#i would still have to rule up my own index and number the pages myself

[mandoalorian]

Sugar and Spice [Maxwell Lord x Reader] - Chapter 4

Summary: When you are evicted from your apartment by your toxic ex boyfriend and have no place to go, who do you turn to? Alone in the city as the countdown to Christmas begins, you find yourself applying for a job as the assistant of the world’s biggest entrepreneur; Maxwell Lord. Little do you know, he has other intentions for you. No doubt about it, this Christmas will truly be like no other.

Word count: 4k

Warnings: Eventual smut, mentions of a previous verbally abusive relationship, typical 80s misogyny (but very little of it), mentions of food and drink, alcohol consumption. This is a sugardaddy x sugarbaby fic soooo… a daddy k!nk too oops.

But in this chapter - SMUT (finally lol), spanking, protected p in v (no condom but female reader is protected), discussion of bondage and use of toys etc. A little bit of angst amongst the general Christmas fluffiness.

Author’s note: Oh my god finally chapter 4 is out. This is where it starts getting exciting guys! As always I hope you enjoy. PS- some of you might have seen I’m doing a December Writing Challenge. I still have a few spots for requests open so if you’re interested just click HERE, read the rules and submit a request!

MASTERLIST | SUBMIT REQUESTS

PREVIOUS - CHAPTER FOUR - NEXT

You considered the date had gone well. You and Maxwell exchanged pleasantries and learned a lot about each other. Well, he learned a lot about you. All you learned about Maxwell was that he was extremely closed off from the world. Despite being an ego-centric businessman, every time you asked him a question about his private life, he'd change the subject in the charming manner of a politician. You yearned to learn more about him. You wished he could just give you a little crumb of his childhood or even his adolescence. But nothing.

Despite this, the journey back to his penthouse was intimate, with every touch and brush against skin creating a fire in your stomach. When you stepped into his luxury apartment that looked over the whole city, you had no idea what to expect. You were in awe. "Your home is beautiful." you smiled as Maxwell padded over to his minibar and poured out two more glasses of champagne. He loosened his tie and took off his suit jacket, throwing it on the sofa.

There was something about the way he rolled up his sleeves, exposing the golden skin of his strong forearms. You loved seeing him in this light. Not pristine, not perfect. Just human. A little tired and a little tipsy.

"Oh, this isn't my home," Maxwell replied and you shot him a confused look. "My house in the suburbs of DC, this is just a place I own in the city for when work gets busy. Easier to commute this way." Of course Maxwell Lord had more than one place of residence.

"I imagine your home is like a palace." You expressed with a grin, before taking a sip of the champagne. It tasted a lot more expensive than the one you had drunk earlier at the restaurant, but you weren't really surprised. You swiped your tongue over your lower lips, savouring the sweet liquid, and Maxwell felt his cock twitch in his suit pants. Trying to ignore how much your simple actions turned him on, he opened his mouth.

"What's your home like?" Maxwell asked curiously, and you scrunched up your nose.

Did you tell him about the tiny boxed up apartment you were getting evicted from? Did you tell him about your awful ex boyfriend turned landlord who was just so dreadful to you? You shrugged. "It's okay." you told him, but it came out as a defeated sigh. Nevertheless, Maxwell chose not to question it. You figured he probably didn't even care that much anyway.

"Follow me." he told you, placing his half drunk glass on one of the marble countertops and walking through the dining room and down a hallway. For a penthouse, it sure had plenty of rooms.

At the end of the hallway, there was a door that stood tall, isolated from all the other doors. On the wall, you noticed that there was a silver keypad of sorts. Maxwell tapped four numbers and the door unlocked for him. You felt nervous as you wondered what was in the room ahead. To your surprise, it was simply just a large dimly lit room with a long table and about a dozen chairs positioned around it. No art on the walls, no elaborate statues. Not like the rest of his apartment, or even his office at work.

“You could do with a Christmas tree in here,” you said. “Maybe some string lights and a singing dancing snowman toy.”

“A singing dancing snowman toy?” Maxwell raised an eyebrow and you nodded, unfazed. With every second Maxwell spent with you, he felt his admiration grow tenfold. He had truly never met anyone like you before. Everyone Maxwell Lord had met was either terrified of him, or had questionable intentions. You, however, seemed pure of heart. You didn’t care who he was or what people said about him. Sure, deep down, you were aware, but at the end of the day - this was just a job you needed. That didn’t stop you from wondering what it would be like if it was more than just a job. “This is where I have my meetings.” he informed you, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Take a seat.”

Cautiously, you found yourself scoping around the table as Maxwell collected a stack of papers from a cabinet. You had opted to sit at the head of the table, finding yourself comfortable in the large leather seat. Maxwell couldn’t help but smile to himself when he saw you sitting there, in his seat. Whilst he would normally tell any other person to abruptly move, he simply kept his mouth shut, sliding into the seat next to you. He separated the papers in two piles and placed one before you and one before himself.

“Why did you take me into your meeting room?” You asked, pushing your glass of champagne to one side and examining the papers. “Oh, it’s a contract.”

“Yeah, it’s uhm,” Maxwell cleared his throat. “Legalities and stuff. I just want to go through it with you so we can make sure we’re both understanding of what your employment entails, before this arrangement proceeds. Open to page six.” You did as you were told and found the start of the terms and conditions.”Read.” He commanded.

This was what you had been waiting for as, until now, you had been unsure where exactly you stood in this. Sure, you were aware of the traditional meaning of a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship but Maxwell Lord had subverted all your expectations so far. There was no way to assume what his intentions with you would be.

You straightened your posture and followed the words on the paper with your index finger. “Upon signing this contract, I, party B, agree to the proposals made by party A, Maxwell Lord the fourth. There’s four of you?” You raised an eyebrow but Maxwell didn’t answer, instead, gesturing his hand in a way that could only mean for you to resume. “Section 1a; bondage.” The word came out as a croak in your chest. The first point he had made was bondage? You felt your cheeks warm up and Maxwell’s eyes burned into you intently. “Subject consents to tying up and being tied up by the other party.”

“Is that okay?” Maxwell asked.

You took a moment, trying to comprehend what was going on and what situation you had found yourself in. You were just now learning that one of the wealthiest men on the planet wanted to tie you up and be tied up by you. You looked up at him and sighed, exasperatedly. “Yes.” you told him and Maxwell smiled, turning the page. You followed his action.

“Section 1b; sex toys.” And there was that lump in your throat again. Strangely, you didn’t feel nervous, despite the circumstances. Maxwell Lord created a warm and safe environment. “Subject consents to the use of dildos, vibrators, butt-plugs…” The list went on and on. After taking another beat to contemplate what was being asked of you, you signed the papers. There was something about the discussion of all of this that created an enhanced sexual tension in the room. You squeezed your thighs together, trying to annoy the prevalent feeling of your panties as they dampened. “Maxwell?”

“Hm?” He hummed. You noticed his hair was a little disheveled and his pupils had dilated too, although you told yourself that might have just been from sitting in the dimly lit room. Little did you know, he had been palming his growing cock underneath the table. Seeing you sitting in his chair, at the table where he conducts his meetings, was such a turn on. If he could have it his way, he’d wish to bend you over the table and fuck you from behind. But this was more important.

You fidgeted with your fingers a little and bit your lip. “All of this stuff is quite new to me… I mean, I’m not exactly- I don’t really know-”

Maxwell placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “It’s okay. Anything you need to make this process easier, just let me know.” He assured you and you nodded your head. For a moment, the softness in his voice made you feel like you had known him forever. Like he was the closest person to you. That you could trust him. But damn, his gentle demeanor didn’t stop you from craving him. This was so unfair. Upon every instance that you spent time with Maxwell Lord, you wanted him to pin you against a surface and leave a trail of kisses down your body.

After getting through eight pages of terms and conditions relating to the intercourse side of the arrangement, you found yourself almost at the end of the contract. “Section 12a; public appearances.”

Maxwell nodded his head. “Maybe it’s better if I explain this part to you myself.” Maxwell told you and you nodded your head. “As you might know I have quite the reputation to uphold. Now, I’m not sure how long this arrangement between us will last but I have one last public appearance scheduled this year. It’s a Christmas gala at the White House. I’d like you to come with me.”

“As a date?” Your eyes widened and you felt butterflies swarm in your stomach at the prospect. It was that feeling you just couldn’t escape. You didn’t understand it, but part of you yearned for it so bad.

“No.” Maxwell replied sharply, and you shuffled around in your seat uncomfortably. The butterflies died.

“Oh.” You looked away from him feeling embarrassed for even asking.

“No one can know about us and our arrangement. I’m only initiating this contract to get my hellish mother off my back.” Maxwell admitted.

“So I’m just an excuse to get your mother to stop pestering you?” You frowned, feeling genuine hurt.

“Everyone in my life is simply a tool to accelerate my own success.”

There it was. This was the Maxwell Lord you read about in the tabloids. Selfish, inconsiderate, greedy and egotistical. You felt slightly disheartened, like his comment had ruined your whole night. At the restaurant, he was nice and caring, and with every gentle touch, you had felt an overwhelming excitement. But this was cold off him. Silence filled the room as Maxwell watched you intently, waiting for you to say something. It was like he didn’t even realise the consequences of his own words. You sighed, skim reading the rest of the contract and quickly signing your name on every page without further discussion, before pushing the papers back to him and standing up.

“Whatever.” you shrugged, downing the last of your champagne in one gulp.

“So you agree to everything?” Maxwell quizzed. “I’ve never had a business deal go so well.” He grinned. Right - because that’s all you were to him. A business deal.

“Mhm,” you muttered, leaving the room. Perplexed, Maxwell chased after you.

“You’re leaving already? I was going to invite you to stay the night.” He shot you one of those charming smiles you saw on the infomercials and you felt your stomach twist.

“I’m good.” You snarled, about to open his front door when he placed his hand over yours.

“The gala is this Saturday. I will see you there, yes?”

You wanted to be strong and pull your hand out of his and leave his penthouse with your head held high. But instead, you bit your lip and turned around to face him. There were only inches between you two. You could smell the champagne in his breath, and the musky fragrance he wore as he looked down at you. You placed both of your hands on his chest, not breaking eye contact once, and slid them down to his belt.

Maxwell felt his precum drip down his erection just from your mere touch. He cursed himself for not wearing underwear, hoping his seed hadn’t stained his tailored pants and revealed his arousal to you.

“I am not a business deal, Mr Lord,” you whispered seductively, fluttering your eyebrows and loosening his belt. “I see how you treat your assistants. Fuck them in your office and don’t even give them a tissue to clean themselves up with. You make them leave your office without a second to comb through their hair or reapply their lipstick. You will not treat me like that. I want you to remember that my commitment to this is a favour to you. You need me, and so you will treat me with respect. Do you understand?”

Maxwell gulped, hard. He wasn’t used to talking to him like that. But you were right; he did need you, more than he cared to admit. “Yes.” he told you, and you curled your lips into a smirk before unbuckling his belt and tossing it to the floor.

“Good.” you replied, raising an eyebrow. “Now, Mr Lord, I want you to take me back into that conference room and bend me over the table.”

He raised his hand, big and warm just how you remembered, and cupped your cheek, his thumb swiping across the high of your cheek bones. He tucked a little bit of hair behind your ear. “Oh sweet girl, you think you can take me?” he taunted, his eyes darker than you had ever seen before.

You lowered your hand down to his bulge and palmed him through his tailored pants, excitement filling you when a whimper escaped his lips. “Gonna have to find out sooner or later.” you goad with an urgent need to quell the aching heat in between your thighs.

You and Maxwell spent a moment, gazing into each other's eyes, thinking about what was about to happen. You were glad you had finally gained the courage to not only speak up for yourself, but also initiate the sex. You wanted him to know that you were not prepared to just be one of his meaningless fucktoys. Maxwell knew from the very beginning you would be different to the other girls, different to his assistants. He took your hand and pulled you down the hallway and back into the conference room. 

You waited for him to undress himself, but instead, he simply rolled his sleeves back up to his elbows and unbuttoned the first few buttons of white shirt. He pulled your black dress over your ass, groaning when he saw the lacy black thong you were hiding underneath. “Bend over.” he growled, moving one of the chairs out of the way so you could do as you were told. 

Wanting to give him a little show, you jiggled your ass a little, teasing him. He brought his hand down to your ass and spanked you hard, the rings on his fingers scraping against your soft skin and leaving red marks. “Oh daddy,” you pouted. “You don’t like that?” you asked with a fake innocence dripping from your tongue. You knew damn well he liked it, judging from the way he was palming himself through his pants.

“Take off your panties.” Maxwell growled as he quickly worked at his zipper. To your surprise, he didn’t get undressed at all. Instead he brought out his hard cock and began to stroke his length. You turned around, and leaned your back against the table, admiring his manhood. You went to get down on your knees, desperate for a taste of the precum that was already dripping down his length. “What are you doing?” Maxwell hissed, bringing you back to your feet and turning you back around, pressing you against the table. “You wanted me to fuck you, right?” 

“Just wanted a little taste of you first, daddy.” you moaned as he spread your legs apart and positioned himself at your entrance.

“Think you can get away with being a tease?” He hissed when he felt your wetness, as he dragged his cock up and down your folds. “Think you can tease daddy? You can suck my cock when I tell you too. Understand?” He smacked your ass again, earning a yelp from you.

“Yes, I understand.” You whimpered.

“Good girl,” he cooed in your ear, sending chills down your spine. “Looked so pretty tonight in that fucking dress. Look even prettier like this, bent over my desk, just for me.”

He slowly eased his tip inside of you, his large hands finding your waist as he steadied you in place. “More.” you begged as he held himself in the same position for a few minutes. He tsked, before pushing his whole length inside of you in one swift thrust. You let out a cry as he stretched you out, the feeling of euphoric bliss washing over you. Maxwell was about to lose it completely. The way your walls clamped around his cock, almost milking him without the slightest movement. You felt so delicious around him. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay seated in you forever. “More!” you cry out again, desperately needing him to move.

“What do you say?” he chastised.

“Please daddy.” you murmured. You couldn’t see, for facing the other direction, but Maxwell had a wicked smile on his face. He loved to be in control. This is exactly what he had wanted since he met you. What he thought about when he called you from his office, what he thought about when he showered and before he slept. And now it was finally happening.

“Fuck, so tight,” you felt the grumble in Maxwell’s chest as he bottomed out of you before thrusting back in. You let out another whine, pressing your cheek against the cool oak of the table. He began to build up a rhythm as he slammed harshly into you. With every thrust, the obscene noises of his balls slapping against your pussy fill the room, along with the wet sounds from your arousal. The grunts and gasps coming from him only make you even wetter as he bends over you, his hands coming over your still clothed breasts and squeezing them. “Nngh, feel so good. I won't last.” he tells you, biting down on your shoulder. “Are you close?”

You hummed a quiet “yes” as his rhythm sped up, hitting your sweet spot with every thrust. It wasn’t long before you felt your walls begin to flutter, and the moment you felt his cock twitch inside you, you came undone, your cunt clenching around him.

“Are you safe?” he gasped, bits of his dark blonde hair falling out of place as sweat laced his forehead.

“Yes Max,” you squealed. “Cum inside me.”

And with those three words, Maxwell spilled his seed inside of you with just a few sloppy but erratic thrusts. You curled your hands into a fist as your orgasm drove through you. For a few seconds, you could hear nothing but Maxwell’s panting as he slowly pulled out of you. You moaned at the lost feeling of fullness but before you could turn back around, he had already tucked his softening cock back into his pants and zipped himself up. Shakily, you pulled away from the table and turned to face him, your eyes still glazed from your orgasm. You wanted to kiss him… but the man hadn’t even taken his clothes off to fuck you. You couldn’t understand why. 

You leaned into Maxwell’s chest, slowly unbuttoning the rest of his shirt when he stopped you, pulling his hands away from you. “C’mon baby girl,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and rough. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He swung his arm around your waist, just like when he walked you to the restaurant and made sure you wouldn’t slip on the ice, and slowly walked you to a bedroom.

He sat you down on the king sized bed and immediately you laid back as he sauntered off into the en-suite bathroom. The sheets were white, and of the softest linen you had ever felt. It was like you just sunk into the mattress, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You felt yourself drifting off into a sleep as you wondered why Maxwell didn’t take off his clothes or even let you take off his shirt. You thought that, perhaps you were reading too much into it, and there would always be next time. This was only the beginning of your endevour with him.

You stirred when you felt the coolness of a washcloth rub softly against the inside of your thigh as Maxwell cleaned up his cum that had been dripping out of you. “I don’t think I’ll be able to walk tomorrow,” you mumbled and Maxwell let out a small chuckle before deciding he was finished and discarding the washcloth. “Can I stay here tonight?” you yawned tiredly, stretching out your arms.

“Of course.” Maxwell replied. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“Mmm, can you tuck me into bed?” You beckoned him further.

