Money Blue Book

So you want to be a millionaire? Well you know what? Me too - and I’m determined to get there in the near future. At this very moment, despite the current state of the economy and the deteriorated condition of the credit markets, instead of just sitting on my hands and wishing upon a star, I’m taking active steps right now to make it all possible someday. While having a financial net worth of a million dollars isn’t what it used to be because of the negative effects of inflation, it’s still the measuring stick we use today to delineate the dreamers from the ones who have financially made it.

I know it’s not an unfathomable dream to have because I’ve seen the system work firsthand. The possibility is not just reserved for celebrities or the elite, but is very real and plausible for ordinary people as well. One of my close childhood friends is a multi-millionaire. And he’s only 30 years old. He’s not a self made millionaire as he inherited the vast bulk of his fortune from his parents, but it was his parents who put forth the gears of financial practice many years ago that brought their finances to what it is today. From the time my friend’s parents married, they lived a very frugal life. While they were by no means cheap, they avoided the peer pressures and temptations of living lavishly, opting instead for a humble home they could afford and limiting pricey expenditures like dining out to only rare occasions. They drove affordable American made cars and stayed away from buying expensive electronics and gadgets. However, at the same time, they by no means avoided the use of debt financing. Instead, they embraced its responsible use, viewing credit cards and balance transfer offers as the means to generate free credit card arbitrage income. Through the use of airline credit cards, they were able to finance family vacations and trips with free frequent flyer mile bonuses, and with business credit cards, they took advantage of high credit limit card financing and business spending rewards to earn cash back income. Quite a few years ago, the American Automobile Association (AAA) permitted its AAA credit card holders to enjoy interest and transaction free traveler’s checks charged as purchases to their credit cards. My friend’s parents frequently took advantage of this perk by depositing those checks into high interest money market accounts and high yield savings to earn free money - the early beginnings of what many now today call 0% balance transfer arbitrage (the ability to make money and generate net profit from a temporary price differential between two markets). However, despite their frequent strategic use of credit, they always made sure that they paid off their non-0% balances every month, thus avoiding high interest payments and late fees.

From their humble dual income paycheck beginnings, my friend’s parents loyally and consistently squirreled away the bulk of their wages into their high yield savings accounts, while always making sure they took full advantage of their respective employer’s tax deferred 401K retirement plans and matching programs. Every year, they maxed out their Roth IRA’s and their traditional IRA accounts as needed, while steadily plowing money into their stock market portfolio. Over the years and through the decades, in good times and in bad, they continued to invest, dollar cost averaging down as the markets dipped but continuing to strategically seek attractive investment opportunities as the markets rose. Their stock and bond portfolio consisted primarily of long horizon mutual funds and index funds, but they also purchased large positions in individual stocks as well. Instead of chasing performance or trying to time the volatility of stock prices, they patiently and wisely sought out long term positions in blue chip, value brands like Coca Cola, McDonalds, Disney, and even Berkshire Hathaway.

With their excess money, they purchased real estate. What started out as a single home, eventually blossomed into a housing portfolio comprised of several million dollar houses and a few very valuable condominium properties. As home values ebbed and flowed with the real estate market over the decades, they rented them out to help pay for their multiple mortgages. With the luxury of time and fiscal discipline, all of their multiple home mortgages have now been fully paid off.

While my friend clearly benefited from the wise financial decisions his parents made, he has also learned to embrace their frugal financial practices for himself. Today, despite his tremendous wealth, my long time friend remains one of the most frugal and unassuming people I know. I often joke that he is the “poorest rich person I know” due to his incredible frugality and disdain for excessive spending. He truly is the millionaire next door as one can’t possibly guess simply by looking at him that he has such vast wealth at his disposal. Meanwhile, though he lives a life of comparative comfort today, he continues to actively practice the financial wisdom of his parents - always looking for ways to broaden his income streams and constantly trying to find new and improved ways to invest his savings.

The Process Of Becoming A Millionaire Is Not A Get Rich Quick Scheme, But A Patient and Systematic Approach To Earning, Saving, and Investing Money

The whole point of this long story about my friend and his parents is to show that with some concerted fiscal discipline through personal finance education and a dedication towards building long term investment positions, anyone can truly become a millionaire. Given enough time, and in his parent’s case - several decades, the amazing power of compound interest can grow any small sum of money and turn it into a significant amount. It is a grossly overstated myth and fallacy that only those who inherited their money, won the lottery, or developed a successful small business can acquire wealth and become a millionaire. While having a very high income, striking it big in the stock market, riding the housing boom to the top, or acquiring riches through the passing of wealthy relatives can certainly speed up the process, even for the rest of us white collar or even blue collar workers who collect weekly paychecks have the potential to reach the promised land of financial independence.

Becoming a millionaire is not an overnight process and there are no gimmicks, scams, get rich quick secrets, or infomercial packages you can buy or learn to turn you into an overnight millionaire. Please stay away from those trashy midnight get rich quick TV commercials. With their flashy salesman approaches to convince you to part with your money, all they will do is lead you further into debt as you spend large sums of money buying their pointless tapes and useless DVD’s. While a tiny portion do manage to offer some substance with their flair, the vast majority of these televised get rich quick programs are basically scams and repackaged junk. There are occasional real money making, wealth building secrets out there in the market, but chances are you won’t find much information when these temporary arbitrage opportunities do crop up. Remember the old adage - “those who can, do - and those who can’t, teach.” It is very true. I personally invest and dabble in several very lucrative income generating businesses, both online and through my legal practice. However I would never reveal the secret and crux of my approaches and methods, at least while the going remains good. Only after I have personally tapped out the financial gold mine opportunities would I contemplate sharing those supposed secrets with others. And only then would I start writing and selling how-to guidebooks to supposedly sell my secret method.

