Sample Content Preview

Introduction

It’s no surprise that the cost of a college education has gone up. What might be surprising is by how much. Without adjusting for inflation, the cost of a college education has tripled in the past 20 years. The cost for a four-year private school can reach over $50,000– 100,000. The cost of a four-year state college can run as high as $35,000 – and that’s for in-state tuition.

Possibly the most talked about way to afford a college education is through student loans. But is this always the best solution? Student loans have become the subject of complaints and regrets, as the borrower is often stuck paying on that loan for many years to come. There has to be a better way.

The good news is that yes, there are alternatives to this course of action. Or at least there are things you can do to avoid borrowing so much that you become buried in crushing debt. There are other places to look, other options to explore and there are even different types of loans available that might work out better for you in the long run. Some of this will take research, legwork, and even a little trial and error. But being able to pay for your college without having to be stuck with huge debt at the end is a huge relief and will enable you to relax and enjoy your college years.

Overview of Resources

Don’t assume that you’re just going to have to go into debt and there is nothing to be done about it. On the contrary, that’s not true at all. Even if you do get a loan, not all loans are created equal. Private loans especially.

But before beginning the loan process, let’s take a look at some other “free” resources. Only after you’ve explored the options, should you go to the loans, as these should be a last chance option after you’ve exhausted all other leads.

Just remember that whatever path you choose, the earlier you start this process, the better. But even if you’re already in college, think about applying for these services for next year, or the year after that. No one should ever have to pay full price for college unless they truly have no other choice.

In this section, let’s take a look at some of the available options. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should be able to get you started.

FASFA

The FASFA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid application is available at StudentAid.edu.gov. This should be the very first thing you should do when looking for money for college. The good news is the application process is reasonably painless. So, do this even if you don't think you'll qualify. There are millions of students who could have qualified for the FASFA assistance but never applied because they didn’t think it was for ‘people like them.’

But FASFA isn’t just about Federal Grants. Believe it or not, this same application will help you to qualify for Loans or even Work-Study Funds. It comes from the US Department of Education and is backed by over $1.5 billion in student aid every year. That’s a lot of money just waiting for you to find it.

And there’s even an online tool to assist you filling this form out and to estimate the amount of aid available.

Keep in mind, that the US Department of Education (USDOE) will not charge for any assistance in filling out the form or in estimating how much aid you might be eligible for. Be leery of sites that do.

Fill out the application early. FASFA doesn’t just access the USDOE funds but can make you available for many state and even College-level assistance programs. But these are often available on a first-come-firstserve basis.

Scholarships

The sooner you start looking for these, the better. There are many divergent types of scholarships, thousands of them. They’re not always for the academic whiz kid or super athlete either.

Among the stranger scholarships? There is a $2,000 scholarship grant for the best duck call. There are scholarship awards for designing prom dresses with Duct tape. Another gives out $1,000 to men just for being over 6’2” and women for being over 5’10.”

With so many scholarships available it’s easy to get overwhelmed. In the next chapter I’ll outline some places where you can do your research, find where they are and apply early while funding is still available.

Start with an Affordable School

Consider a junior college or a community college, at least as a starting off point for your education. The advantage here is that you can get the core classes out of the way that would be the same regardless of your major. Most of these credits are pretty easy to transfer to a four-year college down the road. Be sure to ask though, because not ever credit automatically will go where you want to. Do your homework before you begin.

Technical colleges are also an affordable alternative, especially if you have a goal that involves special skills such as welding or cosmetology. Even when getting a four-year university option, look for the school with the best aid, not the lowest price. It’s possible that the highest-priced school may end up costing you less out of pocket if they have better aid options for their students.

All of this takes research. Find the places you’d like to go, then inquire about their financial aid packages and what they can offer you to help defray the cost of your education.

Grants

The best thing about grants is that they don’t have to be paid back. Again, start by filling out the FASFA paperwork. It is estimated that there are billions of dollars in unclaimed federal Pell grant money because the people who are qualified for them simply do not apply.