Maxwell stood there, watching you and contemplating your words. Never in his life had he tucked a woman into bed. It was rare he even gave them aftercare after sex, but your words earlier had resonated with him. You were different, and so he’d treat you differently. Besides, he could never deny you. He pulled on the duvet and you clambered underneath it. Then he pulled the blanket back over your body. You hummed happily. “Comfortable?” he asked.

“Yes,” you smiled. “Max, one last thing,” you called.

“Yes?” his fingers were already on the light switch.

“Won’t you sleep with me tonight? I mean- come next to me. And we can cuddle.”

“I don’t cuddle,” he sighed. “Besides, I have my own bed.”

“This isn’t your bed?” you questioned.

“No, this is a guest room.” he replied matter of factly. “You’ll be okay. I’m just three doors down if you need anything. Sleep tight.” he said before turning off the light and quietly closing the door.

“Goodnight Max.” you whispered before falling asleep.

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[half-bakedboy]

Not Until I Say So

Read on AO3

Distance was always hard. Being away from friends and family was one thing, but being away from Izzy? That was the kicker. Clary had missed her every second of every day, practically counting down the minutes until they would see each other again. Plane tickets were purchased for the next time they would be together, but for now, Clary had to deal with the distance in the only way they could; crazy amounts of video chatting. Clary looked at her computer screen to see Izzy focused on a page in front of her. She thought that it was probably some mathematical formula she would never be able to understand, but she spoke anyways. 

“How’s the studying going? Reading anything interesting?” Clary asked softly as she ran a hand through her hair. Izzy looked up like she had forgotten Clary was watching her. Clary giggled and waved her fingers. “Hi, your girlfriend is still here. Watching you study hard and be a smarty pants,” Clary said. Izzy giggled softly as she dropped her pencil in the crease of her book. 

“I’m not a smarty pants, I just have to read like four more chapters before my exam in a few days,” Izzy complained as she leaned back in her chair. Clary could tell Izzy was examining her through the camera and she felt her face redden as a result. She bit her bottom lip softly, pulling it into her mouth and letting go when Izzy raised her eyebrows. 

“What?” Clary asked innocently. Izzy shook her head and make a ‘tsk’ sound with her tongue. Oh, how Clary missed that tongue. 

“You know what biting your lip does to me, baby. Yet, you do it anyways. And when I’m so far away…” Izzy trailed off.  Clary inhaled deeply as Izzy ran her finger along her collarbone, just slipping underneath the tank top she was wearing. Her strap fell and Clary couldn’t help but squirm. 

“You know, I would be a lot more focused if you took off your top,” Izzy commented, her voice low. Clary felt that familiar tingle down her spine. Izzy may be thousands of miles away, but it was like Clary could feel her breath whispering against her neck. 

“Somehow, I find that hard to believe,” Clary teased. Izzy tilted her head at the camera, another raise of her eyebrows. 

“Strike one was the sarcasm. Strike two was you not following an order,” Izzy said calmly, looking back down at her books. Clary gasped softly and tugged her shirt up and over her head. The black edges of her bra stuck out against her pale skin as she rested her hands on her thighs and awaited her next order. To Clary’s surprise, Izzy’s eyes stayed glued to the book on her desk. 

“Iz--,” Clary started only to be cut off by a sharp glance from Izzy. Clary knew what that meant and bowed her head, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. 

“Sit there and look pretty while I finish this chapter, won’t you, love?” Izzy said. She turned the page slowly, the sound of the paper sending a jolt down Clary’s spine. “Actually, I want you to take off your bra. I think I deserve a little treat while I finish reading, don’t you?” Clary nodded and unclasped her bra before she tossed it to the ground. The cold air floating in through her window blew against her nipples causing them to harden. 

Clary pressed her nails into her thighs, relishing in the pain it brought her. She liked the pain. It wasn’t until Izzy that she realized there was more to sex than pleasure and she wanted to bathe in it. Wash herself in the pain of Izzy’s nails, Izzy’s teeth, and Izzy’s whip. Clary heard her own breath quicken at the thought and knew by Izzy’s sly smirk in the camera that she had heard it as well. All of a sudden, Izzy’s book slammed closed. Clary was lost in the feel of her nails digging into her thighs, she didn’t notice Izzy had finished her chapter. The sound jolted her out of her own head, a whimper leaving her lips breathlessly. 

“That’s my girl,” Izzy praised. Clary tilted her head, her hands not moving from their spot on her thighs. They were still now, awaiting the next command from the woman gazing at her. “You look so pretty like that, you know? Your bright pink nipples reaching out to me, begging for my lips, my tongue, my teeth…” Clary hissed through her own teeth, nails biting once more into her thighs. “Now, no more of that, baby. I want you to lie back for me, can you do that?” Clary nodded silently, letting herself fall back onto the pillows behind her. Her laptop was at the foot of the bed by her feet, giving Izzy a perfect view of her body. 

“Izzy, please?” Clary begged. She wasn’t sure what she was begging for, but she knew if she didn’t touch some part of herself soon, her body might implode. 

“Tsk, tsk, Clarissa. You know the rules. Or do I need to remind you?” Clary shook her head, her eyes closing. They opened when there were no more words from Izzy. “Speak up,” Izzy demanded. Clary lifted her head to see Izzy had moved onto her own bed, laptop resting in front of her. Her legs were crossed and she was fully clothed and Clary wasn’t sure why that turned her on even more. 

“Domme, please, can I touch myself?” Clary begged. Izzy let out a dark chuckle as Clary’s hips bucked. Her hands stayed plastered against the sheets, knowing that if they moved, it would only be to Izzy’s order. 

“20 seconds. You have 20 seconds to touch yourself. I want you to choose a spot on your body and tell me what you want to do with it, but only do so when I say it’s okay, understood?” Clary nodded quickly and when she spoke, her voice was huskier than she intended. 

“I want to touch my nipples, Domme,” Clary explained. Izzy nodded and stayed silent like she was waiting for something else. A slight grin spread over her lips as she shook her head. The small movement had Clary whimpering. 

“10 seconds, now. Do you know why I took time off, baby?” Clary shook her head. It was fuzzy from the anticipation but she had to think. She realized what she did wrong and cleared her throat. She licked her lips before speaking again. 

“I want to pull on my nipples as hard as I can, Domme. I’m sorry for not telling you before,” Clary apologized. There was more panic in her voice than she was proud of but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She wanted-- no, needed to touch herself. 

“Good girl. I want you to do that and count to 10. 10 seconds is all you get and not a moment longer, understood?” Clary nodded quickly and waited for Izzy’s go ahead. “Go ahead and remember to count, baby,” Izzy spoke softly, a sharp contrast to the sudden pain Clary inflicted on her own nipples. She squeezed them as hard as she could, her nails digging into the flesh. Breathlessly, she counted to ten, slower than she probably should have. When she reached the last number, she let go of her nipples and slammed her hands back down onto the mattress beneath her. He hips bucked and her teeth bit into her bottom lip as the pain coursed through her breasts, evaporating slowly. When she caught her breath again, she looked at the camera to see Izzy eyeing her like prey. 

“Thank you, Domme,” Clary whispered. The hardness in Izzy’s eyes softened just a little at the words. Clary could feel her cheeks heating up and tried to stop her hips from jerking. Izzy licked her lips and Clary felt herself dripping at the sigh. 

“I want you to undress for me. Don’t get up, just take your clothes off as quickly as you can,” Izzy ordered. Clary moved her hands to her leggings and hooked her thumbs around the waistband and pushed them down. She heard Izzy gasp and felt a small twinge of smugness at her lips. 

“What, Domme?” Clary teased as she tossed the remainder of her clothing to the side. She let her knees fall to the sides, her who body on display for Izzy. She saw the darkness flash in Izzy’s eyes and immediately regretted her words. 

“That’s strike three, baby,” Izzy said nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and Clary audibly gulped. “Do you know what that means?” Clary shook her head. “I said speak up, Clarissa,” Izzy said sternly. Clary’s hips bucked once more as she raised her hands to her stomach. “And watch those hands. You touch where I tell you to touch and that is it. Do you understand me, Clarissa?” 

“Yes, Domme. Please tell me how to make it up to you,” Clary begged as she let her hands fall back onto the mattress. She bit down on her lip, harder than intended, but she couldn’t help herself when Izzy licked her own lips. 

“Touch yourself, baby. I want you to press your finger down on your clit, but don’t you dare move it.” Clary nodded, a quick ‘yes, Domme’ leaving her lips as she did what she was told. She moved her right index finger until it was placed on her clit and pressed down. The pressure elicited a guttural moan from her lips. She heard Izzy chuckle, so she lifted her head to look into her eyes. 

“Domme, please, please…” Clary’s words trailed off. She attempted to move her finger but even the slightest movement was caught by Izzy. 

“Stop that. I gave you an order. No more, no less. I want you to take your other hand and stroke your body for me. Over your stomach, your breasts, your neck. Imagine that it’s my hand skimming over your hot skin. Can you do that for me?” Clary nodded, her hand moving to her neck. She remembered how much Izzy loved her neck. 

“Yes, Domme,” Clary whispered, the finger on her clit pressing harder with every stroke of her hand. A breathy sigh left Izzy’s lips had Clary’s eyes opening once more. She moved her hand to her hair, a silent question on her lips. 

“Go ahead, baby. Tug as hard as you like,” Izzy affirmed. Clary tugged as her back arched. The pain in her head shot right down to her clit and Izzy seemed to take notice. “I want you to move your finger now. I want you to get yourself right to the edge but tell me before you’re going to come, okay?” Clary felt her whole body light on fire as she rolled her clit underneath her finger. 

“Yes, Domme, thank you,” Clary breathed out. Her finger moved fast, dipping down just enough to get it wet so she could circle it around her clit. Her moans soon filled the room, the bubble in her stomach rising and rising until she felt as though she couldn’t hold back. “Domme, I’m gonna--” Clary was cut off by Izzy’s words. 

“Stop, Clarissa,” Izzy ordered. Clary pulled her hand away reluctantly, her hips jerking at the abrupt loss of contact. She whined loudly and her eyes squeezed shut. “What a good girl. Why don’t you touch your body for me. Wherever you want.” Clary nodded and ran her hands up her stomach to cup her breasts. She glided her thumbs along her nipples, her hips still moving as an attempt to find contact on her center. Izzy’s praise was flowing through her body, her head getting fuzzier with every touch. She moved her hands to her neck, stroking it softly before putting her hands in her hair. She opened her eyes once more to look down at Izzy. 

“Can I please pull my hair, Domme? Hard?” Clary added as an afterthought. She had remembered her mistake and wasn’t about to make it again. Izzy nodded slowly, her eyes following every movement Clary made. Something about those watchful eyes had Clary’s spine tingling, her stomach fluttering, and her head floating somewhere in the clouds. The sharp pain erupted through her head as she tugged on her hair and she gasped loudly. She heard Izzy chuckle and the sound made Clary pull even harder. 

“Okay, Clarissa. I want you to touch yourself again. I want one hand on your pussy, the other pinching your nipples. Can you do that?” Clary nodded as her hand shot back down to her clit. The feeling of closeness had simmered but the minute her fingers played with the nub, her body heated even quicker than before. 

“Domme, oh god…” Clary couldn’t find the words to express how she was feeling and gasped when Izzy spoke again. 

“Tell me, baby. Tell me how it feels, how it feels to have me controlling every single thing you do to your body,” Izzy husked out. Her breathing had gotten heavier and Clary glowed with pride that her obedience had done this. Clary closed her eyes again, losing herself in the feeling of pleasure and pain coursing through her body. 

“It feels so good, Domme. I’m yours, my body is yours to do what you want. By the Angel, Domme, I… Oh, god,” Clary gasped out. She could feel her orgasm building as she climbed closer and closer to the peak. 

“You have to ask me, baby. Ask me if you can come,” Izzy demanded. Clary shook her head, knowing that her asking could result in a no and she wanted to come. Izzy was so far away and she hadn’t released in so long. “Don’t come, Clarissa. Not. Until. You ask me,” Izzy said. Each punctuated word moved Clary even closer to the edge. She moaned long and low before opening her eyes and glancing at Izzy. 

“Please, Domme, can I come?” The smirk grew on Izzy’s face and Clary felt her stomach drop. 

“No. Move your hand, Clarissa.” Clary pulled her hand away quickly, another whine bursting from her lips as the bubble in her stomach seized. Her breath was bursting from her lungs, her chest heaving with every breath. She clenched her legs together, hoping that the tiniest bit of contact would keep her pleasure rising. “Open your legs. I want to see all of you, baby.” Clary nodded and did what she was told. Her legs were shaking, her hands trembling, and her mind was swimming in cloudy water as she awaited her next order from Izzy. When no orders came, Clary opened her eyes and saw Izzy just looking at her. The fondness in her eyes contrasted with the hunger threatening to overtake them. Clary rolled her hips again, slowly arching her back as everything inside her threatened to burst free. 

“Domme, please…” Clary begged. Her voice was only a little louder than a whisper and her face was flushed with pleasure. Izzy was staring again, her own hands rubbing the outside of her panties. Clary wasn’t sure when Izzy had taken off her skirt, but now that she had seen, her eyes were locked on the spot of wetness leaking through. “Domme, oh god, please, I want to touch myself again,” Clary begged once more. Her hands gripping the sheets beneath her tightened until her knuckles went white. 

“Touch your clit once more, Clary. But remember, you can’t come until I say so, okay, baby?” Clary nodded quickly, her hand shooting down to her clit and rubbing rough circles over it. Her moans were soft on her lips as she tried to hold them back. “I want all of your moans, Clarissa. Don’t hold back on me,” Izzy ordered. Clary saw Izzy’s own hand pushing underneath her underwear and the moans erupted out of her. 

“Domme, please let me come. Please, I need to come,” Clary screamed, her body shaking with pleasure as she glanced back at Izzy. Izzy’s eyes were burning into the camera. The dark hunger in them had electricity shooting up Clary’s spine until she couldn’t take the pleasure any longer. “Domme, please!” Clary shouted once more. 

“Come for me, baby. I wanna hear you,” Izzy moaned out. Clary wasn’t sure if anything else was said as the fuzziness in her brain erupted, a cloud of bliss hovering over her. Her body shook with pleasure as she arched her back off the bed, her head pressing down into her pillow. She moaned as loud as she could, hoping the sound would push even more pleasure through her. Her legs trembled and her arms seized as the climax overtook her. The cloud above her swallowed her whole and she felt as if she were floating above her own body. She laid there for what felt like hours until Izzy’s voice murmured around her. 

“Domme?” Clary asked, reaching out beside her. She heard Izzy chuckle and the sound brought her eyes to the end of the bed. 

“You with me, beautiful?” Izzy asked. Clary nodded, the fuzziness in her head dissipating only slightly with time. Clary opened her eyes wider, pulling the covers of her bed over her body to hold in the warmth. “There she is. Hi, baby,” Izzy said softly, laying back on her own pillows. Clary giggled, pulling the covers over her face. Izzy clicked her tongue at Clary so she pulled the covers away from her face. 

“What?” Clary asked innocently. She was still coming down from her high and every word Izzy muttered was flowing in through one ear and out the other. 

“Don’t hide your face, Clary. I love that face,” Izzy said. At the use of her nickname, something inside Clary became more aware. She sat up in her bed and pulled the laptop onto her legs. She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. “Really? After all that you’re going to bite your lip again?” Clary laughed and rolled her eyes. She looked away once Izzy’s eyebrows raised. 

“Sorry, Iz. It won’t happen again. I’m a little too blissed out right now to think straight,” Clary sighed and just looked at Izzy. She was holding back a giggle and Clary tilted her head in question. 

“What?” Clary asked once again, afraid she was missing some sort of joke. 

“There’s no part of you that is straight, huh?” Izzy squeaked out. Clary threw one of her pillows at the camera screen and both of them laughed loudly. “I can’t wait to see you,” Izzy whispered once the laughter had calmed down. Clary nodded and sighed again. 

“A little longer, my love,” Clary whispered as her eyes started to close. 

“I love you, Clary,” Izzy whispered back. Clary nodded before here eyes closed and she dozed away full of dreams of her love. 

[tlbodine]

Project Managing Your Writing

I am not an organized person. I’m more of the absent-minded professor type. All my life I have chafed at rules and schedules because they make me feel panicky and claustrophobic.

Ironically, I love systems! I love putting things in order and organizing and planing!

It didn’t occur to me for...an embarrassingly long time...that the reason I hate schedules is that other people made them. So what if I made my own?

Enter...the bullet journal.

Bullet journaling is trendy, and for a while it seemed like EVERYONE was talking about it and I just...couldn’t quite figure it out. But it seemed to work really well for people, and I’ve been desperate to impose some kind of order on my life because I am juggling roughly a million responsibilities, so I figured, what the hell. Let’s try it. 

I bought this journal after spending kind of an embarrassingly long time in Walgreens leafing through various notebooks until one clicked with me. I liked this one because it’s a nice size, and it’s my favorite color, and the pages stay flat when you open it, and it feels nice in my hand. Seemed like a winner. 

