Free $25

If you thinking about using ING Direct, open the account using this reference code for $25 sign on bonus: CK919/gigxfyjc

Expire Dec. 31, 2006.

Timeshare

I went to a timeshare presentation a few months ago because I have nothing better to do and they offers 2 seaworld tickets (which my sister been wanting to visit).  2 hours of my time for $100 worth of tix (plus 2 nights at Palm spring which probably is another ~$100), not bad!

Typical, this is what you can expect in a timeshare presentation:

• First, they show a 5-10 minutes video of people having fun on vacation and how they are so so glad they bought it. 
  • If you are at the resort vicinity, the sales person would take you to one of the model room/suite.
• Then the sales person sit down and talk number with you. 
  • If you say it’s too expensive, they cut down cost even more and this special price is only available today.
  • If you insist it is still too much or you don’t want it, they bring in the manager to cut down the cost even more. 
• The whole presentation can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 4 hours (if you buy a timeshare).

I been to several timeshares already so I know the drill. I was very polite to my sales guy and we ended up just chatting. He knows I won’t bite so I was the first one outta there. From him, I learned:

• Never buy timeshare from corporation. Their best deal will never beat re-sale deal.
  • Always buy re-sale. Re-sale value for timeshare  is usually very low (>50% off).
  • Always check that the timeshare is forever (not a lease).

I have no intention buying timeshare now because I am single and never travel to the same spot. However, if you have a family(4+ people) or travel to same spot annually, timeshare is a great way to vacation and save money. I found this great Timeshare calculator. This calculator helps you determine if the prospective timeshare is a great deal.

Home Insurance

My home insurance is due for renewal soon so I am looking around to see what I need to get and how I can get at the best price.

This pages summarize what minimum home insurance should cover. The insurance should be enough to cover

• Cover the cost of rebuilding the home at current construction costs
  • Roughly about $190k for my house
• Your personal possession
  • Put together an inventory list if have not done so
• Living expense after a disaster
  • Many policies provide coverage for about 20% of the insurance on your house
• Liability to others

And if you need more insurance, you can get

Umbrella or Excess Liability.
You should buy enough liability insurance to protect your assets. If you own property and or have investments and savings that are worth more than the liability limits in your policy, you may consider purchasing an excess liability or umbrella policy.

Umbrella or excess liability policies provide extra coverage. They start to pay after you have used up the liability insurance in your underlying home (or auto) policy. An umbrella policy is not part of your homeowners policy. You have to purchase it separately. In addition to providing a higher dollar amount, they offer broader coverage. You are covered for libel, slander, and invasion of privacy. These things are not covered under standard homeowners or auto policies.

The cost of an umbrella policy depends on how much underlying insurance you have and the kind of risk you represent. The greater the underlying liability coverage, the cheaper the policy. This is becaue you would be the less likely to need the additional insurance. Most companies will require a minimum of $300,000 on your home and your car, if you own one.
 

Read more about home insurance here.

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Happy Hour

I like enjoy good food and drinks with friends but that usually cost a lot. The best way to get around it is go during happy hour. After a little search on internet, I found several good links.

From LA.com, I found these places I want to visit:

Sushi Roku

If a smart, stylish Pasadena exec isn’t returning an end-of-day phone call, this might be the place to find him or her. The large doors come up when the weather is nice, letting the sleek lounge of this longstanding favorite bleed into the outdoor patio and adjacent brick-filled courtyard. The long menu of cheap hors d’oeuvres ($3) includes a rock shrimp jalapeno handroll, crispy chicken and baked eggplant dengaku.

