My Favorites - from The Carnival of Personal Finance #132

This week The Digerati Life hosts: Money, Finance and Fancy: The Carnival of Personal Finance #132, Whimsical Christmas Edition you'll find the following post from Teaspoon:

HELOC + ESPP (or 0% Credit Cards) = FREE MONEY (15% to 60%+ returns)!

This was a really big holiday carnival and there's so many good posts to read. Here's some of my favorites:

Spend Less Than You Earn - The Wrong Way To Think @ Brip Blap: Instead of thinking about “spending less than you earn” to make it, why not think about “earning more than you spend?” An interesting perspective that may have you opening up your limits on what you can earn and think of the many endless possibilities!

2007 PF Blogger Net Worth Comparison @ Million Dollar Journey: With personal finance bloggers writing about finance so much, do you ever wonder how much they’re really worth? Here’s your chance to find out what kind of net worth some of us have! OK, this is just car-crash interesting to look at published net worths of some of your favorite PF Bloggers :-)!

Our Credit Limits: Over $1,000,000! @ My Dollar Plan: Madison covers her credit with great detail, slicing and dicing and taking note of her household’s credit accounts and limits. I'm going to keep an eye out for Madison's upcoming posts. This is one person that know's how to manage credit! I'm looking forward to many of the future posts, based on her many comments on this post, to describe the methods she uses to manage the multitude of credit accounts.

I Will Teach You How To Become A Millionaire @ Worldwide Success: Here’s a list of ways to become a millionaire, prioritized according to likelihood of occurrence (from least to most likely). The 10-10-30 formula is one everyone should be employing, then look at all the other 'gravy' ideas Worldwide Success shows for building your million. Don't forget that 'mortgage' for your home can take you pretty close to becoming a millionaire too!!!

Ding Dong - Did Someone Order Groceries? @ The MotherLoad: Grocery deliveries have become very popular as people have become more & more busy. This post offers some tips for shopping at grocery delivery websites as well as a helpful listing of these sites. I'm a real proponent of online groceries. I've often use it to stock up on all those heavy items for parties and such (bottled water, soft drinks, etc.) and have them delivered to the door for an incredibly reasonable fee (often only $10).

15 Money Pitfalls To Avoid @ Millionaire Money Habits: Here’s where you can read about 15 common money pitfalls to avoid becoming another case study. This is a really great collection of common money pitfalls. I encourage everyone to check it out and see if there's any new positive money habits you can build in 2009.

How to Become a Famous Blogger (or) I’m a Closet Millionaire No More @ Millionaire Mommy Next Door: One of us has been discovered by Montel Williams! Woohoo! If you want to see what Millionaire Mommy and her family look like, read her post. And make sure you tune in to Montel Williams this Friday, December 28 to catch this PF blogger on television!

Comparison: Major Presidential Candidates on Monetary Policy and the USD @ Currency Trading: In this presidential race, monetary policy is a hot issue. Many Americans are fed up with government excess, a failing health care system, and faltering personal wealth. This post covers how some of the major presidential candidates stack up on these issues and more.

www.mtgprofessor.com - My Favorite Site for Everything on Mortgages

My 'go to source' for all the best info has been The Mortgage Professor and I'd just like to pass this on to folks that may also have lots of questions on mortgages. I've been spending some time there reading quite a few of the incredibly informative articles and FAQs that Jack has on his site. Let me take you through some highlight articles and faq's that I really enjoyed reading and felt helped to get me informed for mortgage discussions. Another wonderful thing about Jack's site is that you'll find the articles and topics have frequent updates as Jack uncovers new answers to similar questions, examples and info on that topic.

Buying a new house before selling the old one - This was really educational as I'm currently contemplating this scenario and couldn't find any real good info on the web about it. If you're like me, you might have rolled this question around in your head:

"I need to use the equity in my existing house to buy a new one, but it looks like I am going to have to close on my new house before I am able to close on my old one…How do I handle this?"

I learned that you have many options and what kinds of questions to discuss with your bank/mortgage broker when discussing loan options. You can draw from your current equity via a HELOC and use as down payment on your new place. You can request a bridge loan. Often loan officers will want to know that you've listed your current home before going down this road.

Another article discusses the different scenario options in Buy or Sell First? a similar question is asked:

“I currently own a home which I would like to sell, and then buy another. What is the best sequence of steps in this process?”