So here’s the thing about bullet journaling that makes it unique, and also which I definitely did not understand at all until I sat down and started filling it out and then it clicked. 

The thing that makes the system work is that you number all the pages, and then you put an index in the front that tells you what thing is on what page. 

What this means is that the actual pages themselves do not need to be organized. There doesn’t have to be a logical flow between pages. You don’t have to save pages and then panic that you have too many or too few. You want to put your budget on one page and then a grocery list on the next and then a list of books you want to read on the next one? Cool. You just do that. Put whatever the hell you want in the pages, then note it down in the index so you can find the right stuff later. 

So right up front, I made my index, and then I did sections for Achievements (because I get down on myself a lot about not getting anything accomplished) and Goals (because I have aspirations, duh). 

Note that the goals are not to-do items. They are more aspirational “be the type of person who...” type goals, to remind me of the things I value. To-do list comes later. 

Okay. So the next spread is a year calendar. Because it’s a free-form thing, you can start it wherever the hell you want. I bought this Nov. 1 so that’s when my year starts. I penciled in important events for the month. Holidays, because one of my goals is to be a person who cares about holidays (because I rarely do anything special, and that makes me sad), and also submission deadlines for certain things. Other big-ticket items that go in here would include stuff like conventions and travel plans, that sort of thing. 

After this section, there are sections (one page each) for every month, line by line, so you can map out more specific events and crap you have to do (like what to do on what day for the holiday prep, when parties are, when appointments are, etc.) Not pictured because it’s boring to look at. 

I made these pages separate from the deadline/calendar pages for each month because I wanted them to look pretty, and ALSO to keep track of specific things that I value. In this case: What am I writing, what am I reading, what am I watching? (my life revolves around media, ok, sue me) And then to-do lists and achievements for each month, to keep me motivated. 

I have some other boring pages that are irrelevant to y’all, like a budget and stuff, but then let’s skip ahead to this bad boy here. Here’s my to-do list for writing projects. If I’m working on it, it goes on the list. If i’m done with it, it gets a checkmark or crossed out or something, idk. 

Creature Features is an anthology I have planned, of themed stories. I want to finish all of those stories in it and try to publish them in other places first, and then compile them into the collection, because I like money. (You might recognize that most of these are creepypasta I’ve posted. I’m expanding the story seeds into proper long stories). 

Some of my writing to-dos are pretty simple (rewriting is just...rewriting) but some of these are more complex and involve multiple steps so I made project management pages. Here’s one for House of Lazarus, my sequel to River of Souls. As you can see, I’m doing an outline for this one (I usually don’t outline, but I need to in this case because it’s part of a series and I have to keep story threads consistent). 

So the idea here is to be done with all the prep work (outline etc.) by the end of November, and then have the rough draft finished by the beginning of April, and the final done sometime around June/July so I can get it to my publisher, because that’s when their reading period starts for the year. I tried to make my deadline as generous as possible (about 500 words written a day will get me there) to allow for wiggle room. 

I made myself a cute little progress chart that I can fill in at each 10k word milestone, and then immediately fucked up the chart numbers and covered it up with scribbles. I’m so good at this ;) 

There’s lots of empty space left on this page. What will go in it? Who knows! Probably something, considering how long I’ll be working on this thing. I’ve got plenty of space though if I do need to work things out (like, say, an editing calendar, editorial deadlines, promo work, etc.) 

So there you go. A lil’ glimpse into my creative life and attempts at organization. I’ve been at this for 3 days which is why I’m still very enthusiastic about it. Ask me in a couple months how I feel. But it’s worth a shot, right? 

[improvidence318]

IT IS TIME

To talk about my survey results!

Remember when I asked y’all to fill out a brief survey about 2 months ago? I was hoping to get enough submissions to equate to about 10% of my follower count. I got 71 people who took the survey (thanks everyone!) which is pretty close to 10% of my follower count when I first posted the survey.

Anyways, on to the results!

This is why I really really appreciate reblogs more than likes. I’ve noticed a direct correlation between reblogs and new followers. 

I’m glad that my current content output seems to place me ahead of other audio blogs. I don’t follow any other audio blogs myself, and I’m not really an audiophile, so I have limited knowledge of how others handle their stuff.

Cranking out lots of short content seems to help me stand out. I try to be consistent in my upload rate, or else I run the risk of slacking off and falling behind. Gotta move forward!

Speaking of moving forward...

And of course the only one of these I’ve done so far is Twitch game streams, the least voted-on choice...

If I had more than 1-3 people tuning in, freestyle voice streams could become a thing. I’ll probably send out another survey regarding the best time to do that if I really commit to it. 

I’ve had a few people ask if I do fanfiction readings. The answer is “Yes, but unless it’s My Immortal (I do that for free), you gotta commission me to read it.” As a general rule, if what you’re asking me to do is personalized, or would run longer than about 2 minutes, you should probably commission it instead of request it. 

As for RP LPs, well, I’m hoping to get something started related to that soon. Stay tuned...

I thought maybe my page could use improvement, but it seems like I’m really the only one that has issues with it.

I appreciate everyone being as honest as possible about this. 

A lot of the answers were something along the lines of “your voice acting” or “Daddy Sans gets me hot”. Which seems par for the course around here. I wouldn’t want it any other way. A lot of people, in PMs and in the survey, seem bashful to admit they get turned on by the voices I do. Don’t be! Dangerous and sexy is specifically the kind of voice I’m delivering. 

There was also mention that they appreciated the consistency of posts, and how most of them are short and easy to listen to. That’s definitely what I strive for, so hooray, it’s working as intended!

Some people also noted they like the casual, more goofy approach to the voices and how I run things, and I’m glad that has its appeal. IRL I’m much more like UT Sans than MF Sans. The sexy funny is here to stay.

There was also praise for the various other voices I do. I really do try to think of other characters I can do audios for, but 90% of my stuff is still Sans for a number of reasons. I already have his character figured out quite thoroughly, he doesn’t need any heavy sound editing (unlike, say, Optimus), and he’s definitely why people are here in the first place. 

Mercifully, the vast majority of responses were “Nothing, you’re good”. There were a few responses I’d like to respond to directly:

If you know any better themes, please please PLEASE PM me and let me know. I’m fine with paying for one if it improves the experience.

I’d love to add a tag index or something, but Tumblr really sucks at page customization. If anyone can offer formatting assistance, I’d be ever so grateful

I know... I have requests from months ago still sitting in my inbox. There are a number of different reasons I haven’t completed your request yet. Could be that I just haven’t figured out a good way to deliver on it. It might be that they’d take longer than normal and I haven’t taken to time to really work on it. On average I get more requests per day (2-5) than what I post per day (1), so a backlog is inevitable.

Audios are tricky to price. When you commission an art piece you usually get charged by the amount of characters, complexity of the background, and the overall detail of the art. Those are easier to standardize than audios. Or maybe it’s because I’m still inexperienced at pricing. Either way, I’ll try to get a commission page up once I get better at it. In the meantime, feel free to PM me and I’ll try to work with you on it. If you have a budget, let me know.

A lot of people suggested I use way more tags, which I have since started doing. Thankfully Xkit has autotaggers that makes it so much easier to keep track of everything. 

Some suggested using Twitter, which I already do. 

A lot of you recommended being more involved on Youtube, a la ProZD. It’s definitely something I’m considering. Youtube is much easier to share around than Tumblr pages. 

Comic dubs were also suggested. I enjoy dubbing comics, but it’s hard for me to find good ones to dub. I’m not nearly as into Undertale and its associated AUs as all of you are, and I don’t really follow UT artists. If you guys find comics you think I could voice, please submit them to me!

About what I expected. 

I was a bit surprised that I had a few male followers. This is why I try to keep my audios as gender-neutral as possible. 

And that concludes my analysis of the survey results. I really, truly do appreciate everyone who took the time to give their opinions about my blog. I want to improve y’all’s experience and also improve my own output and follower base. My end goal is to get professional voice acting roles, and my work here helps me move forward towards that goal. When I first started this blog, I had no idea how it would develop. I’m so glad I started, and I only wish I’d started sooner.

Love y’all!

[terryboot]

i got watching these videos today about how to create your own journal book and it looks easy and fun and im very tempted to a) make one for myself to use as my bujo next year and b) make them for the peeps i play dnd with (if we ever meet up again???) idk ive got about 20 things on the go atm so idk if i want to add another one

[redgillan]

Rotten Judgement - part 2

AU!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Hercules!AU After selling your soul to save your lover’s life, you become one of the Lord of the Underworld’s slave. Bucky is obsessed with one thing: collecting hearts. But why?

Word Count:1,630

Warnings: Language, Angst, Slaves, Demonic creatures, Mythology , Attempt Assault 

A/N: Seriously guys, thank you so much for the nice feedback. I hope I tagged everyone, sorry if I didn’t :/ (As usual some quotes from the movie)

“I know who you work for,” Brock Rumlow, notorious human trash bag, hissed as he pinned you with the weight of his body against a brick wall.

He put his big, calloused hand around your throat and tightened his grip until you were gasping for air. You tried to pull yourself free, but your hands were trapped behind your back. He was breathing so close to your face that you could feel his clammy breath on your skin.

In hindsight, you should have known that Rumlow wasn’t going to be easy an easy target. He was a murderer and a thief, he probably didn’t even have a heart. Your targets were usually old people or horny men, this was a first and you couldn’t understand why Bucky needed his heart. It was most likely all black and corrupted.

You were starting to lose all hope of getting out this alley alive when someone cleared their throat behind Rumlow. You couldn’t see them, but you secretly hoped it would be the God of Death. You gave Rumlow a slow grin when you saw the surprised expression on his face.

“Sir? I'll have to ask you to release that young lady.”

You rolled your eyes and let your head fall back against the brick wall. Another inexperienced wannabe hero decided to come to your rescue. This one, thought, was probably their leader.

“Keep moving, captain.”

“Aren’t you a damsel in distress?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.

“I’m a damsel,” you groaned, trying to pull yourself free. “I’m in distress,” you huffed out a frustrated sigh when it didn’t work. “I can handle it. Have a nice day.” You gave him a bright, fake smile.

“Ma'am, I'm afraid you may be too close to the situation to realize-”

Rumlow turned to look at the mass of muscle standing behind him. His hand was still tightly gripping your throat, but thankfully his swift movement freed one of your legs.

Straightening yourself best as you could, you brought up your knee and kicked him in the groin. Rumlow yelled out in pain, releasing you as he tried to cover his crotch with his hands. The wannabe hero stared slack-jawed as Rumlow fell over on his side and curled into a foetal position.

“Wow,” he gasped quietly.

“Told you. I can handle this,” you replied, brushing a strand of hair away from your forehead.

You took a better look at him and noticed his strange suit. Usually, superheroes wore tight spandex suits, but this man was wearing a pair of blue booty shorts over matching leggings. His white and red shirt, which was at least a size too small, stretched tight against the bulging muscles of his arms and chest.

He looked cute, cute enough for you to smile at him despite being a little shaken. He gave you a slow, shy smile.

“So, do you have a name or should I just call you Captain America?”

“Captain America?” he repeated. He rubbed the back of his neck and scrunched up his face, a sign he was embarrassed, but also secretly enjoying the nickname.

“Well, you’re a vigilante and you’re wearing a patriotic suit.” You jutted out your hip and swirled your index finger, pointing at his shorts. “Are those booty shorts?”

He tugged at the hem of his shorts in a vain attempt to hide himself, his pale face turning three shades of red.

“Steve Rogers,” he avoided your question and held out his hand.

“I think I prefer Captain America.”

“And you are?” he called after you as you turned away.

“Leaving,” you replied cheekily and rounded the corner. “Bye Captain America.”

Steve had a goofy smile on his face as he watched you go. He sighed to himself, a smitten look on his face. You made sure no one was following you as you made your way back to the secret passage leading to the Underworld.

You had never failed an assignment before and you wondered what kind of punishment you would get for coming back without Rumlow’s heart. It wasn’t like you could have ripped it out of his chest in front of Captain America.

But right now, you felt like a failure and you didn’t like it at all. It was a feeling you associated with your previous life. You used to be gentle and kind, until someone ripped your heart out of your chest. Metaphorically speaking this time. You would never admit it, but ripping hearts gave you a wonderful sense of control and power.

“Ma’am?”

You felt a tug at your sleeve. Two little girls, dressed in rags, were standing next you. They were incredibly thin and covered in dirt as if they had walked straight out of the pages of a Dickens novel.

“Do you have food in your bag?” one of them asked, flashing a sickening grin.

You crossed your arms over your chests, glaring at the two Victorian beggars.

“Is there an audition for Oliver Twist in town?” You grinned, recognizing the Furies under their disguises.

The little girls exchanged a look before they returned to their normal appearance. You quickly looked around to make sure no one saw the Furies use their magic. They rolled their eyes when you told them to be more careful.

“Do you have the heart?” Nat snatched your bag and opened it with trembling hands. “I’ve never seen a dark heart before. This is so exciting!” she squealed.

“I don’t have the heart,” you grumbled, moving past her.

“What do you mean you don’t have the heart?”

That voice sent a chill down your spine. It wasn’t Nat or Wanda, it was the Lord himself. You froze and took a deep breath before turning to face him.

“It wasn’t my fault,” you explained. “Rumlow knew you wanted his heart. He pushed me against a wall and-”

Before you could finish your sentence, Bucky took a hurried step toward you. His expression changed to one of concern as his hand circled your waist. Surprise rendered you speechless. Your heart soared at his sudden display of affection. He searched your face, looking for any signs of injury.

“Did he hurt you?”

Your pulse sped up and your throat closed up. It took you a moment to find your voice. “No, some gu-”

“How dare he mess with my servants?!” Bucky shouted, making Wanda and Nat jump slightly. You were pretty sure they only did it because he liked when people were afraid of him.

He released you abruptly and turned his back on you. For a brief moment, you thought he might care about you. You were so stupid, he literally owned your soul. He was scared to lose one of his servants, nothing more.

“Where is he?” Bucky turned back to you, anger still coursing through his veins.

“Still in the alley, I suppose.” You shrugged, looking away from him before you added, “with Captain America.”

Bucky recoiled as if he had been slapped across the face. “Who the Hell is Captain America?”

“Some guy who tried to save my life.”

“He saved your life,” Bucky repeated.

You shrugged again and turned your head to Nat and Wanda who were clearly enjoying the show. You rolled your eyes, a small smirk curved your lips.

“He tried, but I can save myself.”

“Oh, really?” Bucky replied, amused. “If I remember well, you put yourself in this-” he gestured to the space between you, “-situation.”

He waited, hands on his hips, for one of your witty comebacks, but you just crossed your arms and turned your head. After a few minutes of agonizing silence, he huffed out a frustrated sigh and urged you to follow him.

“Lead the way,” Bucky said, stuffing his metal hand into his suit pocket. “I want to see this Captain America.”

“We can’t go back there?”

“Why not?”

“First, because you walk like you’re on a runway. Humans don’t strut, they walk,” you said and he gave you an exasperated look. “Second, what are you going to do to him?” You eyed him suspiciously.

“If there’s a new hero in town, I need to know what they look like.”

He fell into steps beside you, matching your pace. After only a few minutes, you pointed at an alley across the street. Rumlow was sitting in the back of a police car while the officers thanked Steve.They should be thanking you, but never mind.

You and Bucky hid behind a parked car to observe them. His solid, muscular chest pressed against your back. He was surprisingly warm for someone who lived in the Underworld.

“I won’t be able to steal Rumlow’s heart if they take him to the station.”

“I’ll send Nat,” Bucky spoke close to your ear, sending a strange tingle up your spine.

Two men rushed toward Steve. One of them had blue hair, shaved on the sides, and styled in a Mohawk. Even from where you stood, you could see that his blue hair had faded a bit and his dirty blond roots were showing. The second man was talking animatedly while Steve looked down at his feet.

“Captain America is the blond,” you told Bucky.

You tilted your head to look at him. He was staring menacingly at the man who was still shouting at Steve. You caught a bit of their conversation. “Rule number one: a hero is only as good as his weapon! Where is your shield?”

“Sam Wilson,” Bucky muttered through clenched teeth.

“Who’s Sam Wilson?”

“The trainer of heroes,” Bucky replied without looking away from Sam. “If he’s training a new one, I wouldn't give much for his chances.”

“Is that a threat?” you asked with furrowed brows.

Bucky straightened his suit and smoothed his hand over his tie. He held his gaze straight ahead and his head held high.

“No, darlin’, it’s a promise.”

Part 3

[shsummertimefest-blog]

Love, Spoken And Unspoken

Enjoy, @alecsplushpillow!

Sam, I hope you enjoy the personal touches that I’ve included in this one - and that they give you a chuckle, at least! Love & Hugs! XX   The Oracle!

