Are your friends planning a last minute Spring Break trip, but you aren’t sure how you’re going to be able to go?

Don’t be left behind at the dorms! Traveling over spring break on some crazy adventure is a rite of passage for college students. You simply haven’t lived if you’ve never booked a flight 24 hours before your spring break starts to travel to the Gulf Coast, Mexico, or New York City.

Or maybe you’re like me and you hate flying. Instead you’re going to be piling in with four of your friends into a suddenly very inadequately sized sedan to drive to the Grand Canyon and back in four days.

There’s only one problem… you blew all of your extra money playing beer pong last weekend. You won’t have extra cash until the week after Spring Break and by then it will be too late. Your friends will be waxing poetic as to the great time they had sleeping on the beach and how delightful the sunrise was that morning. You don’t want to be regaled with stories of the exotic fun they had — you want to be there!

But how? It’s simple: get a student credit card to cover you until you get paid.

What is a Student Credit Card?

Student credit cards are credit card programs targeted specifically at college students. The qualifications necessary to be approved for a card are lower than with other credit cards. The financing companies that issue the credit cards understand that you’re in college, you probably have uneven income from waiting tables, and you have a limited credit history. So they give you a small credit line so you can test the waters and see if you can handle responsible credit card use.

It’s basic math: lower requirements to get the credit card = lower credit score = minimal or no rewards program.

Aren’t Credit Cards Risky for College Students?

Are credit cards the worst thing that can happen to a student’s finances?

Yes and No. Credit cards are tools that allow you to float purchases for about 30 days before you have to pay for them.

I always compare credit cards to shovels. (Wait, what???)

How, exactly, are shovels like a piece of plastic that you swipe?

Both are tools that can be used for good and evil, for growth and destruction. A credit card is a financial tool that can help you build up your credit history, earn rewards, and teach responsible spending. Likewise a shovel can be used to dig a trench into the ground to plant seeds that later become your next meal.

On the other hand a shovel can be cause great damage to plants if used incorrectly. Roots can be cut and the plant withers and dies. Likewise irresponsible credit card use can lead to financial ruin with sky high balances, collections calls, and bankruptcy.

Traits of Horrible Student Credit Cards

If you’d like to make a mistake the leads to your eventual financial ruin, pick up a credit card with some of these traits:

• An annual fee. There is absolutely no reason a college student should fork out cash for the “right” to have a credit card. There are too many great student credit cards available to justify paying an annual fee of $25-50 just to have a credit card.
• Bad rewards program. Reward programs that encourage you to spend differently than you normally would are useless. It can be easy to be manipulated into spending at a certain store just to earn a few more reward points. Another trick is to offer you a lot of reward points, but force you to redeem them online where the rewards options are very limited.
• No rewards program. This isn’t a deal killer, but if you can get a student card with a rewards program (preferably cash back) then you should.

What is the Best Student Credit Card for Spring Break?

If you’re looking for a credit card for spring break, you have a few solid options:

Discover Student Card – With $25 in Free Cash Back for a Limited Time

One of the best cards currently available in this category is the Discover® Student Card with a $25 Cashback Bonus. You’ll not only get a student credit card, but Discover will give you $25 in cash back immediately following your first purchase on the card in the first 3 months.

The perks of this card include:

• 0% APR on your purchases during the first 6 months
• 5% cash back on rotating categories that college students use a lot of: gas stations, restaurants, and department stores
• Up to 1% cash back on every other purchase you make
• No annual fee
• No fee to redeem your cash back

Discover Student Card in Other Varieties

Discover also offers the Student Card in several other varieties that all share the same terms. The only difference is how the physical credit card that you put in your wallet looks. The varieties include: Clear, Tropical Beach, Monogrammed with your initials, Open Road, Original, and Mix Tape (which looks, as you guessed, like a mix tape from the 80s).

There are two main differences between these cards and the one above:

• There is no $25 cash back bonus for using your card once in the first three months.
• Your 0% APR offer for purchases is extended from 6 months to 9 months.

You are essentially trading $25 for 3 more months of 0% APR.

Everything else is the same: 5% cash back on specific categories, up to 1% cash back on other categories, no annual fees, and no fees to redeem the cash back you earn.

Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card

It might be hard for students with limited credit history to get this card, but it is worth a shot. If you get into the program you’ll be credited with 25,000 points that can be redeemed for a roundtrip flight almost anywhere Southwest flies.

A free flight makes getting to your spring break destination a lot more affordable.

Capital One Journey Student Rewards Credit Card

Let me start by saying on the surface this looks like a good credit card for college students. However, be careful because Capital One doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to customer service. As long as you maintain proper documentation to protect yourself you should be fine.

So what’s the card look like?

• 1% cash back on all purchases (plus an additional 25% bonus for paying on time).
• No annual fee.
• No fees to redeem cash back.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone else pay for the flight to your next vacation destination?

(And even better: what if that free flight was on the best airline in the country?)

You’ll get just that if you open up a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card.

It might seem to be too good to be true. A credit card company will pay for a round trip flight for you? What’s the catch? (Yes, there is a very small catch. We’ll get to that in just a second.) But the bottom line is you actually can get a free flight on Southwest Airlines after you first use your Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card.

For the travel buffs (or business travelers) out there, this is a great travel rewards card.

How Does the Bonus Flight Points Work?

After you apply for the credit card and activate your account, you will qualify for the bonus points after your first purchase on the card. After that first swipe you’ll get 25,000 points applied to your account which is enough to claim two one-way flights that would normally cost you $208 each way. Those two flights will eat up 24,960 of those bonus points.

It’s really that simple.

But a free flight isn’t the only reward you will get. There are other great perks, too.

Earn Points for Your Spending

On top of the bonus points for your free roundtrip flight, you’ll also earn points for all of your spending on the card. Any spending with Southwest Airlines or Southwest’s Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners will generate 2 points per every $1 of spending.

Additionally all of your other spending will earn 1 point per every $1 that you charge to the card.

Better Than 2% Rewards

It is really difficult to find a great rewards card that will pay out more than 2% in rewards. At first glance the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card looks like a standard 2% travel rewards card because of the 2 points for every dollar spent.

However, when you run the math the rewards are significantly better if all of your points come from traveling with Southwest.

