Archive for December, 2005
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
I really only glance at my stock portfolio about once every other day, mostly to check that nothing has imploded. My desire to be a knowledgeable stock investor fizzled after reading books about index funds and how people much smarter than me can’t beat the market. But I still have my “play money” stock portfolio, which I started with $5,000 back in 2001. It’s now at about $5,690 (publicly tracked here), and I’m still beating the S&P 500 since its inception. Just call me a slightly lucky monkey throwing darts.
I noticed today that Scholr Pharmaceuticals (DDD), a stock I bought after minimal initial research, was finally above my buy price of $4.80 due to some buzz about a potential buyout. Since buying the stock, I did a bit more reading and am really not impressed with the company after all, so I took this opportunity and sold my 100 shares at $5.25.
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Posted in Investing | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
I got my $25 HSBC Direct sign-up bonus for opening my account yesterday, 16 days after my initial online application, and 5 days after getting full online access – well within the 45 days they promised.
Say it loud, say it proud: I love free money!
Posted in Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005
So you’ve gotten yourself a nice credit card or two, and have already started or are thinking about playing the 0% APR balance transfer game. Now, there are two simple but very important things that you need to remember to do: pay the minimum balance every month on time, and pay off the entire balance when the 0% APR period is over on time. Here’s one tip/tool for each:
Pay the minimum each month automatically with Online Bill Pay – I love Online Bill Pay, I don’t know how I lived without it. Say I have a $20,000 balance at 0%. When you get the first statement, you’ll see the minimum payment is usually something like 2% of the balance, for example $400. As long as they don’t change this, then every single payment after that will be less than $400 as your remaining balance decreases. So, just set your Online Bill Payment to automatically pay that account $400 every month, and you’re set!
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Posted in Credit Cards | 27 Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005
Let me preface this by saying that I am not anywhere near an expert on taxes. I haven’t even itemized deductions before, since I don’t have any mortgage interest to get me over that standard deduction hump. Thus, I’m just writing what I think I’m reading, and tax gurus can correct me.
I’m trying to learn more about self-employment tax. Since you’re not splitting your Social Security Tax with your employer (you’re the employer), you get to pay 15.3% tax on your income. This is in addition to your federal, state, and local income tax. You do get to deduct half of your 15.3% tax from your net earnings, since “regularly” employed people don’t pay tax on the part paid by their employer either. Still, let’s see how much out of every gross $100 I make ends up in my pocket. This simplification assumes no business expenses.
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Posted in Taxes | 17 Comments »
Monday, December 19th, 2005
I was catching up with an old friend (being the holidays and all) who owns a small business, and he mentioned that he needed some website help. Nothing big, just registering a domain or two and putting up some basic websites. I told him I was looking for some extra work, and he told me he’d send me a list of what he needed. I got it, made sure I knew how to do those things, wrote up a proposal for the project. He accepted. I had a hard time figuring out how much to charge and estimating how much time I’d need to spend on it. (How do you figure out how much to charge?) I probably lowballed myself, but we’ll see. At least now I’ll have a reference and some portfolio stuff for later. Not to mention a few hundred more bucks =) Not looking forward to paying self-employment tax though.
Posted in Entrepreneurial | 11 Comments »
Sunday, December 18th, 2005
So off I go to the Ameriprise financial consultation, armed with my knowledge from their website and many interesting comments from readers. I tell myself not to be a jerk, and to listen to what the guy has to say with an open mind. Their office is a vanilla office building, and I get guided into a small conference room with a dry-erase board and meet my advisor. Let’s call him Rick. Rick seems like a nice guy, wearing a suit and a big smile.
We sit, and he asks about what I am looking for from financial planning. I tell him honestly that I am handling all my finances myself right now, and am considering professional help if I believe it to be worth it. He tells me that’s what he hears all the time, and would like to talk with me about my finances and my goals. He’s sad to hear that my wife could not join us. (I didn’t want her to come, and she had zero interest anyways.)
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Posted in Retirement | 20 Comments »
Sunday, December 18th, 2005
This just in from the Time = Money department. Paul English has collated and created a Phone Tree Cheat Sheet, designed to help you reach that elusive Customer Service Representative (CSR) that can answer one of the many questions that spring up when going for offers from banks, credit card issuers, and other financial companies. It’s easy to send him updates too. Thanks to reader Jonathan for the tip.
