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[ad_1] Key Takeaways — Masterworks allows you to buy shares in expensive, investor-quality fine art. — Investing in fine art can be a good way to diversify your portfolio in an asset that’s not highly correlated with the stock market.  — Masterworks is a new company and investing in art is risky, so don’t invest more than you’re comfortable losing. LEARN MORE You’ve probably seen clips of those fancy white-glove auctions for fine art. Cultured investors snap up pieces going for hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even a million or more. It’s a favorite investing pastime of the world’s uber-rich, who have enjoyed returns of 5.3% per year and collectively hold around $1.74 trillion dollars in fine art, according to a recent Citi report.  As an industry that’s so grandiose, you might think that investing in fine art is outside of your ability, and unless you’re Bill Gates, it probably is. But that’s where Masterworks comes in.  This first-of-its-kind platform allows people to buy shares of a piece of fine artwork that almost anyone can afford. It’s a simple solution to a tough problem, but there’s also a lot more to consider to see whether it’s a good fit for you or not.   About the Company Masterworks is a fine art investment platform that lets people buy shares of pre-vetted artwork that will be resold later for a (hopefully) higher price.  It was founded in 2017, so it hasn’t been around for very long. That’s an important factor to consider given that Masterworks plans on holding each piece of fine art it buys for three to 10 years.  Although the company has bought and offered shares in over 40 different pieces since launching, its track record for selling artwork consists of only one painting so far: a $1.5-million painting of Mona Lisa by the famed artist Banksy. It netted a 32% return for its shareholders.  That’s an impressive sum, but it’s important to note that this is the only sale the company has made, so it’s not a good data point to judge the platform’s success. That’ll take more time.  Masterworks platform review If you’d like to invest with Masterworks, you’ll need to sign up for a wait list. When you fill out the form, it might tell you that there are several thousand people ahead of you. Still, we received an invite within a few hours despite this hurdle.  Upon proceeding through the process, you’ll need to link your bank account, verify your email, and complete a phone interview before you’re allowed to actually invest with Masterworks. This added interview step might be a deterrent for some investors who want a low-key investing experience.  How Masterworks Shares Work As you might expect, the process of turning a physical painting into shares that many people can buy is a bit complicated. In a nutshell, it works like this: Masterworks uses its proprietary model to identify good investments that are currently for sale. It buys a work of art and creates an LLC (taxed as a partnership) for each piece. Masterworks offers $20 shares (minimum $500) in the LLC until all shares are purchased. The company holds onto the artwork for three to 10 years, and then sells it for a profit.  The LLC is dissolved, and the proceeds are distributed to the shareholders, minus any fees. Since you’re essentially paying to be a partner in the company established for each painting, you should know that you’ll receive a Form K-1 at the end of the year that you’ll need to file with your taxes.  You won’t have to pay any fees directly since they’re taken out of the eventual sale proceeds, but it’s important to be aware of them. Masterworks is relatively expensive: it charges 1.5% per year, plus a 20% fee from the sale profits. This can cut into your return, significantly.  You might wonder what happens to the artwork after it’s purchased. As you probably can tell, it doesn’t travel around to all of the shareholder’s homes like a traveling trophy (sadly). Instead, Masterworks takes ownership of its safety and care, and even has a gallery in New York where its pieces can be displayed.  Finally, you’ll need to be prepared to hold onto your shares for the long haul. You don’t get any say in when the painting sells. You’re leaving that in Masterworks’ hands. But if you need to exit early, the company runs a bulletin-board-like secondary market where you can list your shares for sale in case another investor wants to buy them. It might not be as straightforward as selling shares of stocks, however. Unique Features Masterworks is a unique company unlike any other we’ve seen. Here are some of the things that make it different: Invest in art. It’s easy to invest in stocks, bonds, gold, and more. But until now, art has remained a rich-person investment class.  