Category: Articles

Harris Poll recently found that the majority of cryptocurrency investors believe they are well-equipped to make it big in the future. This survey asked Americans about their perceptions of billionaires. It also found that Gen Zers and millennials are more optimistic than other age groups.

Harris Poll Survey: Crypto still seen as a billionaire-maker investment

Although some cryptocurrency investors have lost confidence due to the downturn in global economic conditions and subsequent deceleration of crypto and traditional stock markets, there are many who remain optimistic. Harris Poll conducted a survey in July that revealed cryptocurrency investors remain optimistic about the industry’s future.

Harris Poll reached out to nearly 2,000 Americans for their thoughts on billionaires. According to 71% of respondents, cryptocurrency investors believed that they could become billionaires in the future. This is a significant percentage compared with the 44% of the other groups.

Similar results were also reported by 60% who said that they would like to make a fortune and look up to billionaires.

Gen Z and Millennials are Confident Too

Survey results show that Gen Zers, millennials and others are confident in their ability to become billionaires. They are often associated with financial technology, such as fintech and crypto.

A survey by Devere Group in 2020 found that two-thirds of millennials preferred bitcoin over gold to be a secure haven. Nigel Green (CEO and founder, Devere Group) stated that at the time:

The findings that indicate that millennials prefer bitcoin to gold are consistent with that of the cryptocurrency’s growing popularity as an asset class that can be used for safety and security.

Green also suggested that the rising interest in cryptocurrency by younger generations is linked to the inflation and devaluation global economies face due to high levels of unbacked fiat money. According to Green, bitcoin’s unique attributes, which are non-sovereign and decentralized and scarce as well as a store and store of value, could give it an advantage over traditional fiat currencies like gold.

In 2021, TikTok hit the one billion milestone of monthly active users, capitalizing on its early fame as people gravitated toward its light, short-form content. This surge in popularity means TikTok is ripe with revenue opportunities, especially considering around 37% of TikTok users in the US earn $100,000 or more yearly.

From the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend to devoted subcultures like #BookTok, brands are finding creative and authentic ways to position and sell their products or services directly to TikTok audiences. You can too, by making engaging and helpful short videos that speak directly to your audience’s interests.

But where do you begin? In this article, we break down 10 strategies for how to make money on TikTok.

1. Run TikTok ads
2. Collect tips or donations
3. Collaborate with a creator
4. Try affiliate marketing
5. Grow and sell TikTok accounts
6. Publish sponsored posts
7. Create a Patreon account
8. Sell your products and merchandise
9. Set up a TikTok shop
10. Join the TikTok Creator Fund

1. Run TikTok ads

About 43% of TikTok users are between 18 and 24 years old. This makes TikTok a strong advertising choice for brands wanting to market their products to Gen Z. TikTok ads come with simple, powerful tools to help you advertise to millions of users. Ad formats vary by region, but all let you personalize your targeting by age, location, interest and other factors. You can select one or a few formats that work best for your brand.

The most popular types of TikTok ads include:

In-feed video: Appear on the For You Page of TikTok users who meet your targeting parameters.

Brand takeover: This lets your ad expand to the width of the whole screen for a few seconds. Then it becomes an in-feed video ad.

Hashtag challenges: Create appealing challenges that encourage user-generated content. These challenges appear in the Discovery section on TikTok. This option is only available to managed brands that work in collaboration with TikTok sales representatives.

There are several more types of TikTok ads you can experiment with, but note that some are only available to certain types of accounts.

2. Collect tips or donations

TikTok has introduced a tipping feature that allows select creators to earn money from tips and donations. Fans can use this feature to show gratitude to the creators they love.

Video gifts let viewers send creators virtual gifts and coins. Some creators can collect gifts during a live stream. Gifts can be redeemed for Diamonds—TikTok’s digital currency.

When you save up enough Diamonds, you can trade them for real cash.

Creators can also use tipping platforms to earn money. Tipeee, Ko-fi and Buy Me a Coffee can be connected to your TikTok account to function as a tip jar.

3. Collaborate with a creator

The latest Sprout Social Index™ shows that 33% of Gen Z and 28% of Millennials value brand/creator content collaborations. TikTok’s thriving community of content creators makes it an excellent channel for collaborating with influential people with highly engaged communities.

The key is to collaborate with the right creators who can authentically position your brand to their audience, as creator-made branded content has 83% higher engagement rates.

