Even the best homeowners insurance policies won’t pay for everything.

Termites. Mold. Flooding.

These words send shudders down the spines of homeowners everywhere. They can mean both major repairs and serious expenses, and most standard home insurance policies won’t cover the damage.

The specifics of what is and isn’t covered depend on the details of your policy, but even the best coverage won’t compensate you for everything. Here are 10 common home insurance exclusions, plus ways to fill in some of the gaps.

1. Ground movement

Earthquakes, landslides and sinkholes generally aren’t covered under home insurance. Exceptions include Florida and Tennessee, where insurers must offer optional sinkhole protection, but that doesn’t mean all policies automatically include it.

How to close the gap: If you live in an area prone to earthquakes, consider buying earthquake insurance. Your insurer may offer it as an add-on to your home insurance, or you might have to purchase a separate earthquake policy. To get coverage for other types of ground movement, such as landslides and mudflows, ask your agent about a “difference in conditions” policy.

2. Floods

Floods — like those from overflowing rivers or torrential rain — are not covered by most home insurance. And as we’ve seen in recent years with natural disasters like Hurricane Helene creeping inland, flash floods aren’t just a coastal problem.

Beyond floods, your home insurance policy likely excludes other types of water damage as well, such as backed-up sewer lines or overflowing sump pumps. However, a standard policy will generally cover damage caused by burst pipes — for example, if the water pipe behind your washing machine bursts and spews water.

How to close the gap: Flood insurance is widely available through the National Flood Insurance Program in partnership with more than 40 different insurers. It can cover both the physical structure of your home and your possessions.

You can also get a water backup endorsement to help pay for damage from sewer backups and sump pump failure.

3. Mold

Coverage for mold is complicated because it’s often hard to identify the root cause of a mold problem. For damage to be covered, your insurer must deem the cause of the mold to be sudden, accidental and a problem covered by your policy.

This means that, for example, home insurers generally won’t pay to fix mold damage if it’s caused by water associated with a long-term leak or poor home maintenance. However, your policy may cover repairs if the mold stems from a sudden plumbing leak, as long as you take action to fix the problem right away.

How to close the gap: Some insurers sell hidden water damage coverage as an add-on, which can help pay for water damage and mold removal caused by a hidden leak. It doesn’t cover sewer backup or sump pump failure damage though — for that, you need a water backup endorsement.

4. Wear and tear

Home insurance is meant for sudden or accidental problems, such as storms, burglaries and fires. It’s not a cure-all for general wear and tear. You’re expected to perform basic maintenance to keep your home from slipping into disrepair.

Maintaining your home’s roof, replacing worn-out flooring and tending to slow-leaking pipes are a few ways you can avoid large expenses that your insurance won’t cover.

How to close the gap: You can’t buy insurance to cover general wear and tear, but you can be proactive about maintaining your house. You could also consider buying a home warranty to cover some of your home’s major systems and appliances.

5. Infestations

Bedbugs, termites, mice and other vermin are typically excluded from home insurance for the same reason wear and tear isn’t covered. From an insurer’s perspective, getting rid of infestations and fixing the damage left behind are simply part of maintaining your home.

There may be occasional exceptions. For example:

• If the infestation causes a covered problem such as a fire or structural collapse, you may be covered. Example: A mouse chews through a wire that starts an electrical fire.
• If hidden termite damage causes part of your home to collapse, your insurer may pay for some repairs. However, if any of the termite damage was visible prior to the collapse, you likely wouldn’t have coverage. Read more about home insurance and termites.

How to close the gap: While you can’t buy a home insurance add-on to cover infestations, you can prevent pests from entering in the first place by controlling moisture, eliminating food sources and properly sealing any entry points to your home. If you suspect an infestation, call a qualified pest control company in your area.

6. Nuclear hazards

Home insurance doesn’t provide coverage for nuclear accidents. Thankfully, you’re already protected by federal law, so you’re unlikely to need it. Nuclear power companies are required by the Price-Anderson Act to have liability insurance to cover damages and evacuation costs if you live within the affected area of a hazard^[1].

7. Government action

Acts of public authorities are not your insurer’s problem. If the government confiscates your belongings, for instance, or condemns your home and takes over the land, your policy won’t cover the cost to replace your property.

The only exception might be if the governmental action were taken to prevent the spread of a fire that might otherwise affect your home.

8. Dangerous or aggressive dogs

Insurance companies spent more than $1.8 billion paying claims for dog bites and other dog-related injuries in 2025, with an average claim amount of about $65,000^[2]. Because of these high costs, insurers may not cover certain aggressive or dangerous dogs. Having one could even prevent you from getting approved for a policy.

Some companies refuse to cover breeds known for inflicting severe injuries, such as pit bulls and Rottweilers.

How to close the gap: If your dog is part of a restricted breed, look for a breed-neutral home insurance company. Some insurers, such as State Farm, won’t deny coverage based on breed alone but instead will look at an individual dog’s history of aggression. You can also buy a separate pet liability insurance policy if your homeowners insurance doesn’t offer sufficient coverage.

9. Wind damage in hurricane-prone states

In most parts of the U.S., a standard homeowners insurance policy covers wind damage. But if you live along the Atlantic or Gulf coasts, where hurricane risk is highest, you may need to buy separate wind insurance.

Even if this coverage is included in your home insurance policy, wind damage can cost you. In 19 states and Washington, D.C., insurers may charge a special wind, named storm or hurricane deductible. Instead of a dollar amount, these deductibles are calculated as a percentage of your home’s insured value, usually between 1% and 10%.

This can really add up. For example, if your home is insured for $500,000 and you have a 5% wind deductible, you’re responsible for the first $25,000 of repairs. Not all companies allow you to select your deductible percentage, but if yours does, going low at 1% or 2% can make a big difference if you ever have a claim.

How to close the gap: You can buy windstorm insurance as an add-on to your current policy if your insurer offers it. If you live in a high-risk coastal area, you may also be able to get wind coverage from a state-run insurance pool.

10. Intentional loss or neglect

If your insurer determines that damage to your home could have been prevented or was intentional, it won’t be covered. What’s more, you could be charged with insurance fraud if you file a claim for damage you caused on purpose.

A note about bringing your home up to code

Even when an event is covered, your policy is designed to repair or rebuild your home to its original condition before the damage. It may not pay enough to bring outdated features up to the latest building codes. For that, you need ordinance or law coverage.

Many homeowners policies include a little ordinance and law coverage — around 10% of the dwelling coverage limit — but you may want more. Extra coverage can be especially helpful if you live in an older home that hasn’t been updated in a while.

Next steps

Read your home insurance policy thoroughly. You don’t want to find out too late that a problem isn’t covered.

If you see any coverage gaps, talk to your insurer. You may be able to add endorsements — add-ons that will cost extra — to get more coverage. Your agent may also recommend other ways to avoid potentially large out-of-pocket expenses.

Taking advantage of lesser-known homeowners insurance discounts and other creative approaches can help you save.

Home insurance rates have skyrocketed in recent years, driven by inflation and natural disasters. If your own premium is looking a little scary these days, you’ve got options. Insurers offer various discounts and incentives that can help you lower your home insurance premium.

Here are eight ways to save.

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1. Shop around

Rates for identical coverage can vary widely from one company to the next. Some homeowners could save $2,000 or more a year by finding the cheapest rate, NerdWallet research shows.

Many companies allow you to plug in some basic info and get quick home insurance quotes online. Comparing different companies’ rates will let you see whether you might be able to save by switching insurers. You can also ask an independent insurance agent or broker to shop around for you.

We recommend comparing rates every year or two. Not sure where to start? See NerdWallet’s roundup of the cheapest homeowners insurance.

2. Bundle your auto and home insurance

Bundling auto and home insurance with the same company can save you up to 40%, depending on the insurer. Additional discounts may be available if you add other policies to the package, such as life, umbrella or boat insurance. See the best home and auto insurance bundles.

Did you know…

Nearly half of Americans with homeowners insurance (47%) say their auto and homeowners insurance policies are bundled, according to a 2026 NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll. According to the survey, 19% of home-insured Americans shopped around for a new insurance company in the past 12 months to get a better rate.

3. Build your credit score

It may surprise you to learn that your credit score can have a major impact on your home insurance premium. In most states, companies can use a credit-based insurance score to help set your rates. This score is similar but not identical to your FICO score.

In general, the lower your insurance score, the more you’ll pay for home insurance. That’s because insurance companies view people with lower scores as more likely to file claims.

Someone with poor credit pays over 72% more for homeowners insurance than someone with good credit, on average, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis.

If you find that your credit score is low, read your credit report closely. (Here’s how to dispute any credit report errors that you see.) You can raise your score by taking steps like making loan payments on time and reducing credit card balances. Learn more about how to build credit.

Using credit to set homeowners, renters, condo and mobile home insurance prices is not allowed in California, Maryland and Massachusetts.

4. Increase your deductible

A quick way to reduce your premium is to increase your homeowners insurance deductible, the amount you pay if you have to make a claim. You could save 9% a year, on average, by raising your deductible from $1,000 to $2,500, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis.

Do the math to see whether the discount is worth it to you. Say switching from a $1,000 deductible to a $2,500 one will save you $200 per year. It would take eight years of premium savings to make up for the extra $1,500 you’d have to pay if you filed a claim.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Never choose a deductible you wouldn’t feel comfortable paying in an emergency.

