Reviews — Page 4 — My Money Blog

Spare5 App Review: Earn Less Than Minimum Wage In Your Spare Time

Posted on December 29, 2016 // 2 Comments

sp5app0 Find yourself bored on this holiday break? Spare5 is a new entrant in the world of “earn money in your spare time”. You sign up and do short tasks on either their smartphone app or desktop web browser. They pay cash via PayPal weekly or donate to a charity of your choice.

What kind of tasks? The problem they are solving is that certain things are very hard for machines to do, but are easy for humans to do. Examples are assessing the tone of a conversation or separating elements of a photos. You’re basically creating an “answer sheet” to help compare against and train machine learning algorithms. (Help train the robots that will take over the world!) Some tasks were mildly amusing, while others were quite tedious.

How much money do they pay per task? As far as I can tell, very little. The tasks that I was offered ranged from zero to $0.10 per task. Most were around a penny each. It took me roughly an hour to reach the minimum payout of $1. I know that they want you to prove yourself before offering higher-value tasks, but from my experience it will take a while to even reach $5 an hour on average.

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Is Spare5 legit and do they actually pay out? Yes, they paid me via PayPal. Here’s a screenshot:

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Bottom line. Like most “earn money in your spare time” options like paid surveys or mystery shopping, the per-hour wage is low. I doubt the average user makes even close to minimum wage. Honestly, if you are a motivated person I would invest your time into improving your skill set so you can eventually make $25, $50, or $100 a hour.

That said, I think this app is going to be successful. Machine learning is growing, and they’ll need to test it against real human intelligence. While I won’t be a regular user, there will be more than enough people who are willing to do the work. Of course, I also fail to see why people spend hours playing games on their phones. If you just want something to cure boredom, I suppose getting paid $1 an hour is better than paying someone else $1 for a virtual axe or something.

This is far from a glowing recommendation, but if you do sign up there is a referral bonus that offers new users a 10% bonus on up to $100 in earnings in your first 180 days with a my referral link. That’s an extra $1 for every $10 in earnings. Thanks if you use my link, I will get $2 for every $10 you earn with Spare5 (up to $20).

Filed Under: Reviews //

Last updated: December 29, 2016

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Andrews Federal Credit Union Application and Account Opening Review

Posted on December 14, 2016 // 30 Comments

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I keep a portion of my cash reserves in certificates of deposit. I decided to open a share certificate from Andrews Federal Credit Union during their 2016 Holiday Promotion. The review information below should apply to anyone trying to open any deposit account at Andrews FCU.

Joining an eligible group for membership. Here is their page on membership eligibility:

Our field of membership includes Washington, DC, civilian and military personnel of Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and military installations in central Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands; as well as over 200 employer groups throughout Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey. We also have nationwide membership eligibility through the American Consumer Council.

As I do not live the in DC area and do not qualify otherwise, I joined the American Consumer Council (ACC), a non-profit organization dedicated to consumer education, advocacy and financial literacy. Sounds like something worth supporting! You can join through the website. I believe the cost is a one-time $8, although there is a promo code “consumer” that has worked to get the membership fee waived. You can make additional donations as you wish. They will send you an e-mail shortly with your ACC membership number.

Application process. You can then proceed to the Andrews FCU website and start the application. You will need your ACC number to satisfy the eligibility question “I am a member of the American Consumer Council (ACC), and my ACC membership number is ___”.

Note: Applying for an account will result in a hard credit inquiry. At least for me, they checked my TransUnion credit report.

You will need to provide the usual personal information – name, address, SSN, driver’s license, etc. You will also need to provide them with a bank account routing and account number to fund the initial share account. The minimum amount is $5. You will need to keep $5 in your Share account for as long as you are an Andrews FCU member. I just started with $5.

Account approval. Once your account is approved, you should get the following message:

Congratulations, your account with Andrews Federal Credit Union has been opened. Your member number is XXXXXXXX. The signature card has been sent to your email address via DocuSign for you to sign electronically.

Your new account funding is being processed and will be posted to your new account once received by us from your other institution. If you requested an ATM or VISA Debit Card as part of your application, your card order has been placed. The routing number for Andrews Federal is 255074111.

You may now enroll for SmartConnect, our online banking system, by visiting our web site www.andrewsfcu.org and selecting Online Banking Enrollment. If you require further assistance, please call us at 800.487.5500.

Thank you for choosing Andrews Federal Credit Union.

It’s nice that you can do the signature card via DocuSign. That meant my entire application process was completed online. I did try to call them a few times, but had some trouble navigating their phone tree without a member number. However, if I didn’t have my TransUnion report locked, I wouldn’t have had any reason to call them at all. Other than that delay, I would say the application took only one or two days to process.

Funding your checking, savings, or certificate account. I found the easiest way to open my share certificate was to move money into my share savings account, and then fund the certificate from the share savings. I use Ally Bank as my banking hub, so I added Andrews FCU as an external account in my Ally account using my share account number and routing number (255074111). For some reason, the direct login verification didn’t work for me, so I completed the verification using two small test deposits. It took 2 business days for the test deposits, and 2 business days for the transfer from Ally to Andrews FCU.

Opening the share certificate. Once the funds arrived, I opened the share certificate online by clicking on “Open an Additional Account”. Despite the promotion stating you had to call in, the special certificates were available online. Here’s a screenshot (click to enlarge):

You will need to chose your dividend reinvestment and maturity options. That’s it. The share certificate now shows up on my online banking page, right next to the share savings account. The process was pretty straightforward, just be sure to remove any credit locks or freezes on your TransUnion credit report. Remember that you’ll need to fund your special certificate by any stated deadline.

