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How do Your Personal Finance Priorities Stack Up?

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:41:29 +0000

Baby Boomers, Your Time is Now. How do Your Finances Compare to Your Peers?

CNNMoney.com recently published a quiz designed to test how your financial situation matches up to those of your peers. The following is a series of general questions that addresses situations that affect baby-boomers and workers nearing retirement. Answers to the questions are found at the bottom of the page. Good luck!

1. What percentage of well-to-do boomers presently offer financial support to both a child and an aging parent?

A.   6%
B.   14%
C.   22%
D.   31%

2. Which of the following choices has the most impact on finances for pre-retirees stretching to help their families:

A.   A cut back on luxurious items.
B.   Less money is being contributed towards a child’s education expense.
C.   Less money is being saved for retirement.
D.   More money is being used to purchase lottery tickets.

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3. In a recent survey, men were asked to guess as to whether or not they thought their wives thought retirement planning and savings was a priority. 45% of men thought their wives did consider retirement saving a priority. What percentage of wives actually rank retirement as a key goal?

A.   35%
B.   48%
C.   68%
D.   76%

4. What percentage does the average parent pay using income, assets, and borrowing towards a child’s private college tuition and fees?

A.   63%
B.   43%
C.   35%
D.   11%

5. What amount of money did affluent families plan on spending during their summer 2010 vacation on each person who attends?

A.   $2,300
B.   $1,600
C.   $1,100
D.   $700

6. Over the past five years, almost 60% of baby-boomers have provided money to either an adult child of their or a grandchild. What is the median amount of money doled out during that time?

A.   $9,000
B.   $24,200
C.   $30,600
D.   $57,500

7. When a grandchild asks either grandma or grandpa for money, what is that money most often used towards?

A.   General support
B.   Special event / memorable date
C.   College education
D.   Medical expenses / bills

8. The average wedding costs around $28,000. How much of the wedding cost does the bride’s parents typically pay?

A.   $28,000
B.   $20,000
C.   $13,000
D.   $8,000

Answers:

1. (D)
Almost one in three people between 50 and 64 years of age are providing support for a child and grandchild, according to a survey conducted by Merrill Lynch. Reportedly, 75% of these baby-boomers are worried that their assets won’t be enough to last through their retirement.

2. (A)
44% of those surveyed by Merrill Lynch say they’ve had to cut back on the finer things in life, while about one in four are putting money aside for their retirement, and 12% are putting less towards a child’s college fund. Many, though the exact figure is not know, are playing the lotto in desperation.

3. (C)
68% of wives are thinking about their retirement, and this is just one more example of how men fail to fully understand their spouses’ money concerns. Other money saving thoughts are for emergencies and paying off debt. Does your spouse think about retirement planning? Check out this pre-retirement checklist to help get your affairs in order.

4. (B)
43% is roughly $16,000 annually, according to a Sallie Mae and Gallup study. Another 19% of private college costs are paid through the student’s income, savings, and education loans. Parents who have children that attend public colleges spend about half this amount, on average $8,500 per year.

5. (B)
According to a report issued by American Express, affluent families intend on spending as much as $1,600 per person while on their 2010 summer vacation. 73% of those surveyed planned on taking a vacation this year, while 44% hadn’t, due to lack of funds saved up.

6. (C)
Believe it or not, baby-boomers have doled out a median amount of $30,600 to an adult child or grandchild in the past five years, according to a recent MetLife Mature Market Institute report. High-end givers reportedly average $59,000.

7. (A)
40% of monetary gifts from grandparents go towards general support, according to MetLife, while education came in second at 26%. The median gift was $3,000 over the past five years.

8. (C)
$13,000 or 46% is the average amount that the bride’s parents will pay towards wedding costs, according to The Knot. On average, the groom’s parents will cough up about 12% of the total cost. The band alone can cost as much as $3,000.

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Hidden Credit Card Fees to Watch For

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:46:03 +0000

Is Your Credit Card Company Trying to Nickel and Dime You?

Since the new credit card laws have gone into effect, credit card companies are looking for just about every opportunity to “nickel and dime” their customers. If you don’t read the terms of your contract carefully, you might find that you are in violation, which will more than likely cost you money.

Attorney Duncan Douglas notes that credit card companies are continuously working on ways to increase their fee revenues, from lowering credit limits to switching from fixed to variable interest rates.

