Archives for April 2016

Nickel: Kid Allowance App + Debit Card + Set Your Own Custom Interest Rate

April 13, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 8 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

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If you’re reading this, you obviously value financial knowledge and creating a secure life for you and your family. If you have kids, then you want them to develop the same skills. The NYT bestseller book The Opposite of Spoiled explored the many modern ways to teach kids about money. One recommendation for allowances is to split it up into three jars: savings, giving, and spending.

For that saving jar, an additional hack would be to pay your kids interest on their savings. For example, you could pay a monthly interest rate of 10%, which is huge in the adult world, but for a kid you need it to be large enough to be “felt” and hopefully teach them the following concepts:

  • Regular, automatic savings. Let’s say you give them $10 a week that is automatically saved. (They don’t manually move money over every week, it just happens like a 401k plan.) Even with no interest, two and half months later, they’ll have a hundred bucks!
  • Passive income. Now you could introduce the concept of paying interest. When they see their $100 pay $10 in interest at the end of the month, perhaps they will start to understand the power of passive income. “I could keep the $100 in there and still get to spend $10 every month forever!”
  • Compound interest. Now show them how they can get interest on their interest. If they start with $100, don’t take any money out, don’t save a penny more, at 10% monthly interest they will still have $314 after 12 months of compounding.
  • Compound interest + regular savings! If they start with $100, don’t take any money out, keep saving another $10 a week, at 10% monthly interest they will have $549 after a 12 months of compounding. This is starting to become serious money!
  • Passive income revisited. A year later, that passive income isn’t $10 a month anymore, it has become $55 a month! This would be a good time to tell you that parents pay the interest, so if you have a little Warren Buffett at home you should set a cap on interest payments upfront. 😉

There are a growing number of “allowance apps” to cater to this market, but Nickel (iOS only, Android “not yet”) is one of the first services that I’ve seen implement this custom interest rate feature. Designed for kids age 8 and up, Nickel offers a reloadable debit card and a smartphone app for you and the kid. The parent can view all transactions and control things like allowance amount, one-time transfers, and interest rates.

Much like adult prepaid cards with 5% APY savings accounts, there are two buckets of money: the “Card” account which is available to spend via Mastercard debit, and “Pocket” account which earns interest. Here’s a 1-minute video explainer and some screenshots of the interest rate feature:

nickelapp2

Finally, apps are cool, but let’s not forget the core values and character traits that lead to good behavior in general.

Filed Under: Banking, Budgeting, Family
Last updated: April 13, 2016
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Under Armour, Nike, and Owning The Haystack

April 12, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 2 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

haystacknikeIf you’re a basketball fan, you may have read this ESPN article about how Under Armour beat out Nike to get an endorsement deal for Stephen Curry. As one of the hottest athletes in the world, this single deal could shift billions of dollars towards Under Armour, especially if the Warriors win 73 games and defend their NBA championship. All for a company that just starting making shoes 10 years ago.

Under Armour (UA) is currently worth about $10 billion (at a very high P/E ratio), just 10% of Nike (NKE) at roughly $100 billion. What will things look like in another 10 or 20 years? Will they maintain their momentum? Athletic apparel is a huge and growing industry, but fashion moves quickly and I am only getting older! Under Armour didn’t even exist when I was begging my parents for Nike Air Jordans in high school.

I see myself as an investor in these companies through the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. I know that as a market-cap weighted fund, the amount of each stock held is directly proportional to the total market value of the company. Right now, I own roughly 10 shares of Nike stock to every 1 share of Under Armour stock. If the current trends continue, I could one day be owning 10 shares of UA stock for every share of NKE. All without having to pay attention to trends, comb through any financial statements, or trade a single share of stock.

In the future, I will own shares of the company selling whatever kinds of clothing and shoes all the kids covet, be it Nike or Under Armour or something being sketched right now in a garage somewhere. (My own athletic wear logos are dependent on what is on sale under $10 at Ross…) I’ve repeated this well-known quote from Vanguard founder Jack Bogle before:

Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Buy the entire haystack.

