Don't Quit Your Day Job…

When it comes to credit card rewards programs, either those run with points or those run with frequent flier miles, you have to spend money to make money. One way to game the system is to spend money on money. While this trick would work with gold (although you lose some- gold is sold above its spot price), it’s also an open secret that the U.S. Mint offers Direct Ship coins, payable by credit card. To sweeten the deal further, they will even pay for domestic shipping.

The Congressional Budget Office recently released their scoring of the Senate Health Care Bill. Reading some of the headlines in major newspapers, one would be forgiven to think that the health care plan being debated in the Senate is a deficit reducing panacea for all of the United States’ health problems… “No Big Cost Rise in U.S. Premiums Is Seen In Study” touts the New York Times, for example. The health care bill is supposed to ‘bend the health care cost curve’ and extend coverage to the unfortunate people who don’t currently have insurance. Sadly, it completely misses the mark.

Since yesterday I compared the health plan taxes in Congress to the Alternative Minimum Tax, I suppose it’s only right if today I discuss that tax itself. The infamous tax was enacted to target upper class taxpayers who paid less than ‘their fair share’ of taxes. It went into effect in 1970.

What’s wrong with taxing individuals making over $200,000 and couples making over $250,000? Nothing, if you are honest about what is really going on. The health care plan in the senate would mean new taxes for ‘rich’ folks in these tax brackets. Worse still? It doesn’t account for inflation in this calculation. What follows is a calculated tax which, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, will slowly creep into the middle class as inflation starts to show up again.

Long written off as the stuff of ‘goldbugs’ and conspiracy theorists (mostly unfairly), gold is coming into its own as a favored investment. Monday, gold climbed to an all time high of $1174 an ounce, enough to make many people sit up and take a look. Gold has been in a bull market for a long time… is gold for real, or are we witnessing the third bubble in a ridiculously short time (housing, oil, gold)?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Maybe you can think of an exception, but the only free lunches I’ve been on were for interviews or retirement seminars. How about free credit reports?

Surprisingly, yes, there is a way to get a free credit report. You can get a free credit report from each credit agency every year, to boot. How to do it? For starters, you don’t go to the site with the singing pirates.

Yesterday there was an interesting topic on CNN Money, one which gets touched on at most major personal finance sites: should you loan money to friends? The answer most often given, is no. There are some caveats… this specific article mentioned securing the loan in some way. What’s the best way to structure such a loan, assuming you go through with it?

Yes, the title has a double meaning. New credit card rules to be enacted with the Credit Card Act of 2009 will shake up the agreements you have with your credit card company. Because of new rules which will make it harder to increase fees and APRs after cards are issued, issuing companies will be forced to make terms more onerous up front. How far will you let companies go before you cancel?

California increased its income and sales taxes recently, in the midst of a recession. That measure was intended to be a temporary increase. Coupled with an increase in the yearly car registration fee, it appeared that plenty of funds would be raised by the new levies. Well, the summer showed that California hadn’t yet left budget crisis mode. As part of a deal to close a $26 billion budget deficit, California is resorting to a dirty trick- taking a no interest loan from its constituents.

One pays a dividend, has enterprise value, and has the potential for growth. One is a piece of metal long accepted as a store of value. Which one do you invest in: gold (or silver) mining stocks, or gold (or silver!) itself?