Archives for November 2023

PenFed Credit Union Premium Online Savings: Up to $750 Deposit Bonus (New & Existing)

Posted on November 29, 2023 // 24 Comments

Update 11/30/23: At some point after publishing this post, PenFed changed the terms of this offer. It used to say:

Can I share/forward this offer to a friend or family member?
Yes, this offer is open to everyone. Maximum bonus received is $750 per member.

But, now it says:

This exclusive Bonus Offer is only available for the original recipient of the email and cannot be shared or made eligible beyond the original recipient.

Not a customer-friendly move, PenFed, to pull such a bait-and-switch!

Original post:

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) is offering a up to $750 deposit bonus when you add new funds to their Premium Online Savings account. You get $150 for every $10,000 of new deposits, up to $750 for $50,000 in new deposits. Must deposit new money by 12/30/2023 and maintain that level until 4/30/2024 (four months). There are two different offer links, one for those opening a new account and those adding new funds to an existing account:

From the offer FAQs and fine print:

What is considered new money?
New money is funds deposited from an external account into your new Premium Online Savings account. The funds must be new funds to PenFed.

Can I share/forward this offer to a friend or family member?
Yes, this offer is open to everyone. Maximum bonus received is $750 per member.

Can I open multiple Premium Online Savings accounts and receive a bonus for each?
No, this offer is limited to one bonus and one new Premium Online Savings account per member.

Your account must stay open and be in good standing when bonus is credited to your account. Please allow up to 60 days for the Bonus to appear in your account.

Here are the highlights of the PenFed Premium Online Savings account:

  • 3.00% APY as of 11/29/23.
  • No monthly fees, no minimum balance requirement.
  • Anyone can join PenFed via partner organization. You’ll have to keep $5 in a Share savings account, in addition to opening a separate Premium Online Savings account.

Napkin math. If you deposit towards the end of the 30-day funding period, your technical minimal holding period is 4 months (~120 days). If you meet one of the tiers exactly (such $10k or $50k), then the bonus works out to an additional 4.50% annualized yield. If you assume the current 3.00% APY, that adds up to a total effective interest of roughly 7.50% APY annualized for 4 months.

In absolute terms: If, for example, you deposit $50,000 right before December 30th, 2023 and keep it until April 30th, 2024, you’ll end up with $750 bonus + $500 in interest (from the 3% APY) = $1,250 at the end of the 4-month period.

PenFed no longer does a hard credit pull on new membership applications, so anyone should be able to join without having to pay any fees, other than a $5 deposit into Share Savings (only refundable when you close your membership). They also have interesting certificate rates from time to and time, and right now I see them advertising 5.35% APY on 15- and 18-month certificates (as of 11/29/23). If you’re in the market, also take a look at their interest rates on car loans and mortgages.

I already have a PenFed membership, so I hope to time things properly so that this can be another drop in my 2023 IRA challenge bucket (maybe count as 2024?).

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

RIP Charlie Munger: Thank You For Sharing Your Wit and Wisdom

Posted on November 28, 2023 // 4 Comments

Many investors around the world were saddened to hear that Charles T. Munger passed away on November 28th, 2023, only about a month before he would have turned 100 years old. Most people discovered him through his long friendship and business partnership with Warren Buffett, and many of us enjoyed the fact that he was more bluntly honest, more revealing at times, and overall a great compliment to Buffett.

For the certain type of self-motivated person, his message simply resonated. Lifelong learning. Frugality and delayed gratification. Putting up with adversity and not complaining. Spending your time as you want. There will be many tributes, and here I’ll simply share some of my favorite Munger quotes over the years. Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger (cover of new edition above) is another great repository of his past speeches and wisdom.

His desire for independence starting at a young age. From Damn Right! A Biography of Charlie Munger (my review):

When Charlie’s grandparents read and reread Robinson Crusoe to him, they planted a notion in his head. “He wanted to be rich so he could be completely independent, like Crusoe on his island, and not have to do what anybody else said.”

I had a considerable passion to get rich. Not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted the independence. I desperately wanted it. I thought it was undignified to have to send invoices to other people. I don’t where I got that notion from, but I had it.

Working and saving hard early on to start your snowball. Charlie Munger was financially independent at age 38 in 1962.

The first 13 years I practiced law, my income [from practicing law] was $300,000 total. At the end of that 13 years, what did I have? A house. Two cars. And $300,000 of liquid assets. Everyone else’d have spent that slender income, not invested it shrewdly, and so forth.

