TurboTax – TaxCaster 2010: Estimate your 2010 taxes for free.

Most people wait until the last minute to do your taxes. I like to start as soon as possible just to get an idea of what I am in for. I have TurboTax 2010 Home & Business and have started mine. This free TaxCaster is a good way to plug in some numbers and get a rough idea of what your taxes might be.

I’d recommend running this early! If you are getting money back, then file early. It’s better to get that money sooner than later. If you think you might owe, then by all means wait until the last minute. Thats what I do. If I owe I pay on the last day. No way am I missing out on bank interest just to pay my taxes early. Even though the interest is only 1%* these days.

• Earn a $25 statement credit with $500 in eligible spending
• No annual fee, 0% intro APR on purchases for up to 12 months, flexibility to pay over time
• Earn up to 5% cash back on eligible purchases at supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, and more
• No limit on the cash back you can earn

Apply Now!

What you need to know:

Its 5% cash back on select categories such as gas, grocery stores, drugstores, etc, after your total annual purchases are above $6,500. It is still a solid 1% cash back card for all purchases less than an annual $6,500, with 1.25% on all purchases there after. There is no annual fee, and you still get a lot of the great benefits of an AMEX card. If you have an AMEX card know, you know their customer service and customer satisfaction is outstanding. I will be using this card more often now.

Your Rebate is awarded annually for each Rebate Year (12 consecutive billing periods) in the form of a statement credit. Rebate percentages for each Rebate Year are as follows:

Year to Date Purchases	Cash Back on Everyday Purchases*	Cash Back on All Other Purchases
$0-$6,500	1.0%	0.5%
$6,500.01 or more	5.0%	1.25%

Apply Now!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone,
not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.
This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

The federal e-file is free, so if you choose to e-file, check the schedule to see when you will receive your return.

I had to file by mail because I am filing for the first time homebuyer tax credit (FHBC).

Manage your investments for potential tax savings
It’s smart to think ahead—especially if your investments have fallen behind. If you decide to sell losing assets before year-end, you can use those capital losses to offset taxable capital gains.

Review your portfolio
Major market swings can cause your investment allocations to shift. By rebalancing, you can restore your target allocation, manage investment risk, and keep your portfolio in good health.

Maximize your retirement plan contributions
If you haven’t reached this year’s contribution limit for your retirement plan, kick the funding up a notch for the rest of the year and plan to maintain that contribution in 2010. The sooner you maximize your contributions, the more time your investments have to benefit from potential long-term growth. For any IRA you have until April 15th 2010 to make contributions for the 2009 year.

Make the most of your philanthropy
Planning to make a contribution to a charitable organization? Donate before December 31 so you can write it off on this year’s taxes.

Get smart with college savings plans
You can take advantage of potential tax benefits if you open or contribute to your kids’ or grandkids’ college savings plan, such as a 529 plan, before the year ends.

Spend your flexible spending account
If you’ve covered the basics but still have some remaining funds, check your plan’s list of eligible expenses for last-minute ideas. Make sure you use the money that’s left in your account by the end of the year, or you’ll lose it. It’s also enrollment time for 2010 FSAs, so consider whether you’ve spent all your funds in the past and make any necessary adjustments.

My money is small time hustling. Im on track to having almost $1000 extra dollars this year. How are you doing this year? Let me know if you have any questions about this in the comments below.

Ally Bank was built on the foundation of GMAC Financial Services. Since relaunching their banking unit, Ally has made some changes to their accounts. Ally now offers accounts with no monthly fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balances. The bank offers 4 savings and CD products: Classic CD, No Penalty CD, Online Savings Account, and a Money Market Account.

As demonstrated in Ally’s television commercial, Ally Bank seeks to offer its customers a better bank that breaks away from the traditional banking process. In addition, the mission statement stresses that Ally Bank will be an “open, accountable, and honest” institution by being “straightfoward” with “no sneaky disclaimers.” Ally offers its customers around the clock access to a call center agent for customer assistance. Ally Bank accounts are FDIC insured to $250,000.

What do you think of Ally? Add your review.

From the marketing text the card sounds great:

• 5% Cashback Bonus® in categories like travel, home, gas, restaurants, movies and more
• 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus at top retailers through our exclusive online shopping site
• Up to 1% Cashback Bonus on all other purchases automatically
• Unlimited cash rewards
• Increase, even double, your rewards when you redeem for gift cards from our 100 Cashback Bonus Partners
• 0% Intro APR for 6 months on Purchases, and up to 6 months on Balance Transfers*

  Apply Now!

