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If you are like me you have a few 401k retirement accounts sitting around at various employers. Well Now might be the time to consolidate them to a fee free ETRADE IRA.
ETRADE is offering 100 free trades when you rollover your 401k to a new ETRADE IRA account. Your IRA account will be credited up to $12.99 per stock or options trade within eight weeks of qualifying (excluding options contract fees). Accounts must be opened by 12/31/2010 to qualify for this offer.
ETRADE’s IRA does not have any fees other than the usual commissions for stock and option trading. So if you are looking to get those 401k’s into one place, this could be an option for you.
I can’t comment on the ETRADE IRA since I do not have one, but I have a High Yield Savings Account with them and have never had any concerns with their service. I really need to consolidate my 401ks as I have 3 out there and one of the companies is near bankrupcy which causes all sorts of problems trying to get your money out.
More details on the Fee Free ETRADE IRA.
Keeping most of your money in cash these days? Yeah, so is everyone else. The only problem is that savings rates are pretty low. One thing you might look into is a Reward, or High Yield Checking account. Check out this post for a quick description on how they work. Most of these checking accounts are offered only to local residents of the bank, but every now and then one comes around where you can do everything by mail.
One of these Reward Checking Accounts just popped up that is offering 5.25% APY on balances up to $25,000. Ok, now for the name ….
Redneck Bank, yes this is not a joke, is really just the Internet Banking Division of Bank of the Wichitas, a well-respected “country” bank established in 1913, and is insured by the FDIC, so it is as safe as the big guys. I would assume that the name is just a marketing ploy, but it is a good one if you ask me.
Esentially this account acts just like a regular checking account. You will receive 5.25% APY on balances up to $25000 and reimbursement on all ATM fees if you do the following every month:
- Make 10 Redneck Bank® VISA® CheckCard sales transactions
- All statements are received electronically
Since you have no control over how you receive your statements you really need to concern yourself with using your debit card 10 times a month which isn’t that difficult to do.
Some other features of the account are:
- FREE Online Banking
- FREE Checking
- FREE Redneck Bank® VISA® CheckCard
- FREE Customer Service
- FREE Daily Email Notification if Overdrawn
- FREE ATM Transactions Worldwide
- Overdraft Privilege Available
- NO MINIMUM BALANCE
Everything can be done via mail and ACH which makes this bank attractive for those of you that don’t live anywhere near Redneck Bank.
Since my reward checking account dropped from 5% to 4% last month, I am going to give these guys a try. I just completed the sign up process this morning and am waiting for my trial deposits to be deposited into my current bank account so that I can fund it. So far so good. They have a bank transfer feature where you can transfer money in and out of banks from this account.
One thing to note is that their terms state that each person can have up to 2 reward checking accounts through them. So if you can do 20 atm transactions per month (10 for each account), you could get 5.25% on up to $50,000. So that is an option for those of you that want a higher rate on more thank $25,000.
If you are looking for a good rate to save your cash, you might look into
Update September 2009: This Tradeking Promotion is still active.
There is a new Tradeking Promo that is offering up to $150 to cover the fees of transfering your account from your current broker to try out their service. Follow this link for the promo details: (There is no specific Tradeking Promo Code required if you click through that link) I transferred my account into Tradeking from TD Ameritrade and haven’t looked back since. Unfortunetly they weren’t covering the transfer fees at that time, but it was still worth it to me. Their account transfer process is very simple. All I needed to do was open a new account, complete the transform and fax it in. My account was transfered in less than a week. To get your account transfer fees refunded, faxing a copy of your account statement with proof of the transfer charge to 561.988.0131. The credit will be deposited to your account within 30 days of receipt of evidence of charge. Very easy! From an over all service standpoint, please read see my Tradeking Review. Like I have said in earlier posts I have been very happy with Tradeking and the services they offer. I am in no way a day trader, but for what I need, they can do. They’ve got one of the lowest fee schedules in the business, so if you are itching to get in and buy in a down market, now is the time. And with up to $150 in transfer fees refuneded, this makes it that much easier to switch.
Not many people are aware of the $7500 tax credit that that IRS is offering toward the purchase of a new home. The first-time homebuyer is a refundable credit of up to $7,500 that applies to home purchases after April 8, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. This means that the credit will be paid out to eligible home buyers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more that the tax owed on your return.
