Financial Glossary
Poll: the 4 smartest credit card moves
What’s the smartest credit card move you’ve ever made?
CardRatings.com asked that very question in a recent poll in the weeks leading up to the American Bankers Association’s annual “Get Smart About Credit Day,” set for Oct. 20, 2011. The ABA’s nationwide campaign aims to educate young people about sound credit card use.
The poll first appeared on the CardRatings.com home page on Sep. 23. Respondents had a choice of four answers. Here are the results:
“Got a rewards card and ran all my regular expenses through it”
48 percent. This was by far the most popular answer, chosen by nearly half of you. This means many of you are capitalizing on rewards cards to reap the benefits – cash back, airline miles and points – simply by paying your bills with your rewards credit card and paying your balance each month.
With rewards cards, you make money every time you use them.
US Budget Numbers Simplified To The Household Level
Someone sent this to me via e-mail, and I dont know the original source. From the $38.5 trillion number, that seems to refer to the budget cut deal that averted a US government shutdown in April 2011. In any case, it does make the numbers much more easy to grasp.
Some stats about the US government:
- U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
- Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
- New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
- National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
- Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Now, remove 8 zeroes and pretend it’s a household budget:
- Annual family income: $21,700
- Money the family spent: $38,200
- New debt on the credit card: $16,500
- Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
- Total budget cuts: $385
I know that this is macroeconomics vs. m
How I spent my summer…credit card rewards
Over the summer, we asked a sampling of our site visitors to tell us how they spend their credit card rewards. The results of our survey show that you’re a frugal lot, with plenty of spending and traveling to do! Our respondents chose from five broad credit card rewards categories, with the rankings turning out like this:
1. Cash back rewards
Nearly half of our respondents told us that cash rebates hold the most sway over their credit card decisions.
Minnesota Alcohol Distillery Bond
Some distilleries operating out of Minnesota must abide by new surety bond requirements that were recently put in place. The new law is titled HB 1326 and requires micro-distilleries of premium distilled spirits to acquire a $2,000 surety bond if they are manufacturers/wholesalers of less than 20,000 gallons of 95% alcohol per year. Manufacturers/wholesalers of less than 40,000 gallons of 95% alcohol per year must obtain a $3,000 bond.
Lower Costs = Higher Returns (Again) and Survivorship Bias
Whether you invest your hard-earned money in passive index funds or actively-managed funds, the more important thing is that costs matter. Every penny you pay in mutual fund expense ratios, sales loads, trade commissions, and financial advisor fees reduces your return. Even Morningstar, a company famous for their proprietary 
star rating system, looked at their data and admitted that and should be the primary test in fund selection. I like to visualize high expenses as a constant, relentless drag that is almost impossible to overcome over long periods of time. You can play with this to see how much costs eat into returns over time.
Here comes more proof. I invest a huge chunk of my money in Vanguard funds, because they offer the best selection of low-cost mutual funds around.
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