I'm not fortunate enough to need an answer to this question but enjoyed the article Sell Now to Avoid Future Capital Gains Taxes?

"If a House Has Appreciated by $500,000, Does it Make Sense to Sell it and Buy Another For the Sole Purpose of Avoiding the Capital Gains Tax That Is Due on Gains Above $500,000?"

Quick Tips on Major Hazards - As much as we are trusting souls when we discuss money matters with professionals that send us quoted estimates, there are hazards to look out for. This is a great article and jumping off point to many other related article topics: Quick Tips on Major Hazards. You'll definitely want to read up on the lender tactics to avoid that try to tack on costs as closing approaches in Legal Thievery at the Closing Table.

I mean an almost 200% increase in quoted fees is outrageous, like this:

"I paid $2240 in lender fees when my loan closed, compared to the $880 I was quoted at the time my rate was locked. It was a total surprise that hit me at the closing table. With my house purchase at stake, there was nothing I could do. This is outrageous…why doesn’t the government do something about it?"

apparently the whole design of the GFE (good faith estimate) is designed and allows for fluctuations like this.

HELOC + ESPP (or 0% Credit Cards) = FREE MONEY (15% to 60%+ returns)!

For anyone that has available Equity in their home and an unused potential in their employers ESPP program should really pay attention! For those that are playing the shell game with 0% credit card interest rate arbitrage and ask, "Hmmm, where could I get a guaranteed 10% or 15% return?", well read on, how about a 40% or even 60% annual return! I've been giving away some free money and I'm not happy about that. I'm correcting that, toot-sweet! I hope all of you will review your circumstances and consider doing likewise, if it makes sense and you have availability to your ESPP that you aren't currently funding to it's max potential.

I have available equity, like most people, that I just realized I could be putting to work. Recently I've pulled back on my ESPP contributions, for at least the last year now, in favor of maxing out my 401k. Of course that's a good option, but I've been thinking and came up with a novel idea. So, no more wasting the potential of my ESPP. Here's a simple example. My employer offers an ESPP that plan with 15% discount on stocks every quarter. So, that's a 60% annualized return. Take a look and see how that works out:

• Jan-Mar: Contribute 0-15% of your income and purchase your companies stock at 10% discount. At which time you can sell immed for 10% gain or hold and sell at a later date. Let's look at an example of $50K (take home pay) after taxes. This would break down to about 4200/month after taxes. Example: 15% of $4200 = $630. contributed montly x 3 months = $1890. Sell immed to lock in 15% gain of 283.00.
• Apr-Jun: same thing as above. Total contributions of $1890.00. 2nd 15% gain of 283.00.
• Jul-Sep: same thing as above. Total contributions of $1890.00. 3rd 15% gain of $283.00.
• Oct-Dec: same thing as above. Total contributions of $1890.00. 4th 15% gain of $283.00.
• Total contributions for year: $1890 from Heloc x 4 (i.e. recycled 4 times)
• Total of 15% quarterly returns: $1132.00
• Total return on initial $1890 HELOC contribution: 60% annual return!!! Now that rocks!

Now, please correct me if you think I missed a point, as I'm just thinking about all of this and planning to implement shortly. I plan on starting this Jan 08, so I'll see how it actually works out. Here's how the quarterly draw and money management would work:

