Finance

By the time you read this, almost 6.6 million Americans will have filed for unemployment benefits. This number is larger than that of those on unemployment during the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, and now, after four years of low unemployment and a bull market, even people in relatively secure jobs are uncertain as to what the future holds. For some people reading this, even maybe you, the fears of losing your job has become a reality.

If you don’t have time to read a book line by line and you just don’t really seem to pay attention to an entire podcast, the wonderful viral world of YouTube is packed to the brim with some of the best financial education and informative channels you can find from content creators around the world. Whether you’re going to be the next Wolf of Wall Street, an extreme financial minimalist, or you just want to educate yourself on some basic financial literacy, here are the top five channels we’ve selected to help you find something beneficial to add to your playlist.

This crisis is finally being treated seriously by both the federal government and the private sector, but what impacts everyone equally are the decisions the Federal Reserve makes during this time, which will affect our country long term for years to come.

Whenever there is a massive drop in the stock market, you immediately have two types of people- those who panic sell, and those who buy thinking they are investing in a big future at a very low point in the present.

Millions of Americans woke up to a nightmare when they woke up to a global health pandemic and financial crisis. Overnight, hundreds of thousands of American workers were either furloughed or laid off entirely because of the looming threat of the invisible enemy, COVID-19. What's worse is that this crisis has exposed that many Americans were simply living off borrowed time financially, meaning that they had little to no savings or investments to prepare for an emergency like the one we are facing.

Imagine your current budget. Now add an extra hundred dollars per month. It's nice, right?    And while it is easy to imagine how to spend the money, sometimes it can be a challenge to dream up ways to make it happen. So let's take a look at a few ways that you create some extra wiggle room in your monthly budget.

Too good to be true! Right, gamers? A recent article from CBR has exposed a lucrative opportunity for eagle eyed gamers who want to earn money by pointing out bugs and other software related issues in Microsoft products. CBR reports “In recent years, as computer security has become more of a concern for everyone, trying to get ahead of the bugs and vulnerabilities that cause hacks and denial of service attacks is a higher and higher priority. Microsoft has been in on this game for a while, but they just recently launched the Xbox Bounty Program, taking what has become a relatively standard ‘bug bounty’ program and bringing it to another video game console. If you find a major bug in an Xbox Live service and report it to them, you could get paid for it.”

Most of us work for our employers, we work for our spouse, we do more work for our family and sometimes even find ourselves doing work for our friends. Despite all our great intentions, burnout and frustration can combine to create stagnant lives where we fail to cut out times during the day to just relax, nonetheless to pick up a book or even learn a new skill. Well, thanks to the beautiful digital world of podcasts, you can achieve a world class education from the experts just by tapping a few buttons on your phone or laptop. So whether you’re at the gym, in the car, or on your lunch break, here are some of the top self-development podcasts out right now pumping out fresh content for you weekly, absolutely for free.

A little extra lunch money never hurt anyone, right? Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, it is easier now more than ever to make easy money right from your phone. Here are a list of websites ranging from surveys to rating services and cashback programs, and our experience using them to generate some easy cash. Note: None of these websites are paying us to say anything, so expect some hardcore honesty!

Mount Vernon, cherry trees, even false teeth -- they're all associated with the first President of the United States, George Washington. So why are -- of all things -- mattresses one of the items most associated with Presidents' Day? Was Washington an expert on pillow-top technology?  Did he have a passion for memory foam?

We all want to say we’re in great financial shape, but the truth is we either aren’t or we still have room to get better. Sometimes, our day to day lives don’t give us the time to do research on our own in order to get a good grasp about tough concepts. For some of us, the money needed to work with a professional financial expert to help carry the load just isn’t an option either. However, there is an easy and engaging way to get the financial advice we need, on our time, for absolutely free! Whether on our lunch break, at the gym, or during our commute, podcasts allow us to listen in on the conversations and discussions about money matters right from our phones or other portable devices. So, what are some of the best financial podcasts to get started on as we embark on our journey to debt freedom, budgetary fortitude, and wealth growth?

In the Christmas classic "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," Clarke W. Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) guides his family through what can only be described as a disastrous Christmas. The generous-but-inept Clarke goes all-in by placing a down-payment on a backyard pool -- before he's received his yearly bonus. This error in judgment tortures Clarke as he waits day after day for his check. It finally arrives amid a Christmas Eve fail for the ages. Hoping his financial problems having been solved, he rips open the letter only to see that he's been enrolled in a jelly-of-the-month club. For those fortunate enough to get a yearly bonus -- and wise enough not to spend what they haven't received -- the choice of what to do with a bonus can be overwhelming. Should you spend it? Invest it? Pay down debt?