Weekly Roundup – Momentum’s Finest On Saturdays VOL 17 [JUNE 9]

Happy Saturday Momentum Makers!

After some time on vacation I’m back! Always nice to hit the road and go on some adventures but it’s back to the blog and another edition of the Momentum’s Finest.

This week we’ve got 11 blog posts and 7 podcast episodes to fill your weekly reading and listening content needs.

MY POSTS THIS WEEK

• Momentum Series Interview: Defined Sight – Shared Sights Set On Development: This week’s Momentum Series interview was with the blogging duo behind Defined Sight. I really enjoyed this one as we dug into finances, career development, blogging and much more.

• American Express Cobalt Review – Travel Rewards Credit Card For Canadians: The new American Express Cobalt travel rewards credit card provides Canadians with an amazing opportunity to collect travel points. With powerful multiplier categories on food and drink purchases plus a unique bonus system, the Cobalt can rack up points fast.

JUNE GIVEAWAY FOR SUBSCRIBERS

This month’s giveaway for Momentum’s Finest subscribers is a $25 Amazon gift card. Each month I prize out books, courses, gift cards or other giveaways to my subscribers as a thank you for their support.

Sign up to our email list to receive our content on taking control of your money and life. And you’ll get the chance to win our giveaway each month!

PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG POSTS

Financial Freedom Book from Millennial Money

Grant’s Millennial Money blog and Millennial Money Minutes podcast have been major game changers for me in my own journey. Helpful, inspiring and good-hearted. Now, Grant has penned a book, Financial Freedom: A Proven Path To All The Money You Will Ever Need. That book is now available for pre-order! I will be ordering my own copy plus some additionals for gifts to friends or family and as prizing for Making Momentum subscribers. In the meantime, go check out Grant’s post – featuring his story, journey to FI, advice, book details and so much more – and pre-order the book!

Moving From Two Incomes to One from Financial Pilgrimage

The Financial Pilgrimage and his family have adjusted their timeline on the pursuit of financial independence. And for good reason. As he states, their 2 children will only be young once and the opportunity for his wife to stay home and spend more time with them is worth the financial tradeoff. It’s a great read that reinforces the statement that “this isn’t all about money”.

Roth vs. Traditional 401(k) – The Comprehensive Guide to Making the Right Choice from Winning Personal Finance

If you’ve ever wanted to compare the impact, benefits and general details around a Roth vs. Traditional 401(k) investment decision, this is the article for you. Wow! Winning Personal Finance deliver the goods with this post. Tax implications, present vs. future earning scenarios, dozens of data points and everything else you’d need to know on the two account types. My Canadian accounts differ in terms of the financial nuances but the overall strategies and mindset have similarities to pull from.

Empty the Excuse Jar to Fill Your Piggy Bank from Simple Organized Lifestyle

“Your piggy bank stays empty when the excuses for having no money jar stays full”. The power of positive thinking and commitment can go a long way as Misty from Simple Organized Lifestyle shares in this post. Turning excuses into motivation in the realm of our personal finances can lead to big wins. Of course some societal discrepancies or personal limitations may not make wealth accumulation feasible to everyone. But for the vast majority of us, losing that victim mentality can be a freeing mindset shift. Flip the excuses and negativity to a positive approach with a strategy to conquer that financial shortcoming.

The Complete Guide to Canada’s Robo Advisors from Young And Thrifty

I’ve mentioned this before but I invested with the robo-advisor Wealthsimple for a year and had nothing but positive experiences with their platform. Kyle from Young And Thrifty talks about Wealthsimple and every other robo-advisor in Canada in this great guide! Plus an overview on what robo-advisors are, how they work, automated investing, security and everything in between. It’s an amazing resource for anyone looking to get started in their investing career. Or perhaps you just might want a more hands-off investing approach.

Inside the FIRE Movement | Financial Independence, Retire Early from The Wealth Hound

The Wealth Hound pulled together this post to shine light on the FIRE or Financial Independence Retire Early movement. It’s a term I’d never heard until I dipped my toe into the personal finance blogging community…and now it’s a term I see everyday! I don’t think that’s going to change as we start to see FIRE in mainstream media publication more frequently. The Hound gets into the who, what, how and why of FIRE. Plus there are anecdotes from a handful of great bloggers.

What You Can Learn From Individuals With Higher Incomes from Peerless Money Mentor

There has been lots of chatter lately in the blog-o-sphere about high income earners, most often in a negative light…which I won’t get into here as I don’t hold those negative feelings. However, Jerry from Peerless Money Mentor took another approach. The positive one! What can we learn from individuals with high income? Kudos to Jerry for having that mindset and the willingness to learn and take insights from those in higher tax brackets.

SIDE HUSTLE & REAL ESTATE BLOG POSTS

How One 30-Year-Old Built $40,000/Year Passive Income in a Few Years from BiggerPockets

“I installed a Bluetooth speaker in my shower and bathroom, so I could listen to the podcast when I was taking a shower and getting around in the morning.” That’s the beginning story from Brady Hanna, 30, who has now developed a real estate portfolio generating $40,000 in net profit annually. He’s talking about listening to every BiggerPockets podcast episode and accruing as much information as possible before starting his real estate investment path. It’s a great post that highlights the journey from beginner to buddening investor, full of advice and strategies.