In the end, I sleep better at night because I know that I will own the haystack. I will own all the winners in relative amounts. In exchange, I will give up the opportunity to earn a very high return from betting on the top winner, I will give up the risk of picking the losers, and I won’t have to pay anyone to pick them for me.

Filed Under: Investing
Last updated: April 12, 2016
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

The New Financial Bundle: Checking + Savings + Credit Card + Brokerage + Retirement Advice

April 11, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 6 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

allytk

Last week, Ally Financial announced that they are acquiring TradeKing. What made this interesting was that they didn’t refer to TradeKing as a discount brokerage firm, but a “digital wealth management company”. This another move from independent start-up (TradeKing merged with Zecco earlier) to big, corporate “bundle”. The traditional communications bundle includes TV, home internet, home phone, cellular phone, and cellular data. The new financial bundle will include:

  • Checking account – Daily cash management, paycheck target, online bill payment, ATM access, debit cards.
  • Savings account – Liquid savings, higher interest rate.
  • Credit card – Easily-accessed credit line.
  • Self-directed brokerage account – DIY investments including individual stocks, options trading.
  • Professional portfolio management – Managed accounts including advice regarding asset allocation, taxes, retirement income, and more. Both lower-cost robo-advisor and higher-touch human advisor platforms.

Here’s my opinionated rundown on some of the bigger firms in this new area. Some of the “pros” aren’t that strong, and some of the “cons” aren’t that bad, but it helps organize my thoughts.

Ally Financial / TradeKing

  • Pros: Competitive interest rates on checking and savings, ATM fee reimbursements, $5 brokerage trades.
  • Cons: No physical branches. No credit cards (yet). Robo-advisor program is still relatively small and new.

Bank of America

  • Pros: Huge physical branch and in-house ATM footprint. Merrill Edge commission-free trades starting at $25k minimum asset balance, $6.95 trades otherwise. Credit card rewards bonus with minimum asset balance.
  • Cons: Low interest rates on banking products. Merrill Lynch advisor network is big and uses traditional fee system, so I’m not a huge fan but others may like it. No robo-advisor program (yet).

Fidelity

  • Pros: Decent cash management account with ATM fee reimbursements, selected commission-free ETFs, somewhat limited but low-cost index fund selection, $7.95 trades otherwise, 2% cash back credit card.
  • Cons: Low interest rates on banking products, human-based Portfolio Advice is relatively expensive and pushes expensive actively-managed funds. Lower-cost robo-advisor is probably coming soon, but yet released.

Schwab

  • Pros: Decent cash management account with ATM fee reimbursements, commission-free Schwab ETF trades with low-cost index options, $8.95 trades otherwise, 1.5% cash back American Express, low-cost robo-advisor via Intelligent Portfolios.
  • Cons: Low interest rates on banking products.

Vanguard

  • Pros: Large selection of low-cost funds and ETFs, commission-free Vanguard ETF trades for all, $7 non-Vanguard ETF/stock trades (or less based on asset level). Portfolio advice includes robo-component plus available human representative.
  • Cons: Limited availability and features on banking accounts. Limited portfolio support for buying non-Vanguard products. No credit cards.

I still believe that the self-directed investor is best off picking individual products a la carte, but it will be interesting to see how things change in the coming years. Each financial mega-institution will likely improve upon their weaknesses, and offer significant perks and discounts for keeping all your money with them.

Filed Under: Banking, Investing
Last updated: April 12, 2016
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

New Rules on Fiduciary Duty for Retirement Account Advice

April 6, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 7 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

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The Department of Labor has released their final rule on reducing conflicts of interest on retirement savings advice. As expected, the new rule now requires any person who provides investment advice on retirement accounts like 401(k) or IRAs to act as fiduciaries and put their client’s best interest first. The goals are to save investor money otherwise directed to hidden fees and commissions, while helping even the playing field for the financial advisors have been acting as fiduciaries all along.

