Saving Money – Where Do I Start?

I get quite a bit of readers asking how they should best start saving their hard earned dollars. There really is no right or wrong answer for this and it really depends on your current financial situation. Here are my thoughts on this: 

• 401k – If your company offers a 401k match. Start the saving here. Contribute up to max that will get you the full company match. People, this is free money so take it. So if your company matches you up to a 6% contribution then try as hard as you can to have that 6% contribution rate to get all the free money from the match as possible. This year you can contribute up to $15,500 of your salary to a 401k, but stop at the max that will get you the full company match.
• Roth IRA – If you are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA then max this out next. This year you can contribute $5,000 to a Roth IRA. The reason that a Roth IRA is attractive is that you put in after tax money, but then when to withdraw from it at retirement time you do not pay taxes on the gains, unlike a 401k that works opposite to this.
• Emergency Fund – This is important. An Emergency Fundis that cushion of money that you are going to have available for unexpected expenses, job loss, etc. Be sure to set enough money aside based on your current financial situation to allow you to live comfortably during a hardship. See my post for thoughts on how much you should save.
• Debt – Ok, so you’ve gotten your all the company match in your 401k as well a decent amount of your own money going into the 401k weekly. You also are going to have $5000 in that Roth IRA this year as well as an emergency fund. Now my advice is to tackle your debt. When I say debt, I mean credit card bills. Pay those off, there is no reason to be paying interest to the credit card companies when you could be saving that money and earning interest on it in a High Yield Savings Account or putting more toward retirement.
• 401k – If you have no credit card debt, now take that extra money and try to max out your 401k. Like I said you can contribute up to $15,500 this year, and over time this is only gonna grow with the market
• Savings – And the last thing would be to start building up the savings that you can use for big purchases. At this point, you can’t feel guilty about spending money since you have really set a side a lot of money in savings and requirement as well as built up that emergency fund.

Again, this really depends on your financial situation. If you are in sever credit card debt, then I would say that you forego the ROTH IRA and start tacking the credit card debt there until it is manageable and then add the ROTH back in. And if you have kids you may think about squeezing in a 529 college savings plan in there as well.

 So I just wanted to lay out the options and ideas that are available and now it is up to you to determine the best way to start saving. I know it isn’t easy to save a lot of money with all your current expenses, but you’d be surprised at over time how much a little savings here and can turn into.

2008 Tax Rebate Stimulus Plan Payout Schedule Posted

Update: Haven’t received your rebate yet? Use the Rebate Status Tool to find our when it is coming.

The IRS has posted the 2008 Tax Rebate Stimulus Plan Payout Schedule.

The date you receive your payment will depend on 2 things:

• The last 2 digits of your Social Security Number
• If you will receive it by direct deposit or by check

Payments for those receiving the rebate through direct deposit will start on May 2nd and be completed by May 16th. Payments that will be received by check will begin May 16th and be completed by July 11th.

If you elected direct deposit when you filed your 2007 tax return, you will receive your rebate through direct deposit as well. This will be the quickest way for you to receive the rebate. Especially for those whose last 2 digits of their SSN are closer to 100. Unforturnetly if you have all ready filed your 2007 taxes and did not elect direct deposit, there is no way to stop the rebate from coming as a check.

According to the IRS, “People who file a return after April 15 will receive their economic stimulus payment, but probably about two weeks later than the schedule shows. A return must be filed by October 15 in order to receive a stimulus payment this year”

So for all you late filers, don’t forget that October 15th is a hard date you must file by to receive the 2008 tax rebate. This is free money, so don’t pass it up. If you are still unclear how much rebate you will be getting, try out the IRS.com Tax Rebate Calculator

And don’t forget that Uncle Sam is expecting you to blow all this tax rebate money on useless items to jump-start the economy! So be smart with this money considering the current economic slowdown that is happening.

2008 stimulus rebate schedule

$200 Bonus for For Free Checking at Metropolitan National Bank

Metropolitan National Bank is giving a $200 bonus when opening a Free Checking account and establishing direct deposit. This account is open to anyone anywhere even though MNB only as branches in New York.

The account must remain open with a monthly direct deposit of $500 for six months.The direct deposit MUST be from a payroll of governement source. Paypal or doing an ACH from another bank will not suffice.

