Here we evaluate McDonald’s stock dividend as a viable investment opportunity. Do you think MCD stock is a must buy? Let’s dig in.

McDonald’s Stock Dividend Analysis: Is The Stock a Must-Buy?

Before we dive into our McDonald’s stock dividend analysis here are a few high-level themes of the stock and its valuation:

• Income investors should prioritize volatility reduction as well as dividend yield and dividend growth;
• 3M is my top pick of the dividend aristocrats as it better fits the aforementioned criteria;
• The second place among the selected goes to McDonald’s;
• Due to the low correlation of returns with the other stocks, McDonald’s should be in every income portfolio;

I created a book titled Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom to help you increase your income and build wealth at the same time.

If you want a sample of the book, you can download it here.

I believe that investing in dividend stocks enables you to increase your income and build perpetual wealth. It’s one of the few asset classes that enables you to do this. Real estate has similar characteristics, but it doesn’t have the same level of liquidity.

Investment Thesis in McDonald’s Stock Dividend

Income investors building a portfolio for retirement are usually looking for stocks to buy-and-hold thus they focus on dividend yield and dividend growth, disregarding capital gains for the most part.

As a dividend growth investor myself, I believe these investors should also consider dividend stability and stock price volatility. The importance of stable dividends is intuitive. The rationale for the importance of volatility is that although capital gains can be somewhat disregarded by investors who only seek a passive income, it’s very likely that they experience psychologic pressure from big losers.

I decided to mimic the stock selection process considering all these criteria: Dividend Yield, Dividend Stability, Historical Dividend Growth (as a proxy for future growth) and Stock Price Volatility.

Giving special attention to the latter and including some qualitative insight I arrived at the conclusion 3M Company (MMM) is the best stock to own in a retirement portfolio.

Additionally, I found that McDonald’s (MCD) share price returns have the lowest correlation not only with that of 3M Company but also with that of all other top dividend payers. In a 50/50 portfolio, MCD is always the best second choice to minimize volatility regardless of the first stock added to the portfolio.

Selection Process of McDonald’s

The base for the selection was the 2019 list of Dividend Aristocrats. Since it includes stocks that have been paying and growing dividends for at least 25 years, I believe this list is a good proxy for dividend stability.

To be in the list, the stocks also need to be in the S&P 500, which is a valuable criterion in terms of size and liquidity.

Source: SureDividend.com

There are currently 57 stocks in that list so I started by selecting the top 30 with the largest dividend yields because this is the primary source of return for this type of investors. Beware of dividend yield because it isn’t always a good thing to have a higher yield. I’d rather rely on profit growth for my dividend investments.

In fact, we like to look for low dividend yielding stocks with a very high likelihood of increasing dividends in the future. No matter the economic conditions.

This was done using my FINVIZ premium screening. This is a must have for any investor. You can find so many new opportunities. There are a million ways to make money in the stock market.

All of the 30 stocks selected have a yield of 2.5% or more.

Top dividend yield Dividend Aristocrats, sorted by yield. Sourced from Finviz.com

In the next step, I collected the annual growth rate of the dividends paid in the last 10 years (2008 – 2018) and discovered the average rate of dividend increase across these 30 stocks is 9%. Then I dropped the ones below the average and only 11 remained.

So now we have the top half dividend payers with above-average (and average) dividend growth. It’s time to check stock price volatility. Volatile stocks aren’t necessarily a bad thing. They can provide more opportunity.

I used the standard deviation of returns for that and this is what I got:

Sourced from Yahoo! Finance Historical Data

3M Company popped out as the one with the lowest volatility among peers, closely followed by McDonald’s.

That’s mostly why MMM is my top pick among the Aristocrats, but also because I believe that over the long term a lot of industry dynamics change dramatically, so it makes sense to add stocks with diversified business models with a global presence and strong track record. That’s 3M!

Building an Income Portfolio

The thing about building a portfolio under these circumstances is that the expected return is the dividend yield, and since I’ve selected my yield range already, I can now focus on minimizing volatility. I’ll do that following a mean-variance approach, although I won’t be solving the algorithm to find the allocations (I’ll leave that to another article).

Assuming a long position on 3M, what would be the best stock (among the other 10) to add to this retirement portfolio? That’s the question I wanted to answer.

In the process, I realized some of the stocks like Cardinal Health (CAH), AbbVie (ABB) and MCD had a particularly low correlation with all the others.

Sourced from Yahoo! Finance Historical Data

After computing the combinations, the best stock to combine with MMM was MCD. What’s more, if I started with any of the other stocks, MCD would still be the best stock to add in order to minimize portfolio volatility.

Hence the conclusion that McDonald’s is the second best stock to add to a dividend portfolio.

Considerations of McDonald’s Stock Price

This is a very simplistic approach to both stock picking and portfolio management. It is mostly designed to illustrate income investors should consider more than the dividend yield.

Ideally, stock selection would incorporate further business research and portfolio management would involve a proper implementation of the Modern Portfolio Theory. As an equity investor, you are lowest on the capital stack. Thus, you need to be aware that you are paid after taxes, debt investors, payroll. That is why equity investing has its risks.

At the same time, dividend investing has its rewards.

Why?

Dividend investing can provide a recovery of capital to investors through dividend payments while maintaining the same equity upside as growth stocks. In your eyes, what’s better dividends or growth?

The answer is both. You can capture both by investing in the right stocks.

Conclusion on McDonald’s Stock Dividend

I believe volatility should be considered by buy-and-hold income investors. 

With that in mind and following a sequential analytical process, I concluded 3M Company is the best stock to own among dividend aristocrats, especially if you’re building a retirement portfolio or looking to earn some long-term passive income.

Additionally, I found that incorporating McDonald’s stock to any previous individual selection will reduce volatility, hence MCD is always the best second retirement stock.

What do you think of McDonald’s stock dividend? Please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Related Resources:

• List of Dividend Kings
• Directory of No-Free Dividend Reinvestment Plan Stocks
• Free Downloadable Short-Form Dividend Discount Model

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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I’ve built up a pretty hefty sum of rewards points thanks to recent account openings. Also, I continue to reap some awesome benefits from prior cards. 

2 Days in Amsterdam: A Complete Itinerary to See Everything

Thanks to my American Express Platinum card I’m heading back to Europe! I can’t wait to share some of my travel experiences with you.

I’m very excited to provide a guide to Amsterdam and a full itinerary. It’s one of those places that I’ve been wanting to write about for a long time. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world. In fact, I would totally live there if I were given the opportunity.

Thanks to travel hacking, I’ve found another way back to Europe!

The good thing is that it only cost me ~$170 to fly directly into Schipol airport from Minnesota. Not bad right?

Booking the trip was easy and well worth it.

I love to book my travel with Booking.com. They have a great interface that allows me to book the best-priced travel around the world. Find your next destination and go!

Booking.com

How I Travel Hacked to Europe (Amsterdam)

With the American Express Platinum Card, you get $200 in airline credits each calendar year. Yes, calendar year. So, I typically fly Delta.

I bought 4 $50 gift cards for Delta Airlines during the year. In addition, you get 60,000 bonus points when you sign up along with $15 per month in Uber credits. I opened this card because I was already over the Chase 5/24 rule.

