Hank Coleman

Hank Coleman is the founder of Money Q&A, an Iraq combat veteran, a Dr. Pepper addict, and a self-proclaimed investing junkie. He has written extensively for many nationally known financial websites and publications about investing, retirement planning, and even how to find the best return on investment. Hank holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and a graduate certificate in personal financial planning. Email him directly at Hank[at]MoneyQandA.com. Hank has written over 750 articles on Money Q&A. Learn more about Money Q&A on Twitter @MoneyQandA and @HankColeman. Subscribe To Money Q&A If you want to learn more about taking back control of your money please subscribe to Money Q&A’s RSS feed or via email to receive all the latest articles! You can also subscribe to our Free Weekly Newsletter.

Interview With Gary Vaynerchuk for Your Money Your Choices Podcast

by Hank Coleman

gary-vaynerchuk I am completely stoked to interview Gary Vaynerchuk in this week’s episode for Your Money Your Choices. You don’t have to follow me for very long to know that I’m a huge fan of this incredible entrepreneur. Gary Vaynerchuk is a social media advocate and guru, author, video blogger with his very popular show, “Wine Library TV“, keynote speaker, and much more.

I think that I was first introduced to Gary when I saw the keynote speech that he gave in September 2008 at the Web 2.0 NY conference on YouTube. I don’t remember how I found it, but watching this 15 minute video is incredible. It will pump you up. His book, “Crush It“, is the same. It gets you going. It oozes passion and fire that comes straight from Gary’s heart. You can see it in everything that he does.

If you’ve never seen the Web 2.0 speech, it is an incredible talk and well worth the 15 minutes to watch it (Note – It contains a few cuss words though.). Gary Vaynerchuk’s Web 2.0 NY Keynote Speech – September 2008.

Gary Vaynerchuk took over his parents’ liquor store and turned it into a $50 million company. He parlayed that success into Wine Library TV, early investment in social media sites like Twitter and others, signed a multi-million dollar book deal for 10 books (#3 comes out this November), and now he runs VaynerMedia with his brother. VaynerMedia is a consulting firm that helps Fortune 500 companies like GE, PepsiCo, the NY Jets, and others with their social media and building digital brands.

What It Takes To Get Through Burning Out

In this episode of Your Money Your Choices, I interview Gary Vaynerchuk who is one of the preeminent entrepreneurs, authors, video bloggers, and business owners in America. In our interview, I asked Gary about taking back control of your finances with side hustles in addition to your day job. When I interview Gary Vaynerchuk, I asked him about using a side hustle and entrepreneurship as a way to start living the life that you ultimately want which he talks about in the Web 2.0 speech and his books like Crush It.

I also pick his brain about hitting the preverbal wall and burning out. Gary discussed with me what it takes to get through burning out and how to break through the preverbal wall when you hit it. You’ll definitely want to check out this great interview on the podcast this week as we talk about why it is still important to hustle today, the social media platforms that you should be on, and why 7 pm to 2 am can be the most productive time of your life as an entrepreneur.

As a nationally recognized speaker and author about taking social media and business to the next level, Gary Vaynerchuk has written the books: “Crush It“, “The Thank You Economy”, and his most recent book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook“, is due out this November. You won’t want to miss this great conversation with my biggest interview yet.

Interview With Phil Orbanes Author of “Monopoly, Money, and You”

Additionally, I talk to Phil Orbanes who is a former Senior Vice President of research and development at Parker Brothers and has written the book, “Monopoly, Money, and You: How To Profit from the Game’s Secrets of Success“.

Have you ever wanted to learn how to win your favorite board game from childhood? Have you ever been curious about the life and financial lessons that the game teaches us at a young age? If you’re a Monopoly fan like me, you’ll love the conversation that I have with Phil Orbanes about the game, his book, and the financial lessons we can all pull out of them.