I just think it was, to me, it was as natural as breathing, and of course I knew how compound interest worked! I knew when I saved $10 I was really saving $100 or $1,000 [because of the future growth of the $10], and it just took a little wait. And when I quit law practice it was because I wanted to work for myself instead of my clients, because I knew I could do better than they did.

Work for yourself an hour each day. Like the schoolteacher I just read about that now makes $10,000 a month creating worksheets and selling them to other teachers, Charlie looked beyond his current working situation. From The Snowball:

Charlie, as a very young lawyer, was probably getting $20 an hour. He thought to himself, ‘Who’s my most valuable client?’ And he decided it was himself. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. He did it early in the morning, working on these construction projects and real estate deals. Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day.

The first $100,000 is the most difficult:

Munger has said that accumulating the first $100,000 from a standing start, with no seed money, is the most difficult part of building wealth. Making the first million was the next big hurdle. To do that a person must consistently underspend his income. Getting wealthy, he explains, is like rolling a snowball. It helps to start on top of a long hill—start early and try to roll that snowball for a very long time. It helps to live a long life.

If you do it right, you only have to get rich once.

The beauty of it is: you only have to get rich once. You don’t have to climb this mountain four times. You just have to do it once.

Lifelong, continuous learning. From a commencement speech within Poor Charlie’s Almanack:

“I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent. But they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were that morning.”

On living a happy life and surrounding yourself with good people.

You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism. There’ll never be any shortage of good people in the world. All you got to do is seek them out and get as many of them as possible into your life. Keep the rest the hell out.

Simply avoid certain things. From How To Make Your Life Completely Miserable:

Let me use a little inversion now. What will really fail in life? What do you want to avoid? Such an easy answer: sloth and unreliability. If you’re unreliable it doesn’t matter what your virtues are. Doing what you have faithfully engaged to do should be an automatic part of your conduct. You want to avoid sloth and unreliability.

He has also advised keeping an extremely wide chasm between you and gambling, alcohol, and drug addiction. Why even mess around with things that could destroy your life completely?

Optimism for the future. He may sound cranky a lot, especially when he was a loud critic of crypto during it’s boom, but his overall message was of one of optimism. From the book University of Berkshire Hathaway:

However, Munger beamed that Berkshire’s best days of contributing to civilization are ahead. He noted that mankind is getting close to solving the technical problem of our time -solar power. Cheap, clean, storable power will change the world. Munger said, “As I get closer and closer to my death, I get more cheerful about the future I won’t see.”

[…] Munger may have surprised the crowd with a list of things he is quite optimistic about: The main problems of civilization are technical and solvable, all with energy, with huge benefits for civilization. Berkshire’s culture will continue to work for years to come. He likes to see people rising rapidly from poverty, and that is happening in China and India.

More sources of Charlie Munger wisdom:

Thank you, Mr. Munger. Learning from your wisdom and example has materially improved my own life (and indirectly that of my family) in many different ways.

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Inspirational //

Buy $100 Apple Gift Card, Get $15 Amazon Promo Credit

Posted on November 27, 2023 // 3 Comments

As part of their Amazon’s Cyber Week gift card deals, get a $15 Amazon Credit with $100 Apple gift card purchase. Must use promo code APPLET5USAP at checkout, or see the “Qualifying offers” box with promo details. While supplies last, and it will probably sell out.

Apple gift cards are now good for everything from Apple Watches to iPhones to music to iCloud storage. The code just adds to the balance in your Apple account, allowing you to lock in a discount even if you buy as soon as a new Apple product is released (most other Apple “deals” are on older models). I now view them as sort of an “iPhone + Apple Watch layaway plan”.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Stuff I Bought Myself and Would Buy Again (2023 Edition)

Posted on November 25, 2023 // 6 Comments

Many “buying guides” are bland and generic, but I find that I still enjoy hearing what works for the discerning creators that I follow. I went through my buying history and these are random items that I have bought myself from Amazon (no free samples) that I would gladly go out and buy again. I’ll also list a few misses at the bottom of stuff I wish I hadn’t bought.

(Note: If you are reading this in an email/RSS reader, I am not allowed to include any Amazon affiliate links in e-mails, so they have been removed. Please click here or on the post title above to view the links in a browser. Thanks!)