AND you get lounge access across the world. I will definitely be letting you know how my lounge access goes while I’m waiting to board this flight to Amsterdam.

I used each one of those to buy a $370 flight direct into Amsterdam. I found this low of a flight via Scott’s Cheap Flights. From there, I plan on using my American Express Membership Rewards Points to book hotels or even use Airbnb for my stays around Europe depending on cost.

I’ve already been to Amsterdam a few times already, so I’m only spending 2 days there. Amsterdam is one of those cities that you can likely cover in 2 or 3 days.

However, it’s the culture, charm and the experience that leaves you coming back for more. It’s the latter that makes me want to live there for an eternity.

This is the first stop of my trip to Europe. From Amsterdam, I’m taking the high-speed rail to Paris and then onto West Germany along the Rhine River.

My 2 Days in Amsterdam Itinerary

I’m so excited to give you my 2 days in Amsterdam itinerary, so you can plan your trip to the amazing capital of the Netherlands.

In order to plan my 2-day itinerary in Amsterdam, I made a list of some of my favorite things to do in Amsterdam:

1. Anne Frank House
2. Rijksmuseum
3. Van Gogh
4. Dam Square
5. Heineken Tour
6. Canal Booze Cruise
7. Vondelpark (weather permitting, but still worth the sunset no matter what time of year)
8. Red Light District (duh)
9. Rooftop at The W
10. The Bulldog / Abraxas
11. Ride bikes around Amsterdam (no matter the weather conditions)
12. Foodhallen
13. All the amazing restaurants and hip drinking establishments (who doesn’t love Heineken?)

This is not necessarily in order of priority. However, use this list as a way to plan your 2 days in Amsterdam. Each person has separate priorities. For me, I love cultural experiences and museums. Other people might love food only.

For example, riding bikes in Amsterdam has this cultural mystique that I simply can’t explain. It’s amazing and refreshing. I love the sounds of bike bells and quietness rather than the loud-obnoxious car honking.

Day One in Amsterdam: Museum Day & Entertainment

On your first day in Amsterdam, I think you should prioritize the various museums including the Anne Frank house. I love how Amsterdam is set up. You can visit nearly all the museums in a few hours span.

Thanks to Museumplein, which is a big park where all the art galleries (including the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum are located). In terms of priority for the museums, I suggest that you arrive early and start in the following order:

1. Anne Frank House: Lines get very very very long. Buy your tickets as soon as possible. Like right now… Even if you are leaving in 3 months. It’s only 10 Euros. The Anne Frank House (or Anne Frank Huis) only takes about 15-30 minutes to visit.
2. Van Gogh Museum: Van Gogh can also get very busy. Plus, it’s a smaller venue. It can get jammed in there during the afternoon, so if you go early enough you won’t have to deal with the people.
3. Rijksmuseum: The Rijksmuseum is a lot bigger than the Van Gogh museum so you can actually get lost in there. Plus, there are a lot more things to see. You can arrive at the museum later in the day since it’s so big. You won’t feel as crammed as the Anne Frank House or Van Gogh Museum. I can’t wait to visit it again!

From there, I highly suggest that you proceed from Museumplein towards Dam Square, Red Light District and Old Town. You will find a number of amazing restaurants and good scenery to enjoy a beer (or two) along one of the many canals.

The walk I suggest you take from Museumplein is through Leidesplein, but take the scenic route through the tail end of Vondelpark. When you get to Leidesplein, you can stop for an outdoor beer and bask in a number of different entertainment venue. Here is how you should do it:

1. Walk from Museumplein through Vondelpark to Leidesplein
2. Walk from Leidesplein to the Bloemenmarkt (flower market)
3. From there, walk up to the church of Saint Nicholas (you will see many of the amazing spots): The Church of Saint Nicholas is right by my favorite spot aka ‘the corner’, which is what I believe is the best canal view in all of Amsterdam.

This walk will ensure you see some amazing spots.

Take your time as you stroll through the city center. You should make it up to the Church of Saint Nicholas by sunset. It’s very pretty over there and you will be glad that you did. There are a lot of good restaurants in that area as well for a nice dinner that I’m sure you will enjoy.

Plus, you will want to visit the Red Light District at night time of course. Trust me it’s not as exciting during the day time.

How’s that for your first day in Amsterdam? During your first day you can say that you accomplished the following:

1. Anne Frank House
2. The entire Museumplein including Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum
3. Then, you venture through Vondelpark
4. Leidseplein
5. Bloemenmarkt
6. The main canals
7. Red Light District

That’s a great way to cap off your first full day in Amsterdam, now what about your second day in Amsterdam?

Day Two in Amsterdam: Exploration and Amazing Food + Drinks

For day two in Amsterdam, we want to experience more the culture, food and people. We covered a lot of ground in our first day of the Amsterdam itinerary. This will combine just outright exploration and great food spots plus drinks.

Start out your day by getting a coffee and breakfast near your location. We’ll want to grab some bikes for our second day in Amsterdam. We’re going exploring!

Get some good breakfast, you are going to need it. Our bike tour starts now and lasts 6 kilometers.

Assuming you are staying near Centruum, you’ll start out there where you will rent your bikes. There are plenty of places to rent a bike in Amsterdam.

No matter the weather conditions this is a must-do while in Amsterdam. Here is a map of my recommended personal bike tour around Amsterdam. The red flag is where we will end.

Here is the lowdown on the personal bike tour:

1. Start in lower Centruum
2. Do a slow bike ride through the amazing canals and by the House Boat Museum to finally stop at Foodhallen for lunch. Foodhallen is an amazing compilation of food establishments. Try Bitterballen at De Ballen Bar. It’s amazing!
3. From Foodhallen, you will want to proceed through Jordaan one of the most majestic and friendly neighborhoods of Amsterdam. This is a very local area that has amazing cheese shops. Save room for your bike basket and load up on some cheese to bike home.
4. Through Jordaan, we will bike up to the top of Centruum near Centraal station. You will have to bike down the main corridor. This is a great way to see the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam’s busiest streets. Don’t worry it’s bike friendly.
5. Finally, you will end at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and Dam Square. The Royal Palace is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarchy. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square, opposite the War Memorial and next to the Nieuwe Kerk.

Personal Bike Tour of Amsterdam Map

This day should combine enough good food and history to keep your hearts filled. Six kilometers of biking in Amsterdam is easy. There’s so many spots to link your bike up and explore. So, take your time and enjoy the scenery.

Whatever you do, you MUST rent a bike in Amsterdam. If there are any parting words, FIND A BIKE.

Conclusion on My 2 Days in Amsterdam Itinerary

Amsterdam is a city that is filled with things to do. In fact, you might see it all in a day or two. I can guarantee that you will be wanting to go back for more. It’s a city filled with mystique and great vibes.

The best part of the two-day itinerary in Amsterdam is that you can always switch around your days. I made these in pairs so that if you prefer you can do the second day first. These 48 hours in Amsterdam will leave you speechless about the city. If you are travel hacking your way to Amsterdam, don’t make these churning mistakes along the way.

I’d imagine that you would have a hard time saying that you didn’t accomplish enough or you didn’t see it all.

