Kathy Kristof » Uncategorized

Procrastinators Guide to Taxes

kkristof — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:56:01 +0000

Haven’t yet filed your tax return? Never fear. The tax wonks at H&R Block just gave me this handy guide for all you tax procrastinators that I share here with you. Enjoy.

10 weird but wonderful frequent flyer rewards

kkristof — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:13:08 +0000

Want more than a free ticket? 10 weird & wonderful frequent flier awards

(MoneyWatch) Everybody knows that frequent flyer programs can land you better seats, free trips, and the ability to board the plane before the unwashed masses. But did you know that Air Baltic frequent flyer miles will pay for a dog-sled ride in Latvia? Or that Hawaiian Air will help you tee off at the championship Coral Creek golf course in Ewa Beach, Hawaii?

As an increasing number of credit card companies offer points that can be used on any airline, single-airline frequent flyer programs have had to step up with better alternatives, says Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, a company that does research and brand development for the airline industry.

“Reward-oriented credit cards that are not affiliated with a particular airline have forced airlines to make their offers richer, release more seats for frequent flyer programs, and offer more extravagant sign-up bonuses,” says Sorensen. They’ve also spurred an escalation in weird and wonderful reward options, like having the opportunity to pet Artic wolves in Sweden or sup on an in-flight “happy marriage cake.”

One caution: the point-based prices for these oddball rewards aren’t always a bargain. In a world where reward points are usually worth 1 to 3 cents each, the number of points you’d have to use to buy some of these off-kilter purchases might indicate that your reward points are worth a fraction of that value. For instance, Lufthansa will let you buy onboard wireless service for $15 in cash, but would deduct 3,500 miles from your account if you paid with points. At a penny per mile, that costs you the equivalent of $35. Not such a great deal.

And yet, some premium-price purchases may still be worth your while, says Sorensen, particularly for those spending “orphaned” miles on an airline they’re no longer flying. If you’ve switched favorite airlines, why not buy something with the rejected airlines miles, which are never going to amount to a free ticket?

Moreover, some of these offbeat rewards just can’t be replicated. For instance, Air Canada sold a leather vest autographed by George Clooney for 177,000 Aeroplan miles. That’s hard to value and, as an added bonus, Air Canada pledged to give the value of the rewards to charity.

Intrigued? Click here for a sampling of 10 other offbeat frequent flyer rewards that Sorensen uncovered.

10 Best Cities to Find a Sugar Daddy

kkristof — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:58:20 +0000

Let’s say you’re young, beautiful, underemployed and, well, morally “flexible.” Where might you go to meet a rich older man willing to put you on an allowance in exchange for, say, looking the other way when he mentions his wife? San Francisco.

The city by the bay has more sugar daddies per capita than any other place in the U.S., with 3.5 older men seeking such relationships with younger women per 1,000 residents, says Brandon Wade, chief executive of a site called SeekingArrangement.com. That far exceeds the number of sugar daddies in the second-ranked city, Boston, which has a ratio of 2.47.

But what exactly is a sugar daddy? According to Wade, whose site compiled five years of data, they’re guys ranging in age from 39 to 44; earning an average of $265,000, with assets of $5.6 million. About 41% are married. They spend an average of $4,357 per month keeping a mistress, usually about 12 years his junior, in the style to which she expects to become accustomed.

Wade attributes the unusually high Sugar Daddy rate in San Franciso to newly-rich geeks looking for love. “There’s a lot of new wealth from the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple,” says Wade. “And now that they have made it they are ready to start dating.”

Why wouldn’t a rich man date in the normal way – or frequent a site that doesn’t appear as exploitive, like, say, eHarmony?

It’s a matter of odds, according to Wade. On a normal dating site, there are more men than women. On a Sugar Daddy site, there are 10 times as many women as men. In other words, a geeky guy can get a hot chick, (assuming he doesn’t mind bankrolling her) on a site like this. On an ordinary dating site, the women might have jobs, pride and, well become offended by someone who offered to buy them.

6 things you should never share on Facebook

How to build an iPad app in 6 easy steps

Wade stresses that this is not prostitution. It differs because prostitutes sell themselves by the hour. These are long-term relationships, where you might actually develop some feeling for one another.

Not offended and just want to know where to go to find a wealthy man to “keep” you?

Then realize there are two ways to look for a Sugar Daddy – you can go for volume by moving to the city where there are more Sugar Daddies per capita; or you can seek a sponsor in a city where they’re more likely to be generous.

Even though San Francisco has lots of Sugar Daddies, they don’t even show up in the top 20 for generosity – i.e. the amount they lay out for their lovers. The most generous Sugar Daddies live in Los Angeles, where “allowances” top $5,700 per month.

Here are the 20 top cities for most generous Sugar Daddies, followed by the cities where there are the most Sugar Daddies per capita.

10 Cities with the most generous Sugar Daddies (based on monthly allowance):

Los Angeles: $5,710

New York: $5,002

Seattle: $4,985

Miami: $4,927

Louisville, Kentucky: $4,860

Las Vegas: $4,773

Phoenix: $4,625

Salt Lake City: 4,563

Columbus, Ohio: $4,423

Buffalo, New York: $4,293

10 cities with the most Sugar Daddies (per 1,000 residents):

San Francisco: Density, 3.51. Monthly allowance: $3,765

Boston: Density, 2.47. Monthly allowance: $4,111.