Let’s check the math. You need 24,960 points to get two one-way tickets that cost $208 per flight. That’s $416 in rewards for 24,960. To earn those 24,960 points you could spend $24,960 on non-Southwest purchases (where your rewards would equate to 1.67%) or you could spend $12,480 on Southwest flights and Rapid Reward partners. If you do this your total reward jumps to 3.33% making this one of the best travel cards available.

3.33% rewards are great, but there’s one more trick to truly maximizing your rewards that leads to your more free flights, faster.

What is Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards Program?

Here’s how you truly maximize the impact of this credit card. Not only will Chase credit you with points for your spending, but Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program rewards you for your flights on top of the points you get for using your Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. The number of Rapid Rewards points depends on the type of flight you select:

• 12 points per dollar on Business Select flights
• 10 points per dollar on Anytime flights
• 6 points per dollar on Wanna Get Away flights

You would get this points by just being a Rapid Rewards member and booking a flight with Southwest. It has nothing to do with using this credit card. But when you combine the two, the rewards really start to pile up!

This means booking two of Southwest’s least expensive Wanna Get Away one-way flights for $200 each way will generate 400 points on your Chase card and 1,200 points directly with Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program. The 400 points on your Chase credit card equals an extra 33% in reward points over using any other credit card. The rewards can really add up by just taking a few flights and using your Chase credit card.

What’s the Catch?

There’s got to be some horrible catch that makes this great travel rewards credit card useless, right?

Not really. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card does have an annual fee of $69. That’s a bummer, but on every anniversary date of having the card you will be awarded 3,000 points. You could turn those 3,000 points into a $50 Wanna Get Away fare, so the card is only going to cost you $19 per year. When you can rack up as many free flights and Rapid Reward points that seems like a small price to pay for the rewards.

Also, hopefully this is clear, but you should only get this card if you have access to Southwest Airlines near your city. If you have to drive 6 hours to get to an airport that Southwest services, then this probably isn’t the best travel rewards card for you.

The only other catch is that of any other rewards credit card. If you get the card, make purchases, and then don’t pay them off in full before interest charges hit you, then you’ve made a mistake. Travel reward credit cards are only for those who can handle paying off their balance every month. If you essentially treat your credit card like a debit card instead of a free line of access to as much money as you want, you’ll be fine.

Apply for a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card and earn a free flight today!

Who doesn’t like the idea of getting cash back on your normal every day spending?

No special miles that need to be redeemed on the 15 non-blackout dates on the airline. No special branded points that can only be used in a special credit card company online “mall”.

Just straight cash back — essentially a pure discount on your spending — in categories that you use every single month. That sounds like a win to me.

Why I Love My AMEX Blue Cash Card

The American Express Blue Cash credit card in my wallet is well worn. I’ve had the credit card for over 5 years and have used it regularly since then. I have a backup Visa credit card I use just in case the merchant doesn’t accept AMEX, but my go-to card is the Blue Cash card. (Granted, the version of the card I have has a slightly different rewards program, but the current program is still great for the average person.) With all of the different credit card options available why would I continue to use the Blue Cash card?

Cash Back on Everyday Spending

Some credit cards are focused on business travelers that fly, eat out, or stay in hotels a lot. What about the average person with the average commute that buys an average amount of groceries? It is easy to feel like there is no card just for your situation.

That’s the beautiful thing about the Blue Cash Everyday(SM) from American Express.

You get:

• 3% cash back on your spending at grocery stores
• 2% cash back on your spending at gas stations and department stores
• 1% cash back on everything else

Through this simple rewards plan and my normal spending I’ve generated hundreds of dollars in absolutely free cash back. Buying groceries for the family leads to a bigger cash back reward. No first class flights required. (Also, the card has no annual fee so you won’t end up paying to earn cash back because that rarely makes sense.)

Why Cash Back Is The Best Credit Card Reward

When you want to be rewarded for your credit card spending there is a wide array of reward programs you can pick from:

• cash back
• airline miles
• hotel stays
• points to be redeemed

Only one of these reward programs can be used in any way you please. Pure cash back. You can spend pure cash back to buy airline tickets or hotel stays. Or you might need it to build up your emergency fund or to buy groceries.

The same can’t be said of the other programs. To use airline miles you have to need to fly somewhere. And when you fly there you are likely going to be spending some money — bag fees, eating out, or other vacation costs. You can’t redeem hotel points for your electric bill or savings account.

Cash back programs give you a check or statement credit straight to you. And you can spend it how you see fit.

What’s not to like about that?

The Dangers of Cash Back Credit Card Use

Spending on credit cards isn’t something that someone overwhelmed with debt should do. Throwing good money after bad won’t result in a win.

Here are some of the dangers of spending on credit cards, including cash back credit cards:

• You can spend more than you intended.
• You can end up paying interest and fees.
• You can spend just to get cash back.

As real as these risks are they can easily be avoided by sticking to your budget, setting up automatic payments, and using your credit card like a debit card. The card is just a piece of plastic. If you only spend money on your credit card that you had budgeted for whatever you’re spending money on, you’ll be fine (and get free cash back, too).

Are you currently struggling to keep up with your credit card minimum payments? Are you paying interest in the 14.99% to 24.99% (or higher) range?

You need to pay attention.

Imagine what dropping your interest rate down to 0% could do for your financial situation. That $5,000 balance that you’ve been chipping away at for months with no progress could be wiped out in 12 months if you really put your mind to it.

Don’t believe me? Let’s do some easy math.

A $5,000 balance at “only” 20% interest would you charge you a minimum payment of $133.33 per month (assuming your minimum payment covers interest plus 1% of your balance). At that rate it would take you a stunning 277 months (that’s more than 23 years!) to pay off the balance and you would pay over $7,700 in interest.

Last time I checked paying $12,700 for something that should have cost you $5,000 is not a good deal.

What is a good deal? Not paying interest on a big credit card balance so that you can pay it off faster. That’s the fast track to getting out of credit card debt.

What would happen if you could transfer that balance to a new credit card that would give you 0% interest on your balance? Wouldn’t you be able to pay that card off much faster?

Instead of paying $133.33 per month and never getting anywhere, you could apply all of your money toward the principal balance. In one year you could pay off $1,600 of your balance. If you really applied yourself you could pay off the entire balance by paying $416 per month during the 0% introductory period.

