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How To Maximize Gift Cards Value

December 28, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

You got a bunch of gift cards for Christmas, or a lot of gift cards for your birthday, and you are wondering, “How do I maximize the money from gift cards?” As always, I’m here for you. Maximize Money from Gift Cards Using smart, insider techniques to maximize your gift card value typically involves timing and patience. Selling gift cards for money is almost never the way to maximize how much money you get from gift cards. Selling Gift Cards for Cash If you want to convert gift cards to cash, you can always sell them. When selling gift cards, you should expect to get less than face value. How much less than face value depends on how valuable the gift cards you have are. You might think that gift cards to expensive stores are more valuable, but that isn’t usually the case. The most valuable gift cards to sell are those that can be used anywhere, by anyone. That makes a gift card to a local jewelry store much less valuable because there might not be that many of that brand jeweler around the country, and the only thing you can buy with it is jewelry. So, Walmart gift …

Health Care Portal Open 2023 But Hurry

January 16, 2023December 18, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

The Federal health care portal, HealthCare.gov, has been reopened for 2023. This means that people who live in the 36 states that use HealthCare.gov as their health care insurance portal have until January, 16th to enroll in a health care plan. Health Care and Financial Independence Achieving financial independence without health insurance is luck. There are too many ways a person may need health care, from accidents to illness. Yours truly spent 47 years basically never seeing a doctor save once or twice every two or three years. My last stretch before being diagnosed with cancer, it had been four years since I had seen a doctor or used health care in any way. Then, bam, an unexpected diagnosis and treatment that costs thousands of dollars per dose, a hospital stay of two weeks, and more. My high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with Health Savings Account saved my $200,000 of liquid assets by having a legally required out-of-pocket maximum. I never had time to worry about deductibles and copays. By the time the first bill hit my house, I had crushed the $7,000 out-of-pocket family maximum, which ironically, had the function of making my family’s health carefree for the rest of …

Interest Rates, Mortgages, HELOCs, Credit Cards, and the Fed

January 20, 2024December 17, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Originally published 12/17/2008, this post is being kept for its historical value, as the economy was still reeling from the housing market collapse and subsequent market swoon. For fun (and education), pull out your favorite charting tool and set the dates to either side of this date. This rate cut will mark the bottoming of the stock market (by March of 2009). Days like yesterday and today are why I write the Finance Gourmet. For those of you who didn’t see it, the Federal Reserve, or Fed cut interest rates to between 0% and 0.25%. All day today, the media has been droning on about what it means for consumers, homeowners, and the economy. Unfortunately, they are in such a hurry to do so, that they skip over all the details. So, here it is, what the Fed’s rate cut means to you. What To Do Now That Interest Rates Have Been Cut After reading the above, you should be aware that there are no quick and easy, or automatic solutions coming based on this rate cut. Frankly, that isn’t really what it is supposed to do. But, that doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do. First, don’t count …

Is Google Fi Worth It?

August 21, 2023December 12, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

I’ve had Google’s new cell phone service, called Fi, for just over a year now, and I’ve had a chance to get a good feel for it, as well as what I used to pay, and what various people pay now. So, is Google’s Project Fi a good deal, or is it not worth it? Google Fi Service The service you get from Google’s Fi cellphone service is a blend. First, in order to use the service, you have to use specific devices like a Nexus 5x, a Nexus 6P, or the new Google Pixel phones. If you buy them direct from Google and the Google Fi store, then your customer service comes from Google. This is a good thing. If not, your service comes from wherever you bought your phone. I’ve had a couple of chances to use Google’s customer service on the Google Fi platform. First, I dropped my phone and cracked the screen. (I firmly believe that the first phone company to produce a high-end phone with a user replaceable screen will own the market until everyone else catches up.) I have the device protection plan through Google Fi (more on that later), so I called up …

Is Disney Stock a Buy? A Quick Analysis

December 9, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

I don’t do a ton of individual stock analysis on Finance Gourmet because everyone’s investing goals are so different that when I’m saying Disney is a buy, I mean Disney is a buy for me based upon my investment objectives and existing portfolio. That might be totally different than other’s investing strategy. Is Disney a Good Company? Disney is a large, diversified company that operates in various industries, including media and entertainment, parks and resorts, and consumer products. However, Disney does not pay dividends, and in a world full of great companies, why would I pick one that doesn’t pay dividends? Like many other companies, Disney may choose not to pay dividends to reinvest its profits in the business or for other strategic reasons. Dividend policy is ultimately determined by a company’s board of directors and can change over time depending on the company’s financial performance and other factors. Is Disney the Biggest Media Company? Disney is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world. The company has a diverse portfolio of businesses, including its iconic theme parks, its film and television studios, and its consumer products division. Disney also owns several cable and television networks, including …

