The Sun's Financial Diary
Personal experience of saving, investing, and living frugally.
博文
(2007-08-18 15:15:00)
FromnowtillJanuary15,2008,AmericanExpressCostcocardholderscanearn$10whenpayingtheirwirelessphoneplanwithAMEXCostcoTrueEarningCard.FromAMEXwebsite,theTermsandConditionsofthedealareasfollows:OnlyTheTrueEarningsCardfromCostcoandAmericanExpress,TheTrueEarningsBusinessCardfromCostcoandAmericanExpress,AmericanExpressCostcoCashRebateCreditCard,andtheAmericanExpressCostcoBusinessCardCardmembersareeligible...[阅读全文]
(2007-08-17 19:58:44)
Butnotwithaprice,averyhighprice.BackinFebruarywhenIfirstheardthatE-Tradeisgoingtointroduceaglobaltradingservicetoallowinvestorstotradestockslistedinothermarketsdirectly,Isigneduptoreceivenotificationwhenitbecomesavailable.Yesterday,theemailcame,announcingthatthenewE-TradeGlobalTradingisupandrunning.Ofthesixmarkets(Canada,HongKong,France,Germany,Japan,andUK)currentlyincludedintheGlobalTrading,Iamma...[阅读全文]
(2007-04-24 13:39:29)
Nomutualfundsareequal,eveniftheytrackthesamebenchmark,andthisisalsotrueforlifecyclefunds.Lifecyclefunds,alsoknownastargetdatefunds,aregettingpopularamonginvestorswhoseekoptimumassetallocationfortheirretirementinvestments.Theideaofalifecyclefundisthatthefund’sassetallocationevolvesasthefundapproachesthetargetdate.Withlifecyclefunds,investorsleavethejobofrebalancingthefund’sassetstothefundmanage...[阅读全文]
(2007-04-10 13:14:11)
YouareprobablyfamiliarwiththeRuleof72,whichtellsyouwhentheonedollaryouinvesttodaywillbeworth$2onceyouhavearateofgrowth.IfyourannualrateofreturnisR%,thenitwilltakeyou(72/R)yearstodoubleyourmoney.Forinstance,fora6%return(assumingtherateisconstant),youwillneed72/6=12yearstosee100%gainofyourmoney.Nowlet’sthinkaboutdoublingthegaininsteadoftheprinciple.Howlongwillittakeforonedollartobecomethree?Again...[阅读全文]
(2007-03-29 13:28:41)
Ifyoualreadyhaveaspecificfundonyourmindandwanttofindmoreaboutyourtarget,thenMorningstar’smutualfundpageisagreatresourceforyourresearch(youwillneedtouseothertoolstoscreenthefundsifyoudon’tknowwhattoinvest).HereIuseVanguard500Index(VFINX)asanexampletoshowwhatIcheckwhenIresearchmutualfunds.Enteringthesymbolatthehomepageandyouwillseeascreenasbelow.LoadBeforeIlookanythingelse,Iwanttomakesurethefunddo...[阅读全文]
(2007-03-28 18:15:40)
Plus,youwillalsoget0%balancetransferfor12months5rewardpointsoneverydollarspentonpurchasesatsupermarkets,drugstores,andgasstations.Forthe0%BT,thecard’stermsandconditionssayThetransactionfeeforbalancetransfersis3%oftheamountofeachbalancetransfer,$5minimum,$75maximum.SinceCitiischangingitspolicyonbalancetransferfeesstartingApril3,2007,thismaybeyourlastchancetogetthefreeloanandmakeasizableprofitfromi...[阅读全文]
(2007-03-28 18:13:08)
BackinNovember,Ihadapostonwhywatercouldfindaplaceinyourportfolio.Themainpointofthearticleisaswefaceaglobalshortageofdrinkingwater,investinginwatermakesasoundchoiceforlongterminvestment.Ifyouarealsointerestedininvestinginwater,themostconvenientchoicesofaristhePowersharesWaterResourcesETF(PHO),whichtracksPalisadesWaterIndex(ZWI),a“modifiedequal-dollarweightedindexcomprisedofU.S.exchange-tradedcom...[阅读全文]
(2007-02-21 13:52:46)
Earlylastweek,MSNMoneyhasanarticlesayingthatthere’sa$30to$60taxrefundthatmorethanonethirdtaxpayersmayforgettoclaim,yetitcouldbetheeasiestrefundonecanget.Sowhatisitexactly?It’sthetelephonetaxrefund.AccordingtotheIRSwebsite,Thetelephonetaxrefundisaone-timepaymentavailableonyour2006federalincometaxreturn,designedtorefundpreviouslycollectedfederalexcisetaxesonlong-distanceorbundledservice.Itisavai...[阅读全文]
(2007-02-21 13:50:30)
InterestedintradingstockslistedonLondonStockExchangeorTokyoStockExchange,butdon’thaveanaccountwiththemduetoregulatoryrestrictions?SofarUSinvestorswhowanttoaccessglobalmarketscanmainlyinvestthroughmutualfundsofferedbythedomesticfinancialindustryorindividualstocks(ADRsorAmericanDepositaryReceipts)listedonUSmarkets.ThatsoonwillchangewiththeintroductionofE-Trade’sGlobalTrading,which,accordingtoE-T...[阅读全文]
(2007-02-16 13:22:40)
IfyouareaNJresident,didyoueverwonderhowmuchyourchild’smathteachermakeseveryyear?Andwhat’sthesalaryofyourmayor?Howaboutthepriceofthehousetwoblocksdownthestreetthatwasjustsold?Orifyouarebuyingahouse,doyouwanttoknowthecrimerecordsofthetown,theSATscoresofitshighschool,andthepreviousowner(s)oftheproperty?
Clickhereformore.[阅读全文]
Clickhereformore.[阅读全文]