Austin, Texas: Density, 2.35. Monthly allowance: $3,647

Las Vegas: Density, 2.32. Monthly allowance: $4,773

Los Angeles: Density, 2.31. Monthly allowance: $5,710

Washington, D.C.: Density, 2.24. Monthly allowance: $3,913

Hartford, Connecticut: Density, 2.21. Monthly allowance: $4,095

Miami: Density, 2.14. Monthly allowance: $4,927

New York: Density, 2.10. Monthly allowance: $4,991

San Diego, California: Density, 1.85. Monthly allowance: $4,043

5 ways to protect yourself from identity theft

kkristof — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:55:20 +0000

Protect yourself from phishing and identity theft

Phishing attacks — online trolling for personal information in order to raid your financial accounts — are soaring. According to cyber-security experts at RSA, phishing attacks jumped 37 percent last year and have proven to be exceptionally costly, with the average attack resulting in $4,500 in stolen funds.

With National Consumer Protection week on the horizon, Visa (V) is attempting to help consumers spot phishing attacks before they’re taken. The credit card company has published an online guide to the tell-tale signs that you’re being phished. Admittedly, the warning signs have gotten far more subtle in the past few years — and a really good con artist can appear legitimate to even the most diligent consumer. In some cases, con artists even have access to some of your personal information already, like your name and maybe even the last few digits of your credit card number.

But there are still 5 simple ways to catch a phishing attempt before it catches you. Specifically:

Bucking regulators, tax preparers offer refund loans

kkristof — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:51:14 +0000

(MoneyWatch) – Federal regulators have been trying for years to stop tax-preparers from offering short-term, high-cost loans that are repaid with the borrower’s tax refund. But while only a few tax preparers are offering these so-called refund anticipation loans, which have long been criticized for soaking the poor, some now offer products that do the same thing a different way.

Worse, the regulatory moves that aimed to stamp out the loans have simply made them more expensive. Among the firms still offering these loans are Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax, two of the nation’s largest tax preparation firms.

HR Block, the nation’s largest tax preparation firm, exited the refund loan business, but now offers two similar products — a refund anticipation check, and something called an Emerald Advance. Who is offering what, what’s on the agenda for next year and why is it so hard to stomp out high-cost refund loans? Find out here.

Want a job? Give up Facebook

kkristof — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:13:49 +0000

Need a job? Give up Facebook

(MoneyWatch) The good news is that the job market is heating up (Admittedly that only takes it from stone-cold to tepid, but prospects are better than they’ve been in at least three years.) The bad news is that employers are increasingly asking job seekers for their Facebook and other social-media passwords as part of the process of vetting them.

While it’s unclear how widespread that practice is, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that it is happening with increasing frequency, as CBS MoneyWatch’s Suzanne Lucas details. You can, of course, refuse to give a job interviewer your passwords. But expect your employment application to hit the round file if you don’t cooperate.

“It’s important to understand that more and more employers are looking at whatever they can to inform them in the hiring decision,” says John Challenger, chief executive of global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray Christmas. “Whether it’s a photo from a college party posted on Facebook or an incendiary comment on Twitter, employers are looking for anything that reveals more than candidates typically share in interviews.”

Challenger expects the courts to eventually rule on whether employer access to your private information should be limited, particularly when you’re applying for a job that doesn’t require a security clearance. In the meantime, here are five things you should keep in mind about social media and work.

Bank Fees: Most & Least Costly States

kkristof — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:50:02 +0000

Highest and lowest bank fees

Think you pay a lot in bank fees? Don’t move to West Virginia. The Mountain State has the dubious distinction of being the nation’s most costly place to bank, according to a new analysis by the Pew Center in Washington, D.C..Where the average American pays $8.95 a month to maintain a checking account if they don’t meet minimum balance requirements, the fee in West Virginia is 34% higher — $12 a month, or $144.00 a year. That’s more than 140% more than the cost of keeping a checking account in the least-expensive states, where the median monthly fee is just $5. Here are where you pay the most and least in bank fees.More on MoneyWatch12 Steps to Kick Your Bank-Fee Addiction How to Avoid Debit Card Fees

Dangers of Using a Debit Card

5 Scariest Investment Moves

5 Ways to Save on International Calls

Steve Jobs: Tribute to Living a Life of Passion

kkristof — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:55:18 +0000

There are a handful of things that I find so inspiring that I save them, tack them on the wall, and re-read them, year after year. Steven Jobs speech to the 2005 graduating class at Stanford is one of those. Link to it at MoneyWatch.

12 Steps to Kick Your Bank Fee Addiction

kkristof — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:52:55 +0000

Feel like you’re powerless to avoid bank fees, particularly in the wake of Bank of America’s new $5 debit card fee and Citibank’s announcement that many customers will pay more for checking accounts? You’re not. You just need to follow our 12-Step Program on MoneyWatch.

How to Buy Gold

kkristof — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:38:34 +0000

The rising price of gold has brought con artists out of the woodwork, peddling everything from counterfeit coins to evaporating bullion. Here’s what you need to know before you buy — or sell — gold. Read more…