TikTok’s Creator Marketplace is where you can connect with content creators on the network. In a few steps, you can find influencers and run campaigns with them. Locate creators based on business goals, budget, and industry, and find comprehensive performance and audience metrics for data-driven decision-making.

TikTok has some eligibility requirements for the Creator Marketplace, so only select creators can join. This assures marketers that the creators they partner with are some of TikTok’s top influencers.

4. Try affiliate marketing

Through affiliate marketing programs, creators and other businesses can promote and sell another company’s products or services for a commission.

To be a successful affiliate marketer, you need to generate sales online. Focus on promoting products that best align with your target audience. Create engaging videos that present affiliate products, showcasing the value and why you recommend purchasing them. Try promoting brands you like and trust, and sharing affiliate links or codes to track purchases influenced by your account.

If a follower makes a purchase through the link or code provided, then you will receive a commission from the brand for that sale. TikTok doesn’t allow personal accounts to place clickable links within video descriptions. But you can ask followers to copy and paste links into their browsers or enter special codes at checkout. Sites like Beacons allow you to create a free webpage containing affiliate links and details for products being promoted. If you have a business account, you can add a link in your bio.

If you’re an in-house marketer, create an affiliate marketing program with clear guidelines and instructions on how to participate. Invite TikTokers who align with your brand values and target audience to participate. Encourage affiliates to promote the products or services that best align with your goals and shared audience. And most importantly, implement a tracking system so you can monitor affiliate performance and commission payments.

5. Grow and sell TikTok accounts

Organically growing a TikTok account could take months. However, you can buy an established account to get an instant boost of followers.

To successfully make money selling TikTok accounts, creators should focus on niche topics that can be sustained by the buyer. This will make it easier for the buyer to continue posting similar content and maintain follower engagement.

Brands considering buying an established account should perform due diligence. An account with a lot of followers but low engagement may not provide the return you’re looking for. Also, ensure the account serves an audience you target and the content aligns with your brand and goals.

Brands can purchase an account with active followers from platforms like 123accs, Accfarm and Fameswap.

6. Publish sponsored posts

For smaller activations, brands can sponsor posts that live directly on creators’ profiles. Similar to creator collaborations, these campaigns allow brands to pay content creators to promote their products in organic posts. Sponsor single posts or create a series. If it starts trending, you can boost the post to expand its reach even further.

7. Create a Patreon account

A Patreon account lets creators generate revenue from fans through memberships that allow exclusive access to content. Use TikTok to promote membership sign-ups.

Try to keep your subscription costs low to encourage subscribers and consider rewarding new subscribers. For example, giving away merchandise or exclusive content access to your most loyal followers. Add the link to your Patreon page in your videos or add it to your bio to make it easy for followers to subscribe whenever they are ready.

8. Sell your products and merchandise

Merchandise, merchandise, merchandise. This tried-and-true strategy applies to TikTok as well. Turn original artwork, quotes, or your brand’s logo into merch and promote it on TikTok. Feature your existing products in tutorials or showcase your product alongside a trend.

Listen to your audience if you are unsure what to sell. Create polls or ask them directly to learn what they might buy.

If you have a personal account, create an e-commerce website to process sales transactions and promote it on your TikTok account. Add the store to your videos, and encourage your followers to check out your products.

If you have a TikTok Business account, you can connect platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Square Online, and Ecwid store to your account.

9. Set up a TikTok shop

TikTok partnered with Shopify to launch the TikTok Shopping feature. Brands and creators can become official TikTok merchants and sell directly in the app.

By creating a TikTok Shop, you can showcase products on in-feed videos, lives and product showcase tabs. If eligible for this feature, you can signup to become a seller in the TikTok Seller Center, where you can manage inventory, orders, creator partnerships, promotions and more. However, the seller center is only available in select regions.

10. Join the TikTok Creator Fund

Users with a creator account can monetize their profiles through the TikTok Creator Fund. Creators need to hit some prerequisites to join the program and begin receiving money from the platform. Creator Fund members earn money based on the number of engagements they get on their content.

How to make money on TikTok FAQ

Still curious about TikTok monetization? Here are answers to a couple of frequently asked questions.

How many followers do you need on TikTok to make money?

For some of the features mentioned in the monetization strategies above, you must hit a minimum follower count on TikTok. For example, the Creator Fund requires at least 10,000 followers to join.

