to show my excitement as I nonchalantly walked outside … to find a small matchbox car “parked” in the snow. Ha ha. Very funny, Mom.
So, back to Plan A. Yes, I would be allowed to drive the family car. Yes, my parents would pay for the insurance and repairs, as long as said repairs were not from my own irresponsibility. I would pay for the gas, and I would have to forfeit the family car to my sister as soon as she turned 16. That gave me 22 months to save up for my own car.
“The hard part of this deal,” my dad said, “is that the car is the bargaining chip. When you get grounded, you’ll get grounded from the car. We will pick you up from work, and you’ll have to find your own ride to school or ride the school bus.”
Not that I ever experienced that part of the deal or anything. Ahem.
My husband had a different experience. He had to buy his own car right away and pay for everything. Like most things, we each think the way we were raised worked out best for us. And that always makes for interesting discussions.
Transportation Valuation
The way I see it, we have three options:
1. Buy and give a car to our kids. Pay for everything.
Pros — This gives you an opportunity to pick out the car. It should be something that is reliable, getting up in years, and something low on the cool-meter. I think a four-door sedan that their grandparents would drive is a good choice. Buying the car also allows your child to save money for something else.
Cons — Is it necessary and the best use of the family budget? Would the child take care of it as well as if the child had had to pay for it him/herself? Does this help the child to manage money better or not?
2. Allow our children to use our car like my parents did, but pay for all (or some?) expenses, other than gas.
Pros — The child has a longer time to save up money for other expenses. It’s a good “bridge” between learning to care for a car, pay for gas, and buying his or her own car. It also is a privilege that can easily be removed. (My husband argues that driving privileges can be removed, no matter who owns the car. He is right, of course.)
Cons — The child may not fully grasp the whole cost of car ownership if they only pay for the gas.
3. If the kid wants a car, the kid can buy a car. And pay for everything.
Pros — The child would fully grasp the whole cost of car ownership. I believe this scenario is the one in which the child would take the best care of the car.
Cons — This would require having a cushion in case of unexpected repairs, and careful budgeting to make sure the child can afford all the expenses associated with car ownership. (WOW! This sounds suspiciously like real life!) It does not allow them as much time to save for other expenses.
(As I have mentioned before, we live in a rural area. If you can live without your teenager using a car, that’s great! It would be doable in our case, but not convenient.)
As I look over this list of pros and cons, I am leaning toward something that’s between the second and third options. I would be fine with allowing the child to use our car, but it probably would be more helpful if they had to pay for the gas and a percentage of repairs and insurance. I know I was surprised at how much oil changes, new tires, and wear and tear repairs added up to once I bought my own car.
While we have at least six years to make this decision — and I don’t want to speed this up at all — I would like to start prepping our kids with our expectations so they aren’t surprised when I tell them their birthday present is parked by the garage.
Would you buy your child a car? If so, would you expect the child to pay for any expenses?
You don’t have to be a tree-hugger to want to embrace a more green commute. Not only does going green in your commute help your environment, it can also help your wallet. Considering the current gas crisis and the rising prices at the pump, wanting to go green has never been more been more beneficial.
75 percent of Americans get to work by driving solo — so green commuting offers an opportunity to make a big difference for the environment. And with many cities offering a “Guaranteed Ride Home” program to bikers, carpoolers and public transit users, there’s no reason not give one of these options a try. In fact, several communities are actually making the most of green commuting options
It’s impressive that military-based communities such as Colorado Springs, Biloxi and Bremerton have embraced the green commuting lifestyle. While larger city neighborhoods such as Koreatown, NY, Hudson Exchange, NJ, Boston’s Beacon Hill and Dupont Circle, DC might come as no surprise given the city’s large transport infrastructure, it’s surprising to find that a smaller city such as Ann Arbor, MI would also make the list.
Are you one of America’s green commuters? Think your area does a lot better than one of these? Comment below and let us know.
Do you want to learn how to sell educational printables?
Lisa Fink was a teacher for 15 years but left the classroom to work on her educational printables business.
After just two years, she hit a six figure income. She now earns over $400,000 per year with her business, and she has sold over $1,000,000 in printables altogether.
You can start creating educational printables to sell and make money all from your home – and never have to ship a thing.
Creating educational printables can be a great way to make extra money because you just need to create them once, and you can sell them an unlimited amount of times.
Today, I have a fun interview to share with you. I interviewed Lisa, on how to sell educational printables.
Are you wondering questions such as:
What is an educational printable?
Why do teachers and parents buy printables?
How much money can a person earn by selling educational printables?
Do you have to be a teacher in order to sell educational printables?
Can someone with no tech skills make a printable?
Today’s interview will help you get started and perhaps even introduce you to a new way to make extra income.
Related content:
How to sell educational printables
1. Please give us a little background on yourself and how you got started. How much have you earned from your educational printables business?
Selling printable educational escape rooms on ThinkTankTeacher.com sort of came by accident. My husband and I bought a new house in August of 2017 but just one month later, he lost his job of 21 years in the corporate world due to downsizing.
As the sole provider, I began to worry about what the future was going to look like. How could we afford to pay our bills solely on a teacher’s income? We ALL know teachers are undervalued and underpaid, so this was a relevant struggle.
It was during this turbulent time that I decided to create ThinkTankTeacher.com as well as open a storefront on an educational platform called Teachers Pay Teachers. I needed to bring in extra income to pay the bills and this side-hustle thing was just what we needed. Although I was putting in 20-30 hours of work per week ON TOP of my full-time teaching job, but the future was getting brighter. We had hope.
My goal was to simply make a few hundred dollars a month, which at the time, I thought was quite unrealistic. Everything changed when it was just three months in, and I was already pulling in four figure months. At just six months, I was consistently earning five figures per month.
The point of my story is that it seemed as if life sent me some gray clouds, but they came with a silver lining. I was able to get my educational printables in classrooms all over the world. I fell in love with creating products and I never looked back. My life has been drastically transformed in the best way possible.
To date, I have earned well over $1,000,000 with printables. (It honestly still blows my mind to say that!)
2. What is an educational printable?
An educational printable is a quick, no prep activity that teachers can download instantly to complement their lesson plans.
Far too often textbooks lack creativity, do not foster student-centered learning, and quite frankly are downright boring.
The mission of Think Tank Teacher is to provide no-prep, engagement-boosting classroom activities to re-fuel the energy in a classroom with creativity and collaboration.
3. Who buys your educational printables?
My printables have been downloaded over 250,000 times by teachers, homeschool parents, and party planners looking to add a twist of fun to their kid’s party.
Often times teachers are seeking a last-minute activity that goes beyond the textbook, enhances the learning experience, and adds an element of puzzle decoding.
4. Why do teachers buy printables?
Teachers are always seeking something to help them differentiate in the classroom or supplement boring textbooks.
A teacher’s planning time is precious (and hard to come by) so a quick print and go lesson can make an enormous difference in their curriculum. Teachers spend far too much time outside of school hours prepping and planning, taking time away from things they love to do or people they love to spend time with.
Access to a pre-made, ready to use printable allows teachers to stop working at the bell and spend more time with their family.
Here’s an example of an educational printable.
5. What are some examples of what you sell?
From printable escape rooms, color by number, and scavenger hunts to digital secret message activities and virtual tours, I have something that meets the needs of all learning styles.
By far, my best-seller is the United States Constitution printable escape room.
Each resource I create incorporates a twist of fun to engage even the most reluctant learners. The key to a successful lesson is to pass the teaching reins off to the students and let them develop their own questions to think critically about the topic at hand.
6. What do you like about selling educational printables?
It warms my heart to know that my resources are kid tested and teacher approved, by hundreds of thousands of teachers, making an impact one classroom at a time.
The best part? The income is passive.
Once I upload a resource, the internet does the rest of the work. One single lesson can sell over and over again. There are no boxes to pack or ship, no inventory to track, and incredibly low overhead spending.
I have also added a membership model to my website making lesson plans easily accessible and less expensive for teachers.
7. How much money can a person earn by selling educational printables?
I have had a remarkable journey selling over $1,000,000 in printables.
Is it easy? No!
You have to put in blood, sweat and tears, but like anything else, the effort pays off in the long run. Since my educational business was so successful, I decided to get my brother Ben involved in a new venture last year. By this time, I felt like I had a good grasp on what I was doing in the educational online space.
Together, we opened Think Tank Escape Rooms on Etsy and have already made over $60,000 dollars. We took a different route and decided to focus our Esty shop on printable party games to entertain the kids and transform the house into an unforgettable code-breaking adventure! There is a high demand right now for printables, educational or not.
Despite my success story, my goals are high because there are other teacher authors making three times more than me. It IS possible! Reading success stories of fellow teacher authors was all the motivation I needed to dive in headfirst. Their accomplishments fueled my desire to become an entrepreneur.
8. Is there enough room for teachers to get started selling educational printables? Or, is the market saturated?
Absolutely, there is enough room for everyone!
Anyone who goes into the experience thinking the market is oversaturated has the wrong mindset. You have to adjust your mindset and find creative ways to make your idea unique, and to make it stand out amongst the thousands of others.
9. Do you have to be a teacher in order to start doing this?
You do not have to be a teacher to sell printables!
Though my college degree and teaching experience played a vital role in my success, this is a journey that homeschool moms or even corporate individuals can take advantage of.
You just need one idea to get you started.
10. How does a teacher come up with new ideas for printables?
This is probably the toughest part. The key is to find something you are passionate about and jump in. You want your resource to stand out.
You want apathetic learners to actively take part in the learning experience.
My mind is always running rampant with innovative ideas, improvements, and business proposals for both my website and Etsy shop.
I keep a notebook on my nightstand and jot down quick ideas. Some of them come to fruition and some of them do not.
11. Can someone with no tech skills make a printable?
There is some tech involved, but no difficult programs to learn.
Most creators use PowerPoint or Canva to create their printables. Of course, you have to know or learn how to upload the product, make catchy covers and enticing thumbnails but it is all refined to a skill over time.
When my brother jumped on board, he had never used PowerPoint or Canva and year later he’s a pro!
12. What is Teachers Pay Teachers? How does it work?
Teachers Pay Teachers is an online educational marketplace with millions of pre-made lessons.
Teachers seeking an activity can quickly jump on the website, search the topic they are covering in class, purchase and download an activity to use the very same day.
It is a lifesaver to many teachers, covering all subject areas in grades K-12.
13. Can you list the steps needed to get started selling educational printables?
First, you would need to either start your own website, open an Etsy shop, or open a Teachers Pay Teachers seller account.
Next, create an engaging printable.