5. Make your home more secure

Even the basics can save you money when it comes to home security. Having a smoke detector, a burglar alarm or deadbolt locks on your home can earn you a small discount. Adding a full sprinkler system or an actively monitored burglar alarm could save you even more.

Some insurers also offer discounts for smart-home devices such as water sensors that alert your phone if they detect a leak.

6. Skip small claims

It may be tempting to file a claim with your insurer when something relatively minor happens. However, you may be better off in the long run if you pay out of pocket for these smaller expenses. Some insurers offer discounts if you remain claim-free for a certain number of years.

How much can filing a claim affect your rates? Submitting a claim for wind damage raises your cost of insurance by about 10%, on average, according to a recent NerdWallet analysis. If the damage is minor, you could end up paying more in rate increases than the insurer pays for your claim.

🤓Nerdy Tip

When you file a claim, it goes onto your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange record, also called a CLUE report. Claims generally stay on this report for seven years. Having claims on your record can make it harder to get a policy with a new insurance company.

7. Ask about lesser-known discounts

Unless you check, you may never know what other savings you might be eligible for. Some insurers offer homeowners insurance discounts if you:

• Don’t have any smokers living in the house.
• Recently bought your home.
• Pay your premium via automatic bank payments.
• Choose paperless billing.
• Work in a specific career, such as teaching, engineering or firefighting.

» MORE: How to get home insurance discounts

8. Account for home improvements

If you’ve improved your home, you may have made yourself eligible for discounts without even realizing it. Adding features like storm shutters and hail-resistant roofing could result in insurance savings. You might also earn a discount by upgrading outdated plumbing and electrical systems.

Reach out to your agent or insurance company to let them know the improvements you’ve made and ask about potential savings.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Keep in mind that some improvements can actually raise your insurance premium. For example, putting an addition on the back of your house could require extra insurance to make sure the new area is covered. Still, you shouldn’t hide such projects to try to save money. If a disaster strikes and you never told your insurer about the new space, your insurer may not cover the damage.

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Don’t drop coverage to save money

The one thing we don’t recommend is cutting coverage you might need. If you do that and disaster strikes, you’ll be left footing the bill when it’s time to rebuild your home and replace lost belongings. Learn more about what to do if you can’t afford your homeowners insurance.

If possible, you should also avoid dropping other important policies, such as federal flood insurance. Instead, try getting quotes from private flood insurance companies. You may find a cheaper option.

Methodology

Homeowners insurance rates methodology

NerdWallet calculated median rates for 40-year-old homeowners from various insurance companies in ZIP codes across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. All rates are rounded to the nearest $5.

Sample homeowners were nonsmokers with good credit living in a single-family, two-story home built in 1984. They had a $1,000 deductible and the following coverage limits:

• $400,000 in dwelling coverage.
• $40,000 in other structures coverage.
• $200,000 in personal property coverage.
• $80,000 in loss of use coverage.
• $300,000 in liability coverage.
• $1,000 in medical payments coverage.

We made minor changes to the sample policy in cases where rates for the above coverage limits or deductibles weren’t available.

We used the same assumptions for all other homeowner profiles, with the following exceptions:

• For homeowners with a claims history, we added a single wind damage claim.
• To see the effect of changing your deductible, we raised the deductible from $1,000 to $2,500.
• We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor,” as reported to the insurer, to see rates for homeowners with poor credit. In states where credit isn’t taken into account, we only used rates for “good” credit.

These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.

Reconnecting With Your Secret Self

Mental health today is no longer just about diagnoses or managing symptoms. It’s about discovering your Secret — the inner compass that gently guides you back to balance when life spins too fast. In our always-on world of multitasking and comparison, many moms (and not only moms!) find themselves overstimulated yet emotionally undernourished.

Let’s pause and rethink. What if true wellness isn’t about fixing what’s “wrong,” but about realigning with what’s already within you?

The Quiet Crisis: Feeling Disconnected in a Connected World

We live in a paradox: hyperconnected through social media, yet often emotionally isolated. Notifications flood in. Algorithms tell us what to think. But where, in all this noise, do we hear our own voice?

The true challenge isn’t chaos — it’s disconnection from self. Healing starts when we stop outsourcing our attention and begin listening inward.

The Power of the Pause

Here’s the beautiful secret: calm is not something you earn on vacation — it’s something you practice in tiny, daily ways. Neuroscience shows that mindful habits — like breathwork or journaling — physically rewire the brain. But more than that, they create space.

Space between reaction and response. Between pain and the story we tell about it.

Next time you feel overwhelmed? Try this micro-practice:
Put your phone down.
Place a hand over your heart.
Breathe.
Then ask, what is Your Secret need right now?

That moment of honesty can be more healing than a thousand scrolls.

Micro-Moments, Major Shifts

You don’t need a retreat in Bali to feel grounded. Mental wellness blooms in the simplest rituals:

• One deep breath before checking email.
• Five minutes of “messy journaling” before bed.
• Naming your emotion instead of numbing it.
• A stretch in the kitchen as dinner simmers.

These aren’t life hacks. They’re your Secret rituals — the quiet, nourishing actions that help you come home to yourself.

Emotions Aren’t the Enemy — Shame Is

So many moms silently ask themselves: Why am I feeling this way? Why can’t I just handle it better?

But emotions aren’t weaknesses. They’re messages. Anger might be asking for a boundary. Sadness might be craving rest. Anxiety? Sometimes it’s just your nervous system asking for a moment of slowness.

What if you treated your emotions like your child when they cry — with compassion instead of criticism?

Connection Is More Than Conversation — It’s Medicine

Research shows that authentic connection can reduce anxiety, improve immunity, and even increase lifespan. Not just any connection — the kind where you’re truly seen, heard, and safe to be real.

But what if you feel isolated or vulnerable? That’s okay. Many moms feel this way.

There are places built exactly for that. Try exploring an anonymous chat community. Just search “anonymous chat app” — you may find safe spaces where others are sharing their truth, raw and unfiltered. Sometimes, talking to someone who doesn’t know your name can feel more intimate than speaking to someone who does.

The Gentle Return: Reclaiming Your Wholeness

Healing isn’t a destination. It’s a series of yeses to yourself:

• Yes to stillness, even when the world rushes.
• Yes to softness, even when your inner critic is loud.
• Yes to presence, even in a world obsessed with performance.

Your mind isn’t broken. It’s whispering. And when you listen, you begin the most sacred journey — the one back to Your Secret self.

Final Thought: Your Secret Is Yours Alone — But You’re Never Alone

You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need a Pinterest-worthy routine. All you need is to be willing to meet yourself — as you are, where you are. Every step toward alignment is a step toward freedom.

And sometimes, the bravest thing you can do… is breathe.

Training is necessary for new employees to start off on the right foot. Here’s what should go into your new-hire training plan.

Training mistakes to avoid

Growing companies hire new employees who need onboarding, assimilation and training. Ideally, employers tap new team members with the in-demand skills and talents to perform their duties. An effective training program helps these promising new employees fully integrate with the company and gives them the tools for success and career growth. 

We’ll explore what an effective new-hire training program requires and explain how to turn new employees into top-notch members of your team. 

Did You Know?

A poor onboarding process can hurt employee morale, engagement and confidence, leading to missed revenue targets.

How to develop an effective new-hire training plan

These five tips can help you develop a new-hire training plan that will get employees settled and ready to produce top-quality work.

1. Ask existing employees what you should include in the training.

The best way to develop a new-hire training plan is by consulting with current employees who excel in their roles. For the best results, follow these steps:

• Identify key employees. Pinpoint excellent employees who are currently in similar positions as the new hire. 
• Find out what the job really entails. Ask your current employees what they think the new team member needs to perform their daily tasks. This advice can help you avoid overlooking critical job details, including the tools and setup the new employee will need to succeed. 
• Have them evaluate their training. Your seasoned employees can help you identify gaps in your current training plan that they experienced firsthand. Ask them what they wish they knew on day one that would have made it easier to begin working. 

“Setting up a new-hire training program can be daunting,” said Matthew Dailly, managing director at Tiger Financial. “You need to think about the most important aspects of the job but also the smallest details that they will need to learn to get right. The best way of knowing what new staff need to do is to ask your existing workers. They will make sure you know about everything that goes on in the role and how to set them up for it.”

2. Make training flexible, task-oriented and ongoing.

Create a dynamic process with the following features: 

• Customized training for each employee. While all new-hire training plans should cover the basics of working at your company, it’s essential to incorporate unique elements for each hire based on their interview and professional background. “Each person will enter training with varying skills and different focuses on what they need to be able to get through the training process successfully, so while the basics are core features, the rest of the training should remain flexible enough to suit each individual based on their personal needs,” said Adam Korbl, founder and CEO of iFax.
• Incorporate task-oriented training. “Instead of having a fixed-time training, have a task-oriented training where each training item needs to be completed to a specific standard to move forward to full employment,” Korbl said. “This allows the flexibility to give each person the training experience they actually need, as opposed to the basic requirements.”
• Make training an ongoing process. While each new hire should be able to perform their job in a week or two, training should be ongoing, with regular check-ins to ensure new employees have everything they need to excel in their position. 

Did You Know?