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Watch out for these obscure fees:

1. Foreign Transaction Fees
A foreign transaction is when your credit card is processes in a foreign country. The issue arises when you haven’t left the country and find there is a fee associated with a recent transaction. If your card is run in a foreign country for a transaction you’ve made online, you most likely will pay upwards of 3 percent of the total charge. Visa and MasterCard assess this fee and pass the cost on to your bank, depending on your bank you may be paying this fee plus a “me too” fee of their own.

2. Reward Redemption Fees
As the name suggests, this is a fee for when you decide to redeem your credit card rewards; most commonly airline miles. Most airlines will not charge the cardholder redemption fees if booking is completed online, which isn’t the case for those who choose to book their tickets over the phone or at a ticket counter. Depending on the credit card company, a fee of $20 to $50 may apply.

3. Reward Recovery Fees
How about a charge to reinstate your rewards program after making just one late payment? That’s exactly what many American Express cardholders must contend with. Not as bad as having your rewards taken away and not given back at all, because you made one late payment, which is what many other credit card companies are doing. This “late payment” penalty can cost you as much as $30.

4. Activity Fees
Activity fees are actually fees assessed to cardholders for inactivity. In other words, if you don’t use your card to make a certain amount of transactions, or meet a certain dollar spending amount, you may just have to pay for it. While this cheap tactic was addressed by the Credit CARD Act, credit card companies found that by charging an annual fee then rebating the cardholder when a certain annual dollar amount is met, will work just as good.

5. Payment Protection Fees
This is a type of insurance plan to protect cardholders who may have found financial hardships, become unemployed, or have fallen ill. If the cardholder carries this form of insurance, also known as credit shield, payment protection, and credit safeguarding, minimum payments will be made and finance charges will be suspended. Cost is about 80 cents to $1 for every $100 carried as a balance. So… For every $1,000 you carry on your balance you can expect to spend $8 to $10 per month.

6. Paper Statement Fees
This one I really like. Remember when banks and credit card companies would charge a “paperless statement fee”? This was their way of saving a buck and charging you at the same time for simply not sending a monthly statement to your house and emailing it to you instead. Well, now you have a fee if you do want to receive that statement by mail. A fee of around $9 per month if you’re a Bank of America customer. Most credit card companies charge about a tenth of that.

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American Express Gift Cards

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:22:26 +0000

Keep Your Customers Close, but Your Best Customers Closer…

Gift cards have often been referred to as the perfect birthday gift. By offering a gift in a form that can be converted into just about anything, there is often much appreciation that comes with receiving a gift card. Birthdays and holidays are ideal for gift card giving, yes, but they can also be a great way to reward or motivate someone too.

American Express is a leader in providing business and personal gift cards, and with cool features like adding a custom message or even a company logo, it’s no wonder why. Personal gift cards can be given to friends or family with the recipient’s name embossed on the card and with a photo. If you’d like to send a gift card in a more traditional form, you can send an American Express® Gift Cheque.

Birthdays, Holidays, Thank Yous… Gift Cards, What’s Your Reason for Wanting One?

Gift cards are ideal for business owners who want to reward employees and for business people alike, who may want to say thank you to clients, customers, and other associates. Business gift cards are available starting from $25 and can be purchased in various increments ranging all the way up to $3,000. They can be given with a special message too, such as A Gift for You, Congratulations, or whatever the sender wishes to say.

How about using gift cards to brand your business? With the American Express® Business Logo Gift Card, you can do just that. Those who rely heavily on business-by-referral know the value in building relationships. Rewarding someone for a referral is a great way to get more referrals down the road, plus it’s hard to forget the person who sent a gift card with their logo on it.

American Express cardholders with American Express Membership Rewards® can use their reward points to purchase gift cards, just visit AmericanExpress.com and sign-in to your account.

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Citi Chairman® American Express® Card

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:12:49 +0000

Annual Membership to Priority Pass Airport Lounges…

The Citi Chairman® American Express® card, also known as the “Chairman Card”, ranks amongst the best in premier credit cards. With 24-hour concierge service at the touch of a button, cardholders have instant arrangements for hotels, restaurants, travel destinations, and transportation. However, and as with similar credit cards, cardholders can expect to pay $500 each year in membership fees.

Features of the Chairman Card include savings at participating leading hotels and all the benefits of the American Express Hilton HHonors® Gold VIP card. In addition, cardholders can receive private jet services and chartered flight access from Marquis Jet and other providers.

Citi Chairman® American Express® Card 24/7 Concierge for Hotels & Dinner Reservations

As mentioned the annual membership fee for this card is $500, to add additional cards under the same account is an additional $100 per card. There are some cards that can be added to the Chairman Card account that offer limited benefits and require no additional fee.