On the other hand, you need only 1,000 followers to receive virtual gifts on TikTok Live. But to receive tips and gifts from other types of videos, you must have at least 100,000 followers.

How many views do you need on TikTok to make money?

To join the Creator Fund, you must have received a minimum of 100,000 views on your videos within 30 days. Otherwise, you don’t need to have a certain amount of views to share links to your products in videos or in your bio.

Learn more about TikTok for business

These strategies can elevate your TikTok game and put you on a clear path to making money on the app. If you’re ready to take your TikTok strategy to the next level, check out our TikTok for business guide to learn how to effectively grow your business on the network.

Being in debt, having bad credit and needing help is not something you need to be embarrassed about. One of the great things about the internet is how much access to information you have at your fingertips, where you can find individuals in similar situations and predicaments.

One great thing about being around people in similar situations is the information that is shared between individuals. How did the credit repair company work? Did the Goodwill letter help? Maybe they have other unique ideals that you didn’t think of which can help clean up your credit

What is a Credit forum?

A credit forum is an online gathering space (forum) where people discuss a certain topic. In terms of credit forums, the topic center around credit cards, credit repair, debt consolidation and ways to improve and clean up a person’s credit history.  People post questions and other respond and provided them with information and answers. A forum is a great place to gather information, ask questions and get advice.

CreditBoards.com

CreditBoards is one of the oldest credit forums. The forum was started in 2003 and is still pretty active. One of the main issues with many forums is that they are not active, you sign up and post your question or comment and then all you hear is crickets. That’s not the case with CreditBoards. The topics covered on the forum range from credit news to Bankruptcy, loan modifications, debt consolidation and many other credit related topics. The forum is free to use, all you have to do is sign up for the forum.  The design and layout does feel a bit dated but if you care more about the information then the design then you should check this forum out.

MyFico Forum

The MyFico forum is part of the MyFico website, which is part of the Fair Isaac company. The creators of the Fico score, otherwise known as your credit score. The company pushes their product offering pretty heavily. Which is a monthly credit service, reporting, scores, identiy protection and much more. You don’t need to sign up for any of their products or services in order to use the forum. You do need to click on Community then scroll down half way and click on Register Here.  The design and layout of the forum seems pretty moden. The forum is also very active. There are 303,534 members and over 4,800,000 posts credit on the forum. So if you have any questions, you should have no problem getting them answered. The topics covered on the forum rate from credit cards, rebuilding your credit, bankruptcy but also on other topics not covered at many credit forums such as relationships and money along with personal finance.

CreditInfoCenter

The CreditInfoCenter is a very resourceful forum if you look for information on dealing with credit card companies. There is a lot of information and support related to dealing with financial institutions and dealing with debt. However, there forum isn’t very active anymore. There are sections that haven’t received a new post or reply in months. So, if you post your question and are looking for a quick turnaround, you are not likely to get it at this forum. However, I would use the forum for reach. There is a wealth of information that you can read and study up on. The topics covered on the forum are Credit Repair, Collection, Credit Bureaus/Reports/Bankruptcy, Mortgages and many other related topics.

Reddit,

Reddit maybe a weird place to search for credit repair and personal finance information but it shouldn’t be. Reddit is one of the top trafficked websites.  There are 26.4 Million Americans that Use Redditt Monthly, the site has 330 million monthly active users. With that type of audience you will get a range of people who’s experience, history and interest will cover a range of topics. While the site has lots of interest information and questions, there isn’t a good index or categorization of information on the site. One post may cover being denied for a credit card and the next post will be a credit card meme.  The way reddit works is that topics are organized into what they call subreddits. Below are two credit related subreddits.

r/CRedit

The Redditt subreddit forum of r/CRedit has 96.6 members. The forum was started in 2008. The forum is pretty activity and questions get many responses and relatively quickly. If you have a question related to your credit, repairing your credit, or dealing with credit card company or even getting an opinion, this place is for you. The community is very supportive and helpful.

r/CreditCards

The r/CreditCards Redditt subreditt on credit cards was started on September 14, 2008. The forum is fairly active with 870K Members. The subreddit is dedicated to everything credit card related. Most posts are about applying for certain credit cards, how student loans impact credit scores, along with guidance on which credit cards to use or apply. There is also a fair amount of credit card news, the latest promotions and deals. Like other redditt forums, there is a wealth of information, however its very unorganized. There is a search option which helps if you are looking for something specific like Chase Credit Card Reviews, not sure if its helpful in other situations. My biggest takeaway is that I wish Redditt was better organized.

