Posted: November 24th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Insurance | Tags: Auto Insurance, Best, Health insurance, Insurance Quotes, Life Insurance | 3 Comments »
This list is compliments of Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition. Today, we’re focusing on the best insurance related web sites.
Best site for health insurance quotes.
eHealthInsurance.com.
eHealthInsurance.com offers quotes for most major health insurers as well as the ability to compare coverage, and find plans that include your current doctor. If you are without employer provided health insurance, it’s essential that you at least check out this site.
Best site for health coverage information.
CoverageForAll.org.
CoverageForAll.org provides strategies and resources to make it easier for low-income people and people with existing medical conditions find more affordable health coverage.
Best site for life insurance quotes.
AccuQuote.com.
AccuQuote.com allows you to search hundreds of top rated providers and provides half a dozen quotes for you to pick from. I used AccuQuote.com when I was looking for a life insurance provider for my wife and myself. The process was very easy. AccuQuote.com provides a manager to work with you one-on-one and see you through the entire process from selecting a provider to having any required blood tests performed. In our case, the blood tests were done in the comfort of our own home by a sort of visiting nurse paid for by the Insurer. The AccuQuote case manager them ensures that the blood results are filed correctly with the Insurer and gracefully bows out once the contract is signed and you become a customer of the Insurer.
Best site for Medicare Part D.
medicare.gov/mpdpf.
This is an excellent tool for comparing Medicare Part D prescription drug policies. You can check out premiums and co-pays for Part D plans.
Best site for Medicare Advantage.
MedicareNewsWatch.com.
This site’s CostShare report provides analysis of the best Medicare Advantage plans in your area.
Best site for Auto Insurance.
InsWeb.com.
InsWeb, like AccuQuote for life insurance, allows you to search hundreds of auto insurance providers based on your personal criteria and provides several quotes from top rated insurers.
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Posted: November 19th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Saving | Tags: 529 savings plan, Best, college savings | No Comments »
This list is from Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition.
Best 529 for low fees.
Kiplinger’s pick: Illinois’ Bright Start College Savings program. It’s no surprise that this plan is run by Vanguard, since they are known for their rock bottom fees.
Best 529 plan for fund selection.
Kiplinger’s pick for 529 plan with the best fund selection goes to the College Savings Plan of Nebraska. This 529 offers 20 funds to choose from. It’s unclear from the article however whether this fund has the most funds to choose from, or the best funds to choose from.
Best 529 plan sold by a broker.
If buying shared in your 529 college savings plan is important to you, then Kiplinger recommends Virginia’s CollegeAmerica plan, which offers 22 funds from American Funds.
Best 529 for maximizing your savings.
If you live in a state that offers a tax deduction on your 529 contributions, then you should start by investigating the 529 plan offered by your state of residence. If the plan is a truly rotten one, then you may still be better off using a different state’s plan, but it may be difficult to make up for the tax break depending on your personal tax situation.
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Posted: November 17th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Credit | Tags: Best, Credit Cards, Tips | No Comments »
This list is from Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition. I have my doubts on a couple of them, and one in particular is a simply irresponsible recommendation.
American Express Blue Cash.
1% cash back on everyday purchases like groceries, gas and drugstore purchases. 0.5% cash back on everything else.Once your spend over $6,500 for the year, you get 5% cash back on everyday items and 1.25% on everything else.
My thoughts. This is obviously a winner if you spend more than $6,500 a year, which isn’t hard to do if you pay for groceries, gas, cable etc every month. Otherwise, I like the Citibank dividend card – 5% cash back at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations & utilities for 6 months; 2% thereafter.
Best credit card for automatic savings.
Kiplinger’s pick in this category is the Discover Motiva.
The Motiva card offers an incentive to card holders who carry a balance. If you pay on time for 6 months in a row, you get a credit of one month’s interest. The card carries no annual fee, and offers 1% cash back on purchases over $3,000.
My thoughts. This has to be one of the worst ideas of the credit card industry in a long time. How can they say this promotes “automatic saving”? This card is built around one thing and one thing only: keeping the card holder in debt. Shame on Kiplinger for recommending this card. I only hope the kick back from discover is worth the blight on the Kiplinger name.
Best credit card for travel.
U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel rewards Visa Signature. You get 1 point for every dollar spent, and double points for gas, grocery and airline ticket purchases. If you charge over $18,000 in a year you earn enough points for a ticket.
My thoughts. I don’t travel, so I can’t comment on what the best travel card out there is.
Best credit card for a gas break.
BP Visa. This card gets you 10% off BP gas purchases, 4% off travel and dining, and 2% off everything else for the first 60 days. After that, the rebates drop to 5%, 2% and 1%, respectively.
My thoughts. This seems like a pretty good deal if your primary concern is getting some cash back on your gas purchases. I’ve seen similar cards for Mobil, but you pay a premium for Mobil gas and so you probably aren’t getting that far ahead on those purchases, but BP seems to be fairly competitive in their prices at the pump, so this looks good.
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