“Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads”

“Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads”: Nicholas Confessore has this front page article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

According to the article, “The dominance of secretly funded advertising defies one of the underlying assumptions of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allowed outside groups to raise and spend more money, so long as they did not coordinate with candidates and parties.”

How Appealing

The post “Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads” appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1whoWkR



Law Around, Flood, Fueling, money, political, secret

You can learn how to make money investing: Just do it!

This article is by staff writer William Cowie.

Several readers responded to our “Big Question” post by saying they’d like to see something about investing, and some elaborated that they’d like to see some advice for investing on a small scale. Small in scale obviously means different things to different people — but I’ll relate my experiences, for what it’s worth.

My background is in finance and accounting. You’d think having 10 years of college, focusing on business and money, I, sooner or later, would know what I was doing with my money. You would be wrong. Coming out of college, I joined the rat race in the fast lane and zoomed past most of my peers, landing a top executive job in a fast-growing computer company at a young age, and ending up with a small minority stake in it. When it was sold to a major conglomerate, all the stockholders received generous payouts. I was 30 at the time and decided to retire. For my retirement, I wanted to come to America and study some more — isn’t that just the geeky “investment” to make?

Not wanting to become a professor, I rejoined the rat race, only this time taking care to stay away from the fast lane. It may look attractive to those getting passed, but staying in it requires too much time and dedication, and you have no life beyond it. I wanted to visit, smell and photograph some roses along the way.

I never gave retirement another thought. I just figured that I’ve done it once, I can do it again anytime I like. Well, that’s not quite as easy when you don’t make fast-lane money anymore. It took me a few years to realize this. I know, I know: I may have degrees up the ying-yang, but that doesn’t mean I’m smart. I was now in my 40s, and starting all over with close to nothing.

The smart people (like J.D. Roth) say you have to invest and start early. Sounds good, of course … but I couldn’t get myself to actually do it. Looking back, I can see several things which held me back.

Roadblocks

1. I didn’t make enough money. At least that’s what I told myself. If you want to invest, you need to have some “over and above” money, right? I had myself convinced I couldn’t check that box.

2. I didn’t want to make sacrifices. In graduate school, we had a Polish couple living next to us in student housing, Wojcek and Kinga. He was an out-of-state student and had to pay high tuition fees. Yet, when he graduated, they had a down payment for a house. Amazed, I asked him how he did it. His answer boiled down to living close to the poverty line and squirreling away every penny they could. In five years, they saved up $ 18,000 and they bought a $ 180,000 house. My earlier life, on the other hand, had accustomed me to an inflated lifestyle. It doesn’t take many years for that to turn into a sense of entitlement. “Hey, I’m entitled to eat out so many times, drive such-and-such a car, and live in a house with so many square feet.”

3. I failed once. I tried to open a brokerage account with Charles Schwab, back when they were the only discount brokerage around, to invest in stocks. I didn’t have the minimum required to open an account. It was humiliating to be told I don’t have enough money and, for some weird reason, that just stuck in my mind, reinforcing the first point I made up above. Worse, it made me not want to try again.

4. What’s the point? Even if I had the minimum (as I recall, it was something like $ 1,000 back in those days) it was so little, there was no way it could ever be enough to give me a comfortable retirement. Besides, even back then everyone was talking about the market being rigged against the little guy. So why bother? I may end up losing it all, anyway.

5. I didn’t know enough. Talking to friends, coworkers and acquaintances, it sounded to me like you needed a lot of luck to make good investments. At the time, I remember Microsoft and Walmart were the hot, high-growth stocks. But were they going to mature right when I bought? When a growth stock matures, its stock price crashes as the P/E (price-to-earnings) multiple gets deflated (like happened to Apple last year and Whole Foods this year). Because I didn’t know enough about the stock market, I figured I had better stay out of it.

Other people told me they don’t have time to invest, but I knew that didn’t apply to me (or to anyone else, for that matter). If someone told you you’ll win a million dollars if you set aside an hour every Saturday, we’d all do it. We all make time for something we truly value. I knew that I would make time for investing if I truly believed in it. Trouble was I didn’t.

What changed?

Three things:

1. Our 401(k) plans. We both got jobs which offered what was still a fairly new thing back then — 401(k) retirement plans. These things are not perfect, and they’ve generated a lot of criticism; but at the time, I thought it was a great thing for only one reason: I got to take it with me.

Until the early ’80s, the default retirement option at most employers was a pension. The problem with a pension, though, was you often lost it all when you changed jobs — and that was by design. Back in the day, employers used their pensions as a golden handcuff, an incentive/reward for staying there. A 401(k) was different because you could take it with you when you moved on, or if you were “asked” to move on.

So, we embraced our 401(k) plans and contributed to the level our employers matched. It wasn’t much, but at least there was some “free money” (the matching) to give us the motivation to do it.

And then we forgot about them. In hindsight, that was probably a good thing because they grew quietly and undisturbed. You avoid using any 401(k) plan at your own future peril.

2. Our savings. My wife and I grew up in frugal households and we tend to live below our means. So, we opened a savings account to serve as an emergency fund. We lived on a strict budget — not overly tight, but it was a high priority never to exceed it. And, every month, we’d transfer everything left over to the savings account and start fresh for the next month. The emergency fund slowly grew, and we never paid it much attention. There were a few times a car needed repairs and so on, and it was nice to have enough for that. But, other than that, we never really thought of it.

Then, one year, we got a bigger income tax refund than we expected. The natural thing was to put it into the savings account, which we did. But then, suddenly, we looked and saw that we had “real money” in that account.

It dawned on me that we had enough to risk opening a brokerage account without the fear of being told we’re insignificant cockroaches.

3. Old age suddenly drew closer. After we turned 50, and the over-the-hill parties faded in the rear view mirror, we looked through the windshield of time and gulped. What’ll we do when, like the Beatles song, we turn 64? Funny how you never think of this when you’re young. But, as they say in the sports world, Father Time is undefeated. Sooner or later he’ll beat you.

My (and your) only defense against that old fart is our investments.

Decisions

So, all of a sudden, I was confronted with the question: What am I going to invest in? I had no clue. That’s when, as my wife put it, I went to “night school.” Every night, for months, I’d hit the Internet after dinner till past midnight and learn everything I could about investing in general and stocks in particular.

Why stocks? If I were a different person, I’d probably go for rental real estate, because you can (literally) buy the house next door and keep a watchful eye as other people pay down your mortgage and inflation builds you a lovely nest egg. However, to make that work, you need a modicum of handyman skills and you should be somewhat of a people person, engaging enough to attract tenants, and tough enough to kick them out when they don’t pay on time. I’m neither. I am enough of a geek, though, with enough education to understand companies and stocks. So that’s why I became like the little robot in the movie “Short Circuit,” muttering “input, input” night after night.

What I learned

1. Investing matters. I can kick myself for the years I avoided it, and the overcome-able reasons I used to justify that. As time passes, we’ll be less and less able to rely on Social Security or pensions. Therefore, you will be the master of your fate, and there’s no way other than investing to master your fate when you’re older.