After you create the activity, the fun’s not over! You have to create a preview of the product to give people a sense of what’s included, a cover page that screams “click on me” as well as thumbnails that give an overview of the activity.
When all of that is complete, you’ll need a title and product description, rich in keywords for SEO purposes.
Then voila, press publish, and your activity is live and ready for purchase.
It may sound overwhelming, but once the process is completed your products sell in perpetuity. Then, the process gets easier and quicker the next time around.
14. What other tips do you have to share?
In a world of millions of digital downloads, the motto “if you build it, they will come” simply does not apply. There is so much to do to get eyes on your product.
My top organic traffic driver is email marketing. In fact, email marketing has the highest return on investment of any online marketing platform. The goal is to turn store browsers into loyal customers, and I have created a course just for TPT sellers to do exactly that.
Within my first few months, I grew my email list by the thousands, and the next year I quit my teaching job to run my businesses full time from home.
By year two of selling my printables, I was already making multi six-figures.
What is the number one thing that allowed me this amazing opportunity? My email list. Hands down, if you do email marketing correctly, you will turn your list into raving fans, maximize the exposure of your products, and see outstanding results at the push of the ‘send’ button.
Quick note from Making Sense of Cents: There is a resource coming out soon on how to create printable escape rooms to sell online. You can sign up for the waitlist here.
Are you interested in learning how to sell educational printables?
Going on an African safari can be the chance of a lifetime to see some of the world’s most iconic wildlife up close, experience Earth’s extraordinary untouched corners, learn about new cultures and reconnect with nature.
A safari trip can also be the opportunity to make sustainable, responsible choices about how and where you travel, and to maximize the impact your travel spending has on conservation, community and environmental programs in various destinations.
Many travelers decide where to go on safari in Africa based on their schedules and the seasonality in individual regions — both in terms of the weather and the animals they will most likely see. Others focus on sighting specific species, resulting in visits to places like Rwanda or Uganda to trek and see mountain gorillas or trips to destinations like Kenya to observe the endangered pachyderms at a rhino sanctuary.
Sustainability can be another excellent factor in determining where you should go on safari, though. Many of the most reputable safari outfitters and camps put sustainability front and center in their operations, combining environmental practices, conservation commitments and community outreach to create the ultimate holistic travel experience.
Doing a little research on the regions you are considering for a safari and the specific tour operators and lodges in your chosen location can make a huge difference in the effect your tourism dollars have on things like wildlife preservation campaigns, economic development in local villages and minimizing the overall environmental footprint of your individual journey.
Unlike some other forms of travel that let you book certain components — flights, hotels, cruises, etc. — a la carte by yourself, many safari companies require you to book the bulk of your trip (if not all of it) through them or a partner agency or operator. Because of this, you can ask these representatives about their sustainability track records and even specific programs while planning your trip. Any reliable operator should have materials on hand to send you to help you make your decision.
Here are some of the factors you can investigate to determine just how sustainable your safari can be, plus some of the safari companies undertaking meaningful measures in this sphere by weaving principles of environmental consciousness, wildlife protection and community development into their core ethos and operations.
Eco-sensitive camps
For North American and European travelers, going on an African safari typically necessitates carbon-intensive long-haul flights and sometimes additional bush flights to reach remote regions. In order to limit the rest of your carbon footprint while on safari, look into the eco-credentials of the camps or outfitters you are considering.
Many safari camps, for instance, now run mostly or even entirely on solar power. At both andBeyond Nxabega and andBeyond Xaranna in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, 80% of the camps’ total electricity consumption is supplied by solar photovoltaic plants and Tesla Powerpack battery energy storage systems.
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Nearby, Wilderness’ Chitabe and Mombo camps run on 100% solar (as do 17 of the company’s other camps), and Wilderness has plans to retrofit and invest in further solar power for all new camps and camp refurbishments. Not only is that great for the environment, but it’s also the best means of ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to guests in an area with little other infrastructure.
Cheetah Plains, an exclusive-use safari villa in South Africa’s Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, now uses Toyota Land Cruiser electric safari vehicles with Tesla batteries that are charged via solar power to whisk guests across the reserve’s thousands of acres, creating a zero-emission game drive.
In Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, Usangu Expedition Camp is steering a different path, developing safari vehicles that run on ethanol, which is derived from molasses produced in the southern part of the country, instead of diesel. The staff even calls the vehicles “Gongos,” a type of traditional Tanzanian gin, since the ethanol looks and smells like the spirit.
But alternative power and fuel are just the start. For its part, Chitabe recycled the wood from an old set of raised walkways to create a chic bar and lounge area for its current guests. What’s old is new again … and looking better than ever.
Many recently built and forthcoming safari camps are being constructed using both traditional materials and techniques, such as thatching and weaving completed by local artisans, and up-to-the-minute technologies like 3D printing and innovative recycling methods utilizing salvaged materials to limit their physical footprint.
Time + Tide Chinzombo in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park was designed to be completely dismantled if necessary so as to leave a minimal trace on the landscape, and Wilderness is currently constructing a new tented camp in Botswana’s Mbabe concession called Mokete that can be completely disassembled as if it had never been there.
Simple measures can have a large impact as well. Camps like Wilderness’ DumaTau and sister Little DumaTau in Botswana’s riverine Linyanti region provide guests with Healing Earth’s all-natural, biodegradable bath and body products during their stay to minimize harmful runoff from the camp’s water management system.
For its part, the Elewana Collection of lodges in Kenya and Tanzania launched its “Ban the bottle” initiative in 2018, giving guests reusable water bottles that they can fill up at stations in the camps. The outfitter estimates that doing so in just six of its Kenyan lodges saves around 160,000 plastic bottles from going into landfills each year.
Elewana also dropped plastic straws the following year. Even more fun for Elewana guests is the opportunity to toss out seed balls (little nutrient packs that encase seeds of Indigenous plants) during a walk or game drive somewhere along their journey so they’re doing their little part to help revegetate the wild places they are enjoying.
Wildlife conservation
It seems obvious, but without wildlife, there wouldn’t be safari camps. For that reason, many safari companies actively support and participate in wildlife conservation efforts, some of which are specific to individual regions while others are more widespread.
Guests at andBeyond’s Tengile River Lodge and Kirkman’s Kamp, which are near each other in South Africa’s Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, can certainly get a thrill sighting the area’s thriving lion and leopard populations on game drives. However, guests may not know that their guides are also logging those sightings and providing the information to Panthera, an organization dedicated to tracking and protecting big cat populations around the world.
Various other andBeyond camps, including Phinda Private Game Reserve and Ngala Safari Lodge, help fund rhinoceros anti-poaching units. Guests at Ngala can even observe researchers tagging rhinos’ ears with microchips to help monitor the highly endangered animals. These are individual initiatives, but they are all part of andBeyond’s overarching commitment to conservation and community projects that it supports through its Africa Foundation.
Likewise, Elewana Collection has a charitable arm called The Land & Life Foundation that underwrites various efforts such as the Wildlife Warrior Program, which has clubs in primary schools throughout Kenya and Tanzania. The children who join can take part in activities to learn more about environmental and animal conservation. The club currently counts around 2,200 members and even provides primary and secondary educational scholarships to many of them.
High-end safari company Singita, which has lodges in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Rwanda, established its Singita Conservation Foundation decades ago with a 100-year plan to protect Africa’s wildlife and wilderness for future generations. These days, it partners with other nonprofit trusts and funds on a plethora of projects, including rhino reintroduction and protection in the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve in Zimbabwe, land management and anti-poaching efforts in South Africa’s Kruger National Park and combating invasive vegetation as well as helping in the recovery of megafauna like elephants and buffaloes in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.
Community improvement projects
Without buy-in from local communities, conservation efforts would go nowhere. Those who live in or near game reserves and national parks need to benefit from the tourism revenue that these natural wonders generate. That’s why many safari companies’ conservation drives include community-based components.
One telltale sign that a safari company is supporting the communities where it operates in a meaningful way is simply through employment. Specifically, whether its camps employ people from the villages or regions that surround them in high proportions. Not only is this a boon for economic stability and growth in places that might otherwise be destitute, but it ensures that tourism dollars stay in the area and benefit the people who live there.
Many safari companies’ commitments to communities go beyond employment, though. Praveen Moman, who grew up in Uganda before his family had to emigrate to the United Kingdom, founded Volcanoes Safaris in 1997, pioneering the high-end safari experience in both Uganda and Rwanda.
While the Volcanoes Safaris’ lodges have become mainstays for both gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, it is perhaps the company’s nonprofit organization, the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, that will be its most lasting legacy. The trust supports preservation efforts for the great apes of the region, but it also underwrites innovative, community-based programs that guests are encouraged to explore during their stays at the lodges.
“When I set up Volcanoes Safaris in 1997 in southern Uganda and then in 2000 in neighboring Rwanda, the area was just coming out of the Great Lakes conflict,” Moman told TPG via email. “This experience made me realize how important it was to not only focus on the lodges we were building and the gorilla and chimpanzee experience that we wanted our guests to enjoy, but also that local people need to get tangible economic benefits from conservation and ecotourism for them to support the great apes.”
“Therefore,” he continued, “I felt that it was important that the lodges should be connected to the communities around them. In each lodge, we have set up different community projects.”
At Volcanoes Safaris’ Virunga Lodge in Rwanda, for instance, guests can take a guided afternoon walk through several villages near Lake Bulera to see firsthand the impact of projects such as the “One sheep per family” program, which provides one sheep to each family in three nearby villages (more than 500 so far), thereby supplying them with sources of meat and milk along with natural fertilizer for their sustenance crops.
The lodge has also donated 250-plus water tanks to families in these villages, which help in the catchment of the region’s abundant rainfall and ensure that there is a steady supply of water for drinking and crop irrigation during the dry season.
In Livingstone, Zambia, near Victoria Falls, Tongabezi, which is an elegant lodge along the banks of a tranquil stretch of the Zambezi River, has underwritten the Tongabezi Trust School (also known as Tujatane) since 1996, providing education and meals to children who live within walking distance of the academy. There are currently nearly 300 children between the ages of 3 and 17 enrolled, all of whom can take advantage of the classes and curriculum, as well as the music, sports, arts and computer facilities. What’s more, the school provides funding to send some of the children on to secondary schools and even universities, ensuring a new generation of leaders and professionals with a commitment to the local community.
In Botswana, both andBeyond Nxabega and andBeyond Xaranna share several community-based projects, including the drilling of water boreholes for the communities of Gogomaga and Tsutsubega so that their inhabitants have steady sources of usable water; and funding a school in the rural farming village of Sexaxa near Maun (where the area’s main airport is) so children no longer need to walk three hours, some of it through dangerous terrain, to attend the nearest school.
