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Category: First Time Home Buyers

What This Military Family Faced—and Fought—To Buy Its First House

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| First Time Home Buyers, Market News, Roommate Tips

Here’s what U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle LaVallee and his wife, Natalie Johnson, learned when they bought their first home near Fort Bragg, NC.

The post What This Military Family Faced—and Fought—To Buy Its First House appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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Got an Invention? Don’t Fall for These Patent Scams

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| First Time Home Buyers

Getting an idea for a cool new product patented is a dream for many creative thinkers, but unfortunately there are plenty of scammers out there ready to pounce on that dream. Here’s how to spot them and where you should turn for help instead.

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12 Ways the Biden Stimulus Package Could Put (or Keep) Money in Your Pocket

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| First Time Home Buyers, Taxes

President-elect Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” includes several proposals to assist people financially harmed by the pandemic.

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When Can You File Your Taxes This Year?

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| First Time Home Buyers

If you’re an early bird when it comes to filing your tax return, you’ll have to wait a little longer this year before the IRS will accept your return.

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Stock Market Today: New Stimulus Plan Fails to Stimulate Stocks

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| First Time Home Buyers

Did Wall Street just “sell the news”? Stocks decline a day after Biden unveils $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan.”

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How to Measure Progress and Achieve Goals

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| First Time Home Buyers

Measurement! I just love measurement. That’s because it tells you how you’re doing and how much progress you’ve made. Progress checks can motivate you, help you catch yourself when you’re slacking, and tell you when to change course. 

Without giving thought to how you define progress, however, you can measure the wrong thing, or measure the wrong way. You might end up demoralized for no reason, or falling behind unknowingly on a project, or missing opportunities. So if you’re going to measure progress, do it right! Turn off auto-pilot “gut checks” and measure progress thoughtfully.

Measure process goals

If you’re Type A like me, you probably overwork yourself, under the assumption that more work gives more progress. But does it? Have you ever measured? Just being busy and stressed doesn’t mean we’re getting anything done. We need to track how far we are from our goal, and whether we’re closing that gap.

First determine the kind of goals you’re chasing. Episode 462, “Grow a Pair for Your Career,” outlines the difference between outcome goals and process goals. Outcome goals—like getting a promotion—are something you strive for, not something you just do. Process goals, on the other hand, are measurable actions that help you get closer to your outcome goal, like making ten more sales calls each day. 

If you’re going to measure progress, do it right! Turn off auto-pilot “gut checks” and measure progress thoughtfully.

On a daily basis, measure progress through movement toward your process goals. It doesn’t matter how much you work, only whether that work takes you closer to finishing that day’s process goals. Then check that your process goals are doing what they should, by tracking overall movement toward an outcome goal.

For example, if you work in sales, your process goal might be to make fifty cold calls a day. If that’s your goal, sending two hundred emails should not count as progress. What’s more, if your outcome goal is to close sales, and you haven’t closed one in months, you may need to rethink if you have the right process goals. Maybe “number of calls” doesn’t lead to sales. Maybe you need to make progress on the quality of your calls, instead. So make your new process goal tweaking your sales pitch, and direct some work toward that.

Measure how far you’ve come

Another way to track progress is to look at how far you are from your starting point. 

Sam is a twenty-something who’s just started up a fairly successful online delivery company. The vision of being the next Amazon.com seems impossible! Or at least, light years away. And it is. But knowing that it’s not Amazon yet isn’t a useful measure for evaluating progress. Furthermore, it’s so far away that it isn’t even clear which paths lead to that result.

Sam can instead concentrate on what’s been accomplished so far. They started sitting around a dining room table. Now they have office space, customers, a business model that works, money in the bank, and profit. By measuring progress based on how far they’ve come, not on how far they have left to go, Sam can realize they’ve made tons of progress, and can make sure it continues to unfold, as more and more milestones get added to the list.

Measure distance to your goals

At some point your goal is within reach. Then, you can start measuring how far you are from your goal, and concentrate on closing the gap.

