Note: This page contains affiliate links.
From time to time, I’m asked about which financial products I personally use and which I would recommend to others. Below is a list of many of the different financial resources, firms, services, and products that I personally use.
Financial Resources that I Recommend
The Total Money Makeover – You didn’t really think that I was going to get very far on a financial resource page and mention Dave Ramsey did you? Be sure to check out what I have written about Dave Ramsey’s baby steps in previous blog posts. I’m a huge fan. I give away tons of free copies of his bestselling book, The Total Money Makeover. Be sure to check out how you can possibly get your free book from Money Q&A by simply asking a personal finance question!
Wall Street Survivor – Learn how to invest in stocks and how to buy stocks by playing Wall Street Survivor’s stock game. Their virtual stock market game is the best way to learn to invest. Wall Street Survivor’s step-by-step courses, dead-simple articles and videos, and the real-time simulator will help you develop the skills you need to take control of your nest egg. At
At Wall Street Survivor, the company combines articles, videos, and courses with a stock market simulator. They give you fake cash to invest in real companies under real market conditions to test what you’ve learned and how you want to invest. All of Wall Street Survivor’s game trades are processed in real-time to bring you the most authentic experience.
Finimpact.com – funding small online businesses is always a hustle. However, this can always be easily solved if you try out Finimpact. They offer funding solutions for your business through an easy online application. The service they offer is connecting you to the top and best-fit matches comprised of funding providers.
To get business funding from Finimpact.com, you are required to follow three simple steps. The first step is to answer some questions that they will ask. They will then find the best matching funding options. You will then be connected to the best lenders. The amazing thing is that this is all done online! Can small business funding get better than this?
Blogging Services and Resources
The same is true for the many different programs that I use for blogging. So, I’ve tried to round up all the programs, companies, and services that really help to make life easier and provide a great service.
Intuit Quickbooks Self-Employed
I’ve just started using QuickBooks Online and love it. The online portal and app are so easy and helpful. It links to all of my business’ bank accounts and helps me manage all of my income and expense tracking.
QuickBooks is the #1 Accounting Software in the US, Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed – Helps freelancers automatically track mileage, expenses, and deductions, and prepare for quarterly taxes. QuickBooks Self-Employed: Untangle Business and Personal Spending. Start Your Free 30-Day Trial!
MeetEdgar
MeetEdgar is an incredibly powerful social media scheduler. MeetEdgar is a simple and efficient way to schedule your posts on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. I have all of my blog posts broken down by category and scheduled to be sent out.
It’s a never-ending cycle of content for your social media channels that randomly rotates the blog posts that you have scheduled. So, you’ll never run out of things for your audiences to read and share on social media.
Tailwind for Pinterest and Instagram
Tailwind is an incredible tool for Pinterest and Instagram. It allows you to upload images in bulk, drag-and-drop to a calendar, makes multi-board pinning easy and fast, and adds many more shortcuts built with your busy schedule in mind.
With Tailwind you can automatically optimize your Pinterest and Instagram schedules based on when your audience is most engaged. It includes analytics and insights on your published content that allows you to see what’s working and what’s not. Tailwind’s Browser Extension lets you easily create multiple posts from any site with a single click. It even repins on Pinterest.
Tailwind allows you to be more efficient. You can post all of your visual marketing content to Instagram and Pinterest from one tool with a single workflow. I highly recommend it.
Freshbooks
I use Freshbooks to invoice all of my clients for my freelance writing business and for most of the advertisers here on Money Q&A. Freshbooks has a great accounting system, professional invoices, and make it very easy for me to track the expenses and income of my websites.
The Best Investing Apps for Your Smartphone
Robinhood
Robinhood’s number one selling point is that it offers online investors free access to stock and ETF trading. This is almost unheard of. Even “low-fee” online investment platforms still cost investors considerable rates of commission on each trade. E*Trade and Scottrade charge $6.95 per trade, and Fidelity and Schwab charge $4.95 per trade.
