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Will You Buy the iPad 3?

This article was written by in Consumer. 16 comments.


All signs are pointing to Apple releasing the latest iteration of its popular tablet this coming week. I gave in last year and purchased the original iPad, and I made this decision just days before the iPad 2 was announced. Now, tech geeks are expecting the iPad 3 to hit to streets this week. The iPad was my first Apple-branded product. I’ve never been a fan of Apple’s computers, with my objections stemming from everything from the keyboard layout to the graphical user interface. Nevertheless, I’ve used the iPad almost daily.

I won’t upgrade yet I’m satisfied with my original iPad, so I see now reason to spend money on the latest device.

iPadAre you planning to buy an iPad 3?

Here are a few articles I’ve discovered recently that I’d like to share.

Neal from Wealth Pilgrim has reviewed the social lending website, Prosper. Peer-to-peer and social lending is an intriguing idea. I think tools like Prosper, helping borrowers and lenders work with each other without layers of third parties like banks, are needed. It’s slightly more efficient, but not free from regulation. Without a trusted party between borrowers and lenders, large-scale borrowing and lending would be risky. At the same time, most financial institutions have too much overhead.

Social lending isn’t perfect. I couldn’t loan money to a friend at a decent rate through either Prosper or Lending Club because the state in which he lives has anti-usury laws that prevented a loan at the interest rate he qualified for. I couldn’t easily and directly invest in a basket of loans through a service because the state in which I live wasn’t ready to allow this type of investment opportunity.

Jim from Bargaineering explains how to print USPS postage at home for free. I didn’t take this approach a few years ago when I was selling old text books online through Amazon.com; media mail rates was not available for online printing. Now that media mail rates are available, it is easy to save money printing postage online for those who ship books, CDs, and video often.

The latest Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted earlier this week on Well-Heeled Blog. The Carnival included a number of excellent personal finance articles, as well as my article about modifying your behavior to improve your finances. The Carnival followed the Little Price’s journey to financial enlightenment. It’s always fun to read a Carnival that has an entertaining theme.

Photo: Veronica Belmont

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The Best Online Savings Accounts, May 2012

This article was written by in Banking. 223 comments.

The best online savings accounts offer high interest rates and great customer service. Savings accounts, particularly so-called “high-yield” savings accounts, are best for money you might need within a year. Any money that you don’t want to subject to the short-term risk and volatility in the stock market should be held safe in a savings account, earning as much interest as possible. Your emergency fund should primarily consist of money held in a high-yield savings account.

“High-yield” is unfortunately a bit of a misnomer these days; a decade ago, interest rates were 4% and 5% among select savings accounts and money market accounts. Today, the best rates are all below 2% while a fair amount are still hovering around 1%, many rates are now dipping below the 1% mark. This trend will continue until banks need more cash from depositors.

Interest rates. Interest rates are important because money shouldn’t lose too much purchasing power. In a perfect world, interest rates offered by banks should beat inflation while preserving the balance without risk. I am not aware of any bank offering a savings option with ongoing interest rates high enough to beat inflation, whether measured by the government-reported CPI-U or by any other meaningful measure of consumer prices. Nevertheless, if your savings is at a brick and mortar bank earning below 0.25% APY, choose one of the better options below.

Customer service. When evaluating customer service, there are two important factors to consider. The best banks offer all account maintenance and transfers through a professional, reliable, and easy-to-navigate website. Secondly, live customer service representatives should be knowledgeable, helpful, and available, although customers should have to deal with a representative infrequently if at all.

Based on my own experiences and reviews from other Consumerism Commentary readers, here are the most-recommended accounts for short-term savings. All of the listed interest rates are current as of May 2012, but they are subject to change by the banks. Although I have nine accounts listed below the table of rates, you don’t need to have accounts with that many different banks. Choose one that fits you the best.

First, here is a list of the latest interest rates. Following this table, I offer a few of my own observations and opinions about savings accounts from nine popular online banks. Read the full article →

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Chase Freedom Review and Comparison

This article was written by in Credit. 6 comments.

From a branding perspective, each credit card issuer looks to group similar offers with a catchy name, helping consumers to immediately identify a type of credit card with the associated benefits. Chase offers quite a few slightly different cards under the Chase Freedom banner, and while the core features are the same, the offers differ in several details.

All Chase Freedom configurations include one percent cash back on all purchases, beginning immediately. This cash back is earned in the form of points. For example, if you spend one dollar, you earn one point. If you buy two CDs from Amazon.com for $10 each and return one, you earn ten points, not twenty, because the points are based on the net spending. You can cash in the points you earn to receive a check at the rate of one dollar per hundred points. With 2,000 points accrued in your account, a result of spending $2,000, you could request a check or statement credit for $20.

Chase FreedomIn addition to the guaranteed one percent cash back, there are several ways to earn more points.