LISEN 15W MagSafe Car Mount Charger

I finally upgraded to the latest iPhone this year after a 3-year wait, and wanted to take better advantage of all the MagSafe features. After a bunch of research, this car mount charger allows your phone to both display information and receive power magnetically with no plugging in required and no spring-type or gravity-type mounts. The magnetic connection is strong and has the extra aligning magnet in addition to the circular ones. Air vent attachment system works well. Includes the USB-C cable (some don’t). Even lights up so it’s easy to find at night. After buying the first one, I bought another one for my spouse’s vehicle.

YETI Rambler 46 oz Bottle w/ Chug Cap and YETI 64 oz Rambler

I have tried many water bottles, as I’m sure you probably have, and this is the best combination of my favorite drinking spout style (no straws!), nice handle, quality construction, and ease of cleaning. I wish it wasn’t the expensive YETI brand, which is very nice but also very expensive, but alas it was. I just have to focus harder on not losing them. The 64 oz bottle is good for longer outings, while the 46 oz is a hard-to-find size that I find perfect for everyday use (holds significantly more than “just” 32 oz, but not unwieldy).

COSORI Air Fryer Pro LE (5 Quart)

Love our air fryer. Use it at least every other day. Air fryers are like microwaves but the food doesn’t get soggy. Reheat all kinds of stuff, from pizza to roasted veggies. Cooks steaks (really!). This Cosori brand was a Wirecutter recommendation that worked out (my average success rate with them is ~70%). Good quality, easy to clean (entire tray is dishwasher safe), nice user interface.

PopSockets Phone Grip with MagSafe

PopSockets are popular due to their comfort and overall high quality, but these are unique because you can easily remove and/or add them off instantly with no adhesives. Works with any MagSafe case or directly onto a naked iPhone w/ MagSafe. The magnets are very strong so it won’t fall off by accident. Clear color also goes with everything.

VEVA HEPA Filters Compatible with Coway Airmega AP-1512HH (2-Pack)

The Coway Airmega AP-1512HH is a very effective and reliable air filter and has been running in multiple rooms in my house basically non-stop for years. I love the simple, functional design and once you see how much gunk gets caught in the filters, you won’t want your family breathing that into their lungs ever again. I go through a lot of HEPA filters (and use a garden hose on the screens) regularly. These VEVA filters are the highest-quality aftermarket filters that I have found, yet they are only half the price of the OEM filters.

Arctic Zone Titan Cooler – Zipperless Hardbody Cooler

I have traditional big Igloo coolers with and without wheels, but I wanted a lightweight cooler that I could easily carry (but still holds 30 cans!) but also wouldn’t break the bank (i.e. not YETI). This thing has surprisingly good insulation and durable construction. Combines well with reusable ice packs. Easy cleanup. Has a lot of little thoughtful features like a comfortable shoulder strap and the quick-access zipperless lid.. This $300 YETI looks great but only holds 18 cans.

KitchenAid Classic Pizza Wheel

Another random kitchen tool on my list!? Years ago, I got a free promo pizza wheel with an insurance company logo on it. I ended up using it so much it finally got too dull. Cuts so many things faster than a knife. I’ve found KitchenAid brand stuff to be pretty decent quality overall, and this one did not disappoint.

Rester’s Choice Ice Pack for Injuries Reusable

Both old adults (like me) and young kids need a lot of ice packs for their boo-boos. This reusable one is very high quality and goes back and forth from the freezer all the time. Much better than real ice in ziploc backs.

Misses: Here are stuff that was highly-rated in other places like Consumer Reports or Wirecutter, but did not perform up to my expectations.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living, Reviews //

AmEx Offers: Shop Small Saturday, Walmart+, Gas Stations, Wireless Bills

Posted on November 22, 2023 // 11 Comments

New offers added, including Shop Small credit that expires Saturday. Amex Offers are targeted offers that either offer discounts in the form of statement credits on your account or as extra reward points earned. To view your offers, visit your americanexpress.com account or within the Amex® Mobile app for iPhones and Android phones. You must activate each offer individually. Sometimes the offers are different for consumer and small business cards.

Note that these are now limited to one per credit card member. So if you sign up for it on one card, you won’t be able to use the same offer on another AmEx card. Be sure to add it to the card you want.