The 5% cash back in categories such as travel, home, gas, restaurants, and movies are on a per signup basis and changes per quarter. The current Discover More Rewards calendar looks like this:

The Shop Discover is actually a really good program and you can earn up to 20% cash back on purchases as select stores.

Rewards Disclosures: Earn unlimited cash rewards on all purchases. Earn a full 5% Cashback Bonus on category purchases throughout the year by signing up for each program. In addition, earn a full 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3,000; other purchases that are part of your first $3,000 earn .25%. Warehouse purchases (those made at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates) earn .25%. We do not include warehouse purchases or 5% Cashback Bonus program purchases (up to the dollar limit specified in each applicable program) in calculating your total annual purchases to determine your tier level. Rewards are redeemable starting at $20. Rewards have no expiration date; however, if your account is closed for any reason or inactive for 18 consecutive months or if you fail to make the Minimum Payment Due by the Payment Due Date for two consecutive billing periods, your Cashback Bonus will be forfeited. Full terms and conditions will be sent with your card.

One reason I favor my Chase Freedom card still, is because VISA is more widely accepted. All places that accept credit cards will accept visa/master card(except Costco/BJ’s). Not all stores will accept Discover but most restaurants and major stores probably will.

* See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the “Apply Now” button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on credit card issuers website.

I have until June 30th. I wonder if I can call them and see what I can negotiate with them. That $3.34 could turn into $50 bucks. I know you might think thats not a big deal, but to come so close, and to have literally made it, just some delays in transactions means I don’t get the $50 dollars.

I wonder if there is a way for me to talk to them and see if they can make this happen. I would think almost 100% NOT going to happen. Why would Chase help me get more money, that is just not in the best interest of their company.

Make sure you guys check when your statements are ending, and when your $50 dollar reward is up! Don’t miss out like I am going to.

Update:
I emailed Chase this morning asking them what I can do to make up the point/cash. I asked if it was possible to transferpoints or borrow points in order to make it to the $200 mark I need to order that $250 dollar check. Here is the reply I got from Chase about 2 hours later:

I was shocked too! That was awesome! I have always been really pleased with the customer service from Chase, but this I never expected. Get a Chase card if you don’t already have one!

Here is the results already:

I will post another picture when I get the check. Please share if you had good customer service experience with Chase.

You can see in the picture above that my statement clearly says I carry a balance, and my minimum payment is zero.

My message to Chase was this, “I am a little confused why my last statement says minimum payment due is 0 dollars?” Here was the response I got from Chase…

Awesome! Thanks for the good news Chase, but this is a total scam. They want me to skip this payment so they can charge me interest. I’m posting this because as soon as I read this email, I had to let everyone know about it. If they allow you to “skip” a payment don’t do it. The minimum payment for my balance would have been about $18. If I had taken Chase up on this wonderful offer I’d be charged $12 dollars in interest. So this only benefits Chase. Maybe if you were really short on cash this could help you out, but for people like me who pay all their balances in full, this is just a scam to try and make a buck off you. I know $12 dollars doesn’t seem like much but multiply that by all the accounts Chase has.

What if you had setup automatic payments? Would this not go off because the minimum payment due is zero? If so, that would really screw people over.

If you liked this, or know anyone that should know about this, please share and let me know what you think below.

What does this mean for current card holders?
In the next several months you should be getting letters in the mail from your credit card companies explaining new changes to your terms & conditions. You will see higher interest rates and fees because they will no longer be able to change the APR’s on existing balances under the new bill.

What does this mean for new credit card offers?
It will be much harder to get approved for a credit card. They are tightening up who they allow credit. If you do get accepted, you will see a lower credit limit than what you would expect. For those who are 21 years and under will need to show they have an independent source of income or will need a cosigner. This is particularly good because credit card companies would prey on college students often getting them into debt before they graduate. Under this new bill it also helps protect young people from being irresponsible.

How does this effect the communication between the consumer and the credit card company?
Credit issuers will no longer be able to raise interest rates on existing balances. In a case when a payment is 60 days late they are allowed to raise the rates as high as they want. Not much has changed here right? The only difference is they are required to inform you 45 days in advance and explain the reason for the increase. In addition, your statements will be sent at least 21 days before your payment is due.

To help card holders stay away from debt, statements will clearly show how much it’s costing you to borrow and how long it will take to pay off a balance if you are making the minimum payments. If you can avoid it, never pay the minimum, always pay more. If you are paying the minimum payments now, you will see when these updated statements come, that by paying only the minimum payments, you are often further in debt the next bill cycle.

Photo: AP