Credit Card Deals (U.S.)

Am I Poor? Or Rich?

Am I poor? Am I rich?

It's natural in personal finance to wonder how we stack up compared to others. 13-17% of Americans live below the federal poverty line, according to Wikipedia.

And most Americans, close to 60%, will spend one year or more below the poverty line between ages 25-75. But are these people poor? Are you poor?

Well, of course compared to others in developing nations, you are quite rich. You have access to a wide variety of first-class free public resources (libraries, emergency rooms, public universities, public schools, etc.) and even if you are relatively poor, as an American you have tremendous access to capital resources -- credit cards, personal loans and small business loans.

If used right, these resources can help make you rich.

There is no one answer to whether you are rich or poor, because financial wealth is not the only form of wealth. If you are content with what you have, you are rich. If you aren't, you are poor.

And, of course, even $50 billion is not enough if you are heartbroken or in very poor health.

I think also that wealth is a state of mind. If you feel rich, and act rich, eventually you attract wealth into your life -- as long as you live well below your means and invest in savvy investments or small business ventures.

If you feel poor, and act poor, you could be a millionaire but still be in "fear" of losing your wealth, power and money -- either because you are living above your means, investing in stupid or overly risky assets, or biting off more than you can chew.

You only live once, so work to develop and grow your wealth, but don't think in terms of rich or poor. Just as an intelligent person living in a developed nation, you already are ahead of 99% of the world's population.

Chase Slate Credit Card Review

My review... Chase Slate credit card, with Blueprint technology, is a fairly new card offering from JPMorgan Chase.

I like the credit card's design and introductory promo rate for customers with excellent credit: 0% intro APR for 12 months.

If your credit is only "average," though, you may get just 6 months of 0% intro APR... and then a variable APR of 22.24% thereafter, which is pretty high in my opinion.

Of course, this doesn't matter if you pay off your Chase Slate credit card balance in full each month.

Chase Blueprint service, which is available with this credit card, allows you to avoid paying interest by "full paying" on certain purchases each month. It also allows you to "finish it" by choosing a pre-set goal date or monthly amount to pay down your balance... Nice, but frankly unnecessary as I view it.

When dealing with credit cards, your strategy should be very simple: pay off the entire balance in full each month before the statement due date. No exceptions.

Frankly, this is a decent and cool looking credit card, but it is by no means my favorite Chase credit card. Look at the Chase Freedom credit card (with cash back rewards) or one of Chase's airline rewards cards (Continental, United, Southwest Airlines varieties available) to get more bang for your buck.

Disclosure: As of June 3, 2010, we now have a financial relationship with Chase as an affiliate.

The Best Airline Rewards Credit Card

What's the best airline rewards credit card for new cardholders in 2010? Personally, I think there are a LOT of great airline rewards credit cards -- unlike cash back cards, which seem to be getting weak lately, you can still get a pretty solid deal with the right airline rewards credit card... assuming you use it often, racking up lots of points, and ALWAYS pay your balance in full so that you never pay a single dime of interest.

Here's my favorite airline rewards credit card as of February 27, 2010: Chase United Mileage Plus Visa Signature Card.

Here are some of the reasons why I like it so much...

1. Get 30,000 bonus air miles after your first $250 in spending on the card. That's awesome. By contrast, my Chase United Mileage Plus VISA debit card came with a bonus of only 2,500 air miles. 

2. Accrue 1 air mile for every $1 spent in qualifying purchases on the card.

3. Good travel certificates after using this credit card for the first time.

4. Visa Signature credit card benefits.

5. United Airlines is a huge airline, with lots of participating partners, so the miles are "worth" something -- it's not as if United is going away any time soon. So even if you don't use up your credit card airline rewards right away, you can save them up for a planned vacation a year or so from now.

Finally, I tend to like Chase credit cards in particular. Good web site, decent customer service and fair rates as long as you never miss a payment, and always pay your balance in full each month.

Rejected For Chase Credit Card?

I know a couple people who have recently been rejected for Chase credit cards, including Chase Freedom. These people don't seem like particularly risky or uncreditworthy individuals, although I could be wrong.

Personally, I was recently rejected for a Chase MasterCard -- well, not an actual rejection, they sent a letter requesting more financial information and identity documents. Screw that. I've never had that happen before.

I have more than enough credit cards already. I wonder if Chase is getting more strict about giving new customers credit lines, and if that will change as they look to compete in a post-CARD Act environment.

What do you think?

Best Stocks Under $5 (Cheap Stock Picks)

MSN Money has an interesting speculative article about 5 of the best good stock picks for under $5. If you're looking for good stocks that are inexpensive, I suggest you read through the article.

Companies featured include Great Basin Gold, a mining company with large gold holdings in South Africa, and Genspera, a small biotech firm focused on marketing a particularly aggressive chemical "hand grenade" against certain forms of cancer.

Read the rest of under $5 stocks with potential to jump right here.

How Much Life Insurance Is Enough?

How much life insurance should you get? There's an excellent post over on Get Rich Slowly about just this topic.

Definitely read through it. 

Personally, I do not have a life insurance plan right now. I have health insurance and company-sponsored disability insurance (in case I get injured and am unable to work for an extended period), but I do not have a life insurance policy.

