Pension Annuity Investment Review – Who Needs One?

This annuity review is intended to explain who needs a pension annuity investment, and why they are so important. When you retire, you have no money coming in and will rely on social security unless you have made some form of financial provision.

“People are living longer, and retirement is no longer just a few years, but can be as long as 20-30 years and more,” says James from iannuityrates.co.uk. “It can be a terrible shock to change from living comfortably to being on the bread line! Yet many who fail to invest for their retirement end up in this situation.”

Most people in regular employment are already investing for their annuity, although not all although they might not be aware of it. You must either take steps to sign up with an insurance company for a pension annuity investment plan, or join your company pension plan that likely operates a 401K defined contributions scheme.

A defined Contributions scheme provides you with a lump sum on retirement that you can use to purchase the annuity of your choice. Your pay a proportion of your pre-tax income into an annuity investment plan and your employer also contributes an agreed amount. On your retirement, you can use the accumulate investment to purchase an annuity to provide you with a regular income throughout your retirement.

The 401K and IRA Annuity Investment

Such schemes may have a minimum retirement age, so check what that is if you want to retire early. For individuals saving for their own retirement, you have two options: a 401K or an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). A 401 K is the above defined contributions scheme, into which you and your employer pays. As to who needs one, it is frankly to the advantage of every American in employment to take a 401K, or they will be leaving their employer’s contribution on the table when they eventually retire.

Normally, when you join a company operating such a plan, you will be asked if you want to join. Irrespective of whether you think you are too young to save for your retirement, you should join. It will come sooner than you think, and it’s too late then to wish you have made better provision for what could these days be another 20-30 years of life. Do you want to spend that on social security?

Who needs an annuity investment? You do! Even of you don’t think so right now, you need a pension annuity investment program to begin now if you don’t already have one. The sooner you start salting away some of your income into an annuity investment, the more comfortable you will be in your retirement. Do you want to visit your kids and grand-children after you retire? Maybe you don’t even have the kids yet, but plan for the future or you will likely live to regret it!

What are your options? One is the 401K that you cash in for an annuity when you reach 59.5 years old, or an IRA with the same restrictions. Because such an annuity investment is deducted from your gross income (before tax), you pay tax on it when you cash in the investment. If you use your 401K or IRA completely to provide you with a regular pension, you will be taxed on your monthly payments, although with any tax-fee allowance applied first.

Roth 401K and Roth IRA

You also have the option of a Roth 401K or Roth IRA, where payments are made from your post-tax, or net income. In these cases, you pay no further tax when you use your annuity investment, either to actually purchase an annuity or take as a cash sum: there are limits to how much of an annuity investment can be taken as cash.

If you are in employment you should make a pension annuity investment on a regular basis, a 401K being your best option. If you win money on the lottery, or come into an inheritance, you could use part of that to purchase a deferred annuity, payable at a later date when your require it, or, even better, an IRA that you can cash when you reach a certain age to provide you with another regular monthly pension.

You Do Need an Annuity Investment

Whether or not you believe right now that have to save up for your retirement, the simple answer is that you do! Inflation means that cash loses its value, but pension annuity investments tend to rise along with interest rates and the cost of living. You could save your money in a bank or building society, but your annuity investment will tend to maintain its spending power far better than banks and building societies.

Once you retire you can cash your investment to buy an annuity. This will give you a pension for life, generally paid into your bank account each month. If you save enough, you could also make that a joint annuity, which protects your spouse or partner in the event of your death – then your pension will be then paid to her or him for life.

Kiva Microloan Review – an Attempt to Understand Kiva

Kiva started as a tool through which entrepreneurs in developing countries were aided in starting their own businesses and hence improve their financial well-being. The main aim of Kiva was to stamp out poverty from developing countries in the world. It has grown in leaps and bounds ever since and it has turned to developed countries for the same purpose as well. According to many analysts.

Is Kiva all that great?

Kiva hasn’t made any significant impact in helping people in developing countries to pull themselves out of poverty as field partners seem to be factoring some countries over others and some groups over others. Also, national governments have also caused some companies to shut down for political reasons. The high interest rates charged by Kiva seem to be its own undoing Kiva Reviewand the reason why it seems not to be very attractive to people in developing countries.

This NY Times article describes a few of the general concerns on Kiva. Kiva came out with their response to the allegations here.

It was discovered a while ago that Kiva was facilitating loans that featured interest rates as high as 30% and in some cases being higher than the 50% mark. For this reason, many critics have talked about Kiva as having missed the mark (the whole idea of micro financing is to offer loans with little or no collateral).

It has been argued by others that having high interest rates will help institutions of micro credit to stand firm faster and to attract more borrowers and hence fasten the process of poverty reduction.

According to Kiva, when money is lent on Kiva, the borrower will pay interest, although Kiva does not make money off the interest that will be paid by the borrowers. Kiva is an institution that pays for its operations using tips as it is a non-profit organization.

Most of its field partners will make profit from the loans that they give to borrowers. Interest is charged on the amount that has been lent and the interest rates differ from country to country. The 30% and above interest rates  have been justified by Kiva time and again; one of the justifications being that considering the fact that  interest charged is about 10%, the inclusion of overseas partners makes the interest rates to jump to the 30% and above interest rates. Kiva maintains that it does not make any profits from the loans

With regard to the high interest rates; Kiva has justified this by explaining that the lack of infrastructure in some developing world makes interest rates higher. Also there is the fact that loans in developing countries are generally smaller than loans in developed countries. Generally speaking, the cost of administering smaller loans is higher than the cost of administering larger loans and this is the reason for the high interest rate.

For Kiva to choose its field partners, it ensures that they share the same social mission among other things. Kiva ensures that it has looked at their interest rates and operating costs among other things.  It will also look at the general size of the population being served and how well they match their core value among others.