Which Forum should you use?

There is nothing stopping you from using all 4 forums and boards. You may come across a piece of information that is helpful or useful on one that you don’t see on the other. That being said, not everyone has time to spend on 4 credit forums. If your time is limited, I would spend time on the MyFico forum, which is the largest and most active form. On a larger and more active forum you are more likely to get your question answered, find resources that you are looking for and get the help that you need.

Conclusion

Forums are online gathering places, many of them of centered around certain topics. We covered the most popular credit forums. Where you can get information related to credit repairs, building credit, and getting your credit related questions answered. Which every forum you decided to use, there is nothing wrong with seeking out information and help. Researching credit repair ideas on a credit forum maybe the first baby step you need to take to putting you on path to getting your credit history repaired.

Long wait times, complicated contracts and services, and support that misses the mark; this is what many small business owners deal with when trying to secure financing. Banks can keep you waiting weeks or months to tell you that you’ve been denied funds in the end. The very next question is, where do I go from here?

If you’re looking for funding, you’ll be glad to hear there are other ways to secure the funding you need. In fact, these alternatives often turn out to be better for many business owners. The following information should shed some light on why you might be struggling to secure funds and where you should go next.

Why is Securing Bank Loans So Difficult?

There are several reasons why it’s hard to secure a traditional bank loan. For the most part, the bank financing process is outdated and labor-intensive. Regulations are also incredibly unfavorable for startups, local stores, and small businesses. Banks want to see a healthy business financial history (typically a five-year profile) and a strong credit score – two things startups and new businesses do not have to offer.

Reasons Businesses Turn to Alternative Business Loans

Here are just a few of the top reasons why businesses that find themselves in this situation find alternative financing appealing:

• Favorable credit requirements. While traditional banks turn down borrowers with less than stellar credit scores, alternative lenders are known for working with those who are struggling with credit (even helping them improve it)
  Fast approval. Banks may take weeks to be approved, but alternative lenders can give you access to funds in as little as 24 hours.
  Simple, straightforward qualification. Many small business owners fail to meet the requirements of outdated traditional lending, which is where the simple qualification requirements of an alternative lender really come in handy.

Alternative Lending Options

Today, there are many different alternative lenders. The key is to search for a lender that regularly tackles the obstacles you face, from rapid growth and chargebacks to high-volume tickets. Another important question to ask, is which lender specializes in your industry?

Here are a few of the most popular alternative lending options you should consider:

• Invoice factoring. Also known as invoice financing, factoring allows you to secure money upfront for your outstanding accounts receivable. This money is then repaid when your customer pays their invoice. Ultimately, this allows you to close that crippling pay gap so you can accept new projects more quickly.
• Merchant cash advances. The very opposite of a small business loan in terms of structure and affordability, a merchant cash advance allows your business to obtain a lump-sum amount in exchange for a portion of your credit and debit card sales. Each time a sale is made, the provider takes a small cut until the advance is repaid.
• Microloans. Many business owners with little to no collateral are able to use this option to secure funds. Keep in mind, however, that this financing tool does have restrictions on how you can spend the money.

Raising money for your business can be hard. But setting aside some time to consider all of your options can open new doors of opportunity for your business and its growth. Just be sure to compare all of your options, including cost, experience, and customer reviews. Partner with a provider that specializes in working with your industry and offers industry-leading costs and services.

We all turn to celebrities for fashion and lifestyle advice. But did you know your favorite celebs can also teach you a thing or two about personal finance? Over the years I’ve picked up some great money management and business tips from famous stars like Will Smith and Jay Leno. Today I thought I’d pass on that knowledge by compiling some of my favorite personal finance advice and quotes from celebrities.

KNOW WHAT YOU’RE WORTH

Nicki Minaj has an important reminder for my fellow freelancers and business owners—always know your worth and don’t be afraid to charge accordingly! In an interview with Time, she said:

One thing I learned along the way in business is the necessity for you to be unapologetic about asking for how much money you deserve.

