UPromise Holiday Promotion: $25 Bonus With Purchase
UPromise is mainly a cash-back online shopping mall like eBates that deposits money into a 529 college savings fund. If you haven’t opened an account already, now may be a good time to do so if you were planning to do some shopping at the stores below anyways - They are offering a $25 bonus if you are a new sign-up and make one purchase at a qualifying cash-back store before 12/31/07.
Non-eligible retailers are: Amazon.com, Avis, Bed Bath & Beyond, Butterfield Blooms, Budget, Cryo-Cell, Eddie Bauer, Eddie Bauer Outlet, Florist.com, Flowers U.S.A., FTD.com, Gift Sense, RedEnvelope, Ross-Simons, Sharper Image and Upromise Cruises.
Qualifying retailers are the rest, with some popular ones being Target.com, Walmart.com, eBay, Travelocity, CircuitCity.com, Nordstrom, and JCPenney. Lots of smaller ones too.
I’m not a huge fan of UPromise myself, having only earned about $5 since joining the program. I do link my Safeway Club card so each time I buy my nectar of life (Diet Coke) I get a few pennies back.
If you don’t like the idea of your money being swept into their 529 (no kids?), you can fill out this withdrawal form, mail it in, and have a check sent to you. Instructions are on the form. You need a signature guarantee if it’s more than $200, which is free at many banks and credit unions.
Find more in Deals & Offers | 11/20 | 10 Comments »
Multiple Jobs? Don’t Overpay Social Security Tax
Remember when you got your first paycheck and wondered why it was so small? All 16-year-olds hate FICA. 
Even though it’s not included when we talk about marginal tax rates, all employees have to pay 6.2% of their gross income to Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. (Double that for self-employed folks.) However, there is a limit for Social Security - the tax only applies to the first $97,500 of wages for 2007 ($6,045), no matter how many different sources it came from. The problem is, your employers have no idea what you’re making at your other jobs, or when you reach that cap.
I came across this WSJ article which tells you how to get any overpaid amount refunded back to you at filing time. Keep in mind it’s using cap values for 2006.
If you worked for two or more employers and had too much withheld, you can claim the excess as a credit.
Here’s a hypothetical example supplied by the IRS: Suppose you’re married and file jointly. Your spouse didn’t have any income last year. You worked for a company that paid you $58,000 during 2006 and withheld $3,596 (6.2% of $58,000) in Social Security tax. You also worked for another employer who paid you $47,000 and withheld $2,914 of Social Security tax (6.2% of $47,000).
Thus, the Social Security tax withheld totaled $6,510. That’s $669.60 more than you actually owe ($6,510 minus $5,840.40). So you’re entitled to a credit of $669.60. Enter it on Form 1040, line 67, or on Form 1040A, line 43.
I would assume that TurboTax or similar would catch this, but it’s definitely worth double-checking.
I was also trying to find online if you could direct your employer to stop withholding Social Security taxes if you “know” you’re over the limit already, but it seems like you can’t. They just keep withholding as if that was your only job. But what you can do is change your total tax withholding values (increase exemptions, etc.) in order to counteract this overpayment and reduce your future refund.
Find more in Taxes, Entrepreneurial | 11/20 | 25 Comments »
American Express Card Promos: 2 Free Plane Tickets, Cash Back Bonus, Double Points, and More
American Express is running a variety of promotions for their different credit cards right now. Use them wisely!
American Express Starwood Card - Up To 50,000 Frequent Flier Miles
Why? 10,000 sign-up bonus + 15,000 normal points from spending + 15,000 points from spending bonus = 40,000 Starpoints = 50,000 frequent flier miles on a bunch of different airlines, which is two free domestic roundtrip tickets! Alternatively, every 9,500 Starpoints can be converted to $100 in Amazon.com gift certificates or other stores like Banana Republic.
I’ve written before about the many uses of this Starwood Card. My favorite use remains as a mix of a hotel and miles card. I convert the points as needed to “top-off” the rest of my airlines miles. The rest goes to cheap rooms. I am actually trying book some free rooms right now for February which should give me a value of 4 cents per point ($125/night room for 3,000 points). If you consider that a 1% back card is the same as 1 cent per point, this is like getting 4% back. You also automatically get Gold Starwood status with this card, which has gotten me several free room upgrades. The first year is free, and after that the annual fee is $45.