What company would be crazy enough to let you do this? Discover.

Discover More Credit Card

Discover is one of the premiere credit card brands in the world. The company regularly ranks well for customer service while offering great credit cards. (The company goes as far as to guarantee you will be speaking to a live human being within 60 seconds of calling customer service. No more frustrating phone tree!) They can be a bit more picky in terms of who they let have one of their credit cards, but once you’re in, it’s great.

If you apply now for a Discover® More Card you’ll receive these amazing perks:

• 0% APR on balance transfers. Have you decided to crush your credit card debt this year? Paying 20% interest makes it challenging to get rid of debt in one year. However, if you can drop your interest rate to 0% while being motivated, you’ve got a great chance to make a huge impact on your credit card debt. This card let’s you keep your 0% rate for 12 months before the interest rate goes back up to normal rates.
• No balance transfer fee. With most credit card deals offering a 0% balance transfer rate you have to pay a balance transfer fee. This normally comes to 3% of your total balance. It can really add up — on a $5,000 balance transfer that is $150 in fee up front. With the Discover More card you will not pay a balance transfer fee. These types of deals are rare because the credit card company doesn’t earn any revenue from you up front — you aren’t paying transfer fees or interest on your purchases or balance.
• 5% Cash Back. The Discover More credit card comes with rotating 5% cash back categories. The categories change quarterly and you’ll need to make sure your card moves over to the next category on time. The small hassle is worth it because getting 5% back on your purchases is a great way to be rewarded for your everyday shopping.
• 0% APR on purchases. Did we mention this is a cash back credit card? And that you won’t pay any interest on your purchases during the introductory 12 month period?
• No annual fee. You won’t pay an annual fee for having the honor of owning this card. Many cash back or rewards cards want you to pay a $30 to $100 fee just to have the privilege of using the card.

Let’s review: you get to drop your interest rate to zero, you don’t have to pay a fee for the privilege of transferring your balance to the card, they’re throwing 5% cash back at you on your normal spending, there is no annual fee, and you don’t pay any interest on your purchases either.

Downsides to Balance Transfer Credit Cards

As awesome as this type of deal is for the person dedicated to paying off their credit card debt, let us offer a word of caution. Getting into credit card debt is easy. Companies are willing to let you spend more than you earn, and you quickly find yourself in a financial hole. Once you’re in the hole you feel trapped and your payments are hardly making a dent in the principal.

Why would Discover offer so many great perks to you? They aren’t getting interest from your balance transfer or purchases. They are getting an annual fee or a balance transfer fee. Plus they’re giving you cash back. What’s in it for them?

Discover will make money on this deal in three ways:

• Hitting you with fees when you slip. This is the only real catch to using a balance transfer credit card. Your 0% introductory rate stays the same for 12 months or until you slip up with a late or missed payment. Then interest charges and late fees hit you and ruin your plans of getting out of debt.
• Getting paid by merchants when you use the card. Every time you swipe a credit card at a store, the store pays the credit card company a fee for processing the payment. This doesn’t cost you anything and happens with every credit card, so don’t worry about it.
• Getting paid interest after the introductory period. If you can’t pay off your balance in 12 months the introductory rate will expire and you will be charged regular interest (ranging from 10.99% to 19.99%). This sounds bad, but you would have been paying this interest for the last 12 months if you hadn’t transferred your balance. Plus you can always find a new balance transfer card.

Want to fight these downsides? It’s pretty easy.

• Set up automatic payments. If you want to avoid those fees for slipping up, simply make sure you don’t slip up. The easiest way to do this is to set up automatic payments on the new credit card.
• Pay off as much of your balance as possible. Don’t want to have to hunt for a new balance transfer card after 12 months? Throw everything you’ve got at your balance during the introductory period. Paying off the balance is the easiest way to avoid interest.

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

Have you ever struggled to manage your credit card use? Have you been frustrated to be charged interest on your every day items while you try to pay down your balance?

A new set of software by Chase Bank called Blueprint aims to help you manage your credit card use and pay off your debt with a plan. This is an exclusive benefit to having certain Chase credit cards. Your other credit card companies can’t offer you access to Blueprint, and not every Chase card qualifies.

What is Chase Blueprint?

Blueprint is an online program that Chase credit cardholders get access to. It helps you handle a variety of credit card tasks: from avoiding paying interest to paying off a big balance with a dedicated debt-reduction plan.

What Does Blueprint Help Me With?

There are four specific areas that Blueprint helps you with:

Avoid Interest on Everyday Purchases

With the Full Pay option you tell Chase which categories of everyday spending you want to pay off in full every month. The company will then separate those charges out on your bill and allow you to pay off that balance in full rather than grouping all of the charges together. This helps you avoid paying interest on the groceries you bought last week even though overall you would still carry a balance on an overall larger debt. Additionally, this can help you with your budget. You know you’re spending $200 per month on groceries and can budget for that… rather than spending $200 plus interest.

Pay Off a Big Purchase with a Plan

Another option with Blueprint is called Split. This lets you select a recent purchase and tell Chase how quickly you want to pay off the charge. How might this help? Let’s say your refrigerator died and you had to unexpectedly spend $750 last month on your credit card to replace it. You know you have an extra $250 every month to throw at the balance. Instead of having to remember to pay that much each month, Blueprint will remind you. Also, on each statement you receive you will see your progress toward your debt payoff goal shown. This can help you stay motivated to pay off the fridge and get on to bigger and better things with your money.

Pay Off Your Debt with a Scheduled Plan

The third option with Blueprint — Finish It – is fantastic. Who knew your credit card company could help you get out of credit card debt?

With this part of the program you tell Chase how much of a balance you want to pay off. You also pick either when you want to be out of debt or provide how much money you have to put toward the balance. Blueprint does the math and sets up the payment plan for you. As you make progress with your payments every month you will get an update on every statement showing how you’re getting closer to paying off the debt.

Keep Yourself From Spending Too Much

Raise your hand if you like setting up and tracking your spending on a monthly budget.

No one?

With the last portion of Chase Blueprint called Track It you are able to set spending goals on certain categories of spending. You can log in at any time to track your progress toward that spending. This can help you figure out what an average month looks like in your spending and make setting up a budget a lot easier.

