There are many ways to make money on Amazon, and retail arbitrage is one of them. I know, it sounds pretty badass. We’ll teach you how it’s done.

 We have Jessica and Cliff from The Selling Family on the show to talk about their experience using FBA to create a successful lifestyle business. They started in 2010 and now make 300K in sales a year bringing in 100K in profits.

What is FBA?

FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon allows anyone to sell goods on the Amazon platform and store inventory in their fulfillment centers. Simply put, you buy items you want to sell, and Amazon will list them, store them and ship them to your customers. They also handle most customer service inquires, refunds and returns. Interestingly, more than 40% of Amazon’s total sales come from third-party sellers.

Amazon is the go-to place to buy anything from vitamins to dog tu-tus. It’s trusted name with a highly trafficked marketplace (understatement) which makes it a perfect place for your products to gain visibility to millions of buyers. FBA gives everyone the tools they need to start a small online business.

They now have warehouses all over the U.S. making same day and next day shipping available to many people across the country. Based on what you are selling, Amazon will have you ship your items to whichever fulfillment center would sell the most of your product. If you use FBA, your products are eligible for free shipping which will increase your chances of getting into the “Buy Box.”

What Can You Sell?

There’s a surprisingly short list of items you can’t sell on Amazon. Unless you are trying to push imitation weapons, baby crib bumpers or foie gras, you can sell just about anything you want. However, you need to be smart when choosing your items. If Amazon itself is listing the same item that you are listing, they obviously are going to take the sale.

Jessica and Cliff sell mostly health and beauty products as well as some grocery. They look for items that Amazon no longer carries or that have run out of stock. You have to do your research and test the waters before finding what works best for you.

Also keep in mind that to list certain types of items, you may need a Professional Seller account. A Pro Sellers account will run you $39 a month but is entirely worth it if you are selling forty plus items a month.

Finding Your Items

The Amazon Sellers App offers mobile tools that help sellers search and scan barcodes of items, check prices, sales ranking, and reviews, list items, as well as communicate with customers.

You might find the best deal ever on passion fruit candles, but it won’t necessarily bring in the profits your are looking for. Amazon does a 30% cut so you’ll need to find products with high-profit margins.

Jessica and Cliff set a minimum of five dollars profit on any one item they sell. It’s important to make sure there is a healthy gap between my purchase price and profit after Amazon’s cut.

Make sure the item has good reviews. The profit margin might be 300%, but if it has terrible reviews, you will have less chance of selling it. The size and weight of the items is also something to consider. You do have to pay for shipping to the Amazon warehouse. Although it is heavily discounted, the price still depends on weight.

Know the best time to shop.  Learn when the stores around you have sales or push things to clearance.

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Tax-loss harvesting is a term you’ve probably heard but don’t know what it means. It may seem obscure, but it’s a good weapon to have in your investing arsenal. So just what the f**k is tax-loss harvesting?

 Dan Egan, the Director of Behavioral Finance at Betterment is joining us to talk about Tax Loss Harvesting. We discuss what it is, how it works and what sort of benefits it provides you as a long-term investor. Tax-loss harvesting is the selling of securities at a loss to offset a capital gains tax liability.

What is Tax-Loss Harvesting?

Losing money on an investment stinks but there is a way to soften the blow a little; tax-loss harvesting. TLH means you sell an investment that has lost money. By harvesting investment losses, you can offset taxes on short-term gains and income.

You replace the investment that was sold with a similar one to keep your asset allocation the same. Okay, that’s a little confusing for us lay people. Keep reading. Here’s an example of how it works.

You bought $100 worth of Apple stock. After six months, it’s only worth $70, so you sell it at a loss of $30 and buy a similar stock, like Microsoft. At tax time, you let the IRS know that you had that $30 loss, and they will reduce your taxable income by that $30.

TLH used to be something only very high worth investors could take advantage of because it’s such a labor-intensive process. It takes a lot of tax planning.  If you use a personal financial advisor or tax advisor they should offer this benefit to you.

Now computer algorithms can do it in seconds. If you invest through Betterment, this is done for you behind the scenes automatically and for free.

Benefits of Tax-loss Harvesting

TLH is a form of tax deferment. You will have to pay taxes on that $30 you lost in Apple eventually because you embedded a future gain when you bought a similar stock, Microsoft.

But you won’t sell that for a year or more so you’ll be charged the long-term gains rate, which is lower than the short-term rate.

