January 30th, 2013Top StoryHow To Futureproof Your Job with a Career Insurance PolicyBy Alan Henry
What Is a Career Insurance Policy?We first heard the phrase when career expert Hannah Morgan described it last year, and in this post we'll walk you through building your own. Hannah describes it as a way to financially and professionally protect yourself against the possibility of losing your job. In other words, doing all the things required to make sure that if fate pulls the rug out from under you tomorrow, you'll land safely. We're taking the original idea and piggybacking on it to include some ways to prep you for any career or job shift, not just the unexpected kind. Whether you've been laid off, thinking about a new job, or you're comfortable in the job you have, a career insurance policy can help take some of the weight from your shoulders. You'll have the basics—money, your professional network, your skills, and an escape plan, all taken care of, so you can focus on deciding what you should do next. Step One: Protect Yourself Financially with an Emergency Fund
Alleviate that worry right now by starting an emergency fund. How much you should put into an emegency fund depends on your needs. Most people say you should stash enough cash away for three to six months of regular bills, expenses, and purchases that you would normally make. Start with the basics, then move up to incidentals. Don't try to plan for everything, and keep your money somewhere it'll work for you. At the end of the day, if you can make your emergency fund grow on its own, you'll be better prepared for an emergency like a job loss or illness. Your emergency fund isn't just in case you lose your job, though. If your work environment gets so terrible that you want to leave badly, or just can't take another day there, having that fund on-hand makes it easy to walk away without having to wait and be miserable while you search for and land a new job. It also gives you the head-space to leave a terrible job and pick a new job carefully so you don't take the first thing that's available, or make the same mistakes at a new job just because you were in a hurry to get out of the last one. Step Two: Make Yourself More Valuable by Diversifying Your Skills and Experience
We've explained that being good at one thing just isn't enough anymore, but it can be worse when that one thing you're good at is suddenly no longer in high demand. There are plenty of ways to pick up new skills without much risk. Take night classes, go back to school for an advanced degree, take up an apprenticeship, or pick up a part time job. Your skill doesn't have to be a something as big as a degree or certification either: pick up a new language, or learn a new programming language or tool, or explore a side-passion or hobby. Consider an internship or doing some volunteer work to pick up those desirable skills. In any case, you get the skills, the non-profit gets the job done or a helping hand, and everyone wins. Whatever you do, make a commitment to keep learning and regularly pick up new skills that interest you and can benefit you professionally. You may even be able to turn those side passions or skills into a paying thing—a way to diversify your income streams so you're not so heavily reliant on the job you have. Step Three: Protect Yourself Professionally by Beefing Up Your Network
Remember, "professional network" is really code for "friends who help each other professionally when they can." That's all—there's no magic or secret handshake. Be sincere, willing to help other people, and in general a nice person, and others will do the same for you. Step Four: Keep Your Résumé and Social Networks Updated, and Learn How to Promote Yourself
Set aside an hour one night to make sure your résumés is up to date—everything from your contact information to your current job title and responsibilities. Then make it a recurring thing, every few months, sooner if things tend to move quickly at your job. This way, you'll never be in the position of thinking back two years to remember your accomplishments or responsibilities just because that's the last time you updated your résumés or LinkedIn profile. If you have a professional nameplate site, or a personal site where you host your résumés or portfolio, update that as well. It's worth the effort of doing now, while everything is fine, so you can devote more energy towards deciding what to do when the time comes to send those links to a potential employer, or after you've been laid off. Photo by CharlotWest. At the same time, learn how to promote yourself without being sleazy about it. You have desirable skills and experience that any employer would want, so flaunt it. Give anyone looking for more information about you something great to look at and find when they search for you online, or reach out to their colleagues about you. Step Five: Turn Your Hobbies, Passions, or Extra Skills Into a Second Income Stream
We're not saying work multiple jobs just because you can, but you should definitely consider finding ways to take some of your interest areas, hobbies, or passions that you may want to turn into careers someday and turning them into a second income stream. If you like to write, consider freelance writing or starting your own blog. If you're technically inclined, consider offering to repair friends' and neighbors' computers for a fee, or to help them with the things you know how to do, like backing up their data or accessing their systems remotely. It's not easy, but it's a great way to fill your emergency fund a little faster, and to make yourself a little less reliant on the whims of one employer. Then you can think more clearly about whether a layoff is coming your way, or whether a promotion or change in primary jobs is best for you. Ideally, all of these suggestions will help you build a kind of bulletproof "career armor" that will help protect you from sudden changes and make difficult decisions a little easier. You'll have the basics covered and you'll be prepared for most common eventualities. More importantly, you'll be ready to tackle whatever comes your way with confidence, knowing you're ready for it. That's the best thing insurance can possibly offer. Title image by huhu (Shutterstock).  |
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January 29th, 2013Top StorySimple Is Banking 2.0, and We've Got Priority AccessBy Adam Dachis
