As promised one of my goals for FasLip is to provide us the tools for building wealth. This means that we have the tools to maximize every hard earned dollar. It is tax time and maybe you are getting some money back. I am sure you have earmarked part or all of these funds. Before committing to these plans please review the following information. Especially if you do not have an emergency fund.

Maybe you are aware or may you are not but interest rates for saving money right now is low. If you are looking for a loan they are great, but if you are looking to save it is a different story. However, these reward checking accounts buck the trend. They give you a better than average rate for some small monthly commitments. If you do not meet these requirements you simply get a lower rate. No fee, no penalty, no charge, unusual considering how we are abused by the larger commercial institutions. In fact, you still earn interest, it is just not the higher premium rate when you meet the qualifications.

As I said they all have specific requirements. However, most consumers should not struggle to meet them and the reward is worth the effort. For example, Pickens requires 10 MasterCard Debit Charges, 1 Automatic Bill Pay or ACH transfer deposit and sign up for electronic statements. Please click REQUIREMENTS next to each bank to see the details on the banks web page.

1 – Community Bank of Pickens County 5.01 % – REQUIREMENTS

2 – Charter Bank 5.01 % – REQUIREMENTS

3 – Focus Bank 4.51 % – REQUIREMENTS

4 – First Federal Bank 4.50 % – REQUIREMENTS

Matt
( Update to http://www.faslip.com/small-banks-offer-rewards-checking/ )

   I have been hearing on the radio this commercial about getting my free laptop. Now being the cynical, non-trusting individual that I am when I hear such offers I want to investigate to find out the catch. Now obviously they do not disclose during the radio commercial anything about what is required to qualify for the free laptop. This should be illegal and banned by the FCC but I am not going to hold my breath.

   So I went to the website, which I will not put any links in because I do not want to generate traffic for them. On the home screen you see pictures of name brands and what looks to be current models. There is then a place to put your email to begin the registration process. I of course dug into the rules and here is the real deal with the so called, “free laptop” . The redemption rules are as follows:
Sponsor Offers. You must participate in and satisfy a total of 13 Sponsor Offers as follows:  
Page 1: 2 offers
Page 2: 2 offers
Page 3: 9 offers

 To satisfy the requirements for the Choose a Free Laptop, you must participate in the above-stated number of offers for each page (participating in offers in excess of those stated above for a given page does not reduce the number of offers in which you must participate on the other pages), and you must complete each of the Sponsor Offers pages listed above.

 Verification of Sponsor Offer Participation. Each Sponsor must provide written verification to Super-Free-Laptops.com that you have successfully qualified for and completed that Sponsor’s offer. Following Super-Free-Laptops.com’s receipt of such verification from the last of the requisite number of Sponsors, Super-Free-Laptops.com will send an email message to you asking you to confirm your delivery address where the Choose a Free Laptop will be shipped. The qualification time varies by Sponsor, but may be in excess of 30 days. Once you receive your email notification that you have qualified for your gift you must complete and satisfy the instructions within 90 days from the date of qualification. Submission after this time has elapsed does not meet the conditions for eligibility, and Super-Free-Laptops.com will not be obligated to award the gift or reward. Fulfillment based on a completion of redemption instructions after 90 days is at the sole discretion of Super-Free-Laptops.com. In some cases an additional step by you is required to satisfy the Sponsor’s qualifications. By way of example that is not intended to be exhaustive, all-inclusive, or otherwise limiting, a Sponsor offer for, for example, credit card or similar service may require you to use the credit card to make a purchase, take a cash advance, or transfer a balance, to satisfy the Sponsor’s qualifications. The time it takes you to complete this step is in your control and not that of the Service or the Sponsor, and the qualification time for such Sponsor offers accordingly will vary based in part on the time you take to satisfy this requirement.    

    I have highlighted in red what should be the scariest parts for anyone who takes the time to vet such things. Unfortunately, the saying, “nothing in life is free”. continues to ring true. Were you to be foolish enough to go through with this it could take almost 3 months to get the laptop. In that time you probably could have saved most of the money yourself. The price of laptops has dropped dramatically and a good machine can be purchased for mid $500s.

    If you want a free laptop you are going to have to find a contest that is really giving them away. Even then though you often have to pay sales tax and claim the gift as income on your federal return furthing negating the free factor. Anyways,  part of building wealth is protecting wealth. This has bad news written all over it so please stay far away. The fact that you must take out credit, move credit, etc. is crazy, especially since the sponsors involved are probably of the subprime variety and not someone like Citibank or JP Morgan.

Thanks,
Matt

      I wrote an article in December 2008 about the proposed Credit Card Law changes called, “New Credit Card Rules Passed – In Law July 2010″. The intent of these laws is to better protect consumers from the unscrupulous practices of banks. These laws are a big step in the right direction for better protecting the consumers although the Banks are not going quietly. They are cutting credit lines and raising rates before being forced to follow the new laws. The legislation is good but because the laws are being phased in we the consumer will continue to get abused. Yes, if you do not carry a balance it is all irrelevant but many of us have balances we are paying off. Here are the landmarks:

Starting August 2009

• Banks must send statements at least 21 days before bills are due. Currently the requirement is 14 days. Ever wonder why it seems like you just got your bill and its already due?
• Banks must give 45 days notice before increasing interest rates and / or fees. The current requirement is 15 days.

