Desi Finance, Investments & Savings

CIT Bank Premier High Yield Savings Account

2017-07-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Looks like the CD interest rate war between banks is increasing. CIT Bank announced Spring savings account couple of months back with 1.15% APY. Now they announced Premier high yield savings account with 1.30% APY which is 20 times higher than national average savings rate.

Most financial experts recommend saving at least 3-6 months of your income as an emergency fund. That's a lot of money sitting idle but I can't disagree with them. We definitely don't like our funds sitting idle. What is the best place to park these reserves in cash? As a matter of fact where would you park all your additional money or "idle cash"? The least we could do is hold them in a savings account earning some interest without losing the flexibility of withdrawing at our will.

CIT Bank is offering this account with a minimum opening balance of $100, no monthly fees, free online transfers, no withdrawal penalty, and currently pays 1.30% APY (as of July 2017). Best of all it is FDIC insured, which means your deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000 should your bank go under. Unlike traditional banks, CIT bank is an online only bank with no physical branches, tellers etc. This typically means they have less operating expenses when compared to traditional banks. This is one of the main reason why they've been offering high interest rates to their customers. I have been using their savings account from past couple of years and it's the best savings account I have. My CIT Bank savings account sometimes have high balance and sometimes only the minimum balance. I use this account to generate a standard 1.30% APY on my idle cash until I find a better investment.

CIT Bank is offering cash bonus of up to $100 if the Premier High Yield Savings account is opened between July 7, 2017 and September 8, 2017. Promotion code PREMIER must be entered at account opening to receive $100 bonus. Funds used to open the account should be new funds coming from your other bank accounts. For more details click here. If you are more flexible with your money and are willing to lock up in term CDs, I encourage you to look at their various CDs which offer high interest rate when compared to national averages.

Disclosure: I do not receive any commission when you open an account with CIT Bank. My sole objective is to share my banking experience with them.

2017 Amazon Prime day deals

2017-07-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Amazon Prime day is tomorrow July 11th, 2017. For starters this is a self-created online only shopping holiday by Amazon exclusively for Prime members. Amazon is doing this every year since 2015 and promises more discounts than Black Friday deals. Following are some of the interesting deals:

Amazon echo for $89.99 (Orig. $179.99)

Amazon dot for$34.99 (Orig. $49.99)

All-New Fire 7 Tablet with Alexa for $29.99 (Orig. $49.99)

All-New Fire HD 8 Tablet with Alexa for $49.99 (Orig. $79.99) (Click here to buy 3 and save an additional $30)

Sony XB950B1 ExtraBass Wireless Headphones with App Control for $98 (Orig. $198)

$30-$50 off onvarious Kindle e-readers

All-New Element55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV for $399.99 (Orig. $649.99)

Samsung Galaxy S864GB+2017 Gear VR W/Controller+Fast Charge Wireless Charging Convertible Standfor $624.99 (Orig. $887)

TP-Link Smart Plug for $19.99 (Orig. $29.99)
Acer chromebook 11.6-inch chromebook for $129.99 (Orig. $179.99)

Bonus offer - get $10 credit on Alexa deals

There will be many more deals that will be advertised at various times during the Prime day tomorrow (July 11th, 2017). To see all running deals CLICK HERE. I will try to update above list if I find more interesting deals. Enjoy your shopping browsing through better than Black Friday deals. If you find an interesting deal, feel free to post in comments section below.

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Kohl's $10 free cash with Discover Card

2017-06-10T17:21:00.001-07:00

Discover card is offering $10 Kohl's cash for targeted card members only. Follow below steps to check if it is offered to you.

Login to your Discover Card account
Go to Rewards tab on the top and click on Discover Deals (shown in the pic below)
Enter Kohl's in the search field (Do not choose Kohl's online even though it is suggested)
If you are targeted member you will see "$10 off a purchase of $30 or more". Click on it.
This will generate a barcode and 4 digit pin code.
Barcode can be used in store (take a print out) and 4 digit pin code plus barcode are needed for online shopping at www.kohls.com

Expiration date of this offer is 07/02/2017. This barcode can be used as regular Kohl's cash even though the offer says $30 minimum purchase. Also, this can be combined with other coupons or offers. Enjoy your free $10 Kohl's cash and feel free to leave a comment if you find more coupons which can be combined with this offer.

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CIT Bank Spring Savings Account Review

2017-06-08T17:35:00.005-07:00

UPDATE: For more bonus use code "BONUS17" - more details here.

Most financial experts recommend saving at least 6 months of your income as an emergency fund. That's a lot of money sitting idle but I can't disagree with them. We definitely don't like our funds sitting idle. What is the best place to park these reserves in cash? As a matter of fact where would you park all your additional money or "idle cash"? The least we could do is hold them in a savings account earning some interest without losing the flexibility of withdrawing at our will.

CIT Bank is offering Spring Savings account with a minimum opening balance of $100, no monthly fees, free online transfers, no withdrawal penalty, and currently pays 1.15% APY (as of June 2017). Best of all it is FDIC insured, which means your deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000 should your bank go under. Unlike traditional banks, CIT bank is an online only bank with no physical branches, tellers etc. This typically means they have less operating expenses when compared to traditional banks. This is one of the main reason why they've been offering high interest rates to their customers. I have been using their savings account from past couple of years and it's the best savings account I have. My CIT Bank savings account sometimes have high balance and sometimes only the minimum balance. I use this account to generate a standard 1.15% APY on my idle cash until I find a better investment.

