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Squintillions Resources

Welcome to the Squintillions Resources Page. Here you will find links to all of the companies that I have financial accounts with. I’ve included refer-a-friend or account opening promotions links for all of the companies that have such a program. Please note that this resource page is a work in progress and shall change and grow over time.

Accounts I Use

Acorns

An Acorns account allows incremental investing. I opened my account in January 2019 and I am surprised at how much money has already been swept into my Acorns account using the Round-Ups system (a few hundred dollars). Here are the important things to know:

  • An account can be opened with a small amount of money (deposit $10) or you can deposit more
  • You can set up a monthly automatic transfer of money from your bank into the Acorns account
  • In the process of signing up you answer a few questions to figure out your risk level in order to choose an appropriate investment portfolio for your investments.
  • Using their Round-Up strategy, the amounts you spend on purchases on your credit card are rounded up to the nearest dollar. From a few cents raised, grows a mighty account. Once you have totaled over $5 through Round-Ups, the money is withdrawn from your bank account and invested in the portfolio.
  • You can also set your Round-Ups to increase by 2, 3 or 10 times.
  • Under “Earn Found Money,” shopping with affiliated companies or participating in specific deals with the companies can earn you money. Some of the affiliates use a percentage of your purchase for the bonus for your Acorns account and others have a set dollar amount.
  • The fee for using this account is $1 per month.

Receive $5 when opening your new account with this Acorns Refer-a-Friend link.

Amazon Prime Rewards Credit Card

The cash back perks of the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card are:

  • 5% Back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market for purchases, including digital downloads, Amazon.com Gift Cards, Amazon Fresh orders, Amazon Prime subscriptions, and items sold by third-party merchants through Amazon.com’s marketplace.
  • 2% Back at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores
  • 1% Back on all other purchases

There is no annual membership fee and no foreign transaction fees. They have some other benefits such as lost luggage reimbursement and an auto rental collision damage waiver. See the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card website for full details.

Bank of America Credit Card

To maximize my return in relation to spending, I use the Bank of America Cash Rewards World Mastercard credit card for their cash back program. Their rewards details as outlined on the Bank of America website are:

  • 3% cash back in the category of your choice: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings
  • 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs
  • 1% cash back on all other purchases
  • You’ll earn 3% and 2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club purchases each quarter, then earn 1%.

There’s no annual fee and the cash rewards don’t expire. Each month, when planning for future purchases, the 3% choice category can be changed online or via the mobile app.

Capital One

I have had a savings account with Capital One for several years (originally with ING Direct before Capital One took over in 2012) and I recently opened a 360 Checking Account with them. There are no fees or minimums for opening or maintaining an account. Money in the checking account earns .20% APY in interest. Yes, that’s interest being earned on a checking account that is a higher rate than some of the Main Street banks savings accounts! I also had a one-year CD with Capital One as part of the 2019 Grow Your Dough Challenge. Capital One does not have affiliate links for their CDs. Capital One does have an attractive high interest rate savings account, the 360 Performance Savings Account, currently with an interest rate of 1.70% APY. If you are interested in opening a 360 Checking Account or the 360 Performance Savings Account, you can use this Refer a Friend link and receive a $25 cash bonus.

Citi

To take further advantage of travel rewards, I now use the Citi®/AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard. I typically use American Airlines when I travel, and I am part of their AAdvantage travel rewards program. Perks of this card include preferred boarding on domestic flights, no foreign transaction fees, earning 2x American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles on AA purchases, 2x miles on restaurant and gas station purchases, and 1x mile on all other purchases, as well as other travel rewards. The sign-up promotion when I applied was 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. One of the travel bonuses that I really like is the one free checked bag each on domestic flights for myself and anyone traveling with me on the same reservation.

Discover

My high interest savings account is with Discover, with a 1.60% APY interest rate. There are no minimum balance requirements and no monthly fees. This is where I hold my money equivalent to 3 to 6 months of my expenses for my emergency fund. I also add $150 per month to this account to keep up with inflation. Sometimes they have a nice cash bonus offer available when you open a new savings account.

E*Trade

The first brokerage account that I ever had was with E*Trade and I still use it today, nearly 20 years after opening it. I have also opened a trust account with E*Trade, which I refer to throughout Squintillions as my “main account” since this is where I do most of my investing. Generally, E*Trade has an ongoing promotion of 60 days of free trades for new E*Trade brokerage accounts with some amount of a bonus cash payment based on how much money you deposit in the account.

