Capital One Rewards Catalog Holiday 2009 Edition
By · CommentsEvery year, they send out a holiday edition of Capital One No Hassle Miles rewards catalog. The 2010 CapitalOne Rewards Holiday Catalog showed up recently. Of course, we’ll be looking into these special reward offers and seeing if there are some good bargains, or if these points redemption offers aren’t worth it at all.
One quick note is that there is no special on redeeming Captial One points for gift cards. All CapitalOne Miles Rewards still redeem at a low, low, rate of just one-half percent, that is 1/2% cash equivalent. In other words, for every $10,000 you spend and earn points or miles at the rate of 1 per $1, your cash back rate would be equal to 0.5% instead of the industry standard 1% cash back. Of course, there are various opportunities to earn bonus miles and extra rewards in the Capital One No Hassle Rewards program. Unfortunately, even with this holiday edition of the Capital One Rewards Catalog it looks like you will have to load up on those if you want a fair rate on your miles redemptions for gift cards.
Capital One No Hassle Miles 2009 Holiday Rewards Catalog
Our in depth look is coming soon. If you want a couple of quick highlights to get a feel for how good the Capital One Rewards specials are in this year’s holiday catalog, here are a couple of samples. This Capital One Miles Rewards Matrix is just a quick sample. We’ll be back with more special points redemptions and other good deals once we get a chance to do some more in-depth analysis.
- Xbox 360 Elite 120 GB Bundle = 111,750 Miles
- Nintendo DSi Bundle (includes 2 Games) = 56,500 Miles
- Nikon Coolpix S220 10 MB Digital Camera = 34,250 Miles
- Sony Bravia S-Series 1080p HDTV 40 inch screen = 243,500 Miles (439,250 points for 52″ screen)
- Razor Pocket Rocket Miniature Electric Bike = 63,250 Miles
- KitchenAid Artisan Stand 5-Quart Mixer = 67,750 Miles
As usual, it looks like the best credit card rewards are cash back, gift cards, and bill credits. So far, there doesn’t seem to be any exceptions this year. That is because credit card companies like Capital One try and price their rewards points at the full manufacturer list price. That means that if you get even the normal retail level street pricing, you’ll come out behind redeeming your Capital One Rewards points for merchandise.
Frankly, with some of Capital One’s recent changes to their credit card agreement and their recent “restructuring” of customers (even those with good credit) ahead of tighter credit card regulations that Congress pushed up to take effect this year, the No Hassle Miles cared is looking like a lessor value each day. One thing is for sure, the Capital One No Hassle Miles card is not one of the top credit card rewards programs any longer.
Ah, November, when the American mind turns toward Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, and strategies to avoid paying too much taxes for 2009. Yes, you should be doing tax planning year round to achieve the maximum savings on taxes, but reality isn’t always so kind. Still, there are some end of year tax moves that are smart and some that just aren’t worthwhile tax strategies when you add up your tax savings. Figuring out which is which is a critical part of personal finance.
To avoid making tax moves that aren’t worth the trouble, there is a simple strategy.
Always calculate the real dollar amount of any tax strategy prior to implementation.
Tax Savings Strategy Example #1:
The Top 10 End of Year Tax Strategy Tips lists always include the barely usable advice to pay your January mortgage early. By paying your January mortgage bill in December, you get to deduct the interest from your payment in 2009.
There is a big, fat catch, however. Although you do get to deduct 13 months worth of mortgage interest in 2009, you will only get to deduct 11 months worth of interest in 2010 unless you make sure to make that January payment in December again next year. This will be true until you finally bite the bullet and take just 11 months worth of deductions, or you pay off your mortgage. Is it worth it? Maybe.
Calculate the real dollar amount of tax savings from paying your Jan. 2010 mortgage in December, 2009.
Grab a mortgage statement and find out how much of your monthly mortgage payment goes to interest. What you find might surprise you. If you pay your homeowners insurance and property taxes through your mortgage company (a common practice) a substantial chunk of your monthly payment goes toward those, and you do not get to deduct those items by paying them early. Likewise, if you have had the same mortgage for many years, or you have a 15-year mortgage, a big hunk of that monthly bill might actually be going toward principal. (The horror! 