Effective employee training tactics include customizing training to how an employee learns best, providing incentives for getting up to speed, and offering continual learning opportunities to enhance career growth.

3. Encourage team-level training.

Most companies hire for a cultural fit to ensure new employees align with the company’s mission and vision. However, all too often, training covers only basic expectations and administrative information, like compensation and employee benefits. Incorporating team-based training can help new hires get up to speed faster and assimilate into the company culture better than they would with corporate-level training alone. 

“Companies often do onboarding on orientation at the corporate level,” said Mark A. Herschberg, author of The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You (Conosco Media, 2020). “While useful, orientation is also helped by being done at the team level. Helping the new team member understand team culture is equally important. How does the team operate in terms of conflict versus coalition building, or like to communicate?”

Team-level training can help new hires do the following: 

• Understand their team’s unique workflow
• Recognize the team’s reporting hierarchy
• Appreciate the day-to-day expectations for their role 
• Understand existing processes
• Meet other team members 
• Learn the metrics used to track the team’s productivity

4. Accommodate each new hire’s preferred learning method.

People learn differently, so your new-hire training plan should adapt to various learning styles. Conforming to a new hire’s preferred learning method can help reduce the instruction a new hire needs to perform in their role effectively.

“When training new employees, it is important to engage them in a way that best suits their ability to learn the most,” said Jase Rodley, founder and SEO service provider at Dialed Labs. “People can often differ in how they will best get a handle on something.”

You’re likely to see three main learning styles among new hires:

• Visual. Some new hires prefer to learn processes by watching someone actively perform tasks.
• Hands-on. Other employees like to take a hands-on approach to learning by performing the task themselves several times before they can commit it to memory.
• Reading. Some employees prefer to read a packet of written instructions and keep it on hand in their first few weeks on the job.

“While not all aspects of training are made to move between [these three learning styles] … it is good practice to give the new employee the best chance of success that you can by providing the method that most inspires them,” Rodley said.

5. Promote good leaders and involve them in the training process.

Without good leaders, your staff will have a hard time succeeding. This is especially true for new hires. When promoting or hiring for managerial positions, carefully consider which candidates could best guide and coach other employees. Then, involve them in developing and executing your new-hire training plan.

“The leadership ability of the manager is the No. 1 determining factor of whether a new hire will have a positive or negative employee experience over the long haul,” said Jessica Donahue, owner of Adjunct Leadership Consulting. “Employee engagement, retention and turnover can all be predicted by the quality of leader an employee works for. In this way, providing an exceptional onboarding experience is the first step for a leader looking to retain and engage a high-performing team for years to come.”

Tip

Solicit feedback from onboarded and trained new hires to refine and improve your hiring process. As your company grows and evolves, so should your new-hire training plan.

What is a new-hire training plan?

A new-hire training plan is a company’s well-defined process for onboarding new team members and bringing them up to speed. It should do the following:

• Cover administrative concerns. Make sure new team members complete any necessary administrative paperwork. 
• Introduce new hires to their teams. Introduce your new hires to team members, and share processes for communicating with colleagues and leadership. 
• Teach critical tools. Train new hires on software and other tools they’ll need to do their jobs effectively.
• Share the company vision. Introduce new hires to core concepts, like the company mission, organizational structure and company culture.

Why is new-hire training important? 

A comprehensive new-hire training program can help your company in the following ways: 

• Ensures a strong start. A strong training plan can prevent misunderstandings or a sluggish start, thereby helping the company reap the benefits of filling a vacant position as soon as a week after the new hire begins in their role. 
• Helps employees feel welcome. A comprehensive new-hire training plan helps make new employees feel like members of the team. They’ll meet key organization members, learn about job perks, and identify sources of support within the company. 
• Makes employees feel confident. Training makes new team members feel comfortable in their positions while giving them the knowledge, tools and skills they need to become successful and productive members of your company.
• Improves morale and reduces turnover. Training can also boost morale because it helps new hires feel like they are welcome, competent members of the team, and high employee morale decreases turnover. In contrast, new employees without proper training may get frustrated and leave their jobs soon after getting hired. 

Tip

Keep your employee handbook updated so new hires understand their job functions along with the company’s mission, vision, policies, dress code, and code of conduct.

Training mistakes to avoid

Avoid these common training program mistakes to help create the best onboarding program possible: 

• Not giving new hires a warm welcome. How you greet your new hires on their first day will color their impression of the company. It can even affect how productive they’ll be in the long term. You’ll seem callous and uncaring if you show them to their desk, give them an assignment, and let them figure out the company on their own. Instead, your hiring manager or a senior employee should greet them at the door. A tour of your facilities and team member introductions can help new employees feel more connected.
• Using too much technical jargon. Many industries have developed their own shorthand, but you shouldn’t assume a new employee speaks the lingo. Take your time introducing new hires to the industry lexicon, and give them resources to learn it at their own pace. Give them a cheat sheet with common acronyms and phrases, or connect them with an in-house mentor who can explain any unfamiliar terms. 
• Failing to nurture their interests. Many new hires are excited to start the job, and it’s possible to harness that energy to kick-start a solid connection to the company. However, just because that connection exists doesn’t mean it will last. Without guidance, a new employee’s passion for their role can fade, and their productivity will vanish along with it. Communication is crucial for maintaining a new hire’s excitement. An HR representative or manager should check in regularly with the new hire to ensure they haven’t run into trouble. Make sure they understand their responsibilities, and share exciting plans.

CR’s digital privacy and security experts offer their best advice for protecting your privacy

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Smart security cameras are a great tool for keeping an eye on your home, whether for package deliveries, critters rummaging through your garbage cans, or intruders snooping around your house. But their “all-seeing” abilities can also be co-opted by hackers to spy on you via the internet. No wonder, then, that according to the 2021 Statista Global Consumer Survey, 28 percent of U.S. respondents worried that people could spy on them through their smart home devices.

News articles about home security cameras getting hacked have become all too common. You may recall a story from January 2019, which went viral, about a California family’s Nest security camera being hacked to play fake warning messages that North Korea had launched missiles at the U.S. According to the Mercury News, the family’s 8-year-old son was so scared he hid under the living room rug. It was only after calls to 911 and Nest that the frightened family realized they were victims of a hack.

Nest (now known as Google Nest) sent an email to its customers offering tips on how they can protect themselves, but the company itself wasn’t breached. Similar hacking incidents were reported with Ring cameras in December 2019, with one of the most chilling incidents involving a hacker talking to a little girl through the camera in her bedroom. Like Nest, Amazon-owned Ring said at the time that its systems also hadn’t been breached. But reports of these incidents continue, with one as recently as April 2022. In all these cases, it’s suspected that hackers got the log-in credentials to accounts by other means.

How Hacks Happen

One way security cameras are vulnerable to hacks is through a technique called “credential stuffing.” Hackers use usernames and passwords from other data breaches (that other hackers share online) to gain access to accounts. The combination of large data breaches, such as those at Equifax and Target, and consumers reusing the same passwords—52 percent of internet users reuse or modify the same passwords—make the work easy. In recent years hackers have made the log-in credentials for over 11.7 billion online accounts available on the internet.

This type of hack doesn’t require the breach of a security camera company’s system, so every brand is at risk. “These companies aren’t technically at fault,” says Fred Garcia, who oversees CR’s privacy and security testing for home security cameras. “Most companies offer a two-factor authentication system that acts as an extra deterrent against attacks like this. But there is more that these companies could do, like encouraging people to use that added security feature by default.”

How to Protect Yourself

Data breaches and subsequent credential-stuffing attacks won’t be going away anytime soon, but there are simple steps you can take to reduce the chances that your security camera will be hacked.

1. Keep Your Camera’s Firmware Up to Date

Manufacturers that are serious about protecting their cameras will routinely release firmware updates that fix software bugs and patch security vulnerabilities. Some cameras will automatically download and install these updates, while others require that you check for them on your own. (You’ll usually find an update button under the Settings menu in your camera’s app.)

2. Change Your Camera’s Password

In a nationally representative CR survey of 1,006 U.S. adults on data privacy conducted in May 2019, 13 percent of Americans with at least one online account said they used the same password for all their accounts. That makes it a cinch for hackers to gain access to multiple accounts. Always create a unique password for each account. Here’s the best way.

Do: Use something long and complex—like a random phrase or string of characters—with numbers, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters.

Don’t: Include any personally identifiable information, such as names, birthdates, etc. Hackers can often get this information from public social media profiles, such as those on Facebook and Instagram, and then use it to guess your passwords and gain access to your accounts. You also want to avoid simple, commonly used passwords, such as Nordpass’s 200 Most Common Passwords. For more tips on strengthening your passwords, read our tips for better passwords.

3. Set Up a Password Manager

These programs generate incredibly strong, random passwords for your digital accounts, securely store and remember them for you, and even automatically insert them into log-in prompts. Many password managers are free to use and available on an array of devices and web browsers.

4. Set Up Two-Factor Authentication

This is an extra layer of security. You opt to have your security camera company send you a single-use passcode via a text message, phone call, email, or authentication app that you use in addition to your username and password when you log in to the account. That way, if hackers crack your password, they still won’t be able to access your camera unless they also gain access to your passcode.

Many camera companies now offer two-factor authentication, and some even require you to use it, but there are still holdouts. That’s why we note whether cameras and doorbells offer two-factor authentication in our home security camera ratings.