Filed Under: Banking, Reviews //

Last updated: November 22, 2019

Ally Bank CD Maturity Review: Phone and Online Redemptions

Posted on November 21, 2016 // 20 Comments

allyreview_logo Updated with online maturity information and screenshots. If you have money in a bank certificate of deposit (CD), you should be aware that most of them will renew automatically for the same term length upon maturity. That means if you don’t specifically tell them otherwise, your 5-year CD will roll over for another 5 years if you’re caught snoozing during the grace period. Different banks set different grace period lengths and renewal instructions; the best ones in my opinion let you set the decision ahead of time (i.e. Pentagon Federal Credit Union).

I bring this up again because I have a few Ally Bank CDs coming up for renewal. Here’s a quick review of the process for other Ally Bank account holders. First, here is the official policy taken from their website:

What happens to my CD at maturity?
You’ll have a 10-day grace period starting on your maturity date to:

Change the term
Make additional deposits or withdraw funds
Close the CD

If you don’t make changes to your CD by phone or in online banking by the end of the 10-day grace period, it will automatically renew into the same term. To provide renewal instructions in online banking:

Log in to your account
Go to the Main Menu , then Manage CDs
Select Make Changes

Here’s the timeline.

Roughly 30 days before maturity. If you have chosen paperless documents, you’ll receive a somewhat vague e-mail from Ally Bank with the subject line “You have new correspondence in online banking.” This is actually your official “Certificate of Deposit Maturity Notice”, so don’t overlook it! If you have paper statements, you’ll get a separate letter from Ally via snail mail.

Between 30 days before maturity to 10 days after maturity. If you want anything besides an auto-renewal of the same term at current market rates, then you must notify the either by phone at 1-877-247-ALLY (2559) or online. (Less than 2 years ago, there was no online option.) Here’s a screenshot of where I clicked after reaching my CD page (click to enlarge).

If you call them, they’ll ask you a bunch of identity verification questions, much more than other phone calls. You can also ask if they still offer a Loyalty Bonus where you’ll get an extra 0.05% APY if you renew your CD. I was not shown any such offer when renewing online. (The Ally Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee also applies.) If you want to make a withdrawal or other changes, they’ll ask you why. Nothing high pressure, but they’ll softly encourage you to renew.

I decided to withdraw my funds this time. If you have multiple CDs like I do (for minimizing penalties in case of early redemption), they will have to read you the details and disclosures for each one. You can just skip over it if you do it online. I do my daily banking at Ally so I just swept it into one of my online savings accounts while I decide what to do with it. Here’s a screenshot:

Remember that the phone wait time is shown live on the top of their main website (I only call if it is around a minute). Closing two CDs over the phone took about 15 minutes. Closing three CDs online took under 5 minutes. I’m glad they added the online option, it was much faster.

Also see: Ally Bank Savings Account Review.

Filed Under: Banking, Reviews //

Last updated: November 21, 2016

Access from AT&T Review: Affordable Home Internet For Low-Income Households

Posted on September 22, 2016 // 8 Comments

accessatt0 Access from AT&T is an affordable internet access plan for low-income households offered in certain areas with AT&T service. The cost is either $5 a month at 3 Mbps or $10 a month for 5-10 Mbps, depending on your area. According to their FAQ and press release, other features include:

No deposit required
No activation or installation fee
No contract
Free modem + WiFi router rental
Free access to the entire national AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spot network.

However, note that AT&T will run a credit check. I don’t quite understand the reasoning though, as they state it won’t affect your eligibility. From their website:

As part of standard AT&T policy, all orders for new service are subject to a credit check. Results of the credit check will not impact your ability to obtain Internet service under the Access program from AT&T.

Qualifying households must have:

At least one resident who participates in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and
An address in AT&T’s 21-state service area, at which we offer wireline home Internet service, and
No outstanding debt for AT&T fixed Internet service within the last six months or outstanding debt incurred under this program.

California residents also are eligible if:

At least one member of your household receives SSI benefits; and
At least one of the Access from AT&T Internet speed tiers is available at the address where you live.

You can apply for the Access by AT&T program here. You can also learn more by calling AT&T at 1-855-220-5211 for assistance in English or 1-855-220-5225 for assistance in Spanish.

I am not applauding AT&T for this effort, just promoting its availability. AT&T agreed to offer this service as a condition of their merger with DirecTV. I think people should take advantage of it if it works economically for them. However, I see no evidence that AT&T did this for charitable reasons. They are only doing the bare minimum required by law. I think they are rightly being criticized for not offering this affordable plan in areas where they have speeds lower than 3 Mbps.

Also see:

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Reviews //

Last updated: September 22, 2016

Schwab Target Date Index Funds Review

Posted on August 28, 2016 // 12 Comments

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Charles Schwab has announced Schwab Target Index Funds, a new series of “all-in-one” target date mutual funds that are made up entirely of in-house Schwab Index ETFs and a Schwab cash mutual fund. Their existing offering Schwab Target Funds differs in being significantly more expensive and including a mix of passive and actively-managed funds. Each fund will have a target date between 2010 and 2060, spaced in 5-year increments. Let’s take a closer look.

What’s inside? The portfolio for any given target year is composed of 9 different asset classes. Here is a graphical illustration of their “glide path”, or how the asset allocation changes relative to the target retirement date. (Source. Click image to enlarge.)

Here’s a 2016 snapshot of what every fund is holding by target date (Source. Click image to enlarge.):

Overall, the glide path conforms to industry norms, with high equity at younger ages and lower equity as you reach and pass retirement. Here are the ETFs and mutual funds that represent each asset class.

US Large Cap Equity – Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX)
US Small Cap Equity – Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (SCHA)
International Developed Equity – Schwab International Equity ETF (SCHF)
Emerging Markets Equity – Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF (SCHE)
Real Estate – Schwab U.S. REIT ETF (SCHH)
Short-Term Bond – Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHO)
Intermediate-Term Bond – Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (SCHZ)
Inflation-Protected Bond – Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP)
Cash – Schwab Variable Share Price Money Fund — Ultra Shares (SVUXX)

How much do they cost? What are the investment minimums?