The 10 Automatic Steps To Becoming A Millionaire

Below are the basic ten steps to start you down the road to becoming a millionaire. Every journey begins with a series of fundamental steps. If you truly want to become financially liberated one day, it’s time to start making the commitment to educate yourself and start thinking like a millionaire. Remember, there is no gimmick and it’s a long, steady process, but these steps will put you towards reaching that goal someday.

Earn Money and Seek Out Opportunities To Save:

The 10 basic steps to becoming a millionaire are broken down into two primary categories. The first main series of steps (1 thru 5) involve making money and preserving it. The second series of steps (6 thru 10) involve pursuing income producing investment opportunities:

1) Educate Yourself In Personal Finance, and Develop The Drive To Learn - A few common traits that are almost universally found in full fledge billionaires, and bona fide millionaires is that they are all driven to learn and succeed, and are willing to put their ambitions into action to make things happen. Border line cocky and very confident, self made millionaires operate with a plan and are highly motivated. Most are extremely pro-active and driven to constantly improve their financial lives and earning potential, whether it be through the pursuit of advanced degrees or the taking on of a calculated business venture risk. In my case, I graduated from law school and worked as an attorney for numerous years before I eventually made the decision to get out of that profession. The work was terribly unsatisfying and so I made the affirmative decision to become self employed and start my own online business. The decision was  fraught with greater risk, but the move ultimately reaped much greater rewards.

Aspiring millionaires need to take it upon themselves to fully educate themselves on the nuances of personal finance and strategic financial planning. Even those who ultimately deem it more cost and time efficient to outsource their tax preparation and financial planning work to a so-called expert, it’s still very important to develop a personal groundwork in finance and business concepts. Without a fundamental grasp of how compound interest works or an understanding of investment terminology like stocks, bonds, Roth IRA’s, and short selling, aspiring millionaires may never reach their full potential. As an aspiring millionaire myself, while I can currently afford to hire a tax accountant, I still choose to file my own taxes every year. Eventually as my tax situation grows more complex I may choose to hire a tax preparation expert to make better use of my limited time, but at least I will have already developed a good grasp of basic tax law and the the nuances of capital gain taxation and business deductions. When it comes to personal finance, always learn to do it yourself before hiring someone else to do it for you.

2) Invest In Higher Education, and Pursue Jobs and Professions With High Incomes - Certainly when it comes to becoming a millionaire, the most important entry level step is to develop a steady and predictable stream of income. Unless you have a fixed injection of fresh income on a continuous basis for a good period of time, you won’t have any investment capital to work with. While it has been shown on blogs and websites like CNN’s Millionaire in the Making series that reaching the one million dollar networth mark doesn’t require individuals or families to rake in a high 6 figure salary annually, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Clearly, the more money you make and the higher your annual salary, the sooner you are likely to reach your goal of becoming a millionaire.

When it comes to making more money, proper higher education is key. It’s no longer possible to get by in this ultra competitive world on a college degree alone. In almost all cases of professional advancement, a graduate or professional degree is paramount to future financial success. While a small portion strike it rich without the benefit of advanced degrees, the vast majority of successful millionaires have post graduate degrees. But it’s not just any random degree in higher education either. Certain advanced degrees simply have greater potential to lead to higher income jobs than others - professional graduate degrees like MBA’s, JD’s, MD’s, and advanced certifications in engineering just to name a few.

While it’s true that some jobs and professions are overrated with financial rewards that have been greatly exaggerated, on the whole, certain majors and professions simply have it easier than others when it comes to future income prospects. While many teachers, nurses, administrative assistants, and paralegals have the potential to make good money and live a decent life, their road to millionaire status, with all other things being equal, is significantly more difficult than that of big firm lawyers, doctors, financial planners, and successful small business owners. While I’m sure areas of study like English, music, theater, and history are incredibly rewarding in their own personal ways, the reality is that they aren’t the best majors to have when you have your sights set on becoming a millionaire someday. The professions that they lead to simply aren’t as lucrative as those related to business, health sciences, or computers. Probably the most financially lucrative fields of study can be found in finance and business, advanced health care, and engineering. Those who want to vastly jump start their road to millionaire-hood ought to pursue these specific types of study during their college and graduate school years. It’s where all the high income producing jobs ultimately are.

3) Save Money By Making Financial Sacrifices When It Comes To Small Daily Expenses - An important tenant of becoming wealthy is not only the ability to make money, but the ability to save money by cutting expenses as well. Even those with substantial streams of income can quickly waste away their money through shoddy investments and lack of proper saving habits. Just look at all the formerly wealthy celebrities with money troubles. An important step to becoming a millionaire is to simply spend less than you earn. The less you spend, the more you have to save, and the more money you save, the more money you have to invest and make your money work for you. Aspiring millionaires understood fully, that an affordable sacrifice today will ultimately pay off in the future through the power of compound interest and the passage of time. Along with putting your money towards the building of an emergency fund, there has to be a systematic habit of saving and investing. For some, this requires setting up an automated savings plan that automatically transfers money from your primary checking account into a high interest savings account or makes regular contributions to a mutual fund. For others it means learning to save by cutting back on common expenses - swapping that manicure or new video game, for more interest generating money in your bank account.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you ought to sell your beautiful home or car, and start living in a canvas tent or resort to eating just one meal a day to save money, but you should most definitely live within your means and learn to make some sacrifices in your life. It’s important to recognize that the vast majority of your income is probably discretionary and non essential - probably more than 50%. If you are like most people, you enjoy spending your hard earned money by treating yourself to dinners at fancy restaurants, going to the movie theater, enjoying that daily Starbucks coffee, buying the latest expensive designer clothes, or constantly upgrading your cars and electronic gadgets for the latest model. But by choosing to spend and waste your money on such frivolous and fleeting common luxuries, you are taking money away from your future. There is no need to incessantly pinch pennies like a miser, but try cutting some of these non essential perks and you’ll be amazed at the amount of money saved. That $5 cup of premium coffee everyday may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by 365 days a year and multiply that by the frequency of other luxuries in your life and the amount quickly adds up into the thousands of dollars. Remember, because money saved has already been taxed, money saved is worth much more than money earned, which has yet to be taxed.