  • 5% opportunity. If you enroll once a quarter in Chase’s five percent cash back program, you will earn an extra four points per dollar (five points total) in certain spending categories, like gas or restaurants on up to $1,500 spend each quarter. Keep in mind that each merchant must classify the retail establishment correctly in order for Chase to trigger the five percent bonus.
  • 10% opportunity. If you shop online through Chase’s portal, you can receive up to ten percent cash back in addition to the cash back above.

In its television commercials, Chase compares the Freedom card with “the largest cash back card,” a thinly-veiled reference to the Discover More card. One of the points for comparison in the commercial is the fact that the Discover More card offers the five percent cash back tier on up to only $300 in spending. The most you can earn in one year from this benefit is $15, although Discover is increasing this limit. Chase, on the other hand, allows you to earn five percent cash back on up to $1,500 in spending, resulting in a maximum benefit of $75. There was a time when the best cash back cards offered unlimited five percent back on all purchases, but that isn’t the case today.

The points you earn in the Chase Freedom program can be redeemed at Chase’s Ultimate Rewards center. You can trade points in for a check or statement credit as mentioned above and get the typical exchange rate ($1 for 100 points), or you can cash in your points for other benefits like gift cards, sometimes at a better exchange rate.

Chase Freedom comes with some important fees to consider: Read the full article →

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One Black Friday Tip to Rule Them All: Buy Nothing

This article was written by in Consumer. 19 comments.

For those in the United States, tradition and media influence have established today as a day for spending time with family, over-eating, and watching television. What could be more American than Thanksgiving Day?

Fast becoming a tradition for consumers is Black Friday (and to a lesser extent Cyber Monday). Retailers have discovered a tendency to for consumers to use the day after Thanksgiving as the perfect time to finish shopping for the holidays. With this observation, the stores compete with each other to grab shoppers’ attention with the goal of having customers depart with as much as their own cash as possible.

Tips for saving money on this holiest of holy consumer days are plentiful. Boiling down the most typical advice, consumers should pay attention, prepare with as much information as possible, stay focused, and get out or online early. For more solid tips for shoppers who are determined to spend money, take a look at The Insider’s Guide to Black Friday Bargains, an article I wrote for PC World.

But even the best advice ensures that you will spend more money. Retailers are happy with bargain hunters because they will spend more in the long run.

There are two paths for the informed citizen:

Path 1: Accept you are one small piece of a larger economy and admit that despite finding bargains, you will spend more money this holiday season than you probably should.

Path 2: Resist the desire to spend spurred by society and spend nothing.

Buy Nothing Day is the anti-consumerist “holiday” promoted by Adbusters. While it is “celebrated” on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, the movement encourages focus on a larger issue than fighting against retailers who market to us 24 hours a day.

In a consumption-based society, we are draining the planet of its natural resources. Simply refusing to take part in Black Friday festivities will have little effect on the companies or the world. Buy Nothing Day should offer us a chance to look at the relationship humans have with the planet and look for room for improvement.

Use this winter, with the economy deteriorating and leaving many people with less money to spend anyway, as a chance to re-evaluate the way you celebrate the holiday season. Rather than buying CDs and DVDs, plastic toys, and electronics, all which will sit in landfills for thousands of years before breaking down after their usable life has ended and sometimes contain dangerous chemicals, discover new ways to share your love with family and friends.

One tip outweighs all others for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season at large: buy less. Buy intelligently and find your bargains, but use this year as an opportunity to rethink the way you approach holidays sponsored by retailers.

While you’re at the dinner table with your family today, use the friendly atmosphere to discuss whether a new approach to the gift-giving season could apply to your holiday experience.

Read more:

Photo credit: Hey Paul

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8 Tips for Talking About Money With Your Significant Other

by Margaret

About the author: Margaret is a recent college graduate who, with her boyfriend, plans to save up money to get married, pay off student loan debt and head to seminary. Money is one of those things you’re not supposed to mention in polite conversation. But if you’re married or in a serious relationship, you have ... Continue reading this article…

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Best 12 Month CD Rates, April 2012

by Flexo

The best 12 month CD rates may not be impressive overall today compared with historical rates. With the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low for the near future, all types of deposits will not command the interest rates that were common before the recession. With nowhere to go but up, it may not make a ... Continue reading this article…

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Personal Balance Sheet, May 2011 ($844,136, +9.6%)

by Flexo
Net Worth Balance Sheet, May 2011

Over the past few days, I considered making some drastic changes to the way I report my finances at the end of each month. I’ve been trying to decide whether it makes more sense to separate my business accounts from this report and report the numbers separately as I did a few years ago, remove ... Continue reading this article…

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TradeKing Review

by Flexo

Launched towards the end of 2005, TradeKing is a relatively young discount brokerage when compared to many of their competitors. TradeKing, more than any other brokerage, is more in tune with today’s social networking and social media trend. This online trading network is somewhat of a forum just for investors, where they can connect with ... Continue reading this article…

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