How To Get Your FREE US and Canadian Credit Score

Here is how to get your US Fico Score. You can get the trial then cancel online same day. There is an email confirmation

http://www.myfico.com/

Here is how to get your Canadian Beacon Score. Sign up for the trial here and then call 1 (866) 243-0734 to cancel. This number is very hard to find.

https://www.econsumer.equifax.ca/trial_en.html

JPMorgan Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa (Canada)

The JPMorgan Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa card is a no-fee credit card. Why would you sign up for this card?  The only reason I picked up this card is the no foreign exchange fee with 1% cash back and no annual fee. Seems ideal for travelling.

If only the Capital One World Aspire has no currency exchange fee, it would be perfect. To compare Amazon.ca Rewards Visa 0% exchange fee + 1% cashback (+1%) compared to Capital One World Aspire 2.5% exchange fee + 2% tiered rewards (-0.5%). It is a 1.5% difference, which is a lot!! This may possibly be better than bank exchange rate depending on the exchange rate set by VISA.

I was just approved for the card. Once I receive and test the card, I will update the post.

MBNA Best Western Rewards Mastercard (Canada)

The MBNA Best Western Rewards credit card is a no-fee credit card. Why would you sign up for this card?  Spend $1,000 on this card by Oct 31, 2013 and you will receive 50,000 points.

MBNA Choice Privileges Mastercard (Canada)

The MBNA Choice Privileges credit card is a no-fee credit card. Why would you sign up for this card?  Spend $300 on this card by Feb 14, 2013 and you will receive 3-free nights at Choice Privileges hotel (24,000 points).

Equities Trading Strategy

I think the most important thing to remember when trading stocks is not to rely on historial information for your financial analysis. The past does not predict the future. The second is to stick with your strategy. Switching back and forth between trading strategies and basing the decisions on daily market movements can be costly. The market is volatile.

Here are three simple and powerful trading strategies

• Buy and hold
• Average up and down
• Diversify
• Stop loss

Buy and holding for the long term allows your gains amplify because you do not pay tax on the capital gain until its realized (sold). The other benefit is it is difficult to time the market. You never know when the market is at its peak or bottom.

Averaging up and down is amazing strategy, it allows you to capitalize on your gains and losses. I said it before, but you never know when you are at the peak or bottom. Averaging up and down allows you to average your returns. If the market goes down, buy more. If the market goes up, sell some. Averaging down can feel very painful when the market the sliding. This is why diversification is important. You do not want to hold a large percentage of any one stock. Or a large loss in one stock may wipe out your portfolio. Remember a loss is bigger than a gain. To break even from a 50% loss, you will need a 200% gain (0.5*2=1). And a 50% gain and 50% loss is equivalent to 25% loss.

Stop loss orders are useful to limit your losses. It may be the case the stock will rebound, but who knows how long it will take. You can use that capital to reinvest somewhere else. Or maybe it will be a permanent loss, in which case you can cut your losses.

Different Investment Vehicles

Usually when you think of investing, you think of public stocks. But there is a lot of different available financial instruments available. The reason stocks are popular is because they are interesting and can have lucrative returns. This also means you can lose money as well.

Investing is a balance of risk and return. Higher returns are rewarded by higher risk. There is no free lunch unless you have competitive advantage over the market, which you probably do not.

How to get your your free credit report? (Canada)

As a Canadian, your credit file must be disclosed to you free of charge. This is important to you allow you to dispute any false information. The two credit agencies in Canada are TransUnion and Equifax.

What is on your credit report? Unfortunately, not your credit score. It is mainly the credit history of your credit accounts and inquiries.

Why is credit important? It affects the interest rate a lender will lend to you. A smaller rate will save you thousands especially over your life. Even if you have a lot of cash, you may still want to borrow or have readily available credit as a safety net and to leverage. Common household credit are credit cards, mortgages, and line of credit.