You don’t need to be an accredited investor. Many alternative investments like this require you to be an accredited investor, which isn’t something the average Joe can do. With Masterworks, anyone can get started in $20 increments with just $500.  Access to a secondary market. You should be prepared to hold your shares for up to 10 years. But if you can’t, you may be able to find a buyer for them through Masterworks’ bulletin board. Who Masterworks Is Best For There’s no two ways about it: Masterworks is a risky investment. The company itself even says “the investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment.”  There are a lot of dangers in investing in art. Banksy himself — the artist of the only painting Masterworks has ever sold thus far — famously shredded one of his paintings to make a statement against commercialization, after it sold in a London auction house for a lower price than Masterworks’ sold piece.  That said, Masterworks could make a lot of sense for you if you can tolerate those losses. It’s also especially

[ad_1] It feels like the internet is ablaze with talk of a gold rush on Amazon.  You can’t go one day without seeing a news article about the growth of Amazon’s FBA program and millions of sellers flocking to the platform.  Warehouse after warehouse is being built across America.  Fleets of drones are being prepared to make 8-hour delivery a reality.  Customers on Amazon continue to balloon.  There is no end in sight.  In some ways, Amazon is just getting started.   So, what is Amazon FBA and how can it benefit people looking for another stream of income?  Say goodbye to franchising and falling for multi-level marketing schemes.  Amazon FBA businesses are real, attainable, and allow people to work from home.  Today, I’ll break down the basics of Amazon FBA and how to get started yourself and be well on your way to making $1000/month.  Let’s get this party started!   Amazon FBA in a Nutshell First, it’s important to go over definitions to ensure there is no confusion later on.  The “FBA” in Amazon FBA means “Fulfillment by Amazon.”  At its core is a mission statement that is relatively simple: “You sell it, we ship it.”  It’s rather incredible what Amazon has done with their fulfillment network and warehouses.  If you YouTube “Amazon FBA robots” you will be amazed.  It’s one efficient, well oiled machine!  Sellers all over the world utilize Amazon’s FBA program to basically store, pack, prep, and ship all of their products to Amazon customers.  Amazon also takes care of returns, refunds, and general customer service.  It’s a dream come true for Ecommerce sellers.  Like any fulfillment network, there are drawbacks, but the pros far outweigh the cons.  There is a reason why Amazon continues to churn out new millionaires every day.   How Does Amazon FBA Really Work?   Before selling on the Amazon platform there are a few steps sellers must take.  The first, most basic step is setting up your seller account.  Make sure you sign up for a Professional Seller Account.  The account costs $39.99/month.  This unlocks the entire ecosystem to you and would be a good time to get your feet wet and peruse the platform before going further.  There are many tabs and can get a bit complicated.  Spending some time up front simply getting used to where everything is would be a good week long task.  Creating a New Listing The next step most sellers take is to create a listing for a new product they are wanting to sell.  This is called private label and we will get into further detail in the latter section of this post.  To create your listing, you will need things like a GS1 UPC code, pictures, title, bullet points, description, and keywords.  Things like pictures and bullet points, you can do yourself or hire a company to do them for you.  The key is to write the copy for human eyeballs, not artificial intelligence.  Amazon is getting smarter by the day and it’s critical that you write for people.  Once your listing is complete, it’s time to send inventory in.   Shipping in Products Sourcing from either overseas or America is broken down in further detail below, but I’ll cover the basics here first.  Once you have sent the final payment to your factory, they will pack and label your units and cartons per Amazon’s standards.  Amazon has all sorts of rules for this, so it’s critical that you follow their terms of service here.  Once your cartons are ready to go, either you or your factory will finalize shipping. Most sellers utilize air shipping out of the gate since the orders are smaller for new launches.  Over time, most transition to using sea shipping containers as it is much more cost effective.  Your cartons will eventually land at amazon warehouses and check-in.  The check-in process is basically Amazon scanning each of your units into their system and organizing your products in bins.  