Longer-term development
Ongoing outreach and individual community projects aside, several safari companies have established philanthropic organizations or arms with a broader purview of economic development and social services not just in the areas where they operate, but in entire countries or regions.
Micato Safaris is one of the best-known luxury safari operators, partnering with premier lodges from multiple companies in Africa and Asia to create bespoke itineraries for its guests. However, it also underwrites AmericaShare, which was founded by a Micato Safaris employee named Lorna Macleod more than 35 years ago to support both community development and access to education in Mukuru, one the largest informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.
Today, the philanthropy operates the Harambee Community Centre, which has library and computer facilities as well as recreational grounds, in Mukuru itself. Residents can come for a quiet place to study or work, look for employment and take advantage of other services. AmericaShare also supplies fresh, drinkable water in the area via multiple distribution points.
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Students hard at work at AmericaShare’s Harambee Community Centre. ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY
Guests who go on safari with Micato in Kenya get to visit the community center to learn more about its efforts and meet students who have benefited from AmericaShare’s various educational undertakings during their stay. Those include supplying school uniforms to local children, sponsoring scholarships to primary and secondary schools, and sending some of the most vulnerable children to private boarding schools around Nairobi. In fact, for every safari the company sells, Micato provides the funds to send a child to primary school.
Micato also supports other efforts like Huru International, which supplies sanitary kits and reproductive health education materials to young women (more than 210,000 to date) throughout East Africa who might otherwise have to miss school or work due to the lack of reproductive health services in rural communities. By empowering women to take their health into their own hands, Huru helps them support their families and communities (not to mention cultivating their own careers) in ways that would not otherwise be possible.
For its part, one of the most targeted yet impactful ways Wilderness carries out its conservation mission beyond the day-to-day and lodge-specific measures it takes is through its Children in the Wilderness program, which was founded in 2001.
The program aims to cultivate new generations of homegrown conservation leaders in Africa’s rural communities by hosting student clubs at schools with activities that focus on environmental sustainability and wildlife education. Children in the Wilderness even brings kids to one of its camps on a yearly basis (7,800 to date) so they can learn firsthand about the importance of wildlife conservation. The program provides scholarships to high-achieving students, and some even return to become guides with Wilderness.
On a recent trip to Botswana, my guide at Little DumaTau, Segopotso Oja (See for short), was a former participant of Children in the Wilderness. “I was born and raised in a small village called Eretsha, located in the eastern Okavango Panhandle,” Oja told me later by email when I contacted him after my trip to ask more about his experience with Children in the Wilderness.
“Wilderness works closely with the community in this area, and when I was 10 years old, I was given the opportunity to join a Children in the Wilderness Eco-Camp,” Oja continued. “Here I grew to learn about and love the wild, and recognize the importance of protecting our wilderness, and this experience inspired me to pursue a career as a guide.”
Spending time in the bush helps combat some of the negative portrayals of wild animals that village children are typically taught, Oja told me. “Once they explore the wilderness, this opens their minds and changes their way of thinking to realize the value of conservation and that there are other career opportunities available to them in the conservation and hospitality space.”
That’s the path that Oja himself took. He has since worked as a guide not only at Little DumaTau, but also two other Wilderness camps, Vumbura Plains and Mombo.
Oja also views his continuing role as an ambassador for Children in the Wilderness as crucial to the work he does and the future of conservation. “It gives me a chance to meet with youngsters when we host them in our camps,” Oja said, “and pass over the love of being a conservationist to the younger generation.”
Minimize your footprint and maximize your impact
Aside from picking a safari company with sustainability efforts you want to support, there are a few things you can do as a traveler to make your safari adventure more sustainable.
Long flights produce a lot of carbon, so you could consider a carbon offsetting scheme to reduce the footprint from your journey to your safari destination.
Don’t overpack since bush flights on small planes mean your luggage will be restricted anyway. What’s more, many safari camps provide free daily laundry, so you don’t have to bring too many outfits along. Plus, by limiting your luggage, you’ll reduce the amount of fuel burned on the planes carrying you to your various camps.
Among those clothes, make sure you bring some made from fabric with sun protection factor. That will reduce the amount of plastic-packaged sunblock you need to bring along. Opt for mineral-based sunscreens (look for those labeled as “reef-safe”) rather than conventional ones since the latter have chemicals that might be harmful to the environment as well as your own body chemistry, according to an increasing body of scientific evidence.
You might also want to leave your usual shampoo and conditioner at home since safari camps tend to provide eco-friendly, biodegradable products that are easier to manage waste-wise in the fragile ecosystems where they operate.
Finally, while safaris tend to be expensive, think about whether you can factor in a charitable donation to your budget. After all, if you’ve done your homework and picked a company with sustainability efforts you support, you might want to do just a little bit more good during your trip by making an unrestricted donation to the measures the group has underway.
I’m a long-time vocal proponent of higher education. For me, it’s personal. I was raised in a poor family with parents who had briefly attended college, but never with any real gusto. (I’m not sure my father had a plan. My mother studied home economics. Not kidding.)
My uncle got a math degree from a now-defunct community college, and his son (my cousin Duane) went to school back East. I’m not sure if he got a degree, though. (I’ll ask him tomorrow when we get together to bake Christmas cookies!)
But from a young age, I knew that I wanted to go to college. I knew I was a smart kid, and I viewed college as a Way Out. It was an escape from the trailer house I grew up in, an escape from menial labor.
Too bad then that I squandered my college education. I entered Willamette University intending to be a religion major, but eventually ended up with a psychology degree — chased with an equally useless English minor.
My college degree hasn’t really proved useful in my life. Well, I guess I apply both the psychology and English education in my career as a money writer, but I don’t make direct use of the things that I learned. And that’s the rub.
College degrees are valuable — but not if you choose the wrong one.
Although it’s popular in some corners to bad-mouth college degrees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau your education has a greater impact on lifetime earning potential than any other demographic factor. Education matters more than age. Education matters more than race. Education matters more than gender. When it comes to making money, education matters most.
So, I’m always interested when I see knew reports and/or research regarding the value of college. In October, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) released an excellent report entitled “Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return-on-Investment Analysis”.
I like this report because it goes beyond averages. Sure, FREOPP says, the median bachelor’s degree is worth $306,000 for students who graduate on time, but…
…the median conceals enormous variation. Some fields of study, including engineering, computer science, nursing, and economics, can produce returns of $1 million or more. Others, including art, music, religion, and psychology, often have a zero or even negative net financial value.
FREOPP argues that “the decision to attend college is less important than the choices that come next: which school to attend, and which subject to study.”
The analysis reveals that a student’s choice of program is perhaps the most important financial decision he or she will ever make. Most bachelor’s degree programs in engineering, computer science, economics, and nursing increase lifetime earnings by $500,000 or more, even after subtracting the costs of college. But most programs in fields such as art, music, philosophy, religion, and psychology leave students financially worse off than if they had never gone to college at all.
Differences in ROI between programs can amount to millions of dollars.
The FREOPP report — which is very long — includes plenty of interactive stats and charts and graphs. Readers acan compare the value of college majors, expected earnings, and more.
The FREOPP report echoes some of the findings of Georgetown University’s 2015 report on “The Economic Value of College Majors”. The Georgetown study found that engineering majors earned a median starting income of $50,000 per year. Folks with an art degree started with annual salaries of around $28,000. And high-school graduates who didn’t go to college? Well, they had average starting salaries of $22,000 per year.
The bottom line? FREOPP says there are three main messages to draw from their report.
First, major is the most important factor when predicting the return-on-investment for a college education. Degree subject accounts for half almost half of ROI variation alone.
Second, elite colleges can pay off, but not always. FREOPP found that there is a weak correlation between the cost of a school and how much a degree from that school is worth. But, as with majors, there’s plenty of variation. A film degree from Harvard is likely to be worth less than an engineering degree from a “no name” university.
Finally, there are a lot of bachelor’s degrees that don’t make sense from a financial perspective. You might want an art degree or a religion degree for other reasons, and you might be fulfilled with those degrees, but they’re poor choices when viewed through the lens of money.
Here’s what I always say when I write about this subject: The more you learn, the more you earn. And it’s true. No, a college degree isn’t a guarantee that you’ll earn more, but it never has been. But, generally speaking, the more formal education you have, the more money you’ll make during your lifetime. This report only reinforces that conclusion.
[“Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return-on-Investment Analysis” at Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity]
In this week’s founder interview, we’re bringing you Remen Okoruwa from Propify.
Without further ado…
Who are you and what do you do?
I am the co-founder & CEO of Propify. We help software teams quickly integrate into property management software like Yardi, RealPage, & Entrata using our unified API & integration-as-a-service infrastructure. We’re like Plaid for Commercial Real Estate.
What problem does your product/service solve?
Building PM software integrations is a massive headache for proptechs, property managers, as well as other vendors. It is a fragmented market, and the systems have old API technology, hard-to-read documentation, and minimal support. We reduce development costs, accelerate time to market, and help companies stop losing deals to property managers who require integration. We also help save on ongoing maintenance costs by keeping integrations up-to-date & allowing companies to offload their integration infrastructure to us.
What are you most excited about right now?
Despite the challenging macro environment in commercial real estate & homebuying, renting remains an increasingly popular lifestyle choice. And that means companies who serve the needs of renters & property managers across multifamily & SFR have a lot more growth ahead. And we are excited to support this new wave of proptech innovation.
What’s next for you?
Our focus for 2023 is growth. We completed Y Combinator earlier this year, which was an amazing launching pad That means supporting more customers with their integrations, as well as expanding our product capabilities to meet their needs even better.
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?
Children’s education and food security. Hungry students struggle to focus, and that means the poorest families can be prevented from taking advantage of the doors that education can open. Through my wife, who is a director at the East African Children’s Fund, I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer and support their amazing efforts to feed and educate children in Kenya.
Thanks to Remen for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn.
We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop us a line ([email protected]).
While on the West Coast, homes in the $20 million range compete in cutting-edge amenities and intricate home design, heading to the Rocky Mountains introduces us to a whole new type of ultra-luxury: the type that comes with massive acreage and tons of history.
That’s the case with Colorado’s iconic Redstone Castle — a 153-acre property known as one of the state’s most storied monuments — which was listed for sale back in 2020 with a $19.75 million price tag and sold in April 2022 for $11,975,000.
Set in the town that inspired its name, Redstone Castle (also known as the Ruby of the Rockies, Cleveholm, or Osgood Castle), the massive estate is 48 miles away from Aspen.