[Read on AO3]

Love, Spoken And Unspoken

As the Torchwood credits rolled, Magnus couldn’t help but tease his peerlessly handsome boyfriend, as they spooned on the couch.  ‘I think you’d look almost as hot as Captain Jack himself in a greatcoat, Alexander,’ he whispered, nuzzling into the attractively messy locks that tickled his nose.  He was rebuked (or maybe rewarded?) with a playful slap to his butt cheek.  Magnus laughed deep in his throat as a territorial grip replaced it.

‘You have a ‘thing’ for the tall-dark-and-handsome type, clearly,’ Alec observed, as his fingers began to move of their own accord, kneading clenched muscles beneath the black pinstripe trousers Magnus was still wearing after returning from a client. ‘And they all seem to have blue eyes, I’ve noticed,’ he added as an afterthought, almost to himself.

Magnus’s arms pulled him even closer, sneaky fingers slotting between the poppers on the denim shirt.  ‘That’s because they’re a very distant second-best colour after yours.’  Placing his lips to Alec’s ear, he smiled. ‘No other hazel eyes could compare, my darling.’  He nipped at his lobe.  ‘No other.  Full stop.’

Alec thrilled to the words, even though he pretended to scoff at them. Unfortunately, his blush gave him away.  ‘I get it,’ he said softly, twisting his body so that he was facing Magnus, drinking him in.  ‘I also have a ‘thing’ for the tall-dark-and-handsome type.’  Scarlet tipped hair bounced as this was acknowledged.  ‘Except I love brown eyes every bit as much as gold ones. No other eyes compare.’  Magnus shuffled closer to press their foreheads together, his gaze unwavering.  ‘No other.  Full stop.’  

And like every time before when they were compelled to be as close as they could possibly get, it was their kisses that spoke louder than words. Slow, lingering and intimate,,,,,perfect for a couple with a lazy night in front of the TV ahead of them.  Torture for someone with a busy evening of work-related research to look forward to.  With a hard last kiss Magnus pulled back, untangling himself from the altogether too-comfortable hold of his boyfriend as he muttered apologies for having to break up their cosy canoodling in order to attend to warlock duties.  

Knowing from experience that it could mean hours of Magnus being locked inside his office pouring over ancient texts and tomes, Alec swallowed his own disappointment and concentrated instead on making things easier for his boyfriend. Silencing the unnecessary explanations with his index finger, he stood up pulling Magnus with him, unable to refrain from stealing one last hug.

‘I understand. I’ve got reports that need finishing anyway,’ he confessed, scaling down their contact to just holding hands but still unwilling to let him go.  ‘How about I get us a Starbucks while you make a start? I need my caffeine intake before I deal with paperwork.’

Magnus nodded in sympathy. ‘I would love that.’ And with a wink, he withdrew to his study.

Alec missed him already, but his one consolation was the view his retreat afforded him.  His sigh was bone-deep and lengthy.  Magnus in casual clothes was an arresting sight, but Magnus in a pinstripe three-piece suit was simply criminal, and although he’d removed his jacket upon returning home, the blood-red silk shirt and tie made him look as hot as fucking Hades, and Alec wanted to be engulfed in his heat. Like, now.

‘Coffee, Alexander!’ came the amused voice of the Devil himself from his pit-come-office.

Rolling his eyes, Alec silently cursed his annoyingly self-aware partner as he headed out.

It was over an hour later before he returned.

Rushing in, beverages in hand, Alec made a bee-line for his studious boyfriend ensconced in his throne-like leather chair, dropping a kiss on his head before handing him his order. ‘Magnus, I’m sorry, I-’

‘Don’t apologise, it was Sam again, wasn’t it?’ he asked, a look of understanding on his face as he sipped at the extra creamy cinnamon coffee with added chocolate and strawberries. Nodding confirmation, Alec winced on Magnus’ behalf at the consumption of such a sugary sweet drink.  ‘An accomplished barista she may be, but a typical Scorpio first and foremost.’ Alec leaned back against the desk next to him and raised an inquisitive brow.  ‘She reminds me of myself in a lot of ways - curious, determined, resourceful - but it does mean you face a barrage of questions every time you’re in a hurry.  Who would refuse her though? She’s not ruled by the God of War for no reason!’

Alec chuckled. ‘Well, she certainly asked some probing questions, I couldn’t get away. They were mostly about you though. I think you have a fan.’ Magnus smiled his agreement, obviously fond of her too.  ‘She kept quoting poetry at me every time I answered her, said love always inspired her.’ They shared a look warmer than the coffee itself, and Alec quickly gulped down the last of his drink, knowing if he didn’t leave the room now, Magnus would get nothing done tonight.

Magnus’ grin told him he was right. ‘Thank you for the sustenance, darling. I believe I might actually be getting somewhere with this confounded invocation, now that I’ve had a chance to brush up on my Old High German. It was a little rusty, I’m afraid.’  

Alec’s pride in his abilities was evident in the adoring look he gave him as he collected a (relatively safe) kiss on the cheek, as well as Magnus’ empty cup before exiting the room, both wearing the expression of a lovesick teenager.

Magnus tried (unsuccessfully) to school his features as he returned to his task.

After two hours of shuffling patrol statements, tidying an already pristine loft and familiarising himself with Gordon Ramsay’s version of Jocelyn’s famous chicken cacciatore (as recommended by the vampire) which he planned to cook for Magnus tomorrow night, Alec had decided they’d been apart long enough. So, armed with Sam’s eagerly loaned book of poems, he peeked around the office doorway, about to ask if he might keep him company, when he felt his heartbeat skid to a halt.

Still seated at his scroll-cluttered desk, Magnus had shed his tie and waistcoat and undone a number of buttons on his shirt, exposing what Alec knew was his Achilles Heel, but was actually in fact Magnus’ Adam’s apple. What a great way to die, he thought as he savoured the way it bobbed whilst he read to himself.  ‘Can I help you, sweetheart, or am I merely an object for your amusement?’ came the sultry voice that still made him shiver with pleasure whenever he heard it.  Even though he’d just been caught with his hand down his pants, almost literally, Alec didn’t care.

‘I’ve missed you, and I came..’ An undignified snort interrupted him, but he shook his head and persevered.  ‘I came to ask if I could join you in here. I promise I won’t distract you, I’ll just be reading.’  Magnus bid him enter with an outstretched hand, pulling him down onto his lap with a playful tug before cradling him in his arms as he inhaled the faint traces of citrus from their shower that morning.

‘I’ve missed you too, Alexander.  Even though you’re only outside the door, it’s still too far away.’  Alec pressed his lips to Magnus’ throat, enjoying the vibration of his words against them as he spoke, letting his fingertips explore the collarbone that was begging to be touched underneath the silk. The hitch in his lover’s throat was deeply arousing.  ‘Darling, I won’t be able to finish anything but your fine self, if you keep touching me like that, and I’d hate to think I’ve denied us great sofa sex for no reason at all.’  

With a flick of his tongue to the pulse point on his neck, Alec sighed, ‘You’re right. I’ll be all the way over there by the fire, maintaining a respectful distance.’  Gracefully, he rose to his feet before crossing the room to sit by the hearth, opening Sam’s book to the bookmarked page.  After a quick glance up to find Magnus still watching him, he jabbed a finger at the parchments requiring attention in front of him.  ‘Finish it. Quickly.’ Receiving a mock salute, Alec began to read.

‘Found a quote you like, sweetheart?’ Magnus asked, standing over him an hour later.  Alec tapped the rug in front of him, enveloping a weary but grateful boyfriend with his legs and his arms, whilst still holding the page open on a poem that had resonated instantly with him when he’d read it. Taking a shaky breath, he read an extract from Beau Taplin’s The Defining Moment over Magnus’ shoulder:

“You were an unexpected surprise.

The defining moment. The collision of stars that slammed

into me hard and sent my neat little world plummeting into

the ocean.

I never expected it to be you, you know?

But it is you.  It’s all you.  And now there’s no looking back.”

Alec kissed his temple. ‘This is what you are to me….only I could never have said it so….so well.’

‘Oh my romantic nephilim, it’s beautiful,’ Magnus agreed.  Reaching forward, he took the book and closed it, setting it to one side before pushing Alec down onto the fire-warmed rug, his face a picture of happiness and desire. Straddling Alec’s thighs, he laced their hands together, holding his gaze.  ‘I have a quote of my own from that poet, called The Goodnight, and it’s exactly how you make me feel.’  

“I want to fall to sleep with you,

and I couldn’t care less

if it were in

layers upon layers

of clothing

or only our skin,

all I really want is to wake up

not knowing

where I end and you begin.”

Lifting their hands to his lips, Alec held his lover’s gaze as he kissed them, letting a tear slip from his eye, his heart fit to burst.

‘Me too,’ he whispered.

[samuelfields]

How to Buy Stocks

When investing for your retirement, the single biggest risk is not making enough money by the time you retire.

Stocks are the key piece to getting our money growing fast enough. Without them, we’ll have a really hard time retiring comfortably.

So what’s the best way to buy them?

We can buy stocks directly. Or we can buy a “basket” of stocks through an index fund.

Our Approach on Investing in The Stock Market

For the majority of investors, index funds are the best way to go.

Index funds invest in a basket of US, international stocks, bonds, or other type of investment. You can pick and choose the type of investment that you want your index fund to focus on. For example, an index fund of the US stock market will invest broadly across all public US companies. The goal of the fund isn’t to beat market performance, the goal is to match the performance of the market as closely as possible. Since the market grows at an average of about 8% per year, the growth rate adds up nicely over time.

Index funds have several major advantages compared to building portfolios yourself:

They help you save on costs, index funds charge very low fees compared to active funds that try to beat the market.

Not only are they cheaper, they usually beat returns of actively managed funds. It’s one of the few cases where you get a better return while paying less.

They are less risky since they’re diversified across an entire market instead of a handful of companies.

Nobody knows where the market is going. I recommend putting 90% of your investments in index funds or life-cycle funds. Only after doing that should you think about investing the remaining 10% of your money in individual stocks.

I fully support allocating up to 10% of your portfolio on individual stocks. I do it myself and it’s a great way to scratch that “investment itch.” Just keep it limited to a small portion of your portfolio that you can afford to lose.

Now let’s get into how to buy stocks.

Set Up a Stock Brokerage Account

You will be buying stocks through an online broker. There are dozens of them offering all kinds of services. You need someone dependable and low-cost.

We recommend TD Ameritrade. They are a self-serving broker and have a simple and intuitive interface, which is great for beginners. They are also commission-free.

Opening an account with TD Ameritrade is quick and easy, you can do it in just six steps.

Step 1: Go to TD Ameritrade’s website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Open New Account’ button.

Step 3: You need an Individual Brokerage account to invest in stocks. So, start your application for it.

Step 4: Fill in the required information, which includes your personal, financial details, and your employer’s information.

Step 5: After filling the form, you need to review your application before submitting it. The folks at TD Ameritrade will then take a couple of days to go through your information.

Step 6: Once your account is approved, you can start investing in stocks. Unlike some other brokerages, TD Ameritrade does not require you to make a minimum deposit to begin.

Whether you’re buying index funds or individual stocks, the process is the same.

Now that you have set up a brokerage account, you are all set to buy your first stock. Which brings us to…

Consider The Stock You Want to Buy and Why

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed before buying your first stock. You may be thinking: There are so many stocks! Which one should I buy?

I’m not going to supercoat this, picking the right stock is brutally difficult.

Back in 2017, I bought a few shares of Tesla. I happened to buy it right at the top of $360. It then dropped, bouncing around and eventually going as low as $190. Finally, after 2.5 years, it’s up to $430. And it’s still not matching the performance of the overall market. My index funds have drastically outperformed my stock picks.

In all my reading on investment strategy, I’ve come across a few adages that I’ve found helpful:

For an investment to succeed, the market needs to think you’re wrong today but end up agreeing with you in the future.

Even with outperforming stocks, it’s incredibly difficult to hold on during the dips. Take my Tesla example, it would have been easy for me to bow out and sell when it dipped below $200. Periods like this happen to every stock. Even megawinners like Amazon and Netflix had periods where they looked awful.

A cheap stock is not always good, and an expensive stock is not always bad. It’s whether the company is worth the price.

As Warren Buffet teaches, you have an unlimited number of “at-bats.” You can wait as long as you want before finding a deal that’s truly in your sweet spot. Keep waiting until it comes along.

Right now, I’m still developing my own philosophy on investing. I’ve gone ahead and set a rule for myself: I can only invest $1000 into a company and I can’t add or sell beyond the initial purchase. This keeps me from making emotional decisions or overreacting to news. Instead, I make my bet and begin tracking the performance of the company to see how my analysis plays out.

Again, if you’re not sure which stock to buy, find a broad US index fund at your brokerage company. 90% of your portfolio should be in index funds anyway and there’s nothing wrong with making it 100%.

If you want to play things conservatively, do a simple 60/40 portfolio. This is a classic and it’s super simple.

Another option is to use the age rule. Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage into stocks, the rest into bonds. You will have to adjust your allocation year-to-year but it’s still a simple way to invest more heavily in stocks as you’re younger and then shift into bonds as you get closer to retirement.

Place Your Order

When you know which stocks you want to buy, head over to TD Ameritrade’s website, login to your account, and place an order using the following steps.

Step 1: Go to the “Trade” tab and then click on “Buy/Sell” under Stocks and ETFs. Here, you have to fill three things. First, under Action, select “Buy”. Second, under Symbol, type in the symbol of the stock you want to buy. If you don’t know it, you can use the symbol lookup option on the same page. Third, type in the number of shares you want to buy.

Step 2: Select “Market” under Order Type. By using this option, you will buy the stock at the available price when you confirm the order. A market order ensures your order gets executed. Alternatively, if you want to buy the stock at a specific price, use a “Limit” order and put in the price at which you want to buy it. Your order will get executed only if the stock reaches your price.

Step 3: Under “Time-in-force”, you can go with the Day option, which means that your order will be valid till the end of that day.

Step 4: Click on the Review Button.

Step 5: Check the details you have filled in and then click on “Place Order”.

Step 6: To confirm if your order went through, go to the “Trade” tab and select “Order Status”.

You Bought Your Stock: Now What?

The biggest one is looking at the stock price every day. It’s a recipe for needless anxiety. I don’t do it, and neither should you. Most of the time,  everyday price movement is just noise. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I checked my investments on a weekly basis. For me, it was a sign that I wasn’t enjoying my job and used my investments as a distraction. Once I improved the quality of my day-to-day, the urge to check my investments disappeared. Now I check them once a quarter at most. If you’re checking your portfolio regularly, it could be a sign that there’s a larger issue in your life that needs to get resolved.

The second mistake is selling your stocks at the slightest fall. ALL stocks go down at some point. So, trust your judgment and don’t keep buying and selling. The easiest way to avoid this is to stop checking your stocks so often. The less you look, the less of a chance you’ll see a loss and be inclined to sell.

When To Sell A Stock?

There are four valid reasons for selling your stocks:

You have achieved your personal finance goals. Once you hit the number that you need to retire, move the bulk of your portfolio into safer investments like bonds and CDs. Take the win and focus on capital preservation. Keeping capital is a very different skillset to growing capital. This becomes especially important if you get a large windfall and hit your retirement number earlier than normal.

You need the money. I understand that things may go south and you need money for an emergency. First use the funds from your emergency savings. Sell your stocks ONLY if that doesn’t cover the expense. It should be your last resort and never do this for a purchase that can be delayed.

Performance has been weak and it’s time to get out. This one is really difficult to judge accurately, all of us have a tendency to jump out at the worst possible moment. Even though we lose money, we all tend to buy high and sell low. Check your biases and ask yourself if weak performance in your picks is truly permanent. This shouldn’t be the case with index funds, every market goes through cycles. It’s only something to worry about with individual stocks. That said, sometimes we make a bad pick and it’s time to take the loss.

It’s time for re-allocation. When a market has a fantastic set of gains in a year, it’ll become a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended. You might set a target to have 80% investments in stocks but it could become 90% through appreciation. You’ll get superior returns by selling some of your stock wins and re-investing that into bonds. This keeps your portfolio in line with your goals while helping you sell high and buy low.

To sell a stock, follow the same procedure as you did when you bought it, but instead of “Buy”, select “Sell” under action.

What You Need To Know About Taxes On Stocks

You will have to pay taxes on the profits you make with stocks. This is called a capital gains tax. If you sell a stock within a year of buying it, you will have to pay a short-term capital gains tax. It is equal to your normal income tax rate.

If you sell a stock after having held it for more than a year, you will have to pay a long-term capital gains tax. It is 0% if your individual annual income is less than $39,375, 15% of your profits if your income is under $434,550, and 20% if its more than that. These tax brackets go up by a bit if you are married and file joint taxes of if you’re the head of household.

Keep in mind that these are marginal tax rates. The higher tax rates only apply to income in that bracket, not the entire taxable amount. So you pay 0% in taxes on your first $39,375 regardless of how much you earned, then 15% after that until $434,550. Then 20% on anything above that.

How to Buy Stocks is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-buy-stocks/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[kennethherrerablog]

How to Buy Stocks

When investing for your retirement, the single biggest risk is not making enough money by the time you retire.

