Christian Finance Blog

I want to give back to you! Here are some free bonuses, free cash, or free money just for opening an account of some kind.

ING Direct - Free $25 instantly if you open an Electric Orange or Orange Savings Account (currently yielding 3%) with at least $250. That’s an instant 10% return just for saving! Start your emergency fund or save up for that new toy!

This is easily my favorite online savings account and I’ve been with them since 2005. Highly recommended with great customer service and competitive rates. You can link the savings account to a checking account from another bank so you don’t even have to switch banks!

Contact me and I’ll send you a referral link. You can only get the bonus if you open through a referral link.

Prosper - Get $25 free to get started after you fund your first loan as a lender (minimum $50). This is the next revolution in finance called micro-finance where multiple people fund one loan with smaller micro-payments of as little as $50. This spreads the risk across many people and lowers the risk for you.

This is the first person-to-person lending marketplace in America with over 670,000 members and over $130 million in loans.

You can bid on eBay-style loan listings and you can view credit ratings, income information, etc. to help you make a good decision. I personally won’t lend to anyone with less than AA credit and I’m averaging a 9% return on my loans.

Email me and I’ll send you a referral link.

Zecco - Free China Shakes the World book ($15 value) PLUS I’ll personally send you $10 to your Paypal account (must have Paypal account to qualify) when you open and fund your account!

Zecco is the first online broker to offer free stock trades (up to 10 per month with minimum $2500 in equity) or only $4.50 per trade (if less than $2500). No minimums to open and it’s my main online stock broker. Highly recommended if you want to get started with stock trading. Fees are what kill returns so if you can lower fees as much as possible, it really helps your potential capital gains!

Email me and I’ll send you a referral link. Email me again when you open and fund your account and I’ll send you $10 to your Paypal account!

Scottrade - Get 3 free online trades as a sign-up bonus just for opening an account. Scottrade only charges $7 per trade, has local branches across the country and has great customer service! I have my Roth IRA with them and I can’t recommend them enough!

Contact me and I’ll send you a referral link. Your 3 free trades will be available once you open your account.

Sharebuilder - Get a $55 cash bonus (if you’re a Costco member, otherwise $25) to invest. All you have to do is open an account (no minimum) and trade.

Sharebuilder offers automatic trades at $4 a trade or $9.95 real-time trades. ING Direct recently bought them out so you can expect the same level of customer service. Although I prefer Zecco over Sharebuilder as a discount stock broker, this is a good option for anyone who doesn’t have much to invest.

Contact me and I’ll send you a referral link. Your cash bonus will be available 4-6 weeks after your first transaction.

Like the post? Subscribe to this feed!

The Fed recently cut the federal funds rate (the rate that affects consumer loans such as home equity lines of credit, auto loans, and credit cards) by a half percent after cutting it by three-quarters of a percent on January 22 in an emergency meeting. The federal funds rates now stands at 3% which is the lowest it has been in two years. The discount rate (the rate at which banks borrow from the Fed) was also cut half a percent to 3.5%.

What does this mean to you and me? The rate cuts means lower rates for borrowers but also lower rates for savers. Average 30 year mortgage rates now stand at 5.49% which is also the lowest in two years. If you’re looking to buy a home, it seems like now’s the time to buy with home prices considerably lower than even a couple years ago in some markets. It may also be time to refinance your existing home mortgage if you can save at least one percentage point or more.

You should also see lower rates for your variable credit cards. If you don’t, give your credit card company a quick call and ask them to lower the rate. If they don’t, ask for the retention department and threaten closing your account and transferring balances elsewhere. The retention department has the power to lower the rate for you. Of course, this doesn’t affect you if you pay off your credit balances off each month.

But these rate cuts also mean lower rates for your emergency cash savings in CDs and savings accounts. ING Direct now stands at 3.40% and Electric Orange is at 2.25% for balances up to $49,999 (if you want a free $25 for opening an account, let me know). FNBO Direct (which is where most of my emergency fund now sits) is at a still-great rate of 4.30%. WaMu’s online savings account now stands at 4.25%. HSBC Direct stands at 3.80%. You can check out Bankrate.com for the latest rates. But your emergency fund is not designed to make you money; it’s just there for an emergency and it’s nice to earn a little interest on it. But if you already have your 6 to 9 month emergency fund in place, it may be time to look at longer-term investments in the stock market. I absolutely love Roth IRAs and an index fund within a Roth IRA is perfect for most people! If you have a 401K offered by your employer, it may be time to increase your contributions.

One last thing to remember. Just because the rates are lower doesn’t mean you have to borrow. Remember that the goal is to save more and not spend or borrow more. But at the same time, there may be some opportunities to save some money. God Bless!

Like the post? Subscribe to this feed!

Since ING Direct purchased and acquired ShareBuilder on November 19, 2007 for $220 million, everyone was wondering what changes would come about. Well, there’s good news! Not only did they change the color scheme, but the price for real-time trades has gone down to $9.95 per trade rather than the old $15.95. That’s a 35% discount! This price brings ShareBuilder in line with other discount online brokers, but it still does not beat free stock trades with Zecco. Contact me if you want to open a Zecco account for a FREE $25 bonus!