Which Chase Credit Cards Come with Blueprint?

Not every Chase credit card comes with access to Blueprint. Currently you can get Blueprint with one of these cards:

• Slate from Chase:

• This great card comes with 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers (if your credit rating qualifies you). Read our full review of Slate from Chase here.
• Apply for Slate® from Chase and for a limited time transfer your balance to the card and incur no balance transfer fee. (Read our full review of this limited time offer.)
• Apply for Slate® from Chase and receive a $75 Bonus and Up to 15 Months of 0% APR.

• Chase Freedom:

• If you don’t need to transfer a balance and want to maximize your cash back rewards, Chase Freedom is a great option. You’ll receive 5% cash back on specific categories that change every 3 months. Plus all of your spending outside of those categories will still earn 1% cash back.
• Apply for a Chase Freedom® Visa and get $200 in Bonus Cash Back.
• Alternatively, if you want some bonus cash but also a 0% introductory APR, you should apply for a Chase Freedom® MasterCard and get $100 in Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR.
• If you prefer a Visa card over a Mastercard, you can apply for a Chase Freedom® Visa and get $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR.

• Chase Platinum:

• If you’re looking to maximize your reward points, the Chase Sapphire℠ is another great choice. You’ll receive 25,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in 3 months that you can convert into $250 in rewards. You also get 2 points on every dollar (2% rewards) spent on dining and 1 point per dollar on all of your other spending (1% rewards).

• Chase Ink for Business:

• Looking to reward your business for necessary purchases that keep you running? Apply for a Ink Cash^SM Business Card and get a $250 cash back bonus when you spend $5,000 within your first three months of card membership. Plus you’ll earn 5% on the first $25,000 spent annually on office supplies, telecom services, and cable services. You’ll also get 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent on gas and dining. The rest of your purchases will generate 1% cash back.

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

Raise Your Score Fast!

A previous intern of mine, Kevin, was oblivious to what his credit score was. His parents had always told him to not open a credit card in fear that he would get in massive credit card debt and ruin his future.

Unfortunately, his parents were wrong.

I had him find out what his credit score was and he was unpleasantly surprised. This is his story of finding out his credit score and what he did to improve it. Enter Kevin….

+++++++++++++

As a Junior and Senior in college I was always told that applying for a credit card could be my first step in the wrong direction.

I was given the warnings that I am sure many parents have given, and many young adults have received, the major outcome being that I would spend money without conceptualizing the possible consequences of not being able to pay it off.

Without actually handing money over for goods I would purchase, I would fall victim to losing the concept of having to work for items that I was receiving, as well as the curse of living above my means which many Americans fall victim to on a daily basis.

My response was always the same,

“How would I know until I was able to try for myself?”

Humbling Experience

When I was finally able to try to get a credit card for myself, my initial attempts were laughable to the banks I talked to. I had to walk into the banks and tell them what is probably the typical story for anyone who is in their final years of college, or have just graduated very recently from college. It went like this,

“I am un-employed, have no credit history, and have a couple thousand dollars in college debts that I will have to start paying on in the next year or two.”

Lets face it; this is not exactly the most appealing story when you are trying to convince someone to give you a line of credit!

Two banks denied me, but one of the bankers let me in on some info which has helped me raise my credit score over 100 points in the past five months which I think everyone should be aware of. The gist of his story was that I should stop trying to apply for credit cards and getting denied, his reasoning was when you apply they do a hard credit check which in turn will actually lower my credit score even lower!

Get It Secured

He also told me that no major bank was going to accept my credit application anyway, but there was another way. This other option was to sign up for what is called a “secured” card, which is offered through Capital One. Now as you will probably decipher yourself when I tell you the agreement of a secured card is that it is horribly one-sided in favor of the lender, but I assure you it is a small price to pay for what it has done for me in the past five months.

The secured card is like a credit card, except you have to give them all the money in advance of what would be your credit limit on a normal credit card. At first this process confused me, I thought that I would give them my initial check for the limit, then as I spent the money, it would deduct from this initial down payment. The actual process is they hold this deposit as your limit, then do not deduct from it as you spend on your secured card, rather all expenses on the card are treated like a regular credit card.

There is also a $34 dollar a year fee to have a secured card, so you can begin to see how the deal is definitely in their favor for giving you the chance. After you have made the deposit, it is then a real credit card, all of the expenditures are treated as if it where not a secured card in the eyes of the credit unions therefore establishing credit in your name.

This is the route I had to take, and I suspect there are many people out there who are also in a similar situation to what I was in. Even though you have to put all the money up front, as well as pay an annual fee for giving Capital One all of the money you would theoretically spend, it is still very much worth it from a longer-term perspective.

First Credit Score Check: Ouch!

I checked my credit score in March of 2011 right before I decided I would like to try and get a credit card and had a credit score of 621. I set up a Capital One card with a credit limit of $1,100. This credit limit should be a function of what you have, and also what you plan on using the credit card for. According to many bankers and friends I talked to, you should try to run a 75% utilization rate on your credit card to maximize your potential to raise your credit score.

So if you only spend around $300 a month, you should only give Capital One a $500 dollar down payment so that you are utilizing your credit rather than having a $1,000 dollar limit and only spending $300. My expenditures were approximately $700 dollars a month so the $1,000 dollar limit fit my needs.

Smart Spending

After I had gotten my secured card and started spending, I would make sure that I would only spend money I already had, or would receive before the next pay period. I ended up paying off my credit card roughly four times a month ensuring I never carried a balance from one month to the next. I would never let my card exceed $800, and I would never pay it off if the card balance were under $300 unless the pay period was coming to an end.

I would spend every penny on my credit card from the smallest expenses such as a drink from the gas station, to major purchases such as airline tickets or hotel rooms. I repeated this process for five months to establish a credit history always paying on time, and always making purchases on my credit card.

Second Credit Score Check: Yes!

In August of 2011 I had to purchase a car so that I could switch jobs, when I filled out the credit application to see if I qualified for the lower financing rates, my credit score came back as a 731.

This meant that in five months I raised my credit score from 621 to 731.