Field partners are required to endorse some principles;

  •  First, the financial institution must be able to prevent over-indebtedness by ensuring that a borrower has the ability to pay off his loans. The borrower should be in a position to pay off his loans comfortably without stretching too much
  • Transparency-the field partners must ensure that their consumers are aware of what they are committing themselves to before they get those loans.
  • When a client fails to pay back a loan, the institution must be able to maintain high standards of ethics
  • The institution must have a healthy corporate culture so that clients are treated well
  • They should have mechanisms for resolving complaints from consumers.
  • Privacy and confidentiality of client data

How to borrow from Kiva

Business loans by Kiva require that a potential borrower is informed about the loan requirements.

  • Generally speaking a borrower must have a good credit score of 525 and shouldn’t be bankrupt.
  • All mortgage payment should have been done on time in the last year
  • Should have steady income and prove so.
  • The applicant  must provide security
  • In  the event that the business is an emerging one, the business should have been In operation for the last one six months
  • The borrower should provide a market study and projections of the business. A business plan may or may not be required.
  • For home-based businesses,  it is required that the applicant has less than $500 in debt and a business plan with a cash flow projection of 12 months.
  • For business loans, one must come up with a cosigner. This may not be necessary if the loan is small, if there is adequate security and the borrower has shown that he has a steady flow of cash income.

 Readers do you have any experience with Kiva? How did you find the company or the program?

How to Choose Currency Trading Software – A Guide

Readers to deviate from our usual review series, here’s a post that may help you choosing your preferred software for Forex or currency trading. There are various software available in the market today. The tasks start from comparing those available option. Below points will explain you how you can proceed further.

Forex platform

Like any other software selection, the features you should look in to while choosing the best out of available currency trading software are as below.

Reliability

The software should be up 24/7, like the Forex market itself, your software should never sleep or face outages. Any time in the day you should be able to access the platform.If a software does not have this feature you can safely turn away from it.

Security

Your money and your purchases should automatically be protected from fraud potential by the encryption employed in the software. A 124 bit encryption is a must to beat today’s network attackers.

Ease of use

The trading platform should be easily usable and understandable. You shouldn’t have to click too many buttons to place a purchase order or a sales order. At the same time the software should not have missing features.

Real time Quote and movement

Unless you get to see real-time price movement and your profit and loss margin a trading platform is good for nothing. This is no different from a regular stock trading platform need. You need to know every movement especially if you are a day trader.

Product Review

Always read reviews for the software. Expert review and regular user reviews are great resources to know a product feature better. Every review will either negative or positive and same product might generate good as well as bad reviews, go for the products that have best ratio of positive vs. negative reviews.

Customer Support

No matter how good a software is there will be glitches, that’s how electronics pulses work in a network, signal packets will be lost and connection will be broken at times.  When that happens a good customer service fills the gap. If you don’t get an answer even after being one hour on phone then the software platform owners have a serious problem. Customer is the king, let’s behave like a king.

Brand Name

Brand name goes a long way. Brand name brings controls and procedures to meet standards, brand name brings reliability. A better brand is always more equipped to compensate for their mistakes. They may go out of their ways to fit your needs at times.

So, your tasks do not end till you learn how to trade Forex, it can only complete when you evaluate and select the best available Forex software. We at Finance Product Reviews will bring in future reviews of forex trading platforms, setting the pace here.

Thanks for being our avid reader, let us know if you have good/bad experience with a currency trading platforms.

ScotTrade Brokerage Account Review – Why I don’t use Scortrade

Scottrade is a private discount brokerage firm in US. They have head quarter in St. Louis, Missouri. They have nearly 504 branches all over US. They offer service to Asian- pacific customers also. This service is provided through there center in china. They offer many services like stoke broker, mutual funds, CDs, IRAs, fixed income etc. 2010 they had nearly 3,300 employees. Till year 2008 they had $838.10 million revenues. In year 2011 they launched Scottrade bank.

Scottrade Review

Some important things have to be considered before starting dealing with an online broker. The one which provides fewer prices is good but only this is not enough. One should do enough research of the service provider they are looking for, and should see pros and con of that service provider. Following are some main points for one of the leading online broker in US: -

Facility to open either individual or joint account: – they offer you two types of account. First one is individual account. And second one is joint account. In joint account you can add maximum 3 people. From your account you can trade stocks, mutual funds, many bonds, exchange trade funds, options etc. the charges for trading unlimited shares having value more than $1 is $7. Is you are trading options then you will have to pay 1.25$ extra than 7$.

Retirement account: – Scottrade offers much type of retirement accounts if you are working. The account includes Roth, traditional, simple IRAs, Rollover.

Business and trust account: -you can open a business or trust account at Scottrade. For trust account you can choose between regular, PSP, MPP etc. while for business account you can choose between corporate & LCC, partnership or investment.

No maintenance fee: – another main thing which makes Scottrade so special.  They take absolutely no fee for account maintenance. It is not just that, they even charge anything for deactivating your existing account. According to me this is very special thing they give.

Low price for stock trade: – when the things come to pricing of trading stocks, Scottrade are leading there also. They have one of the least pricing in American market. If you compare Scottrade to other discount giving traders, then also Scottrade are taking much less commission. In case of option trade they are taking much higher commission but in case of stock, they are the best.

Huge branch network: – they have over 500 branches all over US. This is largest network by any trading company in US.

Security on your account funds: – they provide you security investor Protection Corporation membership once you open an account at Scottrade. This security account is given at no cost. This security account provides you insurance up to $24.5 million per customer.  This insurance security is similar to FDIC security given to you with your deposits in bank. So there is absolutely no need to worry about financial stability of Scottrade.

Highly rated: – This broker company has earned very high ratings in many individual investors of US. It is not just that, they have won customer satisfaction, less interest rate awards in year 2007 and in 2008. J.D power and associates have ranked Scottrade as highest customer satisfaction providing Broker Company.

For getting started you will have to put $1000 in your account. Once you start account, you can transfer your IRAs to Scottrade for free. Also their website provides very easy to use online platform. With this platform you will get free access to real time streaming quotes, charts, market news, latest announcement etc.