Contact me for any additional questions and stay tuned for an update on my experience in Amsterdam.

What do you think of my 2 days in Amsterdam itinerary? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

Related Resources:

• Credit Card Churning Guide: Travel the World for Little to No Cost
• 21 Ways to Travel Hack without a Credit Card
• How to do Manufactured Spending
• Ultimate Guide to the Chase Southwest Companion Pass

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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Profit and earnings growth is paramount to a dividend investing strategy. Here’s why profit growth is so important with investing. 

The Secret to Dividend Investing is Profit Growth [Here’s Why]

Growing dividends are the main motivation for many investors. Accordingly, most criteria for stock selection are dividend-focused. However, in the long run, reliable and growing dividends are only possible if company profits are reliable and growing as well.

Dividend history good – all good?

Nevertheless, long-term profit-growth is usually only of secondary importance when choosing dividend stocks. Popular terms like Dividend Aristocrats have no equivalent on the profit-growth side. At least I haven’t heard of profit aristocrats yet. I suppose there are two main reasons for this.

When I check Personal Capital, I’m able to see my various investments and cash flow for free. Use this tool to evaluate your income and investment diversification.

If you want to invest your money effectively, you’ll need to know how an options trading strategy fits within your investing goals. Millionaire Mob wrote a dividend investing book to help people get started investing.

The book is titled Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom and features a number of resources to help you invest for financial freedom, including:

• Improve your portfolio returns
• Understand the pros and cons of a dividend investing approach
• Develop and craft your own dividend investing strategy
• Build wealth through a long-term compound interest plan

If you want a sample of the book, you can download it here.

Why Everyone Should Consider a Dividend Growth Investing Strategy

First, dividends generate predictable cash-flow. The popularity of dividend calendars reflects the importance of this fact. The only alternative to creating cash-flow from your investment would be to sell some of your stocks, transforming a passive income investor into a small-size-trader, which is barely unacceptable for the majority.

Hence, without dividends, stocks would be of no interest to many investors. It, therefore, seems obvious to base the selection of stocks essentially on dividend-related criteria.

Second, the focus on dividends is based on the idea that dividends are predictable, contrary to a company’s profit and capital gains. Dividend aristocrats seem to have proven this, having successfully defied economic crises and price slumps by increasing dividends reliably over decades.

This explains the focus of many investors on the dividend history, while profit-growth as selection criteria is only included indirectly using snapshot-like metrics such as the payout ratio.

How Long-Term Profit Growth Pairs with Dividends

However, it is undeniable that long-term dividend increase must be financed by long-term profit increase. Consequently, companies with long-term profit increase, exist.

If we were able to identify these companies directly based on profit related metrics, we would no longer be dependent on dividend based metrics like the dividend history as an indicator of long-term profit-growth.

We could then even find promising dividend stocks that may not have a long dividend history because they just started paying dividends a few years ago or, in case of doubt, would rather keep the dividend constant than increase it by a symbolic cent.

Our expected yield would also increase since the overall yield on the stock market is composed of dividends plus capital gains for the dividend investor. The same goes for any other investor as well. At the end of the day, growing company profits in the long run always lead to capital gains. That is why I don’t always look at annual dividend yield when investing.

Then, the question arises of how long-term profit development is quantified.

Quantifying Long-term Profit Growth

There are several ways to quantify and analyze long-term profit growth in investing, not just a dividend growth investment strategy. You can evaluate profit growth through the compound annual growth rate of a company, profit stability and by analyzing both profit and growth together.

I love pairing together the quality of growing profits plus dividends in a dividend reinvestment plan. This helps ensure that I continue to take advantage of the compound interest snowball.

I build a dividend calculator to help you sensitize what it will take to live completely off dividends. It literally takes 5 minutes to input your plan.

The Compound Annual Growth Rate

It seems obvious to quantify long-term profit-growth on the basis of an average increase over several years. This is done by calculating the compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The problem is that the CAGR only takes into account the data points at the beginning and at the end of the period. Whether the quantified metric, e.g. profits, collapsed in the middle of the period or remained constant is irrelevant for the calculation result.

For companies with unreliable profit-growth, the growth rate becomes a matter of luck, changing dramatically from year to year.

Chevron 5-Year Growth in Profit

Chevron: The 5-year growth rates of profits are unreliable

Subsequently, the CAGR is inadequate for the search of companies with reliably profit-growths. A different metric is needed.

Profit Stability

Stable profit-growth means that profits have increased by a similar, predictable level each year. This can be quantified by calculating the correlation between time and profit evolution.

The result is a value between -1 to +1. A +1 stands for a perfect match between time and profits. At +1, the profits look if drawn on a ruler; at -1, they would have fallen accordingly. A zero, on the other hand, would indicate that there is no relationship between time and profits. In this case, profits seem to rise and fall arbitrarily.

I really don’t want to be in the business of forecasting dividends. I can really start with forecasting profit growth and then make dividend assumptions from there.

This is what a company with stable profits looks like:

Church & Dwight Profit Stability

Long-term profit-growth of Church & Dwight (CHD) with profit stability of + 0.98

This is a company with lacking profit-growth stability:

AT&T Profit Stability

Long-term profit-growth of AT&T (T) with profit stability of + 0.22

The example of AT&T shows that the title of dividend aristocrat does not necessarily imply stable profit-growth. And it is no coincidence that AT&T’s dividend increase of just over 2% per year is very low.

Moreover, it is hardly surprising that investment in Church & Dwight over the past 20 years has been much more lucrative than an investment in AT&T.

Combining profit-growth and profit-stability

The CAGR alone is unreliable because it ignores everything between the start and the end. This shortcoming is eliminated by the consideration of profit-stability. In the quest for companies with long-term profit-growth, investors should focus on companies with stable profit-growth, e.g. by filtering for companies with an earnings correlation greater than 0.8. The CAGR makes only sense for companies meeting such criteria.

The combination of profit-growth and profit-stability can be applied not only to earnings but also to other fundamentals such as operating cash-flows, revenues, and even dividends as well. In fact, dividend stability describes the reliability of dividends more accurately and universally than the number of years since dividends have been increased.

More accurately, the number of years is based on a simple Yes or No, while the stability of the dividend takes into account the actual dividend increase. Universally, because of the dividend aristocrats, or the number of years of a dividend increase in general, are a US construct. Outside the US, for example in Germany, dividends are more closely linked to current earnings.

For example, during the financial crisis, SAP did not shy away from merely keeping the dividend constant and has therefore only increased it for 8 years.

Nevertheless, with a dividend correlation of +0.98, SAP has a more stable dividend history than many dividend aristocrats, because their dividend increases were more uneven than those of SAP – even though their dividends were kept constant twice as a result of the Financial Crisis in order not to exceed the 35% payout ratio valid at this date.

SAP Dividend Stability

Dividend history of SAP with a dividend stability of + 0.98

Pair your findings in growth with what the company looks like in its current financial statements.

Combining profit- and dividend-growth

Rather than primarily evaluating the quality of a dividend stock using the dividend history, I prefer a two-pronged approach that takes into account the performance of profits and dividends as well.

As an ESG investor, I do not consider companies with either unstable profit-growth or dividend payments and that do not meet my thresholds for sustainability. To me, these two requirements are universal.