There are other opportunities available besides the Pell, both local and national grants. The Department of Education website has a map that will list grants being offered in your area.

Work-study programs

Getting a college job helps out in many ways: it provides income, usually close to the campus (if not on it) with hours flexible enough to work around your class schedule. These programs also include internships that allow you to network, making connections that might prove valuable to you upon graduation. The FASFA application will let you know if you qualify for work study. If you do, then it’s a simple matter of finding out what work-study programs are already available on campus.

Savings

As a national average, a student’s family covers 34% of college tuition. That means touching savings accounts and income to pay for such things as living expenses and tuition and books. But these also require directing some of the family income to these expenses and work best when there’s been a plan in place to save for college long before you need to go.

Federal Loans

The sort of thing you’ve been avoiding, but to fill in the gaps, a federal loan may be necessary. But use it for that - the gaps. There’s a big difference between a loan of $5,000 and one of $50,000 A rule of thumb is not to borrow more than you plan to make in the workforce after graduation. If you think you’re going to make $45,000 your first year out of college, don’t borrow more than that for your education.

Sample Content Preview

Chapter 1: What Is Facebook All About?

Hey there friends! And welcome to our newest training. We are excited to tell you right off the bat that we have prepared one of the most complete trainings that we’ve released so far, one that will give you all the information that you’ll need to grow your business this year and beyond.

That is because in this training we are going to teach you all about mastering Facebook Marketing in 2018. From start to finish, this is a training that will show you all you’ll need to know to grow your business on the largest social platform to date.

This training is designed to walk you through the basics first, to teach you how to get started, and lastly to show you how to implement top tier strategies to make the most out of your marketing efforts.

In this first Section of our training, the “Facebook Marketing Basics” Section, we are going to discuss the following topics:

? What Is Facebook All About?
? What Is Facebook Marketing?
? How Can Facebook Marketing Help Your Business In 2018?
? Shocking Facebook Marketing Facts To Consider

So let’s start by discussing the first topic in our list.

What Is Facebook All About?

Let’s start by describing Facebook as what it is at face value: a social media network designed for everybody. After all, do you know someone who isn’t on Facebook yet? We bet you don’t!

Facebook has become the most popular social platform because it is easy to use, because of its features, and its applications. In other words, Facebook owes its popularity to how entertaining and accessible it is.

Facebook’s main attraction is its user profiles, which allow people to add their names, their personal info, their pictures, their interests, and a lot more. These profiles help users find each other and to connect by adding each other as friends on the social network.

These social features have made Facebook the go-to platform to connect with friends, to reconnect with old friends, and to meet new people.

People can also use Facebook to play games, to chat with their

Facebook friends, to create and share photo albums, to comment on other people’s profiles, to create Facebook groups for their friends and families, and to connect with and follow their favorite brands, artists, or businesses.

And that is because Facebook is also an attractive platform for businesses of all sizes. With an active user base of over 2 billion people a month, it is the ideal marketing channel for any business eager to reach and engage with a larger audience.

What’s more, businesses can create their own type of Facebook profiles, called Facebook pages. Facebook pages are designed to allow businesses, companies, brands, organizations, and artists to use the platform the same way that any regular user would.

In fact, businesses can use Facebook as a powerful marketing tool, and there are many doing so successfully already. So let us grab you by the hand so we can teach you all about using Facebook to market and grow your business. Stay tuned!

Chapter 2: What is Facebook Marketing?

Hey there everyone! We’re pretty sure that you have heard this if you have tried your hand at online marketing before, but what many people don’t know about Facebook is that it is a gigantic online marketing machine.

Not only because it allows businesses to establish an active, engaging presence on the Facebook platform, but also because it provides them with all the necessary tools that will allow them to accomplish basically any business goal.

So no matter whether your business sells in person, online or through an app, there’s always a specific objective that you need to achieve before you can move to the next step, and with 2 billion people just waiting to learn more about your business on Facebook, it is now easier than it has ever been.