Here's why: I'm young and have no one dependent on me. No kids, no wife, not even a girlfriend now that I'm single again. So why would I want to pay into something that will not benefit me until/unless I die? Seems like a waste of money, especially when I can get a relatively high rate of return by maxing out my Roth IRA (putting the funds into good ETFs I believe will perform well over the long haul) and by contributing to my 401k at work, in conservative investments unlikely to lose principal and likely to produce a decent return. 

I am not saying life insurance is stupid or unnecessary. I just think that at this point in my life there are more productive uses for my money. When and if I have a family to provide for, my views toward life insurance will certainly change. Although I will also seek to save a large portion of my income, as I do now, so that my family will be OK in the event of my death -- even without some expensive life insurance policy to take care of them.

What do you think of life insurance? Let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comment box.

10 Easy Ways To Make More Money

Rachel Zupek on CareerBuilder.com has an article about the 10 most creative ways to earn more money on the side. 

My favorite of her tips is #7, quoted below:

Sell your junk

"Terri Jay earns $2,000 to $3,000 per month just by selling junk. On eBay, Jay not only sells stuff she isn't using; she hits up local thrift stores on 99-cent days, garage sales and tack sales, looking for things of which she knows the value. She says her best sale was for a drink tray from the 70s; she paid 25 cents for it and it sold for $87."

This is a very easy way to get some quick money for bolstering a Roth IRA account or replenishing your emergency fund at ING Direct or another online bank.

Plus, it's "cleansing" -- I love the feeling of getting rid of electronics, books and DVDs I no longer want... getting some of my money back, taking myself out of the consumer rat race and at the same time allowing someone else to enjoy what I've already gotten pleasure from.

I really don't desire any material things right now. I'm all about building up my net worth and boosting my portfolio's returns this year. If you're like me, finding odd jobs and side income is a great way to keep money for investing and saving flowing toward you.

Bank of America Review: Avoiding Fees Easier (Is Bank of America Good?)

I am impressed with Bank of America's recent "clarity" initiative, where they are pouring some marketing dollars into educating their customers about what fees the bank charges, and how to avoid these fees. This definitely improves my ongoing Bank of America review and helps to answer the question of whether Bank of America is a good bank for the average person.

Of course, it would be nice if they just didn't charge you silly fees to begin with, but the clarity initiative is good because it allows SAVVY and MOTIVATED savers to avoid fee landmines, while allowing the bank to continue profiting from dumbasses too lazy to keep a minimum balance or meet the "waiver conditions" to get certain fees waived from your account -- such as making a payroll direct deposit or using your debit card a certain number of times each statement period.

You can view Bank of America's Facts About Fees portal here. 

For saving my money, I still prefer online-only banks like ING Direct. But if you need a daily needs checking account and Bank of America is the dominant bank brand in your area, the bank has a $100 bonus running right now at some branches.

Other large banks with sign up promotions for new checking account customers include SunTrust (up to $150) and Chase ($100 or $125).

American Express Blue Card Review

The American Express Blue credit card generally gets good user reviews.

And for those who sign up now, American Express offers an intro promotional APR of 0% for 6 months (on regular purchases) and no annual fee. Plus you earn 1 American Express Membership Rewards point for every dollar spent using your Blue card.

Your points never expire. I like the card's design as well. A transparent credit card body, and a blue square center that is semi reflective.

Frankly I think the Blue is a bit boring... I would look into American Express' Blue Cash card (which offers cash back) instead or their Clear card ($25 gift card for every $2,500 spent using the card). Also give some of your attention to the American Express JetBlue card, which is the only card with an annual fee ($40 per year) I would ever consider recommending to a friend, since new cardholders get 10,000 TrueBlue bonus points (enough for up to 2 domestic flights on JetBlue, depending on your destination, etc.)

So Blue is a fine choice if you are looking for your first American Express credit card product, but it probably wouldn't be my first pick.

New Savings Account Bonus (ING Update!)

As you know by now, I am a big fan of ING Direct's FDIC-insured "Orange Savings" online savings account product -- and bonus for new customers. There are no bogus fees, and the interest rate is good, in addition to having a very easy to use web site and mobile version.

(As always, if you don't have an account, leave your email address in the comments section below. I will send you an invite, and then delete your comment so that others won't see your email address. When a "friend" refers you to ING Direct's savings account, you receive a $25 bonus -- as long as your initial deposit is $250 or more. Otherwise, you can still open an account with a smaller initial deposit, but you won't get the new savings account bonus.) 

If you refer a friend and they receive the $25 bonus, you get your own $10 bonus from ING Direct deposited into your own account. Free money for referring a friend or colleague to one of the best online banks out there -- so you are getting paid to encourage friends to do something that is actually good for their financial health.

Until the middle of March, however, ING Direct has doubled its referral amount. You'll get $20 ($10 now, $10 on April 7th) deposited into your account for each new customer you refer, up to a total of 50 friends maximum (meaning you can earn up to $1,000 from this offer).

Pretty sweet if you ask me! So refer as many friends as you can before the double bonus offer expires. Keep in mind, of course, that you will have to report this income on your tax return. It is typically characterized as 1099-INT, bank interest.