The property includes a carriage house, garages, and horse arena, plus early water rights and the right to build 20,000 square feet of additional cabins or cottages in private, wooded areas on the estate’s grounds.
“Redstone Castle is one of the most regal and oldest mansions in the Colorado Rockies,” said Chris Souki with Coldwell Banker Mason Morse, who represented the property when it came to market.
“It’s a true piece of history. The irreplaceability of the castle, combined with the acreage, pristine setting and value created through the mindful stewardship of the current owners, make this property an incredible opportunity.”
Built in 1902, the historic property was brought to modern standards by its former owners, identified by The Denver Post as April and Steven Carver.
With visions of returning the castle to its original glory, they took meticulous care to preserve the 42-room, 24,000 square-foot home, bringing it into the modern era with all-new bathrooms, updated kitchen and infrastructure.
The renovated interiors today reflect the same air of European opulence from a century ago: leather embossed walls, Tiffany-designed chandeliers, aluminum leaf ceilings and frieze, linen-lined walls by Italian artists, and 14 fireplaces with imported marble and tile.
The history of Redstone Castle, Colorado
Perched on the edge of the Crystal River and surrounded by dramatic red cliffs, cascading waterfalls and 100-year-old pine trees, Redstone Castle (also known as Cleveholm or Osgood Castle) has maintained a towering presence in Colorado history — and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The iconic Tudor-style mansion was built by coal magnate John Cleveland Osgood in 1902 and became a beloved hunting and gaming destination for America’s most powerful dignitaries of the day, including Teddy Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan and the Rockefellers.
Osgood, at the time one of the country’s richest men, based the castle’s design on the ancestral home of his wife, Alma, and fitted its lush interiors with antique European furniture and work by Gustav Stickley and Louis Comfort Tiffany.
When John Cleveland Osgood’s prosperity ended, the coal magnate moved away from the area, only to return to Redstone Castle in the late 1920s, to spend his remaining years there.
After Osgood’s passing, his wife tried to convert the house into a resort, but the Great Depression made that economically unviable; however, later owners were able to run it as a hotel into the 1990s.
By 2003, the property ended up in the possession of the state, and the IRS auctioned it off online in March 2005.
Locals feared that a developer might buy the property and demolish the existing structure, but the winning bidder, Ralli Dimitrius, restored it and reopened it for tours, bringing much-needed tourist traffic to Redstone.
More palatial properties
Redstone Castle on the big screen: the house in ‘The Prestige’
Now, if you’ve never even been to Colorado, but the house still seems oddly familiar, there’s a good reason for that.
Redstone Castle has had quite a memorable big screen presence, as the home was used in Christopher Nolan’s 2006 movie, The Prestige.
The $40-million movie about turn-of-the-century rival magicians starred a stellar cast that included the likes of Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, and David Bowie.
According to the Post Independent, the Colorado scenes were filmed mostly at the Redstone Castle and along the road toward Marble, bringing together a 110-people crew to the area to shoot the scenes on location.
The Colorado castle’s future as a wellness center
In April 2022, Redstone Castle finally found its buyer — after nearly two years on the market.
Stephane De Baets of RC Ownership LLC bought the property for Elevated Returns and announced plans to open a wellness resort at the 25,127-square-foot property, according to The Aspen Times.
The $11.9 million sale ushers in a new chapter for the 120-year-old property, which will live on as a hideaway wellness retreat.
According to Redstone Castle’s new owner, an agreement has been reached with Thailand-based RAKxa Wellness, and the hospitality company will be opening an upscale spa retreat on the property known as the Ruby of the Rockies.
*Note: This article was originally published in September 2020, when the Colorado castle was first listed for sale. It was later updated to reflect the recent sale and to include information on the new owner’s plans for the property.
More iconic properties
Everything You Need to Know about Gracie Mansion, the Official Residence of the Mayor of NYC The Three (Tragic) Lives of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin House The History of The Breakers, the Vanderbilts’ Iconic Summer Estate in Newport The Remarkable Sheats-Goldstein Residence: Past, Present and Future
Webull is an online brokerage that offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and ETFs. Key features of the platform include real-time market data, advanced charting tools, and a customizable newsfeed.
With most investing apps now offering commission-free trading, online brokers must find more creative ways to stand out. Robinhood, for example, is now offering a 1% match on IRA contributions. Webull, on the other hand, tries to place the focus on the customer by offering free stocks, fractional share investing, a user-friendly trading platform, extended hours trading, and 24/7 support.
But is Webull a suitable platform for beginner investors? In this Webull Review, I cover Webull’s trading platform, key features, pros and cons, and more.
About Webull
Launched in 2017, New York City-based Webull is a self-directed investment platform that offers commission-free trading. You can buy and sell stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and even cryptocurrencies. And unlike many newer online brokers, you can trade over-the-counter (OTC) stocks with Webull.
Webull describes itself as “a financial company with the customer at heart, the Internet as our foundation, and technology as our lifeblood.” The company delivers on this description by providing a user-friendly investment platform, free real-time quotes, multiplatform accessibility, full extended hours trading, and 27/7 online support.
Key Features
Zero Commissions
No deposit minimums
Hold crypto alongside stocks, ETFs, etc.
Taxable or IRA accounts available
Supports margin trading
Paper trading option
Access to initial public offerings (IPOs).
Webull Community allows you to share investment strategies with other investors on the platform.
24/7 online customer support
Free stock bonus, as well as a referral bonus program
Is Webull Legit?
Yes, Webull is 100% legitimate. They are a US-based broker-dealer, and a FINRA, SIPC, NYSE, and NASDAQ member. It’s estimated that Webull has more than 12 million users and over $40 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).
At the time of this writing, the company has a rating of 4.4 out of five stars from more than 174,000 Android user reviews on Google Play and 4.7 out of five stars among more than 275,000 iOS user reviews on The App Store.
Unfortunately, they rate poorly with other major rating agencies.
Webull has a Better Business Bureau “F,” the lowest rating on a scale of A+ to F. It scores 1.07 out of five stars, though that rating is based on just 54 reviews.
The company doesn’t do much better with Trustpilot, where it rates 1.3 out of five stars, or “Bad”. However, it’s worth noting the Trustpilot rating is based on just 137 reviews.
Webull Account Types
Webull offers two taxable account types: cash and margin. With the cash account, your buying power is limited to the funds you have on deposit. The margin account allows you to use leverage for the purchase of securities in excess of the cash value of your account.
The margin account requires a minimum of $2,000 to be maintained in the account at all times. Since a margin account will involve leverage, you must maintain a minimum account balance of $25,000 for unlimited day trades (see below).
You can also open a Traditional, Rollover, or Roth IRA with Webull. Each user can have one IRA account, but you must have an individual account before you can open an IRA.
Day Trading Rules
According to FINRA rules, you can make no more than 4 day trades in a margin account within five business days; otherwise, you will be flagged as a pattern day trader (PDT). That will trigger the requirement of the $25,000 minimum balance.
Margin accounts are also available for LLCs, C-Corps, and S-Corps with 2X overnight leverage and 4X day trading leverage.
Webull Trading Platform
The platform offers intuitive tools and support for traders and supports extended hours of trading, both before and after the market closes.
You can do the following on the Webull trading platform:
Real-time quotes
Customizable screens
Stock market trading ideas from top traders
Sort stocks between top gainers, top losers, and most active and best-performing industries.
More than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools.
Quant Ratings to provide an overall rating for each stock based on objective data.
The ability to analyze your past trading performance to look for areas of improvement.
Real-time stock alerts to notify you of price action and technical conditions.
In addition, you can execute the following orders:
Limit order
Market order
Stop order
Stop-Limit order
Trailing Stop order.
Stop-Loss/Take-Profit orders (Bracket orders)
One-Triggers-the-Other order (OTO)
One-Cancels-the-Other order (OCO)
One-Triggers-a-One-Cancels-the-Other order (OTOCO).
Margin Trading
Webull offers margin trading for both long- and short positions. You must maintain a minimum account balance of $2,000 in your margin account to qualify for margin trading. The account will provide up to 4X buying power per day trades and 2X for overnight trades.
Webull Paper Trading
Webull offers their Paper Trading feature to help you learn how to trade or to become a better trader without risking real money. And unlike some paper trading accounts offered by other brokers, Webull Paper Trading comes with unlimited virtual cash.
You can take advantage of real-time quotes, explore integrated charts with indicators, and set up price alerts, the same as you would with live trading. The feature offers more than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools. Paper trading can be used for options trading practice.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
IPOs are when a private corporation offers stock to the public for the first time. The stocks are in registration and awaiting listing on the secondary market. The registration phase allows the issuing company to raise capital from public investors, who will be the first to receive the stock as of the listing date. In theory, it’s an opportunity for investors to get in on a newly listed company as it is going public.
Webull makes IPOs available to investors. You can locate IPOs by going to the Market page, then to the IPO Center for a list of available offerings. You can even subscribe to notifications of upcoming IPOs as they become available.
Cryptocurrency
You can trade cryptocurrency on Webull commission-free. As is the case with most cryptocurrency exchanges, Webull charges a spread of 100 basis points on both the purchase and sale of crypto. You will need a minimum of $1 to begin trading crypto.
Crypto trading requires either a cash or margin account for crypto trading (no IRAs). You can trade 44 cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stella Lumens, Ethereum Classic, Cardano, Tazos, USD Coin, and many more.
Crypto trading hours are from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 PM, Eastern time, seven days per week (23 hours per day).
Crypto Wallet. Webull offers a crypto wallet so you can buy, sell, store, and transfer crypto to and from the wallet.
Stock Lending Income Program
This program allows you to earn extra income on fully paid stocks in your account. If you allow Webull to borrow certain stocks, you’ll be paid interest while those stocks are loaned out.
Apex Clearing, Webull’s clearing agency, will identify fully paid stock in your account, which is considered “in demand” based on the market. You will be paid 15% of the interest earned by Apex Clearing on the loaned stock.
For example, if Apex earns 10% per year, you’ll earn 1.5%. Interest earned through the program is credited daily and paid monthly.
Webull Community
Webull adds a social component to its investment platform. You can participate with millions of other Webull investors to discuss market and exchange strategies, and swap ideas with other investors.
How Does Webull Make Money if they Don’t Charge Fees?
Webull charges very few fees, but they do charge some. After all, they can’t stay in business without any revenue. Here is a list of Webull revenue sources:
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF). This is a common practice among commission-free retail brokers. When Webull sends trades to market makers, they receive rebates for the practice. This income flow is part of the reason why brokers can allow commission-free trading.