2. You get nothing for nothing. To get something in the future, you have to forgo something now. It is what it is.

3. Time is everything. Even if the amounts you work with are small — and they can be — they will add up the longer you give them.

4. Patience is essential. As Warren Buffett puts it: Investing is like planting a tree — nothing happens overnight.

5. Perfection is not required. Nobody, not even Warren Buffett, has a flawless track record in their investments. That’s the bad news. The good news is investing is robust enough that, as long as you are patient and diligent, the good will far, far outweigh the mistakes and misfortunes. My perfectionist tendencies kept me from investing for too long. (“If I can’t do it right, why do it?”) Imperfect investing, started earlier, will always beat perfectionist investing delayed.

6. You can learn. There are plenty of resources, free and paid, to learn everything you need to know to succeed at investing. The good news is it’s not rocket science, so anyone can learn it. The bad news is it’s not all obvious, so you do need to put in time (nothing for nothing, again).

But…

7. It’s never too late. We got serious after reaching 50, so we had to sacrifice more than we would have needed to if we started earlier, but that’s the price of folly. The good news is you can learn from my mistake. And if you think you’re too old, stop. Just stop. You can always catch up; it’s never too late.

The key to success, though, is the old Nike slogan: “Just do it.”

Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.

The post You can learn how to make money investing: Just do it! appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1tN0qt3



Personal Finance, investing, just, learn, money

Day Trading: Top 10 Mistakes That Cause Day Traders To Lose Money

Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market?

Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market?

via



Videos matching: pre market trading:

Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market?

Pre market stock trading at http://ift.tt/1jy1aiX. Come get your free audio course on How To Make Money In Stocks For More Information…

video source



Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market?

Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market?

The post Pre-market Stock Trading:How Soon Should A Beginner Start Trading Pre-Market? appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1lofJ8H



Trading, beginners, book, book-at-http, facebook, forex, market, money, trading, trading-at-http, trading-the-day, trading-the-pre, video

Cable Steady Ahead Of BoE At 12

via ZIFX.com:

GBP/USD Open 1.6712 High 1.6742 Low 1.6655 Close 1.6719

On Wednesday Pound/Dollar increased with 85 pips. The Cable appreciated from 1.6655 to 1.6742 yesterday, in line with the positive money flow sentiment at over +14%, closing the day at 1.6719. Today the British Pound is trading quietly, with movements at the upper end of yesterday’s range for the time being.

On the 1 hour chart the upward channel is on hold, while on the 3 hour chart the upward channel has slowed down. First resistance is yesterday’s peak at 1.6742. Break above it should extend the bullish movement further towards 1.6865. The nearest support level is yesterday’s bottom at 1.6655. Going below it should extend British Pound’s reduction further down towards next downward objective 1.6532.

Today are BoE Interest rate decision, and Asset purchase facility, both at 12 GMT.

Quotes are moving above the 20 and 50 the EMA on the 1 hour chart, indicating bullish pressure. The value of the RSI indicator is positive and hesitant, MACD is positive and tranquil, while CCI is in line with the 100 line on the 1 hour chart, giving over all light long signals.

Technical resistance levels: 1.6742 1.6865 1.7000

Technical support levels: 1.6655 1.6532 1.6400

Already made +20 pips profit/loss on GBP/USD today from the following sent to clients only signal:

5:15 GMT Buy GBP/USD at 1.6709 SL 1.6683 TP 1.6769, exit sent at 6:27 GMT.

Today so far +44, yesterday +92, as shown ;here.

For more info: Cable Steady Ahead Of BoE At 12

ZIFX.com

Cable Steady Ahead Of BoE At 12

The post Cable Steady Ahead Of BoE At 12 appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/NHC6HG



Trading, decision, loss, money, pound, profit, purchase, result, sentiment, signals, technical, trading

Is an Emergency Fund Necessary?

This website is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Material shared on this blog does not constitute financial advice nor is it offered as such. Therefore, The Simple Dollar assumes no legal liability for the completeness, accuracy, or suitability of the information provided by its authors.Readers will also note that The Simple Dollar maintains financial relationships with certain third party merchants. If readers access and utilize the services of one of these affiliates through a link on the blog, The Simple Dollar may be compensated for the referral.Please read the blog’s policies on privacy and image-use.And always consult a locally licensed insurance agent, financial adviser or certified attorney before making any financial decisions.

via The Simple Dollar:

I’m a pretty big advocate for emergency funds – cash stowed away in a savings account for a rainy day. Establishing an emergency fund is one of the first things Sarah and I did during our financial turnaround and that emergency fund took care of several difficulties we faced during the first year or so of our financial turnaround.

My belief is in line with that of Dave Ramsey: the first move anyone should make when they’re facing the reality of their debts for the first time is to save up a $1,000 emergency fund. Later on, when you have high-interest debts out of the way, a larger emergency fund is even better.

Even so, there are arguments out there against emergency funds, stating that they’re not a particularly good idea. Those arguments usually rest on three key points.

First, emergency funds stowed away in savings accounts do not earn a good return. Savings accounts earn somewhere between 0.5% and 1.5%, depending on your bank. You can earn a much stronger long-term return in other investments, such as the stock market which historically has returned somewhere around 7%. You would be foolish to make cash savings a significant part of your investment portfolio.

Second, most people have credit available to them, so they should use that in an emergency. If you’re facing a situation that you can’t cover with cash, you could simply use the existing credit on a credit card to cover it. After that, you can pay off the credit card quickly.

Third, emergency funds are a terrible idea if you have high interest debt. A debt sitting at 20% is costing you far more than the savings account is earning for you. You should pay off the debt first.

Here’s my take on each of these points.

First, everything you invest your money in excels in two of three areas and fails in the third one. An investment is either low risk, has a high long term return, or it’s highly liquid (meaning you can get your money out very quickly). You can choose two of those things with almost every investment.

A savings account provides the two things that you’re really looking for in a time of personal crisis – it’s low risk and it’s liquid. The high return is much less important because you shouldn’t be keeping a significant portion of your net worth in an emergency fund. It’s not an investment – it’s a buffer against an emergency.

Right now, our emergency fund makes up only a few percentage points of our net worth. Even when we first started our financial turnaround, we only established a $1,000 emergency fund, which was still only a small fraction of the total value of our assets.

An emergency fund is simply a sacrifice of returns on a small portion of your money so that you have something on hand that’s very liquid and very low risk. It’s not meant as a major part of your retirement savings or your investment strategy. It’s meant as a buffer against things that might happen to you.

Second, trusting in a line of credit means trusting completely in the discretion of a bank. It relies on your credit report remaining clean – untimely identity theft can wreck your credit report for a while and leave you without that credit. It also relies on the business policy of the bank remaining constant, which isn’t a promise – many banks have lowered credit limits over the past several years on large numbers of their customers.

