Written by J.P. Wicklein      I picked up a book recently entitled “The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me” by Richard Paul Evans.  At 106 pages, it’s a pretty quick read.  For a small book it packs a lot of useful advice.  Win in the Margins      One of the author’s five lessons is to “win in the margins”.  What does that mean? It means this:  To become wealthy you need to find ways to increase contributions to your growing nest egg.  Not through your 9 to 5, forty hour a week job but throu... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      I read an article in Time last week advocating the death of the 401k.  Their rationale was that 401k’s are failing to prove themselves as an effective retirement savings vehicle for the masses.  In light of the recent financial meltdown the argument to replace the 401k with another retirement savings vehicle, such as a federally-controlled pension system, has gained attention.  Although there may be rationale for providing a government-controlled retirement savi... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      I came across a segment about the future of Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett dies.  Due to Buffett’s advanced age, he just turned 79, the Berkshire Board of Directors often discusses potential successors.  The Bloomberg feature discusses a couple possible contenders to take over the $156 billion company.  (Try not to get hypnotized by the tickers.)   Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      I’m earning over a 9% return on my money through Lending Club.  (Currently the average annual return for all of Lending Club’s 25,000+ investors is 9.6%.)  By offering a $25 bonus, Lending Club is inviting new customers to give their service a try for free.  What is Lending Club?      Lending Club acts as a middleman between individual lenders and borrowers seeking loans between $1,000 and $25,000.  To qualify for a loan, borrowers must have a credit score of ... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      Dime Bank recently announced $300 in bonuses for new checking account customers.  I’ve seen checking account incentives up to $100 before, but never anything this high.  Dime Bank has put several conditions in place to receive the full bonus.  Here are the details:  ·         New Dime Bank customers that open a “Prime Dime Rewards Checking” account receive a $100 bonus at time of opening, another $100 for setting up monthly direct deposit, and $100 more for com... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      My sixteen month streak avoiding any illness has come to an end.  I was diagnosed with strep throat today.  While I was sucking on a throat lozenge I decided to write an article on healthcare flexible spending accounts.  What is a flexible spending account?      There are different types of flexible spending accounts (FSA) but the one I’m referring to pays for certain medical expenses not covered by health insurance.  Most often, flexible spending accounts are ... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      Uncle Sam is hurting for money.  Currently the U.S. is facing a staggering $1.6 trillion budget deficit.  Add on to that the incredibly expensive, and increasingly insolvent, Social Security and Medicare programs and the picture is even worse.  To close the deficit, and continue to fund future obligations, the federal government will almost certainly raise income taxes.  Income tax rates change      Since the federal government implemented an income tax in 191... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      Complaining about a poor customer experience is an excellent way to save a few bucks.  Often companies will offer you an incentive to keep you happy – whether you’re in the right or not.  By complaining about a pair of bad experiences recently I received a $20 grocery store gift card and a $10 Amazon coupon code.  The grocery store      Last week I accidentally missed a sale on Diet Coke by one day.  The new price was $1.49 higher.  I asked the customer service... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein      I received an email the other day notifying me of a 90% discount Restaurant.com is offering on all their coupons.  This promotion means that you can pick up a $25 coupon to one of your favorite restaurants for only $1.  What is Restaurant.com?      Restaurants all over the country offer coupons for sale on Restaurant.com.  Typically a $10 coupon can be purchased for $4 and $25 coupons cost $10.  Other, higher denominated coupons, are also available for purchase... Read Full Story

Written by J.P. Wicklein           By setting up a custodial IRA for your teenager, and contributing to it regularly until they graduate college, you can make your kid a millionaire.  Here are the details: Step 1:  Get your kid a job      To contribute to a custodial IRA a child needs to have “earned income” – either through a W-2 or self-employment.  Put every penny they earn, up to the $5,000 cap, into a custodial IRA.  Technically you can allow them to keep the money they earn and use yo... Read Full Story