Each investor can decide for himself whether he also wants to apply classic metrics such as years of a dividend increase or pay-out-ratio. Depending on your investment strategy, you may also want to determine a minimum dividend yield, consider the current valuation of the stock or look at liabilities in the balance sheet. As equity investors, you are the lowest on the capital stack. You get remaining profits after everyone else.

A search for promising dividend stocks could look as follows:

Dividend Stock Screening Criteria

The filters on earnings and cash flow stability of at least 0.8 are combined with an increase of earnings and operating cash flows of at least 5% over the last 5 years. Only companies with stable profit-growth remain. In addition, dividend-based criteria are defined. You can follow my exact criteria for finding undervalued dividend stocks.

In this example, their conditions closely match those related to profits. Furthermore, the example filters for stocks with a current dividend yield of more than 2%. Other criteria such as the number of years of dividend increase, debt or valuation are not considered.

Conclusion: Dividends Start with Profit Growth

Dividends are not compensation for pain and suffering. They should neither compensate for an unsatisfactory profit-growth nor compensate for capital losses but should grow in line with growing company profits and capital gains. Volatile stocks actually create great opportunities. You just need to understand profit growth. You’ll be finding diamonds in the rough in no time.

To achieve this, the long-term profit-growth of a company should be considered when selecting stocks. This can be done by combining profit-growth and stability. Consider some of these best dividend investing books to expand your knowledge.

Do you feel comfortable in analyzing profit growth? Please let me know in the comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

Related Resources:

• List of Dividend Kings to Help You Invest
• 6+ Ways to Get Free Stocks Now
• Free Downloadable Dividend Discount Model

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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Getting an Amazon gift card nowadays is basically like receiving cash. Here are 28+ amazing ways to get free Amazon gift cards. 

28+ Ways to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

Today, there are a dozen ways to make money online. You can earn up to$100 or more worth of free Amazon gift cards. Just like the many apps that pay you real money, there are apps out there that will give you free gift cards. Gift cards nowadays are basically like cash (especially with Amazon). You can get any good that you want via Amazon.

In this article, we will offer you some valuable tips to help you get free Amazon gift cards.

Why Amazon Gift Cards?

Amazon has transformed our way of shopping and is expanding at an incredible rate. It is the future of retail. Having been started several years ago as a bookstore, Amazon has become the one-stop shop for consumers.

With Amazon, you can shop online from the comfort of your home. It offers us an excellent level of convenience where you can browse the items you want online, place an order and it gets delivered to you within a few days.

After the acquisition of Whole Foods, that opened a door (no pun intended) into how we will consume our groceries. Here is an awesome shopping hack at Whole Foods I learned from a combination of the below items.

On Amazon, you can get almost anything and nearly for the lowest markets prices. With free Amazon gift cards, you can order your favorite product for free. Who doesn’t love that? I can get my groceries to some cool gadgets for my home.

Isn’t that interesting? You may now be wondering how you can receive these free Amazon gift cards. Well. There are numerous apps to get free gift cards.

One of the best ways to earn a free Amazon gift card is by participating in surveys where you get awarded points that you can redeem for free Amazon gift cards.

Another exciting way to earn free Amazon gift cards is by downloading the free gift card apps. Then, you can earn points by completing easy tasks including offering reviews on various apps, watching your favorite videos, playing games and scanning receipts and more.

Apps like Drop and Ibotta have helped me earn hundreds of dollars in Amazon gift cards. The best part is that there’s more than just those two cashback apps.

Without much further ado, let’s give you the list of some of our most favorite free gift card apps and ways to get free Amazon gift cards.

List of Ways to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

There are way too many ways to earn gift cards from Amazon these days. These are definitely the best, most legitimate ways to earn gift cards for free.

Here are the 27 ways to get free Amazon gift cards:

1. Ipsos I-Say

Joining Ipsos I-say is one of the significant and straightforward ways that one can use to receive a free Amazon gift card.  Ipsos I-Say is an app that gets you paid when you participate in surveys or by testing some products. The app also pays you a loyalty bonus at the end of each year for every survey you take.

The bonus makes it possible for you to make up to 600 additional points which you can exchange for an Amazon Card worth $5. There is also free Ipsos that gets you a free entry every time you receive points. These entries can be redeemed for free vacation or contests that cash.

2. Nielsen National Consumer Panel

Nielsen is a global- renowned statistic company that undertakes various surveys including radio listening and TV watching habits, purchase habits and more. Through their NCP (National Consumer Panel) platform they pay you to shop.

You earn point by scanning barcodes of your every purchase, stating the price you pay for the products, and taking part in simple opinion surveys. Then, you can redeem the points for Amazon gift cards. They also pay you a loyalty bonus when you scan your purchases without missing every week.

3. Harris Poll

Being one of the oldest research companies in the world, Harris Poll conducts various opinion surveys on consumer habits as well as current events. The surveys earn you redeemable points that you can use to get free Amazon cards. Each survey also earns you one entry into a biweekly cash prize draws as well as cash sweepstakes which are done quarterly or annually.

4. PrizeRebel

With PrizeRebel you can start earning cash within 10 seconds.  It allows you to earn points for just watching adverts, online surveys and when you participate in product trials.

Yes, you figured it right; you earn a point for doing what you love. PrizeRebel gives you a $2 gift card for the surveys as the minimum possible prize.

5. Global Test Market

Global Test Market is an ideal site for people who live outside the United States. Since 2014, the site has paid over $32 million worth of prizes. It makes it possible for anyone to earn Amazon gift cards even when not in the US.

The surveys include topics about current events and opinions on simple stuff like the movies you watch. They also can invite you to test products that earn you points. The points you earn can be exchanged for free gift Amazon gift cards.

6. Toluna

Toluna is partially a social media site and also a survey site that has over 10 million members. It offers various surveys and also can invite you to test numerous products.

Toluna is one of the sites that offer many product tests invites more than a majority of other survey sites. The points you earn from the surveys and testing products can be redeemed for gift cards including free Amazon gift cards or cash.

7. iPoll

iPoll survey site pays as much as $5 for each survey with a $5 bonus for the initial sign-up. The site has even more goodies for you. That’s right; there is a chance for you to get $10 when you undertake your first survey.

Every survey also earns you an entry to a quarterly cash draw of $10,000, and you can participate even outside the United States. Free Amazon gift cards are just one of the ways you can redeem your prizes.

8. Survey Spot

Survey Spot is one of those survey sites that allow you to redeem your points for free gift cards. Apart from Amazon gift cards which are preferred by many, Survey spot also enable you to exchange your points for iTunes, PayPal, and Airline flyer miles. A quarterly draw of $10,000 is something you can also join as you never know; it might be your lucky day.

9. YouGov

YouGov has a $20 or 2,000 points bonus for just joining. They also pay 250 points for each survey redeemable when you reach a balance of 5,000 points.

What a great way to earn free Amazon gift cards? You earn points by participating in opinion polls of topics about movies, people, brands, as well as current events.

10. Test Spin

Test Spin survey site gives you a chance to participate in surveys and also test websites. You can earn up to $600 in the form of free Amazon gift cards every year. It earns you up to $10 for each survey and $30 for every focus group.

