SURVEY SCOUT: WHAT ARE THE BEST “EARN MONEY ONLINE SITES?”

Posted on October 27, 2011 by

survey scout for moneyNEED SOME EXTRA CASH?

Need to make some money fast or have a little extra income coming in?  Who doesn’t these days?  Food and everything else is going up except our retirement checks….And, the stock market isn’t helping us, assuming we even have any stocks left after the last stock debacle.

So, Better Boomers never give up and we know that if we have our health, we can do just about anything, including coming up with some money making ideas.   So, let’s think about the best ways to make extra money and still maintain our retirement lifestyles.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FASTmake money fast

One sure fire way to make some money now is to figure out ways to earn money on line.  One of the easiest ways to earn money online is to get paid for taking simple surveys, review products and/or participate in survey forums after having tested a product.  It’s simple and you can control how much and how often you participate in the surveys.

Surveys are good for your brain and good for your ego.  You won’t feel tied down to a strict budget if you know you can make a few extra dollars whenever you want.

FREE VERSUS PAID

There are free survey sites where you can sign up to take surveys, but these are risky.  I do not recommend doing this, ever.  Many of these sites are set up to get your email address and then sell to spammers who will gladly aggravate you to death with spam emails.   Many more have very limited numbers of surveys and most of those don’t pay more than $1 and some just give you coupon discounts.

PAID SURVEY SITES

The safest way to participate in taking surveys and getting reimbursed for your efforts is to use a paid survey site.  There are a few really good sites and a lot of mediocre sites.   I believe in getting a guaranteed return in exchange for buying a product.   Better yet, get a survey site that guarantees to give your money back with no questions asked.  Then, you and your money are protected….And, the time you spend completing surveys will be worthwhile.

Click Bank products have a 60 day no-questions-asked guarantee and products paid through PayPal offer a 30-45 day guarantee.  So, either way, if you pay for a survey site and you don’t like it or it doesn’t pay for itself, you can cancel and get all of your money back.

So, what are the best sites?  I researched ten companies that are looking for people to participate in surveys and this is what I found.

earn money onlineEARN MONEY ON LINE SITES

Commonalities of Paid Surveys:

  • All companies at least promise that they have preselected and “verified” the surveying companies,
  • Most are membership sites, so you’ll know you have a support center to contact if you should have problems,
  • There is normally an application process for anyone who decides to participate in the surveys
  • Once you’ve joined you have access to the survey site’s data base, which often means you get a list of surveys to choose from and then it’s up to you to sign up for the surveys.  The sign up portion can be time consuming, but it’s important to do it and do it right.
  • You’ll not get rich, since most of the sites pay between $3-20 and a few pay higher but are often already taken.
  • Each survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.  The higher returns take longer. So, what have you got to lose but your time?  If you do five surveys a day at the lower end of $3/per survey, by the end of the week you’ll have made $75 and in a month you’ll have made $300.  Not bad for about 4 hours’ work….And, you get to stay at home and do other fun things like cleaning house or yard work! If you want to make more money, you simply complete more surveys.

 Commonalities of Product Testing

This is my favorite because you usually get to keep the product you tested plus you get paid for testing it and reporting what you found, good and bad about the product.  Depending on the product, you could make more money than survey completion or you could just get a free product, which is also not bad, or you could get a coupon for a free or dis-counted product.  Just make sure you check out the payouts before agreeing to do the testing.

Commonalities of Focus Groups

This is very similar to taking a survey.  You participate in a one hour group discussion on the product tested and report what you found. Since an hour is involved, you may make as much as $100 but the usual payout seems to be around $50.

helpful hints and tips to make money fastHELPFUL HINTS on EARNING MONEY ONLINE WITH SURVEYS

  • Join a lot of surveys to get started.  You’ll develop a reputation as a good survey taker and improve your chances of being selected to take the higher priced surveys.
  • Signing up for about 100 companies is a good goal, but terribly boring.  Try signing up for 10 surveys a day.
  • Set up a separate email address for surveys.  You’ll get a lot of “stuff” that will overwhelm your regular email.
  • Remember that if you sign up for a free site, they are usually trying to get your email address so they can spam you with offers that cost money.
  • It takes time to get your name registered on survey sites.  Expect to wait up to two weeks before you get survey taking opportunities.
  • Remember that you’re not going to make a living by taking surveys.  Don’t believe those who say otherwise.  A lot of sales copy today is centered on getting your attention and usually has only a fraction of truth in the promises.
  • Survey taking can be fun and enjoyable.  It’s a good way to way to earn some extra cash and you’ll get paid fairly quickly, usually in a couple of weeks.

What are the best paid survey sites?