Stocks are the key piece to getting our money growing fast enough. Without them, we’ll have a really hard time retiring comfortably.

So what’s the best way to buy them?

We can buy stocks directly. Or we can buy a “basket” of stocks through an index fund.

Our Approach on Investing in The Stock Market

For the majority of investors, index funds are the best way to go.

Index funds invest in a basket of US, international stocks, bonds, or other type of investment. You can pick and choose the type of investment that you want your index fund to focus on. For example, an index fund of the US stock market will invest broadly across all public US companies. The goal of the fund isn’t to beat market performance, the goal is to match the performance of the market as closely as possible. Since the market grows at an average of about 8% per year, the growth rate adds up nicely over time.

Index funds have several major advantages compared to building portfolios yourself:

They help you save on costs, index funds charge very low fees compared to active funds that try to beat the market.

Not only are they cheaper, they usually beat returns of actively managed funds. It’s one of the few cases where you get a better return while paying less.

They are less risky since they’re diversified across an entire market instead of a handful of companies.

Nobody knows where the market is going. I recommend putting 90% of your investments in index funds or life-cycle funds. Only after doing that should you think about investing the remaining 10% of your money in individual stocks.

I fully support allocating up to 10% of your portfolio on individual stocks. I do it myself and it’s a great way to scratch that “investment itch.” Just keep it limited to a small portion of your portfolio that you can afford to lose.

Now let’s get into how to buy stocks.

Set Up a Stock Brokerage Account

You will be buying stocks through an online broker. There are dozens of them offering all kinds of services. You need someone dependable and low-cost.

We recommend TD Ameritrade. They are a self-serving broker and have a simple and intuitive interface, which is great for beginners. They are also commission-free.

Opening an account with TD Ameritrade is quick and easy, you can do it in just six steps.

Step 1: Go to TD Ameritrade’s website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Open New Account’ button.

Step 3: You need an Individual Brokerage account to invest in stocks. So, start your application for it.

Step 4: Fill in the required information, which includes your personal, financial details, and your employer’s information.

Step 5: After filling the form, you need to review your application before submitting it. The folks at TD Ameritrade will then take a couple of days to go through your information.

Step 6: Once your account is approved, you can start investing in stocks. Unlike some other brokerages, TD Ameritrade does not require you to make a minimum deposit to begin.

Whether you’re buying index funds or individual stocks, the process is the same.

Now that you have set up a brokerage account, you are all set to buy your first stock. Which brings us to…

Consider The Stock You Want to Buy and Why

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed before buying your first stock. You may be thinking: There are so many stocks! Which one should I buy?

I’m not going to supercoat this, picking the right stock is brutally difficult.

Back in 2017, I bought a few shares of Tesla. I happened to buy it right at the top of $360. It then dropped, bouncing around and eventually going as low as $190. Finally, after 2.5 years, it’s up to $430. And it’s still not matching the performance of the overall market. My index funds have drastically outperformed my stock picks.

In all my reading on investment strategy, I’ve come across a few adages that I’ve found helpful:

For an investment to succeed, the market needs to think you’re wrong today but end up agreeing with you in the future.

Even with outperforming stocks, it’s incredibly difficult to hold on during the dips. Take my Tesla example, it would have been easy for me to bow out and sell when it dipped below $200. Periods like this happen to every stock. Even megawinners like Amazon and Netflix had periods where they looked awful.

A cheap stock is not always good, and an expensive stock is not always bad. It’s whether the company is worth the price.

As Warren Buffet teaches, you have an unlimited number of “at-bats.” You can wait as long as you want before finding a deal that’s truly in your sweet spot. Keep waiting until it comes along.

Right now, I’m still developing my own philosophy on investing. I’ve gone ahead and set a rule for myself: I can only invest $1000 into a company and I can’t add or sell beyond the initial purchase. This keeps me from making emotional decisions or overreacting to news. Instead, I make my bet and begin tracking the performance of the company to see how my analysis plays out.

Again, if you’re not sure which stock to buy, find a broad US index fund at your brokerage company. 90% of your portfolio should be in index funds anyway and there’s nothing wrong with making it 100%.

If you want to play things conservatively, do a simple 60/40 portfolio. This is a classic and it’s super simple.

Another option is to use the age rule. Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage into stocks, the rest into bonds. You will have to adjust your allocation year-to-year but it’s still a simple way to invest more heavily in stocks as you’re younger and then shift into bonds as you get closer to retirement.

Place Your Order

When you know which stocks you want to buy, head over to TD Ameritrade’s website, login to your account, and place an order using the following steps.

Step 1: Go to the “Trade” tab and then click on “Buy/Sell” under Stocks and ETFs. Here, you have to fill three things. First, under Action, select “Buy”. Second, under Symbol, type in the symbol of the stock you want to buy. If you don’t know it, you can use the symbol lookup option on the same page. Third, type in the number of shares you want to buy.

Step 2: Select “Market” under Order Type. By using this option, you will buy the stock at the available price when you confirm the order. A market order ensures your order gets executed. Alternatively, if you want to buy the stock at a specific price, use a “Limit” order and put in the price at which you want to buy it. Your order will get executed only if the stock reaches your price.

Step 3: Under “Time-in-force”, you can go with the Day option, which means that your order will be valid till the end of that day.

Step 4: Click on the Review Button.

Step 5: Check the details you have filled in and then click on “Place Order”.

Step 6: To confirm if your order went through, go to the “Trade” tab and select “Order Status”.

You Bought Your Stock: Now What?

The biggest one is looking at the stock price every day. It’s a recipe for needless anxiety. I don’t do it, and neither should you. Most of the time,  everyday price movement is just noise. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I checked my investments on a weekly basis. For me, it was a sign that I wasn’t enjoying my job and used my investments as a distraction. Once I improved the quality of my day-to-day, the urge to check my investments disappeared. Now I check them once a quarter at most. If you’re checking your portfolio regularly, it could be a sign that there’s a larger issue in your life that needs to get resolved.

The second mistake is selling your stocks at the slightest fall. ALL stocks go down at some point. So, trust your judgment and don’t keep buying and selling. The easiest way to avoid this is to stop checking your stocks so often. The less you look, the less of a chance you’ll see a loss and be inclined to sell.

When To Sell A Stock?

There are four valid reasons for selling your stocks:

You have achieved your personal finance goals. Once you hit the number that you need to retire, move the bulk of your portfolio into safer investments like bonds and CDs. Take the win and focus on capital preservation. Keeping capital is a very different skillset to growing capital. This becomes especially important if you get a large windfall and hit your retirement number earlier than normal.

You need the money. I understand that things may go south and you need money for an emergency. First use the funds from your emergency savings. Sell your stocks ONLY if that doesn’t cover the expense. It should be your last resort and never do this for a purchase that can be delayed.

Performance has been weak and it’s time to get out. This one is really difficult to judge accurately, all of us have a tendency to jump out at the worst possible moment. Even though we lose money, we all tend to buy high and sell low. Check your biases and ask yourself if weak performance in your picks is truly permanent. This shouldn’t be the case with index funds, every market goes through cycles. It’s only something to worry about with individual stocks. That said, sometimes we make a bad pick and it’s time to take the loss.

It’s time for re-allocation. When a market has a fantastic set of gains in a year, it’ll become a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended. You might set a target to have 80% investments in stocks but it could become 90% through appreciation. You’ll get superior returns by selling some of your stock wins and re-investing that into bonds. This keeps your portfolio in line with your goals while helping you sell high and buy low.

To sell a stock, follow the same procedure as you did when you bought it, but instead of “Buy”, select “Sell” under action.

What You Need To Know About Taxes On Stocks

You will have to pay taxes on the profits you make with stocks. This is called a capital gains tax. If you sell a stock within a year of buying it, you will have to pay a short-term capital gains tax. It is equal to your normal income tax rate.

If you sell a stock after having held it for more than a year, you will have to pay a long-term capital gains tax. It is 0% if your individual annual income is less than $39,375, 15% of your profits if your income is under $434,550, and 20% if its more than that. These tax brackets go up by a bit if you are married and file joint taxes of if you’re the head of household.

Keep in mind that these are marginal tax rates. The higher tax rates only apply to income in that bracket, not the entire taxable amount. So you pay 0% in taxes on your first $39,375 regardless of how much you earned, then 15% after that until $434,550. Then 20% on anything above that.

How to Buy Stocks is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

How to Buy Stocks published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[paulckrueger]

How to Buy Stocks

When investing for your retirement, the single biggest risk is not making enough money by the time you retire.

Stocks are the key piece to getting our money growing fast enough. Without them, we’ll have a really hard time retiring comfortably.

So what’s the best way to buy them?

We can buy stocks directly. Or we can buy a “basket” of stocks through an index fund.

Our Approach on Investing in The Stock Market

For the majority of investors, index funds are the best way to go.

Index funds invest in a basket of US, international stocks, bonds, or other type of investment. You can pick and choose the type of investment that you want your index fund to focus on. For example, an index fund of the US stock market will invest broadly across all public US companies. The goal of the fund isn’t to beat market performance, the goal is to match the performance of the market as closely as possible. Since the market grows at an average of about 8% per year, the growth rate adds up nicely over time.

Index funds have several major advantages compared to building portfolios yourself:

They help you save on costs, index funds charge very low fees compared to active funds that try to beat the market.

Not only are they cheaper, they usually beat returns of actively managed funds. It’s one of the few cases where you get a better return while paying less.

They are less risky since they’re diversified across an entire market instead of a handful of companies.

Nobody knows where the market is going. I recommend putting 90% of your investments in index funds or life-cycle funds. Only after doing that should you think about investing the remaining 10% of your money in individual stocks.

I fully support allocating up to 10% of your portfolio on individual stocks. I do it myself and it’s a great way to scratch that “investment itch.” Just keep it limited to a small portion of your portfolio that you can afford to lose.

Now let’s get into how to buy stocks.

Set Up a Stock Brokerage Account

You will be buying stocks through an online broker. There are dozens of them offering all kinds of services. You need someone dependable and low-cost.

We recommend TD Ameritrade. They are a self-serving broker and have a simple and intuitive interface, which is great for beginners. They are also commission-free.

Opening an account with TD Ameritrade is quick and easy, you can do it in just six steps.

Step 1: Go to TD Ameritrade’s website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Open New Account’ button.

Step 3: You need an Individual Brokerage account to invest in stocks. So, start your application for it.

Step 4: Fill in the required information, which includes your personal, financial details, and your employer’s information.

Step 5: After filling the form, you need to review your application before submitting it. The folks at TD Ameritrade will then take a couple of days to go through your information.

Step 6: Once your account is approved, you can start investing in stocks. Unlike some other brokerages, TD Ameritrade does not require you to make a minimum deposit to begin.

Whether you’re buying index funds or individual stocks, the process is the same.

Now that you have set up a brokerage account, you are all set to buy your first stock. Which brings us to…

Consider The Stock You Want to Buy and Why

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed before buying your first stock. You may be thinking: There are so many stocks! Which one should I buy?

I’m not going to supercoat this, picking the right stock is brutally difficult.

Back in 2017, I bought a few shares of Tesla. I happened to buy it right at the top of $360. It then dropped, bouncing around and eventually going as low as $190. Finally, after 2.5 years, it’s up to $430. And it’s still not matching the performance of the overall market. My index funds have drastically outperformed my stock picks.

In all my reading on investment strategy, I’ve come across a few adages that I’ve found helpful:

For an investment to succeed, the market needs to think you’re wrong today but end up agreeing with you in the future.

Even with outperforming stocks, it’s incredibly difficult to hold on during the dips. Take my Tesla example, it would have been easy for me to bow out and sell when it dipped below $200. Periods like this happen to every stock. Even megawinners like Amazon and Netflix had periods where they looked awful.

A cheap stock is not always good, and an expensive stock is not always bad. It’s whether the company is worth the price.

As Warren Buffet teaches, you have an unlimited number of “at-bats.” You can wait as long as you want before finding a deal that’s truly in your sweet spot. Keep waiting until it comes along.

Right now, I’m still developing my own philosophy on investing. I’ve gone ahead and set a rule for myself: I can only invest $1000 into a company and I can’t add or sell beyond the initial purchase. This keeps me from making emotional decisions or overreacting to news. Instead, I make my bet and begin tracking the performance of the company to see how my analysis plays out.

Again, if you’re not sure which stock to buy, find a broad US index fund at your brokerage company. 90% of your portfolio should be in index funds anyway and there’s nothing wrong with making it 100%.

If you want to play things conservatively, do a simple 60/40 portfolio. This is a classic and it’s super simple.

Another option is to use the age rule. Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage into stocks, the rest into bonds. You will have to adjust your allocation year-to-year but it’s still a simple way to invest more heavily in stocks as you’re younger and then shift into bonds as you get closer to retirement.

Place Your Order

When you know which stocks you want to buy, head over to TD Ameritrade’s website, login to your account, and place an order using the following steps.

Step 1: Go to the “Trade” tab and then click on “Buy/Sell” under Stocks and ETFs. Here, you have to fill three things. First, under Action, select “Buy”. Second, under Symbol, type in the symbol of the stock you want to buy. If you don’t know it, you can use the symbol lookup option on the same page. Third, type in the number of shares you want to buy.

Step 2: Select “Market” under Order Type. By using this option, you will buy the stock at the available price when you confirm the order. A market order ensures your order gets executed. Alternatively, if you want to buy the stock at a specific price, use a “Limit” order and put in the price at which you want to buy it. Your order will get executed only if the stock reaches your price.

Step 3: Under “Time-in-force”, you can go with the Day option, which means that your order will be valid till the end of that day.

Step 4: Click on the Review Button.

Step 5: Check the details you have filled in and then click on “Place Order”.

Step 6: To confirm if your order went through, go to the “Trade” tab and select “Order Status”.

You Bought Your Stock: Now What?

The biggest one is looking at the stock price every day. It’s a recipe for needless anxiety. I don’t do it, and neither should you. Most of the time,  everyday price movement is just noise. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I checked my investments on a weekly basis. For me, it was a sign that I wasn’t enjoying my job and used my investments as a distraction. Once I improved the quality of my day-to-day, the urge to check my investments disappeared. Now I check them once a quarter at most. If you’re checking your portfolio regularly, it could be a sign that there’s a larger issue in your life that needs to get resolved.

The second mistake is selling your stocks at the slightest fall. ALL stocks go down at some point. So, trust your judgment and don’t keep buying and selling. The easiest way to avoid this is to stop checking your stocks so often. The less you look, the less of a chance you’ll see a loss and be inclined to sell.

When To Sell A Stock?

There are four valid reasons for selling your stocks:

You have achieved your personal finance goals. Once you hit the number that you need to retire, move the bulk of your portfolio into safer investments like bonds and CDs. Take the win and focus on capital preservation. Keeping capital is a very different skillset to growing capital. This becomes especially important if you get a large windfall and hit your retirement number earlier than normal.

You need the money. I understand that things may go south and you need money for an emergency. First use the funds from your emergency savings. Sell your stocks ONLY if that doesn’t cover the expense. It should be your last resort and never do this for a purchase that can be delayed.

Performance has been weak and it’s time to get out. This one is really difficult to judge accurately, all of us have a tendency to jump out at the worst possible moment. Even though we lose money, we all tend to buy high and sell low. Check your biases and ask yourself if weak performance in your picks is truly permanent. This shouldn’t be the case with index funds, every market goes through cycles. It’s only something to worry about with individual stocks. That said, sometimes we make a bad pick and it’s time to take the loss.

It’s time for re-allocation. When a market has a fantastic set of gains in a year, it’ll become a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended. You might set a target to have 80% investments in stocks but it could become 90% through appreciation. You’ll get superior returns by selling some of your stock wins and re-investing that into bonds. This keeps your portfolio in line with your goals while helping you sell high and buy low.

To sell a stock, follow the same procedure as you did when you bought it, but instead of “Buy”, select “Sell” under action.

What You Need To Know About Taxes On Stocks

You will have to pay taxes on the profits you make with stocks. This is called a capital gains tax. If you sell a stock within a year of buying it, you will have to pay a short-term capital gains tax. It is equal to your normal income tax rate.

If you sell a stock after having held it for more than a year, you will have to pay a long-term capital gains tax. It is 0% if your individual annual income is less than $39,375, 15% of your profits if your income is under $434,550, and 20% if its more than that. These tax brackets go up by a bit if you are married and file joint taxes of if you’re the head of household.

Keep in mind that these are marginal tax rates. The higher tax rates only apply to income in that bracket, not the entire taxable amount. So you pay 0% in taxes on your first $39,375 regardless of how much you earned, then 15% after that until $434,550. Then 20% on anything above that.

How to Buy Stocks is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-buy-stocks/

[andrewdburton]

How to Buy Stocks

When investing for your retirement, the single biggest risk is not making enough money by the time you retire.

Stocks are the key piece to getting our money growing fast enough. Without them, we’ll have a really hard time retiring comfortably.