All these methods can improve your chances of avoiding a hack, but they’re not foolproof. “None of these methods will work perfectly on their own,” Garcia says. “But right now, these measures are our best tools. Use them all!”

Top Cameras With Two-Factor Authentication

Consumer Reports conducts data privacy and security tests on wireless security cameras to help you find models that are as secure as possible. Cameras that include two-factor authentication receive a higher score. Our experts also inspect the user interface and network traffic from each camera and its companion smartphone app to make sure it’s using encryption, adhering to manufacturer policies, and not sharing your data. We evaluate each model’s public documentation (such as privacy policies) to see what claims the manufacturer makes about the way it handles your data.

What is You Test?

Testing is at the heart of CR. You Test is your chance to get involved. Share your experiences on the products you own and how you use them – and hear from other members what works best for them. Test your knowledge on products, services and issues that affect all of us.

* While You Test does inform our research and testing approach, it’s different from the surveys we use to calculate our reliability and satisfaction ratings.

Passwords & Firmware 101

Online privacy and security are huge issues facing a lot of people today. On the “Consumer 101” TV show, Consumer Reports expert Maria Rerecich explains why it’s not just phones and computers that people should be concerned about.

How can you take action with your new marketing plan?

To have a successful business, you need a well-thought-out marketing plan to promote your products or services. Although making a few social media posts or blasting a few promotional emails may seem simple enough, disjointed marketing efforts not only confuse your target audience, but can ultimately harm your business. This guide will help you create a marketing plan for your business, and outlines all the components necessary to achieve your goals.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a strategic road map for how you communicate (online and offline) with your target audience to successfully promote your products or services. Depending on your goal, marketing plans can be extremely basic or highly detailed.

According to Molly Maple Bryant, vice president of marketing at Vibrent Health, a marketing plan is not simply a list of things you want to accomplish. Instead, it should list the outcomes you seek — measurable and contextual, like the pipeline you’re developing, or leads you’re generating — and it should explain the high-level strategies you will use to achieve those outcomes. Developing strategies can be complicated, but they make a major difference in keeping you on track and avoiding diversions, also called scope creep.

“Once you have an agreed-upon plan, you are able to compare any incoming requests against your strategies to determine ‘Yes, this adheres to my strategy so we can add it,’ or ‘No, this sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t adhere to our agreed-upon strategy, so we won’t adjust resources,’” Bryant told us.

Most Recommended Text Message Marketing Solutions for 2026

Finding the right SMS marketing solutions for your small business is time consuming – especially in these tough times. business.com looked at dozens of options to come up with the following recommendations.

Types of marketing plans

There are several different types of marketing plans you can use based on certain strategies that make sense for your organization. Your business will likely need a combination of the following marketing plans to create an effective, comprehensive marketing strategy:

• Advertising plan
• Branding plan
• Content marketing plan
• Customer acquisition plan
• Direct marketing plan
• Email marketing plan
• Public relation plan
• Print marketing plan
• Reputation management plan
• Retention plan
• Search engine optimization plan
• Social media marketing plan

Tip

Depending on your product positioning, niche marketing plans like influencer marketing or video marketing can be incredibly effective.

Why is it important to have a marketing plan for your business?

A marketing plan is a crucial resource for any small business because it helps you identify the market needs your product or service meets, how your product is different from competitors, and who your product or service is for. Marketing plans also serve as a road map for your sales strategy, branding direction and building your overall business. This is important for successfully conveying your brand messaging to your target audience.

A marketing plan:

Makes your company more effective

The importance of strategic marketing planning is supported by Nielsen’s research, which found that marketers who align their goals with business outcomes and measure success with metrics like lead conversions, cost per lead and return on ad spend are significantly more effective than those only focusing on media metrics such as views or clicks.

Designing a marketing plan for your company is more than just metrics though; it forces you to sit down and do the math about your business goals and how to realistically fulfill them. When you look at your growth outcomes, you can delve further to determine what it will take to get to those numbers.

Bryant offered the following example: “Need $100,000 in revenue? How many sales is that? If 10, what’s your close rate? Let’s say 10 percent from lead to closed deal. Now you have a metric to start with — to get to 10 sales, we need 100 leads. Where will they come from, and what strategies will you use? The plan helps you put it all on paper so you can map out resources and tactics later with a lot of preparation and realism,” said Bryant.

Helps your company focus on goals

When analyzing outcomes and resources, you can save time and avoid scope creep by focusing only on strategies that are relevant to your marketing plan. A marketing plan helps you think realistically about your strategies, gets your stakeholders on the same page and holds your marketing team accountable for their decisions.

“When everyone’s tasks and goals are laid out for the stakeholders and company partners to see, it is much easier for the entire team to feel at ease about reaching sales goals and allowing the marketing team the space and freedom needed to execute work without constant supervision,” said Cassady Dill, digital marketing consultant and owner of Ethos Agency.

Fosters communication 

A marketing plan provides an easy guide for future marketing managers and team members to understand and implement, according to Dill. That is why it is essential to create a plan that will easily be understood by your entire team, executives and outside departments. 

What are the key elements of an effective business marketing plan?

A marketing plan should be customized to fit your business; however, Dill said, all marketing plans contain five essential functions:

• Your business goals
• Key metrics (how you quantify and measure success)
• Strategies (an overview of implementation and how that will achieve goals)
• A plan (the details of execution and the human resources, departments and software that will be involved)
• Reporting (what reports of progress will include and/or look like)

We broke down those five functions into 10 actionable categories to help you create a marketing plan that is unique and effective for your business.

1. Executive summary

The executive summary is a great place to give the reader of your plan an overview of your business’s mission or goals, as well as the marketing strategy you’re looking to employ. An executive summary is often written after you’ve completed the rest of the marketing plan, to ensure it covers all the important elements of your plan. If the executive summary is the only part of your marketing plan that someone reads (which is highly possible), you want to be sure they understand the most crucial details.

2. Mission statement

The mission statement, not to be confused with a vision statement, is a statement that encompasses your company’s values and how they relate to your overall goals as an organization. Here are some good questions to get you thinking:

• What does your company do?
• What’s important to your company?
• What would your company like to do in the future?
• What is your brand identity?
• What’s your company culture?
• How does your company benefit customers, employees and stakeholders?

3. Target markets

Identifying your target market is one of the most important parts of your marketing plan. Without a defined target audience, your marketing expenses will be wasted. Think of it like this: Some people need your service or product but don’t know it exists yet. Who are those people?

Here are some other questions to help you brainstorm your target market:

• What is the demographic of your customers (gender, age, income, education, etc.)?
• What are their needs and interests?
• What’s their psychographic profile (attitudes, philosophies, values, lifestyle,etc.)?
• How do they behave?
• What are some existing products they use?

4. Products and services

In this section, don’t just list what your product or service is. Think critically about what you have to offer your customers and what that value proposition means to them.

• What do you make or provide for customers?
• What are your customers’ needs?
• How does your product or service fulfill customers’ needs?
• What value do you add to your customers’ lives?
• What type of product or service are you offering?

Did You Know?

Marketers that use multiple channels are more competitive and report better outcomes, according to HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing Report.

5. Distribution channels

At this point in your report, you should transition your thinking into actual marketing theory and practices. Distribution channels are the avenues you’ll use to reach a prospective customer or business. Think of all current and potential sales channels on which your specific target audience is active. One distribution channel that works great for one organization may be useless to another. For example, one company may host their website for free on a site like HubSpot and solely rely on that as their sales channel, while another company may have a whole team of people using Pinterest to drive sales. [Learn how the best CRM systems can help track your marketing leads based on various distribution channels.]

Examples of sales channels include the following:

• Website(s)
• Retail
• Mobile text message marketing [Learn about the Best Text Message Marketing Services]
• Social media
• Email
• Resellers
• Print (newspapers, magazines, brochures, catalogs, direct mail)
• Broadcast (TV, radio)
• Press releases
• Trade shows, product demonstrations, event marketing

6. Competitive profile

One of the major aspects of your marketing plan is developing your unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is a feature or stance that separates your product or service from competitors. Finding your USP is all about differentiation and distinguishing your company as a sole proprietor of one type of good or service. Conduct a competitive analysis to identify your competitive profile and how you stack up against the competition. It is important to remain unbiased when conducting this analysis.

Here are some ideas to consider:

• What’s your USP?
• Who are your competitors? What do they offer?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competition?
• What needs of the market (or customer) are not being served? What can you do to meet those needs?

Bottom Line

If you are creating your USP for the first time, here are seven surefire strategies to help you stand out from the competition.

7. A pricing strategy

Consider pricing when drafting your marketing plan. Developing the right pricing strategy helps you better market your product. Think about your current and projected finances when developing a long-term marketing strategy that is realistic and beneficial for your business. Here are some key questions to ask yourself about your pricing:

• What are reasonable margins to make a profit and cover production costs?
• Is there a market for products or services at your projected price point?
• Are you willing to sacrifice profit margins in return for a greater market share?
• What are your marketing and distribution costs?