THE WINNERS!!make money online winners

I’ve detailed each of the three products and linked them to this site.  The three best sites in my opinion are:

#1:  Paid Survey Authority

#2:  Surveys Paid.com

#3:  Paid Surveys at Home

Please check out these sites on my next post.  I’ll review them and let you know the “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

P.S.  Any time you buy something through the Internet, try clicking out of the site after you read the copy to see if a pop up come on asking you stay on the site for a $10 refund off the cost of the product.  Nine times out of 10, there will an attempt to keep you on the site to buy the product.  The competition is high in survey marketing and $10 is better in your pocket than in theirs. Right?

P.S.S. If you don’t earn the money you are expecting or don’t like the service of the paid survey site, ask for a refund.  Remember that ClickBank has a 60 day refund and their reputation is outstanding.

Posted in baby boomers, how to make money fast, make money fast, make money online, paid surveys, retirement income, survey scout | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

WHERE AMERICANS LIVE THE LONGEST AND WHY. Wall Street Journal Article

Posted on October 24, 2011 by

Are you a Better Boomer who lives in one of the “Top 10 Longevity Areas?”  Take a look at this very interesting Wall Street Journal article and note the direct link to income and obesity.

Of course, this article is based strictly on statistics.  But, as I look around the shopping malls here in Texas, I see people, of every age, who look like they should lose a good 50 pounds of excess weight. But, I also noticed this same trend in obesity when I lived in California, Washington and Florida.  Maybe the statistics people missed some obese people in the states below??

Here’s the Wall Street Journal Article:

“Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the United States ranks 37th in life expectancy, according to the World Health Organization’s most recent longevity report. While the reasons for this are debated, one thing is clear: How much you earn appears to affect how long you live.

There are some startling geographic trends in longevity in this country. A report released by BioMed Central, entitled “Falling behind: life expectancy in US counties from 2000 to 2007” details the average life expectancy of Americans by county. The central southern portions of the U.S. have a unusually high concentration of short lifespans, while coastal areas in the west, the north, and the northeast, have the longest-lived populations. The contrast is dramatic. In Holmes County, Mississippi, a man born today is projected to live to 65.9, just past the standard age of retirement. In Collier County, Florida, women are projected to live to be 86. That is more than a difference of two decades between people living in the same country.

The variance in lifespan among Americans – and the extent to which this disparity follows regional lines – is alarming. A look at lifespan by county, when compared to other demographic data, demonstrates how much the long-lived sharein common.  The relationship between healthy living and a long life span is well known. What is less well-known is that people with higher incomes tend to live substantially longer than those without.

Healthy living includes things like exercise, well balanced diet, low alcohol consumption and not smoking. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent data on physical inactivity shows the highest concentration of active lifestyles in the counties and states where people live the longest. Residents in the South have among the highest levels of physical inactivity. In Colorado, nearly every county has less than a 20%rateof inactive adults. California, which has the second-lowest rate of smoking in the country, has four of the ten longest-lived counties in the U.S.

Here are the rankings:

10.  Orange County, California

  • Male Life Expectancy:  79.3
  • Female Life Expectancy:  83.6
  • Population:  3,010,232
  • Median Household Income: $71,735
  • Obesity: 18.8%

9. Douglas County, Colorado

  • Male Life Expectancy: 80.3
  • Female Life Expectancy: 83.5
  •   Population: 285,465
  •   Median Household Income: $100,447
  •   Obesity: 16%

8. Pitkin County, Colorado

  •   Male Life Expectancy: 80
  •   Female Life Expectancy: 84.2
  •   Population: 17,148
  •   Median Household Income: $69,352
  •   Obesity: 13.7%

 

7. Gunnison County, Colorado

  •  Male Life Expectancy: 80
  •  Female Life Expectancy: 84.2
  •  Population: 13,956
  •  Median Household Income: 45,711
  •  Obesity: 14.9%

6.  San Mateo County, California

  • Male Life Expectancy: 79.8
  • Female Life Expectancy: 84.5
  • Population: 718,451
  • Median Household Income:  $84,678
  • Obesity:  19.4%

5. Santa Clara County, California

  •   2007 Male Life Expectancy: 80.6
  •   2007 Female Life Expectancy: 83.9
  •   Population: 1,781,642
  •   Median Household Income: $84,990
  •   Obesity: 20.2%

 

4.  Fairfax County, Virginia

  • Male Life Expectancy:  81.1
  • Female Life Expectancy: 83.8
  • Population:  1,081,726
  • Obesity:  22.7%

3. Collier County, Florida

  •   Male Life Expectancy: 80.2
  •   Female Life Expectancy: 86
  •   Population: 321,520
  •   Median Household Income: $53,934
  •   Obesity: 21.2%

 

2. Montgomery County, Maryland

  • Male Life Expectancy: 80.7
  •   Female Life Expectancy: 84.5
  •   Population: 971,777
  •   Median Household Income: $93,774
  •   Obesity: 19.3%

1. Marin County, California

  •   Male Life Expectancy: 80.8
  •   Female Life Expectancy: 84.5
  •   Population: 252,409
  •   Median Household Income: $86,658
  •   Obesity: 16.3%

 

Posted in Best Place to Live in US, longevity, obsesity link to income | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

BETTER BOOMERS: THE RETIREMENT TRAIN IS APPROACHING!