A $2,000 monthly mortgage payment might breakdown as $500 per month into escrow (for the taxes and insurance) and $500 per month going toward principal, leaving just $1,000 per month paying interest.
For a taxpayer in the 25% tax bracket, paying that extra mortgage payment a year earlier will result in a tax savings of $250 in real dollar numbers. Conversely, that will be the approximate cost of forgetting to do the same thing next year. Even worse, is if the taxpayer forgets to do the same thing next year, AND forgets to properly account for the fact on their 2010 taxes.
Tax Savings Blunder Example:
Assume our taxpayer pays 13 mortgage payments in 2009 thanks to the advice in a year-end tax savings tips article. He saves $250 on his 2009 taxes.
Let’s that come 2010, our taxpayer is very busy at year end racking up sales and commissions to increase his income. He doesn’t have time to read any of those tax advice year-end articles and isn’t really thinking about Federal income taxes as he flies around the country trying to make sales.
Come April 13th, he fires up TurboTax or some other tax preparation software and types in all the numbers. In the tax deductions section he inputs his mortgage information. If he used TurboTax to file taxes in 2009 or imported his 2009 tax returns, he might get a flag about entering his mortgage info, and maybe not. Even if he does, there is no guarantee that he will pay any attention to it as he rushes to complete his taxes. After all, entering in the mortgage information from the 1099-DIV the mortgage company sends is a no brainer, right?
Unfortunately, he includes all 12 months worth of interest on his 2010 income taxes. Since he did not pay the January 2011 mortgage payment in December 2010, he actually can only deduct the remaining 11 interest payments in 2010.
In 2011 or 2012, or taxpaying hero gets a phone call from the IRS. It’s informational audit time and the IRS would like to see additional documentation regarding his 2009, and 2010, mortgage deductions. The taxpayer does the smart thing and runs to a tax attorney, accountant, or enrolled agent, and finds out to his dismay that he owes back taxes and a penalty. Chances are, he’ll get out of any fraud trouble, but it still won’t be cheap to pay up, especially if it takes two or three years to get around to the audit and that interest payment has added up.
Tax Advice Worth It?
Is it worth a $250 savings to follow this tax advice? You bet it is! Why pay extra when you don’t have to. But, if the above example sounds a lot like you, you might want to think twice, or make a really big note in your 2010 Taxes file.
But, what if the taxpayer is in the 10% tax bracket? Don’t laugh, it’s possible for high-income taxpayers to save enough money through deductions to get down to a tax bracket of 10%.
Then, the above example is worth just $100. Many other tips and advice will produce raw dollar amounts of tax savings of even less, sometimes just $10 or $20 for a complicated strategy that involves collecting a lot of receipts and getting a bunch of tax forms just right.
In the end, you are the judge of what anything is worth to you. The important thing is that you know what its real value to you is before you waste time and money on something that has limited value.
Tax Deductions Value
One final, very important thing to consider when determining the cash value of any tax savings advice is its possible impact on other tax deductions. To determine whether or not this need concern you, pay attention to any tax credits or tax deductions that are phased out or that have income limits. Depending upon the tax deduction or credit and where the tax savings created by the strategy used occur (above the line or below the line) the value of a tax-savings tip may actually be much higher than just the amount directly created by the tax avoidance strategy.
To hear many of the newspapers and other media outlets tell it, Google’s blowout third quarter is the official signal that the recession is over and that businesses are spending again, because customers are spending again, and everything is fine again.
The logic goes something like this. Google is not only the largest search engine, but it is also the largest provider of Internet advertising, particularly in America where its ad market share is something like 75% or so. Thus, Google acts as a bit of a proxy for the online advertising market in general. Online advertisers, then, spend money on online advertising only when, a) they have the money available to spend, and b) there are customers out there spending money to attract. So, theory is that since Google’s earnings came in above expectations, then that shows that advertisers are spending more money on online ads, which therefore means that more consumers are spending money online. That’s the idea, anyway.