Fundrise

Fundrise has broadened the opportunities and lowered the costs associated with investing in real estate. People deposit their money into a Fundrise account and start by choosing from one of three Core Plans. I picked what seemed to be the moderate option of Balanced Investing. I love the level of detail that they provide to me about the projects I am invested in. Fundrise also has a Refer-a-Friend program — follow the link to open your own Fundrise account and the advisory fees for your account will be waived for 90 days (U.S. Residents only). Fundrise charges .15% in annual advisory fees and .85% for their annual management fee. The fees equate to them taking $10 per year for every $1000 you have invested. While not the best opening bonus out there, the more you invest, the better the deal this referral link is for you as it is based on a percentage.

Honey

Create an account with Honey to find the best deals on products online. This is another extension that can be added to your browser. Honey works by scanning the Internet for coupon codes while you are shopping online. It will apply the best discount for you to use in your shopping cart when you are checking out. They also have their own points system, where you earn Honey Gold points when you make a purchase, even if they don’t have a discount code for you to use, which you can later redeem for store gift cards.

Ibotta

A mobile app that I use for coupons and cash back is Ibotta (follow link to set up an account or you can use my referral code OGGTVNT). If you set up the account online, you still need to download the app to your phone (make sure you remember your username and password). Find the store you will be shopping at and look at the coupon offers. Select the coupons you plan to use, purchase those items in the store, photograph your receipt through the app, and submit it. Sometimes you also need to scan the product barcode with your phone. You can even scan the product before you buy it, to make sure it matches the Ibotta offer. Then get cashback on the offers you have purchased. The app currently provides a $20 sign up bonus if you claim offers on 10 different receipts or online shopping linked from the app, in the first 14 days of holding the account. Plan for this to take a few minutes before and after you shop to do this, which might feel too tedious for some, but for me it is like a game. It does take some work and you aren’t making a lot of cash back, but it is the case of a little builds up over time. When you combine the coupons with in-store promotions, you can sometimes buy a product at a deep discount.

Lending Club

The lender deposits money in a Lending Club account, the borrower needs some money for a project or to pay off purchases, so takes out a loan, Lending Club connects the lender and the borrower financially, risk is diversified for lenders by spreading investor money across multiple loans, the borrower is able to accomplish what they need to, and the lender earns his/her money back with interest (minus the 1% Lending Club fee). 

If you are going to invest money with Lending Club, plan for it to be a longer term investment as part of your overall diversification strategy. As the loan terms run for 36 or 60 months, it can be a 5 year obligation in order to receive payments on the loans. I also recommend skewing toward the less risky investments, with most of your money in Grade A and Grade B notes. I lost money through Lending Club because I had some of my money in the riskiest notes, which Lending Club no longer even supports. I also recommend only investing the minimum of $25 in each note that you choose in order to further spread your risk.

There is a Refer-A-Friend bonus for new Lending Club accounts, but the requirements are more rigid than some of the other investing platforms.  You will receive a monetary bonus depending on how much you invest in the account. From the website:

“To be eligible for this bonus, you must: 1) use the link provided … to open a Lending Club investing account, 2) transfer funds to your account, and 3) invest $5,000 or more through the Lending Club platform within 90 days of opening the account. Bonuses can be used solely for investing through the Lending Club platform and will not be available for withdrawal or transfer from the account to which they are credited. A bonus will be awarded as an account credit within 120 days of the opening of each eligible account.” 
– Lending Club (Invite Friends)

Rakutan

Get a percentage off your purchases on your favorite shopping websites after creating an account on Rakutan. I have received cash back from: eBay, Kohl’s, Walmart, and from hotel bookings, among others. Discounts vary by store and sometimes by product category too. Remember to add the Rakutan Cash Back Button as an extension on your browser. Then when you navigate to a storefront, an Rakutan popup box will appear if they offer any deals with that merchant.

Robinhood

If you are a beginner in the stock market or you want an account to play around in outside of your main holdings, Robinhood is good investing platform. It is simple to use and offers the benefit of commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies, and there is no minimum deposit requirement. If you would like to open a Robinhood account, use my Refer-a-Friend link to get one free stock, selected at random, in your Robinhood account.

M1 Finance

M1 Finance is another commission-free trading platform. You can create a custom investing pie with M1 Finance or choose from a selection of their ready-made pies. The money you earn from dividends or deposit in your account is invested across your portfolio according to the percentage allocations you have set up.  One of the advantages M1 has over Robinhood is this automatic reinvestment of profits and that they let you invest in fractional shares. Use my M1 Finance Refer and Earn link to open your account and get a bonus of $10 after you fund your account.