This is a very big deal because at 621 I would have been denied a loan for the car, or would have had an interest rate that exceeded 9% on the auto loan. Since I chose to get a credit card, in this case a secured card, I was able to take the car loan on my own, and qualify for their special 3.99% financing for the car.

The difference in the loan between the two different interest rates would be $750 over the life of the loan, far surpassing the $34 dollar annual fee, and the opportunity cost of Capital One holding my $1,100 for the five months they held it.

Message To The Parents

To all of the parents out there on the fence about letting their college kid apply for a credit card, or to all of the college students who have been denied a credit card, or are also on the fence of whether it is a good idea, I can tell you it worked for me in five months and will change my financial future for many years to come.

It is a foolproof way to receive a chance to raise your credit score when it is not possible through a regular bank credit card, and is a safe way to earn credit if you do not trust your kid or self with a credit card that is not collateralized with your money. The worst that can happen with your secured card is that you cannot pay your bill; Capital One closes out the account, and pays off your credit with the money you have already given them causing your credit score no further demise because you defaulted on a payment.

The secured card worked perfectly for me and I have now been accepted for a credit card at a major bank. I closed my secured card because of the annual fee associated with it, but I would recommend it to anyone who would like to raise his or her credit score.

Looking for a Good Credit Card to Get Started?

Take a look at the Chase card that is currently offering $200 cash back:

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

This is Jeff Rose, Good Financial Cents and soldieroffinance.com with another awesome interview with another awesome guest. My guest today is Phil Tirone who is what I would call a credit score expert, credit score “ninja”. I’m a financial planner, and I help a lot of people with investing and financial planning, but when it comes to credit scores I am basically, for lack of a better term, ignorant.

I actually had a blog post that I wrote about my experience trying to find my true credit score, and I was amazed at all the dead ends I ran into. Luckily, Phil here was able to shed some light on that situation and help me along.

I want to introduce Phil today as being that credit score expert and for any of you that are in the same situation I’m in trying to understand your credit, hopefully we can learn a lot by Phil’s expertise today.

JEFF: Phil, how are you doing today?

PHIL: Great! I’m doing great, Jeff. Thanks for having me.

JEFF: Okay, I first want to just kick it off and for those that really don’t know you, first introduce yourself, how you stumbled upon your own credit score or credit past and what that has got you today.

Discovery: My Credit Score Sucks

PHIL: Yeah, well it all started in the late 90s. I walked into a bank one day and I was depositing a check. The teller said to me, “Mr. Tirone, you’re overdrawn in your checking account.” It’s embarrassing to hear, okay and gee, I just didn’t really know where to go with it. She said, “But you know, Mr. Tirone, you can apply for overdraft protection, $100 overdraft protection line. We approve everybody.” I’m like sure, do it. So she ran my credit and she said, “I’m sorry, we can’t approve you. Your credit score is too low.” I’m thinking to myself whoa! The first thing was embarrassing. This is really embarrassing!

The thing is Jeff, I knew how important a credit score was. I was in the mortgage business at the time. I did loans for people. I saw how they overpaid based on their credit score. At that moment I looked at my credit score and I said gosh, what am I overpaying on my mortgage? I looked at it and if I raised my credit score to, at that time it was 720, I could refinance my home and save somewhere between $500-600 a month. It’s just staggering.

I said I’m going to figure this out. I bought every book I could. I called the credit bureaus. I called my credit card companies. I called the banks. I tried to get as much information as I can. Just like you said, there’s road block after road block after road block and what I learned after doing this for long is it’s such a conflict of interest of what’s going on here, okay. You go to your bank and ask how to raise your credit score, they’re not going to tell you, okay. They don’t educate their people, I should say.

I don’t believe maliciously they’re trying to hold back information, but I know they don’t aggressively educate the people on how to raise their credit score because it impacts their profitability. You finance, you get lower interest rates, etc. etc. Long story short, after going to the banks and using my credit as the guinea pig I really figured out how to raise a credit score and it’s not hard at all. I came out with a book. I used it as a business card to get more loan business. I said hey, I’ll help you raise your credit score and then do the loan with me. That’s how it started and now I focus on credit all the time.

JEFF: Wow! That’s cool. You just mentioned with the banks and a lot of the mortgage lenders out there, and I think you had a video where you actually went into a bank and asked a bank lender some questions about a credit score. I’ll have a link to that video because I think it is cool because that lender really didn’t know anything and he tried to fill in some gaps with basically some information that was completely wrong. It’s funny because I had a very similar experience with my own mortgage lender here in the area when we were going to build our first home. I asked him some questions regarding credit score and he really had no clue. He tried to pretend that he knew what he was talking about. I don’t think it was done maliciously, but I just think that the information is not easily found out there.

Figuring Out the Credit System

PHIL: Without a question. I took that spy camera into four different banks. Four different banks said basically all different information. I know what impacts a credit score now. I look at tens of thousands of credit reports. I know. These poor guys are just clueless. Like I said, it’s not their fault. They are trying to do their job. The banks don’t educate them. I’ve put together a whole program and sent it to executives at banks and said, “Hey, look at what you could do for your clients.” I get crickets then I realized.

One thing about me, Jeff, I’m a little slow. Sometimes it takes me a little bit to figure it out. Then I realized oh, I got it. Why would they do it? There is just that disconnect, which is what it is and that’s why I’m convinced we need to educate the American people on how to step up for themselves or else their bank is just going to rob them. It is literally a form of legal robbery. In my opinion it’s how banks legally rob. It’s completely unfair and absolutely reform is needed, but it is what it is. You’re dealing with a huge bureaucratic political beast that I’ve tried to change.

I’ve offered to give books away to everyone. I wrote the president when he got into office because he was big into the entrepreneur. He said the entrepreneur is going to save us. He still probably is; I just didn’t hear back from him. I wrote him and I said, “Mr. President, I’ve got the way to save hundreds of dollars a month.”

I mean, 80% of Americans, 80 8-0, have an error on their credit report. If we just solve those errors, the average person will save hundreds a month.

Just solve the errors, forget everything else. I said I would give my book away to anyone. We’ll create digital programs. We’ll just get it out to the masses. But the idea wasn’t good enough, I don’t know why. I thought it was a good idea, but whatever.

