Zecco New Account $100 Bonus Promotion

Zecco.com, a popular discount broker, is currently offering a $100 bonus when you open a new account. You need to be referred to be eligible for this promotion. You must also fund your new account with $10,000 and leave it in the account for at least 90 days after the account opening date. There is no trading requirement to receive the bonus unlike other brokerage bonuses.

Zecco Trading offers stock traders for a flat rate of $4.95 per trade and options for $4.95 + .65 per contract. They have an ACH feature that lets you move money back and forth between your Zecco account and linked bank account. Zecco also has quite a bit of community tools, where you can see what other traders are buying and selling. This is great if you are new to the stock market as you can follow others to determine your strategy. Another nice thing about Zecco is that there are no minimum balances, inactivity fees or trading requirements on the account, so trade as little or as much as you want as you only need to pay the trading commission.

To receive a referral you can either get one from a friend, or I can refer you. If you need a referral, complete the form below and I will get you one as soon as possible. Also note that once you have an account, you can refer others and receive a $100 bonus for doing so.

1. Send a $100 Zecco Referral To:
2. Your Email Address:(valid email required)

 

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(Budgetcents.net Pledge: your email will not be used for anything other than generating a referral to you)

3 Ways to Increase Your Household Budget

Many families nowadays are struggling to pay bills and the economic meltdown has led to mass redundancies all over the world. Managing your household budget has never been more important as most people have less disposable income. However, it’s a skill that everyone should master as increasing your household income in this economic climate is difficult. Using some creative ways to save money and managing your finances better is the best way to increase your household budget so that you can afford some more necessities. Here are 3 ways to do it:

1. Review Your Budget – If you don’t have a clearly defined budget already, it’s time to make one. You can use an online budget planner to easily plan your budget and identify areas of high spending. Your household budget planner should provide charts and graphs of your spending so you can easily see which items are not essential and reduce them.

2.  Use Coupons – Couponing is the new buzzword for savvy savers. You can save money on a whole host of household items by looking for deals and coupons online. An easy way to search for coupons is to use google and input the name of the item you are looking for and “coupon” next to it. You can also subscribe to coupon blogs and sites such as Groupon for local deals. Another way to get coupons is to search classified ads sites such as Craigslist or auctions such as eBay. These sites allow users to sell their coupons. You’ll find that you can buy them at a low price and redeem them on items where you would have normally paid full price. This is especially good for rarer items which would not usually be discounted such as brand name clothing or electronics. Just remember to check the expiry dates and ensure that they are valid in your area.

3. Reduce debt – Interest on debt is the an unnecessary expense and it can really mount up. It’s basically money that gets wasted because you do not get anything in return. If you can’t pay off debts quickly, then try to move it to a credit card or another loan facility with a lower interest rate. For example, you could take out a loan with a lower interest rate to pay the higher interest rate loan off completely. The difference between these two amounts will become money saved every month.

Using the 3 tips above you should be able to drastically improve your budget. Remember to keep good records of your spending and always stick to your budget.

Reloadable Debit Card Security

Prepaid debit cards are fairly new on the financial scene but they’re gaining ground – fast. You can use them basically everywhere you can use a credit card. They’re also cheaper to keep than credit cards because you won’t pay interest on a monthly balance. Plus, you don’t need any established credit to get a reloadable debit card, just proper identification. These features make debit cards really easy to use.

There is one thing however that people wonder about when it comes to these cards. They wonder if they’re cash is truly secure when it’s locked up in a debit card account. Most people experienced with banks feel secure about their money sitting in checking accounts but the newness of prepaid cards makes some people uncomfortable about their security. Let’s see if we can address some of those fears.

Carrying Cash vs. a Prepaid Card

People tend to feel uncomfortable carrying around a large sum of money in their wallets. It’s not terribly secure and it can attract unhealthy attention. But for a lot of people who have been living in the “cash-only” world, this has been their only option; that is until the advent of prepaid debit cards. Now, prepaid cards make it easy to carry around just about any amount of cash without attracting any undue notice.

What About Lost Cards?

There are procedures for handling lost (or stolen) prepaid debit cards. All card companies have them. They usually revolve around the requirement to notify them within a set amount of time after you discover the loss or theft – usually within 48 hours. When you do that, you reduce your potential loss as the company will put a freeze on your account and move to issue you a replacement card with a brand new card number. Your funds transfer to the new card and you’re good to go. That of course would never happen if you misplaced your wallet.

Debt Security

One of the most underrated benefits to using a prepaid reloadable debit card is the debt security it provides. You can’t spend yourself into a large balance with a prepaid card – you can only spend money you’ve already loaded onto the card. Without a balance, you’ll never be subjected to interest charges or onerous fees. And you’ll never have to worry about making a minimum payment. In the long run, that will save you a lot of money.