Is Scottrade worth it?

There is one big disadvantage of Scottrade is that, you can invest online but you can’t withdraw money online.

There are other reasons I hate Scottrade,

  • No dividend re investment option for the shares you own, if you want to re invest dividend it will be classified as another transaction worth $7
  • Pricier than Zecco Trading and MB Trading brokerages I use. Both Zecco and MB Trading offer $4.95 per trade fees.
  • There is a minimum fund requirement of $1000 to be able to trade

Do you use Scottrade? Tell us more about your experience, you good, bad or neutral opinions are most valuable for other readers.

Netspend Visa Prepaid Card Review

The NetSpend Corporation provides marketing services and processing for proprietary and private Master Card and Visa prepaid Debit Cards. It is a Texas based company and has it’s headquarter in Austin .This company has other branches in the cities of Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Leewood , KC; and San Mateo ; CA. Oak Investment Partners are major shareholders of this company.

The NetSpend Corporation has 7 million costumers and helps them for the payment of bills, for purchasing, and managing their money without the need of checking credit history and account. This company was established in the year 1999 by Bertrand and Roy Sosa along with their friend James Wright.

NetSpend® Prepaid MasterCard®

Under the symbol of NTSP this company trades on the NASDAQ. The NetSpend has products that include debit cards which can also be reloaded with funds; travel card which can be reloaded only a limited number of times; gift cards which cannot be reloaded and can be purchased in predominant amounts.

The NetSpend Prepaid Visa Card is a debit card with lesser fees as compared to other card in the market. Netspend visa prepaid is designed to provide users with the convenience of a debit card without the worries and concern associated with a credit card. You load money onto the card and start paying for services or goods from anywhere that accepts Visa, including gas stations, restaurants, and groceries.

If you’re in the market for a prepaid Visa and contemplating on the NetSpend Prepaid Visa debit card, read on to see if the card is a good fit for you.

Salient features of Netspend Visa prepaid card

  • 100% Approval – No credit check needed (ID verification required).
  • Get your paycheck or government benefits up to 2 days faster with free direct deposit
  • Earn cash back with NetSpend Payback Rewards(TM).
  • Real-time activity alerts sent to your mobile phone.
  • Prescription Discounts – up to 55% off!.
  • Funds are FDIC insured up to the current coverage limit (ID verification required).Apply Now!

Product Comparison

During the application process of this card you are able to choose between three different plans for this card.

Plan 1

The first option for this card is Free Advantage.

  • The FreeAdvantage plan charge you a monthly fee of US $ 9.95, but this card does not charge you a onetime enrollment fee.
  • The good thing about this plan is that the signature purchase transactions and pin purchase transactions for merchants do not need fees. However, this plan has ATM transactions fees of US $ 2.50

Plan 2

The second option for this card is the Pay-as-you-go plan.

  • The Pay-as-you-go plan do not has a onetime enrollment fees as well as this plan does not have a monthly fees, too.
  •  There is a US $ 1 fee charges per purchase on the signature purchase transactions where you have to give a signature via electronic reader on any purchase.
  • If you need to withdraw your money through ATM then you will be charge US $ 2.50 per transaction and if you need to make any purchase through a pin purchase transaction where you have to enter your card pin number then you will be charged US $ 2 per transaction.

Plan 3

The third plan for the NetSpend card is NetSpend Premier FreeAdvantage plan.

  • The structure of this plan is somewhat similar to the traditional FreeAdvantage account but, the monthly fee of this plan is nearly half of the FreeAdvantage.
  •  Like all the other plan of this card, this plan also has ATM fees of US $ 2.50.
  • According to me this plan is very profitable one as the overall deal of this plan is the best and you can sign up for this plan during the application process of the plan for this card.
  • But if your balance of the card is a bit short then you need to spend US $ 10 per purchase cushion.

Verdict on Netspend Visa card

Overall this card is decent, profitable and a better card than most of other prepaid cards in the ongoing market. All the other cards in the market are not much consumer friendly, NetSpend is better and they also do not have any hidden fees, unless I overlooked. In the Better Business Bureau Netspend has been rated as ‘A’ as the structure of the fee and options for the account are very reasonable as well they have a good review ratings.

Zecco Trading Review – Online Stock Brokers that are not Zero Cost Any More

I use two brokers for my personal need before I tried Zecco. MB Trading platform and Merill Lynch which came along with my Bank of America Checking account as an additional benefit. I would say it was probably only boon for me from the stock market collapse of 2008. You may want to read my earlier review of MB Trading, which I found one of the very best in business.

I have been using Zecco just for the sake of comparison. As MB Trading started a recent no-activity fee which is irritating to me. Now I do think I would switch to Zecco from MB Trading. Here’s what I found from the discount online brokers, Zecco.

Zecco trading Platform Review

Zecco is an online stock broker. This company has offices in San Francisco, California, Glendale. Word ZECCO means “zero cost commission” trading. This company is operating since July, 2006. However since March 2011 this company is no longer providing free stock trading to its customers. Zecco provides stock, option, mutual fund, bond trading, spot foreign exchange trading service, spot gold, spot silver trading services to its customers.