Posted on September 30, 2011 by

Better Boomers Awaits Retirement Reality Check for Better Boomers

Better Boomers: How many times a day do you ask yourself, “How in the ##!! did I get to be so old.”  Mentally, I still feel like I did in my thirties but when I look in the mirror, I see this person with a sagging chin, crow’s feet and an undefined waistline.  In my mind, I am ready to campaign for whatever cause I currently believe important, but then I remember that if I don’t get moving, I’ll be late for work.

Recently, I’ve started to think that after 30 years of working, maybe it’s time to rethink how I spend my days.  As a Better Boomer, I no longer get excited about going to work and impressing the boss, or giving an awesome presentation, or helping solve another “crisis” before going home at night.  Maybe it’s time to …do what?  I’ve done this job so long that I’m not sure what else I can do.

Better Boomer Retirement Or…. ?

Better Boomers: Has this happened to you lately?  If not, you’re probably not ready to think about retirement or starting a new “career.”  I’ve been thinking about doing something different for the last several years, and then, common sense sets in and I think about how much money is going out and what would happen if there was nothing coming in. So, I prod along and dream of “freedom.”

Well, it’s time for a CHANGE!  Better Boomers are known for their action-oriented nature and it’s time to take action.  So, I’ve decided to do something about it and the solution is?…. I don’t know.  But, I’ll figure it out. I’m a Better Boomer!  I have tons of energy going to waste and I remember one of my favorite crusaders saying: “A mind is a beautiful thing to waste.”  So, I’m not wasting anymore and I pledge to start thinking about retirement possibilities.  Sound familiar, Better Boomer?

As a Better Boomer, it seems impossible that retirement is fast approaching. But, the “impossible” has become reality. As we Better Boomers move into our  mid-fifties and sixties, the specter of retirement is ever present.  So, it’s time to think about what retirement actually means to baby boomers.

For many of us Baby Boomers, as long as retirement is not presenting itself directly in front of us, we think of retirement as a period of joy and freedom.  The concept of leaving behind the redundancies of a work routine is something similar to Christmas vacation: joy and celebration.  But now, we’re not so sure. Our Better Boomer image of a life of sleeping late, golfing whenever we wish, shopping, taking up two or three hobbies and living a life of leisure is certainly an idyllic vision until we think of one word:  BOREDOM.  Better Boomers get things done and lead the pack.  What happens to a Better Boomer when the pack is no longer present? Will we Better Boomers be bored out of our minds?

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN OR REALITY FOR BABY BOOMERS?

Now, as this Better Boomer thinks about retirement, I start to picture uncertainty and a fear of future.  What will happen if we Better Boomers (or anyone approaching retirement) are not both financially and mentally prepared for a very different lifestyle?  Do we really want to do this?   What is more important to Better Boomers: freedom or money?  Well, it’s hard to be free if you are tied to an empty pocketbook.

It’s time for a little Better Boomer logic. The idea of having to retire simply because we have reached “retirement age” seems to be harsh and unpleasant.  Time to get some Better Boomer traction and debunk myths and defy conventional wisdom.  We Better Boomers are and will continue to define each era of our lives in our own terms.

THE HIDDEN BLESSING FOR BETTER BOOMERS

What more would you expect from a Baby Boomer(aka, Better Boomer)?  We will create our own paths to success.   Baby boomers are a generation that did not have the benefit of employers who were loyal to employees and kept the same staff from college through their retirement party and from whom they could expect a hefty retirement package.  We Better Boomers will decide what is best for us; we will not let others decide for us.  So, if we are “encouraged” to retire from our current position, we will find “another” position.  If we decide to retire, it will be our choice.  If we Better Boomers decide to combine retirement and another career or position, it will still be our Better Boomer choice.

Better Boomers are realizing that financial security is not what makes life worthwhile.  Yes, it helps but it is not the “end all” solution.  And,  as we baby boomers see Retirement coming into their next train stop, we will decide if we board the train.  Better Boomers know that retirement “age” is just that:  an age.  It is not the end of a productive life.

And, we know that the image of living a life of leisure, never working and letting others take care of us is not for Better Boomers!  It is also not a healthy approach to retirement any more than it would be at any other phase of life.