CIT Bank is offering cash bonus of up to $400 if the Spring Savings account is opened before June 30, 2017. Funds used to open the account should be new funds coming from your other accounts. For more details click here. If you are more flexible with your money and are willing to lock up for a year, I encourage you to look at their 1year CD which offer high interest rate (1.32% APY) when compared to national averages.

Disclosure: I do not receive any commission when you open an account with CIT Bank. My sole objective is to share my banking experience with them.

AmazonSmile from Amazon.com

2017-03-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

AmazonSmile is a charitable donation program offered by Amazon to its customers. It is a free and effortless way to support your favorite organization every time you shop at Amazon. This program allows Amazon customers to direct 0.5% of their qualified purchases towards the charitable organization of their choice. This means one has to shop $1000 worth of eligible items to donate $5 to their favorite charity organization. Obviously 0.5% of qualified purchases isn't much but why not donate when it costs nothing and effortless.

Here is how it works: First visit smile.amazon.com and select your favorite charitable organization before you begin shopping. Your selection is remembered as long as you shop through smile.amazon.com and donations are made when you purchase products that state "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation". Gift card purchases, subscribe & save purchases, and certain digital purchases are not eligible for donations. Donations accrued through your eligible purchases are sent to charity organizations quarterly. To learn more about this program please visit their FAQ page here.

To make it more easier, there is a Chrome extension called "Smile Always" which will always take you to smile.amazon.com when you go to amazon.com. I have "Asha-Jyothi" set up as my favorite charity for smile.amazon.com. If you don't have a favorite one, consider supporting "Asha-Jyothi". Once an eligible purchase is made you should see a message like below:

When I first started participating in this program I felt like I am already donating a lot while shopping. That is not true if you look at the actual dollar numbers. So my sincere ask to you all is, don't let that feeling stop or reduce your other charity donations that you regularly do. Please do this in addition to what you already do.

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Claimdog.com - find money owed to you

2017-01-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

Claimdog.com is one another online service which tracks money owed to you over years. By law, if a business owes you money and if it was not successful in getting hold of you, it must return that money to the government after certain period of time. Claimdog.com tracks down this kind of money that is owed to you but unclaimed yet. Unclaimed money can be from checks that were not cashed, unclaimed mail-in-rebate checks, insurance checks, over payment refunds from utility service companies, unclaimed wages from your previous employers etc. I tried few searches and it seems pretty simple. You just need to type in your first name, last name and state of residence to check if there is any unclaimed money in your name. You can claim the money, if you find any, by paying a small service charge though.

How do they have access to this information? How do they process claims? How much they charge? - All these good questions are addressed in their FAQ section.

Why wait? Try it out yourself. If you can't find any unclaimed money try searching for your friends, just for kicks. Good luck on your treasure hunt!

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Top 5 desidollars.com blog posts from 2016

2017-01-05T09:15:00.003-08:00

First, I would like to say thanks to all readers and followers of this blog. With all your support and encouragement I was able to write 24 blog posts in the past year and I am committed to do the same in year 2017 as well. I hope you all enjoyed reading and learned something new from my blog posts.
I want to start off the new year with a quick recap of most popular posts in this blog from 2016. Here are the top 5 posts that received most number of views (as per Google Analytics) during the year 2016:
    1) Saving a dollar is superior to earning a dollar
    2) Fundrise.com - Real Estate Crowdfunding
    3) Can you use your 401Ks as reserves?
    4) Simple (but mostly delayed) life changing financial decisions
    5) Tips to raise your kids as smart money managers

Please subscribe to the blog for more interesting posts during the year ahead. Thanks again for your continued readership.

Wish you all a happy, healthy & prosperous new year! (Did I forget to say wealthy? :-) )

Amazon.com Deal: Shop using Amex reward points for $25 off

2016-08-29T08:55:00.003-07:00

Amazon.com is offering up to $25 off on eligible orders over $50 if a portion of the order is paid with your Amex membership reward points. This offer is valid for the products sold and shipped by Amazon.com only. Click here or see below screen shot for more detailed instructions and offer code.

Enjoy your quick and easy $25 savings! Consider social sharing so that others can enjoy the savings.

Brexit: The good, the bad and the ugly

2016-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

What is Brexit? As you all know British voters voted recently on "Should the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?". Historical referendum given by British voters to exit the European Union is abbreviated as Brexit (i.e. British exit). What does it mean to a common man like you & I?

The Good:
Now is the time to plan a vacation to United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Whales, Northern Ireland) that you always dream about. Travel to UK has always been an expensive affair. After Brexit, the value of British pound fallen sharply to its lowest levels in decades - with over 12% down against other currencies. This means every thing today is cheap for a foreigner there than it was before. As a tourist you will have more spending power to purchase boarding and lodging while in UK. To attract tourists after Brexit, super travel deals might pop up as well.

The Bad:
All your 401K, stock investments might have taken a plunge after Brexit. This is bad for a common investor. There are some market winners as well like gold & silver investments, oil investments etc. (Hint: It is always important to have a diversified portfolio to sustain unpredictable changes in global/local market)

The Ugly:
Are we done or is there more worst coming from Brexit? or Is it worth moving capital from risky investments to safer havens? or Is it good time to invest more in stocks as the market is low? No one knows the right answer. The fear of uncertainty for a long time is definitely ugly for a common investor. Since my portfolio is diversified (at least I think so) I decided to stay the course and make no changes to my investments.

May be it is time to experience "The Good" and plan that dream vacation to UK!

