Below we offer a short description and review of each Discover credit card, along with thoughts on other credit cards to which you might compare them. All these cards have no annual fee.

• The Discover it Miles Card is the best Discover credit card for most consumers. It is marketed as a travel credit card, but it can just as easily be considered a cash back card. Here’s how it works: You get 1.5 “Miles” for each dollar you spend with the card. However, those miles are essentially the same as points that are worth a penny each. As an example, 10,000 “Miles” = $100 in rewards. You can use your miles/points to offset travel expenses you’ve paid for with the card, or you can simply take them as cash, making this the equivalent of a 1.5% cash back card. A nice bonus: At the end of the first year of having the card, all of the miles you’ve earned are doubled, which means you are actually getting a 3% rebate on your first year purchases, assuming you hold the card for that long (and we don’t know why you wouldn’t). Cards to compare this to: Citi Double Cash, Bank of America Travel Rewards.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

If you’re dreaming of a hard-won financial independence secured by multiple millions of dollars in the bank, you may be wondering how anyone gets there. You see the stories of multi-millionaires who retire by 30, 40, 50, and you think — how? Is that really possible?

Well, it’s not easy, but it is possible. And know this: the first million is the hardest.

After reaching the $1 million mark, you may be surprised at how quickly your net worth builds. It may take years and years to get that first million dollars, and then under 10 years to get the next million.

There are multiple reasons why the first million is the hardest and the next million is so much easier:

The First Million Comes Mostly from Your Income

When you are working toward that first million, a good chunk of your income is going toward your daily survival, including food, clothing, shelter and some modest luxuries here and there. You don’t have much extra to save, which means you don’t have much to invest. While you eventually will make good returns if you invest wisely, a very large piece of that first million dollars comes from your ongoing income.

However, once you have a million dollars, you have a large hunk of money that does nothing but feed on itself, growing without you doing any work. If you have $1 million in money to invest and it makes a 5% return per year, which is very achievable, you are making $50,000 without lifting a finger. And, thanks to the beauty of compound interest, the next year you’re making 5% on $1,050,000, which means you make $52,500 without lifting a finger. If your investments do better, your money adds up even quicker.

It’s time to get Dad a gift again! Yes, we know you were hoping you only had to do that once, but, alas, the occasions keep coming. Whether you’re searching for Dad’s birthday, or Christmas, or getting a jump on Father’s Day, here are some excellent gift ideas for Dad:

Bronze Dad Picture Frame – Pop a picture of yourself with Dad into this picture frame and you are sure to score with the big guy.

Uniqlo Full-Zip Hoodie – You want your dad to be a little cooler but not look like he’s trying to look 16? Uniqlo is a good brand for basic clothes that have a little style without going too far out on a limb. This hoodie is a good example — not too young, but doesn’t scream “Dad hoodie.”

Man Crates – Themed crates full of man stuff, with lots of crate types, from food to barware to tools to workout equipment. I’ve been sort of into Moscow Mules lately and would be completely open to someone getting me the Moscow Mule crate pictured above. To make this gift a little more fun, you have to open it with a crow bar, which is helpfully included with the crate.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com. [NOTE: This post originally appeared on June 20, 2017.]

I love live music. If there’s a performer I want to see, I will generally pay the cost regardless of price (while railing away at those ridiculous TicketMaster fees!). I never regret it.

What do you spend money on that always feels worth it? I cold e-mailed a variety of people that seemed like they might have interesting answers to that question — and some were kind enough to reply!

Below are those answers. You’ll see two recurring themes: money spent on “experiences” and money spent as an “investment” in your own future success is often money well-spent. Here’s what they said:

David Pogue, Tech Columnist for The New York Times and many other things: “My mom, who considers herself a child of the Depression, does NOT like to spend money. Her picture appears in the dictionary for the word “frugal.” I mean, she folds up aluminum foil after each use and puts it back in the drawer for re-use later.

But she raised me with this motto: “When money can buy you happiness, spend it.”

She meant it, too. When there’s some apartment I really want to buy that costs more than I’d intended to spend…when there’s a fast new laptop that would be my main machine… when it MATTERS… when I can directly see that it will bring me long-lasting happiness… I spend the money. I’ve never been sorry!”

Target has released its Black Friday ad for 2019, and it includes deals & discounts happening on Black Friday, November 29, 2019.

• First off, you can see the full Target Black Friday ad brochure here.

Target stores will open at 5PM on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 28, with Black Friday deals, and stay open until 1 AM. Stores will then close for six hours, re-opening at 7AM on Black Friday, November 29, 2019.

Early Black Friday Access for RedCard & Target Circle Members

If you are a Target RedCard credit card or debit card holder, you’ll also get “Early Access” to 100 online deals at Target.com or in the Target app all day on Wednesday, November 27. Target Circle members get early access, too, but not quite as early — these loyalty program members that don’t have the RedCard can shop the deals starting at 6PM Central Time on Wednesday, November 27.