As a naturally frugal person, I refrain from chasing after the newest gadget releases. While fancy LCD and plasma high definition televisions have already come out for some time and prices have dropped significantly, I’m perfectly happy with my old bulky CRT television set. Unless my television set gets damaged in the near future, I don’t see the pressing need to upgrade to a flat screen anytime soon. Like TV sets, cars also have a tendency to rapidly depreciate in value within a short period of time. While I can easily afford to buy a fancy, expensive sports car or luxury performance vehicle, I’m quite happy with my modest fuel efficient Honda Accord. I just don’t see the need to upgrade. It’s just a frugal, cost savings mentality that I’ve always had, and a positive trait that I believe will one day help turn me into a millionaire.

4) Seek Out Free Money Offers, Sales, Discounts, and the Highest Interest Earning Opportunities - Aspiring millionaires ought to constantly hunger for savings and finding cheaper and more cost efficient ways of doing things. After all, a fundamental trait of becoming rich is the ability to make and save more than you ultimately spend. Even when you spend money, oftentimes there are ways to structure your actions to end up with a significantly lower net loss. For example, why pay full price for a pair of nice jeans or a new pair of shoes when you can order the exact same item online at a discounted price by using promotional discount codes and by shopping through an online cash back shopping site like Ebates or Fatwallet? Why not stop by your local mall or visit the desired store to try out the product you want, but order the item from your home computer to take advantage of online promo codes and Internet discounts when it comes time to buying. Surely you can wait a few days for shipping and handling for such non essential items. One time savings may not seem like much, but multiply that a few hundred times or even a few thousand times over multiple years, and the money rapidly adds up. These days, it’s significantly cheaper to order most things online, especially when it comes to electronics.

For those with good credit and the ability to properly manage debt obligations, I recommend the use of cashback credit cards to make all of your purchases. By using your reward credit cards as you would otherwise use cash to make purchases, you are able to earn free rewards and cashback savings that you would otherwise not enjoy. So long as your credit cards don’t unnecessarily encourage you to shell out more money than you would ordinarily spend, you’ll accrue attractive rewards and free money in the process. By ensuring that you always pay off your credit card balances every month, you’ll avoid any extraneous finance charges as well.

Savings should never be left idling in a low interest checking account. When not invested, excess money should always be placed into a high yield savings account or CD ladder to garner the highest annual percentage yield possible. While you don’t necessarily have to be a rabid bank interest rate chaser like yours truly, it doesn’t hurt to know where to find the best online savings banks and where to find the top high interest rate offers.

5) Become An Entrepreneur and Run Your Own Small Business - Many millionaires are both entrepreneurs and owners of their own small business. These days, small businesses are the primary drivers of wealth in the United States, and not inheritance. Oftentimes, great financial success comes from the effort and financial gamble of starting one’s own business. While the risks are very real and the stresses of managing your own business operations can be daunting, the financial payoff is potentially much greater than that of working for someone else for the rest of your life. When you work for someone else, you are at the whim of another person’s directive, and as such the fruits of your own labor are not truly your own. Your efforts and talents are used to benefit the company, which is owned and controlled by another, and thus the bulk of the financial rewards do not fully trickle down to you. However, when you run your own business, while the risks are fully attributed to you and your partners, the full tally of benefits are delivered as well. In most cases, becoming a self made entrepreneur requires the assumption of a calculated risk or initial upfront financial investment. However, success sometimes graces people who are simply able to find new and improved way of doing things.

Oftentimes, the best way to become a self made entrepreneur is to take whatever you are good at in your current job and turn it into a self run business. For example, I have a friend who used to work at a landscape company as a manual laborer. After receiving significant exposure to the business of landscaping and the administrative aspects of running such an operation, he ultimately chose to start up his own landscaping company, eventually earning decent profits in the process. As the Internet expands and online commerce grows in popularity, many entrepreneurs such as myself are turning to the web to find ways to make money online. Whether it’s making money on eBay, or generating pay per click and affiliate income with my personal finance or health and fitness blog, aspiring millionaires ought to find ways to break the traditional 9-5 cycle of forever working for someone else. The key to expedited financial independence is to someday get out of the perpetual trading hours for dollars cycle - through self employment and the diversification of alternative income streams.

Make Your Money Work For You:

After generating income and making smart financial decisions based on frugality, the second main series of steps to becoming a millionaire is to take your savings and make them work for you:

6) Start Saving and Investing As Early As Possible - When it comes to saving, the best time to start was yesterday. The second best time to start saving is today. For those set on starting down the path of becoming a wealthy millionaire one day, not only must you continuously enhance and refine your money making potential, you must also find better ways to save that money. Those that want to become rich must make saving money an extremely important priority in their lives and not allow the saving mentality to drift into an afterthought.

As is often mentioned in the lingo of personal finance writers, aspiring millionaires must always “pay themselves first”. Instead of paying down the daily and monthly expenses, and then somehow scrounge up whatever income is left to put into savings, savvy savers must approach savings the right way. The designated amount that you plan to save up each month must be thought of as an expense or bill that must be paid off first. If you wish to save $1,00, $1000, or even $10,000 a month, you must shift those amounts from your daily checking account into your high yield savings bank or your CD ladder savings account immediately before you start withdrawing money to pay off bills or use the money on discretionary expenses like trips to the hairstylist, shopping sprees, or family vacations.

If you can afford to purchase material things and spend your money on life’s little luxuries like your daily coffee or after-work trip to the bar, you most certainly can afford to pay yourself first and save a planned chunk of money as soon as you receive that regular pay check. The key to saving is to make it a systematic practice based on your understanding that delayed material gratification today will beget greater riches in the future as your saved income grows through the magic of compound interest. Remember, frugality and the saving spirit are two lifelong traits of a savvy aspiring millionaire and should never be abandoned.

