Updated: Hyatt Credit Card – Two Free Hotel Nights at any Hyatt Hotel, $75 Annual Fee

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The Hyatt Credit Card by Chase with two free hotel nights anywhere promotion offers you one Free Night Award after your first purchase, and an additional Free Night Award after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. The free nights are valid for a standard room at any Hyatt hotel worldwide, with no blackout dates, within one year of issuance. Award nights have no resort fees, no internet fees, and no redemption fees.

You get Hyatt Platinum member status with the credit card, but if you are already Platinum, the two free nights come with two suite upgrades. I’m happy this card is back because I don’t have it yet, and I was afraid they would dilute the bonus a lot more. My sister signed up for the card and already used it for a two-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando (Cat 5, $250 a night). I think I can do better. I just need to see if I can travel somewhere I can take advantage of this within the next year. There are also no foreign transaction fees for international purchases.

There is a $75 annual fee that is not waived, so keep that in mind… Now for the fun part. By cross-referencing Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Hotels and Travel+Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels with their highest level Category 5 & 6 listings, I found these spots with sample rates from from $500-$900 a night. These also tend to be in prime locations for sightseeing.

• Park Hyatt Paris – $900 per night, TripAdvisor
• Park Hyatt Tokyo – $600 a night, TripAdvisor
• Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
• Hyatt Regency Maui
• Hyatt Regency London
• Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
• Grand Hyatt New York
• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

Also new: Upon renewing the card (for another $75) you will get another reward night at designated as Category 1 through 4. There are some nice Category 4 options for the renewal as well. These hotels definitely normally charge more than $75 a night, but only worth it if you would get the value out of it. Some of them charge up to $300 a night and are the poshest hotels in the area, like the Park Hyatt Saigon.

• Hyatt Regency Boston
• Hyatt Regency Chicago
• Hyatt Regency Orlando
• Hyatt Regency San Francisco
• Hyatt Regency Washington DC
• Park Hyatt Melbourne
• Grand Hyatt Beijing
• Grand Hyatt Shanghai
• Grand Hyatt Bangkok
• Park Hyatt Saigon

Ease of Award Redemption?
My sister was able to book her hotel with no issues, and most other experiences I have read about are positive. However, there was an issue with the Maui Hyatt which can be summarized from this InsideFlyer interview with a Hyatt representative:

Garrido (Inside Flyer):In a recent Flyertalk discussion, members said that some hotels (e.g. Hyatt Maui) are setting aside standard room inventory as part of package deals, thereby making rooms unavailable for free nights in a stealthy move around no blackout dates. Any comment?

Zidell (Hyatt): When we relaunched the Hyatt Gold Passport program last year, we removed all blackout dates and/or capacity controls on award inventory for standard rooms. As long as the hotel is selling standard rooms then these rooms are available for award redemption. Occasionally, award inventory will not be available because all standard rooms are sold or the hotel is only selling packages, which cannot currently be booked with Hyatt Gold Passport points. Overall, we have received very positive feedback regarding the availability of our award inventory.

I’ve haven’t heard of any other specific hotels doing this, but there are sometimes glitches with their online booking. I would use the phone to book your award nights, and if you have any problems, use the power of social media. Hyatt has Gold Passport “Concierges” all around the internet, and you can contact them easily via @hyattconcierge on Twitter. They seem very vigilant and have done a good job of solving any issues that do come up.

Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »

Free Southwest Airlines Points For Email Sign-Up, Watching Video

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Southwest Airlines is offering 500 Rapid Rewards points if you sign up for their e-mail subscriptions for a monthly statement and deals newsletters. Relatively easy, and if you’re already signed up, try unsubscribing for a day or two and then signing up again at the link.

If you have a Southwest Airlines-affiliated credit card, you can get another 1,000 points by visiting this page and watching a 2-minute video. You’ll need to enter your RR number and the last 4 digits of your credit card at the end. Thanks for reader Brian for the tip. (Update: May be targeted to specific cardholders.)

Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9 Comments »

Pay Your Mortgage, Insurance, and Utility Bills With Credit Cards – Western Union Speedpay

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

I was paying some bills online and noticed that my electricity bill had a new option for paying via a credit card through something called Western Union Speedpay. I’m not sure if this is universal, but for my utility company it accepted MasterCard, Visa, or Discover with a $4.95 convenience fee per payment for residential accounts. The maximum payment allowed is $1,000 per month.

I decided to charge the full $1,000, because that makes the fee only 0.5%. Even if I pay with a card that gets 1% back, I’d end up ahead over my usual online banking billpay. Of course, you can do better than that with one of these best rewards credit cards. Actually, I put it instead on my wife’s Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to quickly reach the $3,000 spending required in order to qualify for the 50,000 point bonus ($500 value!). I don’t mind paying extra because I never have any problems with my electricity bill, and future bills will just reduce the credit over time.

Anyway, the take-away here is to check if your existing bills have such a similar option. I remember checking before and the only option charged some sort of onerous 5% fee. There are mortgage companies, insurance companies, and more listed on the Speedpay site. For some reason, my company is not listed online (so I suspect many other aren’t either), and I had to call into a telephone bot to pay my bill.

Posted in Credit Cards, Frugal Living | 22 Comments »

Why Emergency Funds Can Provide The Best Return On Investment

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Many recent articles and surveys have illustrated how many American are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck, with no significant savings cushion:

• Most Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency expense – “A majority, or 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.”
• Many don’t have $2,000 for a rainy day – “A new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows 50% of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 in a pinch.”
• CareerBuilder.com Survey – “Forty-two percent of workers in the survey of more than 5,200 workers say they usually or always live paycheck to paycheck”

Along the same lines, a reader introduced me to an interactive poverty “game” called Spent, in which you try to make it through one month as an unemployed worker looking for a job and housing with their last $1,000. Try it out, and you’ll have to make some touch choices.

In just one month, I managed to get sick, need dental work, receive an undeserved traffic ticket, my best friend gets married and I can’t go, my mom needs money for medicine, my landlord raises the rent illegally, and my child refuses to eat the government-subsidized lunch. Seems a bit unlikely, yes. But a combination of a streak of bad luck and lack of support is exactly how you might end up in such a scenario.

In addition to the societal issues this brings up, from an individual point-of-view, I found that this simulator shows how living close to the edge is often significantly more expensive than someone with a cash cushion. Being poor can cost more than being rich. Consider the following:

• If you don’t have enough money for a security deposit, you’ll have a hard time renting an affordable apartment. Many renters are thus forced into long-term motels that actually charge more on a monthly basis.
• If you can’t afford a car repair, you can’t make it to work and face the prospect of losing your job.
• If you don’t pay for preventative medicine, you can end up needing more expensive treatment later.
• If you have a low balance on your bank account and overdraft by just $10, you’ll get hit with a $35 overdraft charge.
• If you just don’t pay the bill, you’ll get a late fee charge.
• If you don’t pay the bill for consecutive months, you’ll get your gas/electricity service shut off and be subject to an additional $250 deposit to get it back on.
• If you charge any of this on a credit card and don’t pay off the balance each month, you’ll owe 15-25% interest. That’s if you have the credit history to get a credit card. If you go with a payday loan instead, you’ll owe more than 100% annualized interest.

For this reason, one of the first financial steps a person should take is to save up a cash cushion. That emergency fund can easily save you more money than a 20% increase in the stock market. I would tell my own child to forget saving for retirement until you have a least a couple months of expenses saved up. Luxuries like smartphones, alcohol, cable TV, and dining out should be off-limits until then as well.

One should expect “unexpected” expenses. Even though I have a relatively high income, I place great value on my emergency fund.