Individuals can buy Investor Shares with an expense ratio of 0.13%. The minimum initial investment is $100.
Employer-sponsored retirement plans can access the Institutional Shares with an expense ratio of 0.08%. There is no minimum initial investment.

An interesting thing to note is that the mutual funds technically have an extra layer of management fees and “other fees” on top of the expenses from the underlying ETFs and mutual funds. However, Schwab has agreed to cap the expenses at 0.13% for Investor Shares and 0.08% for Institutional Shares. This is supposed to stay in place “for so long as the investment adviser serves as the adviser to the fund”… they might want to re-word that.

In any case, even with the cap, the Investor Shares still cost more than the expenses from the underlying investments. You are basically paying 0.05% to 0.08% for some simple asset allocation. That means you could build your own portfolio using the same Schwab ETFs at a lower cost. You could also get rid of the (unnecessary in my opinion) cash component, which currently only yields 0.43% with another temporary fee waiver as of 8/26/2016. Personally, that’s what I would rather do, but I will admit that some folks will do better with an automated asset allocation.

How does it compare with Vanguard Target Retirement Funds? This is the natural comparison, as Vanguard’s target funds have the most assets and they used to be the cheapest before Schwab came along. Across the series, the expense ratio for their retail fund varies between 0.14% and 0.16%. You can now see why Schwab has priced their funds just below that at the “sale price” of 0.13%. Schwab loves to be cheaper by a basis point or two.

In terms of asset allocation and glide path, here are some side-by-side comparisons:

Vanguard has a equity split of 60% domestic and 40% international. Schwab has a equity split of 67% domestic and 33% international (if you consider the 4% US REITs as US stock).
Vanguard starts at 90% equity max and reaches 50% equity at retirement age. Schwab starts at 95% equity max and reaches 40% equity at retirement age.
Asset classes that Schwab includes specifically, which Vanguard does not: REITs, inflation-protected bonds (TIPS), and cash.
Asset classes that Vanguard includes specifically, which Schwab does not: International bonds.

Commentary. Schwab is definitely serious about index funds. They’ve built their own set of low-cost index mutual funds and index ETFs to compete with Vanguard and iShares. They already have an automated portfolio “robo-advisor” called Intelligent Portfolios, which uses these index funds as well as some “smart beta” funds. They’ve added these Target Index funds to grab the 401(k) and individual markets including IRAs. Put another way, they sell flour and butter, and they also sell pre-made pies and cakes.

This is a long-term play for Schwab, as they’ve all but admitted that the index ETFs themselves are currently losing money, while hoping to either make up the difference in other fees, services, or products somewhere down the line (like when interest rates rise again). Schwab will surely grab much more assets from employer retirement plans as a result of this move. In my limited experience with them, I have found Schwab to have solid customer service, at times in fact better than Vanguard. If they can leverage their customer service and human component, I think this is a smart move on their part.

However, if given the choice, I’d recommend my family to buy Vanguard Target Retirement funds first because Vanguard is not a for-profit company and I trust Vanguard more to keep customer interests first over the long run. (I believe that Schwab includes cash where it isn’t necessary in order to increase their future fees from money market funds, which are an important contributor to profits. This isn’t as significant here as in their robo-advisor product, but it will matter more as interest rates rise. More importantly, Vanguard doesn’t play such games.) However, big-picture-wise they are very similar. I’d gladly recommend that they buy a Schwab Target Index fund in their 401(k) or 403(b) plan as they are likely the best options if available. This is a positive development overall for individual investors.

Filed Under: Investing, Retirement, Reviews //

Last updated: February 9, 2017

Ting Review: Bring Your Existing Phone, Referral Discount, Now Cheaper Data

Posted on August 11, 2016 // 5 Comments

tinglog Ting provides mobile phone service with a “pay-only-for-what-you-use” and “bring your own phone” structure. I recently switched my parents over to Ting from Republic Wireless so that they could use our older iPhones (easier for them, easier for us to do tech support). Ting recently updated their pricing structure to include cheaper data, so I am updating my review.

Who can save money? Ting works best for overall moderate usage, especially spread across multiple users. Why pay for unlimited minutes and texts when you don’t need them? Why pay for 5 GB every month if you often use less? Sample rates:

$12.00 per line ($26 total) per month for 2 lines sharing 500 minutes, 100 texts, and no data. (This is the typical bill amount with my parents.)
$27.50 per line ($55 total) per month for 2 lines sharing 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, and 2 GB data.
$9.50 per line ($38 total) per month for 4 lines sharing 500 minutes, 1,000 texts, and no data.
$16.75 per line ($67 total) per month for 4 lines sharing 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, and 2 GB data.

Put your own numbers into the Ting interactive rate calculator to see if you can save money. Each line is a flat $6 and all lines share a bucket of either minutes, text, and data.

Here’s a screenshot of their NEW rate breakdown:

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Here’s a screenshot of their OLD rate breakdown. You can see that their data used to be much more expensive, working out to $19 for the first GB, $29 for 2GB, and then $15 per extra GB of data (billed pretty much down to the penny). As of 8/5/2016, the numbers are $16 for the first GB, $20 for 2 GB, and now $10 per extra GB of data (billed in $10 increments). The price drop applies to everyone and pretty much no matter what, the new data plan is cheaper than the old data plan.

Ting realized that they were being known as “good if you don’t use a lot of data”.

Ting uses both Sprint CDMA and T-Mobile GSM networks, so you can bring over any used Sprint phone, used T-Mobile phone, or any unlocked GSM phone. Use their Ting phone compatibility checker tool. If you bring your own GSM phone, you’ll need a SIM card. Prices change with time and promotions, but they currently cost $9 + free shipping via USPS Priority Mail.