So what’s the best way to buy them?

We can buy stocks directly. Or we can buy a “basket” of stocks through an index fund.

Our Approach on Investing in The Stock Market

For the majority of investors, index funds are the best way to go.

Index funds invest in a basket of US, international stocks, bonds, or other type of investment. You can pick and choose the type of investment that you want your index fund to focus on. For example, an index fund of the US stock market will invest broadly across all public US companies. The goal of the fund isn’t to beat market performance, the goal is to match the performance of the market as closely as possible. Since the market grows at an average of about 8% per year, the growth rate adds up nicely over time.

Index funds have several major advantages compared to building portfolios yourself:

They help you save on costs, index funds charge very low fees compared to active funds that try to beat the market.

Not only are they cheaper, they usually beat returns of actively managed funds. It’s one of the few cases where you get a better return while paying less.

They are less risky since they’re diversified across an entire market instead of a handful of companies.

Nobody knows where the market is going. I recommend putting 90% of your investments in index funds or life-cycle funds. Only after doing that should you think about investing the remaining 10% of your money in individual stocks.

I fully support allocating up to 10% of your portfolio on individual stocks. I do it myself and it’s a great way to scratch that “investment itch.” Just keep it limited to a small portion of your portfolio that you can afford to lose.

Now let’s get into how to buy stocks.

Set Up a Stock Brokerage Account

You will be buying stocks through an online broker. There are dozens of them offering all kinds of services. You need someone dependable and low-cost.

We recommend TD Ameritrade. They are a self-serving broker and have a simple and intuitive interface, which is great for beginners. They are also commission-free.

Opening an account with TD Ameritrade is quick and easy, you can do it in just six steps.

Step 1: Go to TD Ameritrade’s website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Open New Account’ button.

Step 3: You need an Individual Brokerage account to invest in stocks. So, start your application for it.

Step 4: Fill in the required information, which includes your personal, financial details, and your employer’s information.

Step 5: After filling the form, you need to review your application before submitting it. The folks at TD Ameritrade will then take a couple of days to go through your information.

Step 6: Once your account is approved, you can start investing in stocks. Unlike some other brokerages, TD Ameritrade does not require you to make a minimum deposit to begin.

Whether you’re buying index funds or individual stocks, the process is the same.

Now that you have set up a brokerage account, you are all set to buy your first stock. Which brings us to…

Consider The Stock You Want to Buy and Why

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed before buying your first stock. You may be thinking: There are so many stocks! Which one should I buy?

I’m not going to supercoat this, picking the right stock is brutally difficult.

Back in 2017, I bought a few shares of Tesla. I happened to buy it right at the top of $360. It then dropped, bouncing around and eventually going as low as $190. Finally, after 2.5 years, it’s up to $430. And it’s still not matching the performance of the overall market. My index funds have drastically outperformed my stock picks.

In all my reading on investment strategy, I’ve come across a few adages that I’ve found helpful:

For an investment to succeed, the market needs to think you’re wrong today but end up agreeing with you in the future.

Even with outperforming stocks, it’s incredibly difficult to hold on during the dips. Take my Tesla example, it would have been easy for me to bow out and sell when it dipped below $200. Periods like this happen to every stock. Even megawinners like Amazon and Netflix had periods where they looked awful.

A cheap stock is not always good, and an expensive stock is not always bad. It’s whether the company is worth the price.

As Warren Buffet teaches, you have an unlimited number of “at-bats.” You can wait as long as you want before finding a deal that’s truly in your sweet spot. Keep waiting until it comes along.

Right now, I’m still developing my own philosophy on investing. I’ve gone ahead and set a rule for myself: I can only invest $1000 into a company and I can’t add or sell beyond the initial purchase. This keeps me from making emotional decisions or overreacting to news. Instead, I make my bet and begin tracking the performance of the company to see how my analysis plays out.

Again, if you’re not sure which stock to buy, find a broad US index fund at your brokerage company. 90% of your portfolio should be in index funds anyway and there’s nothing wrong with making it 100%.

If you want to play things conservatively, do a simple 60/40 portfolio. This is a classic and it’s super simple.

Another option is to use the age rule. Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage into stocks, the rest into bonds. You will have to adjust your allocation year-to-year but it’s still a simple way to invest more heavily in stocks as you’re younger and then shift into bonds as you get closer to retirement.

Place Your Order

When you know which stocks you want to buy, head over to TD Ameritrade’s website, login to your account, and place an order using the following steps.

Step 1: Go to the “Trade” tab and then click on “Buy/Sell” under Stocks and ETFs. Here, you have to fill three things. First, under Action, select “Buy”. Second, under Symbol, type in the symbol of the stock you want to buy. If you don’t know it, you can use the symbol lookup option on the same page. Third, type in the number of shares you want to buy.

Step 2: Select “Market” under Order Type. By using this option, you will buy the stock at the available price when you confirm the order. A market order ensures your order gets executed. Alternatively, if you want to buy the stock at a specific price, use a “Limit” order and put in the price at which you want to buy it. Your order will get executed only if the stock reaches your price.

Step 3: Under “Time-in-force”, you can go with the Day option, which means that your order will be valid till the end of that day.

Step 4: Click on the Review Button.

Step 5: Check the details you have filled in and then click on “Place Order”.

Step 6: To confirm if your order went through, go to the “Trade” tab and select “Order Status”.

You Bought Your Stock: Now What?

The biggest one is looking at the stock price every day. It’s a recipe for needless anxiety. I don’t do it, and neither should you. Most of the time,  everyday price movement is just noise. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I checked my investments on a weekly basis. For me, it was a sign that I wasn’t enjoying my job and used my investments as a distraction. Once I improved the quality of my day-to-day, the urge to check my investments disappeared. Now I check them once a quarter at most. If you’re checking your portfolio regularly, it could be a sign that there’s a larger issue in your life that needs to get resolved.

The second mistake is selling your stocks at the slightest fall. ALL stocks go down at some point. So, trust your judgment and don’t keep buying and selling. The easiest way to avoid this is to stop checking your stocks so often. The less you look, the less of a chance you’ll see a loss and be inclined to sell.

When To Sell A Stock?

There are four valid reasons for selling your stocks:

You have achieved your personal finance goals. Once you hit the number that you need to retire, move the bulk of your portfolio into safer investments like bonds and CDs. Take the win and focus on capital preservation. Keeping capital is a very different skillset to growing capital. This becomes especially important if you get a large windfall and hit your retirement number earlier than normal.

You need the money. I understand that things may go south and you need money for an emergency. First use the funds from your emergency savings. Sell your stocks ONLY if that doesn’t cover the expense. It should be your last resort and never do this for a purchase that can be delayed.

Performance has been weak and it’s time to get out. This one is really difficult to judge accurately, all of us have a tendency to jump out at the worst possible moment. Even though we lose money, we all tend to buy high and sell low. Check your biases and ask yourself if weak performance in your picks is truly permanent. This shouldn’t be the case with index funds, every market goes through cycles. It’s only something to worry about with individual stocks. That said, sometimes we make a bad pick and it’s time to take the loss.

It’s time for re-allocation. When a market has a fantastic set of gains in a year, it’ll become a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended. You might set a target to have 80% investments in stocks but it could become 90% through appreciation. You’ll get superior returns by selling some of your stock wins and re-investing that into bonds. This keeps your portfolio in line with your goals while helping you sell high and buy low.

To sell a stock, follow the same procedure as you did when you bought it, but instead of “Buy”, select “Sell” under action.

What You Need To Know About Taxes On Stocks

You will have to pay taxes on the profits you make with stocks. This is called a capital gains tax. If you sell a stock within a year of buying it, you will have to pay a short-term capital gains tax. It is equal to your normal income tax rate.

If you sell a stock after having held it for more than a year, you will have to pay a long-term capital gains tax. It is 0% if your individual annual income is less than $39,375, 15% of your profits if your income is under $434,550, and 20% if its more than that. These tax brackets go up by a bit if you are married and file joint taxes of if you’re the head of household.

Keep in mind that these are marginal tax rates. The higher tax rates only apply to income in that bracket, not the entire taxable amount. So you pay 0% in taxes on your first $39,375 regardless of how much you earned, then 15% after that until $434,550. Then 20% on anything above that.

How to Buy Stocks is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-buy-stocks/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[mcjoelcain]

How to Buy Stocks

When investing for your retirement, the single biggest risk is not making enough money by the time you retire.

Stocks are the key piece to getting our money growing fast enough. Without them, we’ll have a really hard time retiring comfortably.

So what’s the best way to buy them?

We can buy stocks directly. Or we can buy a “basket” of stocks through an index fund.

Our Approach on Investing in The Stock Market

For the majority of investors, index funds are the best way to go.

Index funds invest in a basket of US, international stocks, bonds, or other type of investment. You can pick and choose the type of investment that you want your index fund to focus on. For example, an index fund of the US stock market will invest broadly across all public US companies. The goal of the fund isn’t to beat market performance, the goal is to match the performance of the market as closely as possible. Since the market grows at an average of about 8% per year, the growth rate adds up nicely over time.

Index funds have several major advantages compared to building portfolios yourself:

They help you save on costs, index funds charge very low fees compared to active funds that try to beat the market.

Not only are they cheaper, they usually beat returns of actively managed funds. It’s one of the few cases where you get a better return while paying less.

They are less risky since they’re diversified across an entire market instead of a handful of companies.

Nobody knows where the market is going. I recommend putting 90% of your investments in index funds or life-cycle funds. Only after doing that should you think about investing the remaining 10% of your money in individual stocks.

I fully support allocating up to 10% of your portfolio on individual stocks. I do it myself and it’s a great way to scratch that “investment itch.” Just keep it limited to a small portion of your portfolio that you can afford to lose.

Now let’s get into how to buy stocks.

Set Up a Stock Brokerage Account

You will be buying stocks through an online broker. There are dozens of them offering all kinds of services. You need someone dependable and low-cost.

We recommend TD Ameritrade. They are a self-serving broker and have a simple and intuitive interface, which is great for beginners. They are also commission-free.

Opening an account with TD Ameritrade is quick and easy, you can do it in just six steps.

Step 1: Go to TD Ameritrade’s website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Open New Account’ button.

Step 3: You need an Individual Brokerage account to invest in stocks. So, start your application for it.

Step 4: Fill in the required information, which includes your personal, financial details, and your employer’s information.

Step 5: After filling the form, you need to review your application before submitting it. The folks at TD Ameritrade will then take a couple of days to go through your information.

Step 6: Once your account is approved, you can start investing in stocks. Unlike some other brokerages, TD Ameritrade does not require you to make a minimum deposit to begin.

Whether you’re buying index funds or individual stocks, the process is the same.

Now that you have set up a brokerage account, you are all set to buy your first stock. Which brings us to…

Consider The Stock You Want to Buy and Why

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed before buying your first stock. You may be thinking: There are so many stocks! Which one should I buy?

I’m not going to supercoat this, picking the right stock is brutally difficult.

Back in 2017, I bought a few shares of Tesla. I happened to buy it right at the top of $360. It then dropped, bouncing around and eventually going as low as $190. Finally, after 2.5 years, it’s up to $430. And it’s still not matching the performance of the overall market. My index funds have drastically outperformed my stock picks.

In all my reading on investment strategy, I’ve come across a few adages that I’ve found helpful:

For an investment to succeed, the market needs to think you’re wrong today but end up agreeing with you in the future.

Even with outperforming stocks, it’s incredibly difficult to hold on during the dips. Take my Tesla example, it would have been easy for me to bow out and sell when it dipped below $200. Periods like this happen to every stock. Even megawinners like Amazon and Netflix had periods where they looked awful.

A cheap stock is not always good, and an expensive stock is not always bad. It’s whether the company is worth the price.

As Warren Buffet teaches, you have an unlimited number of “at-bats.” You can wait as long as you want before finding a deal that’s truly in your sweet spot. Keep waiting until it comes along.

Right now, I’m still developing my own philosophy on investing. I’ve gone ahead and set a rule for myself: I can only invest $1000 into a company and I can’t add or sell beyond the initial purchase. This keeps me from making emotional decisions or overreacting to news. Instead, I make my bet and begin tracking the performance of the company to see how my analysis plays out.

Again, if you’re not sure which stock to buy, find a broad US index fund at your brokerage company. 90% of your portfolio should be in index funds anyway and there’s nothing wrong with making it 100%.

If you want to play things conservatively, do a simple 60/40 portfolio. This is a classic and it’s super simple.

Another option is to use the age rule. Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage into stocks, the rest into bonds. You will have to adjust your allocation year-to-year but it’s still a simple way to invest more heavily in stocks as you’re younger and then shift into bonds as you get closer to retirement.

Place Your Order

When you know which stocks you want to buy, head over to TD Ameritrade’s website, login to your account, and place an order using the following steps.

Step 1: Go to the “Trade” tab and then click on “Buy/Sell” under Stocks and ETFs. Here, you have to fill three things. First, under Action, select “Buy”. Second, under Symbol, type in the symbol of the stock you want to buy. If you don’t know it, you can use the symbol lookup option on the same page. Third, type in the number of shares you want to buy.

Step 2: Select “Market” under Order Type. By using this option, you will buy the stock at the available price when you confirm the order. A market order ensures your order gets executed. Alternatively, if you want to buy the stock at a specific price, use a “Limit” order and put in the price at which you want to buy it. Your order will get executed only if the stock reaches your price.

Step 3: Under “Time-in-force”, you can go with the Day option, which means that your order will be valid till the end of that day.

Step 4: Click on the Review Button.

Step 5: Check the details you have filled in and then click on “Place Order”.

Step 6: To confirm if your order went through, go to the “Trade” tab and select “Order Status”.

You Bought Your Stock: Now What?

The biggest one is looking at the stock price every day. It’s a recipe for needless anxiety. I don’t do it, and neither should you. Most of the time,  everyday price movement is just noise. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I checked my investments on a weekly basis. For me, it was a sign that I wasn’t enjoying my job and used my investments as a distraction. Once I improved the quality of my day-to-day, the urge to check my investments disappeared. Now I check them once a quarter at most. If you’re checking your portfolio regularly, it could be a sign that there’s a larger issue in your life that needs to get resolved.

The second mistake is selling your stocks at the slightest fall. ALL stocks go down at some point. So, trust your judgment and don’t keep buying and selling. The easiest way to avoid this is to stop checking your stocks so often. The less you look, the less of a chance you’ll see a loss and be inclined to sell.

When To Sell A Stock?

There are four valid reasons for selling your stocks:

You have achieved your personal finance goals. Once you hit the number that you need to retire, move the bulk of your portfolio into safer investments like bonds and CDs. Take the win and focus on capital preservation. Keeping capital is a very different skillset to growing capital. This becomes especially important if you get a large windfall and hit your retirement number earlier than normal.

You need the money. I understand that things may go south and you need money for an emergency. First use the funds from your emergency savings. Sell your stocks ONLY if that doesn’t cover the expense. It should be your last resort and never do this for a purchase that can be delayed.

Performance has been weak and it’s time to get out. This one is really difficult to judge accurately, all of us have a tendency to jump out at the worst possible moment. Even though we lose money, we all tend to buy high and sell low. Check your biases and ask yourself if weak performance in your picks is truly permanent. This shouldn’t be the case with index funds, every market goes through cycles. It’s only something to worry about with individual stocks. That said, sometimes we make a bad pick and it’s time to take the loss.

It’s time for re-allocation. When a market has a fantastic set of gains in a year, it’ll become a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended. You might set a target to have 80% investments in stocks but it could become 90% through appreciation. You’ll get superior returns by selling some of your stock wins and re-investing that into bonds. This keeps your portfolio in line with your goals while helping you sell high and buy low.

To sell a stock, follow the same procedure as you did when you bought it, but instead of “Buy”, select “Sell” under action.

What You Need To Know About Taxes On Stocks

You will have to pay taxes on the profits you make with stocks. This is called a capital gains tax. If you sell a stock within a year of buying it, you will have to pay a short-term capital gains tax. It is equal to your normal income tax rate.

If you sell a stock after having held it for more than a year, you will have to pay a long-term capital gains tax. It is 0% if your individual annual income is less than $39,375, 15% of your profits if your income is under $434,550, and 20% if its more than that. These tax brackets go up by a bit if you are married and file joint taxes of if you’re the head of household.

Keep in mind that these are marginal tax rates. The higher tax rates only apply to income in that bracket, not the entire taxable amount. So you pay 0% in taxes on your first $39,375 regardless of how much you earned, then 15% after that until $434,550. Then 20% on anything above that.

How to Buy Stocks is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Money https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-buy-stocks/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[bittenpath-blog]

48cm:Opinion: How is Your 'Professional' Hygiene & Time Management?

Instead of talking about the same old apocalyptic industry news and dropping f-bombs on what happened to Interbike, let's back up and take a more intimate look at ourselves individually. If you asked me what I thought was the most significant thing that sets this industry apart from others (there are many), I would say it's each individual's personal and professional attachment to this industry and the very people (consumers), they serve. Elsewhere ... sure, people can care about and be proud of the work they do but not many industries come to mind where just about every individual is passionate to the point of being a customer or advocate of their own ties.