Lending Club is a peer-to-peer lending and investing website. As a Lending Club user, you can seek personal loans that are funded by other users on the site. Or, vice versa, you can choose to be an investor, loaning money to Lending Club borrowers.

Technically, Lending Club is not a straight peer-to-peer lending/investing process. There is still a financial institution acting as an intermediary; in this case that is a bank called WebBank. WebBank technically makes the loans to Lending Club borrowers. (See who else WebBank works with.)

Why would you use Lending Club?

• If you are seeking a loan, Lending Club may be a way to get that loan at a lower interest rate than from a bank or other lender.
• If you are an investor, you may be able to get a higher return on your money than you’d get from other investments you might make.

Neither of those things is guaranteed, however.

If you have a big credit card balance sitting at 18%, 20%, or even more, you might want to take advantage of credit cards that allow you to transfer your balance over to the new card and then give you over a year to pay it off at a 0% interest rate. Some of these cards charge you a one-time fee to transfer the balance, but some have no balance transfer fee for new cardholders. None of these cards charges an annual fee.

• Amex EveryDay Credit Card – You can transfer your existing balance to this American Express card and pay no interest on that balance for 15 months. Plus, you’ll pay no balance transfer fee if you transfer the balance within the first 60 days of getting the card. This card also allows you to earn American Express Membership Rewards points on your purchases.
• BankAmericard Credit Card – You can transfer your existing balance to this Bank of America credit card and pay no interest on the balance for 15 billing cycles. Plus, you’ll pay no balance transfer fee if you transfer the balance within the first 60 days of getting the card. (The student version of this credit card offers the same balance transfer deal.)
• Chase Slate – You can transfer your existing balance to this card and pay no interest on the balance for 15 months. Plus, you’ll pay no balance transfer fee if you transfer the balance within the first 60 days of getting the card.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

You purchased an airline ticket that you can’t use and now want to transfer it to someone else who can go on the trip. Can you do that?

No.

You were probably hoping for a different answer, or at least maybe not so abrupt of an answer, but the plain fact is that you can not simply have the name changed on an airline ticket after it has been purchased.

So what should I do if I want to transfer a purchased ticket to someone else?

Well, like I said, you can’t just transfer the ticket. That said, there are two ways you might be able to change to a different passenger without buying a new ticket (well, sort of, technically you will buy a new ticket):

• If you bought a refundable ticket (versus a nonrefundable ticket), then obviously you can have the amount of the ticket refunded to you and then purchase a new ticket in the name of the person you wanted to transfer the ticket to.
• If you bought the ticket less than 24 hours ago, you can simply cancel the reservation and get a refund without paying any extra fees in most cases. Then you can buy a new ticket in the name of the person you wanted to transfer the ticket to.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

Sometimes I hear from people who have been rejected for a credit card or other type of loan despite having a high credit score. The ones who feel the most frustrated are those who know someone else that got approved for the same card with a lower credit score. How can that be? Why would a credit card company turn down a person with better credit and approve someone with lower credit?

There are three possible reasons (or at least three that we consider the most likely):

#1. Too Much Debt

It’s completely possible to build up a good credit score while accumulating debt. If you continually pay your bills on time while spending more than you pay back, you will go further and further into debt while getting all sorts of goodwill for on-time payments. After all, payment history is the Number One factor in determining your credit score, so if you only make minimum payments, your score may still increase over time.

However, when your debt reaches a certain level and you apply for new credit, a card issuer may look at your debt and say “No way.” Sure your credit score is good, but to that credit card company your debt makes you look like a bomb about to explode, and they’d rather not be the ones hurt when your financial world falls apart.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

I recently got a mailing from Synchrony Bank about their Synchrony Mastercard, a credit card offering 2% cash back on all card purchases. I had been aware that Synchrony had transitioned old Toys R Us/Babies R Us customers to this card (after Toys R Us went kaput), but had never seen it advertised as a card you could apply for directly. Now Synchrony is offering it to some potential cardholders by mail only. (You won’t find an online application as of this writing; the invitation directs you to mastercard.synchrony.com, but you need an authorization code from the mailer to apply.)

No Annual Fee and Competitive Cash Rebate

The Synchrony Mastercard has no annual fee, and its 2% “flat” cash back rate on all purchases is competitive with the Citi Double Cash card, often thought of as the standard-bearer for flat cash back cards on the market. (Very few credit cards will give you 2% on all purchases; most have a lower cash-back rate or give higher rebates in only certain purchasing categories like gas, groceries, etc.)

The cash back you receive is automatically given as a statement credit, meaning it is credited to your account to offset charges you’ve made to the card. You don’t have the option to actually get the cash in your hand.

Bonus Opportunity

You can earn a $150 bonus if you spend $1500 with the card in the first three months of having it. (At least that is the bonus offer I got.)