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[ad_1] The RBI maintained the status quo in its latest monetary policy review meeting. Let’s try to understand how this could impact your personal finances. [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] Hong Kong cracks down on Tiananmen commemorations, arrests vigil organiser [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Hotel stocks such as Indian Hotels, Lemon Tree Hotels, EIH Associated Hotels, HLV surged up to 20 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced liquidity support. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] The post How to Live off Interest Income appeared first on Millennial Money. For many people, retirement is a far-off, loosely defined concept. Far too many people simply can’t fathom the idea of exiting the workforce and living off of the interest from their investments alone. It’s not easy. But with the right strategy, a little bit of planning, and determination, it’s possible. Keep reading to learn more about how you can live off of interest on a fixed income and enjoy your golden years. Living off interest: An overview The main idea here is to build a portfolio that produces enough passive income to cover basic living expenses in retirement while preserving the principal amount originally invested. This part is very important… and it’s also a major reality check. Just because you reach the $1 million threshold doesn’t mean you can live like a multi-millionaire.  Suppose you have $1 million but spend $50,000 on a new car. Now you have $950,000 left in principal. Assuming you bring in an annual return of 5% and live off those funds, your annual spending budget will drop to $47,500. Without the car, you’d have $1 million and an annual income of $50,000.  Add in more expenses on top of the car, and that $47,500 number drops even lower. This is why protecting your principal is so important.  How to live off interest income As you can see, living off interest alone is possible for retirees, but it’s also risky. Here’s what you should do to make this a reality. 1. Work as hard as possible  If you want to reach the point where you have enough money to live off of interest alone, you have to start bringing in more capital. It’s that simple. Ask for a raise and pick up a side hustle or several. Try to double or even triple your annual salary and save every penny. Put it this way: If you hit $1 million in savings, a 6% yield would give you $60,0000 annually to live off of. If you hit $5 million (not impossible), you’d have a cushion of $300,000 to live off. That’s a huge difference in terms of lifestyle and well-being.  Many people hit $1 million and then ease off the gas. The trick is to reach that point and keep going. Use $1 million as a launchpad, not a destination. 2. Protect your wealth Once you reach the point where you start living off of interest income alone, you’re going to need to rebalance your portfolio and put the majority of your holdings into secure accounts.  Mutual funds can work. But the problem is they produce inconsistent levels of interest, which can make it difficult to make ends meet. The last thing you want to do is start liquidating mutual funds for income if you don’t need to.  Your best bet is most likely to switch to a portfolio that includes annuities, certificates of deposit (CDs), and Treasury bonds. Learn more: ETF vs Mutual Funds Best CD Rates for 2021 (Certificate of Deposit) 3. Stick to a budget Living off of interest alone requires a shift in mentality. For most people, that means sticking to a strict monthly budget. The trick is to avoid wasteful spending and throwing money carelessly around on clothes, vacations, and expensive luxuries. To get to that point and still live comfortably, you need much more than $1 million – and you can’t be drowning in credit card debt, either.  Sticking to a budget now can grow your principal, putting you in the position to make more money in interest down the line.  Examples of living off interest  Here are two hypothetical examples of living off of interest.  Example 1: Alex Alex has $1 million invested in the stock market. Through a combination of ETFs, dividend stocks, REITs, and index funds, Alex earns between 8% and 10% each year, pulling in $80,000 to $100,000 per year.  Here’s the catch, though: Alex’s money is tied up in an individual retirement account (IRA). So he won’t be able to touch this money without paying taxes or penalties on it until age 59 ½. Plus, since this money is in a traditional IRA and not a Roth IRA, Alex will have to pay income tax when it’s time to withdraw the money. To live off of interest, Alex would need to save a healthy amount on the side or invest with a brokerage account. But remember, Alex would also have to pay taxes on all capital gains and dividend yields in the process. Learn more: What is an ETF? Are REITs a Good Investment? Index Funds vs. ETFs Example 2: Morgan Morgan has $1 million in the bank. But unlike Alex, all of her money is in high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) that have low interest rates.  While these funds are secured by the FDIC, she only brings in just 0.2% APY. As a result, Morgan only generates about $20,000 annually in interest—far less than if she put her money into the stock market and made enough cash flow to live off of for an entire year.  Additional factors to consider  Living off interest income sounds great. But the reality is that it can get complicated. Oftentimes, people reach $1 million and attempt this strategy but wind up having to go back to work due to unforeseen factors. Here are some pitfalls to watch out for. Inflation The inflation rate is rising annually as prices increase gradually over time. As a result, the money you have stockpiled in your account today will be worth less tomorrow. To combat inflation and rising healthcare costs, it’s critical to plan ahead and account for the cost of inflation at retirement age. If you can, put more into your savings or investment accounts.  Emergencies  Emergencies can happen at any time. You may have an unexpected illness or accident or several household expenses hit at once. Or your child may decide to go