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Penfed Access America interest-bearing checking account

2016-06-25T22:47:00.003-07:00

We have seen savings accounts, certificate deposits, money market accounts etc paying monthly dividends but never heard of a checking account that pays monthly dividends with annual percentage yields on par with term CD rates. Penfed's Access America checking account just does that by paying superior dividends on daily balances. Annual percentage yield of 1.01% is paid for a daily balance of $20,000 or more up to $50,000 and 0.5% is paid for daily balance less than $20,000. Dividends are compounded daily and paid monthly. These dividend rates are lot higher than national average savings account rate and close to national average 5-year CD rate.

This interest-bearing checking account comes with regular checking account goodies like 24/7 online and mobile banking access, free online bill payment, overdraft protection, access to over 56,000 free ATMs. Additionally, primary account holders get one year FREE identity theft protection service from Equifax - a $155 value and joint account holders may also sign up for the same outstanding protection service for only $2.95 per month. Best of all it is NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) insured, which means your deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000 should your credit union go under. Any catches? - direct deposits of $1,000 or more is required per statement cycle. Dividends are not paid if this direct deposit requirement is not met.

Penfed's Access America checking account is the right choice for anyone who is looking for a premium checking account that pays you back.

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Fundrise.com - Real Estate Crowdfunding

2016-06-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

Real estate has been one of the main interest for every one but the high investment requirements and the high costs involved in owning a piece of real estate always kept us at bay. Internet and social media has revolutionized fundraising and created limitless investment opportunities that the different crowdfunding platforms have created for individuals. One such online real estate crowdfunding portal that made investment in real estate easy for individuals is Fundrise eREIT. REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust.

How does it work? Fundrise pools relatively small amounts from individuals and use those funds to buy commercial/rental properties, or finance projects in commercial real estate. They provide 2 types of investments, Income eREIT and Growth eREIT. Income eREIT focuses on providing stable quarterly income stream whereas Growth eREIT focuses on providing moderate returns during the life of the investment, with the potential for much higher returns paid out at the end of the investment. Every individual has the opportunity to chose which eREIT to invest in.

In short here is how you can start investing:
    - Open an account with Fundrise.com
    - Link your bank account
    - Start investing in Income eREIT or Growth eREIT (minimum to invest is $1000)
    - Investment will be approved and all legal documentation regarding investment will be available online in 3-4 days.

My experiment: I invested $2000 in Income eREIT at the beginning of this year on which I received $20 return (directly deposited into my bank account) for the first quarter of this year and I am awaiting to see the return for second quarter of the year. I also invested $2000 in Growth eREIT in April 2016 and I am awaiting first return in early July 2016. Online website experience and account management experience is not bad. Once you have an account you have access to the investments they have made so far including location, asset type, risk and return profile. All the transactions are entirely online including legal documents, funds transfer, ownership recording etc.

Interesting part about Fundrise is, investments are open to non-accredited investors as well. I see this very rarely in crowdfunding world where investment options are strictly open to accredited investors only. The fact of owning a piece of commercial real estate for relatively small amounts is exciting but at the same time you should be cautious about the risks involved. I strongly suggest every one to read and understand their FAQ (mainly exit strategy) before investing.

Disclosure: Please note that I stated my experiment numbers and experiences here just to give you an idea. In no way I am suggesting that this is a better investment. Every one should understand that this carries higher risk and that is one of the main reason why I am experimenting with relatively small amounts.

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Coffee deal - Starbucks $20 eGift card for $10 with Visa checkout

2016-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Coffee - my most important meal of the day :-) . Starbucks is giving away $20 eGift card for $10 when you use Visa checkout. I just came across this coffee deal and grabbed it right away. This offer will expire on 05/17/2016. For more details visit the deal page here.

Here is what they have in their deal page: "Be one of the first 325,000 to buy a Starbucks eGift Card (min $10) using Visa Checkout between 5/3/16 – 5/17/16 and we will add an additional $10, courtesy of Visa Checkout. Send $10 – they get $20, send $20 – they get $30, just for using Visa Checkout.
The bonus wont be reflected in your checkout experience but will be confirmed in your email receipt. Limit one per person."

I bought a $10 gift card using Visa checkout and here is the confirmation email I received: "We’re happy to let you know that your US$20.00 Starbucks Card eGift has been delivered to xxxxxx@gmai.com. Just imagine the beverage your friend is about to enjoy at Starbucks."

If you have no problems with double dosage of caffeine enjoy the deal!

Fixed Mortgage - 15 year or 30 year

2016-04-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Most of us brainstorm on different types of mortgage loans available in the market before purchasing a new home or before refinance. Let's say you decided to go with fixed mortgage just because you like the fact that the interest rate stays same for the duration of the loan. Would you pick a 15 year fixed over a 30 year fixed or vice-versa? We all know that interest rate on a 15 year fixed mortgage is always slightly lower than the interest rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage and with a 15 year fixed mortgage you will pay significantly less interest over the life of the loan. But is that enough information to make a decision? First, let's get an idea of what a 15 year fixed mortgage and a 30 year fixed mortgage would cost you.

For example, consider a mortgage of $300,000.00 with an interest rate of 3.0% on a 15 year fixed mortgage and 3.75% on a 30 year fixed mortgage. I will try to put the comparison in a table format below.

Based on the calculations in the above table, 30 year fixed mortgage would cost you $682.00 less every month for first 180 months and $1389.00 more every month for next 180 months (remember 15 year loan will be paid off in 180 months). However, the total interest for the 30 year mortgage would be $127,251.00 more than that of the 15 year fixed mortgage. It clearly shows that 30 year fixed mortgage will give you more flexibility with your monthly finances where as 15 year fixed mortgage will save you a lot on interest.