• Jan 08: Draw $1890.00 from your HELOC Account that you'll be contributing from your payroll for Jan-Mar contribution period. Deposit that amount in your checking account that you normally use for bills, etc. Make min payments to HELOC every month.
• Jan 08: Max out your payroll contributions so that $1890 is drawn from payroll during Jan-Mar 08 contribution period
• Apr 08: Stock is purchased with your contribution. Sell this stock immed, or put stop loss to increase potential returns even more!
• Apr 08: Deposit the $1890.00 from your stock sale proceeds into your checking account that you normally use for bills, etc.
  remaining $283.00 is your 1st 15% return (use in your checking if you want to help bridge between subsequent stock purchase and sell periods or apply payment to HELOC to reduce principal).
• Apr 08: Max out your payroll contributions so that $1890 is drawn from payroll during Apr-Jun 08 contribution period
• Jul 08: Stock is purchased with your contribution. Sell this stock immediately, or put a stop loss on it to increase your potential returns even more.
• Jul 08: Deposit the $1890 from your stock sale proceeds into your checking account that you normally use for bills, etc. The remaining $283.00 is your 2nd 15% return (use it in your checking if you want to help bridge between the subsequent stock purchase and sell periods or apply payment to HELOC)
• Jul 08: Max out your payroll contributions so that $1890 is drawn from payroll during Jul-Sep 08 contribution period
• Oct 08: Stock is purchased with your contribution. Sell this stock immediately or use a stop loss to increase potential returns.
• Oct 08: Deposit the $1890 from your stock sale proceeds into your checking account that you normally use for bills, etc. The remaining $283.00 is your 3rd 15% return (use it in your checking if desired or apply payment to HELOC).
• Oct 08: Max out your payroll contributions so that $1890 is drawn from payroll during Oct-Dec 08 contribution period
• Dec 08: Stock is purchased with your contribution. Sell this stock immediately or use a stop loss to increase potential returns.
• Dec 08: Deposit the proceeds into checking. Wash ... rinse ... repeat for next year if desired
• Dec 08: pay off remainder of HELOC balance on original $1890 plus interest.
• Dec 08: Count your returns of $283 x 4 = $1132 (i.e. 60% profit, less any interest paid on HELOC probably no more than 8% or 9%).

Considerations and things to think about:

• The one drawback with this strategy is that you can't get an endless stream of high percentage returns (i.e. your limited to your 15%, etc. max payroll deduction amount). But, that doesn't mean you can't offer to loan money to any of your coworkers and teach them how to do it (especially if they don't have HELOC money avail). That's still leaves a great return on investment if you split it with your coworkers. Anyone know if there's any problem with going this route? Obviously the drawback is that your coworker might not be that on top of money, like you :-)...
• If you're not currently maxing out your 401k, then you should definitely do your best to try and max out your 401k contributions
• By concentrating your efforts on maxing out your 401k, then you will likely not have funds to max out your ESPP potential, in that case you should look at using your HELOC to fund your ESPP to it's max potential as above
• Many ESPPs have even more advantages for you to make gains beyond their 10% or 15% (or whatever their discount stock purchase % is). Some companies allow you to purchase at an even lower price, based on lowest price of 1st date or contribution period or last date. So, if the stock price at the beginning was 50% lower than the end, you get to purchase at 50% + your discount percentage 10% or 15%, etc. from the current stock price. This makes even more gains!!! The Wonderful World of Employee Stocks, Part 3: Don't Poo-Poo Your ESPP
• As mentioned above, profiting from 0% credit card offers makes a lot more sense now. Traditional methods discuss putting the money in savings accounts and using that gain, well ... how about the percentage gains above!More on How to Make Money with 0% Credit Card Transfers (And Five Reasons Not to Try). The only thing I'd caution against with 0% Credit Card offers, is that they are real tricky to manage, and I'd still advise going with the more sane cheap money avail to you through HELOC, if you have it.

You'll find this post on the following carnivals:

Money, Finance and Fancy: The Carnival of Personal Finance #132, Whimsical Christmas Edition

118th Carnival of Debt Reduction - Winter Solstice Edition

Do You Have an Emergency Fund? - If Cash is King, Then Don't Neglect His Good Looking Brother, the Prince of Credit!

That's right, credit can be just as valuable a tool as cash, when it comes to keeping an emergency fund. The next time you're thinking seriously about your financial house, take some time and think of the scenarios and options discussed here as possible tools to help you achieve your goals. Hopefully you'll think about having a Credit Emergency Fund from now on.

What are the benefits of pursuing an all Credit Emergency Fund? How about:

• Being able to max out your yearly 401K contributions
• Maxing out your company ESPP program for huge returns and free money!
• Getting immediate huge high-interest rate returns by paying off your high-interest credit cards
• Investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds that return a higher rate of return than emergency fund savings accounts for your retirement
• Investing in real estate and business ventures

I'd like you to think about the possibility of having a credit-only emergency fund. Yea, I know, sounds scary ... just think about it. Grab a cup of coffee and just think about the info in this post. I'm sure that if you don't decide to get rid of your cash emergency fund, you'll at least think about it a little differently
;-).

