A Parking Spot for your Cash???

Hi all,

It's been some time since a posted. I have been extremely busy and don't have much time. So I'll try to be as brief as possible (Yea right!).

I stumbled across a wonderful idea about stashing your emergency fund where you have unlimited access, investment options and the ability to accumulate cash without the tax hog snatching a significant portion before you get a chance to enjoy it. The best part is that this option has been under our noses for the past decade or so. I'm talking about Roth IRA's.

Roth IRA's are those wonderful investment accounts that allows you to deposit cash, buy approved investment vehicles, accumulate earnings from investments tax free and pull out your contributions without any tax affects (i.e. no 10% penalty on withdrawal).

Here's how it works. Take your cash from your emergency fund, taxable investment account or CD, and deposit it into a Roth IRA account at your favorite brokerage firm. The firm could be an online discount broker or your local bank. It really does not matter where as long as you are comfortable with their security and customer service.

Once the funds are fully invested in your Roth IRA the earnings from your investments can be withdrawn tax free after five years. Meaning your stash will compound tax free for at least five years. Nice huh? As an added bonus, the contributions are available to be withdrawn at ANY time tax free. So if an emergency arises the funds in your Roth IRA could come in handy.

There are some catches to this "great deal". You can only contribute $4,000 ($5,000 if you are over 50 years old). That is the contribution limit for ALL IRA accounts. Not just your newly funded Roth IRA. And you can only buy "approved" investments within your Roth IRA account. "Approved" investments may not include sophisticated investments such as equity options, forex or master limited partnerships. If you don't know what those are then you should not have any issues investing your Roth IRA funds. I wouldn't use the funds in the Roth IRA to purchase municipal bonds or any other tax exempt investments since the Roth IRA is already tax exempt. It's overkill and it limits the amount of municipal bonds you can purchase.

I would suggest holding some funds in your Roth IRA in cash (maybe 1 or 2 months salary) for emergencies. This way you wouldn't have to liquidate any investments at low rates to generate cash in the account for withdrawal.

~MafiaDon

A Troubling Trend in America...

Hi all!

I have been witnessing a troubling trend in America. A trend that could transform the common person into a common slave. A trend that would erase society as we know it and replace it with anarchy. A trend that will (fill in the blank here)...

Enough with the dramatic introduction! It is true that I am witnessing a troubling trend across the board in business, in every industry, thanks to the economic mess we have created for ourselves. This trend can be summed in one word, CONSOLIDATION.

Let's take the banking industry for instance since it is one of the more obvious candidates. There have been 41 bank closures during 2010 according to the FDIC. During 2009 there were 141! Compare these numbers to the bank closures by the FDIC during 2005 through 2008 which were 28 combined!

So what happens to a bank that is closed by the FDIC? I'm glad you asked!

The FDIC descends on the failing bank in question late on a Friday evening, usually just before closing, after careful surveillance and CIA like secrecy. Once inside all the branches of the failing bank the FDIC will begin to account for all assets of the bank. Once the assets are accounted for the FDIC will take control of the failing bank and transfer all assets to the "new", more solvent bank that has agreed to "take over" the failing bank in question. The "new" bank was informed of the impending failure before the FDIC takes control of the failing bank and is bound by the CIA like secrecy.

That "new" bank now has control of all depositor accounts, loans, etc. Now the "new" bank becomes larger and more powerful with it's new found wealth with the ability to "take over" more failing banks. You don't believe me? Check the history of Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia/Wells Fargo Bank and Citibank. These banks are now consolidating and monopolizing the banking industry with the failing small community banks. Soon these will be the only banking options for the average American. And with Citibank's solvency in question the list may get smaller. I foresee negligent service support and, in some cases, outright disenfranchisement of the average consumer of banking goods if this trend continues.

The only saving grace I see for the banking industry are the credit unions. I haven't seen anything significantly negative from this sector of the banking industry. Maybe because they are not-for-profit and the depositors actually own shares in the credit union. Which means credit unions are not doing anything insanely risky with their depositors money.