Chase Hyatt Visa Card Review

Chase has among the best credit cards in the industry and the Chase Hyatt card is no exception. Beginning with 2 free award nights at any Hyatt in the world (including category 6 properties such as the Park Hyatt Tokyo or the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome) after your first purchase, this card is definitely a big draw.

In addition, this card also gifts you complimentary Hyatt Platinum status as long as you have this card which is their mid-tier level and offers decent privileges such as room available upgrades, free internet, late checkout and point bonuses for stays etc.

American Express Hilton HHonors Card

I had done a review of the American Express Starwood Card a little while back (as it is one of the most flexible travel credit cards out there) but I'd like to also point out that American Express also offers a highly competitive alternative in the Hilton HHonors card for those loyal to the Hilton brand and are looking for a no annual fee travel rewards card.

While the credit card bonus for the Hilton, at 40k points, seems larger than the Starwood bonus, it is also important to determine the value of the points and the earnings rate of the card as well as any annual fees you might get hit with. Again, before we go into the details, I'd like to just point you at an example of what 35k Hilton HHonors points can get you - this was my stay at the Category 5 Embassy Suites Montreal.  This was an excellent hotel with a great downtown location and superb rooms. One night would probably have cost about $250 USD after taxes and fees.

Starwood Preferred Guest Amex Review (Canada)

The Starwood Preferred Guest Amex Canadian card is not as good as the American one. I would not recommend this card unless you want to try it for the first year. They occasionally have promotions more than their regular 10,000 starpoint offer. So wait if you can.

 

MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard Review (Canada)

The MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard is the best no-fee cashback credit card you can get in Canada. This and the Capital One Aspire Travel World Mastercard are my top two favourite credit cards. I use the smart cash for groceries, and the world aspire for travel and everything else. If I had a car, I would use it for gas, but I don't.

Chase Fairmont Visa Card Review

Chase just bagged another one! That's right, Chase just collected yet another respectable hotel chain in its massive arsenal of reward-rich credit card offerings. The Fairmont chain is a fairly upscale hotel chain with a decent number of locations around the world but generally more heavily focused on North America with just a smattering of hotels in the rest of the world.

The Fairmont visa card itself (application here) actually offers pretty similar benefits as the current Chase Hyatt card with two complimentary nights at any Fairmont hotel worldwide! To best the Hyatt offer however, they even toss in complimentary breakfast for two on those 2 nights, all for just spending $1000 in the first 3 months!

Capital One Aspire Travel World Mastercard Review (Canada)

The Capital One Aspire Travel Mastercard is one the best rewards credit card you can get in Canada. This is one of my most regular used card because of the great perks and no-blackout travel rewards. Not to mention the card is black and looks great. Cashiers will take a second look at it when taking your cards.

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card Review

Given that I do a little bit of travelling every now and then, I thought some readers here might be interested in the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card.  There are a wide variety of credit cards out there (such as the Amex Hilton card) and picking and choosing between all those choices is sometimes a bit difficult.

Before I get into a huge analysis of points, fees, rewards and whatnot, I'd like to point at one of the stays I made recently with Starwood, at the Westin Chosun in Seoul as an example of the possibilities out there for redemption. This was one of the top tier hotels in Seoul, very centrally located near Myeong Dong and definitely a superb place to stay when travelling.

At the time of my travel, one night would have cost almost $300 USD after taxes and fees. At that rate, a 5 night stay would have cost a pretty penny ($1500 USD)!  Using Starwood points however, this particular stay only cost me 40k SPG points (This category 4 hotel at the time would have cost me 10k SPG points / night but for 5 nights, only 40k points is required).  As to how I got those 40k points, I will detail that out below.

MBNA Platinum Plus Mastercard Review (Canada)

The MBNA Platinum Plus credit card is a no-fee no-frills credit card. What makes this such an amazing card is the promotional 10-month 0%-AIR for balance transfers, access cheques and deposits. You just pay 1% of the balance upfront. This is as good as it gets.