Joseph Hogue's Blog, page 84

5 Simple Steps to Create an Emergency Fund

Your emergency fund will protect you when life happens. Follow these simple steps to create and emergency fund and the peace of mind you need.

[Today's article is a guest post from Peter Creedon of Crystal Brook Advisors on the importance of creating an emergency fund and a simple strategy for creating a financial cushion.]

Hospital visits, pet illness, apartment leaks, car accidents, bad investments or job loss – life has a way of throwing all kinds of unexpected events at you without taking yo...

The Myth of Passive Income: Online Stores

Growth in online spending has vaulted online stores to the top of passive income myths but how much work is involved?

Growth in online spending hit $20 billion last year and shows no sign of slowing. Expectations for online shopping to reach nearly $44 billion over the next few years has people pushing to get in line for their share of the profits. As part of that frenzy, one of the greatest passive income myths has been born – all you need to do is put out the sign on your online store and wait...

How I Discovered that ANYONE can Start Investing

My parents taught me about saving and budgeting from an early age but it wasn’t until much later that I learned the power of compounding and that anyone can start investing.

I’ve been working on getting today’s post for months. I’ve followed Miranda Marquit’s blog for quite a while and love the blog as a resource and a break from all the ‘frugal living’ sites. It was great to hear that she would share her PeerStory with us here on PeerFinance101.

And it’s a great story to share. Like many of us,...

What is My Investment Risk Tolerance?

Investing without understanding your investment risk tolerance is a sure way to miss your financial goals and create sleepless nights.

Investment risk tolerance is one of the most important but overlooked concepts in investing. Investors eager to reach their financial goals for retirement or that dream vacation read through a few websites about stocks and bonds before putting their money in some popular funds or products.

Then the sleepless nights come as stocks turn skittish or bonds struggle a...

9 Expats Share Living Abroad Tips on Finance and Life

More Americans than ever are leaving the rat race and living abroad. These 9 expats share their best living abroad tips on finance and making a new life.

On Tuesday, we saw from the Association of Americans Resident Overseas that more than six million Americans now live abroad in another country. Don’t get me wrong, I served my country in the Marines and still think the United States is the best nation on earth but I also enjoy some great benefits from living abroad.

Click through to Tuesday’s p...

Who’s the Richest Person in Your State?

Who is the richest person in your state and can you learn something about becoming wealthy yourself?

Forbes is out with an interesting list displaying the richest person in each state, along with their net worth and origin of their wealth. I decided to take a closer look at some of these 50 one-percenters, how they really made their money and what they do with it to stay on top.

Who's the Richest Person in Your StateFrom Bill Gates to Humble Robert Gillam, How the Rich Made their Money

Bill Gat...

6 Great Ideas to Make your Tax Refund Go Farther

Have fun with your tax refund but make sure that fun lasts longer with these 6 ideas to make your tax refund go farther.

It’s tax day and many are scrambling to get their returns in before the deadline. Hopefully you are already done and are expecting a big check from Uncle Sam. As you march around the house giddy thinking about how you’ll spend it, wouldn’t it be great if you could make your tax refund go farther?

You’re not alone in your joy. More than 80% of Americans are expecting refunds wi...

What to do when Facing a Personal Finance Do-Over

Jeff Curran shares his PeerStory and how he overcame a personal finance do-over when moving to a new city.

Today’s PeerStory is from a former coworker at the State of Iowa. Jeff and I worked as Labor Market Research Economists helping to get the state’s workforce back on track after the financial meltdown. Jeff left to finish his graduate degree in 2012 and later moved to Boston.

This is his story about getting a financial do-over and getting his finances in order ahead of his new life on the E...

How I Made $34,000 Crowdfunding

Rennik Soholt raised $34,547 from 313 people to crowdfund his documentary. He shares his PeerStory as a follow-up to our how to make money crowdfunding article last week.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about crowdfunding since last week’s webinar with small business community Manta. Week two of our five-week series on how to make extra money online covered some of the details in using crowdfunding to launch your dream project but I wanted to follow it up with a PeerStory from someone in the com...

How I Make $45 an Hour Writing Online

Following our blog post on How to Make Money Writing Online, I thought I would add my own PeerStory and experience freelance writing online.

I have been writing as a writer and freelance investment analyst for more than four years and have probably seen just about every scam out there. I can relate when people wonder if you really can make money writing online or if it is just a fantasy.

But I have also made pretty decent money doing it.

Making Money Writing Online is Not a Get Rich Quick Schem...