Google Is Not The Economy
It is tempting to pronounce everything that Google does and everything that happens to Google as very important to major aspects of American life, including the overall business environment, and the U.S. economy. After all, Google is probably one of the most followed stocks in the country. Those who own shares can’t stop obsessing about them (and using them as proof that they are smart investors) and those who don’t own them can’t stop obsessing about whether or not they should cost as much as they do. Analysts trip over themselves raising their 12 month price expectations and revenue forecasts, each one dying to be the one who was "right" by calling the huge upward move in the most popular stock.
However, there is a major problem with using Google’s fortunes in this way. Regardless of whether or not Google’s stock is or is not a good investment now, the company makes a very bad barometer of the current state of business and by extension, the economy overall.
Google’s advertisers are almost exclusively smaller businesses. As such, Google’s fortunes do not connect very much with the major corporations whose fortunes move the most widely followed market barometers like the S&P500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and even the NASDAQ 100.
While small business is a major component of the U.S. economy – some statistics suggest that small businesses are THE drive force of the American economy – there is a very big disconnect between most small businesses, and those who advertise online via Google and other ad networks. Entire segments of the small business economy have nothing to do with online advertising. Mom and Pop stores on Main Street, U.S.A. typically do not find their customers online.
In fact, the vast majority of all online ads are placed by online retailers, which is a very small subset of small businesses overall. Furthermore, increased online spending could actually be an indicator of LESS spending by U.S. consumers. After all, many people turn to online retailers hoping to find cheaper prices, different products than they would normally buy, a way to save money by not paying sales taxes, and of course, to shop around for the lowest prices without ever leaving their homes.
While many other indicators seem to be pointing toward a recovering U.S. economy, including the fact that over 70 U.S. cities are no longer statistically in a recession at all, using Google as the proverbial canary in the coal mine for the American economy, carries a very significant possibility of providing the wrong signal at the wrong time.
Make Money Working From Home Online Scams
By · CommentsVirtually every one of the so-called work from home jobs is a scam. Keep in mind that while plenty of Americans work from home, they do it for their regular jobs that they already have, and they probably still have to go into the office some times. These people did not find an online ad and get a working from home job with no experience by just filling out some forms and information over the Internet.
Just think it through for one minute. Doing something like data entry from home would be a great job, especially if you could get a job like that without any experience.
That means TONS of people would want these jobs. If that is the case, then why would any business pay high wages for that, especially to someone with no experience?
In fact, if you think about it for just one more second, you should end up with another conclusion. A job that can be done by anyone, from anywhere, without any extensive training, or previous experience is EXACTLY the kind of job that you can outsource overseas to someone making $5 a day.
How could it possibly be that any company or business in the world would pay you "$2,500 to $10,000 a month or more"?
Don’t be naive.
Work From Home Scams
1) Get Your Cash Then Disappear – They will either require you to send in money for something that sounds legit like a background check, or for some sort of kit to get started and you will either get back nothing, or something worthless.
2) Get Your Bank Account Info – They will say that you are hired but they only pay by direct deposit, so they need your bank account information. They may even ask you to sign a form. Then, they will use that info (and your signature if you filled out a form) to rob your account.
3) Get Your SSN for Identity Theft – We have to have you fill out a form so we can withhold taxes for you. That form includes a SSN and your name and address, everything an identity thief needs.
There are jobs that allow you to work from home, but NONE of them hire people without experience for high pay without meeting them.
If you insist on trying it out anyway, protect yourself!
1) Open a new bank account with no money in it. Give them this bank account information, and only if you HAVE TO.
2) Get a Tax ID number instead of your SSN. Working from home in this manner means being an independent contractor. Get a EIN from the IRS and use it instead of your Social Security Number on any paperwork. It is free and you can get one instantly by filling out an online EIN application form. They will probably just ignore you and move on to easier fish (which is proof it was a scam). If the do bother to come back and say it has to be a SSN, then move on.
3) Some jobs do require a background check, but they do not require that you pay for it with money order, cash, or check. Buy a prepaid Visa for the minimum amount and pay with that. Do NOT use a personal credit card.
But, seriously, you will save yourself a lot of time and trouble if you just re-read this article. There are no amazing "unheard of" opportunities out there that allow you to make great income from the comfort of your own home with virtually