For tax purposes, inflation works in your favor here because that $30 is worth more now than it will be in the future when you pay your tax bill. Because of inflation, paying taxes later is better than paying them sooner because it erodes the actual value of the taxes you will eventually pay.

You know how people tell you that getting money back on your taxes (thrilling as it is) is a bad thing because of that money, your money, has been loaned to the government tax-free? Well, you can use TLH to turn the tables. TLH is like getting a loan from the IRS on which you’re earning money on over time.

Realized losses on investments can offset gains and reduce ordinary taxable income by as much as $3,000 per year.

Taxes Everywhere!

You pay income tax of course, and there are various types of taxes you pay on your investments too.

Capital Gains

A capital gain is a difference between the price you paid for an asset and the higher price you sold it for. The IRS wants a cut off that profit, and they take it in the form of a capital gains tax. There are realized and unrealized capital gains. Gains are not realized until the asset is sold.

The government wants their cut, but they also want you to be a long-term investor.

If you hold an investment for less than one year, it’s considered a short-term investment, and you will pay a higher tax rate, the same rate that your income is taxed at. Selling investments in the short term are considered a job in a way, and you’ve taxed accordingly.

If you wait more than a year to sell, you will be taxed at a much lower rate, no more than 15%. That’s a substantial difference so be sure you take that into account capital loss when you’re deciding whether or not to sell.

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While weddings are a wonderful way to celebrate the love between two people, it can come with a hefty price tag. But it doesn’t have to. You can have the wedding you want without going broke. I did. Here’s how beautiful party without blowing your wedding budget.

 It is important to bear in mind during the whole process that a wedding and marriage are two separate things. What is crucial on your wedding day is you, the one you love, a marriage officiant and your wedding license – everything else is extra.

 Your wedding will last a few hours, but your marriage is for a lifetime.

 With that said, who doesn’t want to have a party and share that special day with all the people they care about? There is a lot of planning and money that comes along with it, and it can quickly become out of control.

 Who is Paying?

 Your wedding is probably the priciest party you’ll ever throw in your life. As of 2015, the average wedding in the U.S. ran about $32,000. Of course, it depends on where you live and what kind of wedding you want to have.

 Last year in NYC, the average wedding cost $86,000. Yup, that’s a down payment for a home. Who is dishing out that kind of money?

 In the past, it was traditional for the bride’s parents to pay for the wedding, but lately, more couples are paying for their wedding giving them control over how and where the money is spent.

 Couples paying for everything themselves have maximum flexibility.

 Just like you have dreamed of what your big day will look like, so do your parents. If they are paying, they can have a say in planning as well. If mom wants to invite 45 of her closest friends, then she can.

 Many couples make concessions to make their family happy but it’s so important to remember, this day is about the two of you, not the whole family.

 Paying your way is much easier because you can make all the decisions. If the family is paying, make sure there is clear communication and expectations are set.

 What To Spend On

 Day Of Coordinator

 You want to enjoy the day as much as possible and having a day of coordinator will help you do that. I had one, and it was the best thing I ever did. Everything happened seamlessly while I danced, drank and had a great time.

 A coordinator is a cheaper alternative to a wedding planner.

 Although they are not with you for months planning the whole event, the day of they act as a liaison between the DJ, caterer, florist, and coordinate the logistics of your wedding day to make sure that everything goes as planned, so you don’t have to.

 They can also act as a “Brides Guard” to help fend off anyone trying to steal your attention when you need a minute to yourself. You don’t necessarily have to hire someone to do this; it could just be a friend who likes to take control.

 Photographer

 After all the food is eaten, drinks drank and favors given out, the only thing you two walk away with are photos of the day (and a whole lot of envelopes filled with money). Those the memories you’ll have forever so don’t skip on a photographer.

 You can find one for a great price, just make sure to look at their portfolio. Check that they have experience taking photos of people moving. If you only see still life pictures in their portfolio, they probably won’t be the best fit for your wedding.

 We ended up getting a friend of the family who was a wedding photographer on the side and spent next to nothing. We have wonderful memories and even saw things we missed! Also, check out an app called Wed Pics where guests can join your party and take their pictures and videos that are shared with you and all of your guests.

Food & Booze (but mostly booze)

Don’t skimp on the bar! People are coming to a party and expect to have a drink….

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The process of buying or selling real estate can be intimidating and overwhelming to both the first-time and experienced buyers.