Still not sure what to pick? How about taking a 30 year fixed mortgage and making monthly payments which are equivalent to a 15 year fixed mortgage? Let's apply this to our example above and see how the numbers change.

By making a monthly payment equivalent to a 15 year fixed mortgage monthly payment to your 30 year fixed mortgage you will end up paying $27K more towards interest than that of a 15 year fixed mortgage and over $100K less towards interest than that of a 30 year fixed mortgage. Plus your loan will be paid off in 16 years while still enjoying the flexibility of going back to lower monthly payments when you are in money crisis. This options suits best if you have the discipline to do additional monthly payments.

In short, if you prefer to keep mortgage payments low every month then 30 year fixed mortgage is the right choice but if you prefer to pay less interest over the period of the loan, only if you are sure you can afford the higher monthly payments, then your choice should be 15 year fixed mortgage. If you are sure you can afford higher monthly payments initially but not sure in the long run then use the hybrid option - opt for a 30 year fixed mortgage but keep your monthly payments equal to that of a 15 year fixed mortgage monthly payment.

Disclosure: The numbers and calculations in the example are approximate values and they can be validated using any online mortgage calculators and amortization calculators.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card - 50K Bonus Points

2016-03-30T21:51:00.001-07:00

Chase is offering 50K bonus points when you apply (and get approved) for a new Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and spend $4000 in first 3 months of account opening. This comes with $0 annual fee for the first year and then bumps to $95 per year from second year on wards if you decide to keep it after first year. For more highlights of this card click here (link to Chase website).

Are you suggesting to blow up your budget by $4K to get 50K points? No, there are many ways to spend $4000 on this card in a smart way. Few ways are plan on using this card for all your day-to-day transactions, buy store gift cards to use them later etc.

Now, what does 50K points translate to? If you turn points into cash back the straight dollar value is equal to $500 but if you use other options (like travel, gifts etc) through Chase Ultimate Rewards you can maximize these benefits up to $625. If you want to get maximum worth out of these points there is an option to transfer (at 1:1 ratio) them to different airline frequent flyer programs (my favorite is United airlines) or different hotel programs (my favorite is IHG rewards).

What are the negatives? There will be a hard credit check on your credit history reducing your credit score temporarily. I don't recommend applying for this card, as a matter of fact for any credit card, if you are planning to shop for mortgage, auto loan, home equity loan etc in near (1-2 yrs) future.

Few other benefits offered by this card are:

$0 Foreign transaction fee
Covers primary insurance when renting a car.
Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance
Baggage Delay Insurance & Trip Delay Reimbursement
Extended Warranty Protection

Based on your preferences do your research to get a great value out of these bonus points. Wish you a happy (free?) vacationing.

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Emergency Fund - What are my options?

2016-03-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

Most financial experts recommend saving at least 3-6 months of your income as an emergency fund. That's a lot of money but I can't disagree with them. Most of us generally have health insurance coverage, auto insurance coverage, home insurance coverage, appliance warranty plans and credit cards. Because of these we may think we don't even need to maintain an emergency fund. Is that true? I don't know. What I know for sure is its hard to guesstimate when we will have an unexpected expense and in which form. In short we will never know when we need emergency fund but we all know we need it one day. So be prepared for it. When you are in need of an emergency fund what are your options? how soon can you get access to the funds? etc...

Here is my list: (in the order of preference)

1) Checking/Savings account - If not 6 months, save at least 1 month of your income in your checking or savings account. You should be able to have access to these funds within minutes. These 1 month savings might not be enough to pull you out of crisis but many times they will buy you time before you look around for other options. When you are out of crisis plan on funding this account again.

2) Fixed Deposits or CDs - Plan on early withdrawal from your fixed deposits or multiple year CDs. There might be early withdrawal penalties where you might lose some interest but there will never be loss of principal. In most cases you should be able to access these funds with in 2-3 days.

3) Selling shares - This is tough to do especially when the market is down. No one wants to sell shares for a loss but we are talking about an emergency fund here. It will take anywhere from 5-7 days to have access to these funds.

5) Auto Loans - If you have a vehicle with no lien you have an option to finance the vehicle. Auto loans are approved very quickly these days and the interest rates are very cheap. You can have access to the funds in less than a week.

4) Traditional 401K - You can take up to 50% of your balance or $50K , which ever is less, from your 401K account. Access to these funds will take anywhere from 7-10 days. But remember you will have to do monthly payments and a small administration fee which can be spread over 5 years maximum. If you haven't started doing 401K contributions it might be a good idea to start now. See my detail post on how you can use 401K balances as reserves. Only plus point in this option is borrowers pay interest to themselves.

6) Home Equity/HELOC - You can tap your equity in home by applying for loans against it. Only drawback is it will take anywhere from 30-60 days to have access to the funds because of the long process involved in loan approval. May be by that time you will even be out of crisis. Only plus point in this option is the interest you pay may be tax deductible.

7) Personal Loans - I personally don't like this option because it is expensive if your credit history is not great. But if you are in need you have this option of applying for personal loans where interest rates and terms will be more favorable than a credit card cash advance. These loans are approved solely based on your credit history and access to these funds can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks.

8) Borrowing from friends and family - Yeah, it definitely sounds awkward but do it when you are in emergency. Don't forget to pay back when you are out of crisis though.

9) Credit Card Cash Advance - No! Don't! Never! Most people prefer to go with this option because of the ease and very quick access to the money. The costs associated with this option are outrageous and very well underestimated. I wish I didn't even list this as an option. But if you have used all the above options and reached this far I think you should examine your finances carefully and start planning better once you are out of crisis. You definitely don't want to end up with this option again!