How Investing Newsletters Can Make You A Better Investor

by Hank Coleman

The stock market itself is hot right now, and I think that it is definitely going to be a continuing trend higher this year. With all of the investment options to consider, wouldn’t it be nice to have some very helpful information to base your decisions upon? That’s why I’ve turned to investing newsletters to help me pick stocks. Online Investing Newsletters Are A Great Resource Sure you can go find information about which stocks to buy and sell by yourself, and you will still need to do a little bit of your own research. You don’t want to just take anyone’s word for it. But, investment newsletters are offered by some of the top financial advisers, stock pickers, and … Read more

Confessions of a Short Term Stock Trader with Swing Trading

by Hank Coleman

I have a confession to make. For the past six months, I have been buying and selling stocks at a rapid rate lately. It hasn’t been day trading, but I haven’t held a stock for more than a week before selling it. I’ve been swing trading. I have been swing trading with a small portion of my investment portfolio. I have been buying and selling stock and holding shares for only a few days in the hopes of short term price movements. And, I am really loving it I have to admit. Like when I started playing fantasy baseball and it renewed my love for the game, short term stock trading has renewed my love for trading. It’s not for … Read more

Are Your Budget Assumptions Throwing Off Your Family Finances?

by Hank Coleman

How accurate is your family’s monthly budget? Do you have false budget assumptions in your family’s monthly budget? Do you guess at certain things that you put in it? You’re not alone. A lot of people do not have the right math in their family’s monthly budget.

You need a budget, but you also need an accurate budget. Budgets are built on both facts and assumptions. You know exactly how much money your home mortgage will cost you. You know how much your car payment or credit card minimum balance payments are at the end of each month. But, there are many things in your budgets that you don’t know exactly how much they will cost you and your family. It is these assumptions that will eat at your budgets and could possibly throw them off.

Why Your Math Budget Might Be Off

There are two types of costs in our lives, just like the costs of a business. You have both fixed costs and variable costs. Your car loan payment, mortgage payment, and the like are all fixed costs. They are the same amount of money every month, and you can accurately predict them from month to month with almost perfect certainty.

Then, there are the variable costs of living. These include things like your water bill, your electricity costs, and other discretionary spending. Discretionary spending accounts for many of these variable costs, and they have some of the biggest impacts in our budget. They are, more likely than not, to be the areas that throw our family’s monthly budget out of whack. Here are a few monthly budget assumptions where our families are most likely not hitting the mark with their forecasts.

Potentially Wrong Family Budget Assumptions

Gas Prices: If you have a set amount of money earmarked for your gas purchases, this category in your budget has one of the highest likelihoods of being blown out of the water. Most people set a figure that is too low for their family’s gas usage.

Gifts You Give: Do you account for all of the gifts that you give throughout the year in your family’s monthly budget? You might have a number listed in your budget as one of your budget assumptions, but it may not be more than a swag.

How much do you give in gifts for birthdays, Christmas, or other holiday gifts? If you add up the number from last year, you can simply divide by 12 and save that amount each month, setting it aside in your budget, in a savings account. I like to nickname my savings accounts listing what it will be used for.

Going Out To Eat: If you are not watching this category in your budget like a hawk, you can be greatly surprised by how much money you spend going out to eat each month. The same can be said for going to the movies and other entertainment expenses. Do you increase your budget assumptions when you expect family to come into town? This can quickly be a budget buster.

The Ultimate Guide to Earning a 10% Rate of Return on Your Investments

by Hank Coleman

Are you getting the best rate of return on investment? Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine annually discusses ways to boost your investment yield in its latest issue. I have to say that I am always pretty disappointed with their recommendations. I love the magazine, but I didn’t really care for a list of mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). But, I wanted concrete ideas on how to earn a 10% annual rate of return on my investments. US Treasuries are earning less than 1% and money market funds are not fairing much better. Certificates of deposit are barely scraping by at 2% or so even for the longest maturities. But, are these levels going to last? The stock market has … Read more