My Money Blog

IRS Tools to Track and Manage Enhanced Child Tax Credit Payments (Starts July 15th)

Posted on June 23, 2021 // 3 Comments

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 "enhances" the Child Tax Credit, increasing it to up to $3,600 for each child under 6 and $3,000 for each one under age 18. Eligible parents will receive half in advance via direct payments spread out … [Read the rest]

Alliant Credit Union Visa Signature Card Review: Up to 2.5% Cash Back, But With Some Hoops

Posted on June 23, 2021 // 12 Comments

New rules as of July 2021. Alliant Credit Union, the 5th largest US credit union by assets, is changing up the terms of their Alliant Visa Signature Credit Card (again) as of July 2021. There are now additional hurdles to achieving the full 2.5% … [Read the rest]

HM Bradley Credit Card Review: 3-2-1 Cash Back, Saving Tier APY Boost

Posted on June 21, 2021 // 3 Comments

Update December 2021: On December 15th, 2021, HMBradley announced upcoming changes to their interest rate that will become effective February 1st, 2022, along with changes to their credit card boosts that are effective January 1st, 2022. See my HM … [Read the rest]

Amazon Prime Day 2021: Citi/Discover/Chase Points Promos, 23andMe 50% Off, $10 Gift Card Bonus (Updated)

Posted on June 20, 2021 // Leave a Comment

Prime Day is live. Amazon Prime Day 2021 is on June 21st and 22nd (Monday and Tuesday). I’ll try to keep this post updated with the most recent offers, as there will be many deals in the days leading up to it as well. There are usually many … [Read the rest]

DIY Inflation-Protected Pension: Fewer Retirees Claiming Social Security at Age 62

Posted on June 16, 2021 // 9 Comments

An important lever in building your retirement income is timing when you start claiming your Social Security benefits. While you can start as early as age 62, your monthly benefit increases each year that you delay claiming (up until age 70). For … [Read the rest]

Hotels.com Rewards Visa Card Review: 2 Free Reward Nights (Worth up to $250)

Posted on June 16, 2021 // 3 Comments

The Hotels.com Rewards Visa credit card is a no-annual-fee travel rewards credit card for folks who don't have loyalty to a specific hotel chain. Instead, you earn free nights from the Hotels.com loyalty program (detail below). Right now, they … [Read the rest]

Single Family Rental Homes: Asset Class with 8.5% Historical Returns

Posted on June 14, 2021 // 16 Comments

How about this housing market? A few weeks ago, the CEO of Redfin shared a viral Twitter thread about what he was seeing. Here's just a snippet: It has been hard to convey, through anecdotes or data, how bizarre the U.S. housing market has … [Read the rest]

Citi Custom Cash Card Review: 5% Cash Back On $500 For Single Category Each Month

Posted on June 11, 2021 // 5 Comments

The Citi Custom Cash Card is a newly-launched rewards credit card which offers 5% cash back on your top eligible spending category up to $500 spent each month. This card will again compete against the other 5% cash back cards on the market, as did … [Read the rest]

Vanguard 10-year Asset Class Return Projections 2021

Posted on June 10, 2021 // Leave a Comment

The advisor-facing parts of brokerage firms are often of interest to DIY investors. In the June 2021 Market Perspectives article of Vanguard's advisor site, they included their asset class return projections for the next 10 years: Our 10-year, … [Read the rest]

Unifimoney App Review: Up to $1,000 Bitcoin Bonus Details

Posted on June 8, 2021 // 6 Comments

Unifimoney is a new "money super app" which promises to help manage all of your assets in a single mobile app. I should start by mentioning that the app is currently iPhone/iOS only. Here's a quick rundown at what it includes: High-yield … [Read the rest]

Target Deal Days 2021: 5% Off Gift Cards 6/16-6/19

Posted on June 8, 2021 // 2 Comments

In an amazing coincidence, Target is having their Target Deal Days from June 20-22, overlapping with Amazon Prime Day. The tagline is "3 days of spellbinding savings with no membership fees". New deals will be added every day, with the following … [Read the rest]

Sample Household Budget For Early Retirement: 85% Savings Rate!

Posted on June 7, 2021 // 5 Comments

The Hustle has an article on 30-year-old early retirees and it serves as a quick introduction to the concept of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early). For the most part, it profiles young tech workers and engineers with very aggressive … [Read the rest]