The $100 Refer-A-Friend promo for TradeKing.com has been unusually popular this time around. If you get a referral from an existing account holder, open a new account with at least $1,000, and make a trade, both people will get $100. I've … [Read the rest]
Have An Investment Advisor? Make Them Sign This Fiduciary Pledge
Posted on March 25, 2011 // 8 Comments
The SEC has officially recommended that anyone that provides personalized investment advice to retail consumers should be subject to a fiduciary standard of conduct. Put simply, this means that anyone under the "financial adviser/money manager" … [Read the rest]
The Problem With A Retirement Based On The Stock Market
Posted on March 24, 2011 // 9 Comments
As far as retirement calculators go, the new one over at the Scottrade Knowledge Center is pretty nice. It does the whole Monte Carlo thing, running theoretical scenarios based on historical data. There are fancy interactive sliders that let you … [Read the rest]
Amazon Appstore Opens For Android: Free Angry Birds
Posted on March 23, 2011 // 14 Comments
The Amazon Appstore for Android OS smartphones has opened, and they are offering new free apps every day to promote it. Yesterday's app was Angry Birds Rio (still free)... Wednesday was World Series of Poker: Hold 'em Legend (not free anymore), … [Read the rest]
What Is A “Safe” Savings Rate? How About 16.62%
Posted on March 23, 2011 // 11 Comments
The term "Safe Withdrawal Rate" (SWR) usually refers to the amount of your portfolio that you can withdraw each year in retirement safely without running out of money. The "4% rule" is often used, which says that if you want $40,000 … [Read the rest]
Chase Sapphire Preferred: $625 towards Travel
Posted on March 22, 2011 // 7 Comments
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a rewards credit card offering new cardholders 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. 50,000 points can be redeemed for $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase … [Read the rest]
Reading Blocked New York Times and Wall Street Journal Articles
Posted on March 22, 2011 // 16 Comments
Starting Monday, the New York Times will limit visitors to NYTimes.com to only 20 articles per month. They're trying to drive more paid subscriptions. However, they also don't want to kill off the traffic that tends to be lucrative for … [Read the rest]
Charles Schwab Buys OptionsXpress Brokerage
Posted on March 21, 2011 // 6 Comments
I got an e-mail this morning that my trading account with OptionsXpress is merging with Charles Schwab. Well, considering Schwab (SCHW) has a market cap over 20 times that of OptionsXpress (OXPS), it's more like they bought OX for their … [Read the rest]
5 DVD Rentals for $2 from Blockbuster Express – Groupon
Posted on March 21, 2011 // 9 Comments
Groupon has a nationwide deal again that will get you five one-day rentals at Blockbuster Express kiosks for $2. The regular cost would have been $5. I don't really get the limitation of one per person when you can buy seemingly unlimited as … [Read the rest]
Book Review: The Art of Non-Conformity
Posted on March 20, 2011 // 12 Comments
I'm trying to read more books by other bloggers, and the one I managed to finish first was The Art of Non-Conformity. Based on the writings at eponymous ChrisGuillebeau.com, the book's tagline is "Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and … [Read the rest]
Life Planning Exercise: Creating My Perfect Day
Posted on March 15, 2011 // 19 Comments
I am currently reading The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau (review coming shortly). In one of the early chapters, he talks about an exercise where you write out how your perfect, idealized day would go in great detail, hour-by-hour. I've … [Read the rest]
AutoSlash.com: Car Rental Price Search Engine
Posted on March 14, 2011 // 18 Comments
It's always fun to find out new tools to save you time and money. Started by some regulars on the Flyertalk travel forum, AutoSlash.com is a website specifically made for car rentals. Yes, all the big guys like Expedia and Hotwire do car … [Read the rest]
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