In the final analysis, prepaid debit cards are very secure financial vehicles. They’re true MasterCards and Visa cards and as such, come with the same safeguards provided by those networks. Each card company also works hard at protecting their products so that their customers can feel safe about using them. After all, they make no money if people aren’t buying and using their cards. I invite you to go out and try one of these cards for yourself; you’ll see why they’ve become such a great alternative to cash.

Income Limits for Roth IRA

Not all individuals are allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA. According to the Roth IRA rules on eligibility, only those who are employed that earn a taxable income during the year are allowed to make contribution. This income has limitations, which will be based on the tax filing status of the account holder. This limit is set by the Internal Revenue Services or IRS, and are strictly followed.

The Roth IRA income limits for this year are as follows:

1. Single filers, those who are heads of the families, and those who are married but filing separately provided that the spouses are not living together may be eligible to make a full Roth contributions if their modified adjusted gross income is $107,000. Contributions are phased out starting at $107,000, and they may not be allowed to make contributions if they earn more than $122,000.
2. Joint filers, or married couples, can make full contributions to a Roth IRA if their adjusted gross income is $169,000. Likewise, contributions are phased out starting $169,000, and they could no longer contribute to Roth IRA if their income exceeds $179,000.
3. Married but filing separately, and the spouses are still living together, are not allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA if their adjusted gross income exceeds $10,000.

As soon as one finds out that his income is within the limitations which are allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA, it would be best if he opens a Roth IRA right away, because this is the type of IRA plan which is believed to be more advantageous especially when it comes to paying the taxes. Since the contributions to a Roth IRA are taxed right at the time these are made, the Roth account holders have big chances of enjoying tax-free distributions later on. They just need to follow the guidelines that are in accordance with the Roth IRA rules in order to enjoy such benefit.

The account holder must be 59 and 1/2 years of age or older, and the Roth IRA must have been opened for at least 5 years, before a tax-free withdrawal will be allowed. Else, aside from the regular income taxes, an additional 10% penalty will be charged.

Getting More Revenue Through Online Brokers

One trick in the stock market that could allow you to get more money is by saving as much as you can. There are several ways to cut down on the cost of trades and they are sure fire ways to earn you more cash. Below are just some of the most common ways you can try out.

Getting Your Own Direct Reinvestment Plan

By doing this, you will be able to save a lot of money since the middlemen, knows as brokers are removed from the scene. You can use the money that you are supposed to pay them as an additional investment. If you have little capital to start with, you can go to companies that will allow you to trade a small amount first. This can be done if you have your own brokerage account.

Look for Free Trades

There are several online brokers that will allow you to trade for free so long as you comply with their rules and regulations. Zecco is one of such company and in order to get 10 free trades from them in a month, all you have to do is either maintain a $25,000 balance with them or trade for at least 25 times. If you are a day trader, there is no doubt that you will benefit a lot from this. However for those who could not be able to meet the requirement, all you have to pay is $4.50 per trade.

Friend Referral

In order to get more business, online brokers encourage their clients to refer friends. For every successful referral (this means that your friend have to open a brokerage account with them), you will be granted 25 free trades. One of the companies that do this is SogoTrade. Watch out for similar deals from your favorite online brokers.

Be Internet Savvy

There is no question that traditional brokers charge a lot more than those that are based online. This means that if you have the capacity to make your own sound decision in your investments, you should place your trades with online brokers. However beginners should seek help only from traditional brokers.

What Is Form SSA-1099?

Form SSA-1099 is a government tax form for those who receive social security benefits to report their earnings for the year and pay any taxes on that income. Social security benefits are available to the elderly, blind or disabled individuals. These benefits come from the taxes withheld by employees and workers who earn an income from a job or self-employment.

The form is a document that you will receive in the mail and it is sent out by January 31 of the New Year so that those who receive benefits can see how much they have earned and report any income that they may have earned in addition to their social security income.

The form comes in a large white envelope each year with the recipients name and social security number and earnings on the form.

If you received one hundred percent of your social security benefits and held any type of employment while receiving those benefits you may have to pay a penalty at tax time for not having a certain percentage of your benefits withheld. Make sure that if you have other income outside of your social security benefits that you report this income as soon as possible and have the appropriate amount of taxes taken out of your benefits.

For instance you may have 10, 15 or 25 percent taken out of your social security benefits to cover the wages that you earn in addition to those benefits.

The form SSA-1099 may be confused with the other 1099 series forms as some are for those who are self employed or independent contractors.

If you need help with filling out your form or filing the taxes on your social security benefits you can speak with a social security representative who may be able to help you understand the form, or you can speak with your local tax representative for further information about filing.

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