For new customers only.
In the past you’d have to find someone to refer you in order to get the $25 bonus.
This supposedly ends June 31st, 2009 according to the wording on the website. However there’s only 30 days in June. Go figure.
$2,000 deposit = You get 100 free trades for 60 days, which is apparently a $999 value.
Deposit $25,000 or more = $100 cash bonus.
Sep 192008
I veered off course for a bit. Posts going forward will try to be more related to personal finance!
I’m contemplating starting up a personal blog where I’ll write about random day to day things. I’m sure you’ll be interested in what I eat everyday and wonder how I’m still alive.
One of my friends invited me to check out the endless shrimp deal at Red Lobster recently. For $16.99 you can basically have unlimited all you can eat shrimp. You can choose from a variety differently prepared shrimp such as cajun, breaded, etc. The way it works is you initially order 2 varieties and when you’re finished you can keep asking for another portion until you’re good and ready. The endless shrimp also comes with your choice of a side and salad.
Red Lobster was extremely packed and we had to wait 30 minutes for a table. However once seated and we ordered the salad and biscuits came out pretty quickly. Our waitress Heather was young and rather pleasant. I tried all the varieties of shrimp they had available and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I’m not a heavyset guy or a big eater so I topped out at 4 servings of shrimp. I did order a 5th serving but I was stuffed and probably would’ve thrown up if I ate anymore. Heather packed my 5th serving to go and I eventually gave it to a friend I met up later because I don’t think I’ll eat anymore shrimp for the rest of the year.
The rice that comes with the cajun shrimp is by far the best one available. Try that first so you don’t miss out on it and then order it again if you feel you’re on your last legs. You can ask for it to be packed. Remember to tip your server well!
Sep 112008
Read:
Forbes has a great article that details how the re-surfacing of a 6 six year old Chicago Tribune story caused United Airline’s stock to plummet.
Get Rich Slick pulls all of their money out of WaMu. I’m in the camp where I leave my money in regardless because I believe in FDIC coverage and have nothing to fear. Especially when WaMu still offers great rates on some of their products.
Bluntmoney… Why you’re not rich yet: 10 secrets to overcoming the ordinary.
The Bloggers Kiva Lending Team has 53 members and a total of $12,425 though 459 loans.
Who’s surprised by government corruption? A Washington Post article on government officials in charge of colecting royalties from oil and gas companies…
I’ve decided to setup a system of “borrowing” from myself. The current situation is that I am extremely cash poor because my funds are parked in Kiva.org affording others the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. My checking account has only a couple hundred dollars tops for discretionary spending. So what happens when I spot an opportunity to profit but lack the funds to do so?
The answer to to tap into my emergency fund. However I have to setup terms and limits to ensure that it’s a worthwhile opportunity and the money makes it back into the emergency fund.
I’ve decided that I will borrow money from my emergency fund at 1% simple interest a month. Therefore if I borrow $2k for 4 months I’ll pay back $2080 into the emergency fund at the end of those 4 months. Also I can only borrow up to half of the total amount in the emergency fund just in case a real emergency arises I’ll have funds available. Today my emergency fund sits a little over $3k so I can borrow up to $1.5k if needed.
The reason I setup an interest rate for myself is that it’ll discourage me from withdrawing funds from my emergency stash for idiotic things. Furthermore if an opportunity to profit arises it’s better to pay myself interest than a third party.
If I kicked my lending to poor people habit on Kiva I wouldn’t need to do any of this but it’s nice to be young and altruistic.
Sep 032008
One of my sisters Kat asked me a very interesting question before…
“When do you think you’ll make your first million?”
I didn’t think much of it at the time and said “Hopefully by 30″ or something along that line.
Thinking into this deeper… this question implies that my sister has somewhat confidence in my ability to amass wealth. I’m pretty sure my father didn’t attain his first million until well into his 40s. However he had significant disadvantages (never finished high school, refugee from a war-torn country, etc. etc.). However his advantage was that he had the drive and street smarts. He was hungry and had 4 kids to feed. He was backed into a corner and had to make it.
To attain a million by age 30 I’d have to earn a total of $980,000 over a period of 9 years. That’s an average earning of $108,888.88 per year. That million dollar mark seems a little out of reach. A million dollars won’t buy what it can today but it’ll still be a significant sum of money.
Which brings me to another point. It really annoys me when someone says a million dollars is not that much money. In most cases the person has a negative net worth so it’s ironic that they make that comment. Yes a million dollars today isn’t what it use to be but a person can still retire on it.
If you received a million dollars today you could invest in 5% tax-free municpal bonds for an annual income of $50,000. Since it’s tax-free it’s equivalent to a $70,000 annual salary which is taxed. The income is higher than the median average income and if you can’t retire off that then I don’t know what to say.
I was on the way to have lunch with a friend and decided to stop by the supermarket to pick up bread because I ran out.
I ended up walking out with a bag of tostitos, two jars of salsa, a can of easy cheese, and a box of Ritz crackers.
Never go to the supermarket hungry.
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