OptionXpress Review

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OptionsXpress has come on the online investment arena with a big bang. It looks like everything to everyone. It helps the user to trade stocks, options, mutual funds, ETFs, FDs, bonds etc. You name it, and OptionXpress have it. Does it mean that finally we have gotten a financial service that is great for everyone? This is not exactly the case, but even then it is a great furnace platform by all standards.

While reviewing OptionXpress and learning from where do we start with this product, as most investors are worried about fees, lets us discuss the fee structure.

The Fee

The fee structure of OptionXpress is quite reasonable. In some areas, it is a little high compared to competition, but in some other areas it is very low or even NIL. Looking at the fact that the site serves all categories of investors be it experienced, new, occasional or frequent traders in stocks, options and futures, the fees are very reasonable. The investors that normally act in options and stocks and never go to the broker assisted trades, can find the platform costly, but it will not be so with others. Looking at the overall but that the investors get on this website, they get full value for money, thereby justifying the additional cost even for customers who do not deal in broker assisted trades.

The Excellent Educational Support

OptionsXpress gives fantastic educational support that is great for the novice investors. It helps the investor identify the magic of selecting a profitable trade. To get the best advantage of this, one is expected to be reasonably good with computers. If you are not comfortable with computers, then you may not be able to take full advantage of the educational services and tools provided by this website.

One great tool available online is the one that allows the investor to test their investment strategy on virtual market, without putting the real money online. Thus, one can test the efficacy of his or her strategy without taking a plunge.

The OptionXpress regularly conducts live seminars, online webinars and a lot more. By participating in these events, the investors get a chance to listen to the wisdom of experts that they have collected over many years of trading in financial markets.

The conclusion

The OptionXpress has been a hit with most of the old-timers of financial markets. It is also recommended by the financial experts dealing with different areas, like that of debt, equity, mutual funds, bonds etc. the features of these platform suits all kinds of investors.

Though this platform is very good for practically all classes of investors, but it is costlier for the ones that do not take part in broker assisted trades and are normally busy with options and stocks. Though the brokerage fees are higher for stocks and options compared to other platforms, but if one goes of the broker assisted trades, then it will not add any cost to their purse as these trades are normally free or charge very low fees compared to other brokerage houses.

Personal Capital Review - Taking Investment To The Next Level

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Personal Capital is an excellent company that is supported by successful, well established entrepreneur and big time investors. Personal Capital also has great tools investors can use to maximize their investing strategies and portfolio.

Let’s take a look on the tools and features Personal Capital has to offer.

• Personal Capital offers tax benefit tools. The tax benefit tools assist in gauging the benefit, the advantages and profits your investments can give you. The group of investor that will most benefit from this tool are experienced and big investors that usually earn big, as well.
• Universal Checkbook. Universal Checkbook is an easy to use application which enables you to withdraw and transfer money in any amount to anyone located in every part of the world for free. In addition, there are a lot more features that you can use such as the mobile deposit wherein you can deposit your checks into your bank account by taking a picture of the check on your smart phone, managing your account balance thru balance management feature among other cool features of the application.
• Net Worth Updates.Then, there are the net worth updates wherein each week, you will be receiving an email reminding you of your net worth sent by Personal Capital. This is practical and helpful if you don’t have time to check your account once in a while. This makes sure that you won’t have any problems with your account, making things run as smoothly as possible, all you have to do is to check your Inbox!
• Fee analyzer. This evaluates your account and reviews the account to verify the actual amount of money you are paying to invest. This feature helps you not to overlook fees incorporated with investing.

Now, let’s take a look at the asset allocation tools that Personal Capital provides. It clearly explains how your asset is being allocated so that you will be able to understand your investment.

If you want to know how you are performing as compared to other investors, you can check the performance checker out. This enables an investor to check his or her performance by the closest related stock index.

On top of these, you may also want to check out other available tools. These tools are mobile apps created just for your iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android phones. There are also online apps that you can check which will help you better manage your investments. These applications, of course, are user friendly.

Of course, we don’t want you to miss out the most important part of investing: fees. Personal Capital has devised a five tier pricing structure for the annual fee for your investments based on your balance that is easy to follow. For an investment of $0-$249,999.99, the annual fee is 0.95%. For an investment of $250,000.00-$499,999.00, the annual fee is 0.90%. For investment ranging from $500,000.00-$999,999.99, the annual fee is 0.85%. For investing $1,000,000.00-$4,999,999.00, the annual fee is 0.80%. Lastly, for investments greater than $5,000,000.00, the annual fee of 0.75% will be assessed.

Verdict

What we admire about Personal Capital is that they are straightforward when it comes to fees. In general, I would say that Personal Capital is intended for big time investors. If you are a newbie investing a smaller amount, I would still recommend Betterment. On the other hand, if you are an experienced investor and have large funds to invest, I would definitely suggest Personal Capital.

MBNA Mastercard Review

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What Exactly is an MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard?

MBNA is an excellent all round lending agency, and by far one of the largest in the loan market, to date that you can trust. They offer a ‘cash back’ credit card (Smart Card) option that is coupled with an unbelievable plan. Get this; the smart card, unlike your average credit card, has no annual fees attached and as such comes with a variety of offers to earn ‘free cash’.

That's right! it also offers opportunities for you to earn ‘big bucks’ and I will be sure to tell all about how you can benefit from this when you read the long MBNA Mastercard review.

What other Fees are associated and what are the interest rates?

The Smart card’s current interest rate on purchases is 19.99%. Of course, these interest payments only come into play when you don’t clear your balance on time. So to avoid running into these on your statement, try to clear your bill before the grace period. Remember you don’t have to wait until the bill is due to make a payment so consider paying something each time you get paid.

As stated before there is no annual fee; however, there are a few other rates and fees, namely:

• A Promotional Interest Rate of 1.99% for 10 months
• A Balance Transfer Interest Rate of 21.99%
• A Balance Transfer Fee of 1% of the amount being transferred
• A Wire Transfer Fee of 1% of the amount being transferred
• A Cash Advance Fee of 1% of the cash advance total

There is a Grace Period in effect of 21 days for all fees.

Always try to read the terms and conditions as there are few smaller fees that may be applied. It would be a wise move to use the card for purchases only, as this will help in avoiding any other fees. What’s even more perfect is that if you are able to pay off the balance on the card before the grace period is up, you will get cash back.

How much can you earn?

Well that’s based on the purchases you make. But in the first 6 months, you are given the opportunity to earn up to 5% cash back on any qualifying purchase. Qualifying purchases in this case, would be purchases of grocery and gas. After 6 month period, it moves to 2% cash back for qualifying purchases and up to 1% cash back on any other purchase made. The best thing about the cash back feature is that you get it automatically in your account. In case of other cash back credit cards you have to ‘claim’ rewards points. What’s worst is that, in mostcases, your points will expire long before you even get a chance to redeem them, but not with the smart card. They take care of it all for you and once your cash reaches over $50 they automatically mail you a cheque.

Should You Apply for The MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard?

Why not? I admit the MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard isn’t for everyone, but no credit card is. You have to be disciplined, and responsible enough to monitor and spend the money on the card. It would also help to be an organized person as it is vital that you frequently track your purchases and that the bills are cleared within or before the grace period. Be honest with yourself, if you aren’t able to say that you are disciplined and responsible enough then this card may not be the best card for you.