Here are some currently available offers that you might be targeted for:

  • Shop Small Map: $5 on $50+ purchase. Get a one-time $5 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single purchase of $50 or more at “Shopping” businesses listed under the “Shop Small®” filter on the Shop Small Map or Online Directory in the US & US territories by 11/25/2023. See terms.
  • NFL Shop $20 off $100 (up to 2 times).
  • Lululemon $20 off $100.
  • Walmart+ $40 back on $98 annual membership.
  • Gas Stations +1 point/dollar spent.
  • Any wireless bill 10% back (up to $30).
  • National Car Rental +5 points/dollar spent.
  • Under Armour $10 off $50.
  • JetBlue $40 off $200.
  • Paramount+ $11 off $11 (up to 3 times).
  • Peacock $5.99 off $5.99 (up to 3 times).
  • Levi’s $35 off $175.
  • Columbia $25 off $150.

These are targeted at small business cards:

  • Lowe’s $50 off $250+. Get a one-time $50 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Business Card to spend a minimum of $250 in one or more purchases in-store at Lowe’s or online at lowes.com by 12/31/2023.
  • Amazon +5 MR points/dollar. Get 5 additional Membership Rewards® points for each dollar spent on qualifying purchases made using your enrolled eligible Card online at Amazon.com by 12/31/2023. Limit of 2,500 Membership Rewards points.
  • Dell.com
  • Verizon Business
  • Marriott 20% off.
  • Expedia.
  • Hilton
  • Microsoft Store.

There are many different flavors of American Express, but here are my “keeper” consumer and business cards:

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

The Half-Hour Car Rental Hack

Posted on November 20, 2023 // 5 Comments

When you make a reservation at nearly every car rental website, you simply agree to a price and make a non-binding reservation without giving any payment information. You can cancel at any time, without penalty. I’m really not sure why this is still standard industry practice, but I guess it works for them.

AutoSlash takes advantage of this quirk by helping you repeatedly rebook whenever it manages to help you find a lower price. I just came across a “tip” from their blog where they discovered that you can get differing prices by changing your pick-up time by only a half-hour:

Instead of automatically booking your pickup time to be on the hour — say, 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. — ask for a second quote for the half hour before or after your original time — 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.

Skeptical that this car rental hack can work? Let’s look at a few examples. We ran a quote for a weeklong minivan rental at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), picking up and returning at noon. In this particular case, Alamo and Payless tied for the cheapest of the major car rental brands, delivering a price of $525. Then ran the same quote request at the same airport, for the same car at the same time, but bumped back the pickup and return time to 12:30 p.m. Alamo’s price dropped to $470, while Payless and Enterprise came in at $525. The upshot: If you booked with Alamo, you’d save 10% without breaking a sweat.

For a recent quote at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), we saw a whopping $143 difference in National’s price simply by shifting the pickup and return time by 30 minutes.

You can also potentially save money by changing the drop-off time by a half-hour or hour:

I tried this “half hour hack” with a few of my existing reservations, and strangely it did take off a few dollars per day on some of them! Not a huge savings, but definitely good to know. Honestly, just using Autoslash at all will probably save you much more money by itself. I’ve used Autoslash as “price drop insurance” for several years now; my old Autoslash review is still pretty much accurate.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – November 2023

Posted on November 16, 2023 // 6 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of November 2023, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are often lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 11/16/2023.

TL;DR: Mostly minor movements, both up and down this month. 6% APY now (barely) available with 12-month CD and rewards checking accounts. More 5%+ savings accounts. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity, taking into account state tax exemption.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer on top of a partner bank’s FDIC insurance.

