By Sun on May 15, 2008 in Bonus, Free money | 10 Comments
I can host them for you here on this blog!
When I published my ING Direct Orange Savings Account $25 signup bonus post on April 27, I thought it could be a while before all the 25 referral links are taken because, ING Direct, as well as this referral problem, has been around for a long time and people who want to have an account probably already have one.
Well, looks like I am wrong!
Less than three weeks after the original post, I have only one referral left! It’s unbelievable that the demands for the popular financial products are still very strong. Too bad that I am running out my own referrals 
However, I believe that there are many out there have plenty of unused referrals, but don’t have the means to share them with people who are interested in getting a $25 bonus to open a new account.
Here’s what I am going to do.
If you have unused ING Diret Orange Savings Account referrals and would like to receive a $10 bonus by sharing them with others who need them, send me an email using the contact form or leave a comment at this post. I will then contact you with instructions on how to generate the referral links. I will take 25 referrals at a time from 5 referrers.
It’s a first come first serve service. So hurry up if you want to make an extra $250 
There’s no guarantee, though, on when
Update[May 16, 2008]: Within hours after this post was published, I received 200 new links from people want to shares their referrals. Since it will take some time to exhaust all these links, I won’t be able to take any new links at this moment. However, you can still leave a comment here if you have referrals available and I will get in touch with you once the links I have are gone.
Thanks!
By Sun on May 14, 2008 in Bonus, Free money | 2 Comments
All good things must come to an end, including the promotion from RevolutionMoneyExchange. It has been two months since I reviewed RME, the Paypal competitor, and offered an additional $5 bonus on top of the $25 signup bonus from RME. The promotion, which has been run much longer, will officially end tomorrow, May 15th, so will the $25+5 bonus.
In the past two months, I actually have used RME to send money to dozens of people I referred to RME and quite like the service because it’s easy to use and free. And after I linked my bank to RME, I can withdraw money to my bank without any fee. I still have a few referrals left. So if you want to grab the $30 free money before it’s gone, you can use the contact form to request a referral link. I will send you the extra $5 as soon as I get the $10 bonus from RME.
By Sun on May 13, 2008 in Mutual fund, Investing | 2 Comments
The Oakmark Funds reopened its Global Fund (OAKGX) on May 9, 2008. The fund, which has been closed to new investors since December 2003, invests in both domestic and foreign markets, holding 42.6% of its assets in U.S. stocks and and the rest in developed and emerging economies outside the country. According to Morningstar.com, OAKGX has an expense ratio (ER) of 1.18% and yield 0.14%. The fund’s 3-year annualized return is 13.70% and 5-year 18.28%. To invest in this fund, a $1,000 initial investment is required. That amount, however, is reduced to $500 if automatic investment plan is used.
T. Rowe Price recently also announced that its Small-Cap Value Fund (PRSVX) reopened to new investors on May 1, 2008. The fund had some great runs in the early part of this decade and was closed in May 2002. PRSVX mainly invests in small companies with market capital within or below those in the Russell 2000 index. Morningstar data shows that PRSVX has a 3-year return 10.83%, 5-year 15.13%, and 10-year 9.58%.
The minimum initial investment of PRSVX is $1,000, which will be waived if an automatic investment plan with at least $50 a month is set up at the time when an account is opened. PRSVX’s ER is 0.81%, which is quite low for a small-cap fund. The fund also has a yield of 0.69%.
I have owned PRSVX since April 2002, shortly before it was closed and currently I invest $100 into the fund every month.
By Sun on May 12, 2008 in China | 2 Comments
2008 was supposed to be a good year for China while the Olympics coming to Beijing for the first time. Instead, the country was hit by disasters, natural and man-made, one after another:
- In late January, early February, half of the country was frozen after the worst winter snowstorm in 50 years, stranding millions travelers;
- In March, rioters took the streets in Lhsas, causing the entire city and surrounding areas to be shut down;
- In late April, early May, deadly virus broke out in central China, taking lives of 30 young children;
- In early May, two high-speed trains collided in east China, killing 72 passengers;
Then early this morning, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southwest China. The worst quake in three decades has already killed nearly 10,000 people.