8. Marketing objectives

Consider your objectives when developing a marketing plan. This aspect of your plan should involve specific goals related to market penetration and revenue targets. Be sure to keep your marketing objectives on-brand with your business. Here are some things to consider:

• Sales quotas
• Number of new customers gained
• Customer retention percentages
• Revenue targets
• Market penetration
• Brand awareness
• Website traffic

FYI

Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives helps foster a company’s success. Clear metrics allow marketing efforts to guide measurable business outcomes.

9. Action plans

With all of the above items outlined, determine what steps need to be taken to enact your marketing plan. This includes determining the proper steps, setting goals, breaking down responsibilities and establishing an overall timeline.

It’s also important to brainstorm potential roadblocks your business could face and some solutions to overcome them. Your research is useless if you don’t have an actionable plan that can be realistically implemented to carry out your ideas.

10. Financial projections

This last step allows you to establish a realistic marketing budget and better understand your marketing plan from a cost perspective. In addition to setting a budget, consider the overall return on investment as well. Here are some other financial projections to consider:

• Cost of implementation
• Cost to produce product or service
• Existing and projected cash flow
• Projected sales
• Desired profit margin on projected sales

What is a template for creating a successful marketing plan?

The internet is full of useful tools, including paid and free marketing plan templates, to help you build a successful marketing plan.

Whether you are looking for a free template generator to build a new marketing plan or a benchmarking tool to evaluate your current strategies, several great resources are available. Keep in mind that the best marketing plan for your business will be a customized one.

“Ultimately, you should design a marketing plan that best serves the needs of your team as you see fit,” Dill said. “Don’t force yourself into a plan that doesn’t fit your team. Use templates to shorten the workload time, but then adjust it for a more custom plan.”

Here are some tools and templates to get you started:

• Free marketing plan template: business.com has developed a free template that is fully customizable based on the needs of your business. Each section provides in-depth explanations, examples and resources to help you create an impressive marketing plan.
• Smart Insights: In addition to offering marketing plan templates, some companies, like Smart Insights, offer marketing benchmarking templates to help you evaluate your strategy performance. These are accessible with a free Smart Insights membership.
• GERU: Similarly, GERU offers a funnel-planning, profit-prediction and simulation tool to help you assess mock business ideas and simulations. This can help you identify weak points in your marketing strategy that need improvement. Although GERU requires users to sign up for a paid account, you can access a free trial to test it out.

Tip

Use free tools and templates to help create your marketing plan.

What mistakes should you avoid when creating your marketing plan?

When creating an effective marketing plan, you need to avoid falling for common missteps and mistakes. For starters, failing to identify any of the 10 actionable categories above is an obvious mistake.

Here are some other key mistakes to avoid:

• Setting unrealistic budgets: Underestimating the costs of marketing activities or setting an unrealistic budget can limit your ability to execute your plan effectively. Marketing can be expensive, so it’s important to fully understand the estimated cost and budget before building a marketing strategy that you can’t afford.
• Focusing on quantity over quality: “More” doesn’t always mean “better” if you are posting on irrelevant marketing channels or your efforts are bringing in unqualified leads. Prioritizing the quantity of marketing activities over their quality can lead to superficial engagement and a lack of meaningful results.
• Not testing campaigns: Launching large campaigns without testing can lead to wasted resources if the messaging or tactics don’t resonate as expected. Test out your new campaigns to ensure they achieve your intended goal.
• Ignoring customer feedback: You may be tempted to ignore negative feedback, but disregarding customer comments and failing to address their concerns can lead to negative perceptions of your brand. Instead, use customer feedback to improve your product and marketing efforts.
• Overpromising and underdelivering: Setting unrealistic expectations in your marketing messages that your products or services can’t fulfill can damage your brand’s reputation.
• Ignoring seasonality and trends: Failing to account for seasonal trends and market changes can result in missed opportunities for timely marketing efforts.
• Not reviewing and updating your plan: A rigid marketing plan that doesn’t allow for adjustments in response to market feedback and changing conditions can hinder your success. A marketing plan should be a living document that is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in the market and your business’s goals.

Avoiding these mistakes and missteps can help you create a more effective and successful marketing plan that drives results for your business.

How can you take action with your new marketing plan?

Before you dive into marketing plan templates, it’s important to understand how to think about a marketing plan.

A good marketing plan targets who your buyers are, establishes the service or product you are offering, and determines your unique selling proposition. From here, you will tackle the marketing planning process and develop the best way to get your product in front of buyers who want your product or service.

Dill created a simple four-step process for how small businesses can take action with creating a marketing plan.

1. The first step is to hold a marketing meeting with all the marketing team and executives or stakeholders. This gives them time to offer questions, concerns and criticisms you haven’t thought of so you can go back to the board room and revise your strategy or plan.
2. Next, add a timeline to all your tasks and assign team members and all the help you’ll need to execute that plan.
3. Once your plan is in action, hold weekly check-ins in person or by email to keep everyone on track.
4. Share a weekly progress report with all parties involved and execs to ensure you are moving in the right direction.

In addition to drafting your own plan, you can work with a digital marketing agency or use internet marketing and pay-per-click management services to leverage your online presence.

Once you’ve established a general road map, update it annually. Developing an evolving marketing plan sets your business up for continued success because it allows you to prepare for the unexpected and establish a connection between your brand and your audience.

Thinking about selling your house? To get the best price, you need your home to stand out. Making the right updates can greatly increase its attraction to buyers. In this guide, we will look at ten important strategies to improve your home for a successful sale. From boosting curb appeal to adding smart home features, these tips will attract buyers and raise the value of your property. Let’s get into the details!

10 Key Strategies to Enhance Your Home for Sale

• Focus on improving curb appeal. This will help attract prospective buyers.
• Modernize the kitchen. It is a key area for many home buyers.
• Give the interiors a fresh coat of paint. This offers a quick change.
• Update lighting fixtures. This can create a modern feel.
• Refinish hardwood floors to add value to your home.
• Revamp bathrooms for a fresh look.
• Make improvements to energy efficiency. This attracts eco-conscious buyers.
• Declutter and organize spaces. This shows the home’s full potential.
• Use professional staging to highlight the home’s best features.
• Invest in smart home features for more appeal and functionality.

1. Prioritize Curb Appeal Upgrades

Creating a warm and welcoming outside look is important for making your home more appealing. Begin by cutting back bushes, adding bright planters, and keeping your lawn in good shape. A fresh coat of paint on the front door and shutters can make a big difference. You can also upgrade your mailbox and house numbers for a small cost to boost the overall appearance. Keep in mind that the first impression is key for how others feel about your home. These simple changes can change how people see the value of your property.

2. Modernize the Kitchen Space

Upgrading your kitchen can really help sell your home. You can modernize it by changing old fixtures, adding a fresh coat of paint, and thinking about energy-efficient appliances. This way, you can attract prospective buyers. A stylish and useful kitchen will make a lasting first impression and increase the value of your home.

3. Refresh the Interior with Paint

Choosing the right paint colors can change a space. It can make it look more inviting to buyers. Neutral colors like soft greys and warm beiges allow buyers to imagine their own style. New paint gives rooms a clean and modern look. It also hides any old scuffs or marks, showing that the property is well taken care of. Making sure all the colors in the house work well together can also make the space feel bigger and more connected. This boosts the overall charm of the home.

4. Update Lighting Fixtures

• Upgrade your home’s lighting fixtures to unlock its potential.
• Modern options can improve the feel of your space while matching your décor.
• Brighten up dark areas and show off important features. This creates a warm atmosphere that appeals to potential buyers.
• Choosing energy-efficient lights can attract buyers who care about the environment and increase the value of your home.
• New fixtures will not just look good; they show that you care about keeping your home well-maintained.
• Use stylish lighting updates to present your home in the best way possible.

5. Refinish Hardwood Floors

Refinishing hardwood floors can greatly improve the look of your home. This change can impress potential buyers. It also adds a bit of elegance and can boost the value of your property. By updating your floors, you enhance the visual appeal and create a lasting impression. Many buyers desire hardwood floors, making this a smart choice to gain more attention for your listing. Upgrade your floors to display the beauty and warmth of your space.

6. Revamp the Bathroom

Revamping the bathroom is important when selling a house. Prospective buyers really like updated bathrooms. A fresh and modern bathroom can boost the appeal and value of your home. You can make small changes like adding new fixtures, a fresh coat of paint, and updated accessories to create a big impact. Making the bathroom feel like a spa can help make a lasting first impression on potential buyers. Revamping your bathroom is a good investment with a high return in selling your home.

7. Enhance Energy Efficiency

Consider making your home more energy-efficient. You can do this by upgrading insulation, sealing drafts, and installing energy-efficient windows and appliances. These changes can attract eco-friendly buyers. They will also help you save on utility bills, which can make your property more appealing. Buyers like homes that have lower energy costs and a smaller carbon footprint. This makes energy efficiency a smart investment. It can help your home stand out in a tough market. Focusing on energy efficiency upgrades can have good financial and environmental effects on your home’s appeal.

8. Declutter and Organize Rooms

Keeping your space clean is important to attract potential buyers. Removing clutter and organizing each room can make the area look bigger and more welcoming. Taking out personal items and extra furniture helps buyers imagine their own things in the house. Think about using neutral colors and creating a smooth flow from room to room. When spaces are organized, they not only show the property’s potential but also give a calm feeling to guests, which boosts the overall charm of your home.