These low-fee online trading platforms also have considerably higher account minimums ranging from $500 (E*Trade) to $2,500 (Fidelity and Scottrade). Robinhood, on the other hand, charges $0 per trade and has a $0 account minimum requirement. This makes it easier to invest even if you have little money upfront.
Robinhood’s no-fee trading undercut old-school brokerages. TD Ameritrade routinely charges $6.95 per equity trade and Schwab charges $4.95.
Robinhood is able to make money through its Robinhood Gold program and collecting nominal interest on account balances. If you’re looking for a truly no-cost way to get started in the stock market, then Robinhood is a great place to start.
M1 Finance
Many online brokerage services charge fees for trades, ranging from $0.99 to $6.95 in many cases. While this is still much more affordable than a traditional brokerage, it limits the number of trades you might want to do to avoid incurring lots of fees. For the average investor, low fee trades are extremely important, and M1 Finance takes the affordability factor to the next level with its no-fee trades.
What makes M1 Finance truly unique from other online brokerages and other robo-advisors is the way it gives you more control over the allocation of your investments with the help of the Pie. With this option, you can customize how much of your money you want to invest in certain stocks, industries or ETFs by choosing a target weight for each slice of your Pie. For instance, if you want to invest in Amazon, Best Buy, Chevron, and Google, then you can choose how much you want to be allocated towards each stock (e.g., 25%, 10%, 25%, and 40%, respectively).
M1 Finance has nearly 2,000 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) available for you to choose from. And, can invest in any individual stocks that are available on either the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), BATS, or the Nasdaq.
M1 Finance also has “Expert Pies,” which allow you to choose from various Pies designed by investment professionals. The Expert Pies are ideal for investors with specific goals (e.g., saving for a down payment on a home or retirement) and investors who want more control over how aggressive/conservative their portfolios will be. Sign Up for an M1 Finance account.
Betterment
Betterment is a website to help you start investing whether you are a veteran or a novice investor. Novice investors will receive the most bang for their buck. Even if you think that you do not have enough money to invest, Betterment has an answer to help you. You can invest as little as $25 per month to start, and their automatic deposits make investing a snap.
Betterment.com will even give you $25 for just trying out their service too! If you do not know where to start or which mutual funds to invest in, Betterment helps you get started with their pre-built mutual fund portfolio. You simply choose the allocation between stock and bonds that you want to invest in.
Betterment’s managers have chosen six electronically traded funds (ETFs) that mirror both the Dow Industrial Average, S&P 500 index, and the broader stock market. And, they have also chosen two bond ETFs that invest in inflation protected bonds as well as short term bonds.
Stash Invest
The main idea on Stash’s homepage is: “Stash is investing, simplified.” Stash emphasizes mixed portfolios of ETFs that you can customize for your age, lifestyle (e.g., personal values and political beliefs), and investment goals. For instance, environmentally conscious investors can opt to invest in green-friendly companies and ETFs, tech-savvy beginning investors can choose from an array of top-notch tech funds, and social media superstars may choose to invest in publicly traded social platforms that they know a lot about.
Stash only charges $1 per month to manage accounts with less than $5,000 deposited, or 0.25% annual management fees on accounts with more than $5,000 (which equates to roughly $12.50 per year for an account with $5,000 deposited). You can set up auto-deposits on your investment accounts directly linked to your bank accounts to ensure you’re regularly adding to your balance and growing a nest egg for the future.
There are no hidden fees involved. After all, Stash is all about simplicity in investing. So, $1 per month isn’t much compared to the more expensive alternatives!
My Favorite Investment Tools
If you’re looking for places to keep traditional investment accounts, you might want to check out investing with Betterment or Stash Invest.
The newest robo-advisor on the market called M1 Finance gives the more established, sophisticated investors great investing options. M1 Finance simplifies the investment process for beginning and experienced investors alike. Unlike other robo-advisors, M1 Finance does not charge a fee, and it gives you the option of taking more control over your investments if you want them (and less if you don’t).
Be sure to check out my ultimate guide to earning a great rate of return on your investments!
Landlord Resources
If you are considering becoming a landlord like I just did, I’ve also compiled a list of landlord resources as well.