Securities lending. This is another common practice in the brokerage industry. Webull uses the services of Apex Clearing as their clearing agent. Through the Stock Lending Income Program, Apex can loan out investors’ shares to other investors and institutions, usually for short sales. Those borrowers will pay interest to Apex, a portion of which is rebated to Webull.
Interest on cash balances. Since Webull doesn’t pay interest on uninvested cash held by investors, the company retains any interest earned on those funds from outside sources.
Interest on margin trades. When you use margin to purchase securities, Webull charges interest which represents income to the company.
Deposit and withdrawal fees. Webull charges fees of between $8 and $45 per transfer for both deposits and withdrawals made by wire.
The basis point spread on crypto trades. Webull earns a 100-basis point spread on the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies.
Other Features
Income Tax Reporting
Webull provides a consolidated Form 1099, which includes reporting information from 1099-B (transactions), 1099-DIV (dividend income), 1099-INT (interest), and 1099-MISC (other income and information). The form can be downloaded from the Webull app.
Account Protection
Webull is a fully regulated broker-dealer, and your account is protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000 in cash and securities, including $250,000 in cash. For additional protection, Webull offers two-factor authentication for an added step on accessing your account and to prevent unintended parties from entering your account.
Free Stock Bonus and Referral Bonus
Webull is currently offering a free stock bonus to include free fractional shares in two stocks. The stock will be worth between $3 and $3,000, which could make the bonus as high as $6,000 in total. You must be new to Webull and meet other eligibility requirements.
You can also receive fractional shares in four, eight, or 10 free stocks by depositing any amount into your new account within ten days. Each fractional share will be valued between $3 and $300. That means you can earn up to 12 fractional shares with a total value of as much as $9,000. Stock rewards must be claimed within 30 days, or the offer will expire.
Under the Webull Referral Bonus, refer family and friends to Webull, and you’ll receive three free shares of stock. Refer three friends, and you’ll receive nine shares. Once you’ve received nine shares, each successful referral will provide you with two free stocks. Each share of stock will be worth between $12 and $1,400.
Your referral must use your unique referral link, and the free stock will be issued when the new user opens a brokerage account with an initial deposit of at least $100.
How to Sign Up for a Webull Account
You can sign up for Webull from either the website or the mobile app by clicking “SIGN UP” at the top of the page. You’ll need to enter your phone number and a referral code if you have one.
Webull will require you to supply your name, US residential address, date of birth, taxpayer identification (Social Security number or individual taxpayer ID number), telephone number, and citizenship.
To verify your identity, Webull may ask for copies of your driver’s license, passport, or other information as necessary.
Due to Webull’s review process, it will take a minimum of 24 hours to open your account. More time may be needed if manual verification of information is required. Webull will perform a soft credit check, which will not negatively impact your credit score.
Funding Your Account
You’ll need to connect a bank account to fund your Webull account. Webull will make two micro-deposits to your account to confirm a valid account connection. Once verified, you’ll be able to begin transferring funds to and from Webull.
The easiest way to fund your account is through ACH transfers, which are free to complete. (Note that Webull charges domestic and international wire transfer fees.)
ACH deposits initiated before 4:00 PM Eastern time will give you instant buying power, enabling you to begin trading immediately. However, the instant buying power feature is a provisional credit representing a portion of the deposit. Full ACH deposits are generally available on the fourth or fifth business day after the ACH is initiated.
Alternatively, you can transfer securities from another broker into your Webull account. The transfer securities must match those available through Webull.
Webull Pros and Cons
There’s plenty to like about Webull, but the platform also has limitations. Here’s my list of Webull pros and cons.
Webull Pros:
No minimum initial investment
Commission-free trading
Get free stock when you open an account and make a deposit
Available crypto wallet where you can manage your cryptocurrency holdings
Connect with millions of investors in the Webull Community
24/7 online support
Webull Cons:
No joint taxable accounts, custodial or trust accounts
You can’t invest in mutual funds, penny stocks, or bonds
Must have a taxable account to open an IRA
No dividend reinvesting option
No interest on uninvested cash
Fees for domestic and international wire deposits and withdrawals.
Webull Alternatives
Before signing up with Webull, I recommend checking out these alternatives, which offer many of the same features as Webull.
Robinhood
Robinhood is a popular online brokerage that offers zero-commission trades of stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. No minimum deposit requirement exists, but like Webull, Robinhood doesn’t allow bond or mutual fund trades. One very interesting feature: Effective December 2022, Robinhood now offers IRA accounts with a 1% match, the first online brokerage to do so.
According to Robinhood, “the IRA Match is an extra 1% that Robinhood adds to eligible contributions to your IRA. It’s not counted toward your annual contribution limits and is typically available to invest immediately.” For more information, check out our full Robinhood Review.
Public
Public is an easy-to-use trading app that is geared toward new investors. Like Webull and Robinhood, Public doesn’t charge any trading fees. You can also buy fractional shares and connect with other users in the Public social community. That said, intermediate traders will want to steer clear of Public due to their lack of advanced trading options – they don’t offer IRA accounts and have little in the way of market research tools.
Learn more in our Public Review.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a truly global trading platform offering investors access to 150 markets in 33 countries. You can also trade in more than 24 currencies. Like Webull, there are no commission fees on stock and ETF trades. Interactive Brokers is hands down the more powerful platform for sophisticated traders looking for access to global markets, but it may be overwhelming for new and intermediate investors.
Webull FAQs
Is Webull good for beginners?
Webull is a safe trading platform for new investors. Accounts are protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000, and the platform uses numerous security features, including two-factor authentication.
We also like that Webull has no minimum initial investment requirement, though you will need to deposit funds to begin trading. And as a beginning investor, you can certainly benefit from the paper trading account with unlimited virtual cash.
However, other investment brokers may be a better choice for new investors. Webull is designed primarily for active traders and those with at least an intermediate level of experience. Larger brokerage firms will be able to provide higher levels of customer service and a greater variety of account tools and educational services.
What is the minimum deposit for Webull?
There is no minimum deposit requirement for a Webull account, but a $2000 minimum balance is required for all margin accounts.
What is the downside to Webull?
The main drawbacks to Webull include the lack of a dividend reinvestment program and the inability to buy fixed-income and mutual fund investments.
Does Webull work in Canada?
Webull is a US-based online broker. Because it’s not registered in Canada, it’s not available to Canadian citizens.
Final Thoughts on Webull
Webull is an intuitive trading app where you can trade more than 40 cryptocurrencies on the same platform where you hold more traditional investments. They offer plenty of investment tools, including margin trading, day trading, and short sales.
And if you’re new to Webull or have friends to refer, you can take advantage of free stock bonuses.
While Webull is geared more toward intermediate and advanced traders, its intuitive trading platform shouldn’t overwhelm new traders. That said, beginner investors may want to give Robinhood and Public a long look before signing up with Webull.
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
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Shortly after graduating from New York University with a Master’s degree, Melanie Lockert turned to food stamps, as she worked her way out of $81,000 in student loans.
“There were a lot of emotions around carrying that debt. It caused a lot of stress and depression and anxiety for a long time,” she shared with me recently during an interview on my podcast.
The student loan crisis in America has reached epidemic proportions. With households across the country carrying $1.26 trillion in student loans, it is the second largest category of debt following mortgage debt.
For the class of 2016, the average student loan balance is $37,172, up six percent from the previous year, according to a new analysis by student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz published in the Wall Street Journal.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet due to student loans or wondering how you’ll ever pay off the debt in a timely manner, here are some key steps to support you along the way.
Never Pay Late. Ever.
Whoever likes to call student loans “good debt,” has probably never faced a late payment. “Falling behind on payments can cause federal loans to enter default, triggering expensive fees and collections,” says Heather Jarvis, attorney and student loan expert.
If you miss several payments and are in default, federal loan borrowers may also seize your wages, tax refunds and possibly social security benefits. And you can only imagine how all this can damage your credit score. (Keep reading for advice on what to do if you’re already in default.)
To avoid ever paying late, sign up for automatic payments with your lender. Doing so could also earn you a reduced interest rate (usually 0.25%), which could save you hundreds of dollars, maybe more, over the life of your loan.
Extend the Term
Speaking of your loan’s life, extending the term from 10 to 15 or 20 years could provide you with some payment relief since when you extend the term, your monthly payments decrease.
Bear in mind that since your interest rate remains the same this strategy may mean you’ll end up paying more to pay off the loan over time.
One way to avoid paying too much more interest is to take advantage of the smaller monthly payments for only a window of time. As soon as your finances strengthen place more than the monthly minimum towards your balance to help you get out of debt closer to your original term. Be sure to place extra payments directly towards the principal to knock down the debt even faster.
Tap Government Assistance
If you have federal student loans you may qualify for Income-Based Repayment (IBR), a government program that helps qualifying borrowers cap loan payments to a percentage of income, typically 10% of their income. The program will also forgive any remaining student loan debt after 20 or 25 years of making payments.
The Department of Education also has a program called Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you work full-time for a “public service” employer such as not-for-profits, AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps, the military or a government agency, PLSF may forgive your remaining federal loan debt after 10 years of employment.
If You’re Already Behind…You Have Options
If you’re in default, Jay Fleischman, a student loan and bankruptcy attorney, says you may be able to consolidate your loans under the U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Consolidation Loan Program, which is free and does not depend on creditworthiness. “You could also rehabilitate by making nine agreed-upon monthly payments over a 10-month period of time with the collector assigned to the account. Those payments may be adjusted based on your income, and payments can be as low as $5 per month,” he says.
For private student loan borrowers, “the situation is markedly different because there is no right to consolidate or rehabilitate unless the lender has a specific program to do so,” says Fleischman. Contact your loan servicer and learn about ways you may be able to reduce or eliminate payments until you get back on your feet, he says.
If your lender won’t budge, you may choose to remain in default until a settlement opportunity presents itself or until the statute of limitations for collection expires. As a last resort, you may also consider bankruptcy as a way to wipe out other debts and repay your student loans under court supervision. “Though bankruptcy may not wipe out your student loans except in limited circumstances, many people opt for bankruptcy as a way to get more control over the ways in which your loans get paid,” says Fleischman.
Tap Home Equity…With Caution
Homeowners may be eligible to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to pay off their remaining student loan balance. This allows them to pay off the student loan with the existing equity in their home and save money if the HELOC has a lower interest rate than the student loan.
There’s also a new program offered by online lender SoFi called the Student Loan Payoff ReFi that allows some homeowners to pay down student debt using their home’s equity. SoFi refinances the total amount of your student loans and existing mortgage at a lower rate. Through that process your student loan balance is paid off directly to the loan provider.