9. Stage Your Home Professionally

Highlight your property’s charm by getting help from a professional stager. Their design skills can make your spaces more appealing to potential buyers. By carefully placing furniture and decorations, they can emphasize the best parts of your home and downplay any flaws. Professional staging not only makes your home look better, but it also shows off what each room can really do. In the end, this investment can help your home sale happen faster and be more successful.

10. Invest in Smart Home Features

Investing in smart home features can make your property more attractive to home buyers who like technology. Adding smart thermostats, lighting systems, security cameras, and voice assistants can improve how well your home works and how modern it looks. These features provide convenience and show the home’s innovative style, which could help you sell it for a higher price. Smart home technologies keep up with current market trends, appealing to many prospective buyers who want a modern and efficient place to live.

Maximizing Your Investment

Cost-effective updates that pay off can really boost the value of your home. If you time your upgrades based on the current market, you can make the most of your investment. Knowing the local market helps you make smart, small changes for a higher sale price. Look at the size of your home, energy costs, and competitive rates to help with your choices. A good realtor can give you advice on the listing price and what financial offers to expect. This can lead to a successful house sale.

Cost-Effective Updates That Pay Off

Think about affordable updates to improve curb appeal, like new paint and modern fixtures. These changes can increase your home’s value and attract buyers without spending too much money. Simple updates, such as changing lighting and clearing out clutter, can impress prospective buyers a lot. Focus on smart updates that make your home look better while sticking to a reasonable budget.

Timing Your Upgrades for Market Trends

To get your home ready for sale, it’s important to time your upgrades well. Pay attention to what buyers like right now. This could be energy-saving features, smart home tools, or modern styles. When you update your home to match what the current market wants, you can sell it faster and for a good price. Keep an eye on trends in real estate. This can help you make smart choices that boost the value and attractiveness of your home. Being ahead of the game can make your property stand out.

Preparing for the Market

Before you sell your home, it’s important to get it ready for the market. Think about getting a pre-sale inspection. This helps you find and fix any problems early. Also, knowing your financing choices for home improvements can help you a lot. Make sure any updates you do fit with what buyers want right now. By timing your upgrades well and keeping your home in great shape, you can draw in more buyers and possibly ask for a higher price. Being well-prepared is very important for a successful home sale.

The Importance of a Pre-Sale Home Inspection

A pre-sale home inspection is important for finding problems that might scare off buyers. This step lets sellers fix issues before they list the home. This leads to easier talks and possibly higher offers. By finding hidden problems, sellers can gain trust with prospective buyers and show that they are honest. Fixing issues early can help make the selling process easier and avoid any surprises later. Taking this step shows that the seller cares about a good deal, which can make buyers feel more confident.

Navigating Home Improvement Financing

Understanding home improvement financing is important when you plan to sell your house. Look into different funding options like home equity loans and personal loans. Find out which choice is best for your money situation. Think about how these financing choices can affect the value of your home. Make sure they fit within your budget. Getting advice from highly qualified professionals in real estate and finance can help you make good financial decisions for your home improvement projects.

Marketing Your Upgraded Home

Crafting a good listing description and using social media and virtual tours are important for selling your upgraded home well. A clear description that shows its best features can attract prospective buyers. Using social media for virtual tours offers a better way for people to experience your home, reaching more viewers. Having strong pictures taken by a professional photographer can make your home look more appealing online. These marketing methods are key to sparking interest and making a successful sale.

Crafting a Compelling Listing Description

Crafting a good listing description is very important for getting the attention of prospective buyers. You should show off the unique features of your home and why it is valuable. Use nice language to help buyers imagine living there. It’s also good to include words that help people find your listing online. Share important details like the location, amenities, and recent upgrades. A great description can really help to get more interest and make your property stand out in a crowded market. Use this chance to highlight the best parts of your home and attract interested buyers.

Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Tours

In today’s world, using social media and virtual tours is very important when you want to sell your home. You can use sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to show off your property with pretty pictures and virtual tours. Virtual tours let potential buyers look at your home from anywhere. This makes it easier and faster to sell. By talking to potential buyers on social media, you can create interest and draw in more people to see your listing.

Conclusion

Maximize what your home can offer with some smart upgrades. This can help attract prospective buyers. Start by improving curb appeal. You can also modernize important areas in your home. Highlight energy efficiency and consider home staging to make a great impression. Keep up with local market trends and invest in updates that give you good value for your money. Write a strong listing description. Using social media for marketing can also help you sell your home better. Remember, presentation is key when selling your home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top improvements that increase home value?

Improve the value of your home by making it more attractive from the outside. Work on curb appeal upgrades, modernize the kitchen, and refresh the indoor spaces with a new coat of paint. Look into updating lighting fixtures, too. These important changes can greatly boost the market value of your home.

How much can you spend without running out of money? The 4% rule is a popular rule of thumb, but you can do better. Here are guidelines for finding your personalized spending rate.

You’ve worked hard to save for retirement, and now you’re ready to turn your savings into a paycheck. But how much can you afford to withdraw from savings and spend? If you spend too much, you risk being left with a shortfall later in retirement. But if you spend too little, you may not enjoy the retirement you envisioned.

How the 4% retirement rule works

One frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending is known as the 4% rule. It’s relatively simple: You add up all of your investments and withdraw 4% of that total during your first year of retirement. In subsequent years, you adjust the dollar amount you withdraw to account for inflation. By following this formula, you should have a very high probability of not outliving your money during a 30-year retirement, according to the rule.

For example, let’s say your investment portfolio at retirement totals $1 million. You would withdraw $40,000 in your first year of retirement. If the cost of living rises 2.5% that year, you would give yourself a 2.5% raise the following year, withdrawing $41,000, and so on for the next 30 years.

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Need a retirement income strategy?

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The 4% rule assumes you withdraw the same amount from your portfolio every year, adjusted for inflation

While the 4% rule is a reasonable place to start, it doesn’t fit every investor’s situation. A few caveats:

• It’s a rigid rule. The 4% rule assumes you increase your spending every year by the rate of inflation—not on how your portfolio performed—which can be a challenge for some investors. It also assumes you never have years where you spend more, or less, than the inflation increase. This isn’t how most people spend in retirement. Expenses may change from one year to the next, and the amount you spend may change throughout retirement.
• It applies to a specific portfolio composition. The rule applies to a hypothetical portfolio invested 50% in stocks and 50% in bonds. Your actual portfolio composition may differ, and you may change your investments over time during your retirement. We generally suggest that you diversify your portfolio across a wide range of asset classes and types of stocks and bonds, and that you reduce your exposure to stocks as you transition through retirement.
• It uses historical market returns. Analysis by Schwab Asset Management projects that market returns for stocks and bonds over the next decade are likely to be below long-term historical averages. Using historical market returns to calculate a sustainable withdrawal rate could result in a withdrawal rate that is too high.
• It assumes a 30-year time horizon. Depending on your age, 30 years may not be needed or likely. According to Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates, the average remaining life expectancy of people turning 65 today is less than 30 years. We believe that retirees should plan for a long retirement. The risk of running out of money is an important risk to manage. But, if you’re already retired or older than 65, your planning time horizon may be different. The 4% rule, in other words, may not suit your situation.
• It includes a very high level of confidence that your portfolio will last for a 30-year period. The rule uses a very high likelihood (close to 100%, in historical scenarios) that the portfolio would have lasted for a 30-year time period. In other words, it assumes that in nearly every scenario the hypothetical portfolio would not have ended with a negative balance. This may sound great in theory, but it means that you have to spend less in retirement to achieve that level of safety. By staying flexible and revisiting your spending rate annually, you may not need to target such a high confidence level.
• It doesn’t include taxes or investment fees. The rule guides how much to withdraw from your portfolio each year and assumes that taxes or fees, if any, are an expense that you pay out of the money withdrawn. If you withdraw $40,000, and have $5,000 in taxes and fees at year-end, that’s paid from the $40,000 withdrawn.

Beyond the 4% rule

However you slice it, the biggest mistake you can make with the 4% rule is thinking you have to follow it to the letter. It can be used as a starting point—and a basic guideline to help you save for retirement. If you want $40,000 from your portfolio in the first year of a 30-year retirement, increasing annually with inflation, with high confidence your savings will last, using the 4% rule would require you to have $1 million dollars in retirement. But after that, we suggest adopting a personalized spending rate, based on your situation, investments, and risk tolerance, and then regularly updating it. Further, our research suggests that, on average, spending decreases in retirement. It doesn’t stay constant (adjusted for inflation) as suggested by the 4% rule.

How do you determine your personalized spending rate? Start by asking yourself these questions:

1. How long do you want to plan for?

Obviously you don’t know exactly how long you’ll live, and it’s not a question that many people want to ponder too deeply. But to get a general idea, you should carefully consider your health and life expectancy, using data from the Social Security Administration and your family history. Also consider your tolerance for managing the risk of outliving your assets, access to other resources if you draw down your portfolio (for example, Social Security, a pension, or annuities), and other factors. This online calculator can help you determine your planning horizon.

2. How will you invest your portfolio? 

Stocks in retirement portfolios provide potential for future growth, to help support spending needs later in retirement. Cash and bonds, on the other hand, can add stability and can be used to fund spending needs early in retirement. Each investment serves its own role, so a good mix of all three—stocks, bonds and cash—is important.