Another problem with this angle is that using a credit card has a strong likelihood of meaning that you’re going to be paying a high interest rate when you pay it back. Yes, there are many emergencies where you’ll be able to pay it all back before the interest kicks in, but what about unemployment, for example? The average duration of unemployment these days is about 36 weeks. It’s pretty likely that you’ll accumulate a nice pile of debt and interest during that kind of timeframe – and, ideally, the bank won’t notice and cancel your line of credit.

A further problem is that many Americans simply don’t have adequate credit to rely on the banks in an emergency. According to this report, 33 million Americans have insufficient information on their credit report to generate a credit score, 24 million more Americans have no credit history whatsoever, and another 61 million Americans have a subprime credit score. That’s 118 million Americans who have insufficient credit with which to obtain a credit card. These are not people who can safely rely on the bank extending sufficient credit to them.

Beyond that, simply having a good credit score isn’t a guarantee that your credit may not fall during a time of crisis. 72% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck – as soon as their paycheck disappears for even a week, bills aren’t getting paid and their credit starts to drop pretty quickly thereafter. This isn’t really a group that should rely on banks extending credit, either.

Finally, repaying debt is more than just a math problem. To start off the explanation here, I’ll quote Dave Ramsey from The Total Money Makeover , page 105:

“Since I hate debt so much, people often ask why we don’t start with the debt. I used to do that when I first started teaching and counseling, but I discovered that people would stop their whole Total Money Makeover because of an emergency – they felt guilty that they had to stop debt-reducing to survive. It’s like stopping your whole fitness program because you get a sore knee from a fall when running; you’ll find any excuse will do. The alternator on the car would go out, and that $300 repair ruined the whole plan because the purchase had to go on a credit card since there was no emergency fund. If you use debt after swearing off it, you lose the momentum to keep going.”

When you’re first trying to do something to improve your life, it’s incredibly hard. It’s very easy to be pessimistic about it and be skeptical that things can ever really change. When you hit that first roadblock, it can be incredibly tempting to just simply quit. I’ve seen a lot of people – including myself – abandon goals at this point.

It is well worth sacrificing a relatively small amount of financial gain in the short term to significantly decrease the chance for roadblocks to stand in your way over the longer term.

Once you’re past that point – you’ve paid off your high interest debts and you’re saving and investing for big future goals – good financial decision-making can feel as easy as riding a bicycle. However, a person who is just taking the first steps to a turnaround is much like a child learning to ride for the first time, and the emergency fund is like a bike helmet and training wheels. Sure, they might get going a little faster without them if everything goes perfectly, but life isn’t perfect. We all stumble. It’s a lot easier to get back up and jump in the saddle if you’ve got something in place to cushion your fall.

During that period where you’re saving up a $1,000 emergency fund, you are absolutely causing yourself to build up more interest on your credit card because you’re not paying it off, but you’re doing so to prepare yourself for success in paying it off. What you’re doing is spending a few moments to strap on your bike helmet before you jump on board. Sure, you probably won’t be the first one to the end of the block, but you’re also going to be far less likely to give up when you fall off your bike because the mistake won’t hurt nearly as much.

A final point: most of the arguments here don’t mean anything to you if you don’t really believe emergencies can happen to you. Different people have different levels of safety nets in their life. Some people can rely on their families for financial support no matter the situation. Others have an employment background and connections that are basically infallible. Still others receive a very high income combined with at least a basic understanding that they need to save or invest at least a little of it. For those people, a $1,000 emergency fund is going to seem rather unimportant.

On the other hand, all I have to do is look back at some of the experiences of my own childhood to see how an emergency fund can make a tremendous difference. My father was often laid off from his job and during those times an emergency fund sustained our family. My old man diligently put aside a little bit of money directly from each of his checks into a credit union and we used that credit union when times were tough. The day-to-day reality of my parents’ life didn’t involve investing in the stock market. It involved making sure food was on the table and handling many little emergencies by the skin of their teeth.

Like it or not, half of Americans live in what is considered a low-income situation and, as I stated earlier, 72% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. These are people that, in many ways, share the experience of the household of my childhood. Turning the ship around isn’t going to be easy for them. Putting on a helmet before they hop on that bike is going to make a big difference.

If you’re figuring out what your first step should be in terms of turning around your debt situation, my recommendation – and Dave Ramsey’s, too – is to have a $1,000 emergency fund. Consider it your helmet for the bicycle you’re about to learn to ride.

The post Is an Emergency Fund Necessary? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

For more info: Is an Emergency Fund Necessary?

The Simple Dollar

Is an Emergency Fund Necessary?

The post Is an Emergency Fund Necessary? appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1nxY7ne



Personal Finance, accounts, credit, funds, investments, money, ramsey, simple-dollar, the-simple, utilize-the-services

USD/JPY Steady In Pre Fed’s Yellen Views

via ZIFX.com:

USD/JPY Open 102.13 High 102.67 Low 101.98 Close 102.20

On Monday Dollar/Yen decreased with 70 pips. The currency couple depreciated from 102.67 to 101.98 yesterday, matching the negative money flow sentiment at nearly -14%, closing the day at 102.20. This morning the Dollar is trading quietly against the Yen, with movements within yesterday’s range for now.

On the 1 hour chart the downward channel is on hold, while on the 3 hour chart the upward channel has turned into range trading. Break above yesterday’s top and nearest resistance 102.67 would encourage further recovery of the Dollar. Immediate support is yesterday’s bottom at 101.98, and consistent break below it could strengthen the Yen further down towards next target 101.08.

Today is Japan National Foundation Day, Tertiary industry index, Machinery orders, and M2+CD money supply, at 23:50 GMT.

Quotes are moving above the close 20 and 50 EMA on the 1 hour chart, indicating slim bullish pressure. The value of the RSI indicator is positive and inclining upwards, MACD is positive and tranquil, while CCI has crossed up the 100 line on the 1 hour chart, giving over all long signals.

Technical resistance levels: 102.67 103.56 104.48

Technical support levels: 101.98 101.08 100.26

Today so far +5 pips profit/loss on USD/JPY today from the following sent to clients only signal:

5:15 GMT Sell USD/JPY at 102.25 SL 102.51 TP 101.75, exit sent at 8:01 GMT.

Today so far +84,yesterday +55, as shown ;here. Have a great day!

For more info: USD/JPY Steady In Pre Fed’s Yellen Views

ZIFX.com

USD/JPY Steady In Pre Fed’s Yellen Views

The post USD/JPY Steady In Pre Fed’s Yellen Views appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1iNuYnO



Trading, money, national, profit, result, sentiment, signals, supply, tertiary, trading, upwards

The Sheep and the Wolves: Smart investing made simple

Note: This article is from J.D. Roth, who founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006. J.D.’s non-financial writing can be found at More Than Money, where he recently wrote about winning the jackpot.Imagine that you’re a farmer. You live in a rural county where everybody raises sheep.The county’s farmers, on the whole, prosper. Their flocks tend to grow by 10 percent every year. Some years are better than others. In the best years, the sheep population in the county grows by 40 percent. Little lambs are everywhere! But in the worst years — years filled with frost, famine, and disease — the sheep population can collapse to half of what it was before.Further imagine that the county becomes home to vicious predators. Wolves, perhaps. …

via Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.:

Note: This article is from J.D. Roth, who founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006. J.D.’s non-financial writing can be found at More Than Money, where he recently wrote about winning the jackpot.

