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Dwindling Vacations, Googling Yourself, & the Power of 1% More

February 21, 2023

Happy Tuesday, happy people!

A few reminders for today...

T rust the process 🧘‍♂️U tilize your gifts 🕺E liminate self-doubt 💪S wing for the fences! ⚾️D eliver excellence 🏆A sk for help if you need it 🙋‍♂️Y ou got this 🤜 🤛

It's a great day, to have a great day.

OK, now let's talk about money stuff! 👇👇👇

TO DO

Google Yourself! (Check for Doxxing Content)

If you google [your name] and the word "address", what shows up in the page 1 search results? You better check because your personal and sensitive information might be on display for the entire world to see!

Don't worry... Google has an easy process to remove doxxing information from search results (sites that display your home address, phone numbers, email address, ID info, etc). It takes about 2 minutes to fill out the request form, just include links/screenshots of the offending search results, and they usually take them down the same day!

Try it! Hopefully you can make it a little harder for the scammers of the world to find your info. Stay safe!! 🔐

SAVING

The Power of Just 1% More...

Jenny is 32 years old. 🙋‍♀️ She makes $70,000 per year. 

One day, Jenny decides to increase her 401(k) contributions by just 1%... (That's only $13.46 per week)

Come retirement time, Jenny has saved an extra $101,581 in her account.

Joey and Jamie bought their forever home 🏡, taking out a $400,000 mortgage. Instead of making the minimum loan payments, they commit to paying just 1% more (that's only an extra $24 per month). Not only did they pay off their home nearly 1 year early, they saved $14,936 in loan interest!

Gordon worked in sales, where he was expected to make 100 phone calls per day. Instead, he committed to 101 each day, just 1% extra than the other reps. At the end of his first year, he made an extra $2,000 in commissions, and management recognized his efforts and put him up for a promotion + pay raise. The following year it happened again.

A tiny bit more money, a tiny bit more effort, a tiny bit more time... Is there anything in your life you can start adding 1% more to?

More resources:

TOGETHER WITH CARDRATINGS

We partner with CardRatings because they help us sift through the bajillion different types of credit cards out there and group everything into easy, non-bias lists. They update these lists often to rank the best cards as new promos come out.

Here are the most popular searches:

We also launched a custom HTM search tool which recommends cards based on toggling multiple preferences. We love helping people take advantage of rewards and cash back, but we trust that you are all using credit responsibly! Please *do not* open or use credit cards if you can't afford to pay the balances off each month, every month.

LIFESTYLE

Are You Utilizing Your PTO?

This week's chart comes from The Washington Post (created with data from the Bureau of Labor Stats). It exposes the sad reality that less and less people are taking vacations each year. 👇👇👇

Even though more employers are offering PTO and promoting time off for mental health, fewer folks are actually taking advantage of their benefits.

This is a little sad, because vacationing is soooo good for you! It can:

  • Improve mental health & motivation

  • Improve physical health!

  • Increase your productivity

  • Strengthen family relationships

  • Reduce burnout & boost happiness

  • Give you something to look forward to, AND something to look back on and remember later in life

The bottom line is: Taking time off (not just a single day here and there, but *real time to unplug*) helps you build experiences for yourself and those you love the most, that counterbalances the rewarding value you bring to others through your work.

Related stuff:

ICYMI

Relevant Happenings in the Finance World...

Home Prices 🏡Typical US home values fell just a tiny bit the past month, but they are still 6.2% higher than a year ago. Here is all the new data from Zillow, including metros with the highest and lowest year-over-year growth.

Cool I Bond Calculator 👀Here's a cool site. Just click the month/year you purchased your I bonds and it'll spit out your exact returns over the years based on the historic rates.

WFH 👨‍💻Turns out there are psychological benefits to commuting to an office every day. Those ~26mins most people spend in their cars give then time to switch gears and mentally prepare for whatever is next. (Psssst. try biking to work! Both psychological and physical benefits 😉)

Apprenticeships 👩‍🔧Over the past decade, registered apprenticeships have risen 64%! They are becoming more popular for young folks who are challenging the value of going to college.

CC Fraud ⛔️Credit card fraud is on the rise. The median fraudulent charge is only 79 bucks... which means if you're not tracking your transactions and reviewing your spending, you might not even notice the swindling spending! A good reminder to use Mint, Empower (formerly Personal Capital, YNAB, or your banking app to track and review all your stuff.

FRIENDS OF HTM

Nick Loper - Side Hustle Nation

Nick began Side Hustle Nation to help more people earn money outside of their day job.

But if you listen to his podcast or TED talk, you'll quickly realize Nick's passion goes way deeper than that... His real goal is to connect people with work that they are actually passionate and excited about.

So for everyone looking for extra ways to earn this year, it's worth checking out Side Hustle Nation to find something that's a good fit for you!

Cheers for reading! Now get out there and do what you do best.

Best friends out 🍻