As spring break is coming up, you might be planning on taking a trip with your family. Wherever you go, you might need to rent a car when you get to your destination. When you hand the rental agency your American Express card, you will need to be cautious not to put yourself into any risk. Here are a few tips that can help you stay risk-free.
First of all, we are more likely to rent large cars or SUVs when we go to a rental service. People say to themselves, we are on vacation and we deserve a nicer ride. When the car rental agency recommends us to take an upgraded SUV, most people take it. Well, think again. Large SUVs are not covered by American Express at all. If the vehicle is damaged while you are trying to find a parking space in a parking lot, the damage will not be covered at all. Your personal auto insurance doesn’t cover it either. You are liable for the damage that occurs to the SUV. If your rental car is damaged, you might be billed for thousands of dollars from the rental service.
Always talk to your auto insurance agent first to understand your own coverage better. In addition to your personal car insurance coverage, American Express offers secondary protection that generally covers any remaining unpaid damages. However, here are the important exceptions:
Green and Gold cards provide secondary coverage up to $55,000.
Platinum card coverage extends to $75,000.
Large SUVs such as Ford Expedition and GMC Suburban are not covered at all.
You may also be billed thousands of dollars for a fee called loss of vehicle use fee. It means that while the vehicle is being repaired at the shop, you will be billed for the agency’s daily loss. This is not covered by American Express either. The bill will usually be mailed to you months later after your vacation is over.
Third, I will give you some tips that can help stop all the hassle. Always rent a smaller vehicle when possible.
If you can, I would recommend you to purchase the “collision and liability damage wavier fee”. It ranges from $10 to $25 a day. It covers all the accidents that might occur. With this policy, you are not liable for any charges. If you want to stay stress-free, this is the right way to go.
Now, you know more about American Express rental coverage. Hopefully, when you go on your spring break, you will be able to enjoy it and not to worry about any incidents.
www.americanexpress.com
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
What do you need to know about the tax rebate plan?
Congress has passed President Bush’s tax cut plan. However, before you can get your rebate check from the IRS, here are a few things that you need to know.
First of all, the tax cut plan applies to the lower-income and middle class tax payers, senior citizens that live off social security, and disabled veterans. In order to be eligible for the rebate, single individual’s income for 2007 must have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less. Joint files must have AGI less than $150,000. Singles will get a rebate for as much as $600, and couples will get a rebate up to $1,200. Couples with dependent children, will also receive a rebate of $300 for each child.
The rebate applies differently for individuals whose AGI is greater than $75,000 and couple’s who have a joint AGI greater than $150,000. The tax cut allows a 5% phase-out rate for those high income people. It means that for every dollar that is above the cap, he or she will lose the rebate by 5 cents. Here is another explanation for those people to figure out their tax rebate. Their rebate will be reduced by the amount of income above the cap times 5%. Here is an example, if your AGI is $80,000, your rebate will roughly be:
$600-0.05*($80,000-$75,000) = $350
In order to get the rebate, the first thing you need to do is to file a 1040 or 1040 EZ federal tax return for 2007. If you can file your federal return by April 15th, you can expect your rebate check between May and Early July. Hopefully, by now you can calculate your rebate check before you actually get it.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/08/pf/taxes/rebates_what_you_need_to_know/index.htm?postversion=2008020817
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/08/economic.stimulus/index.html?section=cnn_latest
First of all, the tax cut plan applies to the lower-income and middle class tax payers, senior citizens that live off social security, and disabled veterans. In order to be eligible for the rebate, single individual’s income for 2007 must have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less. Joint files must have AGI less than $150,000. Singles will get a rebate for as much as $600, and couples will get a rebate up to $1,200. Couples with dependent children, will also receive a rebate of $300 for each child.
