Credit Cards

All insurance is a waste of money until it comes time to file a claim. The trick is in determining which insurance is good, protecting …

The landing page says PayPal pays 1% cash back, but PayPal gave me a $100 cash back reward for spending $1,000 in December and $25 for every $1,000 of spending on my debit card. This means with a small amount of planning I can get close to 2.5% cash back on normal spending (no crazy spending for a reward, as if I have to mention this) on my debit card before the bonus reward.

Both debt buying hedge funds I managed did well; the first significantly better than the second. More important than the money was the experience I gained. I know the intimate details of buying, selling and collecting debt.

And I have contacts. 

When I ran across the John Oliver video I had to watch. Nothing much has changed since I ran those halls. 

Debt can destroy any dreams you have of a financially independent future. That is why it is so important to reduce debt and even maintain a relatively high credit score.Debt is and of itself isn’t the entire problem. Excessive debt is a drag on wealth creation, but what debt does to the household budget is even more damaging than the original debt itself.And debt can sneak up on anyone. Student loans, medical bills, job loss or a failed business venture can turn a bad situation into a nightmare even bankruptcy can’t deliver you from.Once calamity strikes it is near impossible to shake the effects in every financial aspect of your life. A medical issue or mounting student loans can lower your FICO score which leads to higher costs in almost every other area of your life. Auto and homeowners insurance rates are higher for those with lower FICO scores. Many landlords refuse to rent to people with a FICO score below a certain level or charge a higher rent.

From a young age I knew exactly wanted to do. Then I changed my mind.

Such is youth. My dad had different plans for me. My childhood was spent on the family farm and it was an awesome life. My dad owned an agricultural repair business and the plan was in place for me to slide right into the company. There was only one problem: I hated the work.

My children are now adults. One is in China while the youngest just graduated high school. My fondest hope was that at least one of the two would be interested in tax and accounting work. No dice.

Forcing your children into a family business is always a bad idea. The kids might love the work and they should then be welcomed with open arms if they do. But most kids don’t want to follow in their parent’s footsteps. Their dreams are different. Most often they follow their parent’s path because they don’t know where else to turn.

Cryptocurrencies are all the rage with bitcoin (BTC) leading the pack. As I write, BTC blew past a 1,000% return year to date and posted its first trade above $10,000. Experts claim BTC could increase another 400% between now and the end of next year to $40,000 or more! If that doesn’t make your eyes water, remember BTC traded at a $1 in early 2011. I don’t know about you, but this is nosebleed territory.

Bitcoin will continue growing until 21,000,000 BTC exist. Actually, the programming to mine BTC stops 3 bitcents shy of the 21 million mark, which at the current growth rate could be worth a few million dollars. It will take until 2140 to complete the BTC mining process. On June 1st, 2017 there were 16,366,275 BTC in existence, if that is the right word to use. (It isn’t.) More BTC has been mined since June 1st.

This means the total value of BTC is approaching $200 billion in value. If BTC climbs 400% in the next year, as some suggest, the total value of BTC will approach $800 billion and the market cap of Apple!* When all 21 million BTC are mined, if the price is $40,000 to 1 BTC the total value of all BTC will reach $840 billion. Then it gets absurd.

Recently I discussed selling tradelines as a way to generate extra income. If you are unfamiliar with tradelines, read my prior article first.

Today I want to expand on the idea of using your tradelines to improve the financial position of the people you care about. Selling tradelines is an easy way to earn money, but there are issues of concern. There is another way to benefit from your tradelines, no selling involved. The banks are less than enthusiastic if you sell tradelines, but what I will suggest below is far more acceptable to the banks and falls under their terms of use as I understand them.

There are times thinking like an accountant determines how much of your hard-earned money you get to keep and how well your investments perform. Money isn’t the only thing accountants think about either. Time is more important than money by a long shot and plays into the equation every time.

This past week my oldest daughter asked if I would be helping with her tuition for next semester. I lollygagged as I didn’t want to think about it at the time. My daughter persisted, finally mentioning she wanted me to know about her tuition if I wanted to use a credit card to accumulate bonus miles or cash back.

Every year I generate cash and miles equivalents of around $10,000 per year. The whole family knows my love of these bonuses since they are tax-free and nothing motivates a tax guy like a five figure tax-free benefit.