Bring Your Own Phone. You can buy a refurbished iPhone 5 directly from Ting for about $200, but you can also buy a used iPhone 5 for about $109 from Swappa. A used Samsung Galaxy S4 from Ting costs about $180, but they are about $100 on Swappa.

Being able to bring over the same phone you’ve already been using is the best way to save money. We had an old Verizon iPhone 5, which is also GSM unlocked. We just bought a SIM card, popped it in, and starting using the service immediately.

Refer-a-friend discount. New Ting customers get a $25 credit with a referral link (that’s mine). Thanks in advance if you use it, you’ll be saving my parents some money on their next bill.

Bottom line. Ting’s strengths are transparent, metered monthly plans and a flexible bring-your-own-phone policy. They recently dropped their data prices. “Pay for what you use” means that you don’t need to pay for 3 GB tier every month if most months you only use 1 or 2 GB. The math works out best for shared plans. You can bring over any used Sprint, used T-Mobile, or unlocked GSM phone. Not everyone will save money, so use their rate calculator to compare your own situation.

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

Last updated: August 12, 2016

WiseBanyan Review: Free Portfolio Management Experiences & Screenshots

Posted on June 8, 2016 // 54 Comments

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Updated May 2016. WiseBanyan has made some changes to their product. The highlights:

New logo, mobile-responsive site design, and smartphone apps.
Tax-loss harvesting now available as paid feature. WiseHarvesting is their first premium add-on feature, running 0.25% of assets annually with a $20/month cap.
Now accepting IRA, Roth IRA, and 401(k) rollovers.
Free financial planning software called Milestones. More thoughts below.

WiseBanyan is an online portfolio advisory service similar to better-known competitors like Betterment and Wealthfront. Differentiating feature: WiseBanyan charges no advisory fees, no trading commissions, and no minimum opening deposit. They will design, buy, hold, and rebalance a basket of low-cost ETFs for free, and all you are left with are the ETF expense ratios which you’d have to pay anyway if you DIY’ed.

Thanks in part to your interest as readers, I was able to get off their waitlist and open an account with $10,000 of my own money back in March 2014. As of May 2016, there is currently no longer a waitlist. Here is my review as an actual user for roughly a year; I have since liquidated my holdings in all robo-advisor platforms.

Application process. The account opening process was similar to other discount brokers and online portfolio managers. You must provide your personal information including Social Security number, net worth, income, investing experience, etc. No credit check. They do check identity, so they may ask for supporting documents if you just moved or something.

There is then a risk questionnaire. The questions can seem mundane but take it seriously, as the 10 answers you provide will directly determine the portfolio asset allocation that they choose for you. There will be no follow-up surveys, e-mails, or phone calls. Here is a screenshot and example question (old interface):

Funding. You can fund your deposit electronically, using your bank routing and account number. (They only accept bank wires as an alternative, no paper checks.) The money gets sucked from your bank and the portfolio is bought immediately when they get the money.

Fractional shares. WiseBanyan uses FolioFN as their broker-dealer (separate company that hold your assets in the background) which means they can use their ability to keep track of fractional shares. Most discount brokers and other online portfolio managers require you to own whole shares, so you’ll often have something like $57 sitting in cash.

Recall that WiseBanyan has no required minimum deposit or portfolio balance. If you really did open account with $100, they will actually buy less than one share of several low-cost diversified ETFs and you’ll own tiny, tiny portions of thousands of companies with no idle cash. With a normal discount brokerage, that might not even buy you one share of anything (VTI is over $100 a share on its own).

Portfolio asset allocation. I was assigned a portfolio risk score of 7.7, which corresponded to a stocks/bond ratio of 70%/30%. Screenshot from the old interface:

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Here is the target asset allocation that I was assigned:

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My portfolio was constructed using the following seven ETFs:

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA)
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Government Bond ETF (VGIT)
Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)

My general opinion is that the ETF allocations from all “robo-advisors” are at least 80% the same, and with the remaining 20% you can’t really tell who’s going to win performance-wise anyway. They are all backtested using some form of Mean-Variance Optimization (MVO) and Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT).

While not exactly what I would have chosen for myself, I personally think the portfolios they create are fine. The ETFs have low costs and come from large, respected providers in Vanguard and iShares. All of the major asset classes are covered. There are no commodities futures or natural resource ETFs, which some experts think are useful and other experts think are useless. Note that REITs are considered to be in the bond category.

Website user interface and smartphone apps. The interface has been updated to essentially look like everyone else. It is simple, clean, and mobile-responsive. I like it. There are also companion iOS and Android apps. User reviews for both apps are overall positive. Screenshot from new interface:

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Statements and ongoing communication. Electronic statements are free, but paper statements will cost $5 each and paper trade confirmations $2 each.

New Milestones feature. WiseBanyan has a new service called Milestones which helps you direct your investments into specific goals like retirement, emergency funds, college, or vacations. Works in desktop and mobile. You can give a target number and timeframe, and it will recommend a portfolio and a monthly savings amount that theoretically should reach your goal. It will initiate recurring deposits so that things are automated. While I think such basic guidance can be helpful to get you a ballpark figure, I would also be careful on relying too closely on the forecasts as nobody really knows what the stock or bond market will return in the short-term. Screenshot from new interface:

Free is nice, but how will they make money? Future concerns? According to various sources, the demographics of the average WiseBanyan client is both younger and of more modest means (opening balances under $10,000) than their competitors. They plan on offsetting the costs of maintaining free accounts with their premium add-on features, but will it work? Will enough people pay up for tax-loss harvesting? It remains to be seen if the “Freemium” model can work in this environment.

Bottom line. WiseBanyan is fully functional and delivers on its promise of free automated portfolio management. I joined them in early 2014 when they were still working out some minor kinks, but two years later they are offering a much more polished product. I would even say that their aggressive pricing has helped “nudge” many of their competitors to lower their starting minimums as well.