Don’t do this too soon! You can hurt morale. At my last Harvard Business School reunion, for example, doing an “Am I there yet?” progress check gave me a soul-crushing burst of inadequacy as I was moderating a panel of my classmates, whose combined net worth was enough to purchase a third world country and pave it over. In gold. 

When you’re out on a long run, you get a surge of fresh energy when you see you’re only ten feet from the finish line, and there’s an entire 55-gallon drum of gummy bears waiting at the end. And an Oreo ice cream cake. The next thing you know, you’re barreling over the finish line.

When you’ve passed the halfway point, start measuring your progress by how quickly you’re closing on your goal. Keep that Oreo ice cream cake in mind, and set new goals to push you those last few feet.

Even if you get some steps wrong, just making the plan will energize you and be motivating.

A good way to do this is to make a checklist of things you’ll need to do to reach the end point. These can be high-level things like, “Run A/B testing with focus groups,” or low-level things like, “Write an email to call for A/B testing participants.” Once your plan is on paper, finishing your project will seem much more doable, since all the steps left to take are right there in front of you. And as I talked about in episode 466, "Make a Plan for Motivation," even if you get some steps wrong, just making the plan will energize you and be motivating.

Re-measure often

Once you figure out the best way to track your progress, and the types of progress you need to track, choose how often you’ll track. Sometimes, tracking progress once a week is plenty. But from my experience, it’s best to track progress every two to three days.

That way, if you suddenly notice you’re not where you should be, you only have to make up two or three days’ worth of work. If you were only checking once a week, you could get an entire week behind before you’d notice it.

From my experience, it’s best to track progress every two to three days.

What gets measured gets managed. And we love to manage progress. On a daily basis, concentrate your measurements on your progress goals, rather than your outcome goals. Then choose a less-frequent measurement that is based on where you are in your project: distance to your goal, or distance from your starting point. With a little experimentation, you can find the magic balance that keeps you on top of your game.

This is Stever Robbins. I give great keynote speeches on productivity, Living an Extraordinary Life, and entrepreneurship. If you want to know more, visit http://SteverRobbins.com.

Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!

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5 Myths About Transitioning From Renter to Homeowner

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| First Time Home Buyers, Market News, Roommate Tips

While having a large nest egg and an excellent credit score is ideal, you don’t necessarily have to kiss homeownership goodbye if that’s not your case.

The post 5 Myths About Transitioning From Renter to Homeowner appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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16 Good Jobs for Teens (Plus Business Ideas!)

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| First Time Home Buyers

If you’re a teen looking for a job (or a parent helping your teen find a job), you’re in luck! Most people know that 16-year-olds can work in a variety of stores and restaurants. However, some companies will hire teens as young as 15, and sometimes even as young as 14. We’ll share where you should look if you’re a teen looking for ways to earn your own cash.

Here are some of the more well-known jobs that employers hire 14 and 15-year-olds for.

Jobs for 15-year-olds

There are a few companies willing to hire teens as young as 14 or 15. We’ll focus on a few industries that hire 15-year-olds first.

Restaurant Worker

Fast food and casual restaurants often hire teens as young as 15. For instance, Boston Market is a casual restaurant chain with over 450 locations in the United States. Some of the job positions they might hire 15-year-olds for include busboy/busgirl jobs and cleaning crew.

Grocery Store Worker

Some grocery stores will hire 15-year-olds to work as a cashier or stock person. Hy-Vee is a national grocery store chain with nearly 250 locations in states such as Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Note that not all Hy-Vee stores hire 15-year-olds. Check with your local Hy-Vee location and talk with the manager there.

Movie Theater Worker

As a movie theater worker, you might sell tickets, take tickets, work in concessions or do theater cleanup. The AMC movie theater company has locations throughout the U.S and often hire teens as young as 15. As with Hy-Vee, locations are independently managed and many locations will hire 15-year-olds, however not all locations do.

Amusement Park Worker

Six Flags amusement parks and other amusement parks commonly hire teens as young as 15. There are a variety of job positions available such as park cleaner, store cashier, food service jobs and ride operators.

Check with your local Six Flags or other amusement parks to see what types of job positions are available for 15-year-olds.