How To Set Up Account For ZECCO

It is an easy three step process to sign up for Zecco which takes hardly 10-15 minutes to set up an account. Firstly you will need to pay signup fee via wire transfer, paper chec or through ACH transfer from your bank account etc ways.  Also you will need to fill all your information including your social security number. Then after 2-3 days you will get your ready to trade account. 2 to 3 days are required for transferring funds. For me it took almost 6 days as there was a week end in between. I remember I had to wait for 15 days for Merill Lynch account to be active and tradable.
Zecco Trading

Fees and Commissions on Trading

  • For Stocks: – they charge $ 4.95 for each trading. also if you trade on equities which are equal to $ 1.00 or less then charges for this trading are 6.95$  per trade. 4.95 $  is way too less than what its competitor companies are currently charging for each transaction.
  • Options: – they charge 4.95$ for each trade and additional 0.65$  for each contract. This is very beneficial if the contacts are very less. But if you are taking large number of contracts then this becomes very costly.  If this trading is broker assisted then you will be  charged $ 19.99 plus charges on each contract is 0.75 $
  • Broker assisted trades are 19.99 $
  • Zecco provides super cheap price structure also it is very easy to understand this structure.
  • Forex spreads are 0.7 pips for major pairs.
  • Margin rate is 4.5%
  •  You can purchase or sell no-load mutual funds via Zecco. If this transaction is internet based then you are charges $ 10 per transaction.
  • Treasury transaction fee is $ 24.50 per transaction.
  • Bond transaction fee is $ 4.50 per transaction.  But the minimum transaction amount is $ 22.50.

Investments Offered by Zecco

Stocks, options, bonds, mutual funds, retirement account education savings accounts, spot gold and spot silver. They are now offering Forex trades too. I am inclined towards Forex trades these days.

Trading or Investment Tools

Trading platform offered by Zecco is very basic. Yet they have decent tools for trading complex options. They have tool for identifying potential investment and to analyze them. Also you get tool for trading and to monitor your portfolio.

As a trading help, they do provide free real time quotes, charts and graphs (which MB trading charges fees for) . Also research report is provided to you by standard and poor. In addition to this if you are newbie in the trading field and if you need any guidance on trading, there’s a help for you in form of Zecco’s investor education tool. Also they provide educational videos. Though I found the videos very basic.

Zecco provides descent customer support. You can contact their customer service via email or phone or through online chat. They are trying to establish a trading community – Zeccoshar, where you can share and discuss your issues, opinions and insights with other investors. This his cool feature I think.

When you open an online trading account at Zecco Trading you can also expect:

    • Free stock trading IRA – including Traditional, Roth and Rollover IRAs
    • Superior trade execution with industry leading trading platform
    • Friendly customer service 5 days a week
    • Free membership to vibrant financial community of online investors at zecco.com

Apply Now!

Awards won by Zecco

  • Zecco has won 3 stars in customer service providing in the year 2009. This award was given to Zecco by SmartMoney.
  • Also zeco has got 3 stars in the same year 2009 by Barrons Review.
  • Though they have won only these awards this company has potential to add more awards to their hall of fame

Verdict on Zecco brokerage account

Pros:

  • Very low commission on trading stocks ( 4.95 $)
  • Active social networking community to share and discuss your problems with other traders.
  • Free 24×7 online or offline support.
  • Free streaming data.
  • Free dividend reinvestment.
  • No surcharges for large orders.
  • You can open account with Zecco with no money down.
  • No account minimum, maintenance or deactivation fees.

Cons:

  • There are no II level quotes.
  • There is no online mobile trading access for massively used Blackberry or android phones.
  • Performance reporting and tax planning services are not free.
  • Surcharges of $2 on trad of penny stock.
  • Annual IRA fee is $30.
  • Extra hour traders have to pay surcharge of $0.005 per share on applicable commission

Conclusion

If you have good experience in trading and if you are looking for low cost and solid service provider, then Zecco is the one of the best options available for you. Trading Education tools are just OK and there are no extra ordinary material there but, still sometimes they are useful for many.  Additionally online social community is the best thing for traders. So overall Zecco is good for experienced people and they should open an account with Zecco. But if you are looking for intensive research performed on stocks then Zecco may not be the best option for you.

Zecco Trading

Readers, what are your opinions about Zecco? Are you satisfied?

Carnival of Money Pros – The Summer Olympic Edition

I’m very excited to host the Carnival of Money Pros this week!  Here are some of the posts that made though. Hope you’ll have some time in between your busy Olympic schedule. Enjoy the posts and leave your opinion in comments.

vh @ Funny about Money writes Ridiculous Retirement System: With a Vengeance – There’s a fundamental problem with our present 401(k)-style retirement “system”: most Americans have about a snowball’s chance of saving enough to support them through old age.

Lance @ Money Life & More writes It Pays to Ask For More – Coke Zero Commercial “And…?” – I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten something more simply because I asked for more. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t just say “and…” with no reason to back it up and have someone give me free money. You always need a reason and shouldn’t just expect a hand out.

Squeezer @ Personal Finance Success writes How to strech your dollars when you are unemployed – With the Bureau of Labor Statistics pinning unemployment at 8.2%, many individuals are out of work and looking for a new job. To combat this, one should trim his or her budget to extend any savings as long as possible.

Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes Found Money Creates Wants – My husband and I received a large cash this month, but without a plan in place for found money, it’s created some anxiety and marital strife!

Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes How Much Risk is Involved in Spread Betting? – Really! How much risk is involved in spread betting! Read more to find out…

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Why Investment Fees Matter – Corey previously wrote about how time is your new best friend. This is all because of compound interest. The more time you have to let your investments grow, the more your money can compound upon itself and grow faster. It almost sounds too good to be true, and unfortunately it is when you look at it in terms of investment fees.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Frugal Cures for Cubicle Fever – I am reading a fantastic book right now that has caused bursts of belly laughter to escape from my mouth at random moments throughout the day.

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Boo To Those Sneaky Bank Fees – Sneaky bank fees suck, read my recent bad experience with them and why I think they are wrong!

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Student Loan Advice – Check out my student loan advice, see if I can help you.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Top Five Stress-Free Vacation Tips – Imagine having a stress free vacation: nothing too expensive, no crowds, and no worrying about how things are going back at work. Here’s how to do it.

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes A Few Reasons Why Asset Allocation is Important – When it comes to investing, many people recommend that you diversify your accounts. The idea is to not put all your eggs in one basket.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Why Hold High Yield Stocks – High yield investments can play a part in your portfolio. Even though I am a fan of the 10/10 rule of investing which focuses on the growth of a dividend stock,a high yield dividend stock (or income trust) can have a part in a portfolio. In fact, I have high yield investments in my portfolio.