None of these options are ideal but if you are in a crisis consider above listed options. Important: If you are thinking about using options #7, #8 & #9 you should consider it as a sign that your financial planning needs some fine tuning. Feel free to share your thoughts or new options in comments section.

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Simple (but mostly delayed) life changing Financial decisions - Part 3

2016-03-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is Part 3 of the article that I started writing few days back. Click the links to read Part 1 and Part 2. In this part I will highlight different types of personal information to save and secure forever. I don't mean months or years, I mean decades. Planning to backup all personal information should be given a serious thought so that it is available to you and your key family members when needed. Let's go over specific information in our life that demands a secure backup.

1) Saving a soft copy of personal documents like passports, visas, insurance, health related docs etc.
It is always a good idea to have a soft copy of your Passports, Visas, & Insurance docs. When you lose the originals these copies will help you in filling out the information when applying for new originals. You will not know what information would be needed by your loved ones when you are not around. Saving and sharing copies of these originals will help your family members when they are in need (for example when claiming insurance benefits). Without these copies you and/or your family members will have to spend lot of money and time when needed.

2) Saving work related data and education related certificates.
Allocate time to backup all your work related data like 401K documents, stock options, ESPP, RSUs or any other work area benefits. Did you ever go through the pain of ordering original degree certificates? If yes, you know what I am talking about. Sit down and make a copy of all your degree certificates and mark sheets. May be ask your spouse to help and I am sure you will have some good laughs going through your marks and grades.

3) Saving vehicle titles, home titles & any property related docs.
If you have a living trust you should have already covered your properties and vehicles in it. Please read Part 2 of this article if you haven't started preparing a Will/Trust. It is always a good idea to save a copy of your vehicle titles and home titles. BTW, never keep vehicle titles in your vehicle so that you don't lose them when your vehicle is lost or stolen.

4) Saving photos, videos etc. Basically plan to backup your PC, laptop, tablet, smart phone etc.
We spend enough money to capture best moments and important occasions in our life. We cherish those moments by watching the photos and videos in which they are captured. Generally these photos & videos are saved on your personal PCs or smart phones. Imagine losing access to your PC or smart phone for various reasons like virus attack, hardware malfunction etc - a sickening feeling. Saving a backup of these photos & videos will save you from such nightmarish disappointments. Losing every photo from first year of my kid's life or some irreplaceable pictures is a huge deal to me. So to be extra cautious I actually do 2 backups - one to the cloud and one to external hard drive.

5) Saving financial information in a secured way
Last but not least it is always important to save these backups in a secure way. Someone getting access to your backup copies is another nightmarish disappointment. Do your research and find a trustworthy cloud storage service to save your backups in a secure way. I personally prefer Google drive because first 15GB is free per account and then it is only $1.99 per month per 100GB and the next level is $9.99 per month per 1TB. If you are like me 100GB offering should be good enough to start with. When I reach the 100GB limit, instead of signing up for the next level 1TB offering, I plan to create another account with 100GB storage offering.

Bottom line: Scan all your originals. If you don't have a direct access to scanner try out the CamScanner app in android market or iTunes. Save all your important originals in a bank safe deposit box or a private safety locker. At minimum keep one backup copy of originals in a hard drive and another backup copy in a cloud storage. Most important: share access details with your spouse and don't forget to update your backups frequently. Not taking these actions now might cost you money and/or time down the road.

This is the last part of the article I planned. In future if I find something new I will write Part 4. Please feel free to send me an email or use the comments section below for any inconsistencies or additional information you might want to share.

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Simple (but mostly delayed) life changing Financial decisions - Part 2

2016-03-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is Part 2 of the article that I started writing a week ago. Click here to read Part 1. I will highlight few easy Financial decisions that are often delayed or neglected in this part.

1) Having a Will and/or Trusts
A Will/Trust is a legalized document that addresses who/how your assets are dealt with after you die. The risk of not having one is that your assets could end up with the government/courts and not with the ones who really deserve/need them (family). All your assets (bank accounts, real estate, safe deposit boxes, automobiles, ornaments, etc.) can be included in your document. Remember that Trusts or Wills made in US will not cover assets back home. You should have a separate Will made in your home country. Recommended way is to have a Trust to cover assets in US and a Will to cover assets back home (India mainly). There are many CPAs and lawyers in the market who can do this in US & back home. The following link has additional details, pros/cons of each approach - Regular Will Vs Living Trust

2) Whole life Insurance Vs Term-life Insurance
Life insurance isn’t a topic most people want to discuss. You don’t have an option of staying back when death knocks on your door. Death in a family is both a physical and a mental drain; make sure your family is financially taken care of at that time. The basic concept of an Insurance policy is that you’d be paying an annual premium and in case something happens to you, your family would be paid a lump sum amount, in most cases Tax-free. The two common types of Insurance policies are: Life, Term-life. Life is more expensive than Term-Life; however, Life returns a portion of your money at the end of the term, while Term does not. Some criteria to decide on which one to choose should be Finances, health, life style, age, duration of policy, etc. Do your own research and seriously consider getting either one that best fits you and your family. The following link has additional details of each type - Life Vs Term-life

3) Keeping spouse/family informed about personal assets and liabilities
The most common mistake most people do is sparing their spouses/family of financial dealings, mostly with an intention of shielding them from tedious unnecessary detail. That is the most terrible act of violence you will inflict on your dependents; in case something were to happen to you. If your family doesn’t know what you own/owe, they will not be able to claim them in the absence of a will/trust.

