Find a person or a business

How do you find an address and a telephone number of a person or a business? Try one of these websites:

http://www.anywho.com/

http://www.address.com/

http://www.411.com/

http://www.whitepages.com/

They provide information for publicly listed telephone numbers.

Gas Station Branded Credit Cards

 

You have probably seen many offers to apply for a Gas Station Branded Credit Cards (e.g. Sunoco, Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil, and so on) so the question is if it makes sense to get one.

The answer is most probably not, unless you primarily use only one brand (say Sunoco) and the fuel cost there is similar or lower compared to other gas stations in your area.

The one worth considering is Exxon/Mobil card where you'll get a 7.5% cash back (assuming gas price of $2 per gallon) on gas purchases at these stations.

 

Here's the summary of some Branded Cards available in Philadelphia area.

 

Gas Station	Teaser Offer	Core Offer (at Station)	Core Offer (other purchases)
BP (Chase)	n/a	5% rebates on all BP location purchases	2% rebate on travel and dining 1% rebate on other purchases
Hess (Chase)	First 90 days: 10% on all HESS gas, merchandise, and food purchases	5% on all HESS gas, merchandise, and food purchases	1% on all other purchases
Lukoil / Getty (Barclays)	First 60 Days: 8% in rebates at any Lukoil or Getty, 2% on all other purchases, $10 Bonus with first use	4% in rebates at any LUKOIL or GETTY location	1% on all other purchases
Gulf (Barclays)	n/a	3% for all purchases at Gulf locations	1% on all other purchases
Sunoco (Citi)	$25 Sunoco gift card after $100 in purchases at Sunoco within first 60 days; another $25 Sunoco gift card after $500 in purchases within first 60 days	3 ThankYou Points per gallon of fuel at Sunoco on your 1st and 2nd purchases in a billing period 10 ThankYou Points per gallon of fuel at Sunoco on your 3rd and subsequent purchases in a billing period	1 ThankYou Point for every $1 on all other purchases
Wawa (First USA)	First 60 days: 10% Rebate on Wawa Gas and other Wawa purchases. 2% Rebate everywhere else	3% rebate on Wawa net purchases	1% on all other purchases
Exxon/ Mobil (Citi)	n/a	Rebates of $0.15 per gallon on eligible gasoline purchases made at Exxon and Mobil	Rebates of up to 2% on other purchases annually*
Shell (Citi)	n/a	5% rebates on Shell gas purchases	1% on all other purchases

* 0.5% on your total annual Other Purchases up to $999; 1.0% on your total annual Other Purchases over $999 and up to $5,999; 2.0% on your annual Other Purchases over $5,999 and up to $10,000; and 1% on your total annual Other Purchases over $10,000.

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Stock tracker

Here's how my picks from a month ago are doing (see posting Investing, February 26'09):

Company	Feb'25	Mar'23 (noon)	% change
PENN WEST ENERGY TRUST	9.00	10.96	22%
ENCANA CORP	38.32	45.1	18%
PETRO CANADA VAR	21.5	30.41	41%
SPECTRA ENERGY	13.23	14.53	10%
Merck	27.91	27.36	-2%
Pfizer	13.08	13.97	7%
J&J	53.96	52.7	-2%
Citi	2.52	3.07	22%

So, if you'd invested $1,000 in each of these stocks (for the total cost of $8,000) you could sell them for $9,151 today at noon (even assuming $10 per trade cost you'd still make $991).

As you can see the gains are primarily attributed to the Energy sector. My prediction in February was that oil price would not go further down (from $40 per barrel) and it did not - actually it's about $52 per barrel today.

The pharmaceutical stocks were flat over last month, I still think they'll be a good investment in the long run at current prices.

Free Credit Report

Why should I request my credit report?

As you probably know there are three nationwide consumer credit bureaus in the US that collect and aggregate your credit history: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

By law you are entitled to obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of these bureaus once a year.

I do it in the following way - in January I'm requesting a report from Experian, in May - from Equifax, in September - from Transunion, next January - again from Experian and so on. This way I keep a good track of what's happening in my credit report (if your spouse is a co-applicant on majority of your trades then you can alternate the report requester and get the report every other month).

Why should you monitor your credit report? The information in your report and the credit score calculated based on this information are used to evaluate your creditworthiness when you apply for a mortgage, auto loan, credit card, and even could be checked by a potential employer.

So it's important for you to make sure the information in your report is accurate. Also you could identify any potential problems (for a example a credit card opened under your name which you never asked for).

How can I get my credit report?

Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com, select your state, fill out the form, select a credit bureau (pick any when you are doing it for the first time), be careful to select a free report option which would say something like "No thanks, I just want my free Annual Report" (you'll be offered to add your credit score or some other reports that are not free), verify your identity (they may ask you who is your mortgage company or auto loan provider, what's your monthly mortgage payment, ask for your past addresses, your county, etc. and finally you'll get your report.

What are you going to get and what should you look for in your credit report?

First of all, you will get a summary page which looks something like this:

• There are 0 potentially negative items in your report.

• You have 20 accounts in good standing in your report.

• Check the recent requests for your credit history.

• Check your personal information.

If you don't see any negative items you know you are in good shape. But still it wouldn't hurt to print the whole report which shows all your trades (mortgage, auto loan, credit cards etc.) along with payment information, current status of the trade (open/closed) and so on.

You can also see what institutions were checking your credit (requests or inquiries).

Also you'll be provided with bureau's contact information and useful links for example on how to dispute errors in your report or put a fraud alert on your file.

Vitaly's blog - monthly financial report

Well, if you ever wondered whether blogging could be profitable I might be able to give you an answer.
My blog is not nearly as sophisticated as some other blogs, however during the first month of its existence it made $96 - we are off to a pretty good start!!

I would like to thank all my followers, readers and visitors for their constant support!
If you find a value in this blog please feel free to spread the word and send the link to your friends or colleagues: http://myfinancialbasics.blogspot.com/
As always I welcome any feedback, comments, suggestions you might have about the blog's contents.
Please stay tuned!

Should I refinance my mortgage?

Mortgage rates has recently reached levels we haven't seen in many years, so you might want to start thinking about refinancing your mortgage. There are many factors you should take into account: current mortgage amount, current monthly payment, current rate, term and type of your mortgage and your plans to stay in your home in the future, the costs associated with refinancing, your current property value, and your credit score.

There are four major reasons people do refinancing:

1) To lower monthly mortgage payments (please note that the refinancing won't change the amounts you owe for city and school taxes and for your home insurance).

2) To save money in the long run by paying off the mortgage sooner (say, in 15 years instead of 20 years)

3) Get cash (consider this only if you are really strapped for money)

4) To change mortgage type (for example, people with adjustable mortgage rates may switch to a fixed-rate mortgage so they should not worry about their rate going up in the future).

Closing costs associated with refinancing (make sure you get a good faith estimate of these costs BEFORE you sign any papers):

Lender Fees - Origination, Application, Transfer, Processing fees and so on. The amounts vary greatly depending on the mortgage company.

Third party costs - the costs you pay to a third party (not your mortgage company) at the time of closing. These include Title Insurance, Closing Fee, Appraisal, Notary services, Courier and Credit Report fees, Recording Fee etc.

Points - a point is 1% of your loan amount (say $2,000 if you loan amount is $200,000). Usually you can buy up to 3 points thus decreasing your interest rate.

Usually, closing costs range from 2.5% to 3.5% of the loan amount.

Here's couple of refinancing scenarios for hypothetical Family A:

Bought their house 10 years ago

Original loan amount: $300,000

Original Term: 30 Years fixed

Original Rate: 5.9%

Monthly payment (excluding taxes and home insurance): $1,779

Left to pay: $250,000

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Scenario 1. Do nothing (continue with current mortgage).

In the next 20 years Family A will pay $175,400 in interest on top of principal balance of $250,000 (total amount to pay: $425,400).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Scenario 2. Refinance to lower monthly payment (they have some extra money now but they expect their income to decrease in the future so they want to decrease their monthly payments from $1,779 to about $1,600).

They refinance as follows:

Total closing costs paid at the time of refinance: $6,200

New loan amount: $250,000

New Term: 20 Years fixed

New Rate: 4.79%

New Monthly payment: $1,621

In the next 20 years Family A will pay $139,000 in interest on top of principal balance of $250,000 (total amount to pay: $389,000).

Benefit: Family A will save $30,200 ($36,400 in interest savings less $6,200 in upfront costs) in 20 years compared to scenario 1 (well, in reality you have also consider tax consequences because the interest is usually tax deductible; the actual savings could be lower than $30,200). Also, they will be paying $158 less per month ($1,896 less per year), so if they stay in their house for 3 years and 4 months they will recover their refinancing expenses.

Downside: They need to pay $6,200 upfront.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Scenario 3. Refinance to pay off their mortgage sooner (they know their income will allow to make higher monthly payments in order to pay off the mortgage in 15 years instead of 20).

They refinance as follows:

Total closing costs paid at the time of refinance: $6,050

New loan amount: $250,000

New Term: 15 Years fixed

New Rate: 4.58%

New Monthly payment: $1,923

In the next 20 years Family A will pay $96,100 in interest on top of principal balance of $250,000 (total amount to pay: $346,100).