The rebate applies differently for individuals whose AGI is greater than $75,000 and couple’s who have a joint AGI greater than $150,000. The tax cut allows a 5% phase-out rate for those high income people. It means that for every dollar that is above the cap, he or she will lose the rebate by 5 cents. Here is another explanation for those people to figure out their tax rebate. Their rebate will be reduced by the amount of income above the cap times 5%. Here is an example, if your AGI is $80,000, your rebate will roughly be:
$600-0.05*($80,000-$75,000) = $350
In order to get the rebate, the first thing you need to do is to file a 1040 or 1040 EZ federal tax return for 2007. If you can file your federal return by April 15th, you can expect your rebate check between May and Early July. Hopefully, by now you can calculate your rebate check before you actually get it.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/08/pf/taxes/rebates_what_you_need_to_know/index.htm?postversion=2008020817
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/08/economic.stimulus/index.html?section=cnn_latest
The Presidential Campaign Update
Yesterday, Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign. On the republican side, John McCain became the favorite candidate for the Republican Party. Many republicans who supported Mitt Romney are left to wonder about their party’s future.
I am a Mitt Romney supporter myself. He pulled out of the campaign after Super Tuesday’s election, losing 14 of 21 states to John McCain. Personally, I think he quit the campaign just in time. He has spent all the money he raised. It is almost impossible for him to overcome McCain in November. It is a great loss that he had to leave the campaign. However, he has strengthened the Republican Party. Just like Mitt Romney said, he had to stand aside now. His leaving definitely helps strengthen the Republican Party.
John McCain, on the other hand, is referring himself as the conservative republican. There are quite a few principals that he insists on that conflict with my own. The first conflict is that he voted against the tax cut in 2001 and 2003. I don’t believe in higher taxes myself. A reasonable tax portion is ok with me. Especially now, when times are so bad and the economy is going toward a recession. Raising taxes is only going to make things worse. McCain also said that the border security must come first. In addition he didn’t have any strategy about how to bring our troops back. At some point in the past, he even mentioned that the troops will stay overseas for as long as needed. Third, McCain claims that he is a true conservative. There is a lot of criticism regarding him being a true conservative. I don’t agree with his opinion on immigration either.
Well, there is still time to come. Many things can change in the next 8 or 9 months. I don’t know who will be the next president. Fortunately, the public will have enough time to consider the votes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080207/pl_nm/usa_politics_romney_dc_13
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_next_up
I am a Mitt Romney supporter myself. He pulled out of the campaign after Super Tuesday’s election, losing 14 of 21 states to John McCain. Personally, I think he quit the campaign just in time. He has spent all the money he raised. It is almost impossible for him to overcome McCain in November. It is a great loss that he had to leave the campaign. However, he has strengthened the Republican Party. Just like Mitt Romney said, he had to stand aside now. His leaving definitely helps strengthen the Republican Party.
John McCain, on the other hand, is referring himself as the conservative republican. There are quite a few principals that he insists on that conflict with my own. The first conflict is that he voted against the tax cut in 2001 and 2003. I don’t believe in higher taxes myself. A reasonable tax portion is ok with me. Especially now, when times are so bad and the economy is going toward a recession. Raising taxes is only going to make things worse. McCain also said that the border security must come first. In addition he didn’t have any strategy about how to bring our troops back. At some point in the past, he even mentioned that the troops will stay overseas for as long as needed. Third, McCain claims that he is a true conservative. There is a lot of criticism regarding him being a true conservative. I don’t agree with his opinion on immigration either.
Well, there is still time to come. Many things can change in the next 8 or 9 months. I don’t know who will be the next president. Fortunately, the public will have enough time to consider the votes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080207/pl_nm/usa_politics_romney_dc_13
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_next_up
Value at Risk
We talked about value at risk last week. Dr. Grace also posted the formulas about how to calculate value at risk at an x% percentile. I did a little bit more research on value at risk and here is what I have found.
Value at risk is the maximum loss that doesn’t exceed with a given probability defined as a confidence level, over a period of time. VaR is a general tool and has a very broad range of application. However, VaR is most commonly used by security firms such as investment banks. VaR is used to measure the risk of the company’s portfolio assets over a given time period.
VaR is measured using the normal distribution. The actual value is converted by using the Z-value, which is also the standard normal distribution. VaR is very easy to understand and familiarize with. Anyway, there is an advantage of using this measurement. If the measured event is a rare event, it only occurs once a year. In order to use the VaR, a large amount of dates will be required before application. Other events that occur once a century, like a stock market crash, is impossible to value its risk accurately. Hedging probably can reduce the portfolio’s risk.