Making Money with Cryptocurrency

December 6, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Okay! I get it. You are interested in investing in cryptocurrency. As the recent cratering of bitcoin prices, along with others, at least I won’t have to fight you on the it never comes down thing like I spent the last years of my financial planner days about real estate. So, making money with cryptocurrency is easy or hard, depending on your situation. How To Make Money with Cryptocurrency Alright. I’m going to start kind of from the beginning, but if you are looking for a cryptocurrency explained or cryptocurrency for beginners’ type of information, you’ll have to find that elsewhere. There are a few ways to make money with cryptocurrency. One way is to buy and hold the cryptocurrency, hoping that it will increase in value over time. This is similar to investing in stocks or other assets. Another way is to trade cryptocurrency on an exchange. This involves buying and selling different cryptocurrencies in an attempt to make a profit from the fluctuations in their prices. This is similar to short-term trading in stocks and bonds. Theoretically, you could try and buy cryptocurrency for less on one exchange and sell it for more on another, but this tactic …

Capital One Rewards Catalog Holiday Edition

March 1, 2023November 30, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Every year, the various credit card companies send out, or make a fun web-based Christmas holiday versions of their rewards offerings. The holiday edition of Capital One No Hassle Miles rewards catalog is one such offering. To get a Capital One rewards catalog in the mail may require some finesse. The 2023 Capital One Rewards Holiday Catalog showed up recently. I didn’t seem to get a Capital One rewards catalog 2022. 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. Some CapitalOne Miles Rewards still redeem at one percent, which is 1% cash back 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 1%. Of course, there are numerous opportunities to earn bonus miles and extra rewards in the Capital One No Hassle Rewards program. For example, the Capital One Venture card gives you 2 points for every dollar, essentially doubling your cash …

How To Choose 529 Investments

December 12, 2022November 17, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

If you don’t already have a 529 plan opened, you should start with the instructions for opening a 529 plan before worrying about which investments you use. Trust me, when I tell you, as a former financial planner, that the biggest drag on saving money for college isn’t choosing the wrong investments, it’s taking too long to get started. No amount of tax advantages will make that up. Most parents overestimate the amount of merit-based scholarships their child can get, and underestimate how much financial aid they may need in the form of loans. Whether you are using education savings accounts, a Coverdell IRA, or a 529 plan, you want to cover as many qualified higher education expenses as you can without loans. The amount you need will be more influenced by need than merit, which means if you have a higher income and higher assets, you are going to pay more. That is just the way the world works right now. The only thing you can really do is deduct all the qualified educational expenses you can from your taxes and pay the rest with tax-free money from 529 accounts and the like. At least then your qualified education …

Stock Market Rallies

November 10, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

More proof that elections and politics don’t matter as much to the markets as politicians and pundits would have you believe, the Dow Jones rallied to its best one-day gain since 2000. The Dow ended up over 1,200 points, or 3.7% in one day not because anyone did or did not win this week’s elections, but because the latest inflation numbers came in at 7.7% year over year. The latest inflation figures suggest that price increases may be slowing, and the Fed’s work may be done. Job Cuts For some additional inflation news, remember that various tech companies have announced tens of thousands of layoffs. That takes some of the pep out of the job market as well. Higher interest rates, harder to find jobs, and less leverage getting raises at existing jobs all spell a dramatic decrease in consumer spending heading into the all-important holiday season. Stock Market 2022 and 2023 Where does that leave the markets for the rest of 2022 and into 2023? Barring in new bad news or terrible numbers, Wall Street loves a good Santa Claus Rally. However, gains may be tempered by end of year selling as investors look to lock in some capital …

Should I Pay My Student Loans or Wait for Student Loan Forgiveness in 2023?

November 15, 2022November 9, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Update: The Biden administration has elected to erase $10,000 or $20,000 in student loan debt via executive order. The website to apply is already up, and the Republican lawsuits to stop it are already filed. If you have more than $10K or $20K, keep paying, although it will help a lot, it won’t erase all of your student debt. Updated Update: A federal judge blocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. I don’t understand the logic of the decision, but it isn’t up to me. The government has appealed, but for now, the form to register for student loan forgiveness has been taken down, and no forgiveness payments or updates have been made. During the 2020 Democratic Primary election, all the candidates threw their weight behind some form of student loan forgiveness. It isn’t hard to see why. Forgiving student loan debit is extremely popular, especially with those burdened by large student loan payments. Now that Biden has announced his partial student loan forgiveness program is it time to financially plan for student loan forgiveness? Let’s dive in and answer the question, should I pay off student loans or wait for forgiveness? The government posted a registration form for student loan …