JEFF: You sent me a copy of your book and some of your manuals and one thing you just mentioned was 80% of the US population having an error on their credit report and how much that could save them if they just realized that. What are some other common things- all the programs that you’ve gone through, all the people you’ve helped over the years- what are some quick fixes that a lot of people don’t realize that they can implement right away?

Optimize Your Credit Cards

PHIL: Well, first of all you need 3-5 credit cards. You absolutely need 3-5 credit cards. There are people that say I only have one and that’s all I need. Here’s the problem with it; credit is about building roots, deep, deep, deep roots. If you don’t have deep roots when one of those errors come on your credit report, it’s going to drop your score much farther than it should. That’s why you need three to five credit cards.

There’s a caveat here. There are some credit cards that help your credit scores and some credit cards that hurt your credit scores. I’ll explain that in just a second. If you just go out and get a credit card, that could have no impact on your credit score or could be having a negative impact on your credit score. You need to know which credit cards are the right credit cards to get. I can give you that link and we can put it on the blog post. We have gone through sites so we know which credit cards we recommend to our clients and which ones we don’t. If you just go to creditcards.com and you pick whatever credit card, that could have a negative impact. Let me explain why.

The problem with credit cards is they don’t all report the proper information. Here’s why they don’t all report the proper information: according to the credit bureaus, credit card companies don’t have to report information to credit bureaus. They chose to do it. When they chose to do it, they have to pay to report. The credit card companies or your banks and stuff like that pay to report to the bureaus. Because of that, they report certain information. The bureaus are just a reporting agency. They just report what they report.

One of the things we talk about in our book, and this comes from a Federal Reserve board study, 46% of the credit cards that you have in your wallet do not report the proper credit limits to the bureaus. Just think about that. Forty-six percent do not report the proper credit limits to the bureaus and here is the problem with that.

Assume you have a $1000 credit limit and every month you pay your electricity bill on it that’s $100. If the credit card company is not reporting the proper limiting and many times they report a 0 limit, when your credit report is run by your mortgage bank, your credit card company, your insurance company or your future employer, the algorithm of the credit scoring system looks at your credit limit compared to your balance. So on that limit that should be $1000 limit, $100 bill. That’s a 10% utilization. But if the credit limit is not being shown and it’s showing 0 credit limit and $100 balance, that’s negative utilization. You’re maxed out. That could have a 10, 20, 30 point impact on your credit score depending on what other stuff you have.

Help me out here, are you kidding me? That just makes no sense. That’s the thing, I’m a real common sense type guy. That’s just how I operate. There’s certain things that are just unfair and that is unfair because nobody knows this. They think to themselves are you kidding me? How could this possibly be real? This is the way it works.

JEFF: I was one of those that had no idea. I’ve heard about the utilization ratio and I get that aspect of it, but I had no idea about the reporting of the limits and the error of the limits. It makes a lot of sense why it could hurt somebody score, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense why that’s the way it is.

Proven System to Improve Your Credit

PHIL: Jeff, it makes no sense. That’s why I have people that sign up for my program. We’ve had some people that have 100-120 point impacts in 30 days. Literally, they have 100-120 point swing in their credit report in 30 days and it’s because they have two or three credit cards that aren’t reporting the proper limits. It just drives me crazy. Here’s the hard part about that. When they don’t report the proper limit, it impacts your credit score which has a direct impact on how much you are going to over pay each and every month. Like I said it impacts obviously your mortgage.

If you had two brothers buying the same exact house, same exact location, same street, same everything. They have the same income, same debt, but one has a 720 credit score and one has a 719 credit score and they are buying a $300,000 home with an FHA. The one with the 719 credit score, assuming he is going to put 10% down and he needs mortgage insurance, is going to overpay $4500 in fees because of that one point. One point! So it impacts your mortgage. It impacts your car. It impacts your credit cards. It impacts any other loans you have. It impacts your car insurance, your home insurance in certain states. It impacts whether you’re going to get a job. Inc. Magazine came out and said that 61% of employers are running a credit report before they hire you.

I just can’t be more passionate about it. I guess sometimes I feel like I’m up on top of the mountain singing or yelling and no one is hearing. You would think that you get this information to the right politicians laws would be changed. I’m just waiting for you to run for office.

JEFF: That’s great. For my audience and for everybody that watches this, that little nugget is worth hundreds a month, could be thousands a year. Over the course of their life time that’s huge.

One Easy and Quick Fix

PHIL: I have tons of them. So let me tell you this. Everyone…. Well I don’t want to say everyone, but the majority of people, 75-80% of people have some type of collection on their credit report. It’s not because you didn’t pay your bills. I recently moved to Scottsdale from California. I sent in a change of address form to the water service company in LA. They wrote down the wrong address. So what happen is I didn’t know I had this $500 bill for water and they sent me to collections. I get the collection letter.

Thank God I know how to handle this stuff because, guess what, that one collection would have impacted my credit score 50, 60, 70 points. The thing is, one of the things we talk about in the program is make sure you negotiate before you pay any bill in collections. That’s what I did with this collection company.

What we do is take people through a process of validating their debt and then negotiating. What happens with these collection companies is they sell so many different times. So this company sells to this company and this company sells to this company. Many times the information gets skewed and lost. We need them to validate the debt so we can get the information from the collection company so we know they have my wrong phone number, they have my wrong address. They have all this wrong stuff. Then we come from a power of negotiation.

In my course, the 14-day credit challenge, we talk about all this information. We give the actual letters to send for the credit limits, for the bureaus, for the collections companies, all that stuff so that you are put in control. The reality, no one teaches this information. You can’t go to your bank like we said. You can’t go anywhere. You have to find creditable sources. The sad thing is if you go to the books in the books store, we printed a book and the problem is we just kept going out of date. It wasn’t relevant. Now we keep everything on line and basically with the 14-day credit challenge we send people an email once a week. It’s once a week for 14 weeks. We call it 14 days because we send you one video per day for 14 weeks. The videos are 5-10 minutes long. It gives you exactly the nugget you need to learn and then it gives you 5-10 minutes of things you need to do if this applies to you.

At most a person is spending 20 minutes a week, at most 20 minutes a week, to learn about their credit. In most cases, 8-10 of the weeks are applicable. For this, Jeff, we have a free webinar that we can put on your blog post where people can hear. I literally give a 55-minute webinar explaining our challenge and they can sign up for it. We have the webinars once everyone’s there.