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[ad_1] The post How to Make Money on Steam: A Complete Guide appeared first on Millennial Money. For a true gamer, there’s nothing better than sitting down with your favorite snacks and beverage and having hours upon hours to play games.  In recent years, more and more gamers have been using Steam—an online video game platform made by Valve—to play incredible games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Dota 2.  This article explores some ways to enhance the gaming experience on Steam and actually earn rewards like game currency, cosmetic items, foil cards, and extra money. What is Steam? First, a quick primer, in case you’re scratching your head wondering what Steam is.  If you’re not familiar with Steam, the service is fairly similar to Amazon’s Twitch streaming gaming platform. On Steam, gamers come together to play popular games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Team Fortress 2 and chat with other gamers.  Steam is one of the most popular and longest-running gaming exchanges online. It’s secure, efficient, and it has a remarkable number of fun games to play.  Gamers of all ages are on the platform, from kids to millennials to boomers who love to game. So, if you love video games, head over to the Steam app and check it out.  You might even be able to make some real money along the way. Top 5 Ways to Make Money on Steam Help another game developer Sell crates Offer creative services for developers Sell trading cards for credits Make an indie game and sell it on Steam Direct 1. Help another game developer  One of the best ways to make money on Steam is to help developers in the Steam community create and sell a Steam game in Steam Direct.  If this sounds interesting, spend some time browsing through Steam and look for a game developer who wants to bring their product to the Steam Market. This is for tech-savvy coders looking to make good money putting their Steam code skills to work.  Just be careful working with people on Steam. Do your due diligence before accepting a project and putting any time in. Consider how the individual game developer is going to compensate you for your work and avoid working on promises.  Ideally, you should be paid on an hourly basis for your time and effort or on a per-project basis.  It’s also a good idea to inquire about how far along a project is, as well as its commercial viability and potential pricing.  For the best results, avoid projects that have little to no chance of ever getting completed, unless you’re just looking to get some experience with an indie game.  2. Sell crates  Certain games contain crates full of useful game items. Crates may contain potions, elixirs, weapons, tools, or powers. Some games give you free crates every week for playing, while others require users to buy them.  The trick is to play often, rack up crates, and sell them in the Steam Market for credit. You could also buy crates for cheap and then sell them in the at higher prices at opportune times. Selling crates for profit in the Steam Market takes a lot of hours and patience. But, if you’re a serious gamer—and you spend the majority of your waking hours combing dungeons and forests in search of loot and n00bs to pwn—then it’s worth making a few in-platform bucks as you do so.  Of course, you won’t be able to spend the Steam money outside of Steam. But if you’re the kind of gamer who’s regularly racking up charges on your credit card, it’s better than nothing. 3. Offer creative services for developers  Even if you don’t know how to code, you probably know a lot about games if you’re a Steam user. Plus, you may have other skills you can bring to the table. Maybe you’re great at advertising, or you’re a creative genius! Combine these skills and help people flesh out the indie games they’re making and turn them into money-makers. Oftentimes, developers create an indie game that is operationally sound but lacks a certain X-factor in order to go to market (like well-rounded characters or an off-the-wall concept).  Just think: What would Candy Crush Saga be without the candy theme? And what would Angry Birds look like if the birds were jolly instead of angry?  The short answer is that you would never hear about them because they would flop before making it to market. Spend time combing message boards and look for people who may pay you for consulting services, graphic design work, or even just brainstorming and subject-matter expertise. Who knows? You could wind up turning a flop into the next viral new game… and make a small fortune in royalties as a reward.  TIP: Learning high-income skills like coding, marketing, and design can not only help you earn money on Steam, but with other side hustles as well. 4. Sell trading cards for credits  Remember when you were a kid and you collected baseball cards and Pokemon cards?  Well, times have changed. Today, people collect digital trading cards, and they’re actually pretty valuable.  Video games often provide trading cards as a reward for playing. These cards may contain characters, upgrades, maps, or any number of other rare items.  Simply play the games you love and collect cards as rewards while you go along. Each game has its own system for distributing cards.  Some games give you cards just for logging in and playing or for playing consistently over a set number of days. Other games may reward you for in-game achievements like clearing levels or reaching a certain score.  5. Make an indie game and sell it on Steam Direct  This final suggestion happens to be the biggest money-maker, which is why we saved it for last.  The way to make the most money on Steam is to create your own unique game and sell it on Steam Direct!  Of course, this requires a significant