I switched to Simple a few months ago and it has made managing my finances far easier than Bank of America. I don't have to worry about fees, I always know how much money I have, I'm alerted about any changes instantly, and the customer support team always offers quick answers to any problems that come up. While online banking isn't for everyone, I've really enjoyed my experience so far. This post details some of the best stuff Simple has to offer and a way to skip to the front the invite queue if you feel like giving it a try. How Simple Works
Because online banking is a little scary for some, Simple requires strong passwords and an extra PIN on your smartphone to block out unwanted access if your mobile is lost or stolen. You can't use Simple without an iDevice or Android smartphone, which provides additional security because your bank account won't work without access. (You can, however, dump your smartphone after the initial setup.) Simple also allows you to block access to your debit card via the site and your smartphone, so if your card is lost (temporarily, anyway) you can just turn it off. (If you need to request a replacement through customer support, however, you won't be able to turn it back on.) Additionally, your money is insured to at least the FDIC limit (currently $250,000) and your personal information is never sold or shared with anyone. Simple wanted to create a banking replacement that provides the services of a Chase or Bank of America while adding new better features and focusing on making the experience ideal for the customer. The Features
This is just a short list of features that Simple provides, but should give you an idea of some of their advantages. The Support TeamSimple puts a high priority on customer support. Not only is that important because they're an online bank, but because you want to work with kind people you can trust when it comes to your money. If you want to talk to a human, you can just give Simple a call. They also respond to email and messages on Twitter most often in minutes rather than hours. You don't receive just "yes" or "no" answers in most cases, either. If you have a problem and there isn't an outright solution, Simple's support staff will help you find a workaround. This is incredibly important with online banking because a number of transactions aren't as easy (e.g. cash deposits, large withdrawals) but are still possible. If you want to get an idea of how helpful their support team can be before switching, try inundating them with any number of questions. In my experience, they'll answer them enthusiastically, quickly, and with just the right amount of detail. The Downsides
Simple also isn't accessible to everyone. If you don't own an iPhone, iPod touch, or Android smartphone, you can't use their service. You also have to wait to be invited, though we have a work-around for that below. For more on the ups and downsides of online banking, and help figuring out if it's worthwhile for you, check out this post. How to Sign Up and Get Invited ASAPSimple keeps their system closed and invites groups of people as they are able to accommodate them. That means you have to sign up for an invite and wait until they have room to provide you with an account. Normally that wait can be a little while, but Simple has agreed to give Lifehacker readers if they request an invite anytime this week (until 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 3rd 2013). All you have to do is click the link below to visit the Simple site, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and request an invite like you normally would. They'll know you came from Lifehacker and send you an invite within a few days. If you've already requested an invite from Simple but have yet to receive one, go ahead and make another request by following the aforementioned instructions. Be sure to do it by Sunday, however, as priority access is only available for that long. Images by bioraven (Shutterstock) and vso (Shutterstock).  |
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January 28th, 2013Top StoryHow to Automate Your Discounts and Always Get the Best PriceBy Adam Dachis
I don't like paying full price for anything. If I can't get some sort of discount, or offset the cost by selling at the right time for the most money, I'll usually wait for the right opportunity. But I have more important things to do than scour the web for deals all day long, so I let software do the work for me. In this post, we'll go over a few simple methods that will keep you aware of only the discounts you care about so you can make your purchases at the right time for the best price. Use Price Alerts Instead of Wishlists
Setting up price alerts doesn't take much work. Price-tracking site CamelCamelCamel is a great place to start. It can monitor Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg (click the links to visit their respective CamelCamelCamel sites). Simply create an account and enter in any products you want to track. Doing so will essentially create a tracked wish list and you will receive alerts by email and/or text message (your choice) when any product drops below your specified price threshold. To make life even easier, you can install a browser extension called The Camelizer (Chrome/Firefox) and add products directly from their product pages. If CamelCamelCamel tracks the retailer, you'll see a little camel pop up on the right side of your address bar. Just click it to start tracking. Get Price Comparisons While Shopping to Avoid Unnecessary Spending
Install Coupon-Recommending Browser Extensions
Subscribe to Tons of Newsletters and Filter Them with Gmail
If you don't want to do the work yourself, you can use a similar tool called MyDealNews. Because DealNews posts tons of deals every day, they can watch for the ones you want about and send them to you when found. The downside is that DealNews, and other deal sites with similar alert tools, may not watch every newsletter you want to watch. Of course, these tools offer more convenience. Get Coupons Based on Your Smartphone Shopping Lists
Keep a Shopping App Folder for Local Stores on Your Smartphone
Don't Go CrazyAutomating your discounts can save a lot of time and money, but the point is to avoid sacrificing your sanity in the process. Getting the best price shouldn't be the only thing you consider when making a purchase. Even with automation, you can make yourself nuts by trying to always buy at the exact perfect time. Sometimes you don't have to get a deal and can afford to pay full price for something you really want (or need to acquire sooner than later, such as a birthday gift) because you regularly save so much. If you look at auto-couponing as something that provides you with that freedom, you'll never feel overwhelmed by your own frugality. Images by maynedabe (Shutterstock), Willyam Bradbury (Shutterstock).  |
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