The “Free Personal Checking” account has no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fees. The account also comes with a free ATM card as well as free online banking and bill pay. Another nice aspect of the account is that there are no ATM fees anywhere. Any ATM fees charged by the ATM will be rebated back to you by MNB.

Link to Bonus Page
Link to Application Page

Small Print:
Free checking account and $200 bonus offers subject to change without notice, limited to one account per customer. Free checking with the $200 bonus requires activating full direct deposit ($500 minumum)of recurring payroll, government benefits or retirement account disbursements. $200 bonus will be credited to the account after first full qualifying direct deposit posts. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS form 1099-INT. Account must remain open and full qualifying direct deposit active for 6 months from the date of account opening or the $200 bonus will be debited upon account closure. Metropolitan National Bank ATM and debit cardholders pay no Metropolitan National Bank fees to use any ATM worldwide, and any "foreign" ATM fees charged by owners of ATMs other than Metropolitan National Bank are rebated.

2008 Retirement Contribution Limits

As we kick off 2008 now is a good time to make sure you are maxing out your 401k and ROTH IRA (if eligible). Remember that a 401k and ROTH might be the only thing you will have when you retire considering the current state of Social Security. So start maxing out today since the earlier you do it the greater it will grow before you need to use it!

Here are the contribution limits for 2008 for each retirement plan (401k, ROTH, 403b, and Simple IRA). I also included the 2007 limits as a comparison:

Note that for a ROTH IRA there are certain income limits that start to phase out how much you can contribute. If you are within the phase out range you can only make a partial contribution. If you are above that range then you are not eligible to make a contribution to a ROTH for that year. When you file your taxes it will tell you how much you can contribute based on your adjusted gross income (AGI). Personally, I usually wait to contribute to my ROTH the day before I file my taxes to make sure I haven’t over contributed based on my AGI.

Also don’t forget that you can still contribute to your ROTH IRA for 2007. Just make sure you do so prior to filing your 2007 taxes.

Free Link Directory

2.9% Balance Transfer For Life from Advanta Mastercard

EDIT: Please note that the Advanta Balance Transfer For Life Offer is no longer available. You might like the Advanta Mastercard that offers no interest for 90 days every month!

Advanta has a pretty good offer going on for those of you carrying some credit card debt. They are offering 2.9% on balance transfers for life when you sign up for the Advanta Life-of-Balance Platinum Card and transfer balances within 3 months of the account opening. And even better, there is no balance transfer fee!

One thing to note, this is a busniess card, but it appears that anyone can get it. I also had a reader report that they were able to transfer balances from their personal cards to this card. I just signed up and was approved, since I couldn’t pass this one up. I have about $8,000 on a 0% balance transfer that I need to do something with soon so this will work out great.

There is no annual fee for this card. It was a very easy application process. I have had Advanta cards and the past and have had no complaints with their service.

Advanta Life-of-Balance Platinum Card Details Page

5.24% Home Equity Loan at Pentagon Federal Credit Union

Here is a great deal from Pentagon Federal Credit Union. They are currently offering home equity loans at 5.24% for up to 120 months. This is a fixed rate people, so no, it isn’t going skyrocket later. To get this rate you need to have at least 20% equity in the home after the loan is taken out. If you don’t have that much equity, their other rates are pretty good as well.

(Click on image for larger picture)

I can’t find anywhere where it discusses closing costs, but when I took out my home equity loan with them, there were zero closing costs. Yes, not even an appraisal. I would call them to ask about closing costs prior to applying. Since PenFed is a credit union, you need to be a member to get in on these great rates. Most credit unions require you to live or work in a certain area, however with PenFed anyone can join and the process is fairly simple. If you don’t fit in their field of membership then sign up to be a member of the National Military Family Association (NMFA). The cost is $20 to sign up and you don’t need to renew the membership every year to stay a member of the Credit Union. Not a bad way to get you in the door here.

You can get statements in the mail or have everything done electronically. You can even have your loan paid through their website, so no need to write checks. Which means that you can make the payment the day before it is due.

They offer other products as well like cash back credit cards, checking and savings accounts too. I currently have a home equity loan with them and am definitely happy with everything. The next time I need another mortgage or decide to refinance, I am sticking with PenFed. You just can’t beat their low rates and nonexistent fees.

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