ROTH IRA and 401k Contribution Limits

Here are the ROTH IRA and 401k Contribution Limits for 2008, 2009 and 2010. Note that some of the information for 2009 and 2010 can still change as they have not been “oficially released”.

Note that in 2010 the income limits to contribute to a ROTH IRA are removed. Rumor is that this will only be for 2010 and a limit will soon be set for 2011. I am unable to locate the ROTH income limits for 2009, so if anyone has these, please leave a comment and I will add them to the table.

Make sure you use the rest of 2008 to max out a ROTH and 401k or 403b if possible. Remeber that investing sooner than later will allow your retirement to grow in the long term. Also consider the fact that since the market is currently down, what better time to buy low and watch it rise!

Free $250 From WTDirect Savings Account

EDIT: Wow, it looks like WTDirect has pulled this promo already. I just received this email this afternoon: We would like to thank you for your recent participation in the WTDirect Sign On Bonus promotion. The promotion was wildly successful, moreso than forecasted. Unfortunately, WTDirect needs to end the promotion early. Effective immediately, the Sign On Bonus is no longer valid.  Damn, and I didn’t even get a chance to get in on it. I hope you all did.

WTDirect is offering up to a $250 bonus when opening a new High Yield Savings Account with them. If you open a WTDirect Savings Account by September 5th you will receive a bonus based on your initial deposit amount.  Here are the deposit amounts and associated bonuses:

You must keep the initial balalnce in the account for 60 days.  The current interest rate on the account is 3.31% APY which is pretty respectable considering other banks out there.

Use the promo code WTF3SOB when Signing Up. Note that the  bonus will be credited to your WTDirect account during the first week of November, assuming you fulfilled the deposit and hold requirements.

WAMU 5% 12 Month CD

Washington Mutual Bank (WAMU) has just released a 12 month CD with a 5% APY rate. This rate is only offered until 8/29. There is a minimum investment of $1000, but that is it. You are not required to open a checking account, savings account etc.

This 5% 12 month CD is being offered as an Online CD, meaning that it doesn’t require a visit to a branch. The CD, however, is available at branches if you feel more comfortable opening it that way.

I cannot comment on WAMU’s customer service as I have never had an account with them. There is talk that they are desperate for deposits due to the recent bank issues, but as long as you invest less than the $100,000 you will be covered by FDIC insurance.

A 5% APY for one year is a pretty good rate as I don’t beleive we will see 5% online savings accounts for a while until the Fed starts to increase interest rates, and with the current housing crunch I highly doubt it will start happening soon.

Balance Transfer for Life, is it worth it?

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

A new popluar tool that credit card companies are using to get your business is to offer something called a Balance Transfer For Life. A Balance Transfer For Life is simply what it sounds like, a credit card transfer at a particular rate for the life of that balance. Sounds like a great idea right? Well lets drill into the details before we make that assumption.

First lets talk about the popular Discover 0% balance transfer for life offer. This one seems good enough, transfer over a balance and have 0% on it until it is paid off. But one you dive into the fine print you see that you need to make a minimum of 2 purchases using the card each month to keep the 0% rate on that balance transfer. Here is how Discover will make money on this balance transfer. Once you start using this card for charges, those charges will earn interest at the normal card rate, which usually is somewhere in the 10% – 18% APR range. So when you make payments to the card each month, those payments go toward the balance transfer first, so those purchase will keep accruing interest until you pay of the balance transfer. So over time if you use the card for a lot of high dollar purchases, the interest will keep accruing to your account. This may or may not be a good deal for you based on the amount of money to be balance transfered.

Next lets take a look at the Balance Transfer For Life offer from Advanta Mastercard. Advanta is offering a rate of 2.99% for the life of the balance. When you drill down into the Terms and Conditions there are no added requirements to keep the 2.99% for the life of the balance. Sure 2.99% is higher than the 0% offered by discover, but without the added pressure of having purchases stacked up behind the balance transfer you will save more money in the long run.

If you are trying to consolidate or reduce some debt, a balance transfer for life can be a great tool to help you. You do need to pay attention to the terms to make sure that the deal doesn’t actually end up costing you more money. If you decide to do a balance transfer for life, I would reccomend the Advanta Life-of-Balance Platinum Card with its 2.99% balance transfer for life option.

If anyone has come across any other balance transfer for life offers, please leave a comment here so that I can review them and add them to this post.

Free $25 From ING Electric Orange Checking

ING is offering a $25 bonus on their Electric Orange Checking Account.

All you need to do is open an Electric Orange Checking Account with at least $1, activate your Electric Orange Debit Card, and use your Electric Orange Card to make at least 3 signature-based purchases in the first 45 days after your account has been opened.

Your $25 bonus will be automatically deposited into your Electric Orange 50 days after your account has been opened when the 3 purchases have posted.

ING’s Electric Orange Checking account offers higher than average interest rates on your balances. One thing to note is that ING’s Electric Orange Checking account does not have paper checks, the idea is that everything should be done electronically through debit card transactions and electronic bill pay. You can have paper checks sent from ING to people you need to pay, but you don’t actually receive a checkbook.

If you can get by without a paper checkbook, then this account should suit you fine.

If you would like a $25 bonus for ING’s Orange Savings account, check out this post.

Free $125 When Opening Chase Free Checking Account

If you open a Chase Free Checking account by October 15th, you can receive a $125 bonus.
The only catch is that you currently have to have an existing Chase account, be it a mortgage, credit card, etc.

To qualify for the bonus, goto Chase.com, log in with your userid and password. Once you have successfully logged in, cut and paste the URL below into that same window and hit enter.

http://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/marketing/page/75158_Checking_Offer&ID=0000008415

You should then be sent to the promotion page for the offer. You can either print it out to open an account in a branch, or complete the application online from the link on the offer page.

You must open the account with a minimum of $100 and set up direct deposit to the account. The first direct deposit must be completed within 60 calendar days of account opening. The $125 reward will be deposited into your new account within 6-8 weeks after the initial direct deposit is completed.

Chase Free Checking has no monthly service fee when you have a direct deposit or five or more debit card purchases post to your account each statement period.

This isn’t a bad deal if you are looking for a free checking account and some cold hard cash to go along with it!

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