4) Distribution of Net worth
Knowing the different categories of assets you hold is very important to laying out both a short-term and a long-term fiscal strategy. Depending on current distribution, consider diversifying into other categories. Recently, Gold is becoming an important asset class, with one analyst suggesting a current allocation of up to 20% of the portfolio link. Use following link to get an idea of your current asset distribution - Asset Allocation Calculator

5) Watching credit reports and safeguarding identity
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. While some identity theft victims can resolve their problems quickly, others spend hundreds of dollars and many days repairing damage to their good name and credit record. Some consumers victimized by identity theft may lose out on job opportunities, or be denied loans for education, housing or cars because of negative information on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit link. The different types of fraud that can be committed are: Credit card, phone/utilities, bank/finance, Government documents, etc. There are many credit monitoring services available in the market. I strongly recommend signing up for one to keep a close eye on your credit history. Also, The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires all 3 credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every year. Don't forget to utilize this free service provided to you.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this article. Credit for this post goes to my friend Hemanth Potluri and I thank him for his contribution. Please feel free to send me an email or use the comments section below for any inconsistencies or additional information you might want to share.

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Simple (but mostly delayed) life changing Financial decisions - Part 1

2016-02-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

I decided to come up with an article on list of things that everyone must do to avoid any kind of disturbances in future for you and your loved ones. The content of this article might be overwhelming if I try to fit in one post so I will break this down into 3 parts. The contents of this article are based on my personal experience and discussions with my friends and family members. I would like to thank my friends and family members for their valuable input and contribution towards this article. In this post (Part 1) I will give an overview of the article.

Part 2 of the article highlights a few easy Financial decisions that are often delayed or neglected such as:
1) Will & Trusts
2) Life insurance
3) Keeping spouse/family informed about personal assets and liabilities
4) Distribution of Net worth
5) Watching credit reports and safeguarding identity

Part 3 of the article highlights different ways to backup your personal information for easy access and availability to you and your family members when needed. These include:
1) Saving a soft copy of personal documents like passports, visas, insurance, health related docs etc
2) Saving work related data and education related certificates
3) Saving financial information in a secured way
4) Saving vehicle titles, home titles & any property related docs
5) Saving photos, videos etc. Basically plan to backup your PC, laptop, tablet, smart phone etc.

The target audience for this article are people/families who
1) are educated
2) are working
3) have kids
4) are either not aware of or have delayed/not acted on some financial decisions mentioned

Stay tuned for more details in Part 2 & Part 3 of this article. Please feel free to send me an email or use the comments section below for any inconsistencies or additional information you might want to share.

If you find this interesting, please consider social sharing. Thanks!

4 Cs of diamonds - Costco Jewelry

2016-02-14T14:09:00.002-08:00

Happy Valentine's day readers! It is that time of the year where every one wants to gift a precious item to their valentine. Those who are thinking of buying diamond jewellery (I personally prefer gold or silver over diamonds for investment purposes) should get very familiar with the standard 4 Cs (Cut, Carat, Clarity & Color) of diamonds. You will find plenty of information on the internet if you search for "4 Cs of Diamonds". The information you will find will be too heavy to digest and remember. I will try to simplify and write basics of 4 Cs (from what I understood) so that you have some basic knowledge before buying diamonds. I can't be detail in my post anyway as I am not anywhere close to an expert.

1) Cut - Cut is not about shape of the diamond. It is more about the way diamond reacts to lighting and environment. The most popular diamond cut you will see is "Round Brilliant".
Rule of thumb: I always stick to Round Brilliant cuts because I don't know how to value other cuts.

2) Carat - Carat represents weight and size of the diamond, abbreviated as ct.. One carat equals 200 milligrams or 1/5 of a gram and is sub-divided into points. Each carat is divided into 100 point. So a diamond weight of 1/4 carat is equal to 25 points, 0.75 carat is equal to 75 points, likewise a 1.45 carat diamond is equal to 145 points - same like pennies in a dollar. Same carat weight diamonds does not necessarily look the same size. Depending on the cut a diamond may look bigger or smaller. Price of the diamond increases as the carat weight increases. Also, a 2 carat diamond is always expensive (and worth) than two 1 carat diamonds.
Rule of thumb: Make sure to look for carat weight before buying any diamond jewellery.

3) Clarity - Diamonds carry different internal and external characteristics because they are exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. Internal characteristics are called inclusions and external characteristics are called blemishes. Diamonds with no inclusions and no blemishes are called Flawless diamonds. But how do we determine external and internal characteristics of a diamond? There are 11 clarity grades and they are: F, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, and I3.
F - Flawless - No inclusions and No blemishes.
IF - Internally Flawless - No inclusions and but some blemishes visible under 10x magnification glass.
VVS1,VVS2 - Very Very Slight inclusions which are very difficult to see for a professional grader under 10x magnification glass.
VS1, VS2 - Very Slight inclusions which may be visible to professional grader under 10x magnification glass.
SI1, SI2 - Slight inclusions which are visible to anyone under 10x magnification glass.
I1, I2, I3 - Inclusions are obvious and may be seen with naked eye.
Rule of thumb: Stick to VS2 clarity or better because inclusions are not visible to us.

4) Color - Quality diamonds are colorless and the color grading scale extends from D to Z. D stands for colorless i.e. very expensive.
Colorless - D, E, F grades
Near Colorless - G, H, I, J grades
Slightly Tinted - K, L, M grades
Very Light Color(yellow) - N, O, P, Q, R grades
Light Color(yellow) - S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z grades
Rule of thumb: Stick to grades J or better to ensure your diamonds are very near to colorless.