Lifeguard

The American Red Cross lets teens as young as 15 get certified for service as a lifeguard. If you’re interested in this type of job, talk with hiring managers at local pools and beaches.

If they’re willing to hire a certified lifeguard at 15, get your certification through your local Red Cross or online.

Jobs for 14-year-olds

Some industries, although not many, hire 14-year-olds. There are a variety of restaurants and stores that hire 14-year-olds. Some of the jobs you might do in a restaurant at 14 include cleaning, cashiering, and food preparation.

The following restaurants often hire teens as young as 14. Note that the hiring age can vary by location.

  • Baskin Robbins
  • Ben and Jerry’s
  • Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
  • Chick-Fil-A
  • Culver’s
  • Dairy Queen
  • McDonald’s
  • Rita’s Italian Ice

Grocery stores also hire teens as young as 14 at times. Again, each location may vary on the hiring age based on management preference and state laws. But the following grocery stores have been known to hire 14-year-olds.

  • Giant Eagle
  • Giant Food
  • Kroger
  • Publix
  • Winn Dixie

If you want even more ideas for jobs for teens check out this list.

Not interested in working for a company? Try this next idea on for size.

Businesses you can start as a teenager

What if you want a job as a teenager but you want something different? How about starting your own business?

One of the keys to operating a successful business is to “underpromise and overdeliver.” In other words, do a better job than what you agreed to do and make the customer extra happy they hired you.

Here are some business ideas that anyone age 14 or up can start.

Tutoring

Are you smart in school subjects such as English, reading, math or science? How about working as a tutor for other students your age or younger?

Advertise your skills to parents of other children in your area, or on social media outlets. Set a rate of pay; most tutors charge by the half-hour or by the hour.

Continue reading at WalletHacks.com.

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Secrets to Setting and Keeping Financial Goals for the New Year

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| First Time Home Buyers, Personal Finance

If you’ve ever broken a New Year’s resolution (and who hasn’t?), don’t worry. You really can reach your goal this time. You just need to set yourself up for success. Here’s how.

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How to Break Through and Overcome Financial Hardships

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| First Time Home Buyers

Your life and personal finances don’t always go the way you hope. We all have struggles and no one achieves success without their share of hurdles and challenges. However, there are tools that can help you break through financial hardships and live the life you want.

I interviewed AJ Gibson, author of Flipping the Script: Bouncing Back from Life’s Rock Bottom Moments, an Amazon #1 new release. We talk about the personal, professional, and financial challenges that he’s overcome.

AJ is a Los-Angeles based TV host, public speaker, and coach who loves great people, food, fashion, entertainment, and travel. He’s been the host of the nationally syndicated daytime talk show, Hollywood Today Live, a co-host on Access Hollywood Live, and a frequent anchor on Good Day LA. You’ll see him on CBS’s The Talk and even on several episodes of The Wendy Williams Show.

His journey from being a closeted gay boy in Ohio to a host chatting with the some of the world’s most admired celebrities on Hollywood’s biggest red carpets is incredibly inspiring. He has a gift for busting through life’s roadblocks and persevering despite failure.

On the Money Girl podcast, AJ and I chatted about key lessons from his book. You’ll learn how to shift your perspective to find the beauty in life’s most challenging moments. We cover:

  • Overcoming the financial hurdles of becoming self-employed
  • Tips for reaching financial goals when you have big dreams
  • Why fear and shame may be causing you to ignore your financial situation
  • Leaning on professionals to help stay on top of your financial life
  • Tools for turning hopelessness into a positive, fresh outlook on your future
  • Using a focus wheel for daily motivation to achieve your dreams and goals

Listen to the interview using the audio player above, or check it out on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Adams received an MBA from the University of Florida. She's an award-winning personal finance author, speaker, and consumer advocate who is a trusted and frequent source for the national media. Her book, Debt-Free Blueprint: How to Get Out of Debt and Build a Financial Life You Love was an Amazon #1 New Release. Do you have a money question? Call the Money Girl listener line at 302-364-0308. Your question could be featured on the show. Stay in the personal finance loop! Listen and subscribe to the Money Girl podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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