  • 5.30% APY ($1 minimum). Raisin lets you switch between different FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions easily without opening a new account every time, and their liquid savings rates currently top out at 5.30% APY amongst multiple banks. See my Raisin review for details. Raisin does not charge depositors a fee for the service.
  • 5.36% APY (before fees). MaxMyInterest is another service that allows you to access and switch between different FDIC-insured banks. You can view their current banks and APYs here. As of 11/16/23, the highest rate is from Customers Bank at 5.36% APY. (At the moment, Customers is also the top bank at SaveBetter at 5.30% APY.) However, note that they charge a membership fee of 0.04% per quarter, or 0.16% per year (subject to $20 minimum per quarter, or $80 per year). That means if you have a $10,000 balance, then $80 a year = 0.80% per year. This service is meant for those with larger balances. You are allowed to cancel the service and keep the bank accounts, but then you may lose their specially-negotiated rates and cannot switch between banks anymore.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks STILL pay essentially no interest, everyone should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • The top rate at the moment is at Elevault (app only) at 5.65% APY (5.50% rate) on up to $50,000, but as of 11/20/23 they are changing their rate to (Prime minus 3.5%) which would be 5% currently. PopularDirect at 5.40% APY. CIT Platinum Savings at 5.05% APY with $5,000+ balance.
  • SoFi Bank is now up to 4.60% APY + up to $275 new account bonus with direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount each month for the higher APY. SoFi has their own bank charter now so no longer a fintech by my definition. See details at $25 + $250 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.
  • There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at 4.25%+ APY that aren’t the absolute top rate, but historically do keep it relatively competitive for those that don’t want to keep switching banks.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Raisin has a 5-month No Penalty CD at 5.36% APY with $1 minimum deposit. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.90% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.55% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 4.60% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Consider opening multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union has a Santa Special 12-month CD at 6.18% APY. Minimum opening deposit is $1500. Early withdrawal penalty is 90 days interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs*
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). * Money market mutual funds are regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms. I am including a few ultra-short bond ETFs as they may be your best cash alternative in a brokerage account, but they may experience losses.

  • Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 5.29% (works out to a compound yield of 5.42%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 5.61% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 5.75% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 11/15/23, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.39% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.29% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 5.13% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 5.27% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2023 and April 2024 will earn a 5.27% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-April 2023, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Pelican State Credit Union pays 6.05% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, log into your account at least once, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization membership.
  • Orion Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make electronic deposits of $500+ each month (ACH transfers count) and spend $500+ on your Orion debit or credit card each month. Anyone can join this credit union via $10 membership fee to partner organization membership.
  • Genisys Credit Union pays 5.25% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each, and opt into receive only online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • The Bank of Denver pays 5.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
  • All America/Redneck Bank pays 5.30% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 10 debit card purchases each monthly cycle with online statements.
  • Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Farmer’s Insurance FCU has their 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, or 60 month CDs ALL at 5.00% APY for a limited-time. $1,000 minimum. The early withdrawal penalty for all terms longer than a year is 180 days of dividends OR half of the remaining term’s daily dividends, whichever is greater. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
  • BMO Alto has a 5-year CD at 5.25% APY. 4-year at 5.20% APY. 3-year at 5.10% APY. 2-year at 5.00% APY. 1-year at 5.65% APY. No minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. Note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely. Online-only subsidiary of BMO Bank.
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable CD at 4.75% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that now both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can call back your CD if rates drop later.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at [n/a] (callable: no, call protection: yes) vs. 4.47% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

    • All rates were checked as of 1/16/2023.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Primis Bank Novus Checking: 6% APY Guaranteed for 6 Months (4.00% APY Standard)

Posted on November 15, 2023 // 2 Comments

Primis Bank just rolled out a new Novus Checking account that includes an introductory period of 6.00% APY guaranteed for 6 months on up to $50,000 with qualifying direct deposits. Hat tip to reader Bill P. Highlights:

  • 6.00% APY guaranteed on up to $50,000 for 6 months, when you set up and use direct deposit within 60 days of opening your account and maintain it through the 6-month period.
  • Otherwise, earn 4.00% APY (with no direct deposit or after the initial 6 months). Note this is a variable rate.
  • No minimum balance requirement.
  • Open with just $1.
  • Must open online.
  • Free starter pack of 40 checks (upon request).
  • Free cashier’s checks.
  • Free ATM rebates.

Napkin math. If you consider the 6% APY to be a 1% APY improvement over 5% APY, on a $50,000 balance that works out to $250 extra interest over 6 months. Of course, interest rates could change in the future (up or down). The fact that this is a checking account rather than a savings account makes it easier to maximize your interest earned while still performing everyday transactions.

You may recall that Primis Bank was mentioned previously for their 5.07% APY Premium checking and 5.07% APY Primis savings accounts (rate as of 11/15/23). These still exist. The problem is, I’m not really sure what the difference between the “Novus” and the “Premium” accounts are… could it be that the Premium may be phased out soon in favor of the Novus with lower base interest rate? Perhaps it is a good idea to open up those accounts now as well to take advantage if they grandfather in existing customers?

Premium Checking details:

  • 5.07% APY as of 11/15/23.
  • No minimum balance requirement.
  • Open with just $1.
  • Must open online.
  • Free cashier’s checks and starter pack of checks.
  • Free ATM rebates.

