Wouldn’t it be great to be the first millionaire in your family? Think of the bragging rights!
None of your relatives would ever be able to question your judgment again. You could brush them off by asking, “I’m sorry, are YOU a millionaire?”
Also, as a millionaire, you’d be able to help the rest of your family, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Ah, but how to make your first million? A lucrative job and good investments would help. But we’ve got some other tips for how to improve your financial bottom line, both immediately and over the long run.
Try these:
1. Stop Putting It Off and Become an Investor
Ultimately, investing is how you really build wealth — including that first million.
If you feel like you don’t have enough money to start investing right now, you’re not alone. But guess what? You really don’t need that much — and you can even get free stocks (worth up to $200!) if you know where to look.
Whether you’ve got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, you can start investing with Robinhood.
Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.
What’s best? When you download the app and fund your account (it takes no more than a few minutes), Robinhood drops a share of free stock into your account. It’s random, though, so that stock could be worth anywhere from $2.50 to $200 — a nice boost to help you build your investments.
2. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company
You’ll never become a millionaire if you’re stuck with credit card debt, which is the most expensive kind of debt there is. And your credit card company is just getting rich by ripping you off with high interest rates. But a website called Fiona could help you pay off that bill as soon as tomorrow.
Here’s how it works: Fiona can match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every credit card balance you have. The benefit? You’re left with just one bill to pay every month, and because the interest rate is so much lower, you can get out of debt so much faster. Plus, no credit card payment this month.
If your credit score is at least 620, Fiona can help you borrow up to $250,000 (no collateral needed) with fixed rates starting at 2.49% and terms from 6 to 144 months.
Fiona won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars. Totally worth it.
All that credit card debt — and the anxiety that comes with it — could be gone by tomorrow.
3. Get a Smarter Bank Account
Here’s the deal: If you’re not using Aspiration’s debit card, you’re missing out on extra cash. And who doesn’t want extra cash right now?
Yep. With a debit card called Aspiration, you could get up to 5% back when you swipe at certain stores, plus they give you up to 83 times the normal national interest rate on your savings balance.
It’s an easy way to get extra cash just for buying things that are already on your list.
Enter your email address here, and link your bank account to see how much extra cash you can get with your free Aspiration account. And don’t worry. Your money is FDIC insured and under a military-grade encryption. That’s nerd talk for “this is totally safe.”
4. Get Paid $225 Just for Going down a Rabbit Hole on Your Phone
We’ve all been there. You sit down at the end of the day to unwind on your phone, and suddenly it’s two hours later and you’re in the weird part of YouTube again. How did I even get here?
But you don’t need to feel guilty about it anymore. Research companies will actually pay you to go down these video rabbit holes.
You could add up to $225 a month to your pocket by signing up for a free account with InboxDollars. They’ll present you with short video clips to choose from every day, then ask you a few questions about them.
You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $60 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid for your nightly zone-out.
5. Let This App Pay You up to $83 When You Win Solitaire Games
Lots of us already play Solitaire on our phones for fun or just to pass the time. Want to see if you can win money at it?
There’s a free iPhone app called Solitaire Cash that lets you play for real money. You could get paid up to $83 per win.
You might be thinking: There’s got to be a catch. This is definitely one of those spammy apps, right?
Wrong. There really isn’t a catch. Sure, you can pay to play in some higher-stakes tournaments, but there’s no pressure. And, in fact, there aren’t even any annoying ads.
With each game, you’ll battle it out against at least five other players. Everyone gets the same deck, so winning is totally a matter of skill. The top three players who solve the deck fastest can win real money — anywhere from $1 to $83.
Over on the App Store, it has over a million downloads and more than 15,000 ratings, averaging 4.7 stars (out of 5).
To get started, just download the free app and start playing your first game immediately.
6. Cancel Your Car Insurance and Pocket up to $610/Year
Here’s the thing: your current car insurance company is probably overcharging you. But don’t waste your time hopping around to different insurance companies looking for a better deal.
Use a website called EverQuote to see all your options at once.
EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you.
Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance. In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.
7. Leave Your Family up to $1M
You could always make your family millionaires. There’s been a surge of interest in life insurance during the pandemic, as more Americans are realizing they probably need it.
Also, more people are seeking out no-exam life insurance because they don’t want to go to a doctor’s office for an in-person exam. Companies like Bestow use algorithms instead of medical exams to evaluate applicants.
Rates start at just $16 a month. You could leave your family up to $1 million. The peace of mind knowing your family is taken care of is priceless.
If you’re under the age of 54 and want to get a fast life insurance quote without leaving your home, get a free quote from Bestow.
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He’s not a millionaire — not YET, anyway.