Commentary. Lots of people have most of their retirement savings in 401k plans, which are often eventually rolled over into IRAs. There are entire firms of salespeople who try to capture this money and skim off huge commissions, and now they will have to act as fiduciaries.

While it can be touted as an overall “win” for consumers, there are still plenty of grey areas. The final rule requires firms to be compliant on several broader provisions by April 2017 and fully compliant by Jan. 1, 2018. Existing investments are grandfathered in. Small 401(k) plans are exempt from some of the rules. Firms can still technically sell you things like high fee variable and indexed annuities in IRAs and brokers can continue to recommend proprietary products, there just has to be a believable shred of reason behind it.

I’m going to be honest, I read about 20 articles on this subject and my head hurt with all the little details. This rule could have really blown up large parts of the industry, but you can tell they really tried not to disrupt anything significant. Try reading some for yourself:

Department of Labor Official Page
Department of Labor Press Release Fact Sheet
White House Fact Sheet [PDF]
NY Times 1, NY Times 2
WSJ 1, WSJ 2

In other words, the nastiest stuff with the highest hidden fees and commissions will probably go away. So it’s a win around the edges. For the savvy DIY investor or the person with their money with a trustworthy registered investment advisor (RIA) that was already a fiduciary, the effect will likely be small if anything.

Hopefully, if you decide to have someone help you manage your investments, they are already a fiduciary, have been for a while, and don’t need someone to tell them to act in your best interest.

Filed Under: Investing, Retirement
Last updated: August 9, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Bill Fixers: Let Someone Else Haggle Your Cable and Phone Bills For You

April 5, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 19 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

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Successful haggle update, April 2016. Shortly after the NY Times profile of Bill Fixers came out, I submitted a request for them to help me lower my Time Warner cable bill. I had haggled with Time Warner in the recent past, but was currently back on regular pricing, so I figured I’d give them a shot. It took them about two months to get around to my request due to the flood of interest they got after the NYT article, but here were my real-world results:

  • $263.52 reduction of bills over the next 12 months, verified.
  • They gave me a 20% discount on their fee (half of first year savings) due to the delay, so I owed them $105.41.
  • One of the discounts they haggled for me ran for 24 months, which added up to another $83.26 in savings on which I owed no fee since they only charge for the first 12 months.
  • My total net savings: $241.37

The only work I did was to scan and upload a copy of my cable bill, and provide a personal security question and answer (not sure if it was right, or if they had to use it). I understand that some people may not feel comfortable with this, but I did not have to supply my bank account number, credit card information, Social Security number, or birthdate for this situation.

Original post:

I’ve written about haggling your cable or satellite TV bill for years, with hundreds of comments sharing both success and failures. I’ve certainly negotiated with a healthy share of customer service reps myself. But I don’t like doing it. I do it because unlike say the electrical company, who tells me “you pay based on how much power you use”, the cable company tells me “if you bother us, we’ll give you a discount, but if you are nice and quiet, you’ll pay double”. Big Data is tracking whether you compare prices or not, so it is in my best interest to announce that YES I COMPARE PRICES!

But what if you could just pay someone else to haggle for you? Deal with the long hold times, the “accidental” hang-ups, and the multiple transfers between supervisors? Enter brothers Julian and Ben Kurland of BillFixers.com, who will do just that. I came across them in this Businessweek article:

Despite all the various life-hacking sites that will teach you how to reduce your cable bill, a recent Consumer Reports survey found that fewer than half of people who attempted to do so were effective. Services such as BillCutterz have been offering some relief, but the Kurlands say their success rate—94 percent—is higher. It usually works out because they’re annoyingly persistent. Calls can last several hours as the brothers are passed among operators, managers, and various departments. The Kurlands often call companies multiple times, looking for different representatives who will cut a deal. “You’ll talk to three people who won’t offer anything, and the fourth one will magically have a discount that no one mentioned,” Ben says.

