Conviction of Mind

 You have some additional cash and are looking for the best place to park to get more money from it? If you answered yes, couple of options that you might be considering could be 1. Treasury bonds 2. High yield savings with bank fixed deposits This is especially in United States.  First let’s look at the commonalities: 1. Both are absolutely safe and assured 2. The capital preservation is assured Now, let’s look at when we should look for which one 1. If you could need this money anytime soon (within the next six months to a year or lesser), great option is to choose high yield savings. One option to consider is PayPal savings (which offer 4%+ APY these days.  2. If you don’t need it immediately and consider ways to get the maximum amount in an assured way, you can consider 15 month fixed deposit in certain banks, which offer over 4.65% APY for 15 months. 3. If you think the inflation is going to remain high and want to save with the government, you can choose the treasur...

In US, you can check your credit report for free but to get the credit score you may have to pay. The credit reports are offered for free with almost all credit card companies. The below infographic available in https://www.usa.gov/credit-reports helps to see why seeing credit card reports is important (to remain vigilant) and how to do it without paying any money. If you really want identity protection or such value added services, it can come with a cost through multiple partners. Please do share your experience of getting a free credit report and how it worked out.

With the new reality syncing in, we are forced to stay in home almost all the time. This is absolutely helping to flatten the curve (or so we hope). I had to still submit my tax returns to IRS as I had to apply ITIN for my children. I fixed the appointment in one of the nearby TAC (tax assistance centre) - San Jose location and it took over thirty minutes to really get an appointment. You are expected to be there on time and at least fifteen minutes early for the all the checking to complete.  I visited ten minutes early and had my kids with me. It was a big checking procedure and finally they let me in. It was as if you are in for catching the flight during the pre covid situation. They quickly let me see IRS official and she was very frustrated and unhappy to begin with. With the kids around for ITIN application, she was even more concerned and took ten minutes to clean her cabin and area before letting us in again. Finally, she took some separate time and reviewed the form and t...

I recently listened to a TED talk on why GDP measurement can't be considered as the interpretation of real growth. I couldn't agree more. GDP just measures the trade that happens irrespective of whether it's good or bad. For example, it doesn't really shows how productive the people in the country are because it doesn't account for those activities that doesn't directly correlate to any trade activity. Think of the last time you cooked your own food in home. Ohh! It's everyday almost, isn't it? As you have prepared your own food, the cooking time and the time you spent on it is not getting counted towards GDP itself. The cow's milk is considered an industry and accounts for GDP but not our own time well spent in taking care of our kids. On the other side, it may also depict incorrectly that we are growing even though we may not be really. Also, it depends on what you want to measure - is it really the measure of nice products and services that is...

Have you ever wondered about having audio-books from your library. Libby is a nice app (the web version is https://www.overdrive.com) to see all your books I recently was looking for some ways to hear audiobooks during my commute. Usually, I use Spotify to hear some regional songs.  The Libby app works seamlessly with the Android auto app and it was amazing to listen to nice books during commute. I also downloaded few ebooks and it remembers the location and works perfectly. If you choose to read through Kindle, that option is also allowed. The ebooks can be read through overdrive in the web using a browser or through the Libby app itself.  I use the Alameda County library. Some of the most popular books have a hold period and you can be in the waiting list for the books and it will be borrowed automatically for 21 days. I would highly recommend giving it a try. Happy learning!!!

PayPal is one of the safest option for paying online. With more and more omnipresent payment solutions, Mobile has become the primary option to pay across online and offline in stores. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay are some of the widespread payment options using NFC (Near Field Communications) to pay using mobile. How to use PayPal in Samsung Pay and Android Pay? Just like adding your credit card in Samsung Pay or Android Pay, you can add your PayPal account and log into it. Please do note that only the balance and bank would be used for these payments. It would be a preferred choice to use if you are planning to pay directly from your bank account for all the offline payments easily. Can I use by Bank account to pay through NFC? Yes. Through PayPal inbetween. You can add bank to your PayPal account and verify it. After that, you can add the PayPal account to Android Pay or Samsung pay and BOOM. You are all set to pay all in-store payments through Bank (using Android P...