AmEx Starwood Business Card - 10,000 Starpoints, 25% Bonus
For new sign-ups, the AmEx Starwood Business Card is also offering 10,000 free points after first purchase. For current cardholders, you may be eligible for 25% more points in November, for a total of 1.25 points per $1 spent, or up to 1.56 miles per $1 spent (1.25 x 1.25).
Enroll now and use your Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card to earn 25% bonus Starpoints® on all your eligible purchases from November 1 to November 30, 2007. For additional information see the terms and conditions below.
Read the rest of this entry…Find more in Deals & Offers, Credit Cards | 11/19 | 14 Comments »
Free Book Giveaway: Your Money & Your Brain
I didn’t want to clutter up my review post, but I did get this book free from a PR firm, and they were also generous enough to provide additional copies to give away to readers. So if you are interested in getting a free copy of Your Money and Your Brain, leave a comment with your e-mail address (will not be shown or shared) to enter the drawing. I will take entries until Friday 11/23 at Midnight. I have three free copies, so the odds are pretty good!
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Winners chosen randomly. One entry per person, and US residents only. Blah Blah Blah…
Find more in Deals & Offers | 11/18 | 308 Comments »
Your Money, Your Brain, and Your Happiness
Instead of trying to do an in-depth review, I’m just going to focus on a few interesting points brought up in my favorite chapter titled “Happiness”. Isn’t being happy our ultimate goal?
If I was rich… I’d be happy. Right?
When you are below the poverty line, then yes, making more money is correlated with happiness and even better health. But as long as you have enough to meet your basic needs, more money doesn’t buy very much more happiness. We think it will, but it reality it doesn’t. This has been shown in studies comparing African tribal herders with the Forbes 400 Richest People, ones comparing people with $500,000 net worth and those with $10M+ net worth, and even between different generations of Americans:
In 1957, the average American earned about $10,000 (adjusted for inflation) and lived without a dishwasher, clothes dryer, television. or air conditioner. But 35% of people surveyed said they were “very happy” with their lives. By 2004, personal income had nearly tripled after inflation, and the typical house was bursting with consumer goods. Yet just 34% of people now said they were “very happy”. Somehow, almost tripling our wealth has made Americans a little less happy - and still we want more.
Chasing Happiness
Similarly, people think that “splurges” or getting that next hot gadget will make them happy. In truth, studies reveal that the anticipation of obtaining that object makes your brain’s dopamine levels go nuts and you feel happy. Actually getting it? Not so much. Which leads you to thinking about the next hot gadget… and so on. The “thrill of the hunt”, eh?
Keeping Up With Those Darn Joneses
It turns out that your happiness is related money in one way - how much money the people around you have! Social comparison is a very primal instinct in humans and other animals. One theory is that such attention allowed people to imitate the stronger hunters and learn to be more like them.
For example, should you buy the nicest house in a middle-class neighborhood, or a below-average house in the richest neighborhood? Your real estate agent might point out that buying in the rich neighborhood offers the best potential for home value appreciation. But the data suggests that buying in the middle-class neighborhood and getting a bigger house than everyone else will likely make you happier.
A study of more than 7,000 people in over 300 towns and cities found that, on average, the more money the richest person in your community makes, and the greater number of neighbors who earn more than you, the less satisfied you will probably feel with your life.
The relationship between money and our brains is an interesting one. It’s good to learn about those innate tendencies, so we can recognize them and react appropriately.
Find more in Book Reviews, Family | 11/18 | 21 Comments »
TradeKing and Scottrade Promotion: Reimbursed Account Transfer Fees
Looks like TradeKing is trying to convert some customers from “one of the larger online brokers”… I wonder who they are talking about? From an e-mail today:
Due to the effect the sub-prime mortgage fallout has had on one of the larger online brokers, some investors have asked us if we’re at risk for similar problems. The answer is a resounding “No.” TradeKing does not invest in any mortgage-related securities, including sub-prime mortgages.
Furthermore, we protect your account against losses up to $25 million as a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and with supplemental coverage from Lloyd’s of London. If you’re concerned about an account you hold with another broker, perhaps you should consider consolidating your assets with TradeKing. We’ll even reimburse any account transfer fees your other broker may slap on you between now and December 31, 2007.
This reimbursement offer may save you $50-$100 if you’ve been wanting to do an ACAT account transfer to them from your existing broker. Scottrade also offers up to $100 in fee reimbursements for inbound transfers [update: if your account value is greater than $25,000]. Read more about both brokers in my TradeKing review and my Scottrade review.
You’ll should also weigh the upfront benefits against the potential commission savings if you go with a broker offering free stock trades.