Just a thought...

~MafiaDon

E-Poll Surveys a consistant performer!

I just checked my E-Poll activity summary and realized that I have accumulated lots of prizes over the past 6 months. The prizes range from AMC Gold Movie Passes to $10 deposited into my PayPal account.

This is how E-Poll works:

First you must sign up for an account.

Once your account is confirmed E-Poll will send you emails with rewards of 250 - 2000 points. Some rewards are for sweepstakes entries only. I usually don't waste my time with those type of rewards. They usually send about 2 - 4 emails per month. I usually get about 3.

Collect points until you have enough to redeem. Redemptions start at 3500 points from major providers such as gift cards to Target, Best Buy, etc. Once you order your redemption it should arrive in the mail about a month from the order date.

Wash, rinse, repeat...

~MafiaDon

Prepaid Cellphone Deal

Hi all,

Since this is my first post in over a year I wanted to address a topic that would save money in this troubled time, cellphones.

Since last year I have continued using Net 10 as my primary cellphone provider. And I must say that it has worked out great. My cellphone bill has been limited to $45 per month on average for three accounts. Compared to my contract with AT&T I saved nearly $55 (including taxes). My only concern is that one of the account's call volume is more than 300 minutes per month. Therefore, I am searching for a viable unlimited prepaid plan in my area for that account.

OK, enough with the update here is the deal.

Currently Net 10 is running a special in my area. They are offering the basic cellphone, a refurbished LG 300, for $20. This deal includes 300 minutes with activation of the cellphone and a 200 minute airtime card! The same deal is available for $30 which includes a 300 minute airtime card in place of the 200 minute airtime card. Essentially, you are getting a free phone + 300 minutes + 200 minute airtime card (300 minute airtime card with the $30 deal). The 300 minutes you get for activating the phone expires in 60 days and the 300 airtime card has another 60 day expiration period. Here are the steps:

Step one: buy three or more phones with the 300 minute airtime card (total price $90 includes free shipping). Bonus: using various coupon codes you can get up to $8 off per order!!!

Step two: activate the first phone and use one 300 minute airtime card (note: you can port your old cellphone number onto the new Net 10 phone). This phone will have 600 total minutes lasting 120 days.

Step three: after all the minutes are used in the first Net 10 phone or after 120 days port your cellphone number to the second phone and add a 300 minute airtime card. Now you'll have the same cellphone number + another 600 minutes for another 120 days!!!

Step four: wash, rinse repeat as many times as the amount of phones you originally purchased. If the deal is still available buy more phones.

I hope someone takes advantage of this tremendous deal...

-MafiaDon

Paid To Click Earnings Update - January 2009

As you know I have been experimenting with various Paid-To-Click websites to generate online income. Here are some of the results:

NeoBux

Earnings since inception $4.94 (since 10/17/08)

Note that most of the earnings were reinvested to rent referrals. No other cash was invested. The most that could be invested into the account is $30 every 7 days. That's $120 per month. With my current ROE of 35% my monthly return would be approximately $42 with a $120 monthly investment. A losing investment. Therefore it is wise to just invest the earnings, nothing more. By just investing earnings my ROE increases to 100%.

MatrixMails

Earnings since inception $8.95 (since 11/13/08)

Note that matrixmails does not allow the renting of referrals. However, they do pay instantly on approved sign up deals and their PTC payout is $2.00.

All other PTC's have been eliminated due to time constraints. However I am still participating in all point related sites such as MyPoints, Inboxdollars & Sendearnings.

~MafiaDon

Get Free Licensed Software...

Today I stumbled across a great sight called Giveaway of the Day.

This site features one software program free to download for the day. Afterward you'll have to purchase the software. Make it a habit to check every morning and you could gleen some wonderful bargains.

~MafiaDon

Cell Phone Swap...

Hi all!

First before I get into the cellphone switch I just want to say Happy New Year to all my readers!

Now on to business.