Primis Savings details:

  • 5.07% APY as of 11/15/23.
  • No minimum balance requirement.
  • Open with just $1.

Reader Adam says to make sure to download the “Primis Digital Mobile App” and not the other one which applies to their physical branch accounts (their two systems are currently separate). Also, you may have issues syncing your existing bank (or Personal Capital) with Primis because they try to log into the physical branch account interface and not their online-only accounts.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Capital One Spark Cash Select Business Card Review: $500 Intro Bonus w/ No Annual Fee

Posted on November 14, 2023 // 4 Comments

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The card_name is a business credit card with simple, straightforward cash back along with no annual fee. This no-annual fee card is currently offering a strong $500 cash bonus for new cardholders after qualifying purchases, while also requiring an excellent credit score. Here are the highlights:

  • $500 Cash Back once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back for your business on every purchase, everywhere – with no limits or category restrictions.
  • 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One’s travel booking site.
  • Rewards won’t expire for the life of the account.
  • Redeem your cash back rewards for any amount.
  • No annual fee.

This card does not have all of the bells and whistles like top-level rewards, transferrable airline miles, or airport lounge access. For that, look into the Capital One Venture X Business Card and its higher annual fee.

Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. The business type is called a sole proprietorship, and these days many people are full-time or part-time consultants, freelancers, eBay/Amazon/Etsy sellers, Uber/Lyft drivers, or other one-person business owners. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.

Bottom line. The card_name is a business credit card with simple, straightforward cash back along with no annual fee. This version requires excellent credit, but is also currently offering a one-time $500 cash bonus for new cardholders after qualifying purchases.

Due to the $500+ first-year value, I will be adding this to my Top 10 Best Small Business Card Bonus Offers.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, General //

Free Kindle eBook: From Zero to Millionaire

Posted on November 14, 2023 // Leave a Comment

Here’s a free Kindle eBook version of a personal finance and investing book that was published just last month: From Zero to Millionaire: A simple, effective and stress-free way to invest in the stock market by Nicolas Bérubé. (That is an Amazon affiliate link, so you’ll have to visit the actual website to see it.)

“Investing is a simple activity, which an entire industry strives to make complicated to justify its existence.” – Nicolas Bérubé.

The book appears to be targeted at the Canadian market primarily, or at least the author is a Canadian journalist. Either way, the underlying message appears solid but I guess it needs a little bit of marketing oomph in the United States. I haven’t finished it, but the blurb looked interesting as it promised some interesting anecdotes at the minimum. Download it now for free, read it later.

He also uses little-known examples, such as the forgotten theft of the Mona Lisa, Isaac Newton’s stock market disaster, and the mistake made by one of the world’s greatest investors, to make learning about investing a compelling journey through history, psychology, and finance.

Finally, using the latest research, he identifies proven and accessible ways to invest, and offers concrete advice on how to get started or take control of your investments today.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Deals & Offers //

Time to Redeem Older Savings I Bonds With Zero or Low Fixed Rates?

Posted on November 14, 2023 // 12 Comments

After the November 2023 fixed rate was announced to be higher at 1.3%, I’ve gotten a few questions about redeeming “old” Savings I Bonds with lower fixed rates (some at 0%) and buying these “new” ones instead. During this current 6-month period, a lot of them are also earning less than a 4% interest rate when you add the ~3.38% inflation rate. Here are some considerations in making that decision:

When was the fixed rate very low? The fixed rates on your Savings I Bonds were set based on the month of purchase (issue). You can find a list of fixed rates based on issue date here and here. With a few exceptions, look for fixed rates between 0% and 0.30% which occurred with issue dates between May 2008 and October 2018, and again between November 2019 and October 2022.

Find the issue date of your specific savings bonds at TreasuryDirect.gov or on the face of your paper bond.

3-month interest penalty for savings bonds held less than 5 years. So you’ve found the ones with very low fixed rates. But also remember, if you redeem before 5 years, you lose the final 3 months of interest completely. Your actual interest rate changes every 6 months, and so you can time which 3 months of interest you lose. You may want any period of high inflation to “run out” before you redeem.

Here are redemption dates if you want to time it such that the 3 months interest rate penalty you lose is the only first 3 months of the lower 3.38% inflation rate (which first started in May 2023). Some of the dates have passed, and the window is already open. I first saw this reported by TIPSWatch.

