by Silicon Valley Blogger on September 1, 2010
1 comment
At the heels of a $50 bonus for new TradeKing customers, ETrade has come up with their own sweet offers. I’ve actually been an ETrade customer for ages now and have been with them since they first launched. That’s way over a decade ago. At any rate, I’ve always been happy with their service. They’re one of the earliest and best online brokers in the industry, having received some of the highest ratings from various industry watchers and publications.
ETrade: Free Trades for 60 Days, Get Up To $500 Cash Bonus
E*TRADE is offering a number of promotions for new customers. By opening a new E*TRADE Complete Investment Account, a Power E*TRADE account or an E*TRADE IRA, you’ll be eligible to receive these deals. Here are the details:
#1 Trade for free for 60 days AND receive up to $500 in cash.
To partake of this deal, you’ll need to open a new E*TRADE Complete Investment Account or a Power E*TRADE Account and fund the new account with a minimum of $2,000. You can do this through wire transfer, through the mail or via an ACH transfer, or by switching brokers and moving your account over.
The number of free trades you’ll receive will be based on your trading activity during the first 60 days of opening and funding your new account. When you start trading, the commissions that you’ll typically pay will be credited, up to a maximum of 500 trades. Therefore, you’re eligible to receive up to 500 free trades. You’ll need to fund your account within 60 days of opening it in order to keep it in active standing. Note that you won’t be compensated for any unused trades once the time period expires — you’ll simply get a credit for each trade you make. To keep things in good standing, make sure that you keep your account funded (minus any losses through trading) for a minimum of 6 months.
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by Silicon Valley Blogger on August 31, 2010
4 comments
Don’t you just love cash back sites? I rarely buy anything online now without first going through one of these sites to find out what kind of online deals are available. With more and more of these sites around, we no longer have an excuse not to earn some money on our next online purchase. However big or small the cash back I receive, I always end up better off as a result. Just to cover the bases here, let me mention a couple of those cash back sites that my family members and I like to use. I’ve mentioned these sites quite a bit in the past, but surprisingly, not everyone has heard of them before.
BigCrumbs.com is a great site that allows you to earn cash back on your purchases. In addition, it allows you to refer people to the site and subsequently lets you earn cash back from their purchases. I wrote about this in my BigCrumbs review (but be aware that the terms surrounding cashback earnings through a referrer network have been updated). You can sign up for BigCrumbs here, if you’d like to start saving when you shop online.
~~ooOoo~~
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by Todd Smith on August 30, 2010
| edited by SVB
4 comments
Years ago when I first worked the “front lines” talking to employees of some of the largest 401(k) plans, it seemed that many of the calls I received had something to do with employees who left or were leaving their employer. Often, people simply wanted to know “how to get their money” and we would discuss the various distribution options. Interestingly, some of the most heated conversations were automatic cash-outs. A little known regulation (at least to those calling) allowed employers to automatically send checks (a taxable event) to former employees with low plan balances. The rationale of course was that it became administratively expensive to keep former employee accounts, especially small ones, on the books.
So historically, most employers have been happy to see retirees and job-changers take 401(k) balances with them, in part because of the headaches and the aforementioned costs involved in keeping them in the plan. But interestingly that has been changing. According to a survey by management consultant Casey Quirk & Associates LLC, roughly two-thirds of plans with more than $1 billion in assets said they want to retain worker accounts after retirement or separation of service. When an employee leaves a job, he or she is generally free to roll over certain retirement accounts into an individual retirement account (IRA). But many employers, for the first time, are trying to hang on to these accounts. And, what was already a confusing process for many employees, has become even more so.
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by Millie Kay G. on August 29, 2010
| edited by SVB
1 comment
It’s time to take the bull by the horns. If you’re one of those folks who started the year by resolving to get your finances and debt under control, and feel that there’s more you’d like to do for this cause, then do read on. If your current resolution is to chip away at your debt starting right now, then you might want to check out DebtGoal, an online debt management tool that aims to give you transparency over your debt. Following is our review of this online service.
DebtGoal Review for Online Debt Management
DebtGoal is a website that offers to help you understand and manage your debt. If you’re feeling stuck wanting to reduce your credit card balance but are finding yourself only able to afford minimum monthly payments to your credit card, you’d probably welcome a way to get yourself debt-free faster. DebtGoal aims to help you with your efforts. There are several steps involved in this process. Here’s a list of basic steps you’ll take when you use DebtGoal:
1. Get a big picture of your debt.
To get the broader picture of your debt, you’ll need to input the amount of your individual debts. List the debts and loans you have, such as credit cards, car loans, personal loans, student loans, mortgages, and other types of credit. You’ll need to know the account balance, annual percentage rate (APR), the minimum payment due, and the due date for each debt.
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by Guest Blogger on August 27, 2010
| edited by SVB
10 comments
This guest post is written by Kevin of 20smoney.com.