11. Knowledge Panel

Through the Knowledge Panel survey site, you can receive $1 for every survey you undertake. The surveys take as little as 10-15 minute, and you earn an extra $10 after you complete the first survey.

The site offers dial-up access and a computer for those willing to take up the surveys but don’t have internet access at home. You can redeem these points to get free Amazon gift cards.

12. Amazon Trade-In

Amazon Trade-In is a service offered by Amazon, and it allows you to exchange the items you no longer need such as Kindle E-readers, books, tablets, wireless devise gaming platforms and more.

It allows you to sell even those items you didn’t buy from Amazon. A good example of a trade-in option is selling an old Amazon Kindle and upgrade for a new one. Amazon will give you a Free Amazon gift card with an extra $20 bonus.

13. Amazon Coupons

When it comes to Amazon Coupon discounts, most of them are instant, but on some other occasions, when you purchase some select items, they give Amazon gift codes.

The best categories of products in which you can get gift cards to include Health, Grocery, and Beauty categories. When you join Amazon Prime, you optimize your options of earning the extra points that will get you Amazon gift cards.

14. Use your Website to promote Amazon Products

For those who own a website or a blog, you can make money by using Amazon affiliate links. Every time someone buys an item through your link, you earn cash. You can join this by using Amazon Associates to create an account and get paid every month through Amazon gift cards or by cash. Your new affiliate links will earn you cash value and/or Amazon gift cards.

15. Amazon Mturk/ Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mturk is free to join, and it makes it possible for you to make easy money online undertaking pretty simple online tasks. The tasks usually last a few minutes, and they include data entry, surveys, web research and more.

The site can be a great way of earning yourself Amazon gift cards since they pay using Amazon gift cards or cash. In most cases, the surveys are based on college studies. Mturk is a freelance website that you can also use to increase your income.

16. Reload Your Amazon Gift Card Balance

When you replenish your Amazon balance, you also earn yourself a cash bonus. Isn’t it cool? To do this, you can purchase a gift card or better still, redeem gift card earned from elsewhere.

17. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a sure best-known online site that can help you earn some extra cash. The activities that help you make money in this site include surveys, shopping, playing games, testing products, and Web searches.

Apart from these, watching videos can also earn you money. It makes Swagbucks the desired site for many since it allows you to earn points and money for doing your daily activities. A balance of just $3 can get you a free Amazon gift card.

18. AppTrailers

Another great free Amazon gift card app would be AppTrailers. With AppTrailers, you receive reward points for app and videos.

When you upload own video clips, you get to earn extra points. Amazon gift cards are just but one way to get pain on AppTrailers.

19. Bananatic

For just testing apps or games, Bananatic enables you to get free gift cards for performing simple activities. The points you receive from Bananatic can be redeemed for Amazon gift cards.

Apart from testing games, the app allows you to shop online as well as download apps. The higher your activities on the app, the more points you earn.

20. Gift Wallet

For those of us using Android and iOS devices, Gift Wallet can be resourceful when it comes to testing apps. You can do more than to just test apps since it allows you to earn points for watching videos as well as for undertaking various online tasks. From as low as $3 you can get a free gift card.

21. MyPoints

The Mypoints site is another free gift card app which is very similar to Swagbucks regarding the activities that earn you do to earn points and how it operates.

The significant difference between them occurs only on how you redeem your points as MyPoints may have lower redemption options for particular gifts. Someone may join both apps and choose the one with best offers each day.

22. Opinion Outpost

Another survey site that you should consider is Opinion OutPost. It is a survey site that offers you surveys that you can undertake in 10 minutes or less and the points are redeemable when the balance reaches $5.

You might also decide to enter their $10,000 quarterly draw. All these points can be redeemed for cash or free Amazon gift cards. It’s a lot different than Survey Junkie.

23. Ibotta

Ibotta is a simple mobile app through which you get cash back when you shop. All you need to do is to create an account with Ibotta, shop in one of the 230 Target, Walmart, and CVS among other stores and then upload the receipt on Ibotta as the proof of purchase.

These activities will earn you cash back which, when you shop at eligible stores, you can redeem your reward either as cash or as Amazon Gift Cards.

Use my link to get $10 free for signing up! Ibotta is on my list as one of the best cashback apps to use.

24. Earning Station

Through this platform, almost any activity online can get you paid. You get paid for activities you would otherwise have done for free. Streak bonus is the platform’s main draw, and with it, you can get a minimum $0.25 for every ten continuous days of activity.

You can also earn as much as $3.50 bonus if you are a regular visitor to the site.

25. TokenFire Rewards

TokenFire is an Android-only app that lets you play, earn the point and get rewarded. If you are a casual gamer, then this would be an ideal free gift card app for you. For every activity you undertake such as installing or watching ads, you get tokens.

You also get 15 tokens per day for just launching the application. With 5500 tokens, you get a $25 Amazon gift card. When you invite family and friends, you earn more point thus reaching that figure easily.

26. Product Report Card

It is another great survey site where you get an invitation just 24 hours after you create an account with them. You redeem the points earned after you reach a threshold of $25. You can redeem them as cash or as gift cards.

27. Quick Thoughts – Express your opinions and earn!

If you are looking for a way to get a free Amazon gift card instantly, then Quick Thoughts is your ideal app. It lets you earn a point on the go, through your Android or iOS phone by taking part in easy and quick survey questions.

For each survey, you earn $3 which you can redeem for Amazon coupons and other free stuff when you hit a $10 balance. If you get screened out, you get an extra $0.10.

28. Drop App

The Drop app is one of my personal favorites because you earn free gift cards for zero extra work at all. You simply link your credit cards and go. There are plenty of other gift card options in addition to Amazon.

Every time you shop at a location like Starbucks, Chipotle, Whole Foods, Amazon, etc. you earn points. These points are redeemable for free gift cards. What’s not to love?

Sign up using my link and get 1,000 points instantly.

Conclusion on How to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

I hope this article will be of assistance to you when you want to find ways to get free Amazon gift cards from wherever you may be. Gift cards might not be the best idea for when you need money instantly. However, passive income might not be entirely for you. There are plenty of cons to passive income.

If you want to start increasing your income, you can follow these ways to earn gift cards and then start flipping product in addition to this such as the following:

• How to Flip Wine for a Profit
• How to Collect Scrap Metal for Reselling
• Best Items to Flip for a Profit
• How to Become a Sneaker Reseller

The other alternative is to find online jobs for income. Here are 23+ online jobs you can do from anywhere.

Do you have any ideas for free Amazon gift cards? Let us know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

Related Resources:

• How to Make $500 Fast: Ways to Earn Extra Money
• How to Get Free Stickers from Brands You Love
• 6+ Ways to Get Free Stocks Now

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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Free Amazon Gift Cards

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If you are a big dividend growth investing fan like me, you must track your income on your dividend portfolio. Dividend income tracking software can save you time and money. Here is an overview of the top dividend income trackers you’ll need to follow your portfolio.

Top 5 Dividend Income Tracking Software You Must Use

Dividend income tracking software has become a mainstay for every dividend growth investor. Why? Well, seeing your dividend income roll in every day will motivate you to continually invest and put capital to work.