A nice bonus for Citi Chairman® cardholders is that their card comes with trip cancellation insurance, which provides up to $1,500 to travelers in the event they cannot take or continue on a trip, plus cardholders receive travel and emergency assistance. Furthermore, auto rental insurance, extended warranty service, and retail purchase protection comes standard.

Citi Chairman Card® members receive Priority Pass™ and ThankYou® points for every purchase made with the card.
Similar cards issued by Citi, include the Citi® Platinum American Express® card, which offers 15,000 bonus ThankYou® points after $300 in purchases, and the Citi PremierPass® American Express® card, which gives cardholders 20,000 bonus points after $600 in purchases within the first three months.

Competing credit cards that offer similar rewards with exceptional concierge and travel planning services, includes the Visa Black Card® and the American Express Centurion® card. Both cards limit membership, with American Express Centurion® membership by invitation only.

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Clear from American Express®

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:58:28 +0000

Automatic Rewards & No Annual Fee with Clear from American Express®…

Clear from American Express® welcomes new customers with a 0 percent annual percentage rate for the first six months. There’s no annual fee and cardholders receive a $25 American Express shopping card for every $2,500 in purchases that are not cash and cash equivalent transactions. Rewards cards can be used anywhere American Express credit cards are accepted and expire one year from the date of issuance.

Benefits of the Clear Card include an extended warranty of up to one year on eligible purchases, plus roadside assistance, travel accident insurance, and emergency travel assistance. Cardholders receive fraudulent charge reimbursement and there are no restrictions to how many rewards points can be earned.

Receive A $25 American Express Shopping Card for Every $2,500 in Eligible Purchases

With Clear from American Express® there are no late fees, no balance transfer fees, , no cash advance fees, and no over-limit fees. When the introductory rate of 0 percent for six months expires, the annual percentage rate jumps to 13.99 percent plus prime.

American Express offers several flexible payment term credit cards, with “the Clear Card” being one of the most attractive of the lot; however, Blue from American Express® and Blue Sky from American Express℠ offer similar repayment terms with better rewards for travel related expenses. Flexible payment allows the cardholder to pay charges over time or pay the balance of the card in full each month.

In addition to the standard flexible payment cards offered by American Express, are air travel partner and hotel partner cards that provide cardholders with exceptional reward points when used for purchases from the partner. For example, the JetBlue Card allows cardholders to earn up to eight points for every dollar when purchasing a flight through JetBlue’s website. 10,000 points are awarded to cardholders with their first purchase. Points can be redeemed starting at 5,000 for one-way flights and 10,000 for roundtrip flights.

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American Express Centurion®

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:44:55 +0000

The American Express Black Card is the World’s Most Elite Credit Card…

The American Express Centurion®, also known as the black card, is only available in select markets, mainly the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and in parts of Europe. First introduced in 1999, the Centurion®, which is a title given to ancient Roman army officers, has very strict eligibility criteria.

Similarly to the Visa Black Card™, the Centurion® has an annual fee, reportedly as high as $2,500, and for some applicants, an initiation fee of up to $5,000 is collected too. And like the Visa Black Card™, Centurion® offers exceptional concierge, travel planning services, and airport VIP area access.

The Visa Black Card™ is Quite Possibly the Next Best Thing to Centurion®

The world’s rarest American Express credit card is available by invitation only, and while there is not an official record of what the requirements to qualify for an invitation are, it is believed that those who are invited have a minimum card activity on another American Express card of a quarter of a million dollars annually. In addition, the invitee is believed to have both an incredible credit score and history, plus substantial net worth.

Features of owning a Centurion® credit card include such benefits as complimentary companion airline tickets on international flights with certain airliners, first class upgrades, and even a personal shopper at retailers like Neiman Marcus and Gucci should you be unfortunate enough to lose your luggage.

Not only do cardholders have first class access and service to many air-travel related services, such as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and US Airways Platinum Preferred status, but when it comes to lodging, they also have a multitude of benefits. Centurion® cardholders are offered extended nights for booking a hotel room with their card at the worldwide Mandarin Oriental hotel, for a week or longer.

For those who don’t believe that they’ll ever be invited to become a black card, Centurion® cardholder, you may want to take a closer look at the Visa Black Card™. This card offers very similar services, perhaps not necessarily on the same level as the Centurion®, but the next best thing for those who want exceptional service from their credit card provider.

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