7) Learn To Manage Debt Responsibly, and Don’t Be Afraid Of Credit - If you genuinely aspire to become a millionaire, you must learn to handle debt instruments responsibly, both long term loans like home mortgages and revolving debt like credit cards. Those who are millionaires are almost always proven users of credit cards and home mortgages - with excellent FICO credit scores to match.

It’s very important to adopt good credit usage habits early on before the bad habits set in. Oftentimes, initial exposure to debt for most people occurs during the early college years in the form of student credit card usage or the taking on of student loans. While these early years are often precarious times for most young people as credit card temptations abound, these are also critical times in a young person’s life when the seeds of fiscal responsibility towards credit and debt are sown. Adults and college students alike, especially those that aspire to become millionaires, must learn to habitually pay off their credit cards in full every month and avoid carrying high interest balances.

Only after you have developed the ability to manage your debt obligations and handle basic credit card usage should you engage in more advanced money making strategies - like the arbitrage use of credit card rewards and cashback programs. Those that know how to use credit cards responsibility should learn to use high reward earning credit cards for all of their purchases, like using a designed grocery credit card at the supermarket, a designated dining out credit card for restaurants and coffee shops, and travel reward credit cards for hotel and airline expenses. Those of you who are able to properly manage your use of credit cards and aspire for millionaire status must develop the continuous and active drive to seek out the best deals and highest free money savings in whatever you do. Millionaires are frequently good negotiators and have developed skills for getting the most bang for their buck. Instead of paying cash for everything and not receiving a single cash back reward or discount in the process, why not use credit cards to make your purchases and earn free cashback bonuses, frequent flyer miles, and reward points without any real significant effort? While it may not make you rich, the credit card rewards can be tremendous - in my case, it’s almost $2,000-$3,000 a year.

The added benefit of active credit card usage is the extra boost it can potentially give to your FICO credit score when used properly. With a higher credit score, you’ll be able to qualify for significantly lower interest rates should you ever decide to take on home mortgage loans or apply for additional credit card offers. While I’m an active participant of balance transfer credit card arbitrage, and have applied for a tremendous number of credit cards over the years, my current FICO credit score is absolutely pristine at 802 (the FICO credit score officially ranges from 300 to a high of 850). This was made possible due to my perfect credit card payment history and my strategic understanding of how credit scores are calculated, as well as my knowledge of what it takes to keep my FICO permanently high.

8) Take Full Advantage Of Tax Deferred Retirement Accounts - If your current employer or employment organization offers employees like you a 401K or 403(b) retirement plan with contribution matching up to a certain percentage of your income, you absolutely must take full advantage. Tax deferred retirement plans like the 401K allow employees to make pre-tax contributions to their special retirement accounts by taking portions of their wages and deferring them into their 401K investments. The great benefit of such retirement accounts is that oftentimes contributions are itself tax deferred as the amounts are taken from your wages pre-tax, and the earnings from your 401K account over its long life are completely tax free when held for the proper period of time.

Within the tax deferred retirement account, participants usually have the ability to invest their account money into a variety of designated stocks, bonds, and mutual fund investments until the time of their retirement. Especially if your employer has a matching 401K where your contributions are equally matched to certain levels by your employer, not taking advantage or making regular contributions to your plan is essentially giving up free money. For typical working class folks, the matching 401K plan is how many of them save and invest significant amounts of money for their retirement. Your goal should be to save up and contribute as much as reasonably possible to such accounts. While retirement may seem so far away in the minds of many young people, the earlier that one starts to save and invest, the better.

Those who are self employed or who do not have 401K’s through their employer but who still want to take full advantage of tax deferred retirement plans should invest in a Traditional IRA (Investment Retirement Account) or open a Roth IRA. These plans enjoy very similar tax benefits as 401K accounts but usually with lower annual contribution limits. In certain cases, those who contribute to a traditional IRA can even enjoy special tax breaks and tax deductions for their contributions, thus lowering their overall tax liability. For most people, the Roth IRA is most advantageous as withdraws in retirement along with the decades of compounded earnings are tax free.

9) Invest in The Stock Market - The stock market is how many people generate significant amounts of money by making wise investment picks and holding for the long haul. In the short run, stock market prices can be volatile and totally unpredictable, but over the span of years and decades (with emphasis on decades), the stock market has historically brought about average annual returns of 8%. Of course, there are bound to be significant stock market crashes and unexpected bull and bear markets during the course of many years, but over a significant amount of time, the vast majority of long term investors have made money. During economic recessions, such as the current credit crisis and housing depression we are undergoing right now, stock prices will inevitably face retrenchment and huge dips. But as billionaire Warren Buffet once remarked, success in the stock market over the very long haul requires an understanding of the interplay between investment fear and greed. As such, it’s very important to continuously seek out bargains and investment opportunities even during the worst of times. It’s how many aspiring millionaires make their riches, by being greedy when the whole world is fearful, and making strategic long term bets during the absolute worst of times.

While stock market investors can participate in the purchase of stocks and options through their own low cost brokerage firms (view my list of the best discount online brokers), a great majority of investors get their primary exposure to stocks through their employer sponsored 401K retirement plans. Whatever the method of exposure, it’s important to invest for the long term. For those of you worried about unpredictable dips and spikes in the stock market, automatic investment plans, whether through your employer’s retirement plan or through automated bank to broker deposits into a mutual or index fund, the key is to keep investing continuously. Automatic investment plans have the added advantage of avoiding the mistakes of buying too much when stock market prices are high and not taking advantage of cheap prices when prices are low. Those that don’t want to deal with the hassle and risk of individual stocks should highly consider low cost no-load mutual funds or broadly diversified index funds that track major stock market indexes. As always, one should always adopt a diversified investment approach and never put all of one’s stock market investment eggs into one basket or company stock.

