Well, it’s a favorite time of the year for some people and some retailers lol. This is the time where most people get their tax refund checks and deposits. HUNDREDS of billions of dollars are paid out in tax returns…and most of it goes straight out the door to retailers.
Just as fast as it is received…its spent. Even though people can do whatever they want with their money, I thought it would be a great idea to offer a few options that could have a longer effect on your life in a positive way.
What if you could take some or even all of your tax refund and literally change your life. Well, it happens. There are many people who have been able to do just that by using the money to advance themselves. There are so many things you can do, but here are 7 options for you or maybe someone you know to consider: (be mindful to do your own research on each topic so that you can make your own decision for what works for you)
1. Pay down your debt
It may seem like paying down debt isn’t a way to “flip” your money…but it is indeed. There may be a debt you have that is taking any extra income you may have in the month or you may have some debt that is pushing down your personal credit.
Debt – There may be a bill or some debt that you have that you are paying on monthly but the payment you’re making isn’t helping the bill because of the interest. Like a credit card. If you can only afford to make the minimum payments, taking a chunk of money (whatever that may be) and paying it on the bill could settle the debt or bring the bill down to where now you are actually making progress. When you can free up your money from having to pay this debt and the next, you increase the amount of money you have available each month.
Personal Credit – Maybe you are preparing to purchase a home or you actually need a new car, but your credit is a problem. There may be something on your credit report that you haven’t paid off. So…you could use the money you receive in your refund to take care of that debt which in turns helps to raise your credit score. I would suggest researching and checking your credit report prior so that you have a plan of action. I would also suggest you contact someone or a business that could also help you clean up your credit. They may be able to help you make better progress in getting that done and it could save you money in getting your debt cleared up too.
Side note: Yes, I know you can get a house or a car with bad credit, however the interest rates would be higher, which would make your payments higher than you would probably be willing to pay.
2. Invest
Investing in the stock market is a great way to allow your money to make money. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to grow your money through time. I’m sure you may hear that often but the catch is learning how to invest. It’s more simple than you know. In order to start investing, you will need a brokerage account and you can learn more about that here: What is a Brokerage Account
You will also need resources to help you learn…like this blog and many other resources out there that are actually free. The 3 top things I used to help me learn 10+ years ago were the public Library, Google and YouTube.
The money you have earned all these years have successfully made everyone else (retailers, shops etc) wealthy, now is a good time to start putting a down payment on your own wealth for you and your family.
If you have any fear of the stock market, read: Should You Run from The Stock Market
3. Start a business
You could start a business. Starting a business will bring you another way of producing income each day, each week and every month. Over and over again as long as you work it.
There are TONS of businesses you can start, here are a few examples to get your mind going:
•A business you start based on your passion or something you are really good at, like cooking for example. From 2015 to 2016, Americans spent $54.857 billion at bars and restaurants alone. So…you could easily prepare meals and sell them. You can turn whatever your passion or gift is into real money.
•You could start a MLM business (multi level marketing/network marketing). I know what you’re thinking…lol. Not all of them are scams though. There are some really great ones out there. It’s just a company that allows individuals to basically franchise with their business on a smaller scale vs something like a McDonald’s (larger scale). It’s very similar to an insurance agency or real estate company also. You have a product/service and when you make sales, you get a commission of that sale.
•Another one is, Affiliate Marketing. You can get paid for selling a company’s service or product. Similar to mlm, except with mlm you can get paid for building a team. With affiliate marketing you get paid for someone using or buying the service/product. It’s just like a referral.
•You can even open up an online store with ebay, amazon, shopify and so many other companies that provide the platform. An example can be you selling a product you created yourself or purchasing items at a lower cost and selling them higher. Just like any traditional store does.
4. Learn a skill
“Umm…how can learning a skill cause me to make more money?” Glad you asked 🙂
Every skill or trade you have can produce an income. The reason why is because people are willing to pay for what they don’t know and what they are not willing to do.
So, here’s one example. Let’s say you took up some lessons and learned how to knit blankets. Once you learn that new skill, you can now: A) Make sweaters and sell them. B) Create your own classes and teach people how to knit. I have several friends who have done this in real estate, finance, insurance, pharmacy, marketing….and the list goes on.
The skill you learn could also help to advance you on your job or help you expand your business as well.
NOTE: These last 3 points are a little on the more advanced side, but can be very rewarding. I advice you to learn as much as you can about them if interested and consult the appropriate individuals for additional help and resources.
5. Buy a house
Believe it or not…buying a house doesn’t have to cost as much as you think. There are houses for sale all over this nation (U.S.) that are $100 to $1000 to $10,000. Most of them need some work, however could be a good starter “flip” or rental property once work is complete…if its needed. Flipping a house or having someone rent from you may have it’s challenges. Just keep in mind, that many have overcame them…and so can you.
You can also purchase properties that may only require the back taxes (tax lien) that are owed on them to be paid. When you buy the tax lien, you don’t immediately become the owner of the home. Instead, the homeowner has another opportunity to pay back their taxes. If the bill is paid, then you get your investment back and you also receive the interest owed on the taxes.
You will have to do your own research. This can potentially be a high risk if you don’t know what you are doing. You would want to also get in touch with a realtor, someone you know that is already doing these things or even the local government the house is in (if being auctioned by the city or county).
6. Buy some land
This is similar to the point above about the houses. There are pieces of land for sale at great prices. Like my uncle Craig always says…”Got to buy more of what God isn’t making any more of”. He is always referring to land. Land is great to own. Be mindful, its just like any other property you own where you have property taxes to pay.
There are other things you want to be mindful of, like the up keep of the land and any building limits that may be in the area. Just as I stated with real estate, you want to learn as much as you can and research well because when you own land, you can do things like renting, building on it, leasing, transferring development rights and more.
7. Investing in startups
This is actually one of my personal favorites and you are getting this for free! lol
You may have heard of angel investing? Or venture capital firms? or something like that? Well, those in particular involve higher than normal amounts of money in investing. We are talking $10,000…$15,000 and well up into the millions. {insert cha-ching sound} You’ve seen it before…shark tank. That’s not what we are talking about in this post. Close but not exact, so keep that idea of shark tank in your mind. So no worries lol.
However, there are lower dollar opportunities that anyone can participate in. There are different names for it like Equity investing or equity crowdfunding opportunities. What happens is, someone can have an idea…go beyond the business plans and get to work creating their ideas. Then they realize they need investors and they need to raise money to grow their business or continue to keep their business alive. So they set up presentations to market their ideas to possible investors through companies like microventures. There, individuals have the opportunity to make investments in different companies starting at $100 or the price amount chosen by the company itself, which could be $200 or whatever. Basically its, your money in exchange for ownership in their company. Like buying stocks, except these companies are private.
You would have to do your own research and understand that this is a long term investment. It could do well…aaaannnd it could also do nothing. That’s the risk.
Hopefully this was helpful and sparks you to think less about just spending your money but using it to create a greater financial future for you and your family.
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