  • Issue month: November/May 👉 Redeem after August 1st, 2023
  • Issue month: December/June 👉 Redeem after September 1st, 2023
  • Issue month: January/July 👉 Redeem after October 1st, 2023
  • Issue month: February/August 👉 Redeem after November 1st, 2023
  • Issue month: March/September 👉 Redeem after December 1st, 2023
  • Issue month: April/October 👉 Redeem after January 1st, 2024

Annual purchase limits. Savings I Bonds have purchase limits of $10,000 per year per SSN (plus another $5,000 via tax return and other ownership title “loopholes”). So if you sell your past existing holdings, you can’t necessarily turn around and buy double or triple your usual amount this year at the higher fixed rate. If aren’t coming close to exceeding the purchase limits, then this is not a concern, and selling savings bonds at 0% fixed rate and buying at 1.3% fixed rate may be a simple and smart move.

Alternatively, you may wish to sell your 0% fixed rate bonds and purchase individual TIPS of a specific maturity instead due to the current higher real yields. I Bonds and TIPS have both similarities and important differences, one of which is that you can never lose money (nominally) with a savings bond, but your long-term TIPS may drop by 10% or more in the short-term.

Tax deferral. Savings bonds have a unique feature that you can defer paying any taxes until you redeem them (or until they mature after 30 years). If you redeem your savings bonds now, you will have to pay any taxes on all of the accumulated interest this tax year. The tax deferral and thus tax-free compounding can increase your overall return if you don’t have other tax-deferred space available. In addition, if your marginal tax rate is very high right now, but you expect it to be much lower in the near future (perhaps in retirement), then you may wish to wait a bit.

My overall take? As you can see, there are lots of little details and exceptions, but… If you’re using savings bonds as a short-term cash reserve or otherwise have another good place for the money, then it’s probably best to sell your 0% fixed rate bonds and re-invest in alternatives.

However, if you’ve been building up a big pile for long-term inflation protection combined with flexibility with taxes and withdrawals, and you are just buying up to the limits every year already, and don’t have other pressing needs for that money, then I don’t feel you’ll be hurt horribly by holding.

Personally, I’ll probably be selling most if not all of my 0% fixed rate bonds over time, with sensitivity to my overall tax brackets. I plan to reinvest into long-term TIPS at 2%+ fixed real rates as tax-deferred space is available.

Filed Under: Investing, Savings Bonds //

BMO Alto Online Certificates of Deposit: 5-year CD at 5.25% APY

Posted on November 8, 2023 // 9 Comments

BMO Alto is the online-only division of BMO Bank N.A. (member FDIC). You can only access BMO Alto products through its unique website, not any existing BMO login. As of 11/8/23, they are offering very competitive rates for CDs (certificates of deposit) which would be very suitable for a ladder:

  • 5-year at 5.25% APY
  • 4-year at 5.20% APY
  • 3-year at 5.10% APY
  • 2-year at 5.00% APY
  • 1-year at 5.65% APY
  • 6-month at 5.50% APY
  • Liquid savings at 5.10% APY (variable).

Additional details:

  • No minimum to open.
  • No monthly maintenance fees.
  • Online statements only.
  • Unfortunately, they do not offer IRA CDs at this time.
  • If your savings account has a zero balance for 90 consecutive days it will be automatically closed. You must also fund your CD within 10 calendar days or it will be automatically closed.

Early withdrawals. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. Note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely:

We reserve the right to permit withdrawals of principal only upon maturity. If we permit you to make an early withdrawal of principal before maturity, you will pay an early withdrawal penalty. The penalty is calculated using the interest rate applicable to the CD at the time of early withdrawal. If the amount of the penalty exceeds the amount of your accrued and unpaid interest, then a reduction of principal would be required in order to pay the penalty.

I maintain a 5-year ladder of CD and/or Treasury bonds with a rung that matures each year, so I don’t really worry about early withdrawals for liquidity, only as an option in case rates go much higher quickly.

You may be able to get similar or better tax-equivalent yields if you are subject to state/local income taxes with US Treasury bonds (4.51% at 5-year on 11/8/23), but if you don’t have such taxes, these BMO Alto rates are some of the best available. These BMO Alto rates are also higher than the best brokered CDs available at the moment.

If interest rates change between your CD opening date and the funding date, you will receive the higher APY. No minimum balance and $0 minimum opening deposit required. You have 10 days from account opening to fund your CD. Early withdrawal penalties may apply. Funds may not be withdrawn for 15 days after initial funding.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //
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