For many institutions, VaR is a very effective prospective measurement to apply. You can find more detailed calculation on the following websites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_at_risk
http://www.riskglossary.com/link/value_at_risk.htm
Value at risk is the maximum loss that doesn’t exceed with a given probability defined as a confidence level, over a period of time. VaR is a general tool and has a very broad range of application. However, VaR is most commonly used by security firms such as investment banks. VaR is used to measure the risk of the company’s portfolio assets over a given time period.
VaR is measured using the normal distribution. The actual value is converted by using the Z-value, which is also the standard normal distribution. VaR is very easy to understand and familiarize with. Anyway, there is an advantage of using this measurement. If the measured event is a rare event, it only occurs once a year. In order to use the VaR, a large amount of dates will be required before application. Other events that occur once a century, like a stock market crash, is impossible to value its risk accurately. Hedging probably can reduce the portfolio’s risk.
For many institutions, VaR is a very effective prospective measurement to apply. You can find more detailed calculation on the following websites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_at_risk
http://www.riskglossary.com/link/value_at_risk.htm
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Payrolls drop and the unemployment rate declined
The past January, many nervous employers kept cutting jobs. The unemployment rate has declined from 5 percent in last December, to 4.9 percent in January.
Employers have grown cautious as they try to adjust to the fall in the housing market. Many employers are cutting back on their spending. They are carefully postponing their capital purchases, slowing down unnecessary new hiring, and shrinking their investment as interest rates fall. This particular business mind-set actually weakened our economies growth. Last month, about 17,000 jobs were lost. Some people quit their jobs for all kinds of reasons. Most people were eliminated from their jobs. The group of people who were hit the worst is the construction workers and factory works. As the housing market is crashing to the ground, factories are shutting down or moving overseas, many Americans suffer the consequences directly.
In order to help the economy recover, the Federal Reserves announced that it will give banks another $60 billion in short-term loans through actions in February. President Bush prodded the Congress to pass an economic rescue package.
Still, fear of recession has grown. If the economy keeps contracting for six months, it is considered to be in a recession. Many analysts strongly believe that the economy will be in a recession in the first half of 2008. Market Watch from Washington, actually indicates that based on today’s government report, our economy has entered a recession.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080201/economy.html
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn
Employers have grown cautious as they try to adjust to the fall in the housing market. Many employers are cutting back on their spending. They are carefully postponing their capital purchases, slowing down unnecessary new hiring, and shrinking their investment as interest rates fall. This particular business mind-set actually weakened our economies growth. Last month, about 17,000 jobs were lost. Some people quit their jobs for all kinds of reasons. Most people were eliminated from their jobs. The group of people who were hit the worst is the construction workers and factory works. As the housing market is crashing to the ground, factories are shutting down or moving overseas, many Americans suffer the consequences directly.
In order to help the economy recover, the Federal Reserves announced that it will give banks another $60 billion in short-term loans through actions in February. President Bush prodded the Congress to pass an economic rescue package.
Still, fear of recession has grown. If the economy keeps contracting for six months, it is considered to be in a recession. Many analysts strongly believe that the economy will be in a recession in the first half of 2008. Market Watch from Washington, actually indicates that based on today’s government report, our economy has entered a recession.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080201/economy.html
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn
Is America ready for a systemic change?
The presidential debate is experiencing its most exciting period. From Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, to John McCain and Mitt Romney, every presidential candidate is giving their best performance for Super Tuesday.
America is ready for a big change. It doesn’t matter if the next president is democratic or republican; America will need to be united as a nation. Fixing the war in Iraq, healthcare, and economy are the three biggest issues the next president faces. So far, by watching the presidential campaign, I have realized that the candidates keep changing their strategy in every debate to show their own credibility.
All the candidates understand the problems that we are facing. However, nobody really states any solutions to how to solve the problems. How are we going to make healthcare universal and affordable for every single American? How can we recover the damage the war has done to the American economy? Changing the tax code and lowering taxes on the middle class is not going to get Americans out of debt.