PPlaner @ Provident Plan writes Signs of Dysfunctional Finances – Find out if your finances are dysfunctional. Do you find carry a credit card balance or live paycheck to paycheck? If so, it might be time for a change.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes 13 Part-time Jobs With Benefits – Do you want some good news on the employment front? Here it is: you can get employee benefits on many part-time jobs.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes ARE YOU CUT OUT TO BUY A FIXER UPPER? – The lure of real estate investing is great. This article outlines what it takes to buy, renovate, and resell real estate. Find out if this potentially lucrative endeavor is for you.

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes The Cost of Being Sick – Being sicks can put a huge strain on your normal life. It can not only cost you a lot of money, but cause social disruptions.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Three Ways Credit Card Companies Can Trick You – When the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was put into place, credit card holders were supposed to benefit from the new

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Social Security Taxes the Poor to Benefit Rich White People – The people who live the longest (rich white people) benefit most from Social Security. We need to stop taxing poor people to give money to rich people.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Childhood Money Memories – I went to a financial seminar this past weekend and one of the exercises was to think as far back as you could and tell a 2 minute story about a money memory

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Why Babysitting is an Awesome Side Hustle – I babysit as a side hustle. I watch two kids that live fairly close to where I work. It works out perfectly, because I get off at 4:00 and I start babysitting at 4:30 a couple of days a week.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes The Limits of Social Acceptability: payday loans and credit cards debt – Payday loans have bad reputation. In this article we discuss some ways in which they can be used reponsibly.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Investing in Real Estate Basics – I am an aspiring real estate investor. I don’t have direct experience investing in real estate, but several of my closest friends and family members own at least one rental property. I don’t just want to follow the crowd, because most people don’t think highly of investing in real estate.

Brianna Baiocco @ http://www.termlife-insurance.com/blog writes Life Insurance with Long Term Care Benefit Riders – Long Term Care Benefit Riders and life insurance. All wraped into one.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Job Hunting Success – Retooling Your Job Hunt – Some advice on how you reshape your job hunt if you aren’t successful, and increase your chances of standing out from the crowd as you do.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Seven High Paying Part-Time Jobs – A part-time job can also be used to increase retirement savings, supplement business income, and an effective way of dealing with stagnant salaries.

JP @ My Family Finances writes Overanalyzing the Numbers behind the Family Grocery Bill – If you’ve ever wanted to see someone over analyze the family grocery bill, this post is for you.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes What Would You Take With You in Case of a Fire? – I feel that I became too materialistic, too attached to stuff. If anything dreadful happens to us, I will be devastated by a loss of material things that took years to accumulate. I realize that material possessions are just bits and pieces of our lives and not really us. So if a fire happened, what would you grab first?

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes Risk Basics: Understanding Interest Rate Risk – The last few years we’ve seen historically low-interest rates and a rising concern over interest rate risk. We need to understand interest rate risk, its effect on different assets, and how to mange it all.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes The Personal Power of Changing a Blog Theme – Change is important in life, sometimes just a little change like a blog theme can greatly change your attitude!

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes What is Supply Trade Finance? – Supply trade finance is when a company uses a bank (usually an international bank) to facilitate the transfer of goods or services, while also facilitating the payment for said goods or services in exchange. Basically, if you’re a US-based company, you don’t want to pay for goods from China until you are guaranteed they are on their way.

Bryan @ Gajizmo.com writes 5 Safe Investments You Can Make Today – With the volatility in the markets, learn about the 5 best and safest investments you can make today.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes The 3 Z’s of Success – The 3 Z’s of Success is twenty-six in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.

MR @ Money Reasons writes Spending Money Fail! How We Spend More Than We Realize – How spending on a car repair cause great financial anguish while the lunches I’d had that week cost even more! It funny what we worry about financially.

MMD @ My Money Design writes Using the Dogs of the Dow to Buy the Best Dividend Paying Stocks – Use the Dogs of the Dow investment strategy to buy the most stable and highest dividend paying stocks available in the market.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes Does Canceling a Credit Card Hurt Your Credit? – Should You Consider Canceling Your Credit Card? Nearly everybody on this planet knows that Dave Ramsey is against credit cards; so much so that he shuns the idea of utilizing cards for their rewards and encourages people to CANCEL all of their cards despite the fact that canceling it may hurt your credit.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes USDA Guaranteed Home Loan – I knew absolutely nothing about USDA guaranteed loans when we applied for one. So I thought I would share a little bit about what I’ve learned so far………..

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Consumers Are Horrible At Math – Derek Thompson over at The Atlantic wrote a great article titled “The 11 Ways That Consumers Are Hopeless at Math”.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Can we Trust Corporate Bond Credit Ratings? – Although there is a lack of trust in the rating agencies after the financial crisis you can still trust corporate bond credit ratings.

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes Want to Boost Your Savings? Consider a TFSA – One of the most interesting options that Canadians have when it comes to saving money is the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA).

Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes Are Your Investments Making You Money? Are You Happy With The Results? – Are Your Investments Making You Money? Are You Happy With The Results? Will You Have Enough to Retire? Can You Quit Working? If you answered “No” to any of the above questions, then the time to act is now. I know life is busy and it’s easy to put off investing for a few years, but before you know it’ll be too late.

Bridget @ Money After Graduation writes Why I travel – Read my philosophy with respect to traveling and why I love it.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Important Steps in the Home Buying Process – Here are the important steps in the home buying process. See if you agree.

Hank @ Money Q&A writes The Four Of The Best Car Insurance Discounts – Car insurance is an extremely competitive business which is great for the individual consumer. Most car insurance companies will keep their rates low in order to attract and keep consumers.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Want to retire? Answer these 3 Questions! – Find out what three questions every person should ask in preparation for retirement.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes Changing Jobs? Why Cashing Out Your 401(k) Could Be a Costly Mistake – When a job change occurs, many workers cash out their 401(k), which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement assets.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes Workplace Stress – The verdict is in – your job is killing you. More specifically, workplace stress is killing you. This means we’ve come full circle from our days as cavemen, when our biggest source of stress was finding food.