Benefit: Family A will save $73,250 ($79,300 in interest savings less $6,050 in upfront costs) in 15 years compared to scenario 1 (again, the actual savings will be probably lower due to tax implications).

Downside: They need to pay $6,050 upfront and pay $144 more per month.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Refinancing Tips

1. You should not refinance if your current mortgage amount is relatively low (say, $50,000 or less) or you have only couple of years left before your mortgage is paid off or you are not planning to stay in your house for at least three years.

2. Remember that all the rates you will see while shopping for refinance assume you have an excellent credit score. If this is not the case be prepared to see a rate that is higher than the advertised one.

3. You should consider refinancing if the interest rate for current program is at least 0.5% lower than your original mortgage rate (compare same mortgage type and length with same points, etc).

For example, if you 30 Yr fixed-rate mortgage had a rate of 5.9% then current rate for the same type of mortgage should be 5.4% or lower - chances are you'll be able to find a program that will be beneficial to you.

4. If you don't have enough money to pay the upfront costs consider No-Cost Mortgages where you would not pay upfront costs - of course the lender will recover their costs by increasing the interest rate, however this still may be a good option for you if your current rate is high.

5. Check with your current mortgage company - they may eek out a good refinance deal to keep you their customer.

6. Make sure your current loan does not have a provision for a pre-payment penalty, this may affect your decision to refinance.

7. Points you pay at the time of refinancing are usually tax-deductible (check with your tax advisor).

8. Here's couple of sites where you can get and compare current mortgage rates and terms: Amerisave, The Money Store, Bankrate.

Tighten your budget

Imagine your family's budget is a ship and unnecessary expenses you have are the leaks. The more leaks you have the harder it is to steer the ship and the higher chances of the ship sinking...

So what do you do? You tighten your financial ship!

Chances are you can EASILY save at least $100 per month (that's more than $1,000 per year!) just by following more disciplined approach to your finances.

And I'm NOT talking about depriving yourself and your loved ones of all the pleasures - this would actually be a bad decision.

All I'm asking from you - look for the opportunities to cut your expenses and earn easy money whenever possible.

Here's couple of things you should consider.

1) TV bill - take a closer look at it. Do you really have time to watch all the channels in your current package? Is there anything you can drop? Being a soccer fan I was paying $15 per month for Setanta Sports, however primarily I was watching it from September to May. So I dropped it in May and switched back on in September and saved $60. Also we dropped Showtime - savings of $15 per month.

Another thing you can do - negotiate with your current provider, tell them your got a better deal from their competitor (it would be better if you could substantiate this claim by a real offer) - you might get a break.

2) Similar considerations apply to your other monthly bills - gyms, Internet services, Long distance carriers (check the competitors!), cell phone and so on. Cancel services you don't need (text messaging for instance, or voice mail for your home phone) and re-negotiate the deal with your current providers.

3) Use cash back/reward credit cards to pay your utility/cell phone and other bills (see my post about Cash Back credit cards for more information). Even if you earn only 1.25% cash back this will translate into $10 savings a month.

4) If you let your money just stay in your checking account consider opening a money market account. Even now you can earn up to 2.5-3% in interest in such accounts (once economy improves the rates will increase to 4-5%). Your $5,000 in checking account will start earning you $10 per month if you link this account to a money market account and transfer your money there.

5) Don't miss on opportunities to make some money when you open a new bank account or a credit card (PNC bank will give you $75 for opening a checking account with direct deposit, Citi will give new bank customer at least $100 in rewards and so on). Sometimes you can open two individual accounts (for yourself and your spouse) and double the rewards! Do not open too many credit cards in a short time though - it might hurt your credit score.

6) If you have a big revolving balance on your credit card and pay a lot in interest, look for 0% or low APR offers from their competitors, then do some math - paying a balance transfer fee might be justified.

7) Always check your credit card bills - during last two years I found three fraudulent transactions worth $40 which credit card companies reversed without any problem (problem was to find these transactions).

8) Trim down your expenses (if you're going to the movies biweekly consider going there once in 3 weeks instead). Again, I'm not suggesting completely stopping going for lunch or getting a coffee at Starbucks, just please be more considerate about it.

9) If you are purchasing relatively expansive item do some reasearch first - you might find it is sold cheaper somewhere else; also you might find a money saving coupon, promotion, etc.

All these small things will add up to a substantial amount of saved money and all it takes is discipline and CONSISTENCY.

I'll be thrilled to hear your tips on family budget tightening and the successful stories, so please leave a comment and I will add it to the post!