When they are fully checked in, you will see the total number of units in your seller central account.  Then, it’s showtime!   Amazon FBA = Your Employee Next up is seeing sales come in while you sit at home and see dollars roll in.  In fact, most sellers never physically see their inventory!  Everything is so digital and streamlined now.  Since you will be using the FBA program, your listing will get the Prime badge automatically.  This unlocks Prime 2 day and 1 day shipping for customers since Amazon will be managing logistics of each order.  Customers come to Amazon expecting fast shipping.  You won’t have to deal with any order processing, packing or prepping.  You will see the sale come through and any associated FBA fees removed from the sale.  From this point, all shipment tracking and confirmation emails will be sent to the customer.  Even order issues like missing packages will be taken care of with Amazon customer support.  Bada Bing, Bada boom!   Why Amazon FBA is a No-Brainer Amazon FBA is truly a no-brainer in many ways.  Managing your inventory on your own is a royal pain.  Amazon has in one sense solved almost every complaint Ecommerce business owners have.  The biggest reason why Amazon FBA is a slam dunk is time savings and business efficiency.  Brand owners prefer spending their valuable time on branding, expanding product lines, and inventory planning.  The last thing they want to deal with is fulfillment and the headaches that come along with it.   Multi-Channel Fulfillment is Your Best Friend A topic often neglected is fulfillment options off of Amazon.  For the vast majority of sellers I work with, they have a Shopify site and also sell on platforms like eBay and Etsy.  Many sellers simply assume that they must sign up a third-party warehouse to fulfill these off-Amazon orders.  WRONG, so WRONG.  Enter Amazon’s MCF program.  “MCF” stands for Multi-Channel Fulfillment.  In a nutshell, any order that is placed on non-Amazon sites can be fulfilled using your Amazon inventory.  No 3rd party warehouse

[ad_1] Finding the right credit card could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year. Whether you’re looking for lower fees, more rewards or simply valuable perks like travel medical insurance or rental car savings, every dollar counts. If you use your credit card wisely, pay off your balance monthly and find the right rewards program for you, and you are sure to come out ahead. There’s a slew of credit card options out there, and it can be challenging to find the best deal—but this list of best credit cards in Canada is here to help. We’ve highlighted the best in 13 different categories so that you can zero in on the ones that fit your spending habits, and offer features you truly value. Remember, this “best credit cards” ranking is the starting point; the final decision is yours to make.  Get matched with the best credit cards for you in under 2 minutes with Ratehub.ca Let’s get started* *Cards will be exclusively from Ratehub.ca partners. You can find MoneySense’s top editorial picks below.   The best credit cards in Canada 2021 Card Rewards / Features Annual fee American Express Cobalt (get more details)* 5 pts/$1 on groceries & dining 2 pts/$1 on travel, gas & transit 1 pt/$1 on everything else 1 pt = 1% / up to 1.75% in travel rewards $120 Scotiabank Gold American Express (get more details)* 5 pts/$1 on groceries, dining & entertainment 3 pts/$1 on gas, transit & streaming 1 pt/$1 on everything else No foreign exchange fees 1 pt = 1% in travel rewards $120 Amex SimplyCash Preferred (get more details)* 2% cash back on everything $99 CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite (get more details) 4% cash back on groceries & gas 2% on dining, recurring bills & daily transit 1% on everything else $120 TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite (get more details)* 9 pts/$1 on travel (via ExpediaForTD) 3 pts/$1 on everything else 1 pt = 0.5% in travel rewards $120 BMO eclipse Visa Infinite (get more details)* 5 pts/$1 on groceries, dining, gas & daily transit 1 pt/$1 on everything else $50 annual lifestyle credit 1 pt = 0.71% in travel rewards $120 Tangerine Money-Back (get more details)* 2% cash back in up to 3 spending categories 0.5% on everything else $0 Show more cards Card Rewards / Features Annual fee TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite (get more details)* 1.5 pts/$1 on groceries, gas & Air Canada 1 pt/$1 on everything else Point values vary $139 BMO Air Miles Mastercard (get more details)* 1 Mile for every $12 spent Earn 3x the Miles at Air Miles partners 1 Mile = 10.5% in e-gift cards $120 MBNA True Line Gold (get more details)* Low 8.99% APR $39 BMO CashBack Mastercard (get more details)* 3% cash back on groceries‡ 1% on recurring bills‡ 0.5% on everything else $0 Marriott Bonvoy AMEX (get more details)* 5 pts/$1 at Marriott properties 