Anne @ Unique Gifter writes 4 Wedding Food Savings Tips (for guests) – Attending a million weddings this summer? Just going on vacation? Here are some ways to save your money on Food, as a guest. This works especially well if you’re in a hotel with a group of people!

Earth and Money @ Earth and Money writes Are We Funding Our Own Demise? – Canadians are funding their own demise by financially supporting companies which create unhealthy environments.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Should You Use the Internet to Explore Investment Ideas? – Why not use all the resources available to you for investment ideas? The internet is a great way to do it!

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes 6 Things to Do This Summer to Boost Your Promotion Potential – Here are six things to do this summer to boost your promotion potential!

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes Earn Extra Cash As a Personal Paparazzi Photographer – Are you an amateur or professional photographer wanting to put your talent to use while earning some money in the process? Here is what you can do to earn extra money.

Evan @ My Journey to Millions writes Generating Income During Retirement with the Internet – While I recently discussed the boring, usual ways for to boost investment income, I didn’t talk about active online endeavors. To be fair, these options aren’t just for retirees, but I think experience and time would help:

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes How Does Corporate Finance Work? – Corporate finance is the finance of companies and businesses, and the tools used to make financial decisions for businesses. The primary goal of corporate finance is to increase the value of the company. Most corporate finance issues can be broken down into either long-term or short-term goals and decisions. For example, capital spending, long-term financing…

L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes The Magic of Compounding Interest on Student Loans – Below is a guest post by Drewski. In addition to being my main squeeze he also used to work as a broker in New York City and currently helps teach brokerage exams. Aside from being uber qualified, as a graduate student he knows first hand the cold fist that is compounding interest.

Sean @ One Smart Dollar writes Credit Unions vs Banks – Which is Best for You? – A lot of people don’t know the difference between credit unions and banks. Here is a guide to helping you pick the right institution

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Small Choices Mean Big Gains When Achieving Financial Security – If you can understand the concept of making small choices, on a regular basis, in order to achieve big gains in the future, it becomes easy to change this mindset.

Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes How to Get the Most From Your Credit Card Rewards – Whipping out the plastic doesn’t sound like the best way to save money, but if used correctly, credit cards can play a role in stretching your budget and getting the most from your money.

Grand Per Month @ Grand Per Month writes Consider Employment Benefits Before Taking a Part-Time Job – Sometimes making a grand per month is not just about the extra cash in your pocket but the generous benefits that you receive. Yes, it would be nice to make an extra grand per month in cash, but sometimes it is worthwhile to make less at a part-time job that also pays you generous benefits such as health care and a 401k.

Penny Thots @ Penny Thots writes Gas Prices Tick Me Off! – If the high prices of certain products like gas are getting you down, then consider becoming an owner of those assets and benefit from the price increases rather than letting them cause you pain.

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Thoughts on Building a House – Through enough of my own research, I realize that if the time comes to choose a builder for my little house, I’ll be making sure that builder has a few of the following qualities:

Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes Are You a Peter Pan Spender? – Growing up doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. It just means you have to have fun with responsibility. When all the bills are paid and you’ve socked away a bit for the future, have all the fun you want.

Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Saving Money By Taking Your Own Lunches To School or Work – If you work outside of the home, you have to supply your own lunch. Unless the executive dining room is at your disposal for free, you are on your own when hunger strikes at lunchtime. Eating lunch in expensive restaurants every day can be fun, but most working individuals have neither the time nor the money to indulge in that habit.

Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes Lending Tree Review – Quick and Painless Mortgage Refinance – When you do sign up for LendingTree be prepared to start accepting calls as well. These banks really do want your business, and LendingTree made the process simple. It’s great that they came to me instead of me having to go to each bank and research for the best rate. It was a time saver and convenient.

Greg Field @ NerdWallet writes How I Made the Switch to a Credit Union – An insightful article on how to switch out of your expensive and unfriendly big bank account into a money saving credit union. Enjoy!

Ashley @ Blogging For Money Now writes Learn How to Make Money with Blogging – This site gives beginners some great tips and products to jump start their blog making and quickly start earning money. The products listed on our site are products that we have personally used, and still use.

Jason @ Live Real, Now writes Handling a Windfall – What would you do if you were handed $10,000 tomorrow? $20,000? The easy default answer–if you spend time in the personal finance world–is to pay off debt and save the rest. But is that the right answer?

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Seven Refillable Items – Saving Money & the Planet – A lot of people assume that saving money and saving the planet are two separate goals, yet this isn’t the case. There are plenty of environmentally friendly solutions that can also help you develop a growing savings account.

Teacher Man @ My University Money writes Should You Take a Full Course Load? – Taking a full course load in school will help you get out of school quicker and into the work force, which helps pay off your debt sooner.

Jeff Rose @ Good Financial Cents writes Best IRA Online Brokers – If you’re looking to open an IRA with an online brokerage firm, you have a lot of options. Here are some of the best ones to choose from and why we like them so much.

Greg@ClubThrifty @ Club Thrifty writes Avoiding the Debt Trap – Recently, my friend asked me for some financial advice. I advised him that refinancing his house could save him tens of thousands of dollars over the long run. Unfortunately, he didn’t take my advice and fell into the “Debt Trap.”

Steve @ Brip Blap writes How Coaching Can Help You Out of a Rut in Your Corporate Career – Here are 3 key areas that coaching can help you with, whilst helping you get out of that rut and enjoy working again:

Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes The Ins and Outs of No Medical Exam Life Insurance – No medical exam life insurance has higher premiums than a standard life insurance policy, but may actually be less expensive for someone who’s likely to be rated. The tradeoff is in the benefits.