This will help you take advantage of compound interest. Every dividend income reinvestment (even on a small scale) will compound many years into the future.

If you want to invest your money effectively, you’ll need to know how an options trading strategy fits within your investing goals.

Millionaire Mob wrote a dividend investing book to help people get started investing.

The book is titled Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom and features a number of resources to help you invest for financial freedom, including:

• Improve your portfolio returns
• Understand the pros and cons of a dividend investing approach
• Develop and craft your own dividend investing strategy
• Build wealth through a long-term compound interest plan

If you want a sample of the book, you can download it here.

You can’t become a successful dividend investor if you aren’t working smarter. Let’s get into some amazing dividend investing tools to position you for success.

List of Best Dividend Income Trackers

Saving time and making smarter decisions is what we are all about. If you want to invest easy, you need to follow these trackers and set yourself up for time-saving success.

Let’s get into the best dividend income tracking software that you need to use for continued success.

1. Personal Capital

Personal Capital is the ultimate solution for any passive income and dividend income investor. The cash flow tracking on the platform is industry leading. I use this to track my net worth and all various passive income sources.

From a dividend perspective, I’ve linked all my retirement accounts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA) and my after-tax passive dividend income portfolio. I’ve been building this through Robinhood (get a free share of stock just by signing up!). If you want to try something different, these other brokerages are giving out free stock.

Personal Capital has the functionality to link up with Robinhood now. Personal Capital is one of those free dividend tracking programs that every dividend investor needs to have. All you have to do with Personal Capital is link your brokerage accounts and start monitoring. It’s as easy as that.

Here’s how I the Personal Capital software use it to track my dividend income.

First, I link up my Personal Capital account with Robinhood or whatever brokerage you use. It will gather and track as much data as possible.

Here you can see a snapshot of how my Robinhood investments look in Personal Capital.

Robinhood Investment Portfolio in Personal Capital

From there, go click on the income selection. Then, type in investment income in the search bar. Income always includes deposits in Personal Capital. We want only dividend income.

Robinhood Dividend Income Tracking – Personal Capital

Keep in mind that you can change how you want to track in the income. You can do it on an annual, year-to-date, 30 days, 90 days, etc. Here is how much dividend income I’ve generated in the last 90 days.

Robinhood Dividend Income Personal Capital

So, I’ve generated $265.65 in dividend income in 90 days on Robinhood. Not bad for doing completely nothing. There’s nothing much better than receiving income on your investment portfolio. I can’t wait to reinvest all this income back into my dividend income portfolio!

2. Dividend.com

I think the name says it all. Dividend.com is everything dividends and dividend growth investing. You simply can’t go wrong with their platform.

Investors can use the Ex-Dividend Date Search tool to find the right stocks that are going ex-dividend during a specific timeframe. Ex-dividend dates are crucial in dividend investing because you must own a stock before its ex-dividend date to be able to receive the dividend payment.

3. Robinhood

Robinhood is actually pretty awesome for dividend tracking. I wrote about how dividends work on Robinhood because I believe a lot of people didn’t understand it. However, it’s actually pretty simple and straight forward to follow. Unlike other brokerages, dividends tend to be a black box for following them. In Robinhood, the history section will show upcoming and prior dividends.

You can stay on track with all your dividend payments as they come it. Sign up for Robinhood using my link and get a free share of stock.

4. Microsoft Excel

Good ole’ reliable. Microsoft Excel is proven, flexible and relies solely on data coming directly from the user. You can use this to simply input the amounts you find from your brokerage accounts. You can also use the current annual dividend yield to forecast out your dividends.

Don’t chase yield as a dividend growth investor. Stick with your guns of investing in stocks that have a high likelihood of keeping and increasing their dividend in the future.

I created a similar Excel sheet that helps you plan your forecasted dividend income. All you have to do is create a separate sheet and input your portfolio. You should let that flow through the forecast tab. This can be a great way to plan for a life of living off dividends.

Try downloading it using the button below. It only takes 5 minutes to punch in the assumptions.

Or, you can build a dividend tracker in Excel from scratch…

5. Finbox

Finbox (get $5 free with my link). Yes. Finbox is everything I’ve ever wanted as an investor. I remember back in investment banking I’d be armed with amazing tools like CapitalIQ, Pitchbook, etc. Those are very expensive. Finbox is free. You have to love that.

Okay, they might not be a full-blown free dividend income tracker. However, they arm you with the best tools for success including screeners, models, add-ons and so much more. With this software, you don’t need much else.

Keep quiet about them. It just seems too good to be true…

Conclusion on Dividend Income Tracking Software

A dividend income tracker can help you build a stable and effective portfolio. The software or model can help you save time on tracking the investments you already have and avoid any surprises in dividend cuts or outright removal of dividends.

Plus, I think there is a motivating factor by having a dividend income tracker. You can watch your income pile in and you know that you will have fresh capital to deploy into new or existing investments.

What are you waiting for? Start building a dividend portfolio now.

What do you think of these dividend portfolio trackers? Do you already use any dividend income tracking software? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

Related Resources:

• List of Dividend Kings to Help You Invest
• List of No-Fee Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) Stocks
• Free Downloadable Dividend Discount Model

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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These are some of the most simple, proven ways to make money for doing nothing. 

5 Proven Ways to Make Money for Doing Nothing

Many people want to be rich but frown at the idea of hard work. Fortunately, not all moneymaking efforts need you to pump up 40-hour workweeks just to achieve financial independence. As they say, “Don’t work hard. Work smart.”

This guide introduces you to the many ways you can grow your money, whether that entails passive ways of earning or learning to play with risks in investing. Check out my guide on how to invest your money to learn more.

Anybody with a sound and realistic outlook in life will choose a secure financial future over living paycheck to paycheck any day. But while making that decision is a no-brainer, most people struggle to find an efficient and effective way to turn that well-meaning choice into actual dollars.

And with so many moneymaking scams these days, most get either discouraged or stumped by their own suspicion to actually make it work.

I created a book titled Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom to help you increase your income and build wealth at the same time.

If you want a sample of the book, you can download it here.

Combining both dividend investing and real estate can be a great way to invest your money. Here are several other tips on how to invest money to allocate your assets. Let’s get into some of the most proven ways to make money for doing nothing.

There’s nothing better than increasing your income without working more.

Legit Ways to Make Money for Doing Nothing

Whatever your reasons, it’s never too late to start. Here are some legit and tested moneymaking endeavors that will help you grow your money in no time.

1. Investing in the Stock Market

The stock market works in so many ways a goods market does, only that, instead of tangible goods, the products are stocks. Stocks are basically equities, which in laymen’s terms, are called company shares.

So if you buy shares of a particular company, you essentially own a fraction of that company. You are lowest on the capital stack, which means you get share profits after debt holders.

Now the landscape and mechanism of buying and selling stocks may require a more thorough discussion, so here’s a primer from Wall Street Survivor.

Investing in the stock market is one of the best ways to grow your hard-earned dollars without taking up too much of your time. You don’t even need much to start. There are many investment brokerages that allow you to start investing with as little as a few hundred dollars. It does not matter if you start with the minimum as long as you start.