Even if someone tells you that your rates are too high, you should stand firm and refuse lowball offers. Your work has immense value, and there are clients out there that will respect what you do and give you proper compensation. It took me a few years of freelancing and some helpful advice from Nicki Minaj to learn this lesson!

Melissa McCarthy also has some helpful advice on the subject of charging what you’re worth.

When you finally are like, ‘Thanks so much for asking, but I’m going to pass’—that’s power. That’s easier said as you get a little more power, but as you start up the ladder in whatever field you’re in, you have to walk if people won’t give you what you’re worth.

I totally agree with Melissa on this one. Once you climb the career ladder and gain skills and experience in your field, you should pass on jobs and business opportunities that don’t give you the level of pay you deserve.

SPEND ONE INCOME, SAVE THE OTHER

I’ve also incorporated advice from Jay Leno into my financial plans. He believes it’s important to have more than one stream of income and recommends you save the bigger one and live off of the smaller one. He told CNBC:

When I started to get a bit famous, the money I was making as a comedian was way more than the money I was making at the car dealership, so I would bank that and spend the car dealership money.
MAY 11, 2022 BY: VICKY MONROE

I think this is a super smart financial strategy and something my partner and I have implemented in our own finances. All of our bills come out of my partner’s income and we save all of the earnings from my freelance writing business. We’d love to get to a point where we’re able to save my partner’s bigger checks and spend my smaller ones, but we’re not there yet. We’re currently in the process of paying off our mortgage to lower our monthly expenses and free up more cash for investments.

DON’T SPEND MONEY TO IMPRESS PEOPLE YOU DON’T LIKE

Will Smith has some wise words about the perils of spending money to impress others.

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.

When I was growing up, I watched my parents spend a lot of money on gifts for friends and family they didn’t have good, healthy relationships with. My mom would pay to bring her sister along on family vacations, but she’d complain the entire time and ruin the trip for everyone else.

Because of my aunt’s ungrateful behavior, my parents don’t have much of a relationship with her anymore—but they’re still left with the debt being overly generous caused them to rack up. After watching my parents go through this, I promised myself I would never spend my money on someone who wasn’t grateful for the gifts I gave them.

Although it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to share your resources with loved ones, you shouldn’t spend money to try to impress or please people who feel entitled to your money and aren’t all that nice to you. It’s also a bad idea to try to keep up with the Joneses in general. You shouldn’t feel the need to compete with those around you over who has the nicest car or biggest house. Anyone who cares about what kind of car you drive isn’t a true friend or loyal family member anyway.

Who’s your favorite celebrity to get personal finance tips from? Do you have a favorite celebrity personal finance quote? Let me know in the comments section below!

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the basics of how to research stocks so that you can make informed investment decisions. And even if you’re a seasoned investor, it’s always good to brush up on your skills and learn new techniques.

So, let’s get started!

5 Simple Steps for Researching Stocks

How do you research stocks in 5 simple steps? Short answer: in great detail. Each of these steps is pretty straightforward, but you’ll have to take a number of actions and keep good records.

1. Identify Your Investment Goals
Before starting, you need to know your investment goals. Are you looking to generate income? Grow your wealth? Preserve your capital? Once you know your goals, you can narrow down the stocks that might be a good fit for you.

For example, if you’re looking to preserve your capital, blue-chip stocks, such as Apple, Coca-Cola, and American Express, might be good. These are large, well-established companies with a long history of paying dividends.

2. Check Whether the Company Is Financially Stable
This part of stock research refers to looking at a company’s financial statements and ensuring that it has enough cash on hand to cover its liabilities.

That said, look at the company’s balance sheet. You can find the balance sheet and income statements in the 10-K and 10-Q filings. This will show you how much money the company has and its debt.

You can also look at the company’s income statement to see how much money it is making and where that money is coming from. Contact the firm and request a copy of its financial statement or go to its website to view it.

Finally, to master how to analyze stocks you should also include the company’s cash flow statement in your research to see how much cash it has on hand and how it generates that cash.

A company’s positive cash flow reflects the fact that more money is coming into the firm than going out of it over a given time period.

On the other hand, negative cash flow indicates that the company’s outflow is greater than its inflow. However, it doesn’t always imply financial loss. Negative cash flow can also be caused by expenditure and income disparity.

You can find the cash flow statements within the company’s financial statements (on the company’s website under the reports).