Imagine that you’re a farmer. You live in a rural county where everybody raises sheep.

The county’s farmers, on the whole, prosper. Their flocks tend to grow by 10 percent every year. Some years are better than others. In the best years, the sheep population in the county grows by 40 percent. Little lambs are everywhere! But in the worst years — years filled with frost, famine, and disease — the sheep population can collapse to half of what it was before.

Further imagine that the county becomes home to vicious predators. Wolves, perhaps. The wolves descend from the mountains and begin to eat the sheep. Some farmers protect themselves from loss, but others don’t know how — and some don’t even realize their flocks are being attacked.

The farmers who take precautions aren’t able to prevent all losses, but they come close. On farms with vigilant shepherds, only 0.10 percent of sheep are lost to wolves every year. For every thousand sheep, the wolves pick off one animal.

The farmers who don’t take precautions, on the other hand, suffer terrible losses. During the initial onslaught they lose 5 percent of their sheep. (Plus, every time they add more sheep to their herds, the wolves manage to grab another 5 percent.) To make matters worse, the wolves steadily steal 2 percent of the beasts every year. For every thousand sheep, this group of farmers loses 50 in the initial attack, and 20 more each year thereafter.

Think of it: After the first year, the smart farmers will have lost just one of every thousand sheep. The other shepherds will have lost 70 sheep.

If the county’s flocks each grew at the long-term 10 percent average during that first year, the vigilant folks would now have 1,099 sheep for every thousand they started with. The unwary farmers would have 1,024 sheep.

Now imagine that in the second year, the same pattern continues. All flocks grow at the long-term average of 10 percent, and the wolves snatch 2 percent of the animals from those farmers who aren’t paying attention. At the end of the second year, the wolf-free flocks would have grown to 1,208 sheep for every thousand that were present at the start. The flocks where the wolves run wild would have just 1,104 sheep.

Both populations of farmers enjoy the same growth rate among their flocks. The difference is that one group loses fewer sheep to the wolves.

And at the end of 10 years following this pattern? The wolf-less flocks would have grown from 1,000 to 2,566 sheep. Those under attack would still have increased, but at a much slower rate. They’d have 2,013 sheep.

Things are even worse when you look at the farmers who add more animals to their farms every year. Remember that I said the wolves slaughter 5 percent of the sheep added to the unlucky flocks? Well, assume that wealthy farmers from both populations are able to buy 100 new sheep every year — but that the wolves snatch five of these from the one group.

At the end of a decade, these wealthy farmers will have contributed a total of 2,000 sheep to their flocks for each 1,000 sheep they started with. With average long-term growth, these flocks will have grown to 4,154 animals for the lucky shepherds and 3,374 sheep for those ravaged by wolves.

Which population of farmers would you prefer to join?

I won’t belabor this analogy any longer. I think most of you get my point.

Stock-market investors are like these sheep farmers. Collectively, they enjoy investment returns of roughly 10 percent per year. Individually, however, things are different. Most investors suffer severe losses from the wolves of Wall Street. Wolves, by the way, who don sheep’s clothing to convince investors to trust them. (These investors also have a tendency to make things worse by selling their flocks when sheep prices fall and expanding them when prices rise.)

If you want to be a successful farmer, you have to understand how farming works, and how to protect yourself from the wolves. Fortunately, it’s not as tough as it seems.

The financial industry wants you to believe that investing is difficult. If you buy into their message, if you accept the premise that you need help to invest wisely, they can charge you big bucks to handle your money.

The truth is somewhat different. Investing is simple. In fact, it can be one of the easiest things you do while managing your finances. How simple? Let’s boil it down to just a few sentences.

Here’s how to invest wisely:

• Set aside as much as you can in investment accounts. Prefer tax-advantaged accounts (like a 401(k) or Roth IRA) before taxable accounts.


• Invest all of your money in a low-cost stock index fund, such as Vanguard’s VTSMX or Fidelity’s FSTMX.


• If the stock market makes you nervous, allocate some portion of your money to a bond fund. Or invest instead in a low-cost combo fund like Vanguard’s VGSTX or Fidelity’s FFNOX.


• Continue investing as much money as possible. Never touch it.(Nothing makes a bigger difference to the size of your flock investments than how much you contribute.)


• Ignore the news and ignore your fund.

That’s it. Seriously. That’s all you have to do to earn returns better than 90 percent of other investors.

There are scores of books and published research papers that support this strategy. It’s also the strategy that Warren Buffett (and other top pros) recommend for 99 percent of investors. If you’d like, you can spend days or weeks or months reading about why this works. Or you can trust these folks and do it.

Longer ago, my own flock of sheep was crippled by predators and my own bad behavior. After many mistakes, I got smart. I moved to greener pastures far from danger. Now I can ignore my sheep and go about my daily life, comfortable that the animals will continue reproducing at the long-term average without any intervention on my part. And with no danger of being consumed by wolves.

Note: Photo by James Bowe.

For more info: The Sheep and the Wolves: Smart investing made simple

Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.

The Sheep and the Wolves: Smart investing made simple

The post The Sheep and the Wolves: Smart investing made simple appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1c9BCPY



Personal Finance, animals, article, county, fidelity, flocks, investing, money, street, trading, vanguard

Best Free Scanner Apps for iPhone and Android

Best Free Scanner Apps for iPhone and Android

via My Money Blog:

One of the more useful apps on my phone allows me to take a picture of documents and receipts and convert them instantly into a PDF file. The apps automatically detect page corners and “flatten” the raw images into a high-quality scan with results that are very similar to a traditional scanner. From there, I can either e-mail the file or upload it to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc. I find myself using it very often for both business and personal reasons.

This post was originally about a $5 app that was temporarily free, but the “sale” ended before I could publish it. Instead, while trying out the various apps I found that many offer really good functionality for the nice price of free. Try them out and see which one works best for you:

1. CamScanner Free (iPhone / Android) – This one appears to have the most features available in a free app, but it does add a little watermark to the bottom of the PDF. 4.5 stars on Apple, 4.5 stars on Google.


2. TinyScan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.


3. Genius Scan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.

If you know of any better apps, please let me know in the comments.

Saving money with my feet: The joys of a walkable neighborhood

Note: This article is from J.D. Roth, who founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006. J.D.’s non-financial writing can be found at More Than Money, where he recently wrote about the regrets of the dying.On Saturday, I bumped into Rhonda at the local natural food market. Rhonda is one of Kris’s co-workers and friends. I haven’t seen her much since the divorce, although we live only a mile-and-a-half apart. For 20 minutes, she and I stood in the freezer aisle and chatted about life and the neighborhood.“Do you know any other places to shop for groceries?” I asked. “We like this store, but it’s pretty expensive. I know there’s another market near your house, but its prices don’t seem …

via Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.:

Note: This article is from J.D. Roth, who founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006. J.D.’s non-financial writing can be found at More Than Money, where he recently wrote about the regrets of the dying.