Facebook marketing will help you to find new customers and to build lasting relationships with them faster and more efficiently thanks to the variety of business-oriented tools offered natively by the platform.
These tools include:

Facebook Pages

Facebook Pages are what will allow your business to establish a unique presence on the platform. This will help people to find your business, to learn more about it, and to engage with it in a personal and very meaningful way.

Facebook Ads

More than 1 billion people use Facebook every day, so it would be pretty time consuming and difficult to reach the ones that might be looking for your product or service on your own. The good news is that Facebook allows you to run advertisements on its platform to promote your business through its own ad platform.

Messenger

The Facebook messenger is not only designed to let you chat with your Facebook friends. It is also a powerful marketing tool that will allow you to automate responses and to create messenger bots that can serve your customers even when you are away!

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

Precious metals earn their precious description because they are rare and in finite supply. There is only so much gold or silver. Harvesting silver, gold, palladium and other precious metals is a very expensive endeavor. This is one of the reasons that precious metals are expensive when compared to other naturally occurring metals which are in greater supply, are easier to harvest, and are not deemed to be as valuable because of supply and demand.

Unlike company stock or government-backed currency, there is a limited amount of each precious metal. This is what has made these metals such a great investment over time. If you purchase company stock, that company may at any time begin buying back its shares. This usually drives up the stock price, because there are fewer shares available to the public. The company may do the opposite, and issue more shares. This can drive the share price down.

In both of those situations, you have no control over the amount of stock which will be available to investors from one day to the next. The same is true with government-backed currency. Every time your government issues more currency, the value of the money you hold drops. This brings to light one principal factor which drives the price of precious metals ... they are in rare supply, and there is a finite amount of them.

If you are new to the world of precious metal investing, this guide was made specifically for you. In it you will learn why you may want to consider adding precious metals to your investment portfolio, as well as how much of your investment capital you should spend. You will get to know the most common precious metals for investing, and a few facts about each of them.

You may be surprised to find that you can purchase "paper" precious metal investment vehicles in addition to physical products. We will cover whether you should be purchasing silver, gold or some other type of metal, the differences between bullion, bars, coins and other precious metal investments, and the pros and cons of buying online vs. at your local dealer.

Finally, we will recommend the top online precious metal dealers, those which have been rated the highest according to customer satisfaction. Then we will walk you through making your first precious metals purchase, whether you choose to do so online or off. In case you are still on the fence about whether this is the right type of investment for you, let's look at some good reasons for investing in precious metals.

Reasons to Invest in Precious Metals

There are plenty of good reasons to add precious metals to your investment portfolio. Here are just a few of the more common reasons precious metal investing is on the rise in the 21st century.

Protection against Economic Collapse

One of the main reasons some people invest in precious metals is because they provide a hedge against monetary currency. As mentioned earlier, your government can decide at any time to improve the value or to devalue your currency. Additionally, if some cataclysm occurs, such as a zombie apocalypse, electric grid breakdown, or some other end of the world scenario, paper money may become worthless.

You need only pick up a recent newspaper from just about anywhere in the world to see examples of civil unrest and political shenanigans. You may recall the Greek government announced in 2011 that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. That crisis worsened after that announcement, and it took other governments forgiving massive amounts of Greek debt for that country to begin rebuilding its economy.

That is just one example of government-backed currency becoming severely devalued. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. Having physical gold, silver, and other precious metals on hand, especially in 1-ounce bullion pieces, gives you a globally recognized source of currency which will only rise in value if there is some severe economic calamity that strikes in your area.

High-Value, Small Size

One Troy ounce of gold traded at $1,200 in July of 2018. One ounce of gold bullion is about the size of a silver dollar, it is extremely portable, and it carries a lot of cash value. Precious metals provide a lot of purchasing power and they don't take up much storage space, whether that be in your pocket, purse, or in a safe at your home.