At the end of last year (2008) my son's 2 year contract with At&t finally ran out. I must say that I was eagerly looking forward to this event since I found out that my family contract was extended due to my son's "add a line" contract. I chronicled my experience here .

After comparing most of the various prepaid service plans in my area I settled on using Net 10. What swayed my decision was the 300 minutes that was included with every phone purchased. The 300 minutes are good for 60 days. Afterward I would need to purchase more minutes to keep the account active. Also with various discount codes I knocked off about $10 off the price of each phone. An awesome deal! I also imported all my original numbers to Net 10 which saved an additional phone call to cancel my At&t contract. The swap was painless and easy. The only snag was my son's phone was defective. I promptly called customer service and they replaced the phone within 2 days! I also have a 1 year limited warranty on all three phones I purchased. When I signed with At&t the limited warranty was only 90 days.

After using the service for about 2 weeks I must say that I am very satisfied with my decision to return to prepaid cellphone service. Here are some additional factors that convinced my decision:

* $.10 a minute all day every day. There's no guesswork or fancy calculations to get the best deal.

* Net 10's selection of phones were comparable to most contract service's selection.

* Net 10's monthly plans are very affordable and offer added flexibility.

* Multiple convenient ways to add airtime to your phone. Store purchase, by phone, automatically through the monthly plans or online.

~MafiaDon

Year End Rap Up...

I've been so busy with my holiday preparations that I haven't had too much time to post. This will be my last post of the year, thus the title "Year End Rap Up".

This has been a very interesting year financially for everyone. We witnessed an Enron like financial meltdown, an 5.5 magnitude quake in Southern California, record braking bank failures, climbing housing foreclosures and numerous layoffs. I have focused on the micro economic aspect of this years finances. Here are the links to some relevant posts relating to this year's events.

Earning Cash Online

Here are several posts on MyPoints. It's a good way to earn gift cards for shopping.

MyPoints #1

MyPoints #2

Here are several other posts on Paid-To-click sites that pay $0.005 - $0.02 per email/click.

Inboxdollars

MyLot

An evaluation of all the Paid-To-Click sites I use.

Getting cash back on all your purchases without a credit card.

Using CVS's Extra Care program to earn Extra Care Bucks for shopping at CVS.

Cutting Costs

Here are a series of posts dedicated to reducing expenses and increasing take home pay:

Banking

Debt Management Series
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Where your money goes...

Cellphones

And last, but not least, creating your own bailout plan.

I hope all my readers have benefited from some of the information I have passed along this year. Thank you all for your support and have a safe and Happy Holiday season.

See you next year!

Getting Paid To Post...

While reading various posts on how to make money blogging I stumbled across a wonderful site called Snapbomb.

Snapbomb is not a blog advertising or marketing site. It is a pay per post site that will pay a blogger to write a post on a specific subject listed on their website.

Here are the steps.

First, sign up for Snapbomb at http://www.snapbomb.com/bloggers.html?acp=7551

Once you're signed up you must submit your blog for evaluation. The evaluation process allows Snapbomb to effectively calculate the value per opportunity. This can range anywhere from $.25 to $25 depending on your blog's SEO rank, traffic and a host of other evaluators.

Once your blog is approved proceed to the Blogger Dashboard and click the Find an Opportunity link where your opportunities will be listed. Select one of the opportunities paying close attention to the parameters or guidelines for your assignment. The guidelines include parameters such as the minimum amount of words, reminders to post original content, and key words that must be used in the post.

Write your post and publish it on your blog. Once published return to your Blogger Dashboard and paste a direct link to the post in the space provided.

Finally, wait for the post to be approved and payment.

So if you're a blogger looking to earn money by posting Snapbomb can work for you.

~MafiaDon

Disclaimer: This is a paid post.

More Paid To Click Sites...

This is a list of all the PTC Sites that I visit on a regular basis. These are trusted sites that have not shut down or didn't pay. They are not in any particular order so feel free to click and join any or all of the sites.

Have fun earning extra cash!!

MYLOT