Citi Forward Card – 11,000 Citi Reward Points

Citibank has a new card out called the Citi Forward Card. They are advertising this card as the “get rewarded for good credit credit card”. When you make a purchase, stay under your credit limit, and pay on time for three consecutive billing cycles, they reduce your APR. The small print reads that you can get this reduction 8 times or a max of up to a 2% reduction in your APR throughout the time your account is open with them. If you tend to carry a balance, this may be attractive to you.

For the rest of us, what is attractive, is that they are giving 11,000 Citi Thank You points when you apply for the card and sign up for paperless statements within 3 months of openening the account. These points can be redeemed for a $100 gift card for various retailers in the Citi Thank You Network.

You also receive 5 reward points for every $1 you spend on books, movies, music and at restaurants. 1 reward point for every $1 you spend on other purchases. So what is great about this card is that you are now getting 5% back from Amazon.com since they are labeled as a “book store”. In addition you earn 100 points each billing period when you pay on time and stay under your credit line.

There is no annual fee for this card and they are offering a 0% APR for 6 months on purchases and balance transfers. Keep in mind that Citibank charges fees for balance transfers, so the 0% on purchases is a better deal here.

The Citi Forward Card seems like a decent reward card especially if you pay your bills on time. It is definetly worth a look if you are wanting a new credit card. See more details here.

401k Rollovers

So you have worked hard and saved for retirment, but now you have decided to leave your company for a better job. So what do you do with that old 401k?

First things first, don’t cash it out. Many people think “well it’s only a small amount, that money isn’t going to do wonders for me in retirement.” Well you are wrong that balance invested in the long term will grow more than you can imagine. Plus with the tax penalties you are hit with when you withdrawl that money makes cashing out of your 401k not a smart idea.

You have a few options, you can either leave the 401k intact with the company you are leaving and let them manage it still, or you can performa 401k rollover to an IRA.

I prefer the 401k rollover since leaving the 401k in your old company could be problematic if that company ever faces financial issues. If they ever had to declare bankrupcy, your 401k could be tied up for months and even years while the bankrupcy completes. Sometimes you even lose access to manage it, so if you were invested in risky stocks and then the market starts to crash, you could be in trouble if bankrupcy has frozen your account.

Rolling over your 401k to an IRA will allow you to have full control of your money and allows you to have it all in once place, rather than having to manage old 401ks at other companies. Most large brokerages now offer fee free IRA’s that you can sign up for.

Ultimately the choice is up to you, but I’ve had a 401k tied up in a company bankrupcy and I have made the decision that evertime I move to a different job, the first thing I do is to get that 401k rolled into an IRA!

Ways To Access Quick Cash

In this economy many people are trying to find other ways to get access to cash to be prepared if things start to get worse. One great way to get a quick loan is by getting unsecured personal loans. Unsecured loans are loans that are not secured by collateral such as your car or house. They also can usually be discharged in bankruptcy if you are unable to pay them.

Another way to get some fast cash is to use a credit card. Many credit cards give you 0% on purchases for 12 months, so that will get you a quick 0% loan for a year. That can definetly help out if money is tight. Here is a great site that has some top credit card offers.

As more and more employers continue to lay off people those people will spend less causing other companies to make less money which in turn causes more layoffs. It is a vicious circle that doesn’t stop until those same companies began profitable and can start expanding again. This is just the way the economy works, either it goes up or goes down, but rarely stays stagnant.

My advice to all is that if you have extra money save it. Try to avoid the urge to spend it. Even though the government has a responsibility to make people feel secure, no one truly knows what things will look like in the next few months and having some extra cash on hand be it from a loan or credit card can truly help you be prepared.

How To Use A Gift Card

Many people hate receiving gift cards since they dread trying to get that balance to zero. Not to mention it is still legal in some states to have a monthly or yearly inactivity fee on the card. So trying to get all the money off of the card quickly can be a challenging process.

If the gift card is a Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express card then this makes things easy. If you have a cell phone or other utility bill just pay your bill online with the total amount on the card. Most utility providers allow you to have a credit balance, so overpaying your bill shouldn’t be an issue.

If the gift card is from a certain store than this can make things a bit tougher. You can try to sell the gift card online via eBay however you most likely you will sell it for less that what it is worth. I usually use eBay as a last resort. I will usually try to sell it to a friend or family member for face value. Another thing I will try is to go to the store and try to sell it to someone in the checkout line. Since they are going to pay for their items anyway many people will just give you cash for the card. This is a bit tougher though since many might think you are trying to scam them.

I have always treated gift cards like cash. I mean lets be honest, the real reason companies offer gift cards in the first place is that they know a certain percentage of then never get redeemed. So it is free money to them. When you receive a gift card do what you can to get that balance to zero right away to avoid losing its value!