The Ethics of Bank Bonuses

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Last year I made about $1000 from bank bonuses. It looks like I will probably make about that much from them again this year. This is easy money since banks pay you just for opening a bank account. Their hopes are that once you sign up you will remain a customer.

Since I usually open these bank accounts just for the bonuses and then close them as soon as allowed under the terms of the bonus some feel that I am being unethical. I feel that since I am meeting the terms the bank made that there is nothing wrong with what I am doing. Sometimes I open an account for the bonus but end up keeping the account because I like it. ING Direct is an example of that. I opened the account for the $25 bonus and have kept it for years. Also, I have referred over 100 customers to ING Direct. I suppose some of those customers were also only opening the account for the bonus but I do not feel responsible for their motives. I feel like I have earned my bonus from ING Direct.

What do you think? Is opening a bank account just for the bonus unethical or just taking an opportunity the bank is offering?

Loaning Money to Friends

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It is generally advised not to lend money to friends because if the money is not paid back you end up losing your money and your friend. Despite this I recently loaned my friend $2,000 to help buy a truck he is going to use for business.

I think this loan is a good deal for both of us and I am not worried about if for a couple of reasons. One is that I have known my friend for 14 years and feel confident that he will repay me. He has helped me out on a smaller scale several times in the past. Another is that the terms of the loan were clearly stated and we both understand them exactly.

He offered to pay interest and I am charging interest on the loan. I am making more than I would at the bank and he is paying less than if he had taken a loan from a bank. He may not have even been able to get a loan from the bank due to his poor credit.

There are very few people to whom I’d make personal loans. Especially if they were unsecured loans. Have you ever loaned money to a friend or would you? If you have done so, would you do it again?

Domain Registry of America Scam

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I recently received a domain renewal notice from Domain Registry of America telling me one of my domains was about to expire. The notice was misleading because at first glance it would cause one to think that their domain name is registered with Domain Registry of America. If read the notice more carefully you will see that when you “renew” the domain with them you are actually transferring your domain. I didn’t fall for this because I know who my domain registrar is and it isn’t Domain Registry of America.

After doing some research on the internet it appears they send out similar notices all the time. If you receive a domain renewal notice from Domain Registry of America or any other registrar other than the domain registrar you signed up with tread carefully because it is probably a scam.

March Investment Income – $98.43

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My investment income rose from $89.50 in January to $98.43 in March. That is a great increase and it is almost entirely due to gains in my stock portfolio and Roth IRA. I did add $100 to my Roth but otherwise haven’t made any contributions to my investment portfolio this year. If the stock market doesn’t decline I should be able to pass the $100 mark in the next couple of months. There is also a possibility that I will be making a large contribution to my portfolio which would speed things up a bit.

Disclaimer: This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income. My goal is to get this amount to $1000 a month. If I have $1000 in monthly passive investment income I will be able to retire early

No TV and Productivity

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Day 90 - Couch Potato
photo credit: DaGoaty
I got rid of my TV before I went on my hike. Now that I have returned I’m going without a TV. You often read posts about all the things you could accomplish if you didn’t spend so much time watching television. So far I have used my extra time to surf the internet and read. And I have been watching DVDs (I watched the first season of “Dexter” last week which I really liked. I’ll have to watch the other seasons now.) on my laptop and TV shows on Hulu.com and other sites. You could say not having a TV has given me more time to watch television. Or should that be not having a television has given me more time to watch TV?

My point is (and I do have one) that if you are not getting things accomplished it probably isn’t just because you are watching too much TV. If I don’t waste time watching TV I waste it another way and I imagine that is true for a lot of people. My lack of productivity isn’t a matter of time it is a matter of motivation or you could call it a matter of laziness but I prefer to call it motivation. I am going to have to find something to get me motivated because there is a limit to how many hours of the day I can read and surf the internet.

Does anyone have any suggestions on getting motivated?