We find that asset allocation has a relatively small impact on your first-year sustainable withdrawal amount, unless you have a very conservative allocation and a long retirement period. However, asset allocation can have a significant impact on the portfolio’s ending asset balance. In other words, a more aggressive asset allocation may have the potential to grow more over time. The downside is that the “bad” years can be relatively worse than with a more conservative allocation.

Asset allocation can have a big impact on a portfolio’s ending balance

Assumes a constant asset allocation, a 75% confidence level, and withdrawals growing by a constant 2.37% over 30 years. Assumes a starting balance of $1 million. Confidence level is defined as the number of times the portfolio ended with a balance greater than zero. See the disclosures below for a summary of the Conservative, Moderately Conservative, Moderate, and Moderately Aggressive asset allocations and return assumptions. The example is hypothetical and provided for illustrative purposes only. It is not intended to represent a specific investment product, and the example does not reflect the effects of taxes or fees. 

Remember, choosing an appropriate mix of investments may not be just a mathematical decision. Research shows that the pain of losses exceeds the pleasure from gains, and this feeling can be amplified in retirement. Picking an allocation you’re comfortable with, especially in the event of a bear market, not just the one with the greatest possibility to increase the potential ending asset balance, is important.

Overall, we find that the relative downside risk is small across different asset allocations, further illustrating the conservativeness of the rule.

3. How confident do you want to be that your money will last?

Think of a confidence level as the percentage of times in which the hypothetical portfolio did not run out of money, based on a variety of assumptions and projections regarding potential future market performance. For example, a 90% confidence level means that after projecting 1,000 scenarios using varying returns for stocks and bonds, 900 of the hypothetical portfolios were left with money at the end of the designated time period—anywhere from one cent to an amount more than the portfolio started with.

We think aiming for a 75% to 90% confidence level is appropriate for most people, and sets a more comfortable spending limit, if you’re able to remain flexible and adjust if needed. Targeting a 90% confidence level means you will be spending less in retirement, with the trade-off that you are less likely to run out of money. If you regularly revisit your plan and are flexible if conditions change, 75% provides a reasonable confidence level between overspending and underspending.

4. Will you make changes if conditions change?

This is the most important issue, and one that trumps all of the issues above. The 4% rule, as we mentioned, is a rigid guideline, which assumes you won’t make adjustments to spending or your investments as conditions change. You aren’t a math formula, and neither is your retirement spending. If you make simple changes during market downturns, like lowering your spending on a vacation or reducing or cutting expenses you don’t need, you can increase the likelihood that your money will last.

Putting it all together

After you’ve answered the above questions, you have a few options.

The table below shows our calculations, to give you an estimate of a sustainable initial withdrawal rate. Note that the table shows what you’d withdraw from your portfolio this year only. You would increase the amount by inflation each year thereafter—or ideally, re-review your spending plan based on the performance of your portfolio. (We suggest discussing a comprehensive retirement plan with a financial advisor who can help you tailor your personalized withdrawal strategy. Then update that plan regularly.)

We assume that investors want the highest reasonable withdrawal rate, but not so high that your retirement funds will run short. In the table, we’ve highlighted the maximum and minimum suggested first-year sustainable withdrawal rates based on different time horizons. Then, we matched those time horizons with a general suggested asset allocation mix for that time period.

For example, if you are planning on needing retirement withdrawals for 20 years, we suggest a moderately conservative asset allocation and an initial withdrawal rate between 5.3% and 5.9%.

However, you may want to leave a legacy or would feel more confident with more money in the account to cushion against unexpected expenses. In such cases, you may prefer choosing a higher confidence level (90% vs. 75%) and a lower annual withdrawal amount (closer to 5.3%). The decision is a trade-off between spending more or potentially having a higher ending balance, but this is a decision only you can make based on your preferences and goals.

The table is based on projections using future 10-year projected portfolio returns and volatility, updated annually by Schwab Asset Management. The same annually updated projected returns are used in retirement saving and spending planning tools and calculators at Schwab.

Choose a withdrawal rate based on your time horizon, allocation, and confidence level

This table uses Schwab Asset Management 2026 10-year long-term return estimates and volatility for large-cap stocks, mid/small-cap stocks, international stocks, bonds and cash investments. Schwab Asset Management updates its return estimates annually, and withdrawal rates are updated accordingly. See the disclosures below for a summary of the Conservative, Moderately Conservative, Moderate, and Moderately Aggressive asset allocations. The Moderately Aggressive allocation is not our suggested asset allocation for any of the time horizons we use in the example. The example is hypothetical and provided for illustrative purposes only. It is not intended to represent a specific investment product and the example does not reflect the effects of taxes or fees. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Again, these spending rates assume that you will follow that spending rule throughout the rest of your retirement and not make future changes in your spending plan. In reality, we suggest you review your spending rate at least annually.

Planning time horizon	Asset allocation	Initial withdrawal rate (for a 75% to 90% confidence level)
30-years	Moderate	4.2% to 4.8%
20-years	Moderately Conservative	5.8% to 6.3%
10-years	Conservative	10.6% to 10.9%

Here are some additional items to keep in mind:

• If you are regularly spending above the rate indicated by the 75% confidence level (as shown in the first table), we suggest spending less.
• If you’re subject to required minimum distributions, consider those as part of your withdrawal amount.
• Be sure to factor in Social Security benefits, a pension, annuity income, or other non-portfolio income streams when determining your annual spending. This analysis estimates the amount you can withdraw from your investable portfolio based on your time horizon and desired confidence, not total spending using all sources of income. For example, if you need $50,000 annually but receive $10,000 from Social Security, you don’t need to withdraw the whole $50,000 from your portfolio—just the $40,000 difference.
• Rather than just interest and dividends, a balanced portfolio should also generate capital gains. We suggest using all sources of portfolio income to support spending. Investing primarily for interest and dividends may inadvertently skew your portfolio away from your desired asset allocation and may not deliver the combination of stability and growth required to help your portfolio last. 
• The projections above and spending rates are before asset management fees, if any, or taxes. Pay those from the gross amount after taking withdrawals.

Stay flexible—nothing ever goes exactly as planned

Our analysis—as well as the original 4% rule—assumes that you increase your spending amount by the rate of inflation each year regardless of market conditions. However, life isn’t so predictable. Remember, stay flexible, and evaluate your plan annually or when significant life events occur. If the stock market performs poorly, you may not be comfortable increasing your spending at all. If the market does well, you may be more inclined to spend more on some “nice to haves,” medical expenses, or on leaving a legacy.

Bottom line

The transition from saving to spending from your portfolio can be difficult. There will never be a single “right” answer to how much you can withdraw from your portfolio in retirement. What’s important is to have a plan and a general guideline for spending—and then monitor and adjust, based on your circumstances, as necessary. The goal, after all, isn’t to worry about complicated calculations about spending. It’s to enjoy your retirement.

The ultimate productivity hack is saying no.

Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. This statement reminds me of the old computer programming saying, “Remember that there is no code faster than no code.”

The same philosophy applies in other areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.

This is not to say you should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say yes to many things we don’t actually want to do. There are many meetings held that don’t need to be held. There is a lot of code written that could be deleted.

How often do people ask you to do something and you just reply, “Sure thing.” Three days later, you’re overwhelmed by how much is on your to-do list. We become frustrated by our obligations even though we were the ones who said yes to them in the first place.

It’s worth asking if things are necessary. Many of them are not, and a simple “no” will be more productive than whatever work the most efficient person can muster.

But if the benefits of saying no are so obvious, then why do we say yes so often?

Why We Say Yes

We agree to many requests not because we want to do them, but because we don’t want to be seen as rude, arrogant, or unhelpful. Often, you have to consider saying no to someone you will interact with again in the future—your co-worker, your spouse, your family and friends.

Saying no to these people can be particularly difficult because we like them and want to support them. (Not to mention, we often need their help too.) Collaborating with others is an important element of life. The thought of straining the relationship outweighs the commitment of our time and energy.

For this reason, it can be helpful to be gracious in your response. Do whatever favors you can, and be warm-hearted and direct when you have to say no.

But even after we have accounted for these social considerations, many of us still seem to do a poor job of managing the tradeoff between yes and no. We find ourselves over-committed to things that don’t meaningfully improve or support those around us, and certainly don’t improve our own lives.

Perhaps one issue is how we think about the meaning of yes and no.

The Difference Between Yes and No

The words “yes” and “no” get used in comparison to each other so often that it feels like they carry equal weight in conversation. In reality, they are not just opposite in meaning, but of entirely different magnitudes in commitment.

When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.

I like how the economist Tim Harford put it, “Every time we say yes to a request, we are also saying no to anything else we might accomplish with the time.” Once you have committed to something, you have already decided how that future block of time will be spent.

In other words, saying no saves you time in the future. Saying yes costs you time in the future. No is a form of time credit. You retain the ability to spend your future time however you want. Yes is a form of time debt. You have to pay back your commitment at some point.

No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.

The Role of No

Saying no is sometimes seen as a luxury that only those in power can afford. And it is true: turning down opportunities is easier when you can fall back on the safety net provided by power, money, and authority. But it is also true that saying no is not merely a privilege reserved for the successful among us. It is also a strategy that can help you become successful.