Starting February 22, 2010

• Banks can not raise rates on an existing balance, unless payment is more than 60 days late or a teaser / intro rate expires.
• Banks cannot offer teaser / intro rates for less than a period of six months. This is good because banks have made a lot of money getting people to jump from offer to offer making them rich off the balance transfer they probably hit you with.
• Banks cannot raise the rates on new purchases in the first year, unless it is due to an expiring teaser / intro rate.
• You must be 21 to apply for a credit card, otherwise you will now require a co-applicant unless you can show proof of income. This of course aimed at reducing the number of kids coming out of college with significant debt.
• Banks are no longer allowed to use the infamous “universal default” policy, which is when they raise your rate because you were late on another account.
• Banks must now apply payments over your minimum due to the highest APR balance first and then to any remainng balances in descending order of interest rates from highest to lowest.
• Banks must now disclose on your statement how long it will take to pay your current balance and the total associated interest if you make only the minimum payment.
• Banks can no longer allow you to charge over your limit and hit you with fees for doing such unless you opt in, giving them permission to allow you to exceed your credit line. You of course would be very unwise to do so.
• Banks can no longer perform what is termed “double cycle billing”. This is when the Bank calculates finance charges by averaging in daily balances from the previous cycle in a addition to charging finance charges for the current billing cycle.
• Another rule to protect our youths prevents Banks from offering sign-up gifts on or near college campuses.

Starting August 2010

• Saving the best of last of course. If you have been late on payments for a card and your interest rate has been increased as a result, banks at your request must reduce your interest rate to the pre-penalty rate if you make six months of consecutive on-time payments.

So yesterday was a fun day in the stock market as the DOW dropped 1,000 points in the blink of an eye. It however recovered to end the day down about 350. No one seems to know the exact reason. Whatever the case may be I am sure that many people had a sleepless night. I remain optimistic. I think this was a sizable correction but good companies are still good companies and can be bought cheaper now.

Yahoo has an article by the blog minyanville , The 1000-Point Plunge . It raises some interesting points and theories. I think it was due to hedge funds and institutional investors. They are the ones who make the market move. Either way I am staying in. After all if making money in the stock market was easy we would all be rich. I wish everyone the best and a summer full of high returns.

Matt

I am sure I am not the only one has a few choice words when it comes to paying taxes. Do not misunderstand I have no problem doing my share to protect my freedoms and have the opportunity for a certain standard of living. But I think that government waste and welfare programs have giving me and countless others an unfair tax burden. However, according to an article on cnbc.com this may not be entirely true. In fact it goes on to state and I quote, “About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability.” AP, Published: Thursday, 8 Apr 2010 | 3:01 AM ET.

There are things about this article that caught my attention but maybe I am just being cynical. The first thing is regardless of what happens at the end of the year money is paid to the government, often over paid by most individuals, and they are able to use it without paying any interest for securing those funds in advance. Also, things such as medicare and social security which are a significant bite are gone never to be seen again no matter how many credits you have. I am not saying I do not support these programs but I know there is a fair amount of waste in these programs like anything else the government runs.

It quotes a gentlemen in the article saying, “It’s not uncommon for people to think that their Social Security taxes, their 401(k) contributions, their share of employer health premiums, all of that stuff in their mind gets lumped into income taxes,” Stretch said. AP, Published: Thursday, 8 Apr 2010 | 3:01 AM ET. I cannot see people lumping their 401k contribution in with their tax disdain. As someone who’s employer has a 401k, they are constantly talking about the tax benefits and how it reduces your taxable income.

Now something to help many of us feel better, “It is a system ( US Federal Taxes ) in which the top 10 percent of earners — households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 — paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.” AP, Published: Thursday, 8 Apr 2010 | 3:01 AM ET. This statement is also somewhat misleading because this does not describe the tax burden as a percentage of income. As Warren Buffet has said he may pay significantly more in taxes but he earned significantly more and what he paid is actually less as a percentage when compared to his assistant and other moderate income employees. “Warren Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, has criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his cleaner. Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent.” The Times

I think it would be more accurate to say that many of us may not have to pay additional taxes at the end of the year and many of us may get a refund because we paid too much over the year or were able to take advantage of enough of the tax credits. But we all pay our share, and the amount of people who truly pay no taxes, meaning they are refunded every penny they paid in federal income tax, must be significantly less than 47 percent. If it is too good to be true it probably is. For the full article click cnbc.com.

Matt

So as if the current economic times with soaring health care costs, massive unemployment, obscene government spending, its resulting dizzying deficit and ever increasing energy cost were not enough, someone in their entrepreneurial cunning has thought of a new way to take peoples money. The devastation of Bernie Madoff’s misdeeds has obviously gone unnoticed by both the consumer and the no- gooder.

