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Zecco Trading, best known for their free stock trade offers, recently started a Forex platform where you can trade foreign currencies. Since Forex appears to be a zero-sum game (negative if you account for inflation and spread costs), I wasn’t really interested. However, today I received an e-mail that they are giving me a $200 bonus to try it out. Okay, now I’m listening. You must open a Zecco Forex account, fund the account, and make your first trade by July 31st, 2009. The promotional code given to me was CashAd04. The actual bonus amount depends on how much money you have in the account when you place your first trade: The fine print: To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new Zecco Forex trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Bonus amount varies based on amount of deposit according to the following schedule: $200 bonus with deposit of 10,000 or more; $100 bonus with deposit of $2500 -$9999; $75 bonus with deposit of $1001-$2500, $50 bonus with deposit up to $1000. Cash bonus cannot be withdrawn within 90 days of initial funding. Existing Zecco Forex customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. Self-directed trading accounts only; managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible to receive this promotion. Limit one cash bonus per customer. This offer is non-transferable. Credit card funding. An possible extra is that you can fund via a credit card. According to posters in this FW thread, this should show up an a purchase, which means we can get miles or cash back on top of the $200 bonus. There is a $5,000 cap on each credit card funding, but you can perform multiple transactions. However, there is a chance that withdrawals will also be done to a credit card, which would negate any rewards. Worth a shot? Warning. Forex accounts let you use things like 200x leverage, which means you can both win or lose a lot of money really, really fast. (More likely lose due to spreads.) Don’t place a trade until you know what you’re doing. I’ll post my trades if I do them. So far, I am looking at placing an unleveraged/minimally leveraged trade with a 1-2 pip spread in a Mini account.
Outliers: Hard Work, Luck, and Success
Why do some people exceed far more than others? This is the question asked by the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. The short book argues that most people erroneously believe that very successful people are primarily products of a high intelligence and lots of talent. But there are many other variables out there, ranging from their date of birth, to their family’s cultural background, to sheer luck. But the most important relationship was between hard work and luck. In the Chapter called “The 10,000 Hour Rule”, Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 hours to master a subject - be it hockey, music, or computer programming. There are no shortcuts to this. However, Bill Gates got 10,000 hours of computer time while attending an elite private school before he even reached college in 1973, at a time when many top universities didn’t even have computer labs. Before they became famous, The Beatles ended up playing at a club in Germany for over 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. This meant they accumulated more live stage time (1,200 performances) in a couple years than most bands had in a lifetime. In other words, they both had a nice does of luck to be able to get their 10,000 hours in when very few others had the same opportunity. At the same time, they also had the ambition and drive to actually complete those 10,000 hours. Sometimes I think that “talent” is no more than loving something so much that you don’t mind spending endless hours doing it. So to be extraordinarily successful, you need both luck and hard work. People can interpret these stories differently. One person might say “Yup, those guys were successful because they were more lucky than I was.” and then feel better about their lives. The thing to remember is that between hard work and luck, you can control only one. If you don’t put in the hours, there is essentially zero chance of success. If you do, then when opportunity hits, you can flourish. Gladwell connects the Chinese proverb stating “No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich” to a special public school network within low-income areas that creates kids who can compete with those from private schools in wealthy suburbs. Although I was initially afraid that this book would try to put too much emphasis on the role of luck, in the end it actually reinforced my own basic beliefs about hard work. You can’t control the cards you are dealt. All you can do is play them as best you can.
Representative Payee
Not every Social Security member has a spouse or parents to take care of their children. Some only have relatives or nannies assuming parental responsibilities for them. In cases such as this, if ever there comes a time when the Social Security member dies or becomes disabled the Social Security Law permits the intervention of a representative payee to manage or handle all social security related matters of the beneficiary. The benefits for the incompetent member or benefits due to the surviving child or parent which is incapable of handling their own financial affairs are entrusted to the management of a representative payee. It is the obligation of the representative payee to use the provided Social Security benefits for the personal care and well being of the beneficiary. And if ever there happens to be a surplus in the fund, the representative payee must save or deposit the excess on behalf of the beneficiary. The representative payee is also required to provide the Social Security Administration with periodic reports showing where the fund was used. Also, included in the report is the name of the bank as well as the account number where the amount of the excess fund was deposited. However, money is a great form of temptation and so there would always be cases of representative payee squandering a beneficiary s money. And in order to protect yourself and your love ones from such kind of representative payee it is better to consult a Social Security Lawyer on other legal alternatives that you may undertake. Likewise, you may even hire the services of a Social Security Lawyer in advance to help safeguard the interest of your beneficiaries by making your Los Angeles Social Security Lawyer as co-trustee.
Monthly Net Worth Update - July 2009
Credit Card Debt I have taken money from credit cards at 0% APR and placed it into online savings accounts, bank CDs, or savings bonds that earn 4-5% interest (much less recently), and keeping the difference as profit. I even put together a series of step-by-step posts on how to make money off of credit cards in this way. However, given the current lack of great no fee 0% APR balance transfer offers, I am mostly waiting on existing offers to end. My credit score remains high enough that I haven’t seen any negative actions. Retirement and Brokerage accounts Markets most went sideways this past month. 401k contributions are still going regularly, and I want to make my 2009 non-deductible IRA contributions soon. I still think the best thing to do is to keep investing regularly, although it is quite boring to watch. Cash Savings and Emergency Funds We still have a year’s worth of expenses in our emergency fund, and it is still growing. Possible uses for extra cash might include capital improvements to the house, including a solar hot-water system to reduce electricity bills, or a photovoltaic system to possibly eliminate them! I love the idea of selling electricity back to the city. Home Equity Using four different internet valuation tools - Zillow, Cyberhomes, Coldwell Banker, and Bank of America (old version) - I took the average and took off 5% to be conservative and 6% for real estate agent commissions. We remain “underwater”, with our outstanding mortgage balance greater than what we probably would net after selling our home. Home equity variations continue to dwarf all other activity, which is somewhat annoying since it’s not that important. Just gotta shrink that mortgage!
Forex.com Account Promotion Code: $200 Bonus
Here’s another potential $200 bonus for placing a trade in newly opened account at Forex.com by July 31st. The application seems to suggest the backend is also run by Gain Financial, same as with Zecco Forex. The promotion code used is CashAd05. The offer appears open to all, as there is a banner linking directly the bonus page from the Forex.com home page. The cost for a trade can be held under $10 if you simply do a quick buy and sell roundtrip trade. Use the demo program before trading with real money, so that you properly understand the effect of lot sizes and leverage. FX trading can be very tricky. The fine print: *To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new FOREX.com trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Accounts transferred from other businesses that principally operate as a forex dealer, futures commission merchant, or securities broker-dealer are eligible to receive an additional $50. FOREX.com may request documentation to prove account withdrawal or transfer such as, but not limited to, a copy of your account statement no older than 30 days. Initial deposit can be withdrawn at any point. To withdraw cash bonus, initial deposit must not be withdrawn for a minimum of 90 days from the first trade. FOREX.com reserves the right to deny bonus payment if customer does not meet FOREX.com account opening procedures or the terms and conditions of this offer. FOREX.com reserves the right to determine cases of promotion abuse. Existing FOREX.com customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. This offer is available to self-directed trading accounts only. Managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible. Limit one cash bonus per customer. FOREX.com reserves the right to terminate or modify the terms of this offer at anytime. This offer is non-transferable.