On Saturday, I bumped into Rhonda at the local natural food market. Rhonda is one of Kris’s co-workers and friends. I haven’t seen her much since the divorce, although we live only a mile-and-a-half apart. For 20 minutes, she and I stood in the freezer aisle and chatted about life and the neighborhood.

“Do you know any other places to shop for groceries?” I asked. “We like this store, but it’s pretty expensive. I know there’s another market near your house, but its prices don’t seem any better and the food quality is worse.” (This is actually the subject of an already-written but yet-to-be published post I’ve produced for GRS.)

“I know,” Rhonda said. “That store has great seafood at good prices, but that’s about it. Their produce sucks. You could always hit the fancy supermarket across the river, I guess.”

“We do that from time-to-time,” I said. “But holy cats, it’s expensive. What about the Safeway in Woodstock?”

Rhonda laughed. “You know, that Safeway is only a couple of miles from our house, but it might as well be in another city. People think I’m crazy when I say this, but we’re so spoiled from walking everywhere that it’s a chore to get in the car to run errands. Besides, if I’m going to go over there, I’d rather go to Trader Joe’s.”

Rhonda and her husband, Mike, are typical Portlanders. They own a Toyota Prius, but they bike and walk as much as possible. Soon after I bought my condo, Mike scolded me: “I see you around,” he said, “but you’re always driving. What’s up with that?”

I nodded in agreement with Rhonda. “Kim and I had to make a trip to Woodstock the other day. It’s only three miles from our house — just a 10-minute drive — but it seems like such a hassle. We’re spoiled too, I guess. For instance, we used to try new restaurants all over the city. But there are so many great spots nearby it seems like a waste of time to go elsewhere.”

After agreeing that the four of us should have dinner together soon, Rhonda and I went our separate ways — both of us walking home with our groceries.

The Way It Was

Over the past few days, I’ve thought a lot about my conversation with Rhonda. It’s made me realize that perspective is a funny thing. In this case, choosing to live in a walkable neighborhood has made me really appreciate how amazing such a place can be. I used to think I had to own a car, but now I’ve given serious thought to selling my beloved Mini Cooper.

I grew up in the country. My parents owned a trailer house on two acres of land about five miles outside of Canby, a rural farm community between Portland and Salem. There were a couple of country stores scattered around the area, but they didn’t stock much besides Doritos and donuts. Whenever we needed groceries or lumber or health care, we drove to town. And for bigger stuff, it took nearly an hour to drive to Portland or Salem.

During my college years, I lived in downtown Salem. I felt like I’d moved to a metropolis! Many of my classmates complained that the city was too small (about 100,000 people at the time) and that there was nothing to do. I felt like the place was huge and there was so much to do that I’d never get to it all. I walked everywhere I could. I biked to more distant areas.

When Kris and I got married and returned to Canby, we bought a house near the downtown area. (Well, as “downtown” as Canby can get, anyhow.) We did walk here and there — during the years she taught high school, she walked the few blocks to work, for instance — but mostly we drove. The nearest grocery store was only 15 minutes away on foot, and still we drove. If we were ambitious, maybe we’d take our bikes. That didn’t happen very often.

Later still, Kris and I bought a home in Oak Grove, an unincorporated area about 20 minutes south of Portland. There I forced myself to bike and walk, but that was more for fitness than out of principle. I had a favorite three-mile loop through the neighborhood, and I’d often take an hour-long stroll while reading a book. (This is a surprisingly non-difficult task, and even after I moved into Portland following the divorce, I’d frequently walk a couple of miles on city sidewalks while reading. This scares a lot of people, but I’m not sure why.)

The Way It Is

Now, Kim and I live in Sellwood, which is a typical Portland neighborhood filled with hip and trendy restaurants and stores. There’s a small pod of food-carts nearby. The Westmoreland neighborhood is exactly a mile away, and there we can find a movie theater, a hardware store, and a couple of cool bars. Our gym is just two miles from the house along the Springwater Trail, one of Portland’s many multi-use paths. Perhaps best of all, downtown Portland is only four miles away along that same trail. When I’m feeling ambitious, I walk into the city. And on a summer day, I’ll sometimes bike into downtown for meetings or errands.

If Kim and I are up for crossing the Sellwood Bridge, we can walk to the fancy supermarket and more restaurants. (And just today, I realized it’s only a two-mile walk — albeit half uphill — to one of our favorite supermarkets!)

When I travel, I make a point of exploring my destinations on foot. In Venice (where “on foot” was the only option), I jogged through the twisting maze of tiny streets during the early morning so I could see more of the city. In Rome, while the rest of our tour group rode the bus, I walked from the Vatican back to our hotel. In Paris, I once made poor Kris walk nearly 20 miles across the city in a single day. In Quito last autumn, I spent a Sunday hiking the city’s hillsides, soaking in the sounds and sights of South America.

Again, I walk like this more because I enjoy it than out of any noble principle. Sure, it’s nice that I use less gas when I bike or walk, but I’m not out to save the world. That said, there is one side effect that I enjoy: I save money.

Saving Money with My Feet

According to the American Automobile Association, the average vehicle costs 60 cents per mile to operate. (Costs range from 46 cents per mile for a small car like my Mini Cooper to 77 cents per mile for an SUV.) The average drive spends just over $9,000 per year on her automobile. That’s a lot of money! And in my case, I’d rather spend the money on something else.

So, I walk. Walking saves me money directly (because I’m not using the car), but it also gives me other benefits. It betters my health. It gives me time to think. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks. I meet my neighbors. I see more of the neighborhood. And so on.

Again, I’m not opposed to driving. I know from experience that sometimes it’s a necessity. But I’ve learned that it’s important to me to live in a place where I can bike and walk to as many places as possible. I enjoy it. It saves me money. It makes me healthy. And when I can, I encourage other people to consider whether biking or walking might not be an option for them. (This is especially true when they’re considering where to live. I think it’s always best to prefer a foot-centric neighborhood!)

Transportation is the second-largest expense for most Americans (after housing). Anything we can do to cut our costs on cars and trucks is a good thing, right? Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to walk to gym for my workout!

For more info: Saving money with my feet: The joys of a walkable neighborhood

Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.

Saving money with my feet: The joys of a walkable neighborhood

The post Saving money with my feet: The joys of a walkable neighborhood appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://www.evvi.net/5252/personal-finance/saving-money-with-my-feet-the-joys-of-a-walkable-neighborhood.html



Personal Finance, cars, city, frugality, health & fitness, money, neighborhood, people, trading

Children, Failure, Careers, and Money

This website is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Material shared on this blog does not constitute financial advice nor is it offered as such. Therefore, The Simple Dollar assumes no legal liability for the completeness, accuracy, or suitability of the information provided by its authors.Readers will also note that The Simple Dollar maintains financial relationships with certain third party merchants. If readers access and utilize the services of one of these affiliates through a link on the blog, The Simple Dollar may be compensated for the referral.Please read the blog’s policies on privacy and image-use.And always consult a locally licensed insurance agent, financial adviser or certified attorney before making any financial decisions.

via The Simple Dollar:

Like virtually every parent in the world, I want to see my children succeed. I love it when they take on something challenging and then overcome it.