Saying no is an important skill to develop at any stage of your career because it retains the most important asset in life: your time. As the investor Pedro Sorrentino put it, “If you don’t guard your time, people will steal it from you.”

You need to say no to whatever isn’t leading you toward your goals. You need to say no to distractions. As one reader told me, “If you broaden the definition as to how you apply no, it actually is the only productivity hack (as you ultimately say no to any distraction in order to be productive).”

Nobody embodied this idea better than Steve Jobs, who said, “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”

There is an important balance to strike here. Saying no doesn’t mean you’ll never do anything interesting or innovative or spontaneous. It just means that you say yes in a focused way. Once you have knocked out the distractions, it can make sense to say yes to any opportunity that could potentially move you in the right direction. You may have to try many things to discover what works and what you enjoy. This period of exploration can be particularly important at the beginning of a project, job, or career.

Upgrading Your No

Over time, as you continue to improve and succeed, your strategy needs to change.

The opportunity cost of your time increases as you become more successful. At first, you just eliminate the obvious distractions and explore the rest. As your skills improve and you learn to separate what works from what doesn’t, you have to continually increase your threshold for saying yes.

You still need to say no to distractions, but you also need to learn to say no to opportunities that were previously good uses of time, so you can make space for great uses of time. It’s a good problem to have, but it can be a tough skill to master.

In other words, you have to upgrade your “no’s” over time.

Upgrading your no doesn’t mean you’ll never say yes. It just means you default to saying no and only say yes when it really makes sense. To quote the investor Brent Beshore, “Saying no is so powerful because it preserves the opportunity to say yes.”

The general trend seems to be something like this: If you can learn to say no to bad distractions, then eventually you’ll earn the right to say no to good opportunities.

How to Say No

Most of us are probably too quick to say yes and too slow to say no. It’s worth asking yourself where you fall on that spectrum.

If you have trouble saying no, you may find the following strategy proposed by Tim Harford, the British economist I mentioned earlier, to be helpful. He writes, “One trick is to ask, “If I had to do this today, would I agree to it?” It’s not a bad rule of thumb, since any future commitment, no matter how far away it might be, will eventually become an imminent problem.”

If an opportunity is exciting enough to drop whatever you’re doing right now, then it’s a yes. If it’s not, then perhaps you should think twice.

This is similar to the well-known “Hell Yeah or No” method from Derek Sivers. If someone asks you to do something and your first reaction is “Hell Yeah!”, then do it. If it doesn’t excite you, then say no.

It’s impossible to remember to ask yourself these questions each time you face a decision, but it’s still a useful exercise to revisit from time to time. Saying no can be difficult, but it is often easier than the alternative. As writer Mike Dariano has pointed out, “It’s easier to avoid commitments than get out of commitments. Saying no keeps you toward the easier end of this spectrum.”

What is true about health is also true about productivity: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The Power of No

More effort is wasted doing things that don’t matter than is wasted doing things inefficiently. And if that is the case, elimination is a more useful skill than optimization.

I am reminded of the famous Peter Drucker quote, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

In today’s world, feeling secure at home isn’t just a priority. It’s a fundamental requirement. But here’s the unsettling truth: in the U.S., a home is broken into approximately every 25 seconds, according to FBI data. Nevertheless the alarming statistics, there is good news: we now have more control over the security of our homes than ever before. With smart home security benefits, you can preservation your family, your property, and your possessions in the best possible way.

Imagine waking up and telling your phone to start the coffee, dim the lights, or adjust the heat; smart home systems make that kind of accommodation a reality. But accommodation isn’t the only advantage of these systems. The security features of smart home automation are what virtually make it powerful. The advantages of a home security system that connects to a smart hub are far greater than those of an exponential alarm system.

With these systems, you can instigation in on your home from somewhere, set up automatic fire alerts, and create a secure environment by making it harder for intruders to go incautious. Let’s take a closer look at how these systems work and why they are changing the game when it comes to defending our homes safely.

1. Protecting Your Home from Intruders

Preventing burglaries is a primary motivation for implementing smart home security systems. It has previously been demonstrated that the installation of cameras, motion detectors, and alarms deters criminal activity. Notwithstanding, it can be antecedently enhanced with a smart security system.

For example, smart cameras let you stream live events from your computer or phone in addition to recording video. So even if you’re miles away, you’ll get an immediate alert the moment someone offers to break in. Plus, you’ll get immediate alerts sent right to your phone or smart device, so you can respond speedily if something’s up. When your alarm picks up on a break-in, it can instantly contact local law enforcement, increasing the chances of hearing the intruder before they get away.

The capability to distantly lock or unlock doors is an additional profitability feature. Using your phone, you can speedily lock the front door if you realise you forgot to do so while at work. In order to allocate an additional degree of security and comfort, definitive systems even let you install “smart locks” that will unconsciously lock doors when you leave.Also read: How To Void A Check? A Step-By-Step Guide (In The Right Way)

2. Automating Fire and Carbon Monoxide Safety

The scope of security extends beyond burglaries. One often overlooked advantage of a smart home system is its ability to catch signs of fire or carbon monoxide early, conceivably saving lives before danger intensifies. Many smart home security systems let you link smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, adding a corresponding layer of protection for your household. Even if you’re not home, your system can instantly ping your phone if it detects smoke or carbon monoxide, giving you an important heads-up. That way, you are able to jump into action or get help on the way before the circumstance spirals out of control.

To inform you in the event of a fire, definitive systems can also be connected to astute lights or thermostats. For instance, if there’s a fire and you need to escape, your system can unconsciously light up the path by turning on your home’s lights when the smoke alarm sounds, guiding your family cautiously out. By automating these systems, safety procedures are guaranteed to be followed even in the event that you are unable to react or are unsettled.

3. Remote Monitoring for Ultimate Peace of Mind

Smart home automation lets you instigation in on your home no matter where you are, giving you peace of mind when you’re away. Actual time home monitoring is possible from any location, whether you’re on vacation, at work, or just running errands.

A mobile app can be used to penetrate security cameras, providing you with an actual-time view of your property at all times. Even preferable, you can move the camera to integument different parts of your house or zoom in. You can see and talk to someone at your front door with an astute doorbell camera, whether or not you are there. When you are predicting a package or need to know who’s at the door before opening it, this feature can be concretely useful.

Another necessary component of supporting a relationship with your family is remote monitoring. You can easily pop in virtually during the day to see how your kids or vulnerable loved ones are doing, offering reassurance without being obtrusive. Additionally, a lot of systems let you create virtual “zones” where you can compose particular monitoring rules, like sending out alerts when someone enters or leaves a definitive area. By doing this, you can preserve the security of your house unaccompanied by having to check on it repeatedly.Also read: What Is Cognition’s New AI-Software “Devin AI” All About? (Complete Guide)

4. Automating Your Home’s Security Features

The consolidated coalescence of all your security characteristics into a single system is one of the most astute features of smart home automation. Instead of juggling several gadgets, you can link your lights, door locks, alarms, and cameras to one central smart hub. That way, you can remain on top of your home’s security without switching between apps or devices; it is all correct there in one place.

This coalescence also makes intelligent automation possible. For example, you can program your lights to turn on and off at distinct times to create the illusion that someone is home even when you’re not. This may serve as a discouragement to burglars searching for unoccupied houses. Smart thermostats can automatically coordinate the temperature when you are not home, ensuring energy is conserved. This way, your home stays convenient when you return, without wasting power while you are elsewhere. Most smart security systems also offer remote diagnostics and customer support, which makes troubleshooting any issues simple if you are ever unsure if your system is functioning as it should.

5. Energy Savings with Security System Integration

The ability to lower your bills and save energy is another unannounced benefit of smart home security systems. By connecting your security system with smart devices like lights, blinds, and thermostats, you can construct routines that run automatically. This not only illuminates daily life but also helps cut down on diminutive energy. Your system can, for instance, personally turn off lights when no one is home or convert your thermostat according to your day-to-day schedule.

Notwithstanding these energy-saving features enhance the overall smart home experimentation, they might not have a direct effect on your home’s security. Furthermore, they help you live a more eco-friendly lifestyle by lowering the total energy consumption in your house.

6. Improving Communication with Neighbours and Authorities

A lot of smart home systems also come with tools that vindication you to communicate better with your neighbours and local government. Some systems let you create programs similar to neighbourhood watches, in which you and your neighbours can commutation alerts regarding questionable events or activities in the neighbourhood.

You can alert your neighbours to be on guard, for example, if your camera notices anything strange. In a similar vein, your security system can notify local authorities in the event of an emergency, guaranteeing prompt assistance.Also read: Explained: Most Popular Sanrio Characters Across The World + (Fun Facts!)

Conclusion

The first image that pops into people’s heads when they think of home security is generally a sturdy lock or a blaring alarm. Thanks to the advancement of smart home tech, we’re no longer limited to just deadbolts and alarms now protection can be motivated, intelligent, and personalized. The benefits of smart home security systems are numerous and increase those of traditional systems, ranging from automating fire safety and intercepting burglaries to offering real-time monitoring.

With a smart home security system that links all your devices, you can take monitoring of your home’s safety right from your phone. It not only makes your property more protected, but also gives you the peace of mind that everything’s under watch even when you’re away. As technology continues evolving, home security is stepping into a new epoch, one that’s not just smarter, but seamlessly connected and built for real-world efficiency.