Diversification of Investment Portfolio

The wealthiest investors in the world will always tell you to diversify. They recommend holding some position in government bonds, stocks which pay dividends, small business stocks, real estate, cash, precious metals and other investments. Precious metals give you one more safety net to fall back on if some or all of your other investments don't pan out.

Gold and Silver Have Industrial Uses

Silver, gold, and some other precious metals have multiple uses in industry. Much of palladium’s value is driven by industrial use. They are also used to make coins and jewelry. This cannot be said for paper and coin currency, stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles. The more widespread the use of precious metals becomes, the higher the value of those metals will rise. There is a limited amount of each precious metal, which means that as industrial usage continues to climb, so will the value of certain precious metals.

You Can Get Started with Very Little Money

Silver was trading at around $14 per ounce in July of 2018. This means that you can begin your precious metals investment education with little to no risk or financial outlay. Any time you enter the investment arena, you learn lessons about money management. This is an extremely cheap and proven method of investing that has shown excellent returns over time, and can get you thinking about saving and investing for your future.

How Much Should I Invest in Precious Metals?

The decision on how much money you should invest in precious metals is a personal one. If you have a definite belief that global economies are going to crash sometime soon, and the economy of your home nation is in peril, you may want to spend more money investing in precious metals than stocks and bonds. Generally speaking, most investment advisors recommend not spending more than 10% to 15% of your entire investment capital on any one type of investment.

Diversification is the key to money safety. Diversification will often deliver a safe and steady return over time. If your investment portfolio includes real estate, cash, precious metals, stocks, cryptocurrencies and collectible coins, some of those investments may make money while others may stagnate or lose money. Since you are diversified in several different investment vehicles, the chances that you could lose all your money are very low.

On the other hand, you may have done a lot of research that leads you to believe platinum, gold, or silver is due for a massive upturn over the next year or so. If this is your belief, you may want to increase the amount of money you are investing in precious metals. The amount of money you are going to spend will also have to do with whether you are investing for the long term, as a hobby, or as a protection against economic or civil collapse.

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

We buy car insurance on the possibility of getting into an accident. We buy homeowner’s insurance on the possibility of fire or flood. But these are not certainties. You might never be in an accident or see your house catch fire.

But the one area where most of us fall short is life insurance. Yet death is the one thing that is inevitable, albeit hopefully many years in the future. Now is the time to plan for it.

While most Americans agree that life insurance is a good idea, the majority of them never get around to buying it. Why? In short, because they’re intimidated, if not confused outright by the entire process. There are several options available, and while this may seem daunting at first glance, the options are available to provide you with the correct insurance for your needs.

In this book, we’ll take a look at the various options, discuss your needs, and go over some general tips and tricks for making your life insurance purchase. Choosing a policy is an opportunity to try your hand at predicting the future. You’re not only going to need to keep in mind your current state – which includes your physical health, your financial health, and your family’s requirements. But you’re also going to have to make a guess at what these factors might look like in 5 years or 10 or even further into the future from there. And while life insurance can be a great idea for some, it might not suit everyone. Types of policies vary as much as the people that need them.

Thankfully you don’t have to go it alone. When in doubt you can always ask your agent. They know their way around policies and riders and will help you choose the course best suited to you and your needs. But be sure to do your research first. Having as much information as possible will help you to know the right questions to ask, thereby giving you that extra advantage as you set off to discover what insurance is right for you.

Types of Life Insurance

When you first set out to explore the idea of buying life insurance, it’s very easy to become confused. There seems to be unlimited options and finding the policy that’s best for you feels something like a scavenger hunt, especially where there are so many options that can be tacked on for added benefit to the survivors.

Your best defence is to understand what you’re getting into. That starts with understanding the terminology of the various types of policies. Taken to the bare minimum, there really are only three kinds of life insurance. These are term, whole, and variable. Out of these come others, with a few variations tacked on for special needs.