2 pts/$1 on everything else Point values vary $120 PC Financial World Elite (get more details)* 45 pts/$1 at Shoppers Drug Mart 30 pts/$1 at PC affiliate stores 10 pts/$1 on everything else 10 pts = 1% in store credit $0 AMEX Platinum Card (get more details) 3 pts/$1 on dining 2 pts/$1 on travel 1 pt/$1 on everything else 1 pt = 1% / up to 1.75% in travel rewards $699 Home Trust Secured (get more details)* Easy to get approved for Helps rebuild credit Deposit required $0 Rogers World Elite (get more details) 3% cash back on USD purchases 1.5% on everything else $0 ‡ On the first $500 spent per month Best rewards cards for everyday spending American Express Cobalt Card* With a high earn rate, a generous welcome bonus and easy-to-use points, the American Express Cobalt Card is our top pick as the best travel credit card for everyday spending.  The points you earn can be redeemed for travel at a rate of 1,000 points for $10 for any flight on any airline with no blackout dates, or they can be used toward the American Express Fixed Points Travel Program, which lets you unlock even better value on round-trip flights. If you prefer to use your rewards for accommodations, you can transfer your points to one of the American Express Hotel partners, including Marriott Bonvoy. Annual fee: $120 ($10 monthly) Earn rate: 5 points per $1 spent on dining out and groceries; 2 points per $1 spent on travel; 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases Welcome offer: Up to 30,000 bonus points (2,500 points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $500 in net purchases on your Card for your first year) Income requirement: $12,000 Additional benefits: Travel insurance; American Express Invites Get more details about the American Express Cobalt Card* Also consider: Scotiabank Gold American Express* The Scotiabank Gold American Express has been a longtime favourite for Canadians, especially those who travel. The first thing you’ll notice about this card is the Scotia Rewards earn rate is a very healthy 5 points per $1 on groceries, dining and entertainment. Gas gets 3 points per $1, as do spends in two other categories: Public transit and eligible streaming services. All other purchases earn you 1 point per $1 spent. Since 5,000 Scotia Rewards points works out to $50 in travel, the up-to-40,000-point welcome bonus is worth up to $400 in rewards and it gives you a big head-start on saving for your next big trip. This card also doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee—it’s one of the very few Canadian cards to offer this perk. Consider it a 2.5% bonus (the amount usually charged) on all foreign currency transactions, including online purchases.  Annual fee: $120 Welcome offer: Up to 40,000 Scotia Rewards points in the first year Earn rate: 5 points per $1 spent on groceries, dining and entertainment; 3 points per $1 on gas, public transit and eligible streaming services; and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases Income requirement:

[ad_1] Little MM and me self-educating with some Orson Scott Card, way back in 2017. We’ve come so far together since then! So it looks like my 15-year-old is officially a high-school dropout. Halfway through ninth grade, emboldened perhaps by the taste of freedom that Covid-era remote learning had provided, he realized that the whole system was just too slow and inefficient for him, and was “Getting in the way of his work.” So as it looks now, he’ll probably never return to any sort of in-person schooling, and I will be surprised if he ever attends college. Yes, he is technically “home schooling” and will still end up with a high school diploma of sorts, but in reality he is pretty much winging it. And needless to say, I have mixed feelings about this. I’ll start with the worries and the negative stuff, because as a parent I of course want the best for my child. And when I look back on my own childhood, it feels like school was a fountain of formative experiences. Sure, the education itself was slow and crappy – I was always craving more advanced material and more creative learning formats which just weren’t there in my small town high school. But isn’t enduring crappy and antiquated systems a critical part of getting ready to live in a modern society where things don’t always go your way? After all, the only way to renew a drivers license or a passport (or a medical license for that matter) is to dive head first into the ridiculousness and grin and bear it for the sake of the end goal. And of course there were plenty of good parts: I had so many amazing experiences and friendships and adventures through high school and university. Beginner romances and heartbreaks, brushes with the law, late nights around the campfire, terrible minimum wage jobs at gas stations and convenience stores that I thought were amazing, all