Merrill Edge + BofA Preferred Rewards = Up to $1,000 ACAT Transfer Bonus, Improved Credit Card Rewards

Updated May 2025. Merrill Edge is the self-directed brokerage arm formed after Bank of America and Merrill Lynch merged together. They are currently offering an increased cash bonus of up to $1,000 for moving "new money" or assets over to them from … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card Review: 2% Cash Back for First Year (Up to 3.12% With Preferred Rewards)

New limited-time offer. The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card is the most simple, straightforward, no-annual-fee credit card in the Bank of America line-up. If you are a Preferred Rewards client, you can increase the cash back earned by … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Card Review: 6% Cash Back in One Category for First Year (Up to 8.25% with Preferred Rewards)

New limited-time offer. The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card is the "3-2-1" cash back rewards credit card in the Bank of America line-up. If you are a Preferred Rewards client, you can increase the cash back earned by 25% to 75%. … [Read the rest]

More Details on Warren Buffett Stepping Back

I'm not sure how many of you follow Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway closely, but here are a couple of significant updates as a follow-up to the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting where he announced that he was stepping down as CEO at the end of … [Read the rest]

Big List of 529 College Savings Plan Promotions: 529 Day 5/29 2025

College savings plans that are looking to grow assets tend to have promotions on May 29th, aka "529 Day". I started gathering up these bonuses from various plans even before having kids, and eventually consolidated them into one single plan. The … [Read the rest]

Webull Brokerage: Deposit Promos, Free WSJ Subscription, 3.5% IRA Match w/ Premium

Brokerage app Webull is running a "7 Years of Webull" anniversary promo (full terms) that includes some decent bonuses that are stackable. This offer is targeted at selected existing customers who have a funded account as of 5/20/25. Check your app … [Read the rest]

MYGA Fixed Annuity Warning: Choosing The Highest Rate Can Be Stressful

I've written a little about about Multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) fixed deferred annuities in the past, and I actually bought one as one of my "$10,000 Experiments" way back in 2015. I bought the MYGA with the highest available interest rate … [Read the rest]

Check the Cost Basis Tracking in Your Brokerage Account

When you sell your shares of stocks/ETFs/mutual funds in a taxable brokerage account, your broker will also record the specific shares and the original value at purchase (cost basis) at which you bought them. Even if you don't expect to sell your … [Read the rest]

US Bank Self-Directed Brokerage: Enabling Automatic Dividend Reinvestment

For those that are newer members of the US Bank checking/savings/credit card/brokerage ecosystem, most likely for the up to 4% cash back rewards from their Smartly credit card (current terms for new applicants are poor, but the grandfathered terms … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates Survey: Savings Accounts, Treasuries, CDs, Money Markets, ETFs – May 2025

Here's my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of May 2025, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks love taking advantage of our idle cash, and you can often earning more money while keeping the same level of safety … [Read the rest]

Apple Siri Class Action Settlement: “Lopez Voice Assistant” Email

Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit that their voice-activated Siri assistant violated users' privacy by recording conversations and sending them to third-party contractors. Eligibility includes those that "owned or purchased a Siri-enabled … [Read the rest]

WisdomTree Prime Crypto: $100 Bonus w/ $1000 Deposit for 45 Days

New crypto exchange WisdomTree Prime is offer a $100 bonus in crypto after the following: Open a new WisdomTree Prime account. Deposit $1,000 into your account and maintain an average balance of $1,000 — based on deposits and withdrawals — … [Read the rest]