The main thing that would worry me is that their path to sustainable profitability is not clear. If WiseBanyan is eventually taken over in the event of a merger or takeover, a new owner may charger much higher fees. If you leave for another robo-advisor, there may also be tax consequences. On the positive side, WiseBanyan is not affiliated with any ETF sponsor and can thus invest in the “best-in-class” ETFs without conflict of interest. In the current group of robo-advisors, I would classify them as plucky underdogs.

I wouldn’t let a small sign-up incentive convince you to choose one robo-advisor over another, but new users can get a $20 bonus if they open an account with my referral link. Thanks if you use it.

Filed Under: Investing, Reviews //

Last updated: December 7, 2016

Netspend Card 5% APY Savings Account Review

Posted on May 31, 2016 // 49 Comments

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(Update: On 5/31, NetSpend effectively issued a 30-day notice that the rate structure will be changed as of July 1st, 2016 such that the 5% APY will apply up to $1,000 and anything above that gets 0.50% APY. The 5% APY will apply to up to $5,000 until June 30, 2016 which is when the next quarterly interest payment will post. Thanks to all who notified me of this change.)

Prepaid debit cards are a growing niche for the “under-banked” or “un-banked” who can’t or don’t want to use traditional checking accounts to hold their cash. In order to promote the adoption of prepaid debit cards as their sole financial hub, many now offer the option of an attached high-interest savings account.

The NetSpend Prepaid Visa offers 5% APY on balances up to $5,000. For balances over $5,000, it pays 0.50% APY. Even with the balance limit, this is an attractive rate and worth a look even if you don’t need a prepaid debit card otherwise. I’ve had this card open since September 2015, but a quirk of this card is that interest is only paid quarterly, so I waited to see if the 5% APY (4.91% APR) would post correctly. As you can see in the screenshot below, the interest for all 3 months was credited as promised at roughly $20.50 per month. (The 0.50% APY on balances above $5,000 is credited on a separate line.)

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For the purposes of this review, I will not focus on most aspects of the prepaid debit card. I am primarily interested in maximizing the savings account feature and the avoidance of any fees.

Account opening process. Visit the Netspend website and enter your personal details to order a card (name, address, e-mail). No credit check. No application fee. You will eventually need to provide your Social Security number as required by law, since you’ll be opening a FDIC-insured bank account. If you are referred by an existing user (links above are mine, thanks if you use it), both get an additional $20 bonus after depositing at least $40. After signing up, you can also refer your own friend and family for more $20 bonuses.

Once the physical card arrives in about a week, follow the included directions and activate your account online. You will be provided your unique account number and a routing number, which will allow you to make electronic ACH transfers from your external bank accounts. You can also use this information to have direct deposit set up with your payroll or government benefits.

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5% APY savings account funding directions. Previously, you had to upgrade to Netspend Premier to get the 5% APY savings account option. This requirement appears to have been removed. You must use an external bank to “push” money over into the Netspend card. I used my Ally Bank savings account as the transfer agent (screenshot below). I used the account and routing numbers provided, which confirmed that the underlying FDIC-insured bank is MetaBank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other banks that they say may be used are BofI Federal Bank and The Bancorp Bank.

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Then, all you need to do is move over $5,000 from your external bank to your Card Balance, and then move that $5,000 over to your Savings Balance. Your Card Balance is the part that can be spent via prepaid debit card, but it will not earn any interest, so be sure to move it over to Savings Balance. They are separate buckets! Here are the before and after screenshots (click to enlarge).

The Savings Account has no monthly minimum balance requirement and no monthly fees. Transfers between Card Balance and Savings Balance are free, but the number of withdrawals from Savings Balance are limited to 6 per calendar month by federal banking laws.

Avoiding Debit Card fees. Now, the Savings Account has no monthly fees, but the Debit Card does have a choice of plans with their own fee schedules. Since I don’t plan on making any actual purchases using this debit card, I chose the Pay As You Go plan with no monthly fee. Now, with this plan there is also an account maintenance fee of $5.95 per month:

Account Maintenance Fee $5.95 per month (fee applies if Card Account has not had any activity, that is, no purchases; no cash withdrawals; no load transactions; or no balance inquiry fee for 90 days). If enrolled in any FeeAdvantage Plan and your Card Account has had no activity as described above, this fee applies instead of the Plan Fee.

The simple solution to avoid this fee is to load a few dollars once every 90 days via your original ACH transfer source. Most banks will even let you set up an automated transfer schedule; I like every month just because it serves as a monthly reminder to check the balance, APY, etc. You could also use their mobile app and make a check deposit.

Withdrawals. The easiest way to make a withdrawal is again via “ACH pull” from your external transfer bank. Remember, you’ll have to move the funds over from “Savings” to “Card”. Another free alternative is to use the BillPay feature and pay down a credit card bill using your funds. If you have a credit card that you use regularly, you can even make an overpayment and simply hold a negative balance until it gets used up by future credit card purchases. Finally, you could just use the Visa feature to buy something or make an ATM withdrawal (subject to daily limits), but you may be subject to transaction fees.

Additional cards. If you have a spouse or partner, you could both get a NetSpend Prepaid card which would bring your 5% APY limit to $10,000. There are also other cards which offer a similar setup, including Brink’s Prepaid (I have this one as well), Ace Elite, and Western Union. If you had one of each of these (which is still allowed to the best of my knowledge), then that would bring your theoretical limit to $20,000 for an individual or $40,000 for a couple.

Recap. Yes, it really works, as long as you set it up properly and maintain an active account. As compared to a 1% APY savings account, each $5,000 balance at 5% APY would earn $200 more in taxable interest income each year. It is up to you to weigh the potential reward vs. effort, also taking into account the size of your cash balances.