10) Buy A Home and Invest in Real Estate - While the housing market has been volatile lately, valuations have plummeted, and interest in real estate has waned as evidenced by the drop in house flipping shows on TV, in the long run, home prices have great potential to see positive returns. It’s during those gloomy housing depressions when opportunities and discounted bargains abound. Those that have wisely saved up their money will have the great opportunity to take advantage of such investments during down times through cheaper home prices and home foreclosure bargains. In such down times, it’s even more important to exercise your aspiring millionaire negotiation skills and work out real estate deals that provide for maximum gain. In addition to demanding low ball prices from home sellers, savvy buyers ought to demand significant financial concessions as well, so long as housing supply and demand permit. As always, your home will likely serve the dual purpose of shelter and investment, so you should still make sure you buy a home that fits your lifestyle. Buying too much home may result in the danger of payments that ultimately exceed your ability to pay depending on your mortgage plan.

While the financial and tax saving benefits of the home mortgage interest tax deduction have been greatly exaggerated and blown out of proportion over the years, it’s still an important way for high net worth investors and taxpayers to decrease their overall tax liability. You’re unlikely to find a millionaire who does not own his or her own home. Owning a condominium or a house has traditionally been one of the most proven ways for long term investors to increase their net worth. While in the short term of 10 years or so, home prices can rise and fall like the stock market, in the span of decades due to the finite supply nature of land, home prices inevitably will rise. Of course, the specifics of your real estate purchase strategy should depend on the length of your investment horizon and the remaining time you have left until retirement age.

Updated Selection Of The Top Credit Card Rewards For Each Spending Category

The economy may be struggling with higher gas prices and soaring food costs, and families may be reluctantly tightening their financial belts when it comes to spending money on vacations and even cutting back on basic necessities, but according to a Forbes personal finance article, many of us are under-utilizing a potential source of free money. This source of extra funds stems from loyalty programs, commonly in the form of credit card rewards programs that offer everything from frequent flyer miles for free airline tickets, to free gas and grocery discounts, to free gift cards and straight up cash incentives for everyday purchases. In exchange for becoming a loyal user of their reward credit card program, card issuers are very willing to dish out a large variety of attractive rebates and rewards in the form of free dollars, miles, and redeemable reward points.

While I personally prefer cash back credit card rewards that require little to no redemption maintenance actions, those who want to earn the highest credit card rebates generally go with point rewards or airline mileage offers that provide higher earning opportunities. Of course, with the higher rebate rewards comes the extra work of redeeming and keeping track of bonus points and miles earned. But if you are savvy and don’t mind engaging in a little bit of periodic program micro-managing, you are bound to enjoy quite a bounty of credit card usage incentives.

Oftentimes, card holders are already earning and may already be sitting on a pile of unredeemed rewards that they are neglecting to use. By not taking advantage of already earned points and rewards, consumers are letting these tax-free windfall bonuses slip through their fingers. Make sure you take a good look at the programs you are already a member of. For those of you who are not members of any or wish to know which credit card reward programs are considered by financial experts and noted by authoritative sources like Forbes to be the best credit card offers available based on program flexibility, broad acceptance, and annual fee restrictions, read on. The following list of the best credit card rewards programs were selected by contributors from Forbes based on the following reward categories - airline travel, hotel rewards, restaurant rebates, entertainment rewards, grocery rebates, gas rewards, and your most basic cash back rewards. I offer my own opinionated tidbits as well.

Reviews Of The Top Credit Card Reward Programs Noted By Forbes and Its Credit Card Eggheads

Airlines

1) Capital One No Hassle Miles - With this popular card from Capital One, you earn 1.25 miles for each dollar spent on all purchases. With the mileage reward redemption, there are no blackout dates and no airline seating restrictions. There is no expiration date for the miles earned and no limit on the mileage rewards you can accrue. This Capital One card is a great choice for someone who plans to use the card often.

2) Miles By Discover - With the Discover Miles card, you get 1 mile for every dollar spent on all purchases. You are free to earn unlimited mileage rewards and enjoy no expiration date limitation. The miles you accrue can be redeemed for free travel including free airline tickets, and for gift card rewards. There is also no annual fee to worry about.

3) Platinum Delta Skymiles® Amex Credit Card - With the popular American Express card for Delta Airlines, you earn 1 mile for every dollar spent on eligible purchases, good for future free flights. However, you get to earn double miles on every qualifying dollar spent at gas stations, supermarkets, drugstores, home improvement stores, and post offices. As an additional incentive, new sign ups get an instant 20,000 bonus miles after their first purchase. The miles earned never expire, and there is no cap limit to the total number of mileage rewards that can be earned. There is a $150 annual fee.

4) JetBlue Card From American Express - With the Jet Blue Airlines credit card, you earn 1 Award Dollar for every one dollar you spend with it. However, you get to earn double Award Dollars on purchases for travel, dining, entertainment, and leisure. With the conversion rate of 200 Award Dollars for 1 TrueBlue Point, and 100 TrueBlue points equating to one free round trip airline flight, cardholders can earn a free flight after spending $10,000 worth of purchases on double point category expenses. As a special signup card offer, new applicants earn an instant 50 TrueBlue points with their first purchase. The annual fee is $40.

5) Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage® World MasterCard - With this Citibank credit card branded with American Airlines’ frequent flyer program, you get to earn 1 mile for every dollar you spend on eligible purchases, up to 100,000 miles per year (that’s a lot). Your AAdvantage® mileage rewards can be redeemed for travel on over 25 airline carriers, as well as towards free car rentals and free hotel stays. As an additional incentive, new applicants can earn 25,000 bonus signup miles after making $750 in purchases within four months of becoming a card member. The first year’s annual fee is waived, but thereafter it’s $85.

6) Chase Travel Plus Visa Card - With the Chase Travel Plus, you can earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all purchases. Your purchase rebate miles can be redeemed for airline tickets, hotel stays, cruises and car rental rewards. You are free to decide on how you’d like to spend your loyalty credit card rewards. Your mileage rewards also enjoy no blackout date restrictions.