First on the list is outstanding credit card debt. Do you have a sizeable amount of high-interest credit card debt? If you can answer yes to this, then here's reason number one to get rid of your emergency fund. Put it to work! That's right you can be a financial Warren Buffet and make 13%, 15%, possibly even 25%+ this year on your money. You must be absolutely positively sure that you are on track with your credit card spending habits before trying this method. Because if it was your out of control spending habits that got you this large credit card debt, then paying it off without fixing your spending habits isn't going to help. You'll simply end up with a Credit Emergency Fund of credit cards that are just charged back up with bad spending habits. That's a no no!

You may have been diligently building an emergency fund for a rainy day. That fund has been sitting there earning 3%, 4%, maybe 5%+ if you've jumped into some of the great online savings accounts out there. Here's a chance to get a guaranteed high-interest return on that money. Knock out all that pulse pounding high-interest credit card debt. Don't cancel any credit cards. If you still have outstanding debt after this move, then continue to work to reduce it. A great post on pfadvice.com puts credit card debt vs. emergency funds into perspective with this piece of advice:

...While this may give you some peace of mind, it’s a false peace of mind - you will never really have a true emergency fund until all your credit card debt is paid off…it’s as simple as that.

Second in the lineup, your HELOC. Think about using your HELOC as an emergency Fund. This is an excellent source of cheap money. Dr. Don, at Bankrate.com says to make sure of these points:

If you decide to take this route, it's important to have the credit line in place before you need it.

If the HELOC comes with a credit card, you want to avoid the temptation to use the credit card for nonemergency purchases. ... Activate the card but put it somewhere safe and out of reach, like in your safe-deposit box.

If you plan to use the HELOC for any other reason, make sure you get a large enough line to cover both needs. If you're planning to use the HELOC to finance an automobile, for example, you'd want to still have enough room on your credit line to handle a short-term financial emergency.

This is an excellent option, if you already have a HELOC open and available credit line to cover as an emergency fund. Most HELOCS with credit cards offer the same interest rate for cash withdrawals from ATMs, so this is just as convenient if you need actual cash. You can get it at the same low rate as the HELOC money.

Third in the lineup is Credit Cards. But, this time I'm talking about credit union credit cards. As I've been building up my personal Credit Emergency Fund of credit cards, I've noticed a couple of really wonderful things about credit union credit cards:

• They often are easier to get approved than normal credit cards
• They often give higher credit limits than normal credit cards
• They often give much lower interest rates than normal credit cards
• They often give you the same low interest rate for cash advances at ATMs as they do for regular purchases!
• They are now easier than ever to qualify for membership
• Once you are part of that credit union, They often have offerings for great rates on loans (car, home, equity, etc.)

I love the fact that I can get cheap money from my HELOC checks and credit card. But, second in line to that cheap money is the cheap money I can get from credit union credit cards from any ATM. You may have been bitten by huge minimum fees and even larger interest rates on cash advances from ATMs on regular credit cards. Just not the case with most credit union cards (check your membership info for details). So, in emergencies, these are second in line after my HELOC line of credit!

You can find out about credit unions in your area with one of these sites: http://www.joinacu.org/ or http://www.ncua.gov/indexdata.html . Now days you can generally join any credit union in your state, as most have the minimum requirement of being a resident of the state that they operate in.

Fourth in the Lineup are your Credit Cards, again. This time regular non-credit-union credit cards. Obviously HELOC credit cards and checks are probably going to be your cheapest source of money. They should therefore be your first tier in your new Credit Emergency Fund. In her MSN Money Article: $0 Emergency Fund, Liz Pulliam Weston, mentions another interesting fact about regular credit card usage for emergency funds that I didn't think about:

...And credit cards have a feature that home equity lines lack: If you wind up filing for bankruptcy, balances on unsecured debts like credit cards may be erased, while secured debts like mortgages and HELOCs can't be discharged.

Hopefully no one will have to use that feature, but it's nice to know there's some advantage to using credit card debt versus your HELOC credit.

Now after all of that, I hope you see the many advantages of building your Credit Emergency Fund and put your old cash emergency fund to work making some more cash! If you ever feel the need to hang on to big wads of emergency cash, then you have cheap cash avail to you from your HELOC credit cards or credit union credit cards at really cheap rates. You'll never have to worry about going into one of those loan offices that charge you 99.25% on your money for a short term cash loan (seriously, they're charging consumers that rate)!