Think about that for a second. Whether you own/manage a shop or head up global sales for Sramano, no matter your role in this industry, you are an end-user and/or cycling advocate (a customer if you will) as well. In short, we are them and they are us.

But do they see us as we see them? How does our "hygiene" compare?

Before we try to "fix the industry" or adapt to what it being what it is, we should first consider how important it is to optimize and balance out personal and professional time management. I discuss this last, but time management is often more challenging to those working in the retail side of our industry. Their weeks don't often sync with many of their friends', family's, (and even customers'), and if not managed, can result in individuals burning out. Once burned out, motivation diminishes and things start falling apart (I recently discovered a sort of fun, analog way of doing something I've done for years ... but in a much more effective fashion and feel it's worth a conversation).

Poor Hygiene and How to Improve It

This isn't about bathing or conditioning your wizard beard, but when was the last time you checked yourself in the mirror or pretended to rub your eye with your shoulder only to inconspicuously sniff a pit to determine if your deodorant had expired? These things are a part of our daily lives because we care about our basic presentation ... yet we often overlook these attributes when it comes to our professional sides.

Stop looking at your hair and worrying about how many times you wore those socks ... (OK, maybe worry about the socks). Instead take a look at where your "Professional" Hygiene stands. What is "Professional Hygiene" you ask? At a glance, it's your professional identity and practices others observe during and OUTSIDE of your regular day to day. Oh ... and "PROFESSIONAL" identity and "social identity" are two very different things.

I looked at a good mix of people I know and know of and was a bit shocked how few either didn't have a LinkedIn account or hadn't updated it in years. Some just had an old profile picture with zero information attached and one of those owns a shop. I was also surprised to find, at the retail level, that mechanics seemed more likely to have an up-to-date account than other shop employees.

But I Don't Need It

But you do. LinkedIn is FREE and common ground for many of your moneymaking customers. Most are there to keep up and interact with others on a professional level as well as seek opportunities to collaborate and learn.

Facebook is social, and frankly, the ineffective white noise of the internet. On LinkedIn, no one is posting their kids' first day of school, there are very few political keyboard battles, and almost everyone is ... well, PROFESSIONAL! There is an unwritten rule of etiquette as LinkedIn is not the place to constantly pimp out everything you're trying to sell, however it is a great, more refined place to expose your own professional interests, events, knowledge, and accomplishments ... WHICH EXPOSES YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS! Who wouldn't love an opportunity to share all of those valuable assets with a likely successful group of professionals who like bikes ... FOR FREE? (Did I mention it was free?)

There are also an unlimited number of blogs and stories being posted by those you are 'friends' with or follow ... to which is yet another FREE resource of valuable information. Blogs like Occam's Razor offer an assortment of simple to understand viewpoints on digital marketing, consumer behavior, and more effective ways to engage them. Also, shops and employees can share everything from BRAIN articles and the latest promotional videos from brands you carry. Sharing pix and information about upcoming and past events, to passively bragging about the training seminars you send your staff too builds your brand's/business's integrity! Here in Atlanta, PMBA just completed a workshop with some great brands training shop technicians on some of their new technologies and assembly and maintenance procedures ... including e-bikes! Most of the attendees I know are sharing it all over Facebook but I only saw it posted twice on LinkedIn (atta boy Josh Boggs. Sorry James Stanfill, you don't get credit for your LinkedIn posts as it should be expected from you ... but it appears to have been a great week).

Every company, retailer, and individual in the bike industry should have an up-to-date LinkedIn account but read the next paragraph before getting too excited. There is a little upfront effort involved and it's important to get it right.

First Thing's First

Even if you've been in the same position for 10 years or own your business, everyone should have a current resume and curriculum vitae. Looking for a job isn't the only reason people build a resume or CV (though it is absolutely required if you are), but I cannot express enough how valuable it is to have an up-to-date record of your work history and accomplishments.

A resume should be a clear, one-page display of your work history with bullet points in order of importance under each employer and association (Include volunteer work as it oozes integrity). Usually no more than 10 years of work history is needed unless there are some key roles that relate to what you're doing or seeking to accomplish. Building a resume is also a great way to reflect on your professional growth and focus on your where you want to go.

A Curriculum Vitae (commonly called a CV) is more centered on actual experiences and accomplishments. Again, it should also be a clear, one-page item but allows you have a little more freedom in how you lay it out. It doesn't always have to be in chronological order and should be laid out based on what you want it to say about you. You can even have a few different versions depending on what you want to accomplish. While a basic, no-frills resume and CV are fine, there are a thousands of examples out there to help you determine your layout as well as services who put them together for you.

Time Can Be On Your Side

I was a great example of what not to do when it came to time management. There was a point in time I almost lost everything I was trying to accomplish ... and that was before I had kids! I Had a full-time job, worked weekend at a shop when I wasn't traveling to races, was a full-time college student, and got up at 5 a.m. to get in a couple hours of riding almost daily. I was used to maintaining a pretty insane study and training schedule in high-school but working so much started causing me to fall behind (and asleep) in class, be late to work, dating ... (what's that?), and constantly stressed. I eventually hit a wall but I wasn't going to settle just yet. I trained on an organized 'periodization' schedule so tried adopting other things to that format by jotting my daily schedule down minute by minute. I began with a block of required sleep time because I knew every other item's accomplishment relied on it. It was eye opening because I then started re-prioritizing my training and race schedule around my work and school load. Before I even put my schedule in play, I had this weight lifted off my shoulders.

Now with kids and some gray hairs, things are a little more predictable to manage, but some common phrases I hear myself say relate to putting off things I wish I hadn't. This includes personal projects, riding, friends, and worst of all, my family. For years I have continued to keep notes in endless medium sized spiral notebooks for both personal and work-related items and I have become a master of all things Google calendar. Well, I recently discovered there is a next level of organization to be had and I encourage everyone with a semi-busy life and ideas and creativity swarming around in their head to look up "Bullet Journaling." The best part is it's fun and instills a feeling of accomplishment every time you use it.

Arm Yourself with Bullets

I'm just going to say it ... I have a fancy little bound notebook with top-notch paper (Leuchtturm1917 A5) and a couple of dedicated pens. I even put it in a nice, handmade leather cover making it even fancier. It's called a Bullet Journal and it's the best thing I've done in a long time. There is an insecure group of men that have referred to it as a BuJo (let's agree, that's worse), but considering I shaved my legs for 25 years and rode everywhere in spandex I don't worry about things like that.

Here's a video explaining the basic format but the way I look at it, a Bullet Journal is a sole, central hub where you manually input everything from your personal and work life, to ideas and positive thoughts into a strategically indexed format. I still rely on Google Calendar as I live by several audible daily reminders, but nothing helps me remember or follow through with something better than opening a book and writing it down. Even seeing my rather well thought out content page triggers things I may have forgotten to address. It also keeps me on task with things I say I want to do to the point I actually follow through with them. For those that always feel they're playing catch-up (raises hand), this takes a lot of the edge off at the very least.

Don't Procrastinate and Take Care of Yourself First

We're in the middle of what some of the country calls 'Winter' and this is the perfect time to prepare for and make subtle changes ... including getting more organized. If you don't take care of your own needs and happiness first, it becomes harder to accomplish the things others, and you, are relying on. Breathe and start by doing something for you. And just create a LinkedIn account already!!! 

[topicprinter]

At the end of each year I publish a post to reflect on how it turned out. You can read the previous one here, including more background on how the site got started. This current one is also available as a blog post.2018Candy Japan ships surprise boxes of Japanese candy twice a month to subscribers around the world.Here's the chart showing the number of subscribers over time. As you can see, this was another down year, during which I lost 16% of subscribers. The year started with 385 and ended with 323 paying subscribers.Sales statsSales net of refunds: ~$100,000Expenses: ~$86,000 (candy 44%, shipping 34%, boxes 8%, ads 4%, other 10%)Profit: ~$13,000 (down from $38,374 last year)Big part of "other" expense is paying freelancers for newsletter writing, accounting, translation and customer support.Worth it?I would estimate spending around 3 hours per day this year running the service. The main tasks are finding and curating candies, shipping, customer support, content writing, tweaking marketing campaigns, doing bookkeeping (in three currencies), taking product photos and improving the website.Hours spent: ~1000Wage per hour: ~$16Hourly wage is down from ~$50 last year, as profit was less, but I spent more time trying to turn things around.Site statsVisits: 147,424Unique visitors: 127,447Page views: 231,651Traffic sources: Search engines (28%), Social media (34%), Paid ads (5%)What went wrongShipping issuesGermanyThis year most of the packages sent to Germany started to bounce back with no clear explanation as to why, so I decided to stop shipping there. As 10% of customers were from Germany, this alone explains most of this year's decline.SwedenSwedish post apparently got tired of paying for last-mile delivery of cheap items from China, and decided to block that by introducing delays and fees to customers.Most countries have a "de minimis" rule when it comes to online shopping. If you order something very cheap from abroad, you'll pay no duties on it. Sweden also had this rule, but removed it this year. Now Swedish shoppers have to pay duties on everything, even if the tax is just 1 krona. There is also an "administrative fee" of ~8 USD added on top. In my case, Swedish customers are charged $8 for the pleasure of being able to pay a $4 duty. These fees combined cost almost as much as the subscription itself.For some reason a single e-commerce platform is exempt from this: Wish. They have a special deal allowing VAT prepay, such that customers get their packages directly. I have emailed PostNord to ask how I could also do this, but was told that it is not possible.I am still allowing new orders from Sweden, but have stopped advertising to Swedish customers. The packages do make it to their destinations in the end, but with significant cost and annoyance for customers there, leading to more cancellations.Failed at getting customers from YouTube unboxingsAs I wrote in "YouTube Marketing Horror Story", to promote the service I contacted 180 YouTubers to ask them to make an unboxing video. Many agreed, and I spent a lot of time shipping many sample boxes, but in the end the unboxing videos resulted in no new subscribers.The experiment cost about $1000 and was more work than I had expected. I knew the chances of success were very low. However if it had worked, the reward would have been high, as I could have expanded the promotion 10-100x. I figured I had a 10% chance to make $100k, so it was worth spending $1000 to give it a shot.Unboxings DO work, as other companies keep pouring money into working with bigger channels, which I doubt they would continue to do month after month if it wasn't giving them a return. Just my particular approach of trying to work with tiny cosplay channels turned out not to work at all.SEO failuresTo get more content indexed by search engines, I put all of our old newsletters on the site, but Google decided not to index many of them. The ones that did get indexed only sent 227 clicks, and resulted in no conversions.I also tried making some of those annoying listicles such as "29 Mouth-Melting Japanese Chocolates". Only one of them sent a conversion: "8 International Candy Subscriptions You Must Try At Least Once". I'm sort of glad these didn't work, as they aren't much fun to write and they are way overdone already.What went rightSEO successesI noticed that some searches were not for a Japanese candy subscription, but rather just a one-time order.I created an article explaining how to buy a gift card for yourself to get only one month's worth of candy, and other articles describing the service from different perspectives. These articles sent 6 conversions during the year, but should keep doing the same year after year with no extra cost, giving a nice return on the time spent writing them.The traffic has buying intent and the content is about the service itself—not about something tangential. This might be widely applicable to other businesses as well; can you describe your service from another point of view to capture more search traffic?Faster shippingI used to only batch ship twice a month, and while this worked well to keep costs in check, it also meant a long wait for the first package. The shipping days are 14th and 28th of each month, meaning that if someone happened to subscribe on 15th or 29th, there would be a two week wait before work on the batch would even start.To improve on this, on top of the two monthly batches, when possible I made daily trips to the post office to airmail boxes right away to new subscribers that join. Many new members got their first boxes up to four times faster than before.Package trackingSince I was already making trips to the post office, I figured I might as well use tracking for these first packages as well. While I cannot afford to track every single package (it costs $5 per shipment), when I am available to send the first package, I also pay to track it and wrote a little script that sends the customer the tracking code.I would lose money if I always used tracking, but for a new customer's first shipment $5 seems like a worthwhile spend to build trust.Better customer supportI started doing all customer support myself, and turned getting to inbox zero a daily habit. Average reply time is now less than 24 hours, and this way I should get a better feel for any preventable common issues.I've tried asking anyone who cancels for a reason, but I haven't gotten much insight out of the responses. It might be better to ask on the website, as people might be more honest with a computer than when being questioned by the guy running the site.Cut costs by switching to StripeI now save about $2000 / year by using Stripe subscriptions, instead of doing recurring charges through middleware and charging through a separate gateway.When I started the site, I needed both a payment gateway and a recurring payments solution. I was paying about $2000 / year ($69/month + $0.10 cents per transaction + 1.25% of revenue) for middleware that did the recurring charging bit. On top of this I was also paying fees to the (non-Stripe) gateway I was using.Later I switched to Stripe, which has built-in subscriptions, so the middleware was no longer necessary. I estimated that removing it would take about a week, but in reality the transition took me about 3 weeks to do (should have multiplied my estimate by π).Waiting around for export & import to finish, taking the steps to shut down the existing middleware gracefully, and making new signups go directly to Stripe. I didn't want to mess up the transition, so finally I carefully went through all accounts to make sure that the transition worked properly. Finally when I thought I was done, I realized that I also had to create my own page for entering new card details when a card expires (middleware used to provide this).I finally completed the change in June, and have enjoyed not receiving middleware bills ever since.Got better at YouTube adsAs I wrote before in "What I Learned Burning $13,867 on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan", I've lost money with YouTube ads so far, and for a long time had the campaign paused. While it wasn't running, I still kept going through the data to see if I might be able to improve the campaign.I was able to get conversions 33% cheaper by studying the failed campaign run and aggressively excluding anyone unlikely to convert. The little bump at the end of the subscriber chart is from trying out the new tweaked campaign.I may have reached breakeven now, but the erratic nature of conversions (randomness is clumpy) and unknown quality of subscribers makes it difficult to be sure. I wouldn't be surprised if customers from YouTube tended to stick around for a shorter time than people actively looking for the site. I want to be a bit more careful this time, and so haven't gone all-in on the new campaign yet.One interesting thing I found is that if I cut the awkward "konnichiwa" from the beginning of the ad, people are almost twice as likely to watch it. As ads are paid based on view count, that might not be a good thing, but it's still interesting how such a little thing has such a big impact. For some reason YouTube prefers to show the uncut ad, and AdWords doesn't let you split-test video ads evenly, so I'm not sure which actually works better.ConclusionThanks for reading. While Candy Japan is still a great side project, it is no longer enough to completely cover my cost of living in Japan. There still are many tweaks to make to the service that could improve it, so I doubt I'll be able to resist working on it, but I should try to start spending more time prototyping (and hopefully launching) completely new ideas as well.

[nicksinardreviews-blog]

The 5 Best PAID eBook Creator Software

Finding The Best PAID eBook Creator

In my last article I covered the best free ebook creator software, and in this one I'm covering the best ebook creator apps that will cost you some money. Searching around for the right ebook software before you buy is super important, as many people are selling trash.

Hello, my name is Nick Sinard! I generally review products, but today I am showing you some of the best software for ebook authors. If you have some feedback or found some better software, then don't hesitate to comment on this!

#1 Sqribble

Sqribble is brand new ebook creator app that exploded when it launched. Over 11,500+ copies were sold in the past month!

Features

I have written a whole review of Sqribble, if you want to

see a more in-depth description.

Here are just a few of its great features:

50 Stunning eBook Templates to help make your ebook look great.

Automatic Page Numbering so you don't have to tediously insert them.

Unlimited Pages

300+ Google Fonts to help you customize your ebook.

FREE Commercial License (Go to my review and make sure they still have this bonus!)

What Are Customers Saying about Sqribble?

Actions speak louder than words, and the 11,500+ sales in one month with a ~8% refund rate tells you that buyers love it. I personally rated it 4.75/5 Stars, and if you go by buy/refund rate, then the customers give it 4.6/5 Stars.

From their own testimonials:

Sqribble makes it more easy and accessible for anyone to create ebooks in a matter of minutes. It's the BEST I've seen! The training and support is fantastic.

Is There An Issue?

There is a single issue that I can see with Sqribble that the support team is saying they are working on right now. That problem is that Sqribble cannot export to PDF. A minor issue considering it can easily convert to other popular formats, and considering they are fixing it.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

As I said in my review of Sqribble,

Sqribble is one of the best ebook programs. No questions asked. It has so many features and removes a ton of hassle from the author.

So, yes, it most definitely deserves to on this list, and deserves to be #1. It brings so much to the table, including the ability to make ebooks in just a few minutes.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can grab Sqribble at a discount price when you click through my link in my full review of Sqribble.  If you look at my review, then there is no way you are going to miss the coupon code for it.

The discounted price ($47) is very comparable to the other ebook creator apps in this list.