Hotels

1) Hilton HHonors® Platinum Credit Card - This is a nice Amex card to carry around if you are a frequenter of Hilton family luxury hotels (if you haven’t stayed at one before - let me tell you, they are really high class). With the Hilton credit card reward program, you earn 3 bonus points for each eligible dollar spent. You get more points - 5 points per dollar for money spent at Hilton hotels. There are no hotel blackout date restrictions and no annual fees.

2) Starwood Preferred® Guest (American Express) - The Starwood Preferred card is the Swiss army knife of frequent flyer and hotel loyalty reward cards. You get to earn 1 Starpoint for every dollar spent and double Starpoints at Starwood hotel properties and participating retailers. With the Starwood card, you can earn points for free night stays and upgrades at a huge number of Starwood hotels and international resorts. You can also transfer your Starpoint rewards to select frequent flier programs. The first year’s annual fee is waived, but it’s $45 thereafter. The annual fee after the first year is worth it if you love to travel and do so regularly.

Restaurants

1) True Earnings Costco Card From American Express - Most dining credit cards only cover fast food places, but the True Earnings Costco credit card covers all restaurant purchases. With the True Earnings rebate rewards card, you earn 3% cash back for gas, 3% for restaurants, 2% for travel, and 1% for everything else, including at Costco warehouse stores. There is no annual fee if combined with your paid Costco membership.

Entertainment

1) American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card - With this classy gold card from Amex, you earn 1 point for virtually every dollar spent, with no preset spending restriction or limit. This card was designed for cardholders who desire exclusivity and special access to unique Gold Card events like exclusive tickets for select concerts, entertainment shows, and sporting events (Super Bowl for example). Reward points can be redeemed for various travel, shopping and entertainment rewards. With the special sign up offer, applicants can earn 10,000 instant bonus points after their first purchase. The first year’s annual fee is waived but it’s $125 thereafter.

2) Disney Rewards Visa Card from Chase - With this cute Disney reward credit card (there are multiple designs to choose from), you earn 1% in Disney Dream Reward Dollars for all purchases. With the Disney card, you are also eligible for discounts at Disney resorts and parks like Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This card has no annual fee.

Groceries

1) Capital One No Hassle Points Rewards - With this no hassle (pun very much intended), point based credit card from Capital One, you earn 2 points per dollar spent on purchases at grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores. You also get 1 point for every dollar spent on everything else. There is no expiration date for your accrued reward points and no limit to the number of points you can earn.

2) Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card - With the Citibank Diamond Preferred Rewards card, you can earn 5 reward points for every dollar spent at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations for 12 months. For all other purchases, you earn 1 reward point per dollar spent. There is no annual fee to contend with.

Gas

1) Capital One No Hassle Miles For Travel and Gas - With this specially designed gas credit card from Capital One, you get to earn 3 miles per dollar spent on travel and gas expenditures. You get to earn 1 mile for each dollar spent on all other purchases. Your mileage rewards can be redeemed for future free airline flights, and there are no blackout dates or seating restrictions imposed. There is also no expiration restriction and no limit on the total number of miles you can earn.

2) The Chase PerfectCard - With this perfect card (another silly pun for me), you earn 6% rebates on gas purchases made at any gas station for the first 90 days. Thereafter, you still get to earn 3% reward rebates for gas. For everything else, you earn 1% back. There is no annual fee.

Cash Back Rewards and Rebates

1) Blue Cash® from American Express - If you are a big credit card spender, the Blue Cash credit card was designed for you in mind. With this card, you have the potential to earn up to 5% cash back with unlimited cash reward earning potential. The rebate percentages are based on a tiered system so the more you spend, the more cash back you earn per dollar spent. Best of all, there is no annual fee. If instead of American Express this card was offered by Visa or MasterCard, it would indisputably be the very best credit card rewards program available.

2) Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards - With this Capital One cash back credit card, you earn a straight 2% cash back on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores, as well as 1% cash back on everything else. There is no limit on cash back earnings, and your rebate rewards never expire - hence the “no hassle” moniker.

3) Chase Freedom (SM) - Who doesn’t like the ease of a cash back credit card? With this extremely popular Chase credit card offer, you get to earn a straight 3% cash back on purchases for gas, groceries, and fast food for six months, and 3% bonus cash back every quarter thereafter. Everything else gets 1% cash back with no rebate or usage limit. Cardholders also have the potential to earn up to 10% cash back via purchases made at the Chase Rewards Plus online mall.

The credit crisis is bumming me out. Because of the current economic recession, an important source of free money and money making opportunities has all but dried up on me and pretty much everyone else in the country. I’m talking about lucrative balance transfer credit cards - namely, the once abundant credit card terms and conditions that offered amazing 0% APR balance transfers for 12 months with no pesky balance transfer fees.

Ever since I first started getting into the world of personal finance blogging and common sense financial planning, balance transfer credit cards have always been one of my favorite consumer financial instruments. Balance transfer credit card arbitrage is actually what got me started with personal finance blogging  to begin with. Over the years, they have served me well, netting me substantial balance transfer arbitrage profit in the way of high yield bank interest income, and cushioning me during difficult financial times by providing me a way to get quick interest free loans as a financially struggling young lawyer. During tough economic times in my life, they helped me bridge temporary budget shortfalls, saving me from having to turn to high interest risky alternatives like payday loans. My early life would actually have been more difficult and harsh had it not been for the safety net benefits and financial assistance provided by 0% balance transfer credit cards. During key moments in my life, these short term interest free credit card loans helped preserve my financial independence and saved me from having to turn to family for monetary handouts.

In The Beginning: The Good Old Days Of Lucrative 0% Deals For Credit Card Balance Transfers With No Balance Transfer Fees

Back in 2000 and shortly after the economic collapse that followed the terrorist attacks of 9-11, the U.S. economy ushered in a Renaissance period of sorts in terms of credit offers. During that period of time, lucrative and juicy pre-approved 0% APR, no interest credit card loan offers were simply everywhere - on college campuses, stuffed in mailboxes, and found everywhere online. Wanting to make sure they didn’t miss out on their share of the very profitable credit card market, the major card issuers promoted all sorts of 0% APR teaser offers to attract new customers. The goal was to tantalize new applicants with introductory offers and ultimately turn them into long term cardholders and spenders. Eventually, this sparked fierce competition among the card issuers as each one introduced its own versions of the classic 0% balance transfer deal. The market competition led to great increases in the length of the promotional 0% period, rising from an initial 6 months to 12 months or longer.

