Your Ultimate Guide to Summer Perks

Beat the heat with our latest batch of cool ideas and info to get ahead in life.

You Should Know

• The Fed now expects to cut rates only once this year. Analysts were hoping for at least three cuts in 2024.

• These are the top three retailers who have announced the most store closings in 2024: Family Dollar (620 stores), Rue 21 (543 stores), 99 Cents Only Stores (371 stores). Source. For comparison, Red Lobster, which got a lot of press for its woes, is closing about 90 locations.

• Gas prices this summer look to be 10-15% cheaper than last summer’s prices and way cheaper than 2022. The national average gas price is a little less than $3.50/gal, according to AAA. Gas prices peaked at a record of $5.02/gal in 2022.

Your Ultimate Guide to Summer Perks & Freebies

Summer is right around the corner, and there is an abundance of free and cheap activities guaranteed to keep you and your family entertained, fit, and well-fed. Here's your ultimate guide to summer fun on a budget:

• Cheap movies in theaters - Several movie theater chains are offering budget-friendly movie series throughout the summer. AMC Theaters’ Summer Movie Camp offers $3 tickets for kids and adults, featuring Illumination titles every Monday and Wednesday Jun. 24 -Aug. 14. Cinemark’s Summer Club House offers tickets at $1.75 for family-favorite films Jun. 10-Aug. 15, showing Monday to Thursday. Regal Cinemas' Summer Movie Express has $1 tickets for kids and adults, screening popular movies every Tuesday and Wednesday Jun. 11-Aug. 7.

• National food days - Slurpee Day in on July 11 and 7-Elevens nationwide give away free Slurpees (get it? 7/11). National Hot Dog Day is on July 17. Look for free food and great deals from Nathan’s Famous, Sonic Drive, etc. National Ice Cream Day is on July 21. Friendly’s, Carvel, and other shops will give out frozen freebies.

• Free entrance days in U.S. National Parks - There are two days in the next three months where entrance fees will be waived in all 400 national parks: Jun. 19 (Juneteenth National Independence Day) and Aug. 4: (Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act).

• Free summer bowling for kids - Kids Bowl Free is a program that partners with bowling alleys in the U.S. and Canada to offer free bowling to children during the summer (two free games each day in the summer). To find participating bowling alleys, register at KidsBowlFree.com.

• Free summer gym membership for teens - Planet Fitness is offering a free High School Summer Pass membership to teens. Now through Aug. 11, teens ages 14-19 can work out for absolutely free.

• Summer sale season - This summer will turn into a battle royale of competing “Black Friday in July” sales by major retailers. The sales should occur in mid-July, although the dates of Amazon Prime Day haven’t been announced yet. If you prefer to skip Amazon, you’ll have plenty of other options: Walmart+ Week, Target Circle Week, Kohl’s Summer Cyber Deals, Best Buy Black Friday in July, Macy’s Black Friday in July, etc.

• Free summer reading programs - Kids in grades 1-6 can join the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program. Read any eight books (from any source) and write about a favorite part in each book in a Reading Journal. Bring the completed journal to a Barnes & Noble between Jul. 1 and Aug. 31 to pick a free book as a reward. Even Chuck E. Cheese has a Reading Challenge that will earn kids 10 free play points.

Income Boosting Opportunities

• Michaels wants your help to compete directly with Etsy. The retailer recently launched MakerPlace, a platform for artists and makers to sell their handcrafted goods directly to consumers. There are three ways to earn: 1) sell your handmade items, 2) sell seats to your live online classes, and 3) share how-to’s with commission-earning supply lists. MakerPlace takes a 5-7% commission on your sales. Start selling here.

• BallotReady needs 2024 Election Researchers. This is a remote, part-time contract position that lasts until Jan. 17, 2025. You will be responsible for researching national and local elections, including candidates, position openings, and current office holders. Pay is $15-$17.50/hr.

• LEO pays you to take short surveys and answer Questions of the Day. The points you earn can be redeemed for Amazon, PayPal, etc. gift cards.

• Engoo is a platform that connects overseas (mostly Asian) students with English tutors. Each lesson is 25 minutes, and Engoo will provide lesson plans. The per session rate that you earn depends on your experience and type of lesson you teach. Apply here.

