Citi Dividend Card Q4 2013 Categories

I had written before that I have a Citibank Dividend MasterCard. One of the benefits of this card is that it offers 5% cash back on rotating categories of merchants. The main problem I have with this arrangement is that I always forget which categories are currently offering 5% cash back when I am at the store. As a result, I often miss out on the bonus dividend dollars. In order to help me remember, I have decided to post the categories which change every three months here.

For Q4 2013, you will earn 5% for purchases from:

• Best Buy
• Department Stores
• Toy Stores

Note that "Q4 2013" means from October 1 - December 31, 2013. Also note that even if you have a Citi Dividend Card, the enrollment is not automatic. You have to login and sign up for this offer at the Citibank website. See also Discover Card 2013 Cash Back Bonus Categories.

PFS

Get $2,500 from TD Ameritrade

Like in my previous post Get a $1750 Gift Certificate.html, TD Ameritrade is at it again. This time, I received an offer for $2500, if I deposit $1 million or more into TD Ameritrade.

Again, I don't know how many of my readers will be able to benefit from this offer. For something a little more reasonable, you can open a new TD Ameritrade account and get $100 for a $25,000 deposit, or get 60 days of commission-free trading for a $2,000 deposit.



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Double Your Money in 7200 Years

In a recent discussion with another parent, a comment came up that it is hard to get kids to save money when interest rates are so low. Indeed, many bank savings accounts pay as little as 0.01% interest. It is no wonder that parents would forgo opening a savings account for their children.

In my post The Rule of 72, I quoted a formula for how long it takes for savings to double:

Years to double = 72 / Interest Rate

In this case, if you were to deposit your money in the bank at an interest rate (APY) of 0.01%, it would take 7200 years to double in value! Again, this is not very compelling for the average saver.

I mentioned that when I was a kid, I had a Squirrels Club account. But, I have not found the same thing in our area. I did, however, find that Union Bank offers something called a Kidz Savings account. The main perk of this account is that it offers kids a gift card for every 10 deposits that they make. This is certainly a better incentive than the interest rate.

Has anybody else found effective ways to get kids to save their money? I would love to hear your response in the comments.

PFS

5 Things to Do Before Retirement

Retirement is a time of life that is meant to be your 'golden years', where you can take time to relax, spend quality time with loved ones, and do the things you always wanted to do. However, this will only happen if you take time to do a little forward planning before you actually retire. There are a number of things you should look at doing before you finally walk away from the toil of the daily grind. This includes:

Planning your finances
It is important to plan your retirement fund as early on as possible, but do bear in mind that it is never too late. If you have reached your late 40s or even 50s you can still look at ways to save towards your retirement, particularly given that the official retirement age is on the increase. Without financial planning you could find yourself with inadequate funds to enjoy your retirement, so start planning and saving as early on as possible.

Living arrangements
It is a good idea to think about what your living arrangements will be when you retire. Are you hoping to retire somewhere abroad in the sun? Perhaps you want to move closer to family once you no longer have to be near work? You may be planning to downsize to a smaller property after retirement. Whatever the plan, it is important to start thinking about what you will do before you retire so that you have plenty of time to put your plans into action. If you need some guidance, AgeUK discusses some of the options for retirement housing.

Debt repayments
The last thing you want when you retire is to have loads of debt hanging around your neck. You therefore need to monitor and try and clear your debts prior to retirement wherever possible. A rising number of retirees are left dealing with a range of debts, and this can really reduce quality of life. If you have debt issues that you need to resolve, speak to counsellors at places such as Consolidated Credit as they can offer valuable advice to help you.

Home improvements
Many people wait until they retire to carry out home improvements. However, this is the time of life you want to be relaxing and having fun not forking out all of your money on DIY projects. Instead of letting everything pile up until you retire, keep on top of your repairs and home projects and do them gradually so that you do not have to find a lump sum of money to pay for them or dedicate all of your time to doing them in one go.

Spending your time wisely
In order to make the most of your time once you retire, you need to do some forward planning so that you can spend your time wisely. If you wait until you retire you may find that you never get around to doing the things you want to do and before you know it years have gone by. Start making a list of the types of things you plan or want to do, as you can then hit the ground running when you retire.

With a little forward planning, your retirement can be far more comfortable and far more pleasurable.

Free Trial to INO.com - No Credit Card Required

I've written before about MarketClub, which is part of a website called INO.com. Ordinarily, they offer a free trial for their services. But, the catch has been that they will require you to enter a credit card. For the next 300 users, MarketClub is offering a completely free trial for 2 WEEKS. They are offering a free trial WITHOUT having to enter a credit card.

This is a part of their Summer Special for the MarketClub service. I think it is a no-brainer. The 2-week free trial is plenty of time to see the value in the service. I will let you in on a little secret: there is a special offer for trial takers that is reason enough just to take the trial!

Here’s that link again: https://club.ino.com/join/specialtrial/index_free.html?a_aid=CD3352&a_bid=359ef9a3

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Citi Dividend Card Q3 2013 Categories

I had written before that I have a Citibank Dividend MasterCard. One of the benefits of this card is that it offers 5% cash back on rotating categories of merchants. The main problem I have with this arrangement is that I always forget which categories are currently offering 5% cash back when I am at the store. As a result, I often miss out on the bonus dividend dollars. In order to help me remember, I have decided to post the categories which change every three months here.

For Q3 2013, you will earn 5% for purchases from:

• Hotels & Resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio
• Car rental agencies
• Movie theaters
• Theme Parks

Note that "Q3 2013" means from July 1 - September 30, 2013. Also note that even if you have a Citi Dividend Card, the enrollment is not automatic. You have to login and sign up for this offer at the Citibank website. See also Discover Card 2013 Cash Back Bonus Categories.

PFS

How to Get Rich for Free

A fellow personal finance blogger, Barbara Friedberg, has recently published a new book called How To Get Rich: Wealth Building Guide for the Financially Illiterate. It is a basic personal finance text that seems really good for people who are just getting out of debt, or starting to save money and accumulate wealth.

Best of all, Barbara let me know that from now until May 5, 2013, she is offering the Amazon Kindle
version of her book for free. I think that the regular price is $4.99. To get your free Ebook, just click on the link and choose the Kindle version.

Note that you will need an Amazon account to take advantage of this offer. If you don't have a Kindle, you can still read it online using the Kindle Cloud Reader.



PFS