This is a big part of the parenting philosophy that Sarah and I hold. We regularly encourage our children to take on challenging things, whether it’s a hard book, a physical activity, or something else entirely.

Like it or not, though, when you regularly encourage your children to take on challenges, they’re going to sometimes fail.

Failure is simply part of the equation and for a child who is still developing coping mechanisms and a sense of self-worth, failure can be a real challenge.

There are a few things we do to help them deal with this.

First, we compliment the process. If they’re working hard at something, we compliment that hard work. If they’ve developed a well-considered plan that only fell apart due to a known risk, we compliment that plan.

Second, we don’t criticize or punish the failure – the failure is often painful enough. It’s easy to jump on a failure, but it’s not helpful. Yes, there are times for parents to criticize children, but when they’re reeling from the failure of something they worked hard to achieve, that’s not the time to jump in with more criticism.

Finally, we help them look for ways to keep moving forward. What went wrong? What can be done now? We work through this process with them if they’re struggling with it.

This general philosophy works for a lot of things in their life, from putting together LEGO kits to executing a lemonade stand. Sometimes, these things are going to fail. The key is knowing how to move on and how to use what you’ve learned to make the next attempt a success.

What does this all have to do with money? We’re teaching our children how to be entrepreneurs and/or free agents in their careers.

This is the process that everyone who is out there trying to build a better career or build a business for themselves goes through. They plan things. They execute things. Sometimes, those plans fail. They pick up the pieces and move on.

To make that all work, you have to trust your ability to create good plans. You also have to understand that the real value is in creating the plan and executing it and that the end result is sometimes out of your control.

As time moves on, it’s becoming more and more clear that successful people have to be free agents and/or entrepreneurs in their careers. By teaching our children how to handle this at a young age, we’re trying to make this kind of mindset – planning, working hard to execute that plan, failing, revising, and eventually succeeding – completely natural to them.

Parenting isn’t about teaching your children that only success matters. It’s about teaching them that planning and working hard on executing that plan matter at least as much.

Parenting isn’t about protecting your children from failure. It’s about teaching them how to deal with failure and how to have processes in life that keep moving forward from that failure.

Someday, I want to see and hear about all of their successes in the world. Today, I need to be giving them the tools to make all of that possible.

The post Children, Failure, Careers, and Money appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

For more info: Children, Failure, Careers, and Money

The Simple Dollar

Children, Failure, Careers, and Money

The post Children, Failure, Careers, and Money appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://www.evvi.net/5003/personal-finance/children-failure-careers-and-money.html



Personal Finance, activity, dollar, insurance, money, policies-on-privacy, referral, services, simple, that-the-simple

Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2014

This website is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Material shared on this blog does not constitute financial advice nor is it offered as such. Therefore, The Simple Dollar assumes no legal liability for the completeness, accuracy, or suitability of the information provided by its authors.Readers will also note that The Simple Dollar maintains financial relationships with certain third party merchants. If readers access and utilize the services of one of these affiliates through a link on the blog, The Simple Dollar may be compensated for the referral.Please read the blog’s policies on privacy and image-use.And always consult a locally licensed insurance agent, financial adviser or certified attorney before making any financial decisions.

via The Simple Dollar:

Part 1 of 4 – The Simple Dollar 2014 Rewards Credit Cards Series

This is the first part in a series of four posts on rewards credit cards. In the upcoming posts, I’ll focus on the more specific types of rewards cards, like cash back, hotel, and airline credit cards. I’ll let you know what the best cards are in each of these types, why the cards are the best, and then explain how you can use them to put money back into your pocket.

Part 1: General Rewards Credit Cards

Part 2: Airline Credit Cards (coming soon)

Part 3: Cash Back Credit Cards (coming soon)

Part 4: Hotel Credit Cards (coming soon)

For this post, my goal is to identify the best overall rewards credit card. I understand it may be impossible to pick a clear winner. How can there be one card that’s the best for everyone? We all spend our money on different things. We demand rewards in various forms. We have different credit scores. Some of you pay the balance on time and others don’t. I get it. The overlying opinion is that there is no best card for everyone. Strictly judging the cards – not the people using them – I’m confident I have an answer and the data to back it up.

For starters, here are my three overall best rewards credit cards for 2014:

1. Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases


2. Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card


3. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Before I dive into each of these cards, let me provide you with a little background on my process. To begin, I compiled a list of nearly 200 popular credit cards. From that list, I pulled out the 80 rewards credit cards. I knew I had to cut the list of 80 down to an even more manageable amount because cross comparing that many cards would take months (if you did it the right way). What I did next was look at the most important features for the 80 cards and rank them in order of importance, with rewards and yearly savings being the most important. Based on that data, I was able to select around 30 top rewards credit cards. Now it was time to really start digging in.

The features I looked at far surpassed what I found on other review websites. I went beyond the introductory APR, standard APR, sign up bonus, rewards rate, additional bonus rewards, introductory balance transfer rate, and standard balance transfer rate. (You can get this information on any credit card site and it’s all presented the same.) While using this data, I had to make assumptions. One assumption is that you have good enough credit to get a credit card. The other is that you plan on paying your balance on time, for the most part.

Beyond the data, I wanted to put myself in the position of the cardholder. My only limitations were that I couldn’t sign up for every card. I compensated by learning about the sign up processes and the benefits of the cards that often can’t be measured. I read thousands of reviews like these from the actual cardholders to see if I could pick up additional information that the data couldn’t measure.

I wasn’t looking for just the highest rewards or simply the lowest APR. I want the card that has the best combination of everything — the kind of card that you tell your entire family to sign up for. So the focus turned to the general rewards cards. With these cards, you can capitalize on just about every purchase you make.

A quick understanding of credit cards

The industry is fairly complicated. You have credit card issuers or banks, like Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One. Then you have Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover — these are the financial services institutions that supply the credit cards. With some cards, brands come into play and you’ll see a trio of partnerships on one card. Take the US Airways Premier World MasterCard® as an example. The issuer is Barclays, a British bank, it’s a MasterCard, and the partnership is with US Airways. Barclays is one issuer that is particularly active in the travel industry. They have partnerships with Priceline, Travelocity, and other travel companies, like cruise lines.

On the consumer side of credit cards, things can also get a little confusing. Imagine this massive umbrella of every credit card in existence. One category of credit cards – the largest category – is rewards credit cards. Within rewards cards, you’ll find a different set of sub-categories. You have airline credit cards, travel credit cards, cash back credit cards, and hotel credit cards.

It’s common to see these cards being categorized into deeper sub-categories to highlight specific purposes or features, such as balance transfers, low interest, or no fee cards. You don’t need to get caught up in these classifications. Think of them more as filtering tools because many of the top cards will excel in these areas. If someone advises you to look into a balance transfer card, they’re typically talking about rewards credit cards that offer the best deals on balance transfers.