Financial security is something that most of us pursue, but many are failing to find these days. While financial security is achieved through a combination of sound financial practices such as budgeting, managing debt, investing and other personal finance activities discussed in this blog, there is one area that I’d like to talk to about today that frequently goes unmentioned. Today, I want to talk about how a second income stream can be a major catalyst in achieving financial security.
First, let’s quickly look at today’s economic environment. Unemployment is stubbornly high, which means that many are without an income. For those of us fortunate enough to still be employed, future income growth is far from certain as fewer opportunities are available in a shrinking economy. While I expect the economy to continue to struggle for years, it’s important to be creative and look elsewhere for ways to grow our income.
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by Silicon Valley Blogger on August 26, 2010
10 comments
This week’s “post of the week” is easy. I got caught up in some social media frenzy yesterday when a fellow blogger’s article ended up getting a lot of attention. I had to participate in the action a little bit since I’ve been following this story a while, plus I’m a huge supporter of Lazy Man and Money. My good friend Lazy Man has long stood up for consumers and has taken the stand as a critic against the multi-level marketing (MLM) company that is MonaVie. And yesterday, one of his anti-MonaVie posts got some traction on Reddit.
MonaVie: Multi-Level Marketing Gone Haywire
Lazy Man’s article is essentially about how some people affiliated with MonaVie (the company that sells a high-priced juice that claims to have a ton of anti-oxidants in it) are now blackmailing him and making online threats, simply because he’s been highly critical of their product. Given how MonaVie is steeped in the MLM culture, which not only aims to sell you a product but also attempts to recruit you as one of their sales people, you can imagine how passionate some of their representatives can get. After all, for some distributors and marketers, attacking their product also means that you are attacking their livelihood and their lifestyle.
You can read about how this MonaVie saga began for Lazy Man in this guest post he wrote for The Digerati Life some time ago. It was about how he and his wife heard about this new “acai berry” type juice making its rounds to consumers via an MLM marketing scheme.
Since then, he’s uncovered a lot of information on MonaVie’s juice, its distributors and marketers, its business model and the corporate machine behind it. Needless to say, not everything about this business seems rosy. If you’re interested in catching up with some of the details of Lazy Man’s experience with MonaVie, these posts should help:
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by Silicon Valley Blogger on August 25, 2010
6 comments
Want to save some money on furniture? Well, as a wannabe interior designer, I’ve previously talked about a few ways to do just that. Here are a number of ways to save some bucks on the stuff you use at home — chairs, tables, beds, armoires. Let’s check out some of the interesting and clever methods to furnishing your home.
How To Save Money on Furniture
#1 Get them used.
Let’s start with the way I do it — I primarily use Craigslist for this purpose. Here’s where I talk about my online shopping experience with Craigslist. I have purchased some home decor and furniture from them before, and have been quite satisfied. But take note that while cheap or used furniture is initially awesome because you get a deal, they may not last long in your possession. Could be because they tend to be of lower quality (people don’t want to get rid of their heirlooms) or because used stuff has seen better days and starts to fall apart at some point. As far as the furniture I’ve purchased online, I’ve had a good few years with them and it’s time for some beloved pieces to be replaced.
#2 Be resourceful. Maybe DIY?
Now for the fun stuff — if you’re young, single and creative, maybe you can attempt to do as this guy has done in my post on “how to furnish your house for free“. The guy used FedEx boxes to make furniture. Surely you’ve seen people make furniture out of cardboard before right?
Image from Core77.com
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by Millie Kay G. on August 24, 2010
| edited by SVB
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If you aren’t happy with high interest rates, but you need a handy way to make purchases, then a charge card might be a good alternative to a regular credit card. One charge card that is widely accepted and has a rewards benefit is the American Express Gold card. So what’s so great about this card?
American Express Gold Card Review: Get $100 Gift Cards
First of all, you can receive a bonus of 10,000 points if you’re able to spend over $500 in the first three months as a cardholder. Thanks to the Membership Rewards feature, you can turn these points into other rewards, such as $100 in gift cards. You can redeem points for $50 gift cards from well-known brands such as William Sonoma and Pottery Barn. Or you can choose to build on these points in order to receive travel certificates, travel packages, dining and event experiences, merchandise and more. Be sure to enroll in the Membership Rewards program to access this bonus.
Earn as Many Points as You Want
If you like flexible rewards credit cards that allow you to rack up the points, then the American Express Gold Card may be of interest. You can earn a point for almost every dollar you spend with this card. Buy goods and services at the Bonus Points Mall and you might encounter chances to earn double points. After six months, you can use the Points Advance feature to buy the points you need to make your special purchases. Or you can think about buying points. Don’t worry about a cap on these points, either. You can earn as many as you want and they don’t expire. That way, you can save up for the more point-costly rewards if you prefer.
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