3. Analyze the Competition
Next, you’ll want to snoop around the competition. Who are the main rivals? How does the company stack against them? This information will help you understand the market better and tell you how your investment is positioned within it.

There are several different stock research sites that you can use to get started. We recommend using sites like Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, or Morningstar. These sites will provide you with basic information about a company’s financials, competitors, and industry.

4. Understand the Industry
As we mentioned earlier, it’s also important to understand the company’s industry. What is the overall outlook for that niche? Is it growing or shrinking? Make sure you familiarize yourself with the ins and outs before investing your money.

For example, lithium mining stocks are currently a hot commodity thanks to the electric vehicle (EV) industry doing considerably well (lithium is used to create EV batteries).

5. Make Your Decision
Once you’ve done all of your research and know what to look for in stocks, it’s time to decide. Are you going to invest in the stock? If so, how much are you willing to risk? Which investing app should you use? This can also have a big impact on how much you earn.

Basics for Stock Analysis

When you’re analyzing stocks, there are a few basic things you should know in order to interpret the collected data.

Difference Between Fundamental and Technical Analysis
Fundamental and technical analysis are the two most popular methods for analyzing stocks. Fundamental analysis focuses on a company’s financial statements and business model.

Conversely, technical analysis looks at historical price data to identify trends and predict where the stock is headed.

Therefore, if you want to learn how to do research on stocks, you must distinguish the two. The main difference is that the fundamental analysis reveals long-term investment possibilities, whereas technical analysis generally focuses on short-term price changes.

Both fundamental and technical analysis have their merits, but it’s up to you to decide which one is better. If you’re just getting started, we recommend doing both.

Investing Metrics

When you’re analyzing a stock, there are a few fundamental metrics you should keep an eye out for.

First, you want to look at the company’s financials. This includes its income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. These documents will give you an idea of how the company is performing financially.

Next, you want to look at the company’s business model. How does it make money? Is the business sustainable?

Finally, if you want to learn how to analyze stocks, look at the stock’s price history. This will give you an idea of how volatile the stock is and how it has performed in the past.

On that note, there are four metrics that every investor should know:

Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio

The price-to-earnings ratio is the share price divided by annual per-share earnings.

You may want to invest in stocks of firms that have high P/E ratios. Why? Because it implies that future earnings are to be expected and that investors are prepared to pay more for them, indicating a solid future performance (aka growth).

The main con of a high P/E is that development stocks are frequently unpredictable; as a result, investing in them is riskier.

The PEG Ratio

If you want to know how to find stocks to invest in, look for their PEG ratio. The PEG ratio is a way to measure how expensive a stock is. In short, it considers the company’s earnings growth and compares it to the stock’s price.

A PEG ratio of less than 1.0 means that the stock in question is undervalued and could be a solid investment. Likewise, if a company’s PEG ratio is above 1.0, the stock is overpriced. Hence, you should always look for equities with a PEG ratio equal to or less than the company’s anticipated growth rate.

Price-to-Book (P/B) Ratio

The P/B ratio is a financial ratio that measures the value of a company’s shares relative to its book value.

What is the book value? The book value is the total value of a company’s assets minus its liabilities.

How to research a stock before you buy it? Use P/B ratios to compare companies within the same industry or sector. A low P/B ratio may indicate that a company’s shares are undervalued relative to its book value. Conversely, a high P/B ratio may indicate that a company’s shares are overvalued relative to its book value.

A P/B ratio under 1.0 is considered a good P/B value, implying that the stock may be underpriced. However, value investors frequently consider companies with a price-to-book ratio of less than 3.0.

Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio

How to research a company for stocks? See if it has any debts. The debt-to-EBITDA ratio is a financial metric that measures a company’s ability to pay off its debts.

It is calculated by dividing a company’s debt by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The higher the debt-to-EBITDA ratio, the higher the chance that the company will have difficulties paying off its debts.

Industry Trends

When you’re researching stocks, it’s important to follow the trends in the industry. By doing this, you can better understand which companies are doing well and which ones are struggling.

Additionally, following industry trends will help you identify potential investment opportunities. There are a variety of ways to stay up-to-date on industry trends. You can read stock analysis websites, subscribe to newsletters, or even follow influencers on social media.

Some of the most active stocks in the US are Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, Microsoft, and Amazon.com.

Conclusion
So, what have we learned? First, it’s essential to do your homework before investing in a stock. That means taking the time to understand the company and its products or services and the industry as a whole.