Mon 5pm-10:30pm (!); Tue-Sun 5pm-6:30pm | 33 Miller Alley, Pasadena | (626) 683-3000   Bite Where Washington Boulevard ends, Bite’s happy hour begins. In the cluster of beach-adjacent restaurants is this bi-leveled and red-dipped “ Asian street food” scene. During deal time, a salt-and-pepper prawn salad is $4, flash-fried chili calamari is $3.50, a tuna roll is $3 and the chef’s roll is $5. Try the Oil Slick. Really. Daily 5pm-7pm | 30 Washington Blvd., Venice | (310) 305-4010   Border Grill “Border bites” like plantain empanadas, beef brisket taquitos and poblano quesadillas are $3 for those who time their visits properly. Mojitos, margaritas, sangrias and beers on tap are $3-$3.50. The best part: Visits can be properly timed every day of the week. Mon-Thu 4pm-7pm; Fri 4pm-7pm, 10pm-11pm; Sat 10pm-11pm; Sun (drinks only) 11am-4pm | 1445 Fourth St., Santa Monica | (310) 451-1655 Chaya Venice Sushi rolls, fried calamari, miso soup and other assorted bites are $3-$4 during happy hour at one of the nabe’s most consistently popular happy hours. Daily 5pm-7pm | 110 Navy St., Venice | (310) 396-1179   Il Moro Wines by the glass are discounted, blah blah blah. Did we mention the bar is covered with all sorts of free Italian hors d’oeuvres? Mon-Fri 5pm-7pm | 11400 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles | (310) 575-3530

Tangier

At this versatile restaurant, lounge and performance venue’s daily happy hour, food items are five bucks; cosmos, beer and wine are three bucks. Everything else is two dollars off.

Daily 5pm-7pm | 2138 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles | (323) 666-8666 L’Scorpion This tequila bar, not much larger than a shot glass, offers a nice side of intimacy with its servings of un-Hollywood bargains. (The walls are covered in cowhide, the mirrors covered in lace.) The food menu includes chips and guacamole, chiles rellenos, enchiladas and gorditas; exotic margarita flavors include cucumber and prickly pear. Everything’s half-off. Mon-Sat 6pm-8pm | 6679 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood | (323) 464-3026

‘Dilbert’s’ 9-point financial plan worthy of economics Nobel

Found via TY .

Fortunately for America’s 95 million investors, Adams’ secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in “Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels.” Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula:

1. Make a will
2. Pay off your credit cards
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4. Fund your 401k to the maximum
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7. Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
9. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio

Read more

Housing Price to Drop

In Southern California, the report predicted declines of 11.4% in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, 10% in Orange County, 8.5% in San Diego County and 4.8% in Los Angeles County. Read More…

Just Leave It Alone!

After I rolled 401k from my old company into IRA last May, I haven’t do anything to it (no transaction, no rebalance, nothing!)

I log into my account tonight and find the final balance has increased by 13%. NICE!!!

401K Profolio Rebalance

After determined my monthly expense, then used this calculator to determine the maximum contribution  and still leave enough money in the paycheck to cover the monthly expense. Since I am suppose to get a promotion soon, I should be able to contribute a bit more. I decided not to because that affects other benefits. Pension, life insurance and long-term disability benefits are determined with after tax dollars; which will be less if I increase my 401k contribution.

This site suggested what I should do with the funds available through my company. Since I am still young, I want to invest aggressively. For an aggressive portfolio, the site suggested 20% in S&P 500 fund, 30% in Value Fund, 30% in small cap, 20% International Fund.

My company also offer a balanced aggressive fund, the expense ratio is low (0.10%) and its past 10 years performance have been consistently better than S&P 500 and small cap. Thus, I forgo S&P 500 and Small cap fund in favor of the balanced aggressive fund.

The value fund is the top performers among all the funds available to us, so I definite want this one in my portfolio.

The international fund did better than S&P 500 in the past years and I believe it still has more room for growth.

Today, I finally increased 401k contribution and rebalance investment selection. My final portfolio looks like this now: 35% Value fund, 35% balanced aggressive fund, 30% international, and all my company matching goes to company stocks (I have no choice. Company policy.)

Now I am done with re-balancing my 401k portfolio, I need to review my IRA portfolio this week.