This credit works like an interest free loan. If you qualify, you will receive the $7500 as part of your 2008 tax return. The repayment begins in the second year after you receive the money. So you would begin paying it back starting 2010. The repayment period is 15 years and the payment comes out of your yearly tax return. So if you receive the full $7500 you would pay back $500 out of your tax return for the next 15 years.
To qualify for the credit you must meet the following requirements:
- You must purchase your home after April 8, 2008 and before July 1, 2009.
- The home must be your main home, the one that you live in most of the time
- To qualify as a home, it must include sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities. A home can be a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar property
- Your adjusted gross income with a few changes (also known as your modified adjusted gross income) must be less than $95,000 if filing single or less than $170,000 if married filing jointly. You qualify for only part of the credit if your modified adjusted gross income is between $75,000 and $95,000 if filing single (or between $150,000 and $170,000 if filing jointly)
You can’t claim this credit if you:
- Owned a main home at any time in the prior three years preceding your purchase
- Purchased this home from a family member, including your grandparents, parents, spouse, children, or grandchildren.
- Stopped using your home as your main home.
- Sold your main home before the end of the year.
- Are a nonresident alien.
- If you ever took or were eligible to take the District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit for any taxable year.
- You financed your home from any source that uses tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds.
I don’t qualify for the credit, however I wanted to see how this worked in TurboTax. I answered the questions like I was a first time homebuyer and sure enough my refund increased by $7500. Not a bad way to receive an interest free loan that you can payback over time. And the fact that the repayment is taken out of your tax returns makes this very hassle free.
I strongly recommend that if you bought a home since April 8 and you fit the qualifications you should definetly jump on this one.
See IRS Publication 530 for more detail.
The IRS has released information on what they are calling the 2008 Recovery Rebate Credit. The Recovery Rebate Credit is an extension of the 2008 Tax Stimulus Rebate that is available for certain indivuidals.
The recovery rebate credit is not another check, but will give you the amount back on your 2008 tax return. You need to claim the recovery rebate credit on Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.
What are the conditions to qualify for the 2008 Recovery Rebate Credit?
- Individuals who did not receive an economic stimulus payment.
- Those who received less than the maximum economic stimulus payment in 2008 — $600 per taxpayer; $1,200 if married filing jointly — because their qualifying or gross income was either too high or too low.
- Families who gained an additional qualifying child in 2008.
- Individuals who could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return in 2007, but who cannot be claimed as a dependent on another return in 2008.
- Individuals who did not have a valid Social Security number in 2007 but who did receive one in 2008.
I actually qualified from the third option. I had my daughter in August 2008. I was clued into this by Turbo Tax when it showed me this screen during my Federal Tax review:
This was a pleasant surprise since I was unaware of this recovery rebate credit in the first place.
There is a Recovery Rebate Calculator if you would like to see what you qualify for as well as a Question and Answer page that can clarify your questions.
Remember, that you like the last rebate, you need to file a 2008 tax return to receive the recovery rebate credit if you qualify. Accorind to the IRS, “You must file a tax form to claim the credit, and be sure to fill in lines 7, 20a and 70 of your Form 1040 (lines 7, 14a and 42 of Form 1040A; lines 7 and 9 of Form 1040EZ).”
This does not take the place of the potential 2009 tax stimulus rebate that congress is pouring over right now, so hopefully there is more money to come!
Update August 2009: This $25 deal is still active. Not sure for how long though, so signup today!
Get a $25 statement credit after your first purchase using the True Earnings Costco Card from American Express.
The True Earnings Costo American Express is a cash rebate card which also will act as your Costo Membership Card. Remember that Costco only accepts American Express credit cards, so this one will allow you to shop with it and earn cash back on Costco purchases.
In order to qualify for the $25 statement credit, the purchase must be made within the first three months of Cardmembership. Allow 8 to 12 weeks after your fist purchase for the statement credit to appear in your card statement.
Other Benefits of the card:
Here are the details on the card:
- Earn cash back on gas and a $25 statement credit with your first made with the Card.
- Earn cash back virtually everywhere you go – 3% for annual gasoline purchases of up to $3,000 (1% thereafter), 3% for restaurants, 2% for travel, 1% everywhere else, including Costco
- No Annual Fee with your paid Costco Membership
- The TrueEarnings Card serves as both your American Express Credit Card and your Costco Membership Card
- No Limit on the Cash Back earned
Check out the Costco American Express Card details page for more info and to apply.
“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.”
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