If someone offered you $50 for nothing back, would you take it?
How about $500? $2k?
Sure, this sounds too good to be true. But guess what? Plenty of people leave FREE MONEY on the table all the time.
OK, maybe we have to do some work, but these six things I outline are pretty close to free money. These are common benefits available to us that I’ve noticed many people miss out on.
So as you create a list of lofty resolutions for this year, I encourage you to make a checklist to ensure you’re not leaving any free money!
1. Not using your Employer Benefits
You likely get your medical insurance through your employer, but do you know what else you can get?
That’s right- free money!
This may not apply to every person, but if you dig in a little deeper, you’d be surprised to see some of the perks you have through your employment benefits.
For example, I got fitness reimbursements from the insurers of my last two jobs. This meant that I’d get $400 back for any fitness-related activities including my gym membership and ski lift tickets!
On top of that, the insurance I had at my first job also gave out $300 Visa cards for submitting annual health checkups from primary care physicians. I love this one because it’s a double whammy. Not only do you get free dollars, you also get to check your cholesterol is not too high.
Just getting my annual checkup (which we should all be doing anyway!) earned me $600 over the two years I was at the job. I call that a win in my book.
Even if your insurance company doesn’t give you a $300 Visa card, you should check if there are other wellness incentive programs.
Some examples are:
– Receiving a $30 reward for attending a smoking cessation class
– Earning a $100 pre-paid card for submitting an annual wellness screening documentation
– Earning $100 in cash for hitting their daily step goals using a step tracker on the insurance provider’s mobile app
I also had an HSA match (only for high deductible insurance plans) that I could contribute and get an employer match
2. Not getting the most of your 401k match
I reference this in my 7-step roadmap to building wealth, but I will say it again. And again.
Get your 401k match from your employer.
A 401k match is free money that your employer gives you through your retirement account. Sure, your pay may be the same, but at least they’re giving you something for your future.
If you work for a company that offers an employer-sponsored retirement plan like the 401k, check if they match your retirement contributions.
If they do, check the % and make sure you’re contributing enough to get the maximum match. For example, a common employer % may be a 50% match up to a certain % of your salary. An illustration of this is provided in the 7-step roadmap.
Just keep in mind though that some companies have vesting schedules. A vesting schedule outlines when you will receive a part or all of the employer match. So this means you may need to stay in your job for a certain amount of time until you can fully take the employer’s contributions to your 401k.
But don’t let that deter you!
The point is- this is FREE money that will boost your retirement income.
It will also lower your current taxable income (you pay less taxes), and who doesn’t love that?
3. Not keeping your savings in a High-Yield Savings Account
Another super simple thing that often gets overlooked is keeping your money in a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA). A HYSA, as its name suggests, yields much higher interest than a typical savings account, which gives less than 1% in interest.
Interest in this context is like a small reward the bank is giving you for keeping your money with them.
But when you keep your money in a typical savings or checking account, you won’t even notice that the bank is giving you anything because the interest rate is negligible.
In contrast, a HYSA will give you a higher reward for lending your money to them. Right now, typical HYSA interest rates are between 4~5%, which are the best they will be in a long time.
This means that if you have $10k in your savings or emergency fund and leave it for one year, you will earn $435. Without doing anything.
If you have $50k in cash (in a typical checking or savings account), you would miss out on $2,175 in free money!
I understand that this money won’t help you retire tomorrow, but where else can you get free money from? (Because if you know, tell me)
Although it may not seem like a lot at first, the interest you get in a HYSA can compound over time and boost your savings. The beauty of compound interest is that you receive free money on top of the free money you already received just by letting it sit.
So though a HYSA may not solve all your financial problems, it’s a great place to start.
4. Not investing the money in your investment accounts
How nightmarish would it be if you were nearing your retirement age and you realized your 401k contributions had not been invested?
I can’t imagine what it would feel like to find that the hard-earned money I had diligently put in my 401k was just sitting there as cash without earning compound interest.
But the heartbreaking part is that this does happen. It happens more often than we might think.
And I think it happens because there isn’t much guidance around how to participate in a 401k and how you can select investments within it.
Some people don’t realize that a 401k or a Roth IRA is just an account that holds money and gives you access to investments. Simply transferring money into these accounts doesn’t result in anything. The money will just sit there unless you do something with it.
So if you are now questioning whether the money in your investment account is actually invested, log into your accounts and check!
5. Using a debit card for most of your purchases
Don’t get me wrong, I think debit cards are great. They can be the perfect solution for some people, particularly those working to reduce spending and learn budgeting.
So if that sounds like you, skip this step. If you have any credit card debt that you are working your butt off to pay off, this step is not for you.
However, if you can spend responsibly, leverage credit cards!
If you are a responsible spender and are using a debit card for everything, you are leaving free money and perks on the table.
While paying with cash or debit cards just takes away your money, paying with credit cards will often get you something back.
For example, cards like the Chase Freedom Flex will give 1.5x back on all of your transactions. More premium cards will give 3x to even 10x back on certain purchases, significantly increasing the dollar value you can get back on how much you’ve spent.
As long as you’re spending within your means, using a credit card for most of your transactions will be a great way to make some extra money. Just be careful of transactions that may incur any credit card fees!
6. Not leveraging cash rewards and discount programs
A super simple way to make some free money is to leverage discount and cash-back programs. These programs offer rewards for purchases at partnered retailers.
While traditional cash-back programs required you to activate offers, several programs now provide automated ways to get cash back.
Think clipping coupons but way easier and simpler.
This is possible with apps like Dosh that automatically provides you rewards for the purchases you make at certain stores through the credit/debit cards you link.
Then there are programs like Capital One Shopping, Honey, and Rakuten that can often be downloaded as Chrome Extensions and bookmarked to use seamlessly as you’re purchasing online. They also often provide personalized offers so that you can get discounts and rewards at stores that matter to you.
For example, I used Capital One Shopping when I was moving and buying furniture. I looked through the personalized feed of offers to look for great deals on mattresses, sofas, and dining tables. Leveraging Capital One Shopping saved me hundreds of dollars and rewarded me $400 in the form of gift cards I could select myself.
I know this may sound too good to be true, but trust me, it’s that easy. As a skeptic myself, I’ve made sure these programs are legitimate and I’ve reaped the rewards myself.
TLDR
There you go. If you have been looking for some extra money, start here!
By fully leveraging these methods, you can find a few hundred, if not a few thousand, extra dollars this year. And all for free, with minimal work!