Statistics shows that most of the middle class has at least $8,000 per person in credit card debt. While the price of the fuel is rising, energy bills are increasing every month and healthcare is becoming unaffordable. Tax cuts really don’t seem to be the solution to get out of the situation. America needs a change. We don’t know what the change will be like, how can the change be carried out, or how intense it can become. Let us wait and see what happens in California on Tuesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentId=5634365&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1
America is ready for a big change. It doesn’t matter if the next president is democratic or republican; America will need to be united as a nation. Fixing the war in Iraq, healthcare, and economy are the three biggest issues the next president faces. So far, by watching the presidential campaign, I have realized that the candidates keep changing their strategy in every debate to show their own credibility.
All the candidates understand the problems that we are facing. However, nobody really states any solutions to how to solve the problems. How are we going to make healthcare universal and affordable for every single American? How can we recover the damage the war has done to the American economy? Changing the tax code and lowering taxes on the middle class is not going to get Americans out of debt.
Statistics shows that most of the middle class has at least $8,000 per person in credit card debt. While the price of the fuel is rising, energy bills are increasing every month and healthcare is becoming unaffordable. Tax cuts really don’t seem to be the solution to get out of the situation. America needs a change. We don’t know what the change will be like, how can the change be carried out, or how intense it can become. Let us wait and see what happens in California on Tuesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentId=5634365&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Is this a good time to refinance?
For many home owners, receiving a letter from their mortgage lender is common. Especially now, after the Federal Reserve cut the interest rate by another 50 basis points, refinancing is back on the table for most home owners.
Refinancing is a financial tool for home owners to lower their monthly mortgage payment. Many home owners, who originally had an adjustable rate on their mortgage, are desperate to refinance. These loans are made based on a variable interest rate, which means the mortgage lender can change it within 15 days of notice. Home owners that plan to save money by getting the adjustable rate can’t afford the higher monthly payment when their rate increases.
As it is today, for a 30 year fixed mortgage, the interest rate is 5.47%. Many borrowers are considering refinancing because they predict the interest rate will rise in the future. Taking advantage of the low interest rate now looks like a smart thing to do.
Lenders are tightening up their standards for mortgages. If a mortgage consumes more than 28% of the borrower’s gross income, it is less likely that the lender will approve the mortgage. Borrowers that are qualified to refinance should pay attention to the prepayment penalty. Sometimes, this penalty can be more than 6 months of the interest payments. Experts suggest the use of the break-even point as a time interval. With refinancing, you can save $100 per month with a closing cost of $3000. Your break-even point is 30 months. It is 3000 divided by 100. If you are planning to stay for more than 30 months, it might be a good idea to refinance. If you are planning on moving or selling the house, you might be better off without refinancing.
The bottom line is: this is a good time for the qualified home owners to refinance. However, weather you should refinance or not, you really should talk to the broker about your situation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080128/24433.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20070418_refinance_exotic_mortgage_a1.asp?caret=4bhttp://www.bankrate.com/
Refinancing is a financial tool for home owners to lower their monthly mortgage payment. Many home owners, who originally had an adjustable rate on their mortgage, are desperate to refinance. These loans are made based on a variable interest rate, which means the mortgage lender can change it within 15 days of notice. Home owners that plan to save money by getting the adjustable rate can’t afford the higher monthly payment when their rate increases.
As it is today, for a 30 year fixed mortgage, the interest rate is 5.47%. Many borrowers are considering refinancing because they predict the interest rate will rise in the future. Taking advantage of the low interest rate now looks like a smart thing to do.
Lenders are tightening up their standards for mortgages. If a mortgage consumes more than 28% of the borrower’s gross income, it is less likely that the lender will approve the mortgage. Borrowers that are qualified to refinance should pay attention to the prepayment penalty. Sometimes, this penalty can be more than 6 months of the interest payments. Experts suggest the use of the break-even point as a time interval. With refinancing, you can save $100 per month with a closing cost of $3000. Your break-even point is 30 months. It is 3000 divided by 100. If you are planning to stay for more than 30 months, it might be a good idea to refinance. If you are planning on moving or selling the house, you might be better off without refinancing.
The bottom line is: this is a good time for the qualified home owners to refinance. However, weather you should refinance or not, you really should talk to the broker about your situation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080128/24433.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20070418_refinance_exotic_mortgage_a1.asp?caret=4bhttp://www.bankrate.com/
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