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Saturday, December 17th, 2005
Well, I’ve finally gotten full access to my HSBC Direct savings account. The process was a lot longer than I would’ve liked:
Day 1 – I applied online where they asked the usual prying questions and did one of those Experian/Equifax identity checks based on information on your credit report. I hate those, as the questions are always very weird, but I passed. I filled out the signature card online, and opted to fund my account online as well. Nothing to mail in, very nice. They then send two trial deposits to the account that you want to fund from.
Day 3 – In about two business days, the numbers show up in your account, and you have to go back and type in your deposit amounts. After verifying the amounts, HSBC will then suck the amount you want to deposit out of your designated account. I recommend starting out with a small deposit, you’ll see why next.
Days 9-11 – You then have to wait for two separate letters via snail mail. I suppose this increases security, but since I’m on the West Coast and the letters came from New York, they take forever. I got the first letter on Day 9, and it contains your Customer ID login, and is 20 digits long! I got the 2nd letter on Day 11, and it contains your password, another 8-digit beast.
Finally, now you can log into your account and see your money that disappeared from your checking account a week ago. Then, to initiate transfers in between external accounts, you have first make a Security Key, which can only be typed in via your mouse. After that, they want your ATM card number and PIN info. If you don’t have that just click on “Forgot PIN” and call the number they provide.
Finally, you can add external accounts. For most banks, including Emigrant Direct, Washington Mutual, Presidential, Bank of America, and so on, you just need your routing number and account number of your bank (no checks). One exception is ING, as it doesn’t play well with CashEdge-based transfer systems, which is what HSBC uses. You even get some free spare change from verifying all your accounts through the trial deposit method =)
Day 12 – Two more letters. ATM Card in one, and my HSBC account number and routing number (022000020) in the other. Do they have a vested interest in supporting the U.S. Postal Service or what? Check out Cap’s Review of this process too.
Conclusion
In the end, opening an HSBC Direct savings account to about 12 days, so be forewarned. Their customer service has been pretty good so far, with short hold times except for on weekends. The interbank transfer times are a bit slow, but it balances out with the added flexibility of being able to link almost any bank out there without having to send in checks.
Here is some possibly useful information if you need to contact them from my application form:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A.
Attn: Customer Relationship Center
P.O. Box 4045
Buffalo, NY 14240
Phone: 1-888-404-4050
Update: Currently HSBC Direct is offering 3.25% APY.
Posted in Banking | 73 Comments »
Saturday, December 17th, 2005
Ok, now that I’ve listed my previous college jobs, now to list some ideas for current college jobs. Suggestions are welcome. The key difference here is I’m not just looking to eat and score beer money. I want to “move forward”, and get skills that will help me achieve what I want in the future. These include computer skills, networking, and business knowledge. At the same time, it has to have flexible hours. Here are my Saturday-morning brainstorms:
1) Start more blogs/websites – Websites seem to be the new virtual real estate. However, I have been really bad at updating my only other blog, MyHealthBlog. I might try this later, but I don’t feel it really helps me learn that much more unless it is already in an area I like.
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Posted in Entrepreneurial | 8 Comments »
Friday, December 16th, 2005
Now that my classes are over for this term, I want to spend some time thinking about how to make some side money while going to school full-time. This got me thinking about jobs that I’ve done before when I was studying for undergraduate. There has been a good variety. Let’s see what we got, from lowest paying to highest:
Drive-Through Cashier, $6/hour – A mom and pop fast-food type restuarant. Took orders for drive-through, made drinks, cashier stuff.
University Security Escort, ~$7/hour – Walked people home at night from the library to their dormitory or off-campus housing. It was nice, you get to work at night and meet a lot of new people. I actually met my wife this way!
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Posted in General | 14 Comments »
Friday, December 16th, 2005
Another good question spurned by fellow rate-chasers’ comments. We now have a lot of competition in the high yield savings account arena. So, a good question asked is “When it worth it to move your money”? This is because there may be a gap in between money transfers from Bank A to Bank B where your money will not be earning any interest, which could negate much of the benefits of moving. (Another good question is which bank or entity is earning money off the float.) Things to consider:
1) When does Bank A stop paying interest?
2) How long does it take to for the transfer?
3) When does Bank B start paying interest on your deposit?
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Posted in Banking | 12 Comments »