Which companies will they negotiate with? According to their website, they’ll take a shot at any recurring monthly bill you have. They don’t do things like credit cards and medical bills.

  • Television (Cable, Satellite, IP TV)
  • Internet (Cable, DSL, Other)
  • Landline
  • Cellular (AT&T cellular bills are one of the “easiest”. T-Mobile is one of the hardest.)
  • Satellite Radio

How much does BillFixers cost? They work on a contingency basis. If they don’t save you money, you pay nothing. If they do, they charge you 50% of the first year’s savings. You can pay via lump sum or in monthly payments (which in theory would match up with your monthly savings). Some stats from USA Today:

– Of the 650 clients, 94% receive savings
– The average reduction in bills is greater than $300 per customer
– About $155,000 has been saved for customers since 2014

I don’t doubt that someone with the right skills and motivation can be a good hired negotiator. I suppose the only concern would be giving out personal information like Social Security Number. However, if you give them the right information like account numbers, they shouldn’t need that kind of sensitive information.

If you’ve been thinking about haggling but have been putting it off due to either dislike or procrastination, why not give them a shot?

I’m going to add BillFixers to the growing list of services that will help find you money for free (but if they find it, they may take a cut).

  • CoPatient: Negotiate your medical bills. They take a cut of any successful savings.
  • AutoSlash: Helps you track price drops on rental cards. They make money when you rebook at a lower price with them.
  • Paribus: Helps you automatically request price adjustments on all your online retail purchases. They take a cut of the price drop savings.
  • AirHelp, Refund.Me, AirTaxBack: Get fees refunded for certain cancelled or missed flights to/from Europe. They take a cut of the refund.
Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living
Last updated: April 5, 2016
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

WreckCheck App – Auto Accident Checklist

April 4, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 6 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

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While doing the research for my auto premium comparison post, I noticed that several of the state websites promoted an app called WreckCheck. Created by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), this free mobile app for iPhone and Android is one of those things you should download onto your phone now to hide away in some folder and hopefully never use.

More than simply a checklist, the app will guide you through the steps you should take following an accident. Ideally, it will keep you calm and collected in a time of stress. The app tells you what to do, and also what not to do. As a backup, you can also print out the checklist in PDF form.

Things you should do:

  • Keep your vehicle information handy ahead of time (glovebox or in-app) including VIN, license plate number, insurance company, agent name, and policy number.
  • Document the time and location of accident (uses your GPS).
  • Take pictures of the accident, including damage to all vehicles involved (uses your camera).
  • Document what happened, including vehicles and people involved (uses your audio recorder).
  • Call the police (tap to call 911). If they are not dispatched, file an incident report.
  • Share only your insurance card information, including name and insurance phone number. You are not even required to share your personal phone number.

Things you should NOT do:

  • Share your home address or drivers license number.
  • Allow someone to take or photocopy your ID.
  • Admit fault.

The app can email a completed accident report directly to you and/or your insurance agent. Finally, the app provides tips on how to file and follow up on a claim. Here are some app screenshots and a explanatory video:

wreckapp1

Filed Under: Insurance
Last updated: April 4, 2016
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Big List of Auto Insurance Premium Comparisons for All 50 States

April 4, 2016 By Jonathan Ping 11 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

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The standard advice for saving money on auto insurance is to shop and compare prices. You could use a comparison website, but they may not include every insurance carrier listed in your state. A lesser-known fact is that auto insurance is regulated on the state level, where each company must submit their rates for approval. Many states in turn share this information with consumers. Some states also provide complaint data, so you can also view which insurers have the most complaints relative to their market share. Here is an example report for the state of California:

autoins_cal

For the hypothetical scenario above, the difference between the cheapest option (Wawanesa) and the 17th cheapest option (AllState) is over $1,100 a year.

