United Quest Card Review: 90,000 Bonus Miles + 500 PQP

The United Quest Card is a new premium travel card that offers a lot of added perks on United Airlines for a higher annual fee. Here are the highlights: 90,000 bonus United miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after $4,000 in purchases in … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates on Cash Roundup – June 2024

Here's my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of June 2024, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors, often earning you a lot more money while … [Read the rest]

FDIC Leaves All Fintech Users Unprotected in Regulatory Blindspot! (Too Small to Care?)

I've been traveling internationally for the last couple of weeks, and with all the chaos of trying not to lose any of the kids on whatever multi-transfer subway ride or hiking trail is on the agenda every day, I felt quite relieved that my finances … [Read the rest]

Warren Buffett’s Childhood Money Hustles

For many people, Warren Buffett is that "rich stock-picker guy". But if you read any of his multiple biographies, you would know that he was a very precocious kid that was obsessed with getting rich from an early age. Instead of trying to make … [Read the rest]

Mortgage Rate Gap Between New and Existing Loans Largest in 25 Years

The difference between new mortgage loan rates and the average existing mortgage is now more than 3%. According to the NY Times article A Huge Number of Homeowners Have Mortgage Rates Too Good to Give Up (gift article), this is estimated to be … [Read the rest]

FIRE is Not Beans & Rice. FIRE is Not Pink Lambos. FIRE is Life!

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is certainly a catchy acronym, but it always seems to confuse people because the word "retire" suggests a line between working and not working. What does it mean to "Retire Early"? What if you only … [Read the rest]

Upside App Promo Codes: $1.50+/Gallon Cash Back on Gas, 15%+ Off Restaurants

Update July 2024: Upside closed my account effective immediately and without prior warning because I used "unauthorized" promo codes. Just FYI, I would cash out now and whenever you have enough of a balance. Original post: (Update: Added … [Read the rest]

Merrill Edge Brokerage: Best High Interest Rate Options on Cash (5%+ APY, Updated May 2024)

Updated May 2024 with refreshed rates, new Preferred Deposit online initial deposit option, lower $1 minimum on money market funds. Merrill Edge is a self-directed brokerage arm of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. They are a decent broker … [Read the rest]

When Fintech Apps Break: Lessons From Juno, Yotta, Copper, Yieldstreet Wallet, Synapse, Evolve Bank Lawsuits

What happens when the technology behind a Fintech app breaks down? We found out last week, when unfortunately millions of users lost access to their funds (and still haven't gotten it back as far as I can tell, as of this writing 5pm ET 5/20/24). … [Read the rest]

IKEA Gift Card Promo: Buy $50 eGift Card, Get $10 eGift Card (Limit $500)

Buy a $50 IKEA eGift card, get bonus $10 eGift Card. That's $10 off every $60 of IKEA stuff, which seems pretty good. Limit $500 total gift cards purchased ($100 in bonus gift cards). The website URL is funky, but it is linked directly from the … [Read the rest]

Morningstar Asset Class Correlation Charts 2024: 20-Year Historical Matrix

Morningstar has published their 2024 Diversification Landscape Update (direct link to PDF), another useful whitepaper for DIY investors that looks closer at the correlations between different asset classes. In their Key Takeaways, they note the … [Read the rest]

5.10% APY CDs, 5.10% APY No-Penalty CDs, 5.276% APY Savings via Raisin (Limited-Time Bonus Boost, up to $200)

Limited-time Referral Bonus Boost: The Raisin referral bonus for new accounts has been hiked for a limited time, doubled on some tiers and now up to $200. The new tiers are below. At the $5,000 and $10,000 amounts, the bonus works out to 1% of … [Read the rest]