JEFF: Okay, we’ll definitely have that information for our viewers. Can you maybe share a success story of someone that has gone through it here pretty recently that maybe seems like a minor thing but made such a big impact on their life now that they understand their credit?

Success Stories

PHIL: I have so many success stories. I don’t even know where to begin. Joe from Indianapolis, Indiana was bankrupt and divorced and never thought he would be financially free. He was in a rough space. One of the things we talk about is I don’t care if you had a bankruptcy yesterday, I can get your credit score over 720, over 750, 8-9 years before that bankruptcy falls off your credit report. Think about that. You had a bankruptcy, you can have your credit score up 700, 720, 750, 8-9 years before that bankruptcy falls off your credit report. My belief system is a lot different from typical credit repair companies. Credit repair companies typically say hey, Jeff, you have that problem with that Ford account. Let me get that off. I know someone at Ford. You’re subject to their relationship getting an error off your credit report. If that error doesn’t come of your credit report or that negative mark, than you can’t recover. I believe completely different.

According to the FCC or according to the federal laws, if something happened to your credit report, it happened. You can’t get it off legally. I don’t want to break any laws. That’s just not my gig. What I teach people how to do is build their credit around those issues so it doesn’t matter. Your bank wants you to think if you had a bankruptcy you’re out to lunch for 10 years. Good luck. That’s not the case. Steve got our program. He went from 540, if I recall, 540 to 735. This is with the bankruptcy on his credit report.

I have another example. Cindy, executive from Sony. I did all her loans. She called me one day and she said, “Phil, I have a problem. Something is going on with my credit report.” We ran her credit report and there was one error. She always had 750+ credit scores. One error on her credit report that had caused something like 750-580. It was a huge, huge drop. One error. It took us months to get that thing off. When we got it off her credit score just popped and she was able to refinance. The reason why she realized her credit score was low is because she was refinancing a certain debt like her car and different stuff like that. She was forced to get into things that she couldn’t afford. When you have a 580 credit score and you’re getting a car, you’re paying like crazy.

One of the other reasons why was her other loans. She was doing investment property so she had to do a 1031 exchange. She had to get another mortgage loan with that credit score really high. She ended up saving when she refinanced those two things $900 a month. It was just staggering. I talked to a guy in Ottawa last week on the cell and he said, “Phil my score went from 620 to 732 in 30 days.” If you know the information it works.

JEFF: Wow! That’s great. I think for anyone that has that situation where they have a low credit score and have nowhere to go, your program is one of the few I’ve seen out there that will actually educate them and walk them through it. You have some pretty bold claims on your site, but what it sounds like is that you also have some case studies to back that up as well. That’s great.

A Guarantee You Can’t Afford to Use

PHIL: Oh yeah. It works. I know it works. A matter of fact my guarantee if you don’t save a $1000 the first year you can have all your money back. That’s my guarantee. The credit guarantee is if your credit score isn’t where you want it to be in a year, you can have all your money back. That’s how confident I am. I just know because we’ve had over 10,000 people go through our program. Because we’ve had that many people I just understand how the system works so well and that’s what’s happening. I’m pretty confident about it and grateful to be able to tell the story.

JEFF: That’s great. We’re also going to have links to Phil’s blog here. I know he’s got a lot of great resources there. I’ll also have a link to the webinar. Basically the link then is just to show them the next available live webinar that they can attend?

PHIL: Yeah, basically they sign up for the webinar and they’ll be invited to the webinar whenever the times are and stuff like that. It’s all on the website.

JEFF: I think also too if you will agree to this, I might have some readers regarding their credit score. Maybe we can post those as well and get those answered on the blog post here just to really, really show people how much they do need to go through your program to boost their credit score and what not.

PHIL: Whatever I can do, Jeff, to support you. I love what you’re doing. I love your information and as I’ve told you I can’t wait for you to come out with your product. After people finish the credit scoring process they need a financial education process, and there is one person I’m turning to and that’s you. I love your blog. I love what you’re doing. I love your book. I want to support you anyway I can.

JEFF: Just so everybody knows, I did not pay Phil to say that. That was completely unsolicited. Phil, I appreciate your time here and I definitely appreciate the nuggets of information. I actually learned a lot today and I’m sure a lot of people did too. I appreciate it.

PHIL: Talk to you soon.

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.” -- Benjamin
Franklin.

The following is a guest post from Martin of Studenomics. He has just released his premium guide on how you can Completely Conquer Credit. If you’re tired of saving money on the little stuff and want to see SERIOUS results you need to check out this guide.

How many credit cards do you have? How many credit cards do you plan on holding in your pocket in one year from now?

The thing with me is that I don’t believe in some one-size-fits-all answer. We all live different lives with different goals. This is why systematic personal finance advice is becoming obsolete. I believe in providing a variety of solutions and taking an objective look at everything.This is what I’m going to do today with my look on the idea of holding more than one credit card.

There are a few situations where it makes good financial cents to have a few credit cards. When is this?

When you shop at specific stores.

I just recently signed up for the Walmart in store credit card. I was impressed by the cashback feature and I must admit that I shop at Walmart pretty often. Actually, to be honest I do the majority of my grocery shopping there. When you find yourself shopping at the same store repeatedly it makes sense to sign up for their specific credit card it the offer is strong enough. My new Walmart credit card comes with no annual fee, 1.25% cashback, and a $15 signing bonus. The interest sucks but I don’t plan on holding a balance.

When you travel often.

There are credit cards that are ideal for those that travel often. It’s usually a points based cased with an annual fee that is recommended for anyone that travels. These cards make it convenient when you’re booking a trip or when you’re making a purchase in a foreign country. I recently had no issues with my credit card while
making purchases in obscure towns in Poland and Hungary.

You have to take the hit here and pay the annual fee so that you can earn the points. If you travel often you’ll make this annual fee back easily when you earn free flights. These free flights are much more beneficial than cashback for those that travel frequently.

When you’re completely on top of your financial infrastructure.