bathed in a swirling Marijuana-tinged soundtrack of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Soundgarten and Primus and Tool. Doing reverse snow donuts in my mom’s 1988 Dodge Caravan filled with eight friends and then getting out to dance crazily in the headlights to the Wayne’s World soundtrack blasting from the giant stereo system I had built into the minivan with my own 16-year-old hands. How will my son grow up as a well-adjusted adult without the 2020s equivalent of such experiences? But when I obsess over these thoughts, I know I am falling into the oldest of parenting traps: assuming I know what’s best for my child, and that his own desires and thoughts are not valid, even though he’s on the verge of adulthood himself. So I remind myself of the positive side of this situation: The world of 2021 is a very different place from my equivalent perch in 1991. And my son happens to be sitting in an unusual but still promising (I hope) little corner of it. Because of the Internet, and to be honest a damned large dose of privilege due to having two educated parents always available because we were retired before he was even born, he has been able to feed his thirst for knowledge with incredible efficiency. This is an advantage that is still not available to most people today, let alone to what people of my generation had to work with in 1989. So he has already gone beyond college level in the standard fields that they cover in school. So of course he has noticed that the existing school system is not as efficient as his custom-crafted alternative. Like me, he feels frustration with many of our institutions. But it’s a frustration born of love and a desire to help out, rather than just a complainypants attitude and a desire to criticize. Public school for all is a great thing and a great idea. But like everything in life, we can only improve by first acknowledging that we currently suck. The first thing that little MM did upon retiring from formal schooling, is to create this entire 48 minute mini-documentary about the system he just left: https://youtu.be/0Qi36WcylLs (click that link to get to get the full experience on YouTube itself and see the description, show notes and comments. I’ll include an embedded version below for lazier people also, a hint for any YouTube creator you want to reward: their algorithm heavily recommends and promotes videos which people watch for longer. So, let it roll and enjoy the epic soundtrack!) Seeing him work so hard on this production definitely helped ease my fears about whether or not he will grow up to be a contributing member of society. He spent about three months researching the US school system, writing himself a script, composing a 16-track orchestral music score which is timed to the second to align with the appropriate parts of the film, creating 3-D models and animations in Blender to illustrate the main points, running multiple high-end computers overnight, night after night to render the complex scenes in 4K resolution, turning my house into a miniature version of a Pixar animation studio. Then he practiced up his reading, set up a bright professional recording studio in my basement, recruited me to help build a teleprompter, and narrated his own script into the camera. And finally brought it all back to the editing software to cut it all together, with pretty stunning results from my admittedly biased perspective as his Dad. But equally important, the danged kid has a point: schools really could be a lot better. And it could happen very quickly with just one main change as he explains in the documentary: switching from bland and repetitive teacher-led instruction, to extremely high quality videos instead. This would accelerate learning because the video content could be much more compelling than watching a human stand at the front of a room. But it would also free up the teachers to help individual students rather

[ad_1] The post 11 Millionaire Habits You Need to Practice appeared first on Millennial Money. When you think of a millionaire, you probably envision a lavish lifestyle filled with expensive houses and flashy cars. While some rich folks might live that way, not all of them do. The truth is that most millionaires are excellent at managing money and living a frugal lifestyle.  If you want to improve your financial situation, there are some millionaire habits you should consider emulating.  Who knows? By adding these millionaire money management habits to your bag of tricks and committing to financial self-improvement, you might even achieve millionaire status yourself. How to start acting like a millionaire Invest Save money Stick to a budget Minimize taxes Buy real estate Diversify your sources of income Become your own boss Avoid wasteful spending Get rid of your car Keep learning Control your time 1. Invest Becoming a millionaire is like growing a garden. It’s all about planting your money (investing it) and cultivating it so that it flourishes over time.  