 Today we talk to our agents, Dean and Gerard from GD Group Moves Real Estate in Hoboken, NJ about the anatomy of a real estate deal. Every market is a little different, so if your looking to buy or sell a home in your area, you should talk to a real estate agent in your community.

In this episode we will cover some of the important things to know before going into one of the largest financial transaction of your life.

Choose Your Agent Wisely

Buying or selling a home has a lot of steps, mountains of paperwork and a ton super important decisions so, you want to make sure you choose an agent who will be on your side and able to guide you through the process.

Don’t fall into the ” I know a guy” trap. Just because you’re best friend’s Uncle is an agent in the neighborhood doesn’t mean he will be the best at marketing your property or negotiating a great deal. You need to do your own research.

Start by looking at agents in your neighborhood with good reviews. Zillow is a great place to start. There you can check out the premiere agents in your area. Once you find an agent you are interested in working with, you’ll need to learn out a little more about them.

Ask them questions about their professional experience and track record. Think of it almost as a job interview, you want to hire the right person for the job.  It is also an excellent way to get to know them and gauge compatibility. It’s a long process so you don’t want to work with someone you don’t get along with.

Here are some important questions to ask before choosing an agent.

* How many properties have you sold last year/this year? Many real estate agents work part time to make extra cash but you really want someone who is doing this full time for many years with a lot of experience. If you are a buyer, you’ll want someone who can show you new listings ASAP. If you are a seller, you’ll want an agent who is always ready to show your home to buyers. So if you had a choice between someone who sold 5 homes last year compared to 50 homes you know what the clear choice is.

* How long have you worked in this market?  You’ll want an agent who knows the area inside and out and may even be part of local networks. For buyer and seller agents, neighborhood expertise is a must. Also, the real estate market is always changing so it is important to find someone who is up on the current trends.

* Do you have a team? There are many people involved in one real estate deal – lawyers, inspectors, agents, appraiser, etc. With all of these moving parts you need to make sure no one drops the ball. If your agent has a team behind them all the transactions will move smoothly.

* What kind of marketing do you do? If you’re selling a home, marketing is a key. By increasing exposure of your property through online marketing, you can grow your buying pool dramatically. Asking your agent on how they plan on getting the word out about your property is a must. Running Facebook, Google or Zillow ads can really help reach your potential buyers.

What Sells a Home?

There are two important things when selling a home, marketing, and pricing. Doing both of these rights will open the market to 100% of your potential buyers which will get you the best price as quickly as possible.

Also, taking professional photos of your property is super important. If your place doesn’t look great online, it’s going to get overlooked.

Dean and Gerard got their photographer in to take photos of our listing and the place looked A-MAZING on Zillow. We couldn’t even believe it was our apartment.

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The guys tackle five great listener questions today. For full answers listen to the episode below.

 Question One

 Longtime listener, quick question. I currently put about 25% of my income toward my betterment retirement fund. I rent now but eventually would like to buy a house within the next 10 years. Should I go 15% retirement and 10% home? I would create a new betterment account rather than keeping all in one. Let me know what you’d do.

 If you are able to save 25% of your income then you are definitely on the right track! The split of the savings really depends on your situation, the percent is arbitrary. What is really important is if x% is enough to reach your retirement and other goals.

 Taking into consideration how much you make, what kind of raises you can expect in the future and how much of a down payment you’ll need to purchase a home, will help you figure out if 10% over 10 years will be enough for the kind of home you would like to buy. You also need to figure out if saving 15% a year is enough for the retirement your looking for.

 Question Two

 Hi Guys- I’m 26, in sales (salary plus bonuses) and also work at a restaurant every Saturday. My salary is $42,000, and my bonuses usually total $5,000 per year. Serving money obviously fluctuates, but let’s say its $130.00 a week on average. (520/mo ~ $6/yr) = total $53k

 I have $3,300 in credit card debt and paying that off is my immediate financial goal. I’ve tightened my budget and am using the money i’m saving there plus my serving money to pay that off. Basically, i’m throwing every extra dollar I have at that debt.

 My question is what should I do when I pay that off. I have 19k in federal student loan debt, but I have friends and co-workers who say thats “not bad debt” and I should start saving for a house/investing my money instead of putting all my resources into paying that off as quick as possible.

 Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again guys.