How Do Your Retirement Savings Compare to Others?

Whether you’re young or old, we all have the same retirement question: how much is enough when it comes to retirement savings? There are many rules of thumb, such as saving 10 times your annual income by retirement age. However, a helpful data point can be knowing how much others have saved upon retirement.

First of all, what age do Americans retire at? There is no mandatory retirement age in the U.S. You can actually start receiving Social Security benefits as early as 62. According to some surveys, the average age Americans retire at is 64, although that number is trending upward.

According to the 2022 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, the median retirement savings for all U.S. families is $87,000, while the average is $333,940. The average is higher because wealthier households tend to drive the numbers up. Again, these are savings amounts across all households. A more useful metric to follow are savings of individuals by age groups.

Here are the median savings for individuals by age group:

• 45-54: $115,000

• 55–64: $185,000

• 65–74: $200,000

• 75 or older: $130,000

Here are the average savings for individuals by age group:

• 45-54: $313,220

• 55–64: $537,560

• 65–74: $609,230

• 75 or older: $462,410

If you expect to have more than that when you retire, then good for you, but of course, the savings you require depend on your lifestyle costs. If you have less than the numbers above, don’t freak out. Develop a budget to allows you to save more and put those savings into your 401(k) or IRA. Even small increases add up significantly over time.

Be the Bank. Peer-to-Peer Lending Explained

If you have the desire to lend money at high interest rates (and you can stomach the risk), peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is an investment opportunity worth considering. P2P lending allows you to directly lend money to people, cutting out the bank as the middleman.

Historically, P2P platforms have offered average annual returns ranging from 5% to 10%, significantly higher than what most high-yield savings accounts or bond funds yield.

P2P lending websites act as facilitators, matching lenders with borrowers seeking personal loans, business loans, or debt consolidation. The sites set the rates and terms of the loan and handle loan servicing, enabling investors to receive regular principal and interest payments.

As the lender, you set your investment criteria, choosing factors like loan amount, interest rate, and borrower creditworthiness. You can choose to invest in portions of personal loans, essentially creating a diversified loan portfolio. Some leading P2P lending sites are:

• Prosper – One of the oldest P2P lending platforms, this platform caters to individuals seeking personal loans. Loan amounts typically range from $2,000 to $40,000.

• PeerStreet – Allows investors to invest in loans made to real estate borrowers. The minimum investment amount is $1,000.

• Kiva – This non-profit organization is focused on microlending. You can lend money (as little as $25) to individual entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Obviously, there are serious risks when you loan money to individuals. The default rates for P2P loans are much higher than loans in traditional finance (hence, the much higher interest rate). Moreover, your investments aren’t liquid. While the services above do their best to vet borrowers, the risk of losing your investment is very real.

Vacation Roulette: Booking Surprise Destinations for Big Savings

Who doesn’t like a little spontaneity when they go on a vacation? If you’re open to a ton of uncertainty – er, spontaneity – you can save big bucks.

Mystery vacation deals are becoming more popular. These deals offer heavily discounted travel packages, but with one crucial twist – you don't know where you're going until it’s very close to the actual travel date. Note this is different than services like Hotwire or Priceline, which offer reveal the mystery hotel as soon as you complete the online booking.

Southwest Vacations and Apple Vacations are two well known services that offer mystery deals. They let you pick your destination, travel date, and desired resort rating. The specific resort is revealed to you two days before your trip. You can potentially save up to 75% on your entire vacation package, but you have to trust their experts on the hotel choice.

Groupon will often feature mystery getaways on steroids. With this deal, you won’t even know your specific country/city until after you book (but it's guaranteed to be one of over 50 locations that they will list beforehand). You'll be randomly assigned a destination tier (Gold, Silver, or Bronze) upon booking. This determines the quality of your hotel and the overall experience. Destinations within your tier will include places like Rome, Hawaii, Las Vegas, or less sexy places like Kansas City (yea, this really feels like vacation roulette). Two days before your trip, you'll find out the exact location and hotel. Check the website often or do a Google search for “Groupon Mystery Getaway.”