ING Direct is the country’s largest direct bank with assets of $77 billion with about six million customers. I contacted media relations for ING regarding the changes that would come about due to the acquisition but they have not gotten back to me yet. I’m interested to see if there will be more changes since I am a customer for both ShareBuilder and ING Direct. It would be great if there were instant transfers from ING accounts to/from ShareBuilder just like the transfers between Electric Orange (checking) and Orange Savings.

Like the post? Subscribe to this feed!

If you haven’t heard of Kiva, you need to hear it now. Kiva means “unity” or “agreement” in Swahili. The basic idea behind Kiva is the concept of microlending or microfinance. The premise behind microlending is that many smaller loans from different sources fund a whole complete loan. The difference between Kiva and another micro-finance based site, Prosper, is that interest isn’t charged to the borrowers. Also, the borrowers are small business owners in third-world and poorer countries of the world so these are loans that truly bless people who need it. Also, because these interest-free loans are loans rather than gifts, both the lender (you) and the borrower are on the same level so everyone feels good. And the Bible teaches that we shouldn’t charge interest to the poor anyway.

All it takes is a computer, the Internet, and a Paypal account to get started! If you go to the Kiva website, you will be able to browse small businesses from around the world from places such as Cambodia, Mexico, and others (however, because of recent huge press coverage, all loans are currently funded). You will be able to see a picture and a little description of what the loan is going to be used for. Some people own small markets and need some money to buy some inventory. Others raise sheep and need some money to buy some more to expand their business. Once you find someone you’re interested in helping, all you have to do is send via Paypal a minimum of $25 to help finance the entire loan. Loans have a 6 month or 12 month terms and the pay back rate has been an amazing 99%! You’ll get progress reports on how things are going for your specific “sponsored” small business as time goes on. As of right now, the entire amount that you loan goes to the entrepreneur in the other country. Kiva does not take a cut at all and is supported by donations from lenders.

This is a great way to help the working poor around the world by lending some money to microfinance a loan. These really are loans that change lives and make a difference. Plus, you’re likely to get your money back so you can loan to someone else in need.

Check out the Christian Finance Kiva page and Kiva.org for more information!

Like the post? Subscribe to this feed!

**This post is sponsored by:**

Searching for loans can be time consuming. At The Thrifty Scot we have access to over 500 personal loans and 200 secured loans which can be applied online.

**Advertisements do not constitute endorsement by Christian Finance Blog.

The Dow took a huge hit today! It was the second largest point drop so far this year (-311). The biggest was -416 on February 27, 2007. The largest point drop in history was when the market opened back up on September 17, 2001 after September 11th (-685).

The thing about any drops (or gains) in the market are that they’re just paper losses (or gains). They are unrealized losses (or gains) “on paper” and they don’t really matter until you sell your investments. It’s always wise to keep things in perspective. People tend to get emotional and scared when the Dow drops. It’s never wise to be emotional when investing. That’s why many people buy high, and sell low. I had a co-worker who stopped his contributions to his 401k after a big drop a few years back. That’s also not wise. You’ll miss out on the the employer match as well as any gains that usually come after a big drop.

Remember that investing is for the long term. It’s never good to look at the short term when investing (unless you’re a day trader). Just leave your 401k or IRA’s alone and review them quarterly.

So what can you do to survive a market crash? (From a CNN Money article):

Amp up your 401(k). It is true that a down market can be a time when stocks are on sale.

Adjust your risk. If your mutual funds went down more than you’re comfortable with, you may need to adjust your risk.

Determine your deadlines. As you near retirement, you need to adjust your stock/bond allocation so that there’s less risk as you near retirement. The common method is to subtract your age from 120 to figure out what percentage you should have in stocks (some say 100 if you’re more conservative). So if you’re 30 years old you should have approximately 90% of your investments in stocks.

Spread your bets. Owning an international or overseas fund can be a hedge against big drops here in the U.S. Often when the U.S. market suffers, the international markets are doing well. Being diversified is the key!

Source: CNN Money

Zecco is an online stock brokerage firm whose claim to fame was their no fees and free stock trades (up to 10 a day and 40 a month). I’ve been considering opening an account since I first heard of them a few months ago. Now that Zecco has no minimums to open an account (used to be $2500 minimum), I will probably open an account to try it out. I’m currently using Sharebuilder but I don’t like the $15.95 commission to sell stocks. Plus I’m not a big stock trader. Still the free stock trades are very tempting.

Like the post? Subscribe to this feed!

Check out Morningstar’s FREE investing classroom. There are 172 different courses on stocks, funds, bonds, and portfolio building and monitoring. Take the quizzes and earn points. If you get 790 points, you will receive a 60 day premium Morningstar.com membership. It’s free to join and earn points so try it today and learn a thing or two on investing! It takes you from the basics to advanced techniques. You have nothing to lose. Click here.