Posted in Frugal Living, Investing | 19 Comments »

Build A Complete Stock Portfolio With Just Two ETFs: Vanguard Total US (VTI) and Total International (VXUS)

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

If you are constructing your own portfolio and like the idea of low-cost, passively-managed index funds, you should definitely be aware that just two ETFs that can provide you diversified exposure to stocks worldwide and all at rock-bottom fees. Given how many choices there are out there today, I can’t assume that everyone knows about these already.

The Vanguard Total US Stock index fund invests in over 3,000 stocks that represent the entire U.S. stock market, from small-cap to large-cap companies. The smallest company on their holding list is 100 shares of Qualstar Corp, worth a mere $200. The entire company is worth about $20 million. Compare that to the largest holding of Apple, worth $380 billion (that’s 19,000 times larger). The ETF and Admiral shares have a mere 0.07% expense ratio ($7 annually per $10,000 invested), which is taken out in tiny amounts daily out of the fund’s net asset value. That’s just 6% of what the average mutual fund charges. There are three versions:

• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VTSMX)
• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX)

The Vanguard Total International Stock index fund invests in over 6,000 stocks that covers 98% of the world’s investable markets excluding the US (“ex-US”). This includes 44 countries from the “European, Pacific, and emerging market regions, as well as Canada.” The fund also includes both small-cap and large-cap companies from these countries. The ETF and Admiral shares charge a 0.20% expense ratio. Three versions as well:

• Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS)
• Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Investor Shares (VGTSX)
• Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX)

This graphic shows you how these two funds relate to other Vanguard ETFs you may already be aware of:

(I should also mention that there is the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT), which covers the entire world in one tidy fund. However, it only holds 2,904 stocks total, which is nearly 2/3rds less than a VTI/VXUS combo. On top of that, it charges a 0.25% expense ratio, which is nearly double how much a VTI/VXUS combo would cost when weighted appropriately. I personally think the added diversification and lower cost is worth the hassle of owning two separate funds.)

Implementation

As of August 31, 2011, the world market value breaks down to about 42% US and 58% Ex-US. For simplicity, I chose to own VTI and VXUS in a simple 50/50 ratio as part of my target asset allocation. I rebalance back to 50/50 regularly using new cashflows, and also at least once annually. Bonds are a separate discussion.

Side note: The reason I thought of writing this is that I previously held Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU) as my primary international holding, which as you can see above is a subset of VXUS, but realize that VXUS only arrived earlier this year. I’ve shifted most things over already, but I have been hesitant to sell some of my taxable holdings because I’d owe capital gains taxes. I noticed yesterday that I am actually at slight loss now (yay?), so I am able to do some tax-loss harvesting by selling my VEU and swapping it for VXUS. Since they are not “substantially identical” funds, I am not subject to wash sale rules.

Posted in Investing, Retirement | 17 Comments »

15-Year Mortgage Refinance Experience and Thoughts 2011

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Over the weekend, we signed the closing documents for our refinancing into a 15-year fixed rate loan. It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago we bought our first house with a 30-year loan at around 6%. Thanks to additional principal prepayments and lower interest rates, our new monthly payment is actually lower than the payment from our original loan. Our lender sounded swamped with loan applications, and we basically closed on the 45th day of our 45-day interest rate lock. Here are some thoughts about the process.

Mortgage Rates Still Dropping
Here’s a chart of the historical mortgage rates, courtesy of HSH.com. It includes the 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed, and the 5/1 30-year adjustable. I’ve stopped trying to predict future rates, and just try to take advantage of what happens. National averages since 2010:

Since 1986:

Appraisal
It may be hard to believe, but the new appraisal for our house actually came in at 6% above our purchase price in late 2007. We have made several improvements to the house, including adding a small amount of square footage. But the main reason is simply that the prices in our neighborhood have held up well during the national price declines. Real estate is definitely local. As a percentage of our original purchase price, we have 35% equity.

Closing Documents
The new final HUD-1 settlement forms seemed to be clearer than what I remember last time. Charges are broken down more clearly, and the form compares side-by-side what was presented on the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and what you were finally charged at closing. You can view a copy of the form at HUD.gov.