If you’re debt-free and been immersed in the world of personal finance for a long time, you likely won’t get hurt with multiple credit cards. Chances are that you know what you’re doing. When you’re on top of your finances you won’t get confused with a few different bills and accounts. Multiple credit cards will allow you to take advantage of benefits and earn some cashback while making your routine purchases.

As my three reasons above indicate, holding more than one credit card in your wallet isn’t always a bad idea.

Then there are times where holding more than one piece of plastic in your wallet is an absolutely horrible idea. Not everyone is meant to have more than one piece of plastic.

Let’s list those reasons against having more than one credit card:

When you sign up for random credit card offers through the mail.

You can’t just sign up for every credit card offer that comes in the mail. This is like marrying the first person that you kiss. You need to sign up for credit cards that you seek out and are valuable to you. Not random offers that appear in your mailbox.

When a store specific card makes you feel loyal to a crapy store.

Has this ever happened to you? The other day I was going to grab some quick groceries with a buddy when he brought up the idea of going to a more expensive store that I didn’t care of. The reality was that he wanted to go there because he signed up for an in-store credit card that made him feel loyal to a crappy store. Don’t let this happen to you. Only obtain a credit card from a store that you actually shop at
often and not some store that you don’t really care for.

When you’re disorganized.

You have to be a pretty organized person to stay on top of multiple credit cards. With a few different bills coming in on a monthly basis it’s easy to get disorganized and miss a few payments. You don’t want to hurt your credit score just because you got more credit cards than you could handle.

Does it make good financial cents to have more than one piece of plastic in your wallet? It’s up to YOU to decide now. You have the argument for and against here.

How many pieces of plastic do you have in your wallet? If you have more than one, how did you end up like that?

Martin wants to help you find the best student credit cards and how you can get the best online bank for your money.

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

Retail store credit cards sure seem like a great idea. Store clerks offer bait their shoppers with a deal that sounds something like this:

“Would you like to save 15 percent on your purchase today?”

Heck yes! most shoppers think.

“All you have to do is apply for a retail store credit card,”

continues the clerk.

Promotional offers like this are all too common. Just about every major store and gasoline chain offers retail store credit cards.

Unfortunately, store-specific cards will almost always hurt your credit score and your wallet.

Let’s start with your wallet. Sure, you’ll save 10 percent—sometimes even 15 percent—when you sign up for the card, but what happens after the one-time discount?

You’ll pay interest, unless you pay this and subsequent bills immediately. And let’s face it: There will be subsequent bills. Why would retail stores promote these cards with discounts unless they know they can eventually make money?

Retail stores know that sooner or later, you will use the card again. Maybe you are in the mood for a little retail therapy. Having retail cards in your wallet will increase your ability to make an emotional busying decision. Plus, you will be more tempted to buy things from places where you don’t have to immediately part with your cash.

So most likely, you’ll pay interest that far exceed the amount of that one-time discount. This is in the retail store’s best interest, but it’s not in your best interest.

Here’s reason to steer clear of retail store credit cards: Your credit score is going to drop, which means you will pay higher interest rates on future loans and credit cards.

One of the best ways to build credit is to responsibly manage three to five major credit cards. This includes American Express, Discover, Visa, and MasterCard, and it also includes cards from places like Chevron and Macy’s.

Three to five is that “sweet spot” where the credit bureaus can judge whether you can responsibly juggle numerous accounts. But it limits your liability. If you have more than five, the credit bureaus worry that you can get in over your head pretty easily.

One of the problems with retail cards is that they usually cause a person to exceed the three-to-five rule. If you are limited to three to five credit cards, why waste one by applying for a card you can only use at one place? You can’t use your Gap card to book a hotel room, so most people who carry retail store credit cards end up with well over five accounts.

These cards hurt your score for two other reasons:

1. Every time you apply for a retail store credit cards, you add a credit inquiry to your credit report. This causes you score to drop a few points.
2. Keep your revolving accounts active is important, and retail cards are really hard to keep active. After all, you cannot buy a lawn mower from Sears every month. Inactive credit cards don’t tell the credit-scoring bureaus anything about your ability to pay bills on time and manage debt, so they don’t help your credit score at all.

photo credit: Fred Dawson

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.

While some believe that credit cards are entirely evil, there are some credit cards that come with perks that can be well worth your time and effort. Indeed, a number of credit cards have perks that many of us don’t realize are available — no special rewards program or extra fee required. If you are interested in saving money on things like rental car insurance and warranties, check to see what kind of perks your credit card comes with.

Warranty and Price Protection

Some credit cards offer you extra warranty protection on items you buy entirely with a credit card. These warranties sometimes cover the items for longer than the manufacturer warranty. Find out the warranty policy with your credit card, and then you can save money by getting that protection at no extra charge —  no need to buy an extended warranty.

You might also have price protection. Some credit cards will credit you the difference between what you paid, and the new price, if there is a price drop within 90 days of your buying an item. This can help you avoid the buyer’s remorse that can come when something goes on sale a week after you bought it.

If you want to take advantage of these credit card perks, you will need to understand the policies, and make sure that you save receipts and other documentation that the credit card issuer may ask for.

Travel Insurance and Perks

Many credit cards also come with travel perks that can save you money. One of the most useful perks is rental car insurance coverage. Instead of paying for it at the rental car company, you can get it through your credit card. Pay for the car rental with the credit card, and you are likely to be covered. Make sure you find out about the requirements ahead of time. You will likely have to sign a waiver at the car rental place declining that coverage. Make sure you know exactly what your credit card issuer is insuring against.

Other travel insurance perks that may come also include lost baggage insurance, trip cancellation insurance and travel accident or travel emergency insurance. Before you book your trip, find out what your credit card offers, and then use that card to make all of your arrangements.

Waive a Fee

Some credit card issuers will allow you to waive one fee each year, just for asking. (Some require that you have an account in general good standing for this.) If you are a good customer, you might be able to convince your credit card issuer to waive an annual fee, cancel a balance transfer fee, or lower your interest rate. It’s not exactly a perk, but it’s something that can save you money.

Bottom Line

Many of us pay for things that we don’t need to pay for — because they’re already provided by a credit card. You can call your credit card issuer, or request a copy of perks, so that you understand what you already have for no extra charge. And, before you use your credit card, make sure you understand the requirements and policies associated with them, so as to avoid nasty surprises.

Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group.