What are these gifting parties? First, those organizing such parties deny they are pyramid schemes and have employed counsel to argue their position. However, to me believing this would be the same as arguing the world is not round. Each group consists of eight members at any given time. These gifting parties currently are women only. The example in the article explains the pyramid having four members at the base. These are the new recruits and they must give $5,000 to the top member to buy in to the group. In between is a row consisting of three members and another with two members. At this point I am sure you see the irony the actual membership is a pyramid where the new members ( bottom ) pay the top member ( point ) . Never does it mention the gifting party doing anything to create income that is not a direct investment by another recruit. Therefore, you can see that everyone but the top member loses should a group find themselves unable to recruit new members. And as this scheme, catches on the pool for new recruits will dry up.

If you happen to make it to the top, you get $40,000 and can either leave or buy your way back in to the bottom again for $5,000. This works because people feel desperate now and just would do anything for a quick windfall to take care of things until the economy turns around. However, this like the many frauds that preceded it will leave the majority of women who participate worst off than before.

Matt

I have asked myself this same question. Is coffee good for you ? Or is it bad because of the caffeine. Am I going to cause my heart to explode ? First, you may be questioning why I am writing about this on a finance blog. Because obviously taking care of yourself means that you will live longer ( time for your investments to  grow ) and because the healthier you are hopefully the less medical expenses you will incur over your lifetime, meaning more money to save. So health is indeed a very important component.

I remember reading articles about coffee being high in antioxidants. Products containg antioxidants is very big right now, with different supplements and acai juice. An article found at msnbc explains in greater detail those findings. In an article written by Irene Middleman Thomas for Costco Connection they point out benefits from more recent studies. Health benefits are that it causes an inverse association with risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver cancer and liver cancer and disease according to a professor at Harvard. The article goes on to discuss that initial studies find those who consume 6 or more cups a day of regular or decaf coffee reduce their risk of prostate cancer by sixty percent. Saving the best for last it may also help you live longer especially if you are a woman. The only negative to note was it is not good for pregnant woman to consume coffee as it can increase risk of a miscarriage.

Now obviously too much of anything is bad for you but as a coffee drinker myself this is good news. I of course do not see this as an excuse to not eating healthy and exercising but every little bit helps. As mentioned before being healthy means less medical related costs. This is money that can be saved and invested for better returns. So drink up and enjoy.

Matt

I read an interesting article and I am not sure what to think. I wanted to make my readers aware of this important change so that you can make an informed decision. If you have not already you may be receiving literature from your bank to urge you to opt in to overdraft protection. The reason for this is because recent legislation will require come August 15th that account holders make this choice.  Banks are obviously concerned and are willing to spend large sums of money to get those who often use overdraft protection to opt in. In fact a nytimes article states they collected an estimated $20 billion from ATM and debit card overage fees.

How are they pitching this great consumer account feature? By more or less trying to scare people that it is more of a risk to not opt in to overdraft protection. This includes using phrases such as “in an emergency.” I am not sure about you but I cannot remember any instance where I occurred and overdraft fee charge from an “emergency”.  Conveniently this same legislation will not impose a limit on the number of times banks can impose these huge overdraft fees. It would seem to me instead of muscling consumers to opt in maybe offer them literature on budgeting and responsible spending. I would think the rational solution is not offer people a way to live beyond their means but teach them how to track and control their finances. Then again how else will they pay for their big bonuses.

Let me know what you think and if you will be opting in to giving your money away in the form of gross overage fees.

Matt

    Today February 22, 2010 the first phase of the Credit Card Accountibility and Responsibility Disclosure act goes into affect. Given the time banks had from when the law was actually passed last year many consumers have already been hit with new fees and higher interest rates but as many things government it is better than nothing. And to be fair it does create some real consumer protections on a going forward basis that did not previously exist. For the details of what rules are active today and when the remaining rules phase in click this link, credit card reform passed and what it means to you.

Matt

I found an interesting article on yahoo today. I am sure it will not stop most of us, myself included, from enjoying these from time to time but it may cause you to reconsider how often. In the article it explains how text messaging is a cash cow for cell phone carriers. Especially if you are paying per message. The other lesson I took away from this is that selling a product can be very profitable. So maybe after reading this you will find your own “bottle of wine” and present it in a way that adds value. This way you are the one making the 60 to 200 percent markup. To conclude I too away the following from the article;

1 – Movie theatre popcorn is outrageously overpriced. Bring some snacks from home and pop a bag of the fluffy white stuff when you get home.

2 – When it comes to over the counter medication buy the store brand, you will save several dollars each time and the savings only gets better if you have children. Trust me I know from experience.

3 – When it comes to wine and other spirits you will save significant money by drinking these  at home. Even better have some friends over for a glass of wine and some good conversation.  I definitely have taken notice of this since a bottle Corona at a restaurant or bar is usually $5.00 to $7.00. I can get a 12 pack at the local package store for $18.99 which is $1.58 per bottle. Makes you think twice about going to the bar.

No one is saying you can not go out and enjoy yourself from time to time but if you are buying these items and then using a credit card to purchase them it gets even worst. So make a budget and if you have some cash left over at the end of the month, then treat yourself to a drink or dinner.  And if you were buying them often stash some of that cash away in an emergency fund or investment that will allow you to escape the rat race.

Yahoo.Com – Click Here To Read

Matt