My Money Blog

Skype World Cup Promo: Free Calls For a Month

Posted on June 20, 2010 // 2 Comments

Want to talk World Cup trash with your international friends and family? Skype is offering a free month of calls to landlines to countries with teams playing in the World Cup, including the USA. (Skype-to-skype is always free.) You have to sign up … [Read the rest]

Ohio 529 College Savings Plan Bonus Ends June 30th

Posted on June 19, 2010 // 8 Comments

This is just a reminder that the Ohio 529 College Savings Plan is still offering a $25 bonus if you are referred to open a new account and deposit at least $25 by June 30, 2010. You can apply for and fund the account all electronically, so you … [Read the rest]

Deluxe Rent-a-Car of LAX: Worst Car Rental Agency Ever?

Posted on June 17, 2010 // 18 Comments

I need to rent a car in Los Angeles next month, so I went onto Kayak.com and ran a quick search. The cheapest option at LAX was through a place called Deluxe Rent-a-car, at only about $20 a day including all taxes. It seemed so cheap, I … [Read the rest]

Grantham/GMO 7-Year Asset Class Forecast

Posted on June 17, 2010 // 5 Comments

Jeremy Grantham is the head of GMO, an institutional asset management company that has more than $100 billion dollars under management. According to Wikipedia, he started one of the first index funds? He's built a reputation as a market genius, … [Read the rest]

myFICO Coupon Code: 20% to 30% Off

Posted on June 17, 2010 // 3 Comments

Update February 2011: Use coupon code FICO25 for 25% off! I am not a big fan having to purchase credit scores. I can understand why a lender would pay to get a calculation of your likelihood of defaulting on your loan, but if it's based on our … [Read the rest]

Portfolio Solutions 30-Year Stock/Bond Market Forecast

Posted on June 16, 2010 // 2 Comments

Every year, the low-fee investment advisor Portfolio Solutions, LLC founded by Rick Ferri provides a 30-year market forecast based on their analysis of several factors. In their own words: Each year, we analyzed the primary drivers of asset … [Read the rest]

Schwab Reduces Expense Ratios on Selected ETFs

Posted on June 15, 2010 // 2 Comments

Discount stock broker Charles Schwab cut the fees on six of its proprietary exchange traded funds (ETFs) on Monday (official press release). Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETFTM from 0.08% to 0.06% Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFTM … [Read the rest]

Firstrade Brokerage Switches Clearing Firms, Offers Free Outgoing Account Transfers

Posted on June 15, 2010 // 5 Comments

I received a letter this week that discount stock broker Firstrade is changing clearing firms from Ridge Clearing to Penson Financial*. Not really a big deal, but hidden in the fine print is that existing users can perform an account transfer to … [Read the rest]

Future Stock Market Returns: Price-Earnings Ratios as a Long-Term Predictive Tool

Posted on June 14, 2010 // 19 Comments

As part of gathering the data needed to go beyond net worth, I've shown ways to track find your personal savings rate by tracking your current spending with your current after-tax income. For now, I'm skipping ahead to estimating your portfolio's … [Read the rest]

PineCone Paid Survey Links Open Again

Posted on June 14, 2010 // 8 Comments

Here is an updated application link at Pinecone Research, which is again accepting new members. (May expire at any time, so apply now if you're interested!) Looks open to all, but only one person per household can sign up. Thanks Rafa for the … [Read the rest]

4 Stash Your Cash Deals Most People Haven’t Heard Of

Posted on June 11, 2010 // 23 Comments

Here are four places to stash your cash that aren't advertised very heavily, so your co-workers probably haven't heard of them. They are all FDIC-insured, and offer higher yields than most of their direct competitors. Each one is best depending on … [Read the rest]

Penfed Visa Platinum Cashback Rewards Card – 5% Cash Back on Gas

Posted on June 10, 2010 // 35 Comments

There used to be a bunch of great cashback cards for gas, but now the only one that still offers 5% back to consumers is the PenFed Visa® Platinum Cash Rewards Card. It offers: 5% cash back on gas purchases (must pay at pump) 0.25% cash back on … [Read the rest]