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

Last updated: February 9, 2017

Higher Savings Rate vs. Higher Risk Portfolio

Posted on April 25, 2016 // 3 Comments

An article on the Vanguard Advisors Blog discussed the trade-offs involved in adjusting an investor’s savings rate and the risk level of their portfolio – Investor success: Measured in dollars, not (per)cents.

A portfolio’s value can grow through both capital contributions and return on capital, but only capital contributions can grow wealth reliably. Saving is our contribution to our own investment success and, importantly, unlike the investment returns we seek, its benefits are both more certain and within our control.

The chart below shows projected outcomes based on savings rate (4% or 6%) and portfolio risk level (conservative, moderate, or aggressive). You can see visually that the combination of 6% savings rate and moderate risk (50% stocks/50% bonds) has both a higher average outcome and fewer poor outcomes than the combination of 4% savings rate and aggressive risk (80% stocks/20% bonds)

nuance

Part of this should be expected – you’re saving 50% more in dollars when going from a 4% to 6% savings rate. But on an absolute level, perhaps that amount of dollars is something you can swing.

Vanguard did a similar study called Penny saved, Penny earned back in 2011 that compared three levers: savings rate, portfolio asset allocation, and also starting to save earlier. Take the following baseline scenario:

Investor begins working at 25, but starts saving at age 35.
12% savings rate
Moderate asset allocation (50% stocks and 50% bonds)
Salary starts at $30,000 but increases with age

Now, here are three ways in which a worker could increase their final savings balance at retirement (age 65).

Option #1. Invest more aggressively with an asset allocation of 80% stocks and 20% bonds, while keeping your 12% savings rate and starting age of 35.
Option #2. Raise your savings rate to 15%, while keeping your starting age of 35 and 50/50 asset allocation.
Option #3. Start saving at age 25 instead of 35. while keeping your 12% savings rate and and 50/50 asset allocation.

Which single option do you think has the most impact? The results are based the median balance found after running Monte Carlo computer simulations based on 10,000 possible future scenarios for each option.

Scenario	Median Balance at age 65	% Increase vs. Baseline
Baseline	$474,461	–
Option #1 (Aggressive asset allocation)	$577,133	22%
Option #2 (Raise savings rate)	$593,077	25%
Option #3 (Start saving earlier)	$718,437	51%

Between the three “levers” you could pull, starting to save earlier wins by a significant margin, which is an important truth but minus a time machine today is the earliest we can start saving more. After that, a higher savings rate is a more reliable path to improving your odds for success. Investing with significantly more risk performs somewhat similarly on a median basis, but actual results will vary the most widely.

I suppose my version of this is that an investor should keep working hard to maximize their savings rate, but only work hard to find a “good” asset allocation once and then let it be. My definition of “good” asset allocation is one that considers your financial needs, your knowledge, and as a result is something that you can keep forever. Don’t look for the “perfect” asset allocation, as these can only be known after the fact and are constantly changing. Too often, they are based on data mining and recent performance. Look at any asset allocation with growing popularity, and the asset classes that make it hot have probably done well in the past decade. You can quote “long-term” numbers from long periods like 1970 to 2015, but these numbers are still strongly influenced by recent past performance.

Filed Under: Investing, Reviews //

Last updated: April 25, 2016

New JetBlue Card Review from Barclaycard

Posted on March 20, 2016 // Leave a Comment

JetBlue has announced two new consumer credit cards – the JetBlue Card (no annual fee) and the JetBlue Plus card ($99 annual fee). These are both issued by Barclaycard, as JetBlue recently ended its credit card relationship with American Express. Are they worth getting? Here’s my brief review of the card highlights and the value proposition breakdown.

Had the JetBlue Card from American Express? You do not need to apply again. Your AmEx card will automatically be replaced with the new JetBlue Rewards MasterCard, issued by Barclaycard, in late March 2016. The JetBlue Rewards MasterCard is slightly different that either card described below and is only available to grandfathered users. It has a $40 annual fee, but you can also request your card to be converted to one of the cards below.

Highlights of the new JetBlue card: (This offer is now EXPIRED)

10,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days
Earn 3 points per $1 spent on JetBlue purchases, 2 points per $1 at restaurants and grocery stores and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
No blackout dates on JetBlue-operated flights & redeem for any seat, any time on JetBlue flights. Points required for an Award Flight will vary based on the published base fare at the time of booking
Points awarded in your TrueBlue account don’t expire
Earn and share points together with Family Pooling
50% savings on eligible inflight purchases including cocktails, food and movies.
No foreign transaction fees.
Chip-card technology & $0 Fraud Liability protection

Highlights of the new JetBlue Plus card:

Earn 30,000 bonus points after $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days
Earn 6 points per $1 on JetBlue purchases, 2 points per $1 at restaurants and grocery stores and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
No blackout dates on JetBlue-operated flights & redeem for any seat, any time on JetBlue flights. – Points required for an Award Flight will vary based on the published base fare at the time of booking.
Points awarded in your TrueBlue account don’t expire.
Earn and share points together with Family Pooling
Earn 5,000 bonus points every year after your account anniversary
50% savings on eligible inflight purchases including cocktails, food and movies & your first checked bag is free on JetBlue-operated flights
Enjoy Mosaic benefits for one year after you spend $50,000 or more on purchases after your anniversary date
Get 10% of your points back every time you redeem to use toward your next redemption
Get a $100 statement credit after you purchase a JetBlue Getaways vacation package of $100 or more with your JetBlue Plus Card.

What are the TrueBlue points rewards worth? You earn JetBlue TrueBlue points on your purchases, which are best redeemed for JetBlue flights. There are some other options like newspaper or magazine subscriptions, but I won’t cover them here.