Will My Rental Property Make More Money On Airbnb? from Women Who Money

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, one of the areas I’m trying to accrue as much knowledge as possible on over the next 1-2 years is real estate investing (see above). The team at Women Who Money posed this question on a recent blog post and it got me thinking: Airbnb or full-time rental? The post runs through different questions to help you evaluate that decision. Plus packs the post full of supporting resources and data points to understand potential upfront costs, demand in your area, property management, insurance and taxes.

BUSINESS & BLOGGING BLOG POSTS

3 Years of Running M$M Full-Time (After Quitting My Teaching Job)! from Millennial Money Man

Bobby at Millennial Money Man reflects back on the 3 year journey since quitting his teaching job to go full-time with M$M. When he quit his job, the blog had made $3…woah! Clearly it’s worked out as he’s had multiple months at over $100,000 income in 2018 from M$M and has connected with millions of readers. Very inspiring. And it sounds like even bigger and better is coming for Bobby with the upcoming launch of this new project Laptop Empires.

Two Years of Blogging, Not Making Much Money But Richer Than Ever from Make Smarter Decisions

Another blogging anniversary post! This time Vicki from Make Smarter Decisions (and Women Who Money and Women’s Money Talk) reflects back on her 2 year blogging journey. I loved what Vicki said here, “my life is richer because of the people I’ve met and the places we’ve gone since I started the blog”. I’ve only been blogging for a handful of months but I can wholeheartedly agree with that. The people in the personal finance and blogging community are great. While some blogs may not be making the $100K+ like M$M above, the net value of the knowledge, relationships and goodwill are still delivering a bounty of riches.

PERSONAL FINANCE PODCAST EPISODES

From Unemployed and Broke to a Millionaire in 5 Years from Journey To Launch

Another nod to Grant at Millennial Money…if you ever want to get motivated about financial independence and living a life you want, having Grant as a podcast guest is a good source to get inspired by. This week Grant joined Jamila on the Journey To Launch podcast. From building side hustles that scale to developing a money mindset, Grant and Jamila deliver a ton of advice and motivation to listeners.

95% Don’t Do This Simple Wealth Building Strategy – Do You? from Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents

I’ve been watching all of Jeff Rose’s, from Good Financial Cents, YouTube library over the last couple weeks. Engaging and thoughtful content! In this video Jeff talks about finding additional revenue streams not connected to your 9-5 W2 work. Side hustles, entrepreneurship and income generating investments to help fast-track your road to wealth.

The Highs and Lows of Real Estate Investing from The Stacking Benjamins Show

Sitting in the guest seat on a recent Stacking Benjamins episode was Dana Bull. Dana has already acquired dozens of rental units before reaching the age of 28. She started investing in real estate at the age of 22 and is now a full-time real estate agent, coach and blogger with 22 rental units in and around Boston. Very impressive! As you can see…including quite a few features on real estate investing in this week’s Roundup.

34 Year Old Early Retiree on Anchoring Your Life Around a Passion from FIRE Drill Podcast

Another great FIRE Drill Podcast! J and Gwen continue to bring on a diverse group of guests onto their podcast. And it keeps delivering. Bob is a 34 year old early retiree who left the standard working world to “retire” on a farm in Appalachia. What keeps him busy and fulfills his passion? Homesteading and charcuterie. The discussion touches on finding a passion and purpose, financial independence and on lots of tasty food asides given Bob’s work. I always like hearing from people living totally different walks of life from me.

SIDE HUSTLE PODCAST EPISODES

How Selena & Jacob Grew Find Us Lost To 150,000+ Followers Travel Blogging from The Side Hustle Project

Ryan welcomed Selena and Jacob from Find Us Lost to The Side Hustle Project to chat about their travel blog and social following. The duo share how they got started with travel blogging, exploding their Instagram following, monetizing both the blog and Instagram and getting free travel. Lots of advice applicable to other content creators and bloggers, not just those in the travel niche.

BUSINESS & BLOGGING PODCAST EPISODES

Becoming A Prolific YouTuber from The Money & Media Podcast

ESI Money shared this podcast on the Rockstar Forums as a beneficial podcast to any content creator, not just YouTubers. The great PT Money hosted this episode of The Money & Media Podcast and chats with John Sonmez. As the show notes state, “John firmly believes that outworking and outproducing others will put him in the top 5% when it comes to success”. Whether you’re a blogger, podcaster, YouTuber, freelancer or another form of content creator, there’s a lot to be said about working hard and consistently publishing new content.

How To Run A Contest To Build Your Email List And Grow Your Brand from Smart Passive Income

I’m a big fan of Noah Kagan and Pat Flynn, so when this duo combines for an episode of Smart Passive Income…you’ve got me! While the title speaks to contests, the episode digs much deeper than that. From growing your business, developing loyal fans, engaging with your community and dozens of other value bombs, Noah and Pat hit this one out of the park.

WEEKLY SHOUTOUTS

• Financial Health and Wealth Interview: Jake Sensiba from Financial Health and Wealth had yours truly featured for an interview on his Q&A series with bloggers! This was really fun to do and I enjoyed reflecting back on my own journey. Check it out!