What is a Tax Lien Certificate?

My friend asked me today what a tax lien certificate was, and I had no idea, so I decided to Google it. According to Investopedia, a tax lien certificate is: "A certificate of claim against property that has a lien placed upon it as a result of unpaid property taxes." Investopedia also said that: Tax lien certificates are "available in many states, this certificate allows the owner to collect unpaid taxes in addition to a set level of interest. These investments are not insured or necessarily backed by property, and therefore great risks are involved with each purchase."
Another site stated that: "Individuals have been snapping up tax liens more and more because of these two benefits. A fixed percentage rate, mandated by a government agency, or the title to property at a substantial discount are incredible benefits rarely seen with other real estate transactions."

They seem a bit risky, but I've learned something new today...

Is anyone else familiar with these types of investments?

What is an ETF?

I honestly have hard time reading books about investing without my eyes glazing over. Saving is much easier and I like to see my bank account grow. But as I know investing is an important way for me to meet my personal finance goals, I’m trying to educate myself in baby steps. My first step is figuring out what exactly an ETF is and whether I should consider investing in them when I crush my credit card debt and meet a few other financial goals.

According to the Wikipedia definition, an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is:

An investment vehicle traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks or bonds. An ETF holds assets such as stocks or bonds and trades at approximately the same price as the net asset value of its underlying assets over the course of the trading day. Most ETFs track an index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. ETFs may be attractive as investments because of their low costs, tax efficiency, and stock-like features.

A few tidbits about ETF’s:

• Apparently, there are four types of ETF’s: Index, Commodity, Actively Managed, and Exchange Trader-grantor trusts.
• ETFs trade on an exchange. Each transaction is subject to a brokerage commission.
• ETFs are structured for tax efficiency and can be more attractive than mutual funds.
• Since ETFs trade on the market, investors can carry out the same types of trades that they can with a stock.
• Well known companies such as Vanguard and Fidelity offer ETF’s.
• For more information on ETF’s visit CNN Money’s page about them.

Do you have any ETF’s or plan to invest in them in the future?

Getting Ahead: Turn Your Hobby Into A Side Hustle

When I meet people my age (mid-twenties or younger) that are in the working world and they tell me they don't have side hustles, I have to refrain myself from asking why not? Unless you have a particularly demanding and/or stressful day job or young children to tend to, I believe it can only help young professionals to turn skills you already possess into a side hustle. Many of us have skills or hobbies that can easily translate into a side hustle. Are you really good at doing hair, have excellent editing skills, capable of selling someone anything, excellent at explaining math concepts, or some other useful talent you get enjoyment from doing? Turn this talent into another source of income. With a little bit of self promotion, its possible.

I was inspired to write this post after reading Moneymonk's recent advise on how to get ahead financially . I definitely agree that multiple streams of income are vital ways of building wealth. A side hustle can do more than just put an extra few dollars in your pocket, a side hustle can also:

1. Help you build relationships. Although I do enjoy my day-job, I sit at a desk for eight hours a day...I've been working for two years and I still am adjusting to the grueling hours of a 9-5. I enjoy being able to ineract with people (and actually walk around) on my customer service-based side hustle. I get the opportunity to talk with and meet people from many walks of life between the clients I serve and my co-workers.
   
2. Give you an alternate stream of income outside of your day-job. I can't tell you how many unexpected bills have gotten paid with my side hustle money over the past year. I know that part of that is my not planning so well for unexpected expenses and as a result, I now have (a small but growing) emergency fund. In the future, I plan to save/invest my side hustle money.


3. Develop skills that could help your career. I hope to one day have some sort of business of my own and the customer-service skills I have developed at my side-hustle can potentially help me in my future business endeavors.


4. Help you to save/invest money for the future. My side hustle gives me an extra cushion of money to save/invest for short and long term goals. Because of my side-hustle, this year I was able to start investing some money every month in a mutual fund. I hope to start investing more money in the future.


5. Pay down debt faster. My side hustle money allows me to throw more money at debt when I plan carefully. I hope to cut down the time it will take to pay off student loans and credit card debt as a result of this extra money.

Don't fret If you're not feeling so entrepreneurial, you can always work for someone else to do your side-hustle. For instance, my side hustle is working at a mid-priced clothing store. Note: I would only suggest a retail side hustle for those who can avoid the temptation of spending money at your place of employment. I learned this the hard way...I am currenly looking into other side-hustle alternatives (such as blogging) that have the potential of being more lucrative than my current one.