TD Ameritrade

I have my IRA and a Trust account at TD Ameritrade, as well as custodial accounts for each of my two sons. TD Ameritrade has the best resources for learning about investments that I have seen. Short, animated videos teach about investing, and modules are set up on various investment topics, so you can follow a path through the subjects you need to learn about. The customer service from TD Ameritrade has been excellent. If you would like to be referred by me for a new account with a special offer, please contact me with your full name and email address. You must open a TD Ameritrade account and fund it with a minimum of $3,000 within 90 days of your submission to get the offer. I am not sure how the referrals differs from the publicly posted special offers or not. Who wants to find out?

WeBull

I opened a WeBull account in December 2019 from someone else’s referral link. This is another commission free trading platform that you can use via their app or website. One neat thing about WeBull is there Paper Trading account, which allows you to pretend that you have one million dollars to invest in the stock market. You can buy and sell until your heart is content, testing out your own investing strategies, without fear of losing any actual money. Here’s my referral link if you want to get a free stock for opening an account! The bonus stock I received on opening my account was for Sprint (S), then valued at $5.34. WeBull is running a bonus until the end of January 2020 to get a second free stock for depositing money into the account. For making my initial deposit, I received a share of Investors Bancorp, Inc. (ISBC) valued at $11.98. WeBull also has a cash bonus based on the amount deposited, starting with deposits over $2000. I deposited $2,100 into the new account, so will get paid a total of $30 in bonus cash over the next 6 months. 

Books to Read

The Automatic Millionaire

The Automatic Millionaire: Expanded and Updated, A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach

I must give credit to Bach’s original book, as I checked it out from the library when I first began my journey to become more intentional about what I was doing with my money. While there have been many influences that pushed me in the direction of exploring personal finance, this was this book had the greatest impact in my life. The big lesson: Make It Automatic! The book explains why and how, including examples handling money along the way.

The Book on Rental Property Investing

The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Smart Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing by Brandon Turner

The subtitle says it all! This is a detailed guide that will take you from the why of rental property investment, with practical tips on getting started and maintaining your property (or properties), through to the process of selling. I have yet to put the details of the book into practice. In fact, reading the book made me rethink my rental investment plans! That’s a good thing when it means being smarter with your money.

Happy Money

Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda

Tease out all your preconceived notions and internalized judgments about wealth by reading this book. If you get lost in financial books that seem too dry or heavy with analysis, try this different and refreshing approach about people’s relationships with money.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

How to Win Friends & Influence People: The Only Book You Need to Lead You to Success by Dale Carnegie

It took me a long time to choose to read this book; I may have prejudged it, thinking it was over hyped. Reading it changed my mind. While the example stories are based many years ago, Carnegie’s book offers guidelines on social behavior and successful living that are timeless. Read it yourself and give it to every teenager you know upon their high school graduation (or maybe upon their entrance to high school to give them a head start). And follow the principles in the book!

Pogue’s Basics: Money

Pogue’s Basics: Money, Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You), About Your Financial Life by David Pogue

The book is comprised of 14 chapters covering a myriad of areas from shopping, to credit cards, to tech, travel, food, cars and more. Topics conclude with a “savings ballpark,” estimating how much you will save per year if you follow the book’s advice.  Sometimes the information given is part common sense, part life hack, but all of it is useful for shaving dollars off your spending on some of the more mundane areas that many of us tend to overlook.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G Malkiel

This book looks at the history of stock markets and provides a lengthy defense of the strategy of investing in index funds long-term. Malkiel also explains the benefit of choosing passively managed funds over actively managed funds. If you favor passively managed index-based mutual funds or ETFs, this book backs up your investing plan with research.

The Richest Man in Babylon

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

A short book of parables that communicate financial understanding in a theoretical sense, including “The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse” and “The Five Laws of Gold.” If you are a lover of philosophy, this might be the financial book for you. The wisdom within the pages makes this book worth reading; however, be aware that your 21st century notions of human rights and gender equality might be triggered by reading this text.

The Success Principles

The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield with Janet Switzer

Canfield discusses 67 different principles to help people make personal progress and find success in life. This book was absolutely life changing for me. It helped me cope with difficulties I faced and guided me through personal decisions. You can read about my favorite principles in my article “Planning Your Life and Dreams: Top 10 Tips to Achieve Your Goals.” If you’re reading this blog because of my focus on finance, there is a financial section of the book too, “Success and Money.” Or if you are focused on personal growth, that same section is an easy-to-read plan for understanding and improving your finances.

Disclosure:Information shared on Squintillions is based on the author’s own experiences, thoughts, and research and is not intended as professional advice. Please do your own research before committing to any investment! If you feel your personal challenges are beyond the scope of my suggestions or other self-help materials, please seek professional counseling. Further, there are some affiliate links and ads used in this website. If you purchase an item when following these links, I may receive a commission on your purchase.