You might be wondering about gas credit cards being a specific type of card versus a classification. In the credit card industry, you can’t find many, if any, gas credit cards that aren’t already cash back cards. My view on gas credit cards has changed to thinking of it more as a deeper sub-category or classification, rather than a full categorization, like airline credit cards. To qualify as a “gas credit card” it must offer nice rewards on gas purchases. There are brand-specific gas credit cards, but nobody considers them as elite credit cards.

The brand loyalty rewards credit cards

The top general rewards cards allow you to earn two points for every dollar spent. Some of the airline cards and hotel credit cards are able to offer you higher rewards earning potential than, but only if you make purchases from that company. They’re able to do so by tying in the rewards from the credit card into their own customer loyalty or rewards program.

I only found a handful brand credit cards that were deserving of consideration. Many offer a similar rewards rate to the general credit cards and are much less versatile in terms of earning rewards. Plus, loyalty isn’t exactly at the forefront of the airline industry, especially with the rising cost of airfare and the ability to check all airfare prices at one time. At least for me, I know I have no loyalty to one airline. My last four flights were on Delta, American, Frontier, and Southwest.

If you have loyalty to a specific airline, hotel, or brand – and you spend a lot of money on this brand – it’s a good idea to get the card offered by the company. Just be aware that the card only offers higher rewards on items purchased from that brand so your purchases must be very targeted to take full advantage.

With so much variety within the rewards credit cards category, measuring the value of what you can earn with each card is difficult. Some cards offer straightforward cash back percentages (1%, 2%), others reward in miles (1x miles, 2x miles), some have points, and then there are the rotating cash back categories for the 5% cash back cards. The brand credit cards can get a little confusion. As mentioned, the rewards you earn translate into hotel reward points or a company’s rewards program. In that case, your sign up bonus and rewards are not connected the credit card account. Everything is tied to the brand’s program. I understand this is probably what you’re looking for if you sign up for these cards. Just know that the point conversions are not always 1:1. You’ll want to be sure to accurately calculate your rewards and bonus earning potential.

There’s one more thing to mention. No credit card is going to be good news for you if you plan on carrying a balance on the card. Avoid carrying a balance at all costs. If you don’t plan on paying off your balance, you probably shouldn’t be getting a credit card. I know people run into trouble from time to time (it’s happened to me too), but you simply don’t want to ruin your credit for the rest of your life. (For those of you who are unphased by this practice of carrying a balance and don’t plan on paying your balance on time, get a card with the lowest APR you can find. A solid starting point is the Discover it® card. It has a low APR and, as a bonus, it isn’t as widely accepted as other cards so I’m recommending it to hopefully slow down your spending.)

Getting hooked for life: The impulsivity of sign up bonuses

The issuers have created so many cards in such strategic areas of consumption that it’s nearly impossible to resist. These cards magically exist in the industries where we spend the most money. Clearly, it’s not magic. It’s intentional. I’m not implying this is a negative thing either. But what it has done is make people think they need multiple cards for different expenditures in order to maximize their rewards earning potential. This is a good strategy if you’re able to capitalize by spending a significant amount of money each month (on all your cards, in the right categories, to earn the maximum rewards). I don’t think this is feasible for the majority of us, which is why I don’t view it in a positive light. But yet, it’s so tempting… Why is that?

The reason is because of those big sign up bonuses. These intriguing bonuses dump a pile of rewards points in the lap of new cardholders. The airline cards, in particular, use bonus miles that can be redeemed for free flights to hook impulsive prospective cardholders. Once you own the card, though, the rewards can often be subpar. I don’t doubt that the sign up bonuses benefit the cardholder. Everyone likes a good deal and so should you. I’m just saying you should look for a great sign up bonus and a solid long-term credit card, rather than holstering eight cards in your wallet because you’ve been hunting sign up bonuses.

By collecting multiple sign up bonuses (and several cards), you might gain in the short term, but owning so many cards will do you more harm than good in the long run. Each time you get a new card, the issuer has to pull your credit information, which can negatively impact your score, according to FICO. Opening or applying for new credit accounts in short period of time is also a red flag. The issuers know that closing a credit card account is the biggest mistake you can make. So you can see why the enticing sign up bonuses exist. Once you’re locked in, it’s game over. That’s why it’s important you make the right decision on a card from the start.

According to the large credit reporting agency, Experian, the average number of cards per US consumer is 2.19. An AARP survey found that 27% of people 50 and over have four or more credit cards. I believe people own several credit cards for two reasons. Reason One: They got sucked in by a tempting sign up bonus. Reason Two: The potential to earn rewards from major brand purchases has led to people signing up for more targeted credit cards.

You might disagree, but let me attempt to prove my point. Take a look at the chart below. As you can see, the Baby Boomer generation and older are the best credit managers of any generation.

Source: http://www.experian.com/assets/consumer-information/infographics/experian-state-of-credit-2013.pdf

The conclusion I’m drawing is that people do not own multiple credit cards due to balance transfers or spreading out credit card debt. First, the Baby Boomers and Greatest Generation manage their credit responsibly. Second, they make payments on time. These two groups also have the least average credit card utilization of any generation. They own the cards, but aren’t using them that much. That sounds like a behavior of someone who capitalizes on a sign up bonus and stops using the card.

The best thing you can do for your long-term credit and short-term financial gain is to get the big sign up bonus from the card that you’re going to use for a long time. If you can afford to spend more (without carrying a balance), or you’re loyal to a brand, only then does it make sense to start adding the more specialized cards to your arsenal.

Choosing one card from a list of hundreds

If you’re looking for a new credit card, the best all around rewards credit card is the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases. No other card offers the right combination of rewards, benefits, generous sign up bonus, and low APR like this Barclaycard. The key to this card is its versatility. It fits the lifestyle and spending habits of anyone, meaning you’ll maximize your rewards for every dollar spent.

I’m not saying the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases is hands down the single best card for everybody. It’s just the best for the majority of people. Ultimately, your spending habits determine what the best card is given each situation. (If you fly a specific airline every week, get that airline’s credit card.) If you book your travel on various sites or don’t have any extreme loyalty to a brand, this Barclaycard is the right choice.

The general rewards cards are the best in the industry because they can stand alone as your one and only credit card. Generally, most are classified as travel credit cards by most review websites, but they are the premier all-around rewards cards. These cards offer rewards on everything, including dining out, gas, airfare, and any travel. You won’t find the 5% and 6% earning potential, but you’ll get a consistent rewards rate that is greater than 1% for just about every purchase you make. Since there aren’t caps on earning potential, these cards are good for big spenders and average people who just want to be rewarded for all the hard-earned money they spend. Let’s look at the three best rewards credit cards and a few others that just missed the cut.

Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases

With the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases, the points start racking up right when you sign up. Earn 40,000 bonus miles if you make $1,000 or more in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening. Forty thousand bonus miles equates to $400 off your next trip! You earn 2x miles on all purchases. You don’t have to worry about caps, categories, or anything. You can also get 10% miles back when you redeem for travel. For example, redeem 25,000 and get 2,500 miles back. There is an $89 annual fee but it’s waived for the first year.