Katie @ The Discount Coder Blog writes 7 tips for saving cash on camping by keeping it simple! – Everyone loves going on holiday but sometimes we just don’t have the spare cash to make it happen when we really want. Well, camping can solve that problem and these thrifty camping tips will get you sleeping under the starts for even less cash!

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes The History Behind Credit Bureaus, and the Founding of the Big Three – Having our credit checked when we borrow money has become a fact of life these days, and we’ve all come to expect it as part of the process. But where did the credit bureaus come from, and how long have they been around?

Mr. Money @ Smart on Money writes Rebuilding and Starting from Scratch – Here are a few tips on how to recover from a financial calamity and start from scratch:

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes New Nonsensical Stock Trading Idea: Someone Else Paid a Lot More for It – Since institutional investors had paid a lot more for Facebook, I figured I was getting a better deal than those smart guys. Better yet, they’d probably do whatever they can to try to push the stock up so that they can break even. With this in mind, I ended up buying some FB at around 30.50 and as it continued to drop some more at around 26.50. Facebook stock recovered to around $33 and I implemented a strategy a friend at college had mentioned… selling most of the stock and playing with much

Robert @ My Multiple Incomes writes Why Multiple Income Streams Are Important – I tried explaining to my friend why I would want extra income (as explained below) and she just could not grasp my reasoning. Having extra income and multiple income streams can be great for many reasons.

Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes Giving Should Exceed Saving? – I recently heard the suggestion that one’s savings rate should not exceed one’s giving rate. What do you think of this principle?

Darrow Kirkpatrick @ Can I Retire Yet? writes Why an Annuity Could Be in Your Future… – Many careful, frugal investors have long ruled out any sort of annuity as a retirement solution. Count me in that camp. For years, I loathed annuities because of what I read about the expenses and complexity. Why would I need an annuity, when I was enjoying great success at growing my own diversified portfolio well in excess of our retirement income needs. But then three events transpired…

Robert @ Entrepreneurship & Life writes Bringing In a VA to Help with Your Business – If you are not big enough to hire an employee, but you still need a little extra help, a virtual assistant could be just what you need. There are many types of jobs that can be outsourced, but here are some of the most common outsourced jobs

Robert @ Entrepreneurship & Life writes Bringing In a VA to Help with Your Business – If you are not big enough to hire an employee, but you still need a little extra help, a virtual assistant could be just what you need. There are many types of jobs that can be outsourced, but here are some of the most common outsourced jobs.

Melissa @ Bargaineering writes 0 Frugal Hobbies (That Might Even Make You Some Money) – Everyone needs a little down time to relax and unwind. While some choose to spend quite a bit of money on their hobbies and recreational activities (think downhill skiing or boating), your hobbies don’t have to cost a lot. Best of all, some frugal hobbies might even make you money!

Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes So You’re Debt Free; Now What? – Debt is the great equalizer, and the overwhelming majority of Americans are saddled with more than their fair share. But there are some who manage to tame the monster of indebtedness. Those people are left facing a variety of paths: What to fund first? College tuition for my kids or retirement? Invest first or save?

Glen Craig @ Free From Broke writes Bad Credit? Rebuild it With These Secured Credit Card Offers – Using one of the best secured credit card offers can help you build, or re-build, and improve your credit an get you on your way to getting an unsecured card.

CCS @ Credit Card Smarts writes Savvy Credit Card Use: Pay Off Your Balance Each Month – Want to use your credit card wisely? Make sure you pay off your balance each month. This way you save yourself from debt and more.

The Carnival of Money Pros is brought to you to by the Money Pros Team, and you can submit articles at Blogger Carnivals.

Capital One® Spark Cash for Business review

I mostly write about personal credit cards, this is my first business credit card review. For my blogging business I do not need a business credit card account as blogging is not capital incentive and I can do with my personal saving. There’s not much cash flow required.

One of my friends recently opted for Capital One Spark Cash for Business card for his restaurant business. He is very satisfied customer and recommends the card for any one who needs cash line for business.

Let’s take a look why the card may be a good fit for your need. We will also determine if this is the bets card for your small business.

 Capital One Spark Cash for Business card features

  • This card earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day.
  • When you spend $ 1,000 in the first 3 months, then you get a cash bonus of $ 100.
  • You will get a cash bonus of $ 50 if you sign 1 or more employee cards.
  • You will get award – winning small business customer service.
  • There will be no annual fee for the first year.
  • You will have to pay an annual fee of $ 59 after the first year.
  • You can redeem cash awards any amount ever you can set up automatic redemption.
  • You can earn ultimate cash rewards that do not expire.
  • The annual percent rate of this card is 13.9 percent.
  • The default rate of this card is 29.4 percent.
  • The cash advance rate of this card is 24.9 percent.
  • There is no introductory annual percent rate for purchase.
  • There is no introductory annual percent rate for transfer.
  • You will get 2 percent reward rate.
  • The net annual reward of this card is $ 453 of cash.
  • You get up to $ 150 for cash back bonuses.
  • There are no balance transfer fees.
  • There are no over – the – credit – limit fees.
  • You do not get any notable reward other than cash back bonuses.
  • You can request cash back any time online, or by phone.
  • You will need extremely good credit score for applying for this card, which should be minimum 750 for qualifying for this card.
  • The grace period of this card is 25 days.

Who should apply? – This card is for small business owners who are looking for good cash back rewards. This card is also useful for business owners who frequently need to travel overseas because there are no foreign transaction fees.

Capital One Spark Cash of Business Reward Details

  • Earn 2% cash back on every purchase, every day.
  • Get a $100 cash bonus — just spend $1,000 within the first 3 months.
  • Receive a $50 cash bonus by signing up for one or more employee cards.
  • Redeem cash rewards anytime, for any amount, even set up automatic redemption.
  • Earn unlimited cash rewards that don’t expire.

Strengths of Capital One Spark Cash of Business

  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Quarterly and yearly expense reports with categorization
  • 2% cash back
  • Special incentive when employees sign up too.
  • Upfront bonus of up to $150
  • Card Act protection which is not mandatory to adopt for small business cards.