Second, you should keep an eye on financial indicators like earnings and revenue growth and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios. And finally, don’t be afraid to invest in stocks considered “value investments.” These stocks may not have the highest growth potential, but they can still offer good returns.

75% of Americans are struggling with one type of debt or another. And after the COVID-19 pandemic, this number has only increased. Whether you have a high-interest credit card or a high-interest unsecured loan, finding the right strategy can help make paying it off much easier. One option is debt consolidation, which can also streamline your uncontrolled debt. Learn more about how debt consolidation works here. However, as you’re trying to pay off your loans, searching for a new low-interest rate loan might seem like an enticing idea. But this is not always the best choice. In some cases, it could even do more harm than good. Paying off your loans with the right depth of assessment and careful planning can be the key — we’ve listed five ways to get lower rates on outstanding loans below to help you get started.

Consider debt consolidation

Debt consolidation is a tool that lets a borrower combine their small, high-interest loans into one. This helps the borrower take on a lower monthly payment. Generally, it can be used to consolidate any of the following types of loans: Large credit card balances, such as lines of credit High-interest loans, like unsecured loans Student loans and vehicle loans Expenses that come up unexpectedly Debt consolidation is not for everyone. But for some Canadians, it’s the best way to manage and pay off outstanding high-interest loans. With debt consolidation comes peace of mind for the borrower. Before signing anything, it’s important to do the math to make sure this is the best choice.

Home equity loan

One of the fastest and easiest ways to secure a loan is by tapping into your home equity. Home equity is the market value of your home minus all its obligations, such as a mortgage. It’s also known as a second mortgage or refinancing. However, you need to keep your house as collateral to avail this kind of loan. To get the desired amount, you need to have sufficient equity in your home. There are also additional charges for setting up the second mortgage.

Pros and Cons of a Home Equity Loan

Tapping your home equity is one of the fastest and easiest ways to secure a loan — with an attractive interest rate that’s much lower than other kinds of loans. Plus, you can prolong the payments and make them much easier with a home equity loan. However, you need to keep the following things in mind: You have to keep your house as collateral, so it’s essential that you have sufficient equity — which means your house needs to be worth enough (after deducting any debt). You’ll have additional charges for setting up the mortgage too.

Line of Credit

Lines of credit or overdrafts can be great ways to consolidate high-interest outstandings. It will depend on your income, your credit score, or if you have collateral. Your bank or credit union will offer you a line of credit. It works like a credit card. You’ll get a predetermined limit to spend, and then you’ll pay interest on what you actually spend, not just the overall limit granted. However, there is an option to make payments on only the minimum amount due for the month, just like with a credit card. A line of credit can be helpful to manage your finances in the following ways:

• Your Interest rates are lower than unsecured loans
• You have more flexibility in managing the minimum monthly payment
• You have freedom in how to repay the loan according to your own preferences

Here are some things you need to be careful about while taking a line of credit:

If you fail to make more than the minimum amount due each month, it can hurt your financial situation. Payments will change as rates change (i.e. interest rates will increase and payments will need to go up) Therefore, if the rate goes up and the minimum payment is raised, your debt will accumulate even faster, leaving you in a worse situation.

The Pros and Cons of Credit Card Balance Transfers

Credit card balance transfers have been around for a long time now and still remain to be one of the most popular credit card offers. When used judiciously, you can take advantage of promotional interest rates, which may be 3-4%. Balance transfers in one place can streamline multiple payments into one. There are some cons as well: Most often, people who don’t qualify for low-interest credit cards. Promotional interest rates last for a few months and you might have to deal with higher-interest rates after that. You can fall into another type of debt trap if you only pay the minimum monthly payment.

Debt Repayment Programs

If the methods above don’t work for you, you may want to consider a debt repayment program as a last resort. A lot of Canadians use Consumer Proposals or Debt Management Programs to consolidate their debt into a more manageable monthly payment. You can restructure your debt, which may mean you pay less or no interest. This makes it easier for you financially and helps you stay out of the stress of not being able to afford an upcoming payment. There are some limitations though. It may not be an option for everyone and will impact your credit score in the meantime. Plus, you have to pay a fee for credit counselling.

Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions where most people just focus on a loan’s interest rate when they should also be considering its reliability. Choose a lender that will help you sail through the process in the most effective way.