Well, A few months ago I applied and receivied a credit card from Charles Schwab, the credit card has pretty much the best rewards program from any credit card I have seen in the past.  This week I received my first rewards deposit on my Schwab One Account.  I received $126.08 which is a nice chunk of change and immediately I bought into one of the Schwab funds that had a low entry point so I can keep track of my credit card rewards and what other potential benefits I can see from using a credit card to our benefit by taking the reward and investing that into the market.  I have two other credit cards that also provide rewards and I’ll be transfering their amounts into Schwab One Account also for that purpose.

I picked the Schwab Target 2040 fund since they had no 2050 yet.  The first purchase yielded me 16.364 at $7.70/share.  The symbol is SWERX and it has 5 stars from Morning Star which is also a plus.

Well, January overall was a good month for me, I was able to cut down on some more spending that I had been analyzing that were no longer needed and managed to pay a little bit more towards credit card debt.

My net worth in January increased by 15% do to some adjustments and good stock performance on my brokerage account. So far so good into my resolutions for 09.

I am also in the process of moving my brokerage account from Zecco over to MB Trading, so far the process has been very good on MB Trading’s part. I have called Customer Service and tried their Live chat and seems to be very well knowledgeable people on the other side. The one thing that I felt was missing was the option to add ACH Acct from their web site instead of having to mail in a voided check. Once the whole process moves along, I’ll review the account then.

After about a year that I have an account at Zecco and recommended to a bunch of my friends, I received awful news, that the new minimum to trade for free has now increased to $25k.  Since I do not have $25k in my brokerage account yet, it does not sound as appealing as before.  This is horrible and an apparent bait and switch scenario. Now all existing customers including me have no way of getting out without incurring costs which last time I checked was $50 ACAT OUT.

After doing research on this matter over the weekend, I am one of the customers that is moving on, I have decided to move to MB Trading.  For $1/trade up to 100 shares is a good deal for me, probably the best around and they have been around more than a few years like Zecco.  Lets see how this ACAT goes and I’ll be updating everyone on it.

Another note on Zecco, it is sad that they want to ditch all these new customers, instead if they slowly increased the new threshold, it would not be so bad on the end.  I wouldn’t stay with them even if they matched the fee from the other brokers, if they are doing this now, imagine in a few months after they increase the ACAT out to $100 or so.

The most important thing anyone can do is set goals, short-term and long-term goals guide us each day by keeping us motivated and focus. Setting goals and working hard to achieve them helps us become a better person on the end.

Long-term goals motivate us by offering constant reminders of what we are trying to achieve.  They should be realistic, challenging and meaningful.  Many people fail to reach their goals by setting goals to control things that are beyond their control, this creates frustration and needless stress.  If you have a hard time setting goals on your own, seek the help of a friend that you can trust, together you should be able to come up with something that will work for you.  Once you know what you want to achieve, write it down!  By putting words on a piece of paper, they went from being an idea to a commitment.  By putting this piece of paper where it’s clearly visible, for example on your computer monitor, and take a few minutes every day to think about it to help you stay focused.  In my experience, I have been able to cut down on my credit card debt by constantly reminding my self that I do not want to be in debt for the rest of my life.  I also made a commitment to contribute to my Roth IRA come rain or snow on a weekly basis right out of my paycheck.

While long-term goals seems that that the end will never come, short-term goals are the steps that take us progressively closer to this desired destination. It’s the present that leads us to the future, and these short-term goals serve as road maps to where we want to go. Small goals also help build self-confidence. Achieving even the smallest goal gives us an energy boost to keep fighting. Before you go to sleep at night, ask yourself, what will be my focus for tomorrow that will take me closer to my goal? Giving every day a purpose helps us not loose sight and stay focused.

We have to remember that no matter how badly we want to achieve something or for a major change to occur, it occurs slowly, and only when we are prepared for the possible setbacks we face. If we prepare for those obstacles now, they will not come as such a surprise to us in the future.

In the end, we cannot afford to stop thinking about things that are unpleasant.

The Short answer is No!

The first stimulus check that we received last summer did only a small blip on the radar, why waste more money with more pork?  Why not let the market forces do most of the work? While I am for stimulating the economy and keep people working, and in reality, I would not mind receiving some free money from our Government, I truly do not consider this to be free money, and I would really like to know where all of this money is coming from.  Another problem we face now is lack of confidence, people may not spend a tax cut, but use it to pay off debts or increase their savings. Therefore, consumer spending may not increase.

Other Factors May Outweigh tax cuts. A cut in income tax may increase spending. However, this positive effect may be outweighed by the decline in house prices and the consequent negative wealth effect.

Higher government spending on public works is likely to be more effective than tax cuts. This is because public spending directly affects output and jobs, whearas tax cuts may just be saved and not spent.

One thing, spending doesn’t produce prosperity. Spending comes from prosperity. Trying to reverse the natural order can last a while - as history has shown, one can keep on piling up debt and spending for quite some time - but when it ends, prosperity will just disappear.

The media keeps hammering daily that our economy is unstable and vulnerable.  People are looking their homes, others are getting laid off from jobs they have been working most of their life and now have to settle for lower-paying jobs.  While these facts are true, what we are experiencing is not new. There are a few things that you can do to stay motivated during this downturn.

1. Capitalize on your most valuable assets, your Family.
2. Prioritize your debt, making sure you don’t compromise your home or your transportation. Work the ladder, stop building more debt and paying existing one down.
3. Downsize if it puts you in a better cash position to weather the storm.
4. Have a garage sale to generate extra cash to pay down debt. Most people have extra stuff they can sell on a Garage Sale, eBay or craigslist.
5. Cancel the extras that you don’t need to survive such as Cable/Satellite.

When the recession is over, you will be a better person than when you started, one step at a time is the best way to go, keep motivated by thinking long term.

Remember, “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” (Pv 22:3)

We are in a recession. No matter what the Illuminatis do, companies will fail, people will loose jobs. Unfortunately this is how capitalism works and we need to learn what to do so we least affected possible.

If you are spending more than you make, now is a good time to stop. You want to get started with a Budget right about now.

If you haven’t bought a house yet and you have money saved for a down payment, now is the best time, average 30 year mortgage rates are below 5% now

If you are in the stock market don’t sell, buy more. By buying more of stock or etf of a solid company that has fallen below the price where you bought it when it falls, you average-down your original purchase price. If you are not in the stock market yet, and you want to start now, if you have at least $2,500 to start, Zecco is a great place to open your account.

Don’t day trade. Invest for the long term. When your house price or value falls, do you sell and move?

If you lost your job, during recession, do not buy into these infomercials promising you an income every month while you sleep, most of these are scams or selling product in a market that is already cluttered, if its such a great idea, they would be selling the products themselves instead of hiring you as a middleman. Consider starting a business, someone with the determination and right frame of mind can be successful. You have low overhead, no employees, you can outsource, using the internet to your advantage for marketing just to name a few.

And the best for last, Be patient, things will turn around. It is not the end of the world yet.