To qualify, SoFi says borrowers need healthy credit scores (check your free credit score to verify you qualify), a debt-to-income ratio that’s 45% or less (calculate debt-to-income ratio to see if you fall under this number) and a loan-to-value ratio that’s 80% or less (meaning you can’t be underwater on your mortgage). You can calculate your debt-to-income ratio with Turbo, and
Just keep in mind that when paying off your student loans with home equity – be it through SoFi or another lender – if you default on the consolidated loan the lender has the right to use your home as collateral and foreclose on the property. It’s a serious risk if you don’t have enough in savings or stable income to help you get by during tough times.
Remember to Deduct It
Student loans are no fun, but paying them can yield lower taxes. Each year the IRS lets borrowers deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest from their taxable income.
Maybe Your Employer Can Help?
A growing number of companies are helping employees squash their student loans as an added perk like a 401(k) and health care.
Gradifi is a Boston-based start-up that’s working with over 200 employers to set up its student loan pay down plan, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
It’s a trend that’s likely to grow over the years with more than 50 percent of student loan borrowers saying they would rather receive student loan benefits than heath care from their employer.
Start a Side Hustle
While it’s important to cut back on spending to make room for paying down debt, that move alone isn’t always enough. “Pinching pennies and cutting back is really useful as an initial strategy, but at some point, there’s only so much you can cut back,” says Lockert, whose now chronicled her debt payoff strategies in the book Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt. Through a series of side hustles over the years, including housecleaning, event assisting and pet sitting, earning $10 to $50 per hour, Lockert managed to not only afford her living expenses, but also erase five figures worth of student loan debt.
Depending on your interests, you can find relatively easy gigs at sites like TaskRabbit, Tutor.com, GigWalk and Care.com.
Have a question for Farnoosh? You can submit your questions via Twitter @Farnoosh, Facebook or email at [email protected] (please note “Mint Blog” in the subject line).
Farnoosh Torabi is America’s leading personal finance authority hooked on helping Americans live their richest, happiest lives. From her early days reporting for Money Magazine to now hosting a primetime series on CNBC and writing monthly for O, The Oprah Magazine, she’s become our favorite go-to money expert and friend.
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In Best Low-Risk Investments for 2023, I provided a comprehensive list of low-risk investments with predictable returns. But it’s precisely because those returns are low-risk that they also provide relatively low returns.
In this article, we’re going to look at high-yield investments, many of which involve a higher degree of risk but are also likely to provide higher returns.
True enough, low-risk investments are the right investment solution for anyone who’s looking to preserve capital and still earn some income.
But if you’re more interested in the income side of an investment, accepting a bit of risk can produce significantly higher returns. And at the same time, these investments will generally be less risky than growth stocks and other high-risk/high-reward investments.
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Determine How Much Risk You’re Willing to Take On
The risk we’re talking about with these high-yield investments is the potential for you to lose money. As is true when investing in any asset, you need to begin by determining how much you’re willing to risk in the pursuit of higher returns.
Chasing “high-yield returns” will make you broke if you don’t have clear financial goals you’re working towards.
I’m going to present a large number of high-yield investments, each with its own degree of risk. The purpose is to help you evaluate the risk/reward potential of these investments when selecting the ones that will be right for you.
If you’re looking for investments that are completely safe, you should favor one or more of the highly liquid, low-yield vehicles covered in Best Low-Risk Investments for 2023. In this article, we’re going to be going for something a little bit different. As such, please note that this is not in any way a blanket recommendation of any particular investment.
Best High-Yield Investments for 2023
Table of Contents
Below is my list of the 18 best high-yield investments for 2023. They’re not ranked or listed in order of importance. That’s because each is a unique investment class that you will need to carefully evaluate for suitability within your own portfolio.
Be sure that any investment you do choose will be likely to provide the return you expect at an acceptable risk level for your own personal risk tolerance.
1. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
Let’s start with this one, if only because it’s on just about every list of high-yield investments, especially in the current environment of rising inflation. It may not actually be the best high-yield investment, but it does have its virtues and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Basically, TIPS are securities issued by the U.S. Treasury that are designed to accommodate inflation. They do pay regular interest, though it’s typically lower than the rate paid on ordinary Treasury securities of similar terms. The bonds are available with a minimum investment of $100, in terms of five, 10, and 30 years. And since they’re fully backed by the U.S. government, you are assured of receiving the full principal value if you hold a security until maturity.
But the real benefit—and the primary advantage—of these securities is the inflation principal additions. Each year, the Treasury will add an amount to the bond principal that’s commensurate with changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Fortunately, while the principal will be added when the CPI rises (as it nearly always does), none will be deducted if the index goes negative.
You can purchase TIPS through the U.S. Treasury’s investment portal, Treasury Direct. You can also hold the securities as well as redeem them on the same platform. There are no commissions or fees when buying securities.
On the downside, TIPS are purely a play on inflation since the base rates are fairly low. And while the principal additions will keep you even with inflation, you should know that they are taxable in the year received.
Still, TIPS are an excellent low-risk, high-yield investment during times of rising inflation—like now.
2. I Bonds
If you’re looking for a true low-risk, high-yield investment, look no further than Series I bonds. With the current surge in inflation, these bonds have become incredibly popular, though they are limited.
I bonds are currently paying 6.89%. They can be purchased electronically in denominations as little as $25. However, you are limited to purchasing no more than $10,000 in I bonds per calendar year. Since they are issued by the U.S. Treasury, they’re fully protected by the U.S. government. You can purchase them through the Treasury Department’s investment portal, TreasuryDirect.gov.
“The cash in my savings account is on fire,” groans Scott Lieberman, Founder of Touchdown Money. “Inflation has my money in flames, each month incinerating more and more. To defend against this, I purchased an I bond. When I decide to get my money back, the I bond will have been protected against inflation by being worth more than what I bought it for. I highly recommend getting yourself a super safe Series I bond with money you can stash away for at least one year.”
You may not be able to put your entire bond portfolio into Series I bonds. But just a small investment, at nearly 10%, can increase the overall return on your bond allocation.
3. Corporate Bonds
The average rate of return on a bank savings account is 0.33%. The average rate on a money market account is 0.09%, and 0.25% on a 12-month CD.
Now, there are some banks paying higher rates, but generally only in the 1%-plus range.
If you want higher returns on your fixed income portfolio, and you’re willing to accept a moderate level of risk, you can invest in corporate bonds. Not only do they pay higher rates than banks, but you can lock in those higher rates for many years.
For example, the average current yield on a AAA-rated corporate bond is 4.55%. Now that’s the rate for AAA bonds, which are the highest-rated securities. You can get even higher rates on bonds with lower ratings, which we will cover in the next section.
Corporate bonds sell in face amounts of $1,000, though the price may be higher or lower depending on where interest rates are. If you choose to buy individual corporate bonds, expect to buy them in lots of ten. That means you’ll likely need to invest $10,000 in a single issue. Brokers will typically charge a small per-bond fee on purchase and sale.
An alternative may be to take advantage of corporate bond funds. That will give you an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of bonds for as little as the price of one share of an ETF. And because they are ETFs, they can usually be bought and sold commission free.
You can typically purchase corporate bonds and bond funds through popular stock brokers, like Zacks Trade, TD Ameritrade.
Corporate Bond Risk
Be aware that the value of corporate bonds, particularly those with maturities greater than 10 years, can fall if interest rates rise. Conversely, the value of the bonds can rise if interest rates fall.
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4. High-Yield Bonds
In the previous section we talked about how interest rates on corporate bonds vary based on each bond issue’s rating. A AAA bond, being the safest, has the lowest yield. But a riskier bond, such as one rated BBB, will provide a higher rate of return.
If you’re looking to earn higher interest than you can with investment-grade corporate bonds, you can get those returns with so-called high-yield bonds. Because they have a lower rating, they pay higher interest, sometimes much higher.
The average yield on high-yield bonds is 8.29%. But that’s just an average. The yield on a bond rated B will be higher than one rated BB.
You should also be aware that, in addition to potential market value declines due to rising interest rates, high-yield bonds are more likely to default than investment-grade bonds. That’s why they pay higher interest rates. (They used to call these bonds “junk bonds,” but that kind of description is a marketing disaster.) Because of those twin risks, junk bonds should occupy only a small corner of your fixed-income portfolio.
High Yield Bond Risk
In a rapidly rising interest rate environment, high-yield bonds are more likely to default.
High-yield bonds can be purchased under similar terms and in the same places where you can trade corporate bonds. There are also ETFs that specialize in high-yield bonds and will be a better choice for most investors, since they will include diversification across many different bond issues.
5. Municipal Bonds
Just as corporations and the U.S. Treasury issue bonds, so do state and local governments. These are referred to as municipal bonds. They work much like other bond types, particularly corporates. They can be purchased in similar denominations through online brokers.
The main advantage enjoyed by municipal bonds is their tax-exempt status for federal income tax purposes. And if you purchase a municipal bond issued by your home state, or a municipality within that state, the interest will also be tax-exempt for state income tax purposes.
That makes municipal bonds an excellent source of tax-exempt income in a nonretirement account. (Because retirement accounts are tax-sheltered, it makes little sense to include municipal bonds in those accounts.)
Municipal bond rates are currently hovering just above 3% for AAA-rated bonds. And while that’s an impressive return by itself, it masks an even higher yield.
Because of their tax-exempt status, the effective yield on municipal bonds will be higher than the note rate. For example, if your combined federal and state marginal income tax rates are 25%, the effective yield on a municipal bond paying 3% will be 4%. That gives an effective rate comparable with AAA-rated corporate bonds.
Municipal bonds, like other bonds, are subject to market value fluctuations due to interest rate changes. And while it’s rare, there have been occasional defaults on these bonds.
Like corporate bonds, municipal bonds carry ratings that affect the interest rates they pay. You can investigate bond ratings through sources like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch.
Fund
Symbol
Type
Current Yield
5 Average Annual Return
Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund
VIPSX
TIPS
0.06%
3.02%
SPDR® Portfolio Interm Term Corp Bond ETF
SPIB
Corporate
4.38%
1.44%
iShares Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond ETF
HYGH
High-Yield
5.19%
2.02%
Invesco VRDO Tax-Free ETF (PVI)
PVI
Municipal
0.53%
0.56%
6. Longer Term Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
This is another investment that falls under the low risk/relatively high return classification. As interest rates have risen in recent months, rates have crept up on certificates of deposit. Unlike just one year ago, CDs now merit consideration.
But the key is to invest in certificates with longer terms.