529 College Savings Plans

This is a smart and effective way to save money for your kids' education.

I'll provide the highlights of these plans.

What is 529 college saving plan?

This is a plan that helps you to save for college while providing important tax advantages.

The contributions are made in after-tax dollars (unlike 401K saving plans where deductions are pre-tax) and your money grow Federal and State income-tax free. All withdrawals used for qualified higher education expenses are exempt from federal income tax. You can use the savings at any accredited college in the Unites States to pay for tuition, fees, room, board, books, computer, and other relevant expenses.

Contributions to any Pennsylvania or non-Pennsylvania 529 plan of up to $13,000 per beneficiary in 2009 are deductible in computing Pennsylvania taxable income (check with your tax advisor).

Who can be a beneficiary?

Any family member including yourself (kids, spouse, nieces, nephews, grand kids, etc.).

The account holder (you) retains control of the assets regardless of beneficiary's age.

What happens if the beneficiary does not go to college?

You can change the beneficiary to another family member or withdraw the money (this option, however, will be a non-qualified distribution and the earnings (not the contributions) will be a subject to state and federal taxes and 10% penalty).

Making contributions

Regular contributions can be made through payroll deductions or automatic transfers from a bank account. You can also add lump sum amounts (usually $50 or more) at any time.

What are contribution limits?

Most plans have very low minimum contribution limits starting at $15-$25 per month. There's a cap of yearly contributions (currently about $350,000), but if you can afford such a contribution you probably should not worry about paying for your kid's college expenses J

Pennsylvania specific plans

The account owner or beneficiary must be a Pennsylvania resident at the time of program enrollment. There are some tax and other benefits in enrolling in such a plan if the beneficiary will attend a college in Pennsylvania (of course, the funds can still be used for a college in any other state).

Two major types of 529 Plans

529 savings program (investment plan) - you can choose from a variety of investment options (funds with different ratios of stocks/bonds, age-based portfolios) - obviously the rate of return can vary dramatically due to market fluctuations and you can actually lose money by investing in such plans. On the flip side you have more control over where your investments go, you can getter a higher return rate in the long run, usually there is no enrollment or annual fee (you will only be paying a 0.5-0.75% fund fee). This plan is for people with higher risk tolerance.

529 prepaid tuition program (Pennsylvania Guaranteed Savings Plan (GSP) - your savings are growing at the same rate as tuition cost increases (there are 5 different Tuition Inflation Levels that help to calculate tuition cost increase. For example, State-Related University Average calculates tuition inflation as an average tuition cost increase in the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln University; Community College Average is based on the average tuition at Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges: Allegheny County, Beaver County, Bucks County, Butler County, Delaware County, Harrisburg Area, Lehigh-Carbon County, Luzerne County, Montgomery County, Northampton County, Pennsylvania Highlands, Philadelphia, Reading Area and Westmoreland Area and so on). You don't have any control over how your money is invested - the plan managers will take care of that.

On average tuition cost was increasing by 6% annually, so that's pretty much the growth rate you should expect by investing in this program. This option is for people with low risk tolerance, because your money is "guaranteed" to grow irrelevant to the market conditions (a word of warning - here's the quote from the plan's brochure "It is important to note, however, that these guarantees are NOT backed by the full faith and credit of the (Pennsylvania) Commonwealth. Meeting the guarantee is the obligation only of the GSP Fund itself and not the Commonwealth... GSP might not be able to meet all of its future obligations and the GSP Fund might not be able to pay Account Owners the amounts to which they would be entitled. That is, Account Owners might not receive the full value to which they would be entitled"). I believe it means if the fund managers make really bad investment decisions your "inflation-protected" rate won't be any longer guaranteed J

If they do a wonderful job and the investments' return rate is say 20%, you would still be getting only your "tuition inflation" growth rate of 6% thus missing the opprotunity of higher gains.

And of course, if the government (or colleges themselves) decides to freeze tuition cost your money would not be growing at all.

Also the plan has a $50 enrollment fee ($25 if you enroll quickly after getting the materials) and there's also a $25 annual fee (waived if you make automatic contributions).

On the positive side, the funds accumulated in this plan are excluded when determining eligibility for Pennsylvania state financial aid programs.

Useful links:

http://pa529gsp.uii.upromise.com/

http://www.savingforcollege.com/529_plan_details/?page=plan_details&plan_id=45

http://www.nowu529.com/

http://www.collegesavings.org/index.aspx (includes College Cost Calculator)

http://nova.pasenategop.com/brochures/TAP-529.pdf

http://www.finaid.org/savings/state529plans.phtml#Pennsylvania

https://pa529invest.s.upromise.com/planfeatures/planfeatures.html