JetBlue TrueBlue works on a revenue-based system. You can book any flight without blackout dates, but the points required depends on the current cash cost of the flight. This is different than a chart-based system, for example might require 25,000 points for any flight within the 48 contiguous states (subject to blackout dates and availability).
A reasonable estimate of value is 1 points = 1.4 cents towards a Blue, Blue Plus, or Blue Flex fare. The exact value may vary, but that is the average that I found and the variance is low. Ex. 10,000 points would cover $140 in airfare. See calculation example below.
The value of a free checked bag is $15 to $25 one-way, per person. Depending on fare level, JetBlue now charges for checked bags. If you buy it separately on a base fare, a checked bag will cost $20 one-way upfront or $25 one-way at the ticket counter. If you buy the Blue Plus fare which includes one checked bag, that usually costs $15 more one-way. At $30 to $50 roundtrip, the value of the free checked bag feature can add up quickly if you travel as a family or group.
Families can share and pool points together, with no transfer fees.
TrueBlue points don’t expire.

Every 10,000 points can be redeemed for $140 in airfare. This means 2X points back on restaurants and groceries can be redeemed for 2.8% back in the form of TrueBlue airfare. The 3X points back on Jetlue-operated flights can be redeemed for 4.2% back in the form of TrueBlue airfare. The 6X points back with the Plus card on Jetlue-operated flights can be redeemed for 8.4% back in the form of TrueBlue airfare.

This is in addition to the existing 3X points for TrueBlue members buying Blue airfare, and the 3X points for anyone booking JetBlue flights online. If you have Mosaic elite status, you also get another 3X points.

Calculating the value of a JetBlue TrueBlue points. You can test for yourself quite easily. Here is a randomly chosen, roundtrip San Francisco (SFO) to New York City (JFK) flight. Screenshots are below. It would have either cost $423.30 in cash, or 29,400 points + $11.20 in taxes. The value of a point comes out almost exactly to 1.4 cents per point:

Recap. The new JetBlue Card from Barclaycard can be a good value for regular customers of JetBlue and their free DirecTV. You get extra savings when purchasing JetBlue airfare on the card, and the rewards are free JetBlue airfare. The standard version offers a limited-time sign-up bonus as well as perks with no annual fee. The Plus version with $99 annual fee is best for frequent fliers who can take advantage of the free checked bag feature and also the 5,000 point anniversary bonus. However, if you don’t fly JetBlue enough to have the opportunity to either earn or spend the points, then you should just stick with a more general travel rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or a top cash back card like the Citi Double Cash.

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

Last updated: January 31, 2018

TurboTax vs. TaxACT vs. H&R Block Online 2016 Lightning Review

Posted on March 7, 2016 // 16 Comments

1040clip For the last few years, I’ve completed my personal returns top-to-bottom using each of the three most popular online tax prep providers – TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxACT. I started my 2015 tax year returns this weekend, but each one was close enough to last year’s experience that I couldn’t bring myself to do all that repetitive data entry again. I did run through the major categories, explored the import features, and tried contacting their customer support.

The major differentiating factors remain price, time-saving features, audit support, and ability to answer specific tax questions. All three offer a “Maximum Refund Guarantee” (relative to competing software) as well as an “Accuracy Guarantee” (relative to your tax bill or refund amount) that says that they will pay any penalty and interest assessed by the IRS or your state due to calculation errors on their part (though H&R Block limits this to $10,000). Actual cost can vary widely with sales and discounts, listed here are just the everyday prices. My condensed review:

TurboTax Online

Most expensive. Federal Deluxe regular price is $34.99 w/ e-file and supports itemized deductions. However, you need Premier at $54.99 if you have an investment gains or rental property. State return price is $36.99.
Best import features. Imports a lot of information from last year’s return. Automatically imports W-2s from many payroll providers and (by far the most) 1099 forms directly from financial institutions, both saving time and improving accuracy. Works with free “ItsDeductible” program to help with recording charitable donations.
Moderate audit support. You get help, but no in-person representation.
Moderate tax advice – You can request a phone call-back, wait time given upfront (10 minutes for me). Good online question database.
Annoying upsells. Intuit always feels like they are trying to extract the most money out of you.

Bottom line: The time-saving choice if you have a lot of brokerage transactions, W-2s, or other 1099 forms to electronically import this year. Also if you have a lot of details to import from last year’s return with TurboTax. It may be worth the extra cost to avoid tedious data entry.

TaxACT Online

Least expensive. Federal Plus regular price is $19.99 w/ e-file and supports itemized deductions, capital gains, and rental income. Federal + State return combined including e-file at $19.99.
Limited import support (worst of the three). Free Donation Assistant® feature to track charitable donations.
Limited audit support (worst of the three).
Limited tax advice quality (worst of the three). The hardest to find real person help. You can get phone support, but only if you pay first. Online question & answer database is available.

Bottom line: The value choice if you just want accurate DIY tax return software and don’t need any extra assistance.

H&R Block at Home Online

Middle-of-road pricing. Federal Deluxe regular price is $34.99, which supports itemized deductions and capital gains. You need Premium at $49.99 for rental property. State return price is $36.99.
Moderate import support for 1099s and W-2 (not as broad at TurboTax, better than TaxACT).
Best free audit support. Only product that includes an H&R Block Enrolled Agent actually attending your audit in-person. However, consider whether you would hire your own representative in the actual event of an IRS audit.
Easiest to get in-person tax advice. Free Live Chat included, wait time given upfront (4 minutes for me). Good online question database.

Bottom line: The most helpful choice if you don’t quite want to pay to person to do it all for you, but you are worried you might need some assistance. Based on overall experiences, H&R Block uses their brick-and-mortar experience to provide the best answers if you have tax questions. You also get the assurance that a federally-authorized enrolled agent will guide you for free through a potential albeit unlikely audit.