Eventually, some cards even extended the 0% balance transfer periods indefinitely, leading to what ultimately amounted to a 0% balance transfer for life credit card offer. The only thing keeping the balance transfer tidal wave in check was the existence of balance transfer fees, usually set at the customary rate of 3% of the total amount transferred. However, with continued rabid competition, the credit card issuers eventually collectively waived the once pervasive balance transfer fees altogether. The elimination of balance transfer fees resulted in a credit card free for all. With no out of pocket fees or upfront costs to contend with, balance transfer arbitrage seekers eagerly ate up the ever expanding offers.

The tremendous wealth of balance transfer deals led to the rise of skilled balance transfer arbitragers and App-O-Ram’ers - individuals who ravenously sought out 0% balance transfer credit cards to make a quick profit (God bless capitalism at its finest). The credit card arbitragers would rapidly apply for as many 12 month 0% balance transfer cards with no balance transfer fees as possible within a very short period of time (hence the App-O-Rama nickname given to the process). By rapidly applying for a high number of card offers simultaneously, applicants would be able to greatly minimize the sequential credit hits on their FICO credit score, and preserve their ability to take advantage of future 0% balance transfer deals. The most hardcore of balance transfer arbitragers oftentimes would apply for more than 5-10 new credit cards at a time in rapid succession to complete the arbitrage cycle. With the 0% credit card offers in hand, the balance transfer applicants would transfer the credit card balances into high yield bank accounts to earn interest free money (thus enjoying full FDIC insurance coverage while earning stable bank interest income at the same time). Thus for the duration of the balance transfer offer (often at 12 months or longer), the App O Rama had the potential to allow the savvy credit card user to earn quite a bit of money by not doing anything more than taking advantage of free loan money at zero interest - the very definition of arbitrage, which is the process of taking advantage of an inefficient imbalance in market equilibrium.

Today: The Housing Collapse, Subprime Lending, and The Credit Crisis Have Ended The Era Of Easy Balance Transfer Money

One could argue that the period of amazing credit card offers during the early part of this decade was actually a disaster in the making - the unsustainable spark that triggered an out of control credit market that would ultimately consume the entire financial investment banking sector, conclusively wiping out pillars of American investment and banking might such as Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Countrywide Financial, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia Bank. With the way the credit markets are now, it’s unlikely the glory days of awesome credit card offers will return anytime soon.

With the housing market implosion came credit defaults and ultimately the closing of the credit lending spigot. As the economy and housing market has tanked, personal bankruptcies and defaults on credit card payments have risen sharply, causing credit card issuers to panic, and drastically scale back credit card offerings. Major credit card companies have all pretty much stopped waiving the 3% balance transfer fees imposed on all transferred card balances. Many card issuers have even eliminated the maximum cap on the balance transfer fee levied, rending many balance transfer offers essentially useless for profit seeking arbitragers. With a 3% balance transfer fee with no maximum limit, those who transfer large balances face the prospect of having to pay extremely high fees - making these offers substantially less attractive than they once were.

These days, the credit landscape continues to change. So long as we continue to be mired in this catastrophic credit crisis, the existing terms and conditions of current credit card and balance transfer programs are unlikely to greatly improve anytime soon. While the credit crisis has pretty much put a severe damper on balance transfer arbitrage activity, those who seek out 0% credit card offers for financial assistance reasons are still in luck. Because of the extreme profitability of the credit card industry, such offers have not completely disappeared. Major credit card issuers know they must continue to attract new credit card applicants and consumers through the dangling of attractive zero APR carrots. While credit card seekers ought to know that such offers are getting much harder to find, they are still around - you just have to know where to find them. Those who want to maximize their zero balance transfer limits to either make money on balance transfers or use them to pay off high interest credit card debt need to adopt more creative approaches such as using multiple cards or extending periods by applying for new offers as old ones expire to keep the 0% rate going. Of course, this is all highly prerequisite on maintaining a stellar FICO credit score. Anything you can do to raise and boost your FICO score will help you in the long run in terms of qualifying for balance transfer credit card promotions. Be sure to monitor your FICO credit score for free.

Currently, most of the available offers are not as lucrative as they once were, with shorter introductory periods, and the imposition of balance transfer fees, but fortunately many fees are often capped with a maximum limit. For those transferring large 0% credit card balances, paying a fixed maximum amount of $75 or so is likely worth the interest savings. For those searching for balance transfer deals, the following may interest you:

• My complete list of all updated 12 month 0% balance transfer credit card offers available in the market.
• All available 6 month and 12 month 0% balance transfer credit card offers with no balance transfer fees.
• My personal recommended selection of the best balance transfers for money making and emergency fund purposes. These cards are the best in my opinion based on my evaluation of term conditions and capped fees. Many of the cards even offer 0% introductory APR for credit card purchases.

Updated List and Reviews Of The Top Chase Credit Cards Below!

JP Morgan Chase bank is one of the biggest issuers of credit cards in the United States and is a dominant leader in the multi-billion dollar credit card industry. With its huge network of credit card programs, Chase competes intensely for new customers by offering incentives such as free gift certificates, frequent flyer miles, and cash back rewards. As such, Chase credit cards come in a variety of lifestyle categories and card types such as student cards, cash back cards, travel rewards, and 0% APR credit cards. Thus it’s no wonder the company is one of the most popular providers of credit cards and diversified banking services.