#2 Scrivener 3

Scrivener is a popular  ebook creator software that has some impressive features. Scrivener 3 is a big upgrade from the last version!

Scrivener 3 is only available for Mac OS as of me writing this, but they say they are working on a Windows version. You can also get Scrivener for IOS.

Features

Helps you manage your text by letting you instantly switch between the whole manuscript and 1 section. Focusing can be difficult, and this helps you focus.

It has the standard word processor features such as bold, italics, etc.

Their "Styles" feature let's you format different ways when you create different files.

Scrivener 3 can import tons of file types, including Word and OpenOffice documents, plain text files, Final Draft scripts, images, PDF documents, movies, sound files and web pages.

The Corkboard feature gives every section a index card that you can focus on individually, and when you rearrange them you rearrange the whole book accordingly.

"Outliner" let's you to have folders and subfolders so you can see an overview of your book, and it also tells you meta data and word count! Want to move a whole chapter? As easy as drag & drop.

Create your own templates.

Annotate and comment on your manuscript.

It has footnote support, and it includes templates for writing in MLA, APA and other common formats.

You can have 4 different documents up on the same screen so you can cross-reference! No more windows that cover up others.

Set targets for your writing!

Major revision in your future? "Screenshot" it to restore it later.

Compiling is more flexible and much easier to use than before.

Epub 3 and improved Kindle export have been added with Scrivener 3!

What Are Customers Saying About Scrivener 3?

Another user in a thread from Scrivener's home site said:

Do I love Scrivener? Yes, it's essential for my everyday work...

I can't really find too much negative feedback on Scrivener. The best I can find is comparisons between Scrivener and Word, but even then many won't talk badly of Scrivener.

One Big Problem (For Some)

Scrivener 3 is not on Windows OSs yet! They only have it up for Mac. The developers say they are working on it, so be patient and hope they aren't too far away from releasing it.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

Absolutely. I have seen almost nothing but positive reviews on Scrivener 3. If we go by user reviews, then it definitely deserves to be on the top 5 list of ebook creator software.

I'm writing a book myself, and reading up on this has gotten me to consider it.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

New users will need to pay $45 for Scrivener 3 for Mac, and old users will only need to pay $25 for Scrivener 3. So, if you already have it, then consider upgrading for a discounted price! If you want more details on the discount, then visit their own page detailing how to get the discount.

#3 Ulysses

Ulysses is the Apple Design Award Winner 2016, so you can tell that they know a little something about how to make a great app.

This is another app that definitely deserves a place among the best ebook creator software!

Features

Utilizes Apple's sleek and clean design to minimize distractions and clutter.

Handles regular word processor features as well such as footnoting.

You can adjust what your editor looks like, e.g. color.

You don't need a mouse. You can use your keyboard for absolutely everything.

Typewriter mode allows you to fix the text you are writing – top, center, bottom, or whatever.

Ulysses' library holds everything you ever write, and easily search it with the help of filters.

Break the text into groups and subgroups.

You can add images, PDFs, notes, etc. in your manuscript as well!

It also provides auto-save and auto-backup, so no more worrying about losing hours of work because of a mistake, dead battery, or some freak accident.

You can also track your writing goals.

Since it really adopts the Apple identity, it only makes since that it can fully sync with the iCloud.

Exports as HTML, PDF, DOCX, or ePub.

Direct Ulysses to Wordpress publishing!

What Are Customers Saying About Ulysses, Another eBook Creator App?

On the App Store it has the composite review score of 4.1/5 Stars! Here are just the headlines from the 3 latest reviews:

A must-have app for professional writersThe best! If you are serious about writing, this is the App!The best application for writers

I'm not kidding either!

Okay, What're The Issues?

There are two main issues with Ulysses, and both can be big problems for many people.

The first is that it can only be used on Apple products, so this rules out any non-Apple product users.

The second is that it is text only. That is, you need to know some markup to operate Ulysses. They try to spin this as a feature and benefit since you don't have to lift your fingers to move to some button.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

The award it received alone justifies it being here, and besides that it has many great features. It is a no-frills ebook creator that definitely will appeal to some writers. Writer's block is dangerous, but distractions are the more common and sometimes more derailing enemies.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can subscribe on a monthly ($4.99) or yearly ($39.99) basis. If you are a student, then you can also get a discount.

You can download the app and immediately get a 14 day free trial!

P.S.

The Ulysses team has a great tutorial section on their website, so make sure you check it out if you get it!

#4 Microsoft Word, The All-Purpose Word Processor

Everybody knows of MS Word as it is probably the most popular word processor. Let's talk about Word as an ebook creator app.

Features

You get what you see with Microsoft Word. While it has many features that can be somewhat hidden, it is pretty straightforward. I feel like I don't need to cover this too much as millions have used Word in their lifetimes.

Of course, Word is fantastic for the fact alone that so many programs require DOCX files.

You can also go to Microsoft Office's site and find free templates for things such as invoices, newsletters, brochures, etc.

What Are Customers Saying About Microsoft Word?

Millions use Microsoft Word daily, so customer satisfaction must be relatively high.

Out of 272 reviews, MS Word has a review score of 4.7/5 Stars.

My Biggest Issue

Microsoft Word is the most popular word processor and is versatile; however, the versatility might be its downfall for ebook creation. In order to create an ebook one would still need to use a software like Calibre.

It's doable to use Word like an ebook creator, but there are other, better software for the task.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

Yes, purely for the fact that it is the most popular word processor in the world. You can write your ebook on Word and make an ebook with some supplementary software such as Calibre. So, as an ebook creator it is incomplete, but it does a fine job of letting you write your manuscript.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can try it for free for 1 month. There are a few payment plans.

You can buy the Office 365 Home suite that includes Word for $79.99/yr or $9.99/mo for 1 year. You can buy Office 365 Personal for $69.99/yr or $6.99/mo. If you are a student, then you can buy it for a one time purchase price of $119.99.

#5 Ultimate eBook Creator

Ultimate eBook Creator has more reviews on Amazon than any other ebook creator software, and is, in fact, Amazon's Choice when it comes to ebook software.

That said, its overall rating is 3.5/5 stars on Amazon, so let's get into it.

Two Immediate Problems

Here's the biggest problem: It only can be used on Windows 7, 8, and 10, so Mac users would need to download one of those 3 OSs to use this software.

The second biggest problem is that it was created back in May 2014; however, some reviewers in 2018 are still saying it is a great product.

Features

Here are the features of Ultimate eBook Creator:

Advanced formatting like MS Word

Spell Checker - Over 80 languages

User Interface in English, German

Auto generates Table of Contents

Import manuscript in Word, PDF

Insert text, images

Create Links

Bookmarks & link to bookmarks

Embed Audio, Video

Create Interactive, Quiz eBooks

Physical books, Amazon Createspace

Amazon MOBI for all Kindle Devices

EPUB - iBookstore, Android devices & Tablets

PDF - Clickable Table of Contents

Microsoft Word (doc, docx) Clickable Table of Contents

ConversionsWord to MOBI

Word to EPUB

Word to PDF

PDF to EPUB

PDF to MS Word

PDF to HTML

PDF Password Protection

EPUB to PDF

What Are Customers Saying About Ultimate eBook Creator?

There are some more critical reviewers, and one in particular calls out some very specific issues with this software. Let's look at it in bits.

So, while it does convert Word docs into other formats, it might be quirky in that it only accepts Word docs formatted by certain versions of Word.

Since they leave out what versions worked for them, we can only do trial & error to find out which is fine. Considering this is the only review I have seen that mentions this quirk, we cannot rule out it is just their computer.

While the automatic table of contents is advertised as a feature, it might actually become an nuisance for some authors as there is no option to get rid of it.

If the reviewer is correct, then it also is biased towards a less popular ebook format, which could be a problem for some.

From what I can tell there are some other quirks in the software that aren't mentioned in that review, e.g. text and images sometimes fight against you.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

The reason why I included it is because the high amount of people that liked the product. You can see more positive and negative testimonials on their site.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

If you want to buy it, then you can pay $14.99 on Amazon for the CD or go to their site and buy it directly from the creator.

My Final Thoughts

There are plenty of premium ebook creator software, and sorting through it all can be difficult. Through my own judgement and customer reviews I've made this top 5 list, with Sqribble at #1 and Scrivener 3 being a close second.

Ultimate eBook Creator came in last because of the two major problems I mentioned, which gave MS Word, not a specialized ebook creator program, the #4 spot.

I hope this has helped you decide on which to buy, and remember I do have a list of the top free ebook creator software.

[vincentbuckles]

Weekend reading: I shopped til I dropped

What caught my eye this week.

I would have had this post to you much earlier on Friday, but for consumerism. You see I got totally distracted trying to get the best out of my new Sage Barista Express:

Real life: Messy.

Having done a barista training course a few years ago, I improbably fancied myself as pretty hot stuff with a coffee grinder.

I’ve enjoyed flat whites knocked out by a friend on this well-reviewed model many times, too.

But it turns out I didn’t know my friend as well as I thought I did!

I’ve discovered he’s great at making coffee – but perhaps more shockingly that he’s modest about it. (What other talents does he boast, I now wonder? Or rather does he not boast?)

Seriously, I know it takes a while to get the hang of DIY espressos on new kit, so I’m not too perturbed. It’s only eaten a couple of hours so far, and that includes washing the bits and bobs, figuring out how it fitted together, and collecting beans I spilled on the floor.

No, the other reason why I fell behind was because as soon this new toy finally arrived from Amazon, I went out for a three-hour hike around West London.

Did you sign for it, sir?

You see I’ve been in all week waiting for deliveries – and it drives me crazy.

I’m on edge all-day, until the deliveries do (or don’t) arrive.

A laid-back friend who doesn’t understand my hair-trigger control freak personality asked me what the big deal was.

“Imagine waiting all day to be slapped in the face,” I said. “You don’t know when it’s coming, but you will be slapped in the face. That’s me waiting for the door buzzer.”

It’s not even that I can’t do the social interaction bit. It’s worse: I usually talk the delivery person’s ear off. (A common failing among those of us who work from home.)

Rather it’s the waiting and uncertainty that kills me – and the unexpected and unscheduled state change.

Years before the Millennials I kept my mobile on silent always, for the same reason.

A totally unexpected phone call to my mobile feels like being tapped on the shoulder by a suddenly apparating supernatural nosy neighbour. I hate it.

Now at this point you’re either nodding along (a very few of you) or you’re aghast with incomprehension. Which is fine.

(I’ve said before when explaining why I invest actively and nearly everyone reading shouldn’t that I’m wired differently. I didn’t say it was easy!)

Economy class

Anyway, the reason I’m sharing these asides – and the rare from real-life picture above – is to give a quick update on my embrace of consumerism.

The story so far: You’ll remember I bought a flat, I still haven’t written up why, and I set about spending some of my 20-odd years of winnings (well, savings and winnings) to make it fancy.

This got off to a good start. I’ve always loved nice furnishings and so on – from afar. But by the middle of the hot summer I was bored of spending money.

I’d lost enthusiasm, I’d lost my girlfriend (she said she didn’t like my sudden interiors obsession, but perhaps she just didn’t like the sofa I finally selected?), and I’d lost (/spent) more money traded for matter than I’d spent on things in the previous two decades combined.

I didn’t even go crazy! It’s just that living like a graduate student even as your earnings multiply is pretty low-rent.

For most of that long era I used to opine to my more normally spendy friends that buying stuff only produced problems. Which in my experience was almost always true.

Stuff didn’t work, or you had to upgrade something else, or it broke, or you felt guilty, or you had to wait in for days to get it delivered, or you were worried it’d get nicked when finally you did get hold of it – or any one of a dozen other woes that people who buy stuff all the time think is just the way the world is.

Only two things hit the spot for me without fail when I splashed the cash. Black cabs – which I almost never took, and felt so luxurious in those pre-Uber days – and the first beer with two poppadoms and all the sauces and other gubbins.

Obviously I did a gazillion other things over the decades. I didn’t just taxi around London from curry house to curry house! And often it was money well spent.

But never reliably so.

Well, this whole flat buying and furnishing thing has proven my younger self right.

Through the keyhole

Don’t get me wrong. It’s coming along. It looks beautiful, to me if not my ex. I feel lucky to live among all these things I chose in my still-new flat, even knowing luck is only part of it.

But, oh! I guess I secretly thought the universe would notice The Investor Is Finally Throwing Money At The Problem and the rules would change. But they haven’t.

Stuff comes broken. Trades people don’t show up. Some of them are great, but some are – well – yet to find their true calling. Deliveries don’t arrive. I made a final push to finish my flat before Christmas, and caned the Black Friday offers. But only three of the seven resultant purchases that were scheduled for delivery have actually made it here so far. A new record of rubbishness.

Coffee machines are harder to use than you expected. Analine leather sofas stain if you sneeze near them. Complete automatic watering systems require add-ons to water completely. Your boiler is already up for a service – and that’ll be £100+ with VAT please.

I feel sometimes like Robinson Crusoe, finally back on the mainland after a long sabbatical away catching fresh fish with his hands and brushing his teeth with a fragrant root. I can confirm 2018 has a lot of gorgeous stuff on offer – but as we all know it comes at a price and doesn’t really solve anything.

Still happy I did it, but pleased I’m mostly buying things that will last.

Once I’m done the hedonic treadmill is going back into storage!

Note: Yes, it’s an expensive coffee machine (though one of the cheaper good ones). I’ve always liked a few quality things in life, I’ve just tended to get them cheaply. I saved about half my income for 20 years, so while the Frugal Police are welcome to give me a caution, keep in mind that I wrote the (racier) pages of the book you’re throwing at me. And beware Buffett’s Folly…

From Monevator

From the archive-ator: Death, infirmity, and investing – Monevator

News

Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!1

Here’s how much fund managers are paid [to lose to the market] – Institutional Investor

Houses prices down on fundamentals not Brexit, research suggests – ThisIsMoney

Property slump could cut number of affordable homes built by 25% – Guardian

UK migration: Fewer EU arrivals, but overall figure stays the same – BBC

Do you live in one of the happiest places in the UK? – ThisIsMoney

The inheritance tax mess, where richest pay a lower percentage rate – Simon Lambert

Products and services

UK rail fares to rise 3.1% in January – Guardian

Shawbrook tops table with a 1.65% one-year cash ISA rate – ThisIsMoney

Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a bonus] if you invest £1,000 for a year – Ratesetter

New breed of elite dating apps for wealthy singletons [Search result] – FT

Comment and opinion

How to own all tomorrow’s winning stocks – The Evidence-based Investor

John Bogle needn’t worry about index fund dominance – Pragmatic Capitalism

The proliferation of indices isn’t all it appears – Abnormal Returns

In praise of old jobs – Young (Mrs) FIGuy

Spend more: The most ignored piece of financial advice [Search result] – FT

How to retire forever on a big stash [US taxes/insurance] – Mr Money Mustache

FIRE Day! – Retirement Investing Today

You would not have invested with Warren Buffett – Behavioural Value Investor

Anti-FIRE: The YOLO train wreck edition – Simple Living in Somerset

Juggling six-figure margin debt [Don’t try this at home!] – Fire V London

The top 20 personal finance questions answered – Guardian

Morningstar gets into the finance-meets-food-pyramid game – Morningstar

Five things parenting and (active) investing share – The Value Perspective

What can we do about over-confidence? – Behavioural Investor

An attempt at estimating the true ‘global market portfolio’, including all the unlisted assets in the world [Research] – Alpha Architect

Brexit

Government finally admits UK will be worse off under all Brexits – New York Times

Leave voters statistically much likelier to believe conspiracy theories – Guardian

A Daily Mail EU scare story debunked [Again, people believe this crap] – Tom Pride

The French village that fears for its British community – BBC

Romania has lost 16% of its population to rest of EU in a decade – MSW via Twitter

Brexit TV Debate: A former Remainer will argue for her Brexit deal, a closet Leaver for a better deal or Remain. What a time to be alive! – BBC

I’d like to Exit from these homegrown cretins. Where do I vote? – BBC

Kindle book bargains

Why You? 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again by James Reed – £1.99 on Kindle

Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas L. Friedman – £1.99 on Kindle

The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Maths Genius and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History by David Enrich – £1.99 on Kindle

Tiny Budget Cooking: Saving Money Never Tasted So Good by Limahl Asmall – £1.09 on Kindle

Off our beat

Internet: The end of the beginning [Video/Presentation] – Benedict Evans

Watch how just a few self-driving cars prevent traffic jams [Graphics] – Science

Nike and Boeing are paying sci-fi writers to predict their futures – Medium

Woman who names daughter ‘Abcde’ is upset when someone finds it funny – ABC News

A man actually ticked the US Visa form ‘Are You A Terrorist?’ box – via Twitter

Maps showing how we’re divided by more than Brexit [Funny, old-ish] – Ink Tank

And finally…

“Why should we look to the past in order to prepare for the future? Because there is nowhere else to look.” – James Burke, Connections

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Weekend reading: I shopped til I dropped published first on https://justinbetreviews.weebly.com/