Let’s take a look at ten of these. See what works for you and discover how you can leverage these policies to suit your needs.

Term life

Term life insurance is exactly as it sounds. It’s purchased for a specified length of time or term. Term life is the most basic of life insurance policies that pays out upon death. There is no cash value build up as with some other policy types. This isn’t a savings or investment account. It pays a benefit upon death, and little more.

Because it has no cash accumulation, term life is almost always a much less expensive choice compared to other life insurance policies. Monthly premiums are low, and typically, the amount of coverage doesn’t change. Term life insurance is typically sold in five-year increments. It’s tailored to a younger group who are seen to be generally in good health. The thing to keep in mind is that once you reach the end of the term, you will need to re-qualify for a new policy, and the rates will reflect your current age and health at that time.

Assuming you are a healthy, young purchaser, term life insurance is meant to cover basic needs at the time of payout, largely covering final expenses and filling in gaps while survivors have a chance to adapt to a new way of life and a change in income.

However, term life has other, hidden benefits. Sometimes a no examination policy is available, and term life insurance can be purchased for “high risk” cases and for people in poor health. Life insurance for smokers, for example, is usually at a higher premium and often harder to find.

Also, if you have a 30-year mortgage on the house, perhaps a 30-year term policy is the best way for you to consider. The benefit would expire at the same time as the loan. In the meantime, your family is covered for the balance of the mortgage payment should you pass away. There are other types of term life insurance as well.

• Increasing and Decreasing Term Life Insurance

In the example above, a term life insurance policy is purchased to provide coverage for a mortgage in the event of someone’s death. Paying a mortgage means paying on the principal, which lowers the amount borrowed. In essence, what you owe for a home at the time of purchase will not be what you owe in five years or ten. If the reason you’re wanting term life insurance is to cover the mortgage payments for your heirs so that they don’t have to worry about moving should something happen to you, then your payout amount can be reduced as the amount needed to pay the loan decreases. Although the monthly premiums will not change, the decreasing benefit might involve a smaller outlay of cash at the beginning of the policy. A decreasing term life insurance will provide the coverage you need when you need it.

Increasing term life insurance, as the name suggests, will increase the payout amount over time. For example, if a young parent has a child, the financial needs of that child will increase over time. A policy for that will support that child in the case of a parent’s death will need to increase over time to cover the child’s needs. In this case, perhaps a 20-year term life insurance policy might be the way to proceed.

• Renewable Term

Term life insurance is set for a certain amount of time, thus the name “term.” When that time runs out, the insured must create a new policy, then qualify for the new policy, and pay whatever initial costs are necessary to create a brand-new policy.

With a renewable term life insurance, the insured is able to get a new policy at the end of the term life. Typically, this is done without re-qualifying and does not require the initial life insurance start-up fees.

Monthly premiums will increase due to the insured’s advancing age and possible health complications, but a guaranteed renewal means that you cannot be refused a policy.

• Convertible Term Life Insurance

A convertible term life insurance will allow you to change from a term life insurance to a permanent, or whole, life insurance policy at a later date. This brings the benefit of lower payments up front for term life but allows you to change over when your needs change. As long as payments have been kept current, there’s no further need for physical examinations or new quotes. It’s much like a renewable term life insurance policy, allowing the insured to move to a permanent insurance type.

• Modified Term Life Insurance

Much like it sounds, a modified term life insurance policy allows for flexibility. Decreasing death benefits, increasing premium amounts over time, this type of term insurance can be altered to suit your needs currently and in the future.

• Re-entry term life insurance

When purchasing term life, insurance carriers charge less because they have screened the applicant and found him/her to be in good health. What began to happen is that over the length of the term, say five years, people who remained in good health dropped their policies and those who had failing health held on to theirs. In the 1970s insurance companies offset the trend by offering Reentry term life insurance. If the insured continues to demonstrate insurability and general good health, renewal premiums based on lower mortality charges are comparable to newly issued term policies.