Tim Gray did his annual NY Times comparison as well, with very similar experiences to my own. As he puts it:

Each program’s maker has staked out a place in the market where it excels. TurboTax’s technology is the smoothest to use — the program rarely frustrates and offers a few features each year the competitors don’t match. Block’s tax help is the easiest to understand and get access to. TaxAct’s offerings are the cheapest.

I would add that although each product still has their strengths, this year the margins are getting closer. All three offer guidance throughout the filing process. In terms of price, TaxACT is still the cheapest but the total cost is higher than in previous years. In terms of online interface, all three are pretty similar, with TaxACT modernizing parts of their interview process. H&R Block remains best at one-on-one tax advice, but all three offer tax question databases (and really, there’s always Google for everything else). As the feature leader, TurboTax added a few more incremental things like a slick smartphone and iPad apps which you can use simultaneously with the traditional web browser version. Overall, the competition has made for slightly better products across the board.

All of these sites work on a “start for free” basis, so you can also try them out yourself before having to commit and pay anything.

Filed Under: Reviews, Taxes //

Last updated: March 4, 2018

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Review

Posted on March 4, 2016 // 90 Comments

The travel rewards card that has been in my wallet the longest is the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express. It is quite famous in the travel junkie circles, but not very well known otherwise. Once you understand the combination of flexibility and value, you will better understand why this is my favorite hotel rewards card and also the only annual fee card that I’ve kept consistently over the last 7+ years.

Highlights:

Earn 25,000 bonus Starpoints® after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
No Foreign Transaction Fees on international purchases.
Receive free in-room, premium internet access. Booking requirements apply.
Enjoy complimentary, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi on up to four devices at more than 1,000,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide. Enrollment required.
Earn free nights at over 1,200 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries with no blackout dates.
Some hotels may have mandatory service and resort charges.
$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95.

My review:

When redeeming towards hotel stays, I regularly get 2-6 cents of value per point, more than often the value you’d get from airline miles. Get free stays in hotels that otherwise charge $300+ a night.
Rather have miles? You can convert 20,000 points to 25,000 miles, which is 1.25 miles per dollar spent, 25% more miles than most other airline-specific cards.
Easy transfers mean you can “top off” a frequent flier account to get to that coveted reward ticket level. Your miles aren’t worth anything until you actually use them!
You can convert just a few miles to keep your other miles from expiring.

Either I’ve had one, or my wife has had one, or I’ve had the business card version of this card for the last 5+ years. Transferring points within between household members is quite easy and free.

Starwood Points transfer to Frequent Flier Miles

The first reason why this card is so useful is that Starwood points (or Starpoints) can be converted to miles to major domestic airlines and several international ones. This includes Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, and United. Most transfer at a 1:1 ratio (1 Starwood point = 1 frequent flier mile), unless otherwise noted. For example, the ratio is lower for United (2:1 means 2 Starpoints = 1 United mile.

Imagine that you’re only a thousand miles short of a free ticket, but you need to buy a ticket and would really like to make it free. Although there may be other options that involve spending money, you can simply “top off” your balance by transferring as little as 1,500 miles to the specific airline programs that you want. You can even convert a specific number of points. Just need 2,854 miles here and 1,567 somewhere else? No problem.

With most airlines, your miles expire after a period of inactivity. But since any activity counts (not only flying), I could quickly transfer 1,500 miles over in order to save 20,000 hard-earned miles from expiring.

Aeromexico Club Premier
Aeroplan/Air Canada
Air Berlin
Air China Companion
Air New Zealand Air Points (65:1)
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Alitalia MileMiglia
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club
American Airlines AAdvantage
Asia Miles
Asiana Airlines
British Airways Executive Club
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines’ Sky Pearl Club
Delta Airlines SkyMiles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Airways
Flying Blue
Gol Smiles (2:1)
Hainan Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Japan Airline (JAL) Mileage Bank
Jet Airways
LAN Airlines LANPASS Kms (1:1.5)
Miles and More
Qatar Airways
Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus
United Mileage Plus (2:1)
US Airways Dividend Miles
Velocity Frequent Flier
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

For every 20,000 points you convert, you get an additional 5,000 point bonus. So 20,000 Starwood points = 25,000 miles on the airlines listed above. That’s 25% more miles per dollar than those airline-specific credit cards (although the waived baggage fees are appealing).

Great Hotel Rewards Card

Starwood is a growing collection of over 1,000 mid-scale to very-upscale hotels in nearly 100 countries, from the business-oriented Four Points and Sheratons to the upscale W and Westin hotels. This card has come in very handy for travel to international and bigger US cities.

Short-notice and emergency stays. All room taxes are included when you use points, and there are no blackout dates unlike other hotel programs. I’ve used them in a pinch, burning just 3,000 points for a last-minute $120 a night room at the Vancouver Airport Four Points (now Category 3).

Luxury international hotels. I’m usually happy with a Holiday Inn Express by the airport for a business trip, but when traveling for leisure it can be very convenient to stay downtown near the action and sights. In a city like Paris or Rome, this can mean big bucks. With this card, I’ve stayed at $300 a night hotels like the W New York, Westin Madrid, and Westin Venice. Being able to stay up late into the night in Venice instead of having to leave was amazing. If you redeem for 4 nights in a row in a Category 3 or higher hotel, the 5th night is free.

spgcashpoints2

Cash and points option. Don’t miss “cash and points” opportunities. For example, I found a $400 room at the Westin Rome in Italy or W Hotel New York Times Square for 8,000 points + $150 a night. Run the numbers yourself using the booking engine at SPG.com and look for the “SPG Cash & Points” option. The value of 30,000 points can be easily greater than $500.

This last option is not the best value, but for the purposes of setting a last resort and baseline value, 9,500 Starpoints = $100 gift card at Amazon.com.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

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

Last updated: October 20, 2016

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