[ad_1] I love getting my nails done. For a few years, it’s been one of the splurges that we budget for. I get dip polish on them and it lasts 4-5 weeks. But, getting them done means finding the time to go to the salon and sit there and have them do my nails. Some weeks, it’s hard to carve out the time for that. Recently, it had been five weeks since I had gotten my nails done and I really needed to get them re-done. They were very grown out and the dip polish was starting to come off. However, we had a lot going on that week and I just couldn’t seem to find an hour to leave two little ones at home. It was then that I remembered my sister talking about how much she loves the Impress Nails. She used to use dip polish on her nails and had told me she’d converted over to the Impress Nails and had become a real fan. So, Jesse had to head out for an errand and I asked him if he’d swing by Target to pick up a box of the Impress Nails for me to try out. What are Impress Nails? Impress Nails are salon-looking press-on nails that you can apply yourself in just a few minutes. You just peel off the backing of the nail to expose the glue and then press it on your nail and push it down over the surface of the nail for 20-30 seconds. How Much Do They Cost? The box of Impress Nails we got was $7 + tax at Target. Amazon has them for $6.99/box. This includes 30 nails — enough for 3 full applications. I’ve heard that you can find them for less at TJMaxx, but I haven’t checked there. How Long Do They Last? I asked on Instagram, and the majority of people said they usually last up to 10 days for them. There were a few people who said they only lasted a few days. But most people said that if you rough up your nails a little (this helps the glue on the back of the press-on nail adhere well) and don’t get them wet for a few hours after putting them on, that they will last for 10-14 days. A few of mine fell off during the 10 days I wore them, but I found it was really simple to either put on a replacement nail or glue the nail back on with nail glue. How Do You Apply Them? The Impress Nails are very easy to apply. Just open up the box, make sure your nails are clean and dry and a little roughed up (use the little wipe and the nail file they include in the box to wipe down your nails and rough them up), and then peel off the backing of the nail and press it on. Kaitlynn and I applied them together and we found it worked best to hold them nail down and press around all over it for around 30 seconds. The biggest tip people gave me over and over was to not get them wet for a few hours. They said this gives the glue time to dry. They also strongly recommended putting them on a little while before bed so that the glue had time to fully dry all night. People who said their’s stay on for 10-14 days all told me that they did this. Are They Hard to Take Off? I was wondering if it would be hard to take them off. It wasn’t. I just pulled on each of them a little at the end of the 10 days and was able to easily get them off. I know some people talked about soaking theirs off. I didn’t need to do that. But mine were also starting to come off some at the end of 10 days. Pros They look great! Since I usually have my nails done, it wasn’t this weird shift to having really amazing looking nails. I don’t think that they look really fake. They are very easy to put on. You can literally apply them in the car on the way to an event (well, so long as you aren’t the one driving!) It took me about five minutes to apply them. They are very inexpensive for what you get. A box of Impress Nails has 30 nails in it — enough for three full applications (if you don’t need to replace any during the 10-14 day application period). And it’s only $7 at Target!! That’s $7 for what could last you (pretty easily) for close to a month! That’s much less expensive than going to a salon! Cons They aren’t as thick/strong as dip polish. I found that they were a little flimsier and took a few days to get used to. If you have longer nails, you shouldn’t have this problem. They only stay on for a maximum of 10-14 days. Unlike dip polish, even though I followed all of the suggestions from people online on how to apply them, mine only lasted for 10 days. In that time period, a few of them did fall off and I just glued them back on with nail glue. There aren’t as many color options in-store. There were only around 8 different color options in-store at Target. Amazon does have a LOT more color options. But if you want to get something in-store that day, you are just going to have to go with what they have. They are a little hard to shape. While I was pretty happy with how they were shaped, I wanted to file down a few of the nails and I found that it wasn’t super easy to do (maybe there’s a trick I just wasn’t thinking of?) All in all, I was happy with the Impress Nails and would definitely use them again — especially if I wanted to have nice-looking