A little caveat though: investing entails risk and patience. There’s no such thing as free lunch, and if you want to make money out of what you initially put forward, you must learn the tricks of the trade.

Once you’re at it, you’ll be enjoying the challenge, the learning process, and the bounty of profits.

If you’d like to start investing, I’d consider you follow these guides:

• How to Start Investing
• 13 Best Books on Dividend Investing
• Why Volatile Stocks Can Be a Good Thing

As a starting investor, you should consider investing with a robo-advisor like M1 Finance or Wealthsimple. These robo-advisors will automate your investments. All you need to do is continue to pour your money into your account. That really is making your money work for you.

For more experienced investors looking to build a portfolio from scratch, I’ve been building a portfolio with the goal of living off dividends forever. I created a 5-step guide that will highlight exactly how to invest for passive income.

You can use many of the different brokerages that offer free stock just for signing up. I use Robinhood (they will give you a free share if you use my link).

2. Investing in Real Estate

Another great way to grow your money passively is to venture into real estate. Because you’re investing in a tangible asset, you have more control over your investment. Not only that, you can leverage your investment into various revenue streams, such as opting to rent it out.

That way, you’ll be earning money to pay for the mortgage. And if you’ve bought your property at the right time, you will reap the benefits of increasing property values through your home equity.

Investing in real estate is also a way of diversifying your portfolio. If you have various investments, a real estate property often serves as a financial buffer that takes on the risk of your other investments. A lot of people use this strategy to secure their finances.

And importantly, real estate investments are tax deductible. You shave off tax payments if you’re paying for mortgage interest.

Tax is also deducted from the cash flow that arises from your investment properties and its costs of operation, not to mention property tax, insurance, depreciation, and multiple other benefits. I’ve built a number of different guides to help you invest in real estate effectively:

• How to Calculate Cap Rate
• 5 Ways to Find Hotel Investment Opportunities
• Top 13 Real Estate Risks to Understand

If you don’t have enough capital, you can invest in crowdfunded real estate or REITs. Use a crowdfunding platform like CrowdStreet to get started.

3. Getting a Better Bank Account

And by better, that means high interest. One of the oldest ways of multiplying your money is through your bank account, but it’s painful to see years of savings with very little interest in profits.

While the dynamic really does work, perhaps it’s time to consider moving your money to where you’re actually paid decent interest for it.

Check out for banks that offer attractive interest rates, and you’ll be ecstatic to find options that actually pay higher than the national average. Of course, you’re not going to get rich in an instant, but at least there’s a substantial gain from money that just sits in your savings.

4. Selling Items Online

There’s no other way of making your money grow that offers more practicality and challenge than venturing into business does. And with the advent of the internet, it’s never been easier to start your own.

Many people have taken advantage of the ease of managing an online business. And if you know how to reach your target market, you’ll have profits streaming in soon.

To successfully sell online, find a niche. Then look for a need in that niche and fill it. It may sound simple, but the execution is a minefield—which selling platform serves you better? Do you have the capital for your next inventory refill? How do you market your products in a way that it doesn’t get buried in the last page of the search results?

These are all necessary questions that need solid answers. But while that requires a lot of planning and thought, the results of doing things right are worth the effort.

Establish a good online presence with a reliable website. If you’re selling things online, you have to make your products stand out. You also have to consider the tools present in the platforms to ensure ease of use for your customers.

These are things to look for when looking for a reliable e-commerce platform. Here’s how to open a drop shipping store.

You don’t necessarily need to go that route. You can flip new and used goods too. However, that takes much more work and effort. It’s definitely not like making money while you sleep.

Here are some types of flipping:

• Yes, people make money selling scrap metal
• You can flip phones for a profit
• Sell on eBay full-time
• Here are some of the best items to sell for a profit

5. Monetizing an Existing Blog

This is mainly for people that already have a blog. If you do, you can easily place a few ads on there and start earning money. It’s not going to break the bank, but it’s small wins like this that add up over time.

Or, do you have a hobby that you’re passionate about? It’s time to let it out and share what you enjoy on the sides. Talk about it, and find a community for what you love. Blogging is an incredible platform that not only lets you share your passion but also allows you to make money out of it.

A good example of the most recent successes in blogging is in the DIY area. You can upcycle materials from the thrift store and sell them new.

DIY projects using affordable craft supplies have also taken the spotlight as people joined the organic-minimalist trend. The best thing about it? You can create and sell your own crafts right at the comfort of your home.

Whether it is, whether gaming, fashion, DIY, financial planning, hosting, or just talking about the nitty-gritty of the day to day, you’d be surprised how rewarding blogging can be.

If you want to make money out of your blog, learn the skill of creating good copy, understand SEO, and explore affiliate marketing. You may start out small, and it may take time to build your brand, but there’s no going back when you get big.

It’s as easy as starting a blog for $3.95/month with Bluehost (if you use my link). I think everyone should have a blog (you already share your thoughts on social media).

Here is why I created my retire early blog.

Conclusion on Ways to Make Money for Doing Nothing

Deciding to grow your money is one of the most financially mature moves you can do as an adult. After all, the anxiety of always living on the edge can be physically and emotionally draining.

Making your first investment today can help you start earning early so you can retire early and live the good life.

Passive income isn’t for everyone. It can definitely be a grind to get started. Here are some of the cons of passive income.

Are you ready to make money for doing nothing? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Other Related Resources:

• Use these best robo-advisors to automate your passive income investments
• How to use a 401(k) calculator to save on retirement fees
• How to build a dividend portfolio for success

Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

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Everyone and I mean EVERYONE these days is trying to live free. We live in a complex, global world with so much to see and so much to do. Why not go out and enjoy the world and avoid the rat race of a cubicle? Well, it’s possible. At Millionaire Mob, our journey is to live through others by experiencing the world, learning and becoming an ‘internetpreneur.’ We like that a bit more than digital nomad… There are three easy steps to consider on how to become a digital nomad.

Live the Good Life: How to Become a Digital Nomad in Three Steps

How do you escape the everyday rat race of a 9 to 5? You go and explore. You find yourself doing the things that you are truly passionate about. Hopefully this also ultimately make you a better person.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

-Neale Donald Walsch

Also, I believe now is a time that we live in a more connected world than ever before. The internet (which I am broadly defining as smartphones, mobile apps, cryptocurrencies, computers, websites, international e-commerce and so much more) has enabled us to interact with anyone at any time.

Within 5-10 minutes, I can hire someone to work from across the globe on a project that I want to get done. It is so easy. Why not be a part of the information age and a global revolution?

Why should you be stuck with the conventional thinking that business needs to be conducted in a 3 foot by 3-foot stationary cubicle?

How do you live a good life on the path to becoming a digital nomad?

There are at least three ways to be able to quit your day job. Keep in mind. I’m not talking about quitting your day job and building a business that requires your full on-site attention. I’m referring to a day job that allows you to work anywhere in the world. Live free. Live to explore the world.

We’ve even built some of the cheapest destinations to travel to once you hit the road as a globetrotter!

Manufactured Spending and Credit Card Churning

Once you follow the below steps to become a digital nomad below, you should consider using manufactured spending and credit card churning to travel the world. This will enable you to spend little to no extra dollars to get from place to place.

