A Royal Wedding and Links

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Prince William and Kate got married over in the British Empire. They are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  It was rumored so many people might tune in and tweet about the wedding that major websites and services like Twitter might crash.  Thankfully the wedding started at 3am Eastern time, well enough early not to disrupt much of anything on my end of the world.

You may have no interest in the Royals — neither do I — except this one curious fact: it is estimated that up to 80 million pounds (about $134 million) was spent on the wedding.  Even if a hefty chunk of that is security, and if you’re off by a factor of 50%… that’s a ton of money.  And they say there’s a global recession!Continue Reading

Betterment $25 Signup Bonus – Start Investing Smart and Simple

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In my Betterment review I talked about how they make investing easy for someone who wants to start investing but doesn’t know where to start. Now they are adding a cool incentive to their program:

Get a $25 account bonus when a user opens up a Betterment account!

In order to qualify for the bonus you need to make an initial deposit of $250 when you open your account.

Why Betterment?

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Starwood Preferred Guest Hotel Reward Program – A Review

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If you are looking for a fairly simple hotel rewards program that offers convenient locations and the ability to book flights (and more) with your points, you need to look into the Starwood Preferred Guest hotel reward program.

Starwood Preferred Guest offers 2 points (Starpoints) for every dollar spent at over 1,000 approved locations in 93 countries and 9 hotels including Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, W Hotels, aloft, The Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Element, Westin and St. Regis.

You are required to give basic information such as your name, address, and e-mail address in addition to your room preferences when signing up for a Starwood Preferred Guest account.  You can optionally give more information such as your phone number.Continue Reading

When is a Good Time to Consider Refinancing Your Mortgage?

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For many of us who are mortgage holders from time-to-time we find ourselves asking, “When is a good time to refinance my mortgage?” Hardly a day goes by without noticing many lenders advertising tempting deals to entice you to refinance your mortgage.  That temptation to refinance can be huge because depending on your situation, refinancing your mortgage can be beneficial in areas such as reducing the interest rate, shortening or extending the mortgage loan, and even by getting some extra cash flow happening by lowering the monthly mortgage payments.  A word to the wise though, refinancing must be done with great caution because not every situation can have the desired benefits.
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American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card – Review

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When you think of a gold card the first thing that comes to mind is American Express®.

They are the one who put an exclusive card on the map. 

I’m going to show you what makes the American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card special.

First off, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a credit card, it’s not.

This is a CHARGE card.  That means that the purchases you make are expected to be paid off IN FULL when you get your statement.  There are some exceptions but for the most part this is a card for people who will be able to pay everything off every month (you should really aim to do that anyway).

Being a charge card means there is no pre-set spending limit for the card.  Not that you can go out and spend to your heart’s content though.  Your purchasing power will adjust to your spending habits, your payment habits, your income, and other factors that American Express takes into account.Continue Reading

Trump’s Net Worth Mystery and Links

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There was an interesting and kind of odd article up at CNN Money this week. Donald Trump either doesn’t know how much he is worth or doesn’t have a solid understanding of what net worth is. One author (that he sued!) claimed he was only worth $150-200 million, while trump says $3.7 billion is a conservative estimate. This may not seem like a big deal, but with Trump allegedly considering a Presidential campaign in 2012 I find it intriguing. Understanding what net worth means is kind of important especially if you claim to be a business mogul.

While you ponder exactly how much Trump might be worth, check out these other great articles from the week:

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Hyatt Gold Passport Hotel Rewards Program – A Review

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There are over 453 Hyatt properties around the world.

If Hyatt is a hotel chain you enjoy, you need to consider enrolling in Hyatt’s rewards program, Hyatt Gold Passport, which offers the flexibility to earn either hotel points or airline mile points.

Hyatt Gold Passport rewards are accrued at 5 points per dollar spent.

Alternatively, Hyatt has partnered with 35 airlines; instead of points, you could earn 500 air miles with one of their airline partners per qualified Hyatt stay.  In addition, if you are an event planner, you can earn one point per dollar spent on events at Hyatt by joining their Hyatt Gold Passport Planner Rewards Program.
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Credit Card Delinquency on the Decline

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Amidst all the negativity that sometimes shrouds credit cards there is some amazing news. For the first time in a decade, bank card delinquencies dipped below the 15-year average.  Earlier this month, the American Bankers Association (ABA) released a report announcing this good news.

According to the ABA’s report, credit card consumers overall have done a better job in meeting their debt obligations in the fourth quarter of 2010.  They indicate that this may be attributed to a slowly improving economy which allows consumers to better manage their debt.  Another contributing factor is that for the first time in two years, over 200,000 jobs were created; therefore the unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent.Continue Reading