Better Boomers, like all human beings, are at their best when they are useful, creative, productive and pursuing a dream.  Research and real life has proven time and time again that when a person is no longer a part of something larger than themselves and see themselves as productive, the will to live rapidly declines, with the inevitable result of an end of life that is earlier than it has to be.

NOT AN OPTION FOR BETTER BOOMERS

So, baby boomers’ financial demands are now a reality as we realize that retirement is not an option.  Most of us Better Boomers will work into our  “retirement years” and this may actually turn out to be a hidden blessing.  We Better Boomers will live longer, be healthier and stay more active and fit because we just “have to” in order to pull in required incomes.  Do you agree?  It seems to me that retirement “age” is now moving from age 65 to 75.  We Better Boomers will still get to “retire” before our time on earth expires because we are living longer.  In the meantime, we will have the added benefits of longevity, productivity and knowing that we “did it the Better Boomer way”.

Many Better Boomers, like me, will decide to try to have the best of both worlds: retirement and a second career.  What else would you expect from a baby boomer?  We have always been achievement focused with forward thinking problem-solving ideas.  We are simply being “who” and “what” we are:  Better Boomers, determined to make a difference in the world and ourselves!

 

better boomers savings pig

Better Boomer Savings Pig

 

 

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BETTER BOOMERS ARE AWESOME!

Posted on September 28, 2011 by
Better Boomer Bike Riding

BETTER BOOMER BIKE RIDING

BETTER BOOMERS ARE AWESOME!

Below are a few facts to get you acquainted with Baby Boomers.  After reading this, you’ll see why the world is controlled by Baby Boomers……and it’s well deserved!

 BETTER BOOMERS CONTINUE TO HAVE A GREAT IMPACT ON HISTORY!

The baby boomer (Better Boomers) generation plays a significant part in almost every aspect of today’s America. We, Baby Boomers have made an impact in every age cluster we go through.  Our diverse potentials and educations have improved and made significant positive impacts on history.

Statistics show that the fifty plus age group of baby boomers are earning roughly two trillion dollars yearly.  We control more than seven trillion dollars of wealth and own 77% of financial assets in the United States.  Plus, we Better Boomers also grip 50% of the discretionary powers in both government and private organizations.

BOOMERS DO WHATEVER IS NEEDED FOR SUCCESS

We Better Boomers are known for our determination to do whatever is necessary to succeed, our immense abilities to succeed and our emotions. And, since we are now facing the issues involved in retirement, it seems to be fascinating to others how we view “old age,” including how we deal with our retirements, illnesses and empty nests that are expected of “old age.”

Whatever we are, most others see us as independent to a fault….and, we are.  Otherwise, we would not have been so successful in just about everything we have done or now doing.

We Better Boomers know that we are most probably a product of World War II.  Shortly after the end of this war, roughly seventy-six million Americans were born.  Currently, the population of baby boomers occupies twenty-eight percent of the total US population.

BETTER BOOMERS: NOW AND IN THE FUTURE

Most of us boomers view retirement as positive, probably because many of us have been financially successful in spite of the recurring economic crises.   Accordingly, many of us plan to pursue another career after ending our 30 years or so of our original career paths.  Having worked for others for 30 or so years has yielded a desire to be our own boss and we are buying and starting businesses like never before.

More than half of us are confident that we will have enough money for leisure when we decide to retire. Of course, this also means almost half of us are not certain if we have enough money to live a comfortable life after retirement.

When questioned about parenting, 71% of us believe that we have done a good job, even though the parenting tasks we faced were challenging because of mass media influence and most parents holding down full-time jobs in addition to the other challenges of life.  We, as parents have been good role models for our kids, in spite of what the kids may think.

Forty percent of us are concerned about actually ever having an “empty nest” since we believe that our kids may continue to live with us.  Since we are so independent, lack of an empty nest may prove to be interesting.

BOOMERS AND POLITICS

Baby boomers today hold  large numbers of government offices. In fact, the highest office in the United States has already had 2 baby boomers, formers presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Baby Boomers will continue to play a significant role in politics, which may be good since there is major concern over the continuance of Medicare and Social Security as more people enter a system that is already stretched thin.

We boomers are expected to live long lives.  The advances in technology and medicine have increased our longevity rates.   As everyone knows,  those of us who do or do not admit to “old age” are, or will be, faced with  illnesses and diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes, cancer and heart related diseases. And, since Medicare is faced with severe shortages currently, the need for greater budgets is becoming very apparent.  If budgets are not increased, we can look forward to severe shortages in health care benefits.  Time will tell whether we Baby Boomers (Better Boomers) exist in an environment of supported health care or struggle with the decision of whether to eat or get health care.

Get the Stats on Boomers here

BETTER BOOMERS ENJOYING LIFE

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