Also, by pairing both manufactured spending and credit card churning together you will be in a great spot to use these points for airfare, hotels and more. This can turn a much needed digital nomad experience into a much more enjoyable one.

What is credit card churning and manufactured spending?

Credit card churning is a method that travel hackers (or churners) use to open credit cards to obtain credit card bonuses repeatedly. This allows you to build up a significant stockpile of credit card rewards and airfare miles to use. Credit card churners then use manufactured spending to accelerate spending and obtain the credit card bonus earlier. Manufactured spending is the method of spending money on your credit card that can be turned into cash.

My favorite method of manufactured spending is buying virtual gift cards and then purchasing a money order with the virtual gift card. I also like funding bank accounts with credit cards, but that cannot be done with scale and should be used wisely.

What are the three best ways to become a digital nomad?

What is a digital nomad anyway? A digital nomad is a type of person that use technology to earn a living while living a nomadic lifestyle.

Huh? What is a nomadic lifestyle? Well, instead of truly having a centralized home you travel the globe and use co-working spots to conduct your work. This enables you to see the world. Do the experiences you love. You end up developing relationships all across the world along the way.

In order to make the list of best ways on how to become a digital nomad and earn passive income, certain criteria come to mind to make the list of steps:

• Stress Level: We cannot have gigs out there that are truly stressful. Traveling can be stressful, so don’t let your work stress you out too. Stress will be there, but life is too short to sweat the small stuff. Find something that doesn’t require you to be present all the time.
• Time Commitment: How much of a time commitment is it? Living free doesn’t exactly translate into living behind a computer. We are looking to maximize experiences and minimize the ‘9 to 5’ grind.
• Scalability / Stability: If you intend to live free for the rest of your life, you need a passive income stream that will be around for the next 15 years. Also, the idea of being a digital nomad or a digital entrepreneur needs to be scalable so that (if you want) you can grow your income over time.
• Location: This is an easy one. Being a digital nomad is called this for a reason. You should be able to work where you want and when you want.

The above set of criteria for being eligible as a step for becoming a digital nomad is important. In order to be a successful digital nomad, you must plan your steps strategically. Each step you take makes it easier for your longevity of a digital nomad.

Digital Nomad Community

If you want to continue to learn on how to become a digital nomad, there’s no better place than from the digital nomad community itself. I’ve found that the community is a very supportive group.

In fact, there’s plenty of resources within the digital nomad community to help you start your journey. Here are some digital nomad communities to learn and interact:

• NomadList
• Digital Nomad Forum

These two sites will help you find the best place to live as a nomad and how to become a digital nomad. Try one (or both) of these digital nomad communities out. 

Three Easy Steps on How to Become a Digital Nomad

Without further ado, here are our favorite ways to become a digital nomad aka ‘internetpreneur’ (in order of priority). Follow these steps to become a digital nomad and you will be well on your way to traveling the world.

First Step on How to Become a Digital Nomad: Freelance

Skills Needed: Consulting / Designing / Whatever You Are Good At!

If you’d like to build a living while traveling around the world, you will still need to do work on your laptop or potentially at a co-working location. Before you make the leap to traveling around the world, start building a client base in the interest of your choice. Think about it for a minute. You currently get paid at a job to do something.

Why can’t you perform that as a service to someone? We live in a world that is so interconnected and global. The internet is your friend, so use it to build a personal reputation. There are various platforms to choose from that will help you build a client base or even start earning clients right away!

I love this method. In fact, I earned over $7,000 of additional income in my first 3 months doing freelance consulting! This is such a fantastic way to develop relationships around the world.

Once you start traveling and living abroad, you can use your client base to grab dinner with a recent client. Beer never tastes better than having it in a new country with a new friend. Try making money by becoming a personal travel photographer.

The world of freelancer nomads is growing faster than you think… There could be 1 billion freelancer nomads by 2035!

Second Step on How to Become a Digital Nomad: E-Commerce

Skills Needed: Internet Savviness

My second step is one that requires creativity, passion and some hard work. In your portfolio, you should have an e-commerce platform that you sell something. You can use it to build a drop shipping platform, a t-shirt company or even a service!

Perhaps, you can even pair this with the first step to grow a larger freelance business. I like e-commerce because we already source goods from around the world. To sell goods or services, you don’t need an office or a location. Perhaps, you do if you are selling food in a store.

In today’s world, the internet is king. So use it! Build an e-commerce platform from scratch via a platform of your choice. To sell goods or services online, significant research is required.

You need to be able to choose a growing industry with products that people love. The best part is that you can do this before you make the final trek into your digital nomad journey. The barriers to entry are low and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to get started.

If you are working in e-commerce or hobby income. Is hobby income passive or non-passive income?

Third Step on How to Become a Digital Nomad: Dividend Growth Investing

Skills Needed: Initial Research on Your Favorite Public Companies and Some Reading

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.”

Ok, dividend growth investing should already be in your plans today. Regardless if you are planning on becoming a digital nomad or not, you should have some sort of nest egg or savings for the future. There is nothing better than having your hard-earned money work for you.

We’ve built several ways to get involved in dividend growth investing, such as how to find the next Dividend Kings. Dividend Kings are stocks that have increased their dividend for 50 CONSECUTIVE YEARS. An impressive feat that provides you a stable dividend income while you are out enjoying the best things in life.

You can find our list of Dividend Kings here.

Dividend growth investing allows you to receive both residual income and equity appreciation through stock price growth! There are certain stocks that you will want in your dividend growth portfolio, so choose wisely.

I like to take my income from my first two steps (freelance and e-commerce) and dump it into my dividend growth portfolio! An issue with dividend growth investing is that it takes significant capital to build meaningful income.

Pros and Cons of a Digital Nomad Lifestyle

Here are the benefits of becoming a digital nomad:

1. Ultimate flexibility
2. You are your own boss
3. The world is your oyster… Literally
4. Complete independence to live, see and go where you want
5. Priceless relationship building with people around the world

How about the downsides of becoming a digital nomad…

1. It takes a lot of work initially
2. Becoming a digital nomad takes some skill… and luck
3. Sometimes (and most times) you forgive income as you will likely be making less money
4. Not having a home can be stressful

Conclusion on How to Become a Digital Nomad

The digital nomad community is a great one and very supportive. It’s a feeling that everyone is around you to help and strive in your element. The work is not easy. It requires a lot of patience and hard work initially, so brace yourself.

I highly suggest that if you are considering a digital nomad lifestyle that you should begin your journey before you quit your day job. Becoming a digital nomad does not happen overnight. It takes time and some commitment while you have a day job.

Once you hit your goals it will all be worth it. The world is always changing, so stay on your feet for new ideas to become a digital nomad. If you have other needs to expand your online presence, here are 23+ proven online jobs that require no investment (time and money). Try them out to increase or replace your income.

Use these three steps on how to become a digital nomad and you will be living the good life before you know it. You can thank me later.

Other Making Money Online Resources:

• How to overcome a language barrier in work, travel and the classroom
• Making your dreams a reality, including financing options to start your business
• How to create the perfect home office for freelancers

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The post Live the Good Life: How to Become a Digital Nomad in Three Steps appeared first on Millionaire Mob.

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