Using this information, a consumer can more efficiently choose to get quotes from the insurance companies which will likely offer them the lowest rates. Individual companies often choose to focus on certain areas of the market – drivers with clean records, drivers with tickets/accidents, teen drivers, and so on. Credit scores are another newer area of focus. Try to find the comparison example that fits your situation the closest.

These premium comparison reports can often be hard to locate, so I manually searched for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and shared my results below. (I used the same template as my free state income tax e-filing post.) Some states share very specific data down to zip code, some share only a few broad example rates, and others share essentially nothing. In alphabetical order (just click on the state):

State Notes
Alabama Click on “Compare Premiums” for the scenario that best fits your own.
Alaska Personal Auto Insurance Premiums Comparison Guide > Premiums Comparison Guide.pdf
Arizona 2015 WEB_AutoPremiumComparison_Publication.pdf
Arkansas Insurance Cost Comparison > Private Passenger Auto
California 2016 Automobile Insurance
Colorado Private Passenger Automobile Premium Comparison Report.
Connecticut None found.
Delaware Automobile Insurance Rate Comparison
Florida Auto Rate Comparison Tool
Georgia Automobile Insurance Rate Comparisons
Hawaii Motor Vehicle Insurance Premium Comparison
Idaho None found.
Illinois No premium info, but some guidance provided including complaint ratios.
Indiana None found.
Iowa Auto Insurance Pricing Guides
Kansas Auto Insurance Shopper’s Guide.
Kentucky Auto and Home Insurance Guide with Disaster Guide and Premium Comparison. [PDF available]
Louisiana Automobile Rate Comparison Guide.
Maine Auto Insurance, Comparison of top 10 policies.
Maryland Auto Insurance – A Comparison Guide to Rates.
Massachusetts Auto Insurance Premium Comparisons.
Michigan Comprehensive Guide to Auto Insurance.
Minnesota None found.
Mississippi Personal Auto Rate Comparison.
Missouri Auto Policies – See policies of insurance companies ranked by market share.
Montana Auto Insurance Price Comparison (pdf).
Nebraska Auto Rate Guide (direct link to PDF).
Nevada Consumer’s Guide to Auto Insurance Rates.
New Hampshire New Hampshire Auto Cost Premium Rate Comparison.
New Jersey Auto Insurance Premium Comparison.
New Mexico None found.
New York No premium comparison, but there are complaint rankings and discount list (pdf).
North Carolina No premium comparison, but there is a Consumer Guide to Automobile Insurance and complaint ratio list for insurers.
North Dakota Cost Comparison Survey
Ohio Shopper’s Guide to Auto Insurance, with example premiums and complaint data.
Oklahoma Rate Comparison Chart.
Oregon No premium comparison found, but the Oregon Consumer Guide to Auto Insurance has helpful info
Pennsylvania A rate comparison guide for Automobile Insurance in Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island Could not find rate comparison, but see Consumers Guide to Auto Insurance for helpful info.
South Carolina Quick Links – Automobile Price Comparison Guide.
South Dakota None found.
Tennessee Limited market share and other info at Personal Auto Policies Rate Changes.
Texas Automobile Insurance Price Comparison
Utah Auto & Homeowner Annual Comparison Tables with Complaint & Loss Ratio Info.
Vermont No premium information found, limited info in Consumer’s Guide To Auto Insurance.
Virginia Auto Insurance Sample Premium Table.
Washington None found.
Washington DC None found.
West Virginia 2011 Annual Survey (see bottom right).
Wisconsin No premium information found, limited info in Consumer’s Guide To Auto Insurance.
Wyoming No premium information found, limited info in Wyoming Personal Automobile Insurance Guide (last updated in 2000, ack!)

 

I have tried my best to locate the information for each state, but it is quite possible I’ve overlooked something or the websites have since changed. Please let me know if you find any errors or broken links.

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Insurance
Last updated: August 9, 2018
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

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