Verdict on Capital One Spark Cash of Business

I highly recommend you the Capital One Spark Cash for Business credit card because it is quite affordable card for people engaged in small business.

This card has some good business friendly features. Some of the good and remarkable features of this card that makes this card unique are that you always earn a 2% cash back on every purchase, there is no annual fee for the first year, if you are able to spend $ 1,000 in first 3 months then you get a bonus of $ 100, there are no balance transfer fees for this card, etc. This card has these and many such useful and good features except some which makes this card unique and quite remarkable one.  So if you have excellent credit history then this card can be very useful for

The Capital One Spark cash for Business is an attractive business credit card with lots of benefits for your business. You get benefits such as a free year-end summary, free employee cards, free customized card logo, fitting to your business logo, purchase protection and extended warranty, 0 Fraud Liability and many more.

Still the card falls short of some of cool features offered by American Express Blue cash for business which offers up to 5% cash back and this card lacks the savings partners like car rental agencies or hotel chains. Still if you do not get approved for Blue cash for business, you can perhaps try for this second best business card on the market.

Iberia Bank Visa Gold Card Review – Almost Lowest APR Card in the Market

Today’s review is for Iberiabank Gold card, issued by Visa. This is one of the four Visa cards issued by Iberia bank, other three cards are Iberiabank Visa Classic, Iberiabank Visa Select and Iberiabank Visa Platinum.

Iberiabank Visa® Gold Card

A brief introduction of the issuer – Iberia bank

Iberiabank is based in Lafayette, Louisiana is a regional bank. In the 6 southern states of Louisiana it has 145 branches. It is having its branches in the states of: – Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. It is a public listed bank.

Iberia Bank is a subsidiary of the Iberiabank Corporation which is a 125 years old company and has an US $100 M in asset.

Iberiabank visa Gold card features

    • No annual membership fee
    • Low variable rate of 9.25%, 12.25%, or 15.25% (Prime + 6.00%, Prime + 9.00%, or Prime + 12.00%) as of 4/1/10 based on the creditworthiness. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. (If there is an interest charge, the charge will be no less than $1.00).
    • Low Introductory APR on balance transfers of 1.99% for your first 6 billing cycles, this rate will not Iberiabank Visa® Gold Cardchange during the introductory period. Applies to balance transfers processed within three months of your account open date. After that, your APR will be the same as your assigned purchase rate, based on your creditworthiness. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate.
    • Earn 1% in cash back credit on all qualifying purchases
    • No limit on cash back; no expiration date on eligibility for accounts in good standing
    • Travel accident coverage up to $500,000
    • Online access to credit card account information

Apply Now!

Verdict on Iberia bank Visa Gold Card

Pros – Clearly this card has one of the lowest APR rate in the industry, Additional insurance protection on top of that provided by Visa on their most cards.

This card offers $500,000 travel accident coverage. You also get travel emergency service, roadside assistance and auto rental collision damage waiver free of cost with this card.

Cons – Very low reward and excellent credit requirement to get a hand on this card are two major drawbacks.

Additionally Iberiabank requires your employment verification and income verification as well.You should be with your current employer for at least 6 months prior to applying for this card.

We feel this card is useful when you need money for short-term. Instead of opening a new line of credit or in the worst case, instead of lining up at the cash loan/pay-day loan type of borrowers, It’s always better to get cash advance on this cash.

The low APR stands out for this card and if you’re not after pinching pennies of rewards, go for this card. Apply Now! All Visa card member benefits are yours to keep any way!

Lastly, the best way to handle any credit card is by paying off debt in full every month if you have to pay interest on the remaining balance otherwise.

The features mentioned about this card may change without any notice. You are advised to read offer documents before applying for this card.

Readers, what’s your opinion about this card? If you are a Iberiabank visa gold card holder I urge you to leave your feedback in the comments section.

Five Online Tips For Streamlining your Business

While certain people will always be more web savvy than others, using the internet to your advantage need not be an exercise in the overly technical. There are all kinds of services now available online that are easy to use and could well streamline your business practices, here are five ways you can make use of them

Get a better deal

Everyone knows there are price comparison websites out there that can save you cash on everything from credit cards to energy prices. But did you know that sites like MoneySupermarket also offer deals on things like professional indemnity insurance? The site has guides to the different kinds of business cover available and links to providers that could be cheaper than what you are paying now. I know many businesses that got benefited by cost cutting which were only possible because of price comparison.

There are other sites where you can try price comparison, price grabber, price checker, which, price runner, kelkoo, etc.

Get yourself out there

For many, the idea of setting up a website will seem either terrifyingly complicated or hugely expensive – when the truth of the matter is it needn’t be either. Programs like WordPress have made site-building incredibly easy and once you have bought a domain name that suits you, the site can be up and running in an afternoon. This could be just what you need to offer clients a shop window that cuts down on advertising bills elsewhere.

Get social

How do you engage with others in your industry, as for advice, share ideas and potentially generate new customers without getting out there and spending cash? By using social media. Many of us will be familiar with Facebook, but Twitter is an even more useful tool for talking to the people who matter and getting your name out there. Use it wisely and you can really create a brand for your business that is trusted and well-regarded, without spending a fortune on PR.

Get on Skype

Making international calls can be incredibly costly, but Skype has changed all that for many businesses. Not only is it a cheaper way to make calls, but if you are using it to call someone who has a Skype account at the other end it is absolutely free – and who doesn’t want something that is useful and cheap?

Get used to being paper free

The internet has changed the way we communicate, yet some of us still cling on to the wasteful and cumbersome past. Do you really need to print out the emails you receive? Why print off and send a huge document to send to someone in the post when there are ways to compress it and send it in an email? Even billing and invoicing can be a lot more slim-line if it is done digitally, so give up those old tree-destroying ways!

What other methods you can suggest here readers?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this web site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”