Are you lost or still wondering what to do with all this information? In Short, to experience a satisfied purchase make sure your diamonds are Round Brilliant cut, higher carat weight, VS2 clarity or better and a color grade J or better. This information should always be provided by any licensed diamond seller.

I have all the information now but where to buy good quality diamonds? There are many vendors who sell quality diamonds. Speaking personally, I like Costco and it is my 5th C for buying diamonds. Costco is very committed to quality in all items they sell including diamond jewellery. They have their own gemologists ensuring quality checks at every level. All the diamonds sold at Costco are round brilliant cut (except some fancy cuts), VS2 clarity or better and a color grade I or better. Costco's excellent return policy on diamonds is one more reason why I like to buy from them.

Tax Filing Software - TurboTax 2015 deals

2016-01-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

I personally don't love filing taxes unless I expect a big refund. Who would enjoy filing taxes when there are more other enjoyable ways (my favorite one is shopping online in anticipation of tax refund) to spend your time? Unfortunately, most of us do not have an option to skip filing taxes. Filing taxes are very much necessary & mandatory but are very painful. Online tax filing softwares try to ease some pain. Some softwares (best ones) even try to make the tax filing process enjoyable by giving you positive encouragement all along. There are over 2 dozens of online tax filing softwares in the market like TurboTax, TaxACT, H&R Block, Taxbrain, ezTaxReturn, ezFile, Jackson Hewitt, 1040.com, Liberty Tax Service to name a few. TurboTax being popular out of these, I decided to put some TurboTax deals together for the tax year 2015.

1) Amazon is offering 40% off on TurboTax Desktop software 2015. For more details click here
(Note: You get a better discount if you bundle with Quicken software. These prices might not last long)
2) Groupon has a dedicated page for TurboTax coupons & discount codes. For more details click here
3) Fidelity is offering a special discount on TurboTax for all (including non-Fidelity account holders). For more details click here
4) Retailmenot also has a page which traks TurboTax coupons and discount codes. For more details click here
5) StateFarm is offering great discounts to its selective customers. For more details click here
6) Most of the Credit Unions offer special discounts on TurboTax to their customers. Check with your Credit Union to see if they have any promotion.

Tax filing season has started and if you want to save some money don't wait till the filing deadline. One month before the filing deadline is when these deals will start disappearing and the filing prices will increase. I will continue to update the list as I come across new discounts.

Tips to raise your kids as smart money managers

2016-01-21T18:06:00.001-08:00

As a parent, one of our important roles is to help our children learn smart money management techniques and financial management principles. Typical desi parents’ advice their children something like: "Money doesn't grow on trees" or "If you waste money God will stop giving you money". I personally don't know if these advices work but I believe that it takes a bit more effort to teach them right financial management principles. If you feel that I am going to talk about how to become rich (or poor), you are totally mistaken. My only goal is to share my experiences about how to raise children as wise money managers. I outlined few tips which can be followed by a parent at each stage of their child's growth. Doing these might serve them well for a lifetime.

Pre-K/Kindergarten - Start with teaching them how to identify coins & notes. Explain them how you earn money and how you use money to buy things.

Elementary School - Concentrate on explaining them money involved habits like spending, saving, sharing, donating etc. Use their growing math skills to help you pay cash for items. Set up a piggy bank and a savings goal to meet. Don't forget to help them progress towards the savings goal. Help them sell Girl Scout cookies or run a lemonade booth in the neighborhood/community.

Middle School - Teach them comparison shopping, online shopping, explain how a checking account works and teach them how to use the ledger. Make them manage yard sales & garage sales.

High School - This is actually a tough stage to make teens learn. Concentrate on explaining them credit, loans, interests, investments and budgets. Emphasize that using a credit card is like taking a loan that has to be paid back with interest. My favorite statement about credit cards is "Credit card is like a gun. It can be helpful or it can kill you". Let your teen manage small budgets at home and allow them to do mistakes. We want them to learn from their mistakes before they leave home and start living on their own.

Last but not least, in this fast growing computerized world it is equally necessary to teach them the importance of personal information and safeguarding it to prevent fraud.

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Robinhood Review - Online $0 Stock Trading App

2015-12-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

There are many who make living out of trading stocks but we all know that making money in stock market is not so easy. Successful stock traders require plenty of discipline. Newer and casual investors like me always have the urge of playing with small amounts in stocks and see how they perform. Stock trading fees and commissions charged by online brokers for each trade always blocked my urge. Most online discount brokerage firms charge $10 on an average for each trade. For example if you plan to invest $1000 in a stock and you plan to use a discount broker that charges $10 per trade, 1% of your investment is charged as fee for buying the stock. Eventually when you decide to sell another 1% (or $10) is charged as a fee. Remember buying and selling same stock are considered as two different trades. In this example let's say there is no change is stock value since you first bought the stock. At the time of final sale you will have $980 in hand and $20 paid as trading fee. That is a $20 loss (or 2% loss). If you think about diversifying your first $1000 investment to just a handful of stocks you could easily be down 10% just from paying commissions & fees.

Robinhood came up with mobile-only brokerage application which lets you do unlimited trades for free, no minimum balance requirements with seemingly no catches. They have both Android and Apple iOS apps but there is no desktop or browser interface. I am using their app from past couple of months and I love their $0 commission trades and the user interface. The app supports general online brokerage features like market orders, limit orders, stop orders, good for a day orders, good till canceled orders etc. Of course heavy stock traders will find few features missing but this app is not targeted to them. Account opening process is as simple as submitting online application and linking bank details. In short Robinhood app will let you buy X number of shares of any NASDAQ listed company, then decide to sell down the line, and have no fees or commissions through out the process. I encourage readers to understand their FAQ page before opening an account and start trading.