This is a fairly new card. It’s a step up from the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases, if you don’t have a problem paying the annual fee (and you shouldn’t given the rewards). Full disclosure: I’ve been kicking myself for not owning this card. I have a checking account with Chase bank, so I own Chase credit cards by default. I’ve been content for the past few years but I’m realizing after writing this that I’m missing out. Anyway, I’m definitely applying for this card ASAP. If you’re in a similar situation, I advise you to do the same. Put simply – the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases is probably better than any card you own.

Who’s it good for?

You’ll need a decent credit score to be approved, but this card is good for everyone. It’s especially beneficial to people who travel, but don’t necessarily do so with one company. It works well for those of you who price hunt for travel on sites like Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, or Booking.com. You’re going to get 2x miles on any flight, any hotel, and any piece of food you eat. The ability to get miles back when you redeem for travel makes it an even better card for travelers.

I also think this card is a perfect for people who are really busy. I’ll be honest, I don’t have the time to check the rotating categories every month for my Chase Freedom® Card. Imagine how nice it is to swipe this card and lock in 2%, no matter what you buy.

What’s the best way to use it?

Use the card for anything and everything. Redeeming miles for travel is a good practice to get into because you get 10% of them back. This is one of the rare cases where this is the only card you need. I wouldn’t recommend pairing it with any other card unless you consistently fly one of the airlines that offers a card with 3x miles or higher rewards. It may also pair nicely with the Discover it®, which isn’t as widely accepted as MasterCard. One strategy would be to hit the quarterly $1,500 cap on earning 5% cash back with your Discover it®, and then put every purchase on the Barclaycard.

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular cards around. It’s a very close second to the Barclaycard Arrival(TM) World MasterCard® – Earn 2x on All Purchases. You still earn 2x miles per dollar spent on every purchase. The annual fee is $0 for the first year and then $59 after that. You earn 20,000 bonus miles when you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first three months. That’s only half the bonus miles of the Barclaycard and you have to spend twice as much to get them. You also don’t get a bonus for redeeming miles for travel. All that said, I’m comparing it to the best of the best. You can’t find many cards that beat this one. It’s versatile and an excellent long-term choice.

Who’s it good for?

Anyone who wants to consistently earn rewards on all purchases and travelers. Earning 2x miles on any purchase has to make you think twice about signing up for any credit card associated with a specific brand that offers you the same deal or less. The main reason you would get this card over the others is because you’re a loyal Capital One customer.

What’s the best way to use it?

It’s an easy answer, but you should use this card on everything. If you have a cash back or airlines card where you can hit rewards of 3% or higher, you’ll want to combo the two cards. Personally, I find this to be a task, but I can see how it might be a fun little game for some people. This card will function perfectly on its own without owning any other credit card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

One of the most-liked credit cards in the industry is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. This is one of the two cards I own. The Sapphire offers 2x points on travel and dining at restaurants. While this is very solid, it doesn’t quite stack up to the two cards mentioned above just because they offer 2x on everything. You’ll also earn 40,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a secret weapon that the other top travel cards don’t possess. You automatically get a 7% Annual Points Dividend on all new points earn on purchases throughout the year – even points you have redeemed. It might not be the ideal way to book a trip, but you always get 20% off travel when you book through Chase Ultimate Rewards. There’s no annual fee for the first year and then it’s $95 after.

Who’s it good for?

This card is a nice fit for young professionals, city dwellers, and travelers. If you’re not home a lot and often eat out, this is the right card for you. Loyal Chase customers should also choose this card for convenience alone.

What’s the best way to use it?

You want to use it for any meals out and whenever you travel. The card is loaded with travel insurance benefits that have you covered if anything gets in the way of your trip. There’s an often overlooked benefit of owning both the Chase Freedom® Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Here’s the strategy: Use the Chase Freedom® Card to earn your 5% rewards in rotating categories and use your Sapphire for everything else. You can transfer rewards from one card to the other if you use both. So you can take all of your 5% rewards from the Freedom® you earned and throw them into the Sapphire account, which has more exclusive reward redemption opportunities.

Other travel credit cards that are close to the top 3

The competition was tough in this group. The cards below didn’t make the top three, but don’t beat yourself up if you own one of them. These are still some of the better credit cards available. You don’t want to close down any of these accounts to get the cards mentioned above. If you don’t spend a lot each month on your card or you’re carrying a balance, I advise you to stick with these cards for now.

BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card

• Earn 1.5 points per $1 on every purchase, every time with no annual fee


• Earn 10,000 bonus points after qualifying purchases, that can be $100 towards travel purchases


• No limit to the total number of points you can earn and points don’t expire

Why it didn’t make the cut

You only earn 1.5 points per $1 on every purchase, which is less than the top cards. The sign up bonus is lacking at only 10,000 bonus points.

Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

• Earn 1.5 points per $1 on every purchase, every time with no annual fee


• Earn 10,000 bonus points after qualifying purchases, that can be $100 towards travel purchases


• No limit to the total number of points you can earn and points don’t expire

Why it didn’t make the cut

Again, you only earn 1.5 points per $1 on every purchase, which is is 0.5 less than the best cards. The sign up bonus is very weak in comparison to the competition.

U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® card

• Get 20,000 Bonus FlexPoints after the first $3,500 in net purchases in the first 150 days


• Award travel starts at just 20,000 FlexPoints (up to a $400 ticket value) on over 150 airlines with no blackout dates or redemption fees


• Earn two FlexPoints for every $1 spent on gas, grocery, or airline purchases – whichever you spend most on each monthly billing cycle – and on most cell phone expenses


• Earn Triple FlexPoints for your charitable donations


• $0 Annual Fee* the first year, after that $49


• Earn 3,500 bonus FlexPoints each year when you spend $24,000 in Net Purchases. You can redeem these FlexPoints for your annual fee or combine them with other FlexPoints for travel.

Why it didn’t make the cut

The sign up bonus is half as much as some of the top rewards cards and you have to spend much more to achieve it. Earning two FlexPoints for every $1 spent is on gas, grocery, or airlines is on par with the other top cards. You don’t earn 2:1 rewards points on everything, but these are big enough categories to capitalize. Taking that into consideration, this probably isn’t the card to get if you eat out a lot.

Is your favorite general rewards card missing from my top three? Do you have any unique strategies to maximize your rewards? Feel free to share and let’s discuss.

Check back for Part 2 of 4 in this series of posts on 2014 rewards credit cards. I’ll get into the best airline credit cards for 2014 and tell you why I’ll never own one (even though you may want to because the rewards can be astronomical).

The post Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2014 appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

For more info: Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2014

The Simple Dollar

Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2014

The post Best Rewards Credit Cards of 2014 appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://www.evvi.net/4472/personal-finance/best-rewards-credit-cards-of-2014.html



Personal Finance, adviser-or-certified, capital, money, referral, sapphire, saving money, services, things