Mortgage Offset Account
Some people prefer 30-year mortgages because borrowing at low rates for a long period can act as a hedge against higher inflation. I personally would rather minimize my interest costs now and worry about higher rates if and when they come along. When the day arrives where I can invest in safe bonds or bank CDs that pay higher rates than my mortgage rate, then I plan on creating a mortgage offset account where I buy those CDs instead of paying down my mortgage. But either way, I’m still not satisfied with a 15-year payoff, our goal is to pay it off in 5-10 years.

Compare rate quotes from and Quicken Loans.

Posted in Real Estate | 30 Comments »

Vanguard Allows Same-Day Trades With Bank Transfer Funding

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

If you have an account with Vanguard, you may have noticed them rolling out improvements to their online interface this month. If not, try logging in and see if you notice anything different. Today, I received an e-mail that they are also improving their funds availability rules when buying mutual funds with online bank transfers:

Same-day trades with electronic bank transfers
Now you can get today’s trade date if you use our electronic bank transfer service to buy a Vanguard mutual fund. Just submit your request on business days before the close of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time) and you’ll receive that day’s closing price.

Finally! I placed at trade and it appears to have worked. The previous rule was that if the purchase was before 10pm Eastern of Day 1, then you will get the purchase price as of closing on Day 2. So even if I wake up at 6 am in the morning on Thursday and place a trade, I would get the price as of market close at 4pm Eastern Friday. Your bank account is debited on Day 3.

Others have reported receiving this notice weeks ago, and while I’m happy to see it in my account, I also think it was long overdue. You can already get the same-day closing price if you exchange from another mutual fund already in the account, like a money market fund. So basically what they were saying is that they don’t trust that your bank funds would clear. However, it takes 3 business days (T+3) for things to clear anyway, so it’s not like you could run off with the money. I have been able to initiate a money transfer into my Scottrade account and start buying stocks seconds later for years. This way, I don’t have to keep money sitting around in a money market fund earning zero interest.

You could argue that if I’m not timing the market then I shouldn’t really care when the trade clears. But the way I see it, I am rebalancing my account and buying what has been dropping. I would be highly annoyed if the stock market bounced up 5% the next day, meaning I shouldn’t have rebalanced at all.

Posted in Investing | 11 Comments »

CreditSesame: Would You Like Me More If I Showed You My Credit Score?

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

CreditSesame just launched a “credit badge” that is intended for random folks on the internet to show how big their… I mean how high their credit score is. Instead of wearing Armani or driving a Porsche, I can show off my CreditSesame badge. It’s supposed to help me find a job, find a mate, and find an apartment to rent. Really? I thought I was the only one who thought paying bills on time was hot.

Why should I share my badge?
The Credit Sesame Credit Badge™ program is designed to give you a competitive edge in life and helps you to develop your personal brand by promoting your financial responsibility and showcasing your good or excellent credit. You’ve worked hard to maintain your good or excellent credit and your shared badge allows you to stand out from the crowd as a creditworthy and financially responsible individual.

The Good badge requires a 640+ credit score. An Excellent badge requires 740+. The Guru badge requires 740+ and you must “maintain an optimized level of debt so that Credit Sesame cannot find you more ways to save.” Basically you have to sign up for one of their offers. Well, I decline since it also requires you to reveal your last name, first initial, and city of residence. However, I’ll take the free monthly score updates.

All jokes aside, consider this a reminder that you can get a free FAKO credit score estimates from each of the three major credit bureaus. There is CreditSesame for Experian, CreditKarma for TransUnion, and Equifax Score Card for Equifax. All free, but obviously you do have to provide your Social Security Number.

This is all in addition to the government-mandated free credit report available from AnnualCreditReport.com. As of July 2011, lenders are required to provide a free credit score to anyone who is denied or given worse terms because of their credit. I see no reason to pay $100+ a year for credit monitoring or other credit score products.

Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 11 Comments »

Improved: Starwood American Express 25k Bonus, Great Travel Reward Options

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card has upped their sign-up promotion to 10,000 bonus Starpoints with your first purchase and another 15,000 points when you spend $5,000 within 6 months. The required spending used to be $15,000, which was much less easy to reach. This means after spending $5,000 that earns 1 Starpoint per dollar, with the bonuses you’d get a total of 10,000 + 15,000 + 5,000 = 30,000 Starpoints. Introductory annual fee of $0 the first year, then $65 a year after that.

Starwood is a collection of mid scale to very-upscale hotels, and these points tend to be most valuable if you can use them for free hotel stays. Starwood is unique in that there are no blackout dates, so if there is a room, you can have it for points. I’ve used them in a pinch, for example 3,000 points for a $120 a night room at the Vancouver Airport Four Points (Category 2). Along these lines, you could grab 10 free hotel nights at Category 1 hotels or Category 2 hotels on weekends (Fri/Sat night).

I’ve also planned ahead and used 10,000 points for a $450/night room at the majestic Westin Madrid in Spain (now Category 5). If you redeem for 4 nights in a row in a Category 3 or higher hotel, the 5th night is free. There are also several “cash and points” opportunities, for example you can get a $400 room at the Westin Rome in Italy or W Hotel New York Times Square for 8,000 points + $150 a night. Run the numbers, and no matter what hotel you pick, the value of 30,000 points can be easily greater than $500.

Starpoints are also convertible to frequent flier miles at various airlines on a 1:1 basis, which is handy to top off a single account to reach an award. Also, if you convert 20k at a time, 20,000 Starpoints = 25,000 miles. I’ve had this card for years now and actually paid the annual fee. This is because instead of an airline-specific card that earns 1 mile per dollar spent, I can use this and get 1.25 miles per dollar spent and have much more flexibility. (I do admit that the addition of “free checked bags” on some cards (ex. United, Delta) has changed the balance a bit.) Finally, as a baseline 9,500 Starpoints = $100 gift card at Amazon.com. For you freelancers, also check out the small business card version.

Compare with the other $500+ Bonus credit card promotions currently available.

Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 16 Comments »

Free 9/20 Only: Incorporation & LLC Formation Service From MyCorporation

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

If you’ve been considering making your side venture a formal separate entity, MyCorporation is offering their LLC formation and incorporation filing services for free for one day only 9/20/11 until 11:59 PST with the coupon code MYFREE (regular price $99). Also included is a copy of Quickbooks Simple Start (though I think this is always free…) and a free domain name registration. You must still pay shipping and the applicable filing fees charged by each state. I’m sure they’ll also try to upsell you some additional services, but you can decline them.

MyCorporation is owned by Intuit, makers of TurboTax and Quicken. Accordingly, you can view such online incorporation services as similar to TurboTax for taxes. Yes, you could fill out your 1040 tax forms all by yourself, but it’s much easier to go through a question-and-answer software that walks you through it and explains the steps. You could also incorporate yourself as well, may prefer some guidance. However, if you’re doing something complex or out of the ordinary, then you should hire a professional to handle it (accountant for taxes, lawyer for incorporation).

When I formed my S-Corporation years ago, I used one of their primary competitors LegalZoom and paid about $150 for the service – not including the state filing fees and shipping. It was good to have someone look over the forms before submitting, while avoiding the $1,000+ fees from a lawyer.

The decision between staying a sole proprietor/partnership or forming an LLC/corporation is not always simple. If you’d like to dig into the details on your own, I recommend the book LLC or Corporation? How to Choose the Right Form for Your Business from Nolo Press. I chose to go the S-Corp route primarily for the income tax savings. You can even have a LLC and chose to have it taxed as an S-Corp, as if things weren’t confusing enough!

Posted in Deals & Offers, Entrepreneurial | 4 Comments »