“Another lower-risk option is to consider a Certificate of Deposit (CD),” advises Lance C. Steiner, CFP at Buckingham Advisors. “Banks, credit unions, and many other financial institutions offer CDs with maturities ranging from 6 months to 60 months. Currently, a 6-month CD may pay between 0.75% and 1.25% where a 24-month CD may pay between 2.20% and 3.00%. We suggest considering a short-term ladder since interest rates are expected to continue rising.” (Stated interest rates for the high-yield savings and CDs were obtained at bankrate.com.)
Most banks offer certificates of deposit with terms as long as five years. Those typically have the highest yields.
But the longer term does involve at least a moderate level of risk. If you invest in a CD for five years that’s currently paying 3%, the risk is that interest rates will continue rising. If they do, you’ll miss out on the higher returns available on newer certificates. But the risk is still low overall since the bank guarantees to repay 100% of your principle upon certificate maturity.
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7. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending
Do you know how banks borrow from you—at 1% interest—then loan the same money to your neighbor at rates sometimes as high as 20%? It’s quite a racket, and a profitable one at that.
But do you also know that you have the same opportunity as a bank? It’s an investing process known as peer-to-peer lending, or P2P for short.
P2P lending essentially eliminates the bank. As an investor, you’ll provide the funds for borrowers on a P2P platform. Most of these loans will be in the form of personal loans for a variety of purposes. But some can also be business loans, medical loans, and for other more specific purposes.
As an investor/lender, you get to keep more of the interest rate return on those loans. You can invest easily through online P2P platforms.
One popular example is Prosper. They offer primarily personal loans in amounts ranging between $2,000 and $40,000. You can invest in small slivers of these loans, referred to as “notes.” Notes can be purchased for as little as $25.
That small denomination will make it possible to diversify your investment across many different loans. You can even choose the loans you will invest in based on borrower credit scores, income, loan terms, and purposes.
Prosper, which has managed $20 billion in P2P loans since 2005, claims a historical average return of 5.7%. That’s a high rate of return on what is essentially a fixed-income investment. But that’s because there exists the possibility of loss due to borrower default.
However, you can minimize the likelihood of default by carefully choosing borrower loan quality. That means focusing on borrowers with higher credit scores, incomes, and more conservative loan purposes (like debt consolidation).
8. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
REITs are an excellent way to participate in real estate investment, and the return it provides, without large amounts of capital or the need to manage properties. They’re publicly traded, closed-end investment funds that can be bought and sold on major stock exchanges. They invest primarily in commercial real estate, like office buildings, retail space, and large apartment complexes.
If you’re planning to invest in a REIT, you should be aware that there are three different types.
“Equity REITs purchase commercial, industrial, or residential real estate properties,” reports Robert R. Johnson, PhD, CFA, CAIA, Professor of Finance, Heider College of Business, Creighton University and co-author of several books, including The Tools and Techniques Of Investment Planning, Strategic Value Investing and Investment Banking for Dummies. “Income is derived primarily from the rental on the properties, as well as from the sale of properties that have increased in value. Mortgage REITs invest in property mortgages. The income is primarily from the interest they earn on the mortgage loans. Hybrid REITs invest both directly in property and in mortgages on properties.”
Johnson also cautions:
“Investors should understand that equity REITs are more like stocks and mortgage REITs are more like bonds. Hybrid REITs are like a mix of stocks and bonds.”
Mortgage REITs, in particular, are an excellent way to earn steady dividend income without being closely tied to the stock market.
Examples of specific REITs are listed in the table below (source: Kiplinger):
REIT
Equity or Mortgage
Property Type
Dividend Yield
12 Month Return
Rexford Industrial Realty
REXR
Industrial warehouse space
2.02%
2.21%
Sun Communities
SUI
Manufactured housing, RVs, resorts, marinas
2.19%
-14.71%
American Tower
AMT
Multi-tenant cell towers
2.13%
-9.00%
Prologis
PLD
Industrial real estate
2.49%
-0.77%
Camden Property Trust
CPT
Apartment complexes
2.77%
-7.74%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities
ARE
Research Properties
3.14%
-23.72%
Digital Realty Trust
DLR
Data centers
3.83%
-17.72%
9. Real Estate Crowdfunding
If you prefer direct investment in a property of your choice, rather than a portfolio, you can invest in real estate crowdfunding. You invest your money, but management of the property will be handled by professionals. With real estate crowdfunding, you can pick out individual properties, or invest in nonpublic REITs that invest in very specific portfolios.
One of the best examples of real estate crowdfunding is Fundrise. That’s because you can invest with as little as $500 or create a customized portfolio with no more than $1,000. Not only does Fundrise charge low fees, but they also have multiple investment options. You can start small in managed investments, and eventually trade up to investing in individual deals.
One thing to be aware of with real estate crowdfunding is that many require accredited investor status. That means being high income, high net worth, or both. If you are an accredited investor, you’ll have many more choices in the real estate crowdfunding space.
If you are not an accredited investor, that doesn’t mean you’ll be prevented from investing in this asset class. Part of the reason why Fundrise is so popular is that they don’t require accredited investor status. There are other real estate crowdfunding platforms that do the same.
Just be careful if you want to invest in real estate through real estate crowdfunding platforms. You will be expected to tie your money up for several years, and early redemption is often not possible. And like most investments, there is the possibility of losing some or all your investment principal.
Low minimum investment – $10
Diversified real estate portfolio
Portfolio Transparency
10. Physical Real Estate
We’ve talked about investing in real estate through REITs and real estate crowdfunding. But you can also invest directly in physical property, including residential property or even commercial.
Owning real estate outright means you have complete control over the investment. And since real estate is a large-dollar investment, the potential returns are also large.
For starters, average annual returns on real estate are impressive. They’re even comparable to stocks. Residential real estate has generated average returns of 10.6%, while commercial property has returned an average of 9.5%.
Next, real estate has the potential to generate income from two directions, from rental income and capital gains. But because of high property values in many markets around the country, it will be difficult to purchase real estate that will produce a positive cash flow, at least in the first few years.
Generally speaking, capital gains are where the richest returns come from. Property purchased today could double or even triple in 20 years, creating a huge windfall. And this will be a long-term capital gain, to get the benefit of a lower tax bite.
Finally, there’s the leverage factor. You can typically purchase an investment property with a 20% down payment. That means you can purchase a $500,000 property with $100,000 out-of-pocket.
By calculating your capital gains on your upfront investment, the returns are truly staggering. If the $500,000 property doubles to $1 million in 20 years, the $500,000 profit generated will produce a 500% gain on your $100,000 investment.
On the negative side, real estate is certainly a very long-term investment. It also comes with high transaction fees, often as high as 10% of the sale price. And not only will it require a large down payment up front, but also substantial investment of time managing the property.
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11. High Dividend Stocks
“The best high-yield investment is dividend stocks,” declares Harry Turner, Founder at The Sovereign Investor. “While there is no guaranteed return with stocks, over the long term stocks have outperformed other investments such as bonds and real estate. Among stocks, dividend-paying stocks have outperformed non-dividend paying stocks by more than 2 percentage points per year on average over the last century. In addition, dividend stocks tend to be less volatile than non-dividend paying stocks, meaning they are less likely to lose value in downturns.”
You can certainly invest in individual stocks that pay high dividends. But a less risky way to do it, and one that will avoid individual stock selection, is to invest through a fund.
One of the most popular is the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat ETF (NOBL). It has provided a return of 1.67% in the 12 months ending May 31, and an average of 12.33% per year since the fund began in October 2013. The fund currently has a 1.92% dividend yield.
The so-called Dividend Aristocrats are popular because they represent 60+ S&P 500 companies, with a history of increasing their dividends for at least the past 25 years.
“Dividend Stocks are an excellent way to earn some quality yield on your investments while simultaneously keeping inflation at bay,” advises Lyle Solomon, Principal Attorney at Oak View Law Group, one of the largest law firms in America. “Dividends are usually paid out by well-established and successful companies that no longer need to reinvest all of the profits back into the business.”
It gets better. “These companies and their stocks are safer to invest in owing to their stature, large customer base, and hold over the markets,” adds Solomon. “The best part about dividend stocks is that many of these companies increase dividends year on year.”
The table below shows some popular dividend-paying stocks. Each is a so-called “Dividend Aristocrat”, which means it’s part of the S&P 500 and has increased its dividend in each of at least the past 25 years.
Company
Symbol
Dividend
Dividend Yield
AbbVie
ABBV
$5.64
3.80%
Armcor PLC
AMCR
$0.48
3.81%
Chevron
CVX
$5.68
3.94%
ExxonMobil
XOM
$3.52
4.04%
IBM
IBM
$6.60
5.15%
Realty Income Corp
O
$2.97
4.16%
Walgreen Boots Alliance
WBA
$1.92
4.97%
12. Preferred Stocks
Preferred stocks are a very specific type of dividend stock. Just like common stock, preferred stock represents an interest in a publicly traded company. They’re often thought of as something of a hybrid between stocks and bonds because they contain elements of both.
Though common stocks can pay dividends, they don’t always. Preferred stocks on the other hand, always pay dividends. Those dividends can be either a fixed amount or based on a variable dividend formula. For example, a company can base the dividend payout on a recognized index, like the LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate). The percentage of dividend payout will then change as the index rate does.
Preferred stocks have two major advantages over common stock. First, as “preferred” securities, they have a priority on dividend payments. A company is required to pay their preferred shareholders dividends ahead of common stockholders. Second, preferred stocks have higher dividend yields than common stocks in the same company.
You can purchase preferred stock through online brokers, some of which are listed under “Growth Stocks” below.
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Preferred Stock Caveats
The disadvantage of preferred stocks is that they don’t entitle the holder to vote in corporate elections. But some preferred stocks offer a conversion option. You can exchange your preferred shares for a specific number of common stock shares in the company. Since the conversion will likely be exercised when the price of the common shares takes a big jump, there’s the potential for large capital gains—in addition to the higher dividend.
Be aware that preferred stocks can also be callable. That means the company can authorize the repurchase of the stock at its discretion. Most will likely do that at a time when interest rates are falling, and they no longer want to pay a higher dividend on the preferred stock.
Preferred stock may also have a maturity date, which is typically 30–40 years after its original issuance. The company will typically redeem the shares at the original issue price, eliminating the possibility of capital gains.
Not all companies issue preferred stock. If you choose this investment, be sure it’s with a company that’s well-established and has strong financials. You should also pay close attention to the details of the issuance, including and especially any callability provisions, dividend formulas, and maturity dates.