My heart is with my country!
*Photo from NY Times
By Sun on May 12, 2008 in Credit cards, Personal finance | 3 Comments
I am a credit card person. Wherever possible, I use credit cards to pay for my purchases. To me, credit cards are my friend, not foe. The reasons for me to favor credit cards over debit cards or cash are twofold:
- I know exactly where my money went,
- I can get cash back for the money I have to spend.
Among more than two dozens of cards I own, four are in my wallet. They are the cards that I use the most to cover my everyday purchases, each for a different purpose:
- Chase Freedom Card: At gas stations and grocery stores (3% cash back).
- Costco TrueEarnings Card from American Express: At Costco (1% cash back) and restaurants (3% cash back) where AMEX is accepted. This card also has 3% rebates on gas, but not every gas station accepts AMEX.
- Citi UPromise Card: Shop online through UPromise (rebate rates vary, but could be as high as 10% depending on merchants). The UPromise card allows me to earn 2% cash back at Exxon and Mobil stations.
- Fidelity 529 College Rewards Card: Everywhere else (2% cash back). The new version of this card (from AMEX) only offers 1.5% cash back. Cash rebates will be invested in a Fidelity 529 plan.
I also use Chase Amazon Card for shopping at Amazon.com only to earn 3% cash back.
My experience so far tells me that when it comes credit cards with generous cash rebates, Chase Freedom Card is one of the bests. Though I won’t get a flat 3% rebates on every penny charged on the card, its category-based rewards program does allow me to earn maximum rebates. A few cards from AMEX or Discover have better rewards, the problem for these cards is they are not accepted everywhere.
In addition to the cards mentioned above and those covered before in my best gas rewards card post, there are several other credit cards that offer good cash back rewards. Since 1% rebates are like a standard for cash back credit cards, I only list those that allows you to earn more than 1% back for your money.
Discover More Card
Program highlight: Discover More Card gives 5% cash back bonus for purchases in selected categories, including travel, department stores, home improvement stores, gas stations, and restaurants. Purchases in other categories earns 1% cash back. There’s no limit on rewards can be earned annually.- Introductory rate: 0% APR balance transfer for 12 months.
- Balance transfer rate and fee: 3% balance transfer fees, but not less than $10 and not more than $75.
Blue Cash Card from American Express
Program highlight: Yes, Blue Cash will give you 5% cash back for purchases made at - Introductory rate: 0% APR for 6 months on purchases.
- Balance transfer rate and fee: 3% balance transfer fees, .
- Additional promotion: 4.99% APR for balance transfer.
Citi Cash Returns Card
Program highlight: Citi Cash Returns Card is not as good as before, when 5% cash back on everything, though only for the first 3 months. Currently, it allows you to earn 1% rebates on every purchase, plus a 20% bonus on the rebates you already earned, making the cash back essentially 1.2%. Shopping through Citi Bonus Cash Center still earns 5%. A check will be issued whenever the rebates reach $50 and there’s no limit on cash back you can earn.- Introductory rate: 0% APR balance transfer for 12 months.
- Balance transfer rate and fee: 3% balance transfer fees, with $5 minimum.
Citi Professional Cash Card
Program highlight: If you are a small business owner, then Citi Professional Card makes a good choice. With this card, you can earn a full 3% cash back at gas stations, restaurants, office supply merchants, and auto rentals and 1% on other purchases. You can also save 10 to 60% on prescription drug through the card’s Prescription Discount program. This card, however, has a $500 annual limit on the amount of cash backs you can earn.- Introductory rate: 0% APR balance transfer for 12 months.
- Balance transfer rate and fee: 3% balance transfer fees, with $5 minimum.
Any other good cash back credit cards out there?
Since the 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated Sichuan province in southwest China two days ago, I spent a large amount of time everyday on the web, following closely the rescue effort . The more I read, the more sad I feel, especially when I saw pictures of bodies young schoolchildren pull out from collapsed buildings. Yesterday, there was a picture of a girl killed in the quake on the web. A pen was still in her hand! My heart just sank.
The money collected between May 15 and May 22 on this site will be sent to the 