 We get this question a lot and most of the the time the answer is pay off your student loan debts after you you have suitable emergency fund in savings. You can’t wipe out your bank all accounts to pay off your debt. Leave yourself some breathing room and make sure you have some money saved up for any unaccepted bills or situations.

 Also depending on your debt interest rate, it might be ok to start investing. If you have a low rate (3.8%) putting a little into the market is ok. If you have a high interest rate (7%+) the 19k in loans will become 21, 22, 23k if not paid down quickly. The market average is 7% so if your loans are 7% or higher mathematically it’s a better choice to pay off debt first and fast. The freedom you feel when it’s all gone will be worth it.

 Question Three

 I am 31 years old and married. My wife and I make about 80k per year combined and live in Colorado. I contribute to my employers 401k up to match each year. I have an online high yield emergency fund account with about 10k saved. We only keep about 5k in our checking account to pay off the credit cards and mortgage payments each month.

 Here’s where it gets interesting: When I was a child I inherited a large amount of money, around 250k which was set aside until I was 18. Since then it has been in a portfolio of mutual funds actively managed by a financial advisor. The returns have been a meager 4% since 2004. This is where I’m concerned after hearing about the awesome returns you guys have been getting through betterment and vanguard.

 My financial advisor seems to be making a lot of money off me in quarterly fees (about 2500 per year) with very minimal returns compared to what I could be doing with betterment and vanguard.

 So my question is, what you would you guys do with the 250k? I always thought I wasn’t financially capable of actively...

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Small businesses are a big part of our country’s economic growth, so you would think the government would make starting a business as easy as possible. Of course, this is not the case. If you need a business tax strategy- listen up.

 You might think coming up with a great idea and creating a solid business plan would be the most difficult part- that is until tax season comes along. Today we talk to expert business tax planner Diane Gardner about the importance of having a well thought out business tax strategy.

 After filing mountains of tax returns, Diane works as a coach the rest of the year using pro-active tax planning to help her clients keep more of their hard-earned cash. She loves creating business tax strategies to help successful entrepreneurs across the United States pay the least amount of income tax they can legally pay.

 Don’t Half-Ass Your Taxes

 If you are planning to start a small business, it is critical you research all of the federal, state and local requirements. If you don’t cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s it will cost you. There are many regulations and the rules that can vary between locations and business structures.

 Find out what your state requires and how often you need to file. Business taxes need to be filed throughout the year, not just during tax season. This can be challenging, so if you don’t feel comfortable submitting them on your own, there are companies out there that can take care of this for you (of course at a cost).

 Not filing your taxes properly can cost you and your business a lot of money. Believe me; Listen Money Matters has had their fair share of fines. Like us, many business owners starting out choose to file their taxes using products like Turbo Tax and that’s a huge no-no.

 Although products like Turbo Tax work ideal for simple personal taxes, using it for business is not a good idea if you don’t know what you are doing.

 If you have done your taxes before and fear you may not have done the best job, no fear! You can revise your returns for up to three years. Anything before that you can kiss well. Consider it a donation to your country.

 A good rule of thumb is to save all your tax paperwork for at least seven years in case of an audit.

 Structuring Your Business

 When starting a business, you’ll need to figure out how you will structure your company (partnership, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc.awesome). Choosing a company type can be a great tax planning tool and can come with impressive tax advantages.

It will also protect you from any liabilities such as a lawsuit. This part can definitely be confusing so consult your attorney to figure out what would work best for your business.

Most likely you will want to go with an LLC because it can act as a Sole Proprietor, S Corp, C Corp -basically anything. However some states are not LLC friendly, like California, so do all your research before filing. The image below links to a great infographic that will help you understand the difference between each structure.

Moving From Hobby To Business

Most people are not making millions when they first start out. Actually, most are making nothing or close to it and that’s ok. When you are still working on growing your business it can be referred to as the hobby stage. So when does it go from hobby to business?

You may have heard that after three years if your company has not made any profit it will be considered it a hobby and not a legitimate business. This is a myth. After a few years with no profit, the government will look at each business case by case to see if you have a well-conceived business plan they show intention to make a profit...

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It’s been a while but we are back with our Better Know a Millionaire segment and today the guys talk to an entrepreneur, speaker and house painter Matt Shoup.

 Matt has an incredible story from being six figures in debt to becoming a millionaire. There were many ups and downs on his journey of success. Listen to hear how he started his business with a hundred dollars and how a customer’s baby ended up completely covered in paint. Yup, true story.