13. Growth Stocks
This sector is likely the highest risk investment on this list. But it also may be the one with the highest yield, at least over the long term. That’s why we’re including it on this list.
Based on the S&P 500 index, stocks have returned an average of 10% per year for the past 50 years. But it is important to realize that’s only an average. The market may rise 40% one year, then fall 20% the next. To be successful with this investment, you must be committed for the long haul, up to and including several decades.
And because of the potential wide swings, growth stocks are not recommended for funds that will be needed within the next few years. In general, growth stocks work best for retirement plans. That’s where they’ll have the necessary decades to build and compound.
Since most of the return on growth stocks is from capital gains, you’ll get the benefit of lower long-term capital gains tax rates, at least with securities held in a taxable account. (The better news is capital gains on investments held in retirement accounts are tax-deferred until retirement.)
You can choose to invest in individual stocks, but that’s a fairly high-maintenance undertaking. A better way may be to simply invest in ETFs tied to popular indexes. For example, ETFs based on the S&P 500 are very popular among investors.
You can purchase growth stocks and growth stock ETFs commission free with brokers like M1 Finance, Zacks Trade, Wealthsimple.
14. Annuities
Annuities are something like creating your own private pension. It’s an investment contract you take with an insurance company, in which you invest a certain amount of money in exchange for a specific income stream. They can be an excellent source of high yields because the return is locked in by the contract.
Annuities come in many different varieties. Two major classifications are immediate and deferred annuities. As the name implies, immediate annuities begin paying an income stream shortly after the contract begins.
Deferred annuities work something like retirement plans. You may deposit a fixed amount of money with the insurance company upfront or make regular installments. In either case, income payments will begin at a specified point in the future.
With deferred annuities, the income earned within the plan is tax-deferred and paid upon withdrawal. But unlike retirement accounts, annuity contributions are not tax-deductible. Investment returns can either be fixed-rate or variable-rate, depending on the specific annuity setup.
While annuities are an excellent idea and concept, the wide variety of plans as well as the many insurance companies and agents offering them, make them a potential minefield. For example, many annuities are riddled with high fees and are subject to limited withdrawal options.
Because they contain so many moving parts, any annuity contracts you plan to enter into should be carefully reviewed. Pay close attention to all the details, including the small ones. It is, after all, a contract, and therefore legally binding. For that reason, you may want to have a potential annuity reviewed by an attorney before finalizing the deal.
15. Alternative Investments
Alternative investments cover a lot of territory. Examples include precious metals, commodities, private equity, art and collectibles, and digital assets. These fall more in the category of high risk/potential high reward, and you should proceed very carefully and with only the smallest slice of your portfolio.
To simplify the process of selecting alternative assets, you can invest through platforms such as Yieldstreet. With a single cash investment, you can invest in multiple alternatives.
“Investors can purchase real estate directly on Yieldstreet, through fractionalized investments in single deals,” offers Milind Mehere, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Yieldstreet. “Investors can access private equity and private credit at high minimums by investing in a private market fund (think Blackstone or KKR, for instance). On Yieldstreet, they can have access to third-party funds at a fraction of the previously required minimums. Yieldstreet also offers venture capital (fractionalized) exposure directly. Buying a piece of blue-chip art can be expensive, and prohibitive for most investors, which is why Yieldstreet offers fractionalized assets to diversified art portfolios.”
Yieldstreet also provides access to digital asset investments, with the benefit of allocating to established professional funds, such as Pantera or Osprey Fund. The platform does not currently offer commodities but plans to do so in the future.
Access to wide array of alternative asset classes
Access to ultra-wealthy investments
Can invest for income or growth
Learn More Now
Alternative investments largely require thinking out-of-the-box. Some of the best investment opportunities are also the most unusual.
“The price of meat continues to rise, while agriculture remains a recession-proof investment as consumer demand for food is largely inelastic,” reports Chris Rawley, CEO of Harvest Returns, a platform for investing in private agriculture companies. “Consequently, investors are seeing solid returns from high-yield, grass-fed cattle notes.”
16. Interest Bearing Crypto Accounts
Though the primary appeal of investing in cryptocurrency has been the meteoric rises in price, now that the trend seems to be in reverse, the better play may be in interest-bearing crypto accounts. A select group of crypto exchanges pays high interest on your crypto balance.
One example is Gemini. Not only do they provide an opportunity to buy, sell, and store more than 100 cryptocurrencies—plus non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—but they are currently paying 8.05% APY on your crypto balance through Gemini Earn.
In another variation of being able to earn money on crypto, Crypto.com pays rewards of up to 14.5% on crypto held on the platform. That’s the maximum rate, as rewards vary by crypto. For example, rewards on Bitcoin and Ethereum are paid at 6%, while stablecoins can earn 8.5%.
It’s important to be aware that when investing in cryptocurrency, you will not enjoy the benefit of FDIC insurance. That means you can lose money on your investment. But that’s why crypto exchanges pay such high rates of return, whether it’s in the form of interest or rewards.
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17. Crypto Staking
Another way to play cryptocurrency is a process known as crypto staking. This is where the crypto exchange pays you a certain percentage as compensation or rewards for monitoring a specific cryptocurrency. This is not like crypto mining, which brings crypto into existence. Instead, you’ll participate in writing that particular blockchain and monitoring its security.
“Crypto staking is a concept wherein you can buy and lock a cryptocurrency in a protocol, and you will earn rewards for the amount and time you have locked the cryptocurrency,” reports Oak View Law Group’s Lyle Solomon.
“The big downside to staking crypto is the value of cryptocurrencies, in general, is extremely volatile, and the value of your staked crypto may reduce drastically,” Solomon continues, “However, you can stake stable currencies like USDC, which have their value pegged to the U.S. dollar, and would imply you earn staked rewards without a massive decrease in the value of your investment.”
Much like earning interest and rewards on crypto, staking takes place on crypto exchanges. Two exchanges that feature staking include Coinbase and Kraken. These are two of the largest crypto exchanges in the industry, and they provide a wide range of crypto opportunities, in addition to staking.
Invest in Startup Businesses and Companies
Have you ever heard the term “angel investor”? That’s a private investor, usually, a high net worth individual, who provides capital to small businesses, often startups. That capital is in the form of equity. The angel investor invests money in a small business, becomes a part owner of the company, and is entitled to a share of the company’s earnings.
In most cases, the angel investor acts as a silent partner. That means he or she receives dividend distributions on the equity invested but doesn’t actually get involved in the management of the company.
It’s a potentially lucrative investment opportunity because small businesses have a way of becoming big businesses. As they grow, both your equity and your income from the business also grow. And if the business ever goes public, you could be looking at a life-changing windfall!
Easy Ways to Invest in Startup Businesses
Mainvest is a simple, easy way to invest in small businesses. It’s an online investment platform where you can get access to returns as high as 25%, with an investment of just $100. Mainvest offers vetted businesses (the acceptance rate is just 5% of business that apply) for you to invest in.
It collects revenue, which will be paid to you quarterly. And because the minimum required investment is so small, you can invest in several small businesses at the same time. One of the big advantages with Mainvest is that you are not required to be an accredited investor.
Still another opportunity is through Fundrise Innovation Fund. I’ve already covered how Fundrise is an excellent real estate crowdfunding platform. But through their recently launched Innovaton Fund, you’ll have opportunity to invest in high-growth private technology companies. As a fund, you’ll invest in a portfolio of late-stage tech companies, as well as some public equities.
The purpose of the fund is to provide high growth, and the fund is currently offering shares with a net asset value of $10. These are long-term investments, so you should expect to remain invested for at least five years. But you may receive dividends in the meantime.
Like Mainvest, the Fundrise Innovation Fund does not require you to be an accredited investor.
Low minimum investment – $10
Diversified real estate portfolio
Portfolio Transparency
Final Thoughts on High Yield Investing
Notice that I’ve included a mix of investments based on a combination of risk and return. The greater the risk associated with the investment, the higher the stated or expected return will be.
It’s important when choosing any of these investments that you thoroughly assess the risk involved with each, and not focus primarily on return. These are not 100% safe investments, like short-term CDs, short-term Treasury securities, savings accounts, or bank money market accounts.
Because there is risk associated with each, most are not suitable as short-term investments. They make most sense for long-term investment accounts, particularly retirement accounts.
For example, growth stocks—and most stocks, for that matter—should generally be in a retirement account. While there will be years when you will suffer losses in your position, you’ll have enough years to offset those losses between now and retirement.
Also, if you don’t understand any of the above investments, it will be best to avoid making them. And for more complicated investments, like annuities, you should consult with a professional to evaluate the suitability and all the provisions it contains.
FAQ’s on High Yield Investment Options
What investment has the highest yield?
The investment with the highest yield will vary depending on a number of factors, including current market conditions and the amount of risk an investor is willing to take on. Generally speaking, investments with the potential for high yields also come with a higher level of risk, so it’s important for investors to carefully consider their options and choose investments that align with their financial goals and risk tolerance.
Some examples of high-yield investments include:
1. Stocks: Some stocks may offer high dividend yields, which is the annual dividend payment a company makes to its shareholders, expressed as a percentage of the stock’s current market price.
2. Real estate: Investing in real estate, either directly by purchasing property or indirectly through a real estate investment trust (REIT), can potentially generate high returns in the form of rental income and appreciation of the property value.
3. High-yield bonds: High-yield bonds, also known as junk bonds, are bonds that are issued by companies with lower credit ratings and thus offer higher yields to compensate for the added risk.
4. Private lending: Investing in private loans, such as through peer-to-peer lending platforms, can potentially offer high yields, but it also carries a higher level of risk.
5. Commodities: Investing in commodities, such as precious metals or oil, can potentially generate high returns if the prices of those commodities rise. However, the prices of commodities can also be volatile and subject to market fluctuations.
It’s important to note that these are just examples and not recommendations. As with any investment, it’s crucial to carefully research and consider all the potential risks and rewards before making a decision.
Where can I invest my money to get high returns?
There are a number of places you can invest your money to get high returns. One option is to invest in stocks, which typically offer higher returns than other investment options. Another option is to invest in bonds, which are considered a relatively safe investment option.
You could also invest in real estate, which has the potential to provide high returns if done correctly. Finally, you could also invest in commodities, such as gold or silver, which can be a risky investment but can also offer high returns.
What investments can I make a 10% return?
It’s difficult to predict exactly what investments will generate a 10% return, as investment returns can vary depending on a number of factors, including market conditions and the performance of the specific investment. Some investments, such as stocks and real estate, have the potential to generate returns in excess of 10%, but they also come with a higher level of risk. It’s important to remember that past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results, and that all investments carry some degree of risk