The path to building wealth and achieving financial freedom begins with making smart investments. For most people, the only way to reach millionaire status on an ordinary salary is to pump money into the stock market. Look into building a diverse portfolio full of growth stocks, index funds, mutual funds, bonds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Minimize fees wherever possible as well as taxes through tax-friendly retirement funds like individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k)s.  Learn more: Index Funds vs. ETFs How to Buy Mutual Funds Stocks vs. Bonds How to Open an IRA How Much to Contribute to a 401k 2. Save money  Rich people are also great at saving money.  This may seem like an odd thing to do when interest rates are so low across the board, but the fact is that saving money is critical for financial success. Don’t save to collect interest—that’s essentially pointless because you can earn much higher returns in the market.  Instead, you should be saving to cover emergency expenses and to fund projects like launching a business, buying real estate, and paying for large-ticket items when you need them (like cars, lawnmowers, and home repairs) without having to take out loans. Save as much as possible and put the money into high interest-bearing accounts to get as big a return as possible. Look into high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) from online-only banks like Ally. 3. Stick to a budget  If you want to attain millionaire status, you’re going to have to stick to a budget. It’s that simple. This may not seem like the most exciting idea in the world, but it’s reality.  Forming a budget requires coming face to face with the fact you have limited financial resources, and you need to protect your money. If you don’t stick to a budget, you could easily lose your wealth by falling into debt and overspending.  Fortunately, forming a budget is easy thanks to apps like You Need a Budget (YNAB) and Personal Capital. Another great platform is Mint by Intuit. Learn more: Why You Need a Personal Budget Personal Capital vs Mint The 6 Best Budgeting Apps for 2021 YNAB vs. Mint 4. Minimize taxes Ask any millionaire about the key to financial success, and you’re bound to hear a similar refrain: It’s less about how much you make and more about how much you keep.  If you want to live like a millionaire, you have to minimize taxes. Consult with a tax advisor and start looking for ways to cut back on what you have to pay to the government. A tax advisor who knows the tax code inside and out can give you advice on what you can do to start minimizing what you owe the government. 5. Buy real estate Buying real estate is one of the best ways to minimize taxes in the long run and to improve your net worth in the process. When you buy an investment property, you can claim many tax credits since a house is a depreciable asset. You can write off everything from marketing the property and paying for maintenance and repairs to utilities and mortgage interest.  There are a few different ways you can invest in real estate. You can buy a rental property and offer the place to tenants, or you can buy a house at a low rate and flip it for a net gain.  You can also invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are shares of companies that own commercial properties. REITs offer a lower barrier to entry for people who want to get involved with real estate. 6. Diversify your sources of income  Monthly income is one of the most important assets to protect.  The only way to become a millionaire is to keep money flowing in on a regular basis. When the money stops, this can lead to a variety of negative consequences. You can fall behind on payments, slide into debt, and be forced to liquidate investments, among other bad outcomes.  As such, the best thing to do is to diversify your streams of income.  For some people, this may involve starting a side business or picking up a side hustle like walking dogs or managing social media. Some people go even further and get two or three side hustles, effectively doubling their salary in the process.  Other ways to diversify income include real estate (through passive income from tenants) and investment accounts. Eventually, you may get to a point where the money you collect starts to accrue large monthly payments on its own.  Learn more: 25 Best Side Hustles for Single Moms Best Passive Income Ideas to Make You Money in 2021 Best Side Jobs Online How to Make Money on the Side 7. Become your own boss (when the time is right) There is nothing wrong with working for someone else at the beginning stages of your career. Getting a steady paycheck can set you up for