Happy and successful trading!

Handy financial rules of thumb

2015-12-08T14:22:00.001-08:00

Here are few cool things that will make you look like a financial voodoo. I use these frequently to do quick math in my mind without searching for a calculator. You can find more detail information on these rules and learn more tricks if you search internet. To make understanding easy I did not consider few facts like annual inflation, taxes, fees etc in the examples.

1) How to quickly calculate hourly rate based on annual salary?

There are 52 weeks in a year and 40 working hours in a week. This translates to 2080 working hours per year. Let's keep 80 hours for holidays, sick leaves, vacations etc. That leaves us with 2000 working hours per week. If your annual salary is $60000 just divide this number by 2000 to quickly calculate hourly rate. If you know your hourly rate use this trick in reverse to calculate annual salary.

Here is an example:

Case 1 (Calculate hourly rate from annual salary)

Annual Salary: $60000

Hourly Rate: Annual Salary/2000 hours = $60000/2000 = $30

Case 2 (Calculate annual salary from hourly rate)

Hourly Rate: $30

Annual Salary: Hourly Rate*2000 hours = $30*2000 = $60000

2) Rule of 72 (or 115) trick

Rule of 72 is about doubling your money. This trick quickly tells you how long it will take for your investment to be doubled based on your rate of return. Let's say you invest $10000 in an index fund which guarantees 10% return on investment every year. Divide 72 by 10 and the result is the number of years it will take for your investment to grow to $20000. Like the first trick this can be applied in other way as well. If you want to know what rate of return you should expect to double your money in 7 years, just divide 72 by 7.

Here is an example:

Case 1 (Calculate in how many years your investment will be doubled)

Annual Rate of Return: 10%

Investment doubled in: 72/10 = 7.2 years

Case 2 (Calculate how much your annual rate of return should be)

Investment to be doubled in: 8 years

Annual Rate of Return: 72/ (8 years) = 9%

Extend this thinking further and imagine investing $1000 today in a fund which provides 10% annual return yearly. After 7.2 years it will become $2000 and after another 7.2 years it will become $4000. Fast-forward 35 years and you will have $32000. Quite a big reward without even lifting a finger.

Similarly Rule of 115 is all about tripling your money.

3) 10% retirement savings rule

We often think about how much to save for retirement. It is hard to consider all the facts and guesstimate how much one would need for retirement. To make things easy financial experts recommend 10% rule as a safe bet. This means save 10% of your salary every year and you will have enough to maintain the same lifestyle after retirement. To make this rule work you will have to start saving at least 30 years prior to your retirement. This rule is very often debated in the financial world.

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Emirates BOGO Cyber Monday Deal

2015-12-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: This promotion has expired.

Are you familiar with the BOGO acronym? It stands for "Buy One Get One". Thanksgiving is all about celebrating with loved ones on Thursday, sleepless shopping on Friday, recovering on Saturday and Sunday, and cyber shopping all Monday. This year Emirates came up with a nice Cyber Monday BOGO deal and they advertised it as "Enjoy a getaway for two with Cyber Monday companion fares" (Click here to see the offer). Here is what they have on their offer page:

"Now’s your chance to get a head start on the holidays with our Cyber Monday companion fares. For a limited time, you can fly together to some of our incredible destinations for only $1,549. See the world for less when you book two round-trip tickets from any of our 10 US gateways to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Book your Cyber Monday companion fare by December 2, 2015 for travel from January 9 to May 6, 2016."

Desi's favorite destinations in India like Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata are included in this offer. These fares are valid on flights originating from major cities in US like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago etc. This kind of deal on international flights is very rare. It is a good opportunity to save big money for those who already have plans to visit India or for those who can plan before the deal expires. Note that you have to make reservation by December 2, 2015 and don't forget to read the "Terms and Conditions" section at the bottom of the offer page before booking. Happy Journey!!

Discounted Gift Cards - Raise.com review

2015-11-26T07:58:00.001-08:00

If you are looking for discounted gift cards you should check out raise.com website. They have 5%-25% discounts (some times even more) on gift cards for many popular stores, restaurants etc. All you need is an account created in raise.com using your email address. They also allow you to sell your unwanted gift cards as well with the same account. They offer free shipping and 100% money-back guarantee on every order. Physical gift cards are delivered within 3-14 business days and electronic gift cards are delivered within 24hours. Make sure to search for their additional monthly promotions for extra savings. Some of the popular gift cards they have right now are:

Banana Republic - up to 9.5% off
Caribou Coffee - up to 23% off
Subglass Hut - up to 32% off
Krispy Kreme - up to 20% off
American Eagle - up to 16% off
Applebees - up to 10% off
Autozone - up to 16% off
Fandango – up to 22% off
Dick’s Sporting Goods In Store – up to 18% off
Dunkin Donuts – up to 12% off
Bath & Body Works – up to 16% off
Best Buy – up to 7% off
Burlington Coat Factory – up to 20% off
Converse – up to 22% off
Gap – up to 13% off
Payless Shoes – up to 21% off
Petco – up to 20% off
PetSmart – up to 17% off
Staples – up to 4% off
Starbucks – up to 15% off
JCPenney – up to 18% off
Macys – up to 10% off
Michaels – up to 25% off
Nine West – up to 27% off
Olive Garden – up to 20% off
Victoria Secret – up to 16% off

I personally buy Shell oil gift cards in bulk when they have deeper discounts. Plus Shell gift cards when used at the pump offer automatic 5 cents discount per gallon.