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How to make person-to-person payments with your phone and get rid of cash for good
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Tired of waiting for people to pay you back after you pick up the tab? Mobile apps make it easier than ever to make peer-to-peer payments. - photo by Amy Iverson
Gone are the days when one person gets stuck with the check for dinner, while everyone else tries to come up with exact change in cash. No more buying the group Mothers Day gift and waiting forever for your siblings to pay you back. Peer-to-peer payment options are here and taking the world by storm. Or are they?

Peer-to-peer payment, also called person-to-person payment or P2P, is the ability to digitally pay one another with accounts linked to banks or credit cards. I started using one such app about a year ago when I bought concert tickets for a large group of friends, and many of them paid me back through Venmo. Since then, my friends and I have used P2P to reimburse each other for everything from girls trips to birthday gifts. In my circle of friends (mostly people in their 40s), using these apps is common and often preferred. I thought everyone on earth was using this simple form of payment. I was wrong.

Only about 20 percent of adults use mobile payment options. It must be a generational thing, right? For sure, millennials use this technology, right? Wrong, again. Even for those 18-34, consulting firm Accenture says only about one-third use P2P apps.

You may guess thats because people just use debit and credit cards, but, surprisingly, 85 percent of the world's transactions happen with cash.

Its time to get rid of germ-ridden cash and go mobile, if for no other reason than being able to truthfully tell your children you have no cash when they ask for it every single day.

There are dozens of P2P payment apps, with many companies jumping on board. Even Facebook gives you the ability to pay through its app. Because their success depends on how many people download apps, Ill highlight the most popular.

PayPal (iOS and Android) had a head start when it went mobile because it already had so many online users. Today, it has 173 million users and is compatible with credit and debit cards from major banks. You can add your loyalty cards to the app, which can lighten your wallet quite a bit. If you pay with a credit or debit card, there is a fee of 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, and the weekly maximum for requests or payments is big: $10,000. A bonus is the ability to use your fingerprint sensor to log in (if your phone allows it).

Venmo (iOS and Android) allows you to pay or request payment using a credit card, a debit card, a checking account or Venmo balance. Money transfers are free unless you use your credit card, and then the fee is 2.9 percent. You can send or request payment up to $3000 per week, and it will easily split a dinner check for a group. This app has a default setting that shares the basics of your transaction (who, what, how much) with everyone. Change that, if it bothers you. Venmo claims it will transfer the money within one business day, making it the fastest P2P option.

Square Cash (iOS or Android) links with a debit or credit card, with debit transfers free and credit transfers charging a 3 percent fee. Square Cash will take one to three days to transfer the money to your bank account unless you fast-track it for a 1 percent fee. One reason to use this app over the others is you dont have to set up an account to use it. If someone owes you money, simply email that person and put the amount in the subject. When you CC the email to request@square.com, both parties enter their banking information, and the transaction goes through in two days.

Im sure some of you are wondering if these apps will keep your information safe. Every one is encrypted. In fact, mobile banking may be more secure than doing it from your laptop, according to security expert Jason Soroko. He told CNBC individual apps infected with malware wont spread to other areas of your phone, but thats not always the case with a PC.

Millennials are six times more likely than baby boomers and members of Generation X to use one of these apps. Im calling on my fellow Gen Xers to jump on the P2P train with me and help get rid of cash for good.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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