With its extremely broad selection of consumer and business credit card options, the plan of Chase has always been to craft credit card offers that appeal to all types of revolving credit seekers. While some of the other major credit card issuers like American Express choose to limit their program offerings to focus on certain niches like business travelers or small business owners, Chase runs a business model that appeals to a much broader base of credit card users. Today, the Chase credit card company achieves and maintains its vast popularity and dominance through broad diversification of reward programs and strong promotion of its never ending supply of introductory credit card incentives and offers. Through its major acquisition of other major banks and credit card issuers like Washington Mutual, Chase has been able to continuously improve its services and reputation. Through its focus on new card technologies like embedded contact-less blink scanning chips, Chase continues to be in the forefront when it comes to developing new credit card products and services, and finding better ways of handling credit card transactions.

I Use Chase Credit Cards To Maximize My Money Through The Use of Category Specific Credit Card Rewards

As a person who believes in actively finding ways to maximize money through the calculated usage of credit card reward bonuses and manipulation of interest free money via 0% balance transfer offers and high yield savings accounts, I rely on Chase credit cards heavily. Currently, Chase credit cards are one of my biggest and most consistent providers of such lucrative credit card purchase programs and 0% APR deals. With a large selection of flexible credit card plans available, there is a Chase credit card that fits the lifestyle of every prospective applicant. As a credit card arbitrager who maximizes his spending by utilizing different reward credit cards for different types of purchases, I own several Chase credit cards myself. Each one of my Chase credit cards help to streamline and maximum my usage by providing the highest rewards possible for different purchase categories like groceries, gas, airline travel, and even interest free spending. As is always the case with credit card spending, it’s important for readers to remember that credit card usage should never increase your spending beyond your ordinary responsible usage. These lucrative Chase credit card offers are meant to enhance your money management, not lead you down the path of reckless spending and out of control credit card debt. So long as you are capable of prudent credit card management, I recommend their use.

For those individual consumers interested in applying for Chase business credit cards and taking advantage of their attractive programs, please note that it’s perfectly permissible to do so. Individuals are legally allowed to apply for business credit card offers as sole proprietor businesses simply by providing their names and using their Social Security Numbers as their business identification.

After sorting through all the available Chase credit card offers in the market and reviewing the opinions of readers, here is my compiled list and recommended review of the best Chase credit card options available. Feel free to agree or disagree by posting comments or suggestions.

List Of The Top Recommended Chase Credit Cards and Reward Offers

1) Chase Freedom (SM) - Excellent high purchase reward credit card:

• Earn 3% cash back on purchases made at gas stations, grocery stores, and fast food restaurants for six months.
• Get unlimited 1% cash back for every $1 you spend on everything else.
• There is no annual fee.

2) Chase Platinum MasterCard - 0% APR for both balance transfers and purchases (12 months):

• Enjoy a 0% introductory APR interest offer for up to 12 months on all purchases and balance transfers.
• The Chase Platinum is a highly recommended credit card choice for those seeking a card primarily for balance transfers and 0% credit card purchases as opposed to credit card rewards.
• There is no annual fee.

3) Chase Flexible Rewards Platinum Visa - 0% APR for both balance transfers and purchases (12 months), with flexible shopping and spending rewards:

• Earn 1 point for every $1spent on card purchases.
• The toughest decision for cardholders is deciding how to make use of their accrued reward points. Versatile reward points earned may be redeemed for free airline tickets, complimentary hotel stays, and car rental perks. Travel rewards can be earned with as little as 25,000 reward points.
• Save money with a 0% introductory interest offer for up to 12 months on all purchases and balance transfers.
• There is no annual fee.

4) Chase Platinum Visa Card - 0% APR for both balance transfers and purchases (12 months):

• Like its Platinum Mastercard buddy, the Chase Platinum Visa is a recommended no-nonsense credit card choice for cardholders seeking primarily a promotional 0% balance transfer card with the ability to make introductory interest free purchases, both for a period of one whole year.
• There is no annual fee.

5) Chase Perfect MasterCard - Excellent gas credit card to earn purchase rewards:

• Enjoy a high 6% reward on all gas purchases made at any gas station for the first 90 days, with all spending rewards automatically and conveniently credited towards future purchases. Thereafter, you get 3% back on all gas and fuel purchases.
• Earn a 1% rebate on all other credit card expenditures.
• Enjoy an introductory 0% APR offer for up to 6 months for both balance transfers and purchases.
• There is no annual fee.

6) Chase Business Cash Rewards - 0% APR balance transfer and interest free purchase card (12 months), with excellent rewards:

• Earn up to a tiered 5% cash back for all business purchases with flexible, unlimited reward earning potential.
• With no merchant or category spending restrictions or limits, you can earn reward points by shopping wherever you want, for whatever you want, with the convenience of Chase business credit card tools at your disposal.
• Save money with a promotional 0% APR offer on both balance transfers and purchases for up to 12 months.
• There is no annual fee.

7) Chase BP Visa Rewards - Highly recommended gas reward credit card:

• Enjoy a double 10% rebate rate at all BP gas stations for the first 60 days, along with 4% back on all eligible traveling and dining spending, and 2% rebate on everything else.
• Thereafter, earn a remarkably high and permanent 5% rebate at all BP gas fill up locations, 2% rebate on all eligible travel and dining purchases, and 1% on everything else.
• Accrued spending points can be quickly redeemed for gift cards and other juicy rewards.
• There is no annual fee.

8) Chase Business Rebate Visa Card - 0% APR for both balance transfers and purchases (12 months), with excellent cashback rewards:

• Earn up to 3% cash back for purchases at gas stations, restaurants, office supply stores, and home improvement stores.
• Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• Get an introductory 0% interest rate for up to 12 months on all purchases and balance transfers (both).
• There is no annual fee.

9) Chase Platinum Visa Business Card - 0% APR for both balance transfers and purchases (12 months):

• Save money with 0% APR for up to 12 months on both purchases and balance transfers.
• Small business owners including those operating as sole proprietorship’s enjoy Platinum business benefits and Visa business partner advantage.
• There is no annual fee.