From early on in his life, Matt had that entrepreneurial spirit. At the age of 10, he was shoveling snow for extra cash and started his first business selling candy out of his locker. He started to hustle in college when he joined College Works Painting where he received training on how to run a successful painting business.

After training, it was up to him to grow his business and began simply by knocking on doors around the neighborhood selling his services. Before he knew it, Matt as making a six figure salary at 22 years old.

The problem was he was also spending a six figure salary and then some. Two times his salary to be exact. He spent a lot of going out with friends and partied – but it didn’t stop there. After graduation, Matt got married and bought more house than he could afford to put himself in even more debt.

Around the same time, he also left the painting business to find a “sexier” job and became an employee of a mortgage company- real sexy ;). He soon realized he hated it and didn’t like the practices that were going on. It was too corporate. The bank culture wasn’t for him, and the morals were too sketchy.

On a March afternoon in 2005, his life came to a crashing halt after getting fired from the bank, and he stood in a parking lot with all he owned in a bankers box.

Now a jobless 23 year old with $172,000 in debt he realized he had to get his shit together. Matt made a decision that changed his life forever. With the last $100 to his name Matt started M&E Painting Company. He made thirty bucks worth of business cards and just like he did in college, began knocking on doors and hanging out in the Home Depot paint aisle looking for work.

After working his ass off and living as minimally as possible for three years, Matt was able to get himself out debt. He was able to breathe again and start saving for the future. He decided to grow M&E Painting into a multimillion dollar business and become financially free as fast as possible. Now in 2016, it has become one of the fastest growing companies in Northern Colorado and the United States.

Show Notes

Become an Award Winning Company -Matt’s Book

Matt Shoup -Matt’s website

Founders Brewing Company Porter

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You often hear “overnight” success stories when it comes to people who have quit their jobs to start a business, but it doesn’t happen that way. It takes a lot of work and planning to get there. If you’re fed up with the 9-5 grind, you may have considered starting your own business. We did it and you can too. We’ll show you how to quit your job and actually start a business.

 Know what you’re getting into before leaping from your cushy paycheck to starting your own business.

 The Bar Has Never Been Lower

 If you want to start your own business, it has never been easier or less expensive to do so. The internet and all of the tools it has opened the possibility of starting a business to almost anyone.

 Funding can be raised on Kickstarter. An online store and drop shipping website can be created with Shopify. You can target local customers with Facebook ads; you can take credit card payments on your cell phone with Square, you can outsource payroll and other HR stuff to Paychex Flex.

What is Your Passion?

I don’t believe that you have to be crazy passionate about something to create a successful business around it, but you do have to enjoy to some extent what you do when you start your own business.

Why? Because you are going to spend a lot of time doing it and if it’s something you hate, you won’t be able to stick with it long term. You can stick with a 9-5 you hate if you’re making enough money or can go home and not have to think about work until the next day.

But starting your own business is so all-consuming that there is no getting away from it, at least in the beginning so while your business doesn’t have to be your one true love, you can’t hate it either.

Before You Bail

Quitting your 9-5 job to start your own business is not just taking a plunge, it’s more like submerging yourself into a whole new world. It takes a ton of planning, and there are many considerations.

Is it Realistic?

Take your product or service for a test drive to see if people will pay for it, don’t go all in cold turkey. Test, test, and test again. Don’t sink $50,000 into making cat sweaters only to find out cats don’t get cold. Do small trials, see what works and what doesn’t and make corrections based on those findings.

Make it Official

If you haven’t already done it, make your business legitimate by setting up an LLC or S Corp. Legal Zoom makes this process easy. Becoming legit also lets you take advantage of the many tax deductions that are available for small business owners.

Not a Unilateral Decision

If you have a spouse, you can’t decide to quit your job and start your own business without their approval and support. Presumably, your spouse knows that you have been working on your own business for some time.

Before you tell them you are ready to quit your job to work on your business full time, make sure all of your ducks are in a row and show them.

You have a runway; your business is already making enough to support you without your 9-5, you have health care lined up, quitting means you will have more time to spend together.

Whatever qualms your spouse has, you need to have an answer for. If they are not on board, you may not be able to quit yet. If that is the case, ask them what they need to feel comfortable with your decision to quit. And then start working toward that.

Set Some Benchmarks

Set a series of goals for yourself and don’t quit your job before you reach them. You need to be free of credit card debt; you need to make enough money each month to pay your rent or mortgage for six months in a row,

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