When used wisely, a credit card can be an indispensable financial tool that helps you save or earn money. Here is a list of ways to put your credit card to work for you.

• Pay with a cash-back credit card.
• Use a credit card for recurring expenses. If your card has a cash reward program you can set up your utility bill, membership, or subscription payments on a period basis and earn credit points automatically.
• Transfer balances to reduce interest.Some cards let you transfer balances from other loans. According to CardHub, eight of the largest credit issuers let you transfer auto loan balances, and seven of these allow mortgage, auto loans, small business loans and student loans to be transferred.
• Exploit sign up bonuses with a new card. By spending reasonable minimum on your card, you can redeem frequent travel miles or free hotel stays.
• Extend warranties. Many credit cards offer a no-cost deal for automatic extension of warranties on purchases made with your card. A typical offer includes doubling of the manufacturer’s warranty for up to one extra year of coverage.
• Lower cost on your loans by raising your credit score. Having open credit accounts and positive activity (e.g., always paying bills on time), can raise your FICO credit score and your eligibility for the best credit cards. For instance, the higher FICO score helps you save the monthly mortgage payment.
• Save car rental insurance by booking with your credit card. Many credit cards such as American Express offer insurance against damage to or theft of your rental car, although coverage doesn’t typically cover liability, personal injury or damage to others’ property. To say the least, credit cards may cover the deductible for rental car incidents.
• Protect the best price. Some credit cards such as Discover and MasterCard will refund the difference if your purchase goes on sale after you buy or if you find the better price within the specified time limit (e.g., 60 or 90 days after your purchase).
• Manage your monthly spending by tracking your monthly expenses. Many credit cards allow you to sort your monthly statements by category or retailer. This information helps your budget planning.

For more details of similar benefits of using your credit cards, please check the credit card 101 https://www.thebalance.com/earn-money-credit-card-4036846

In times of uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, many of us are concerned about our financial stability. Especially, many business owners and investors are anxious to survive this horrible perfect storm. One way to survive is to minimize any potential financial losses resulting from this unprecedented natural disaster. One of the important logical questions to raise is “how can we reduce the tax burden if we suffer from the investment losses.”

Notice that we are eligible for tax breaks if we took a loss from the sales of your investment properties. In other words, your investment losses can be used to offset your capital gains.

Investment losses can be classified into a short-term and a long-term loss. A loss for an investment you owned less than one year before you dispose of it is a short-term capital loss. Its tax deduction is based on your income tax rate. However, notice that your investment loss must be realized, meaning that you must have divested yourself of the asset to claim the loss. For example, if your stock value dropped by $2,000 but you did not sell it, you cannot claim the loss. The amount of losses you can use each year to offset your gains is limited only by your total gains. You can deduct up to $3,000 a year in losses from your income. Although the maximum loss equals $3,000, it would be $1,500 if you are married but file a separate return. For example, if you had $1,000 in short-term gains and $3,000 in long-term losses, your net loss would be $2,000. If you don’t have any short-term gains, you can use it to offset a long-term gain. If your loss is more than $3,000, you can carry over your loss into future tax years and keep claiming your allowable capital loss deductions. For details, please refer to: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409.

In particular, after witnessing stock-market melt-down in the wake of COVID-19 scares, many might have lost their stock investments. For more details about claiming your stock investment losses, please refer to: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/100515/heres-how-deduct-your-stock-losses-your-tax-bill.asp.

Another confusing fact is that when you sell your home for less than what you paid for, you are not allowed to deduct the loss on your taxes because it is regarded as the sale of property used for business and investment. The only way you can obtain a deduction is the situation where if you sell your home at a loss is to convert it to a rental property before you sell it. However, your deductible loss will be limited. Some lawyers indicated that you might claim the investment loss if you took a stock investment loss as a result of the negligent stock broker or financial advisor.

ID Theft or fraud (especially W-2, online banking, and new account takeover fraud) can devastate your personal finance.  The following tips are basic protections against ID theft risk  exposure.

• Leave your Social Security card in a secure place at home to secure your social security number (SSN).
• Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for personal information (your name, birth-date, social security number, or bank account number) by phone, mail, or online.
• Watch out for “shoulder surfers.” Especially when using an ATM, make sure no one is looking over your shoulder to see your PIN, and always take your receipt.
• Don’t use simple passwords. Use a mix of numbers, symbols, and letters (alphabets). If available, use biometrics such as thumbprints, facial recognition and retina scans.
• Check your credit reports periodically. Check the history and status (e.g., delinquent account) of your account through major credit reporting agencies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). Visit the Experian site (http://www.experian.com/credit-report-partner/index-g.html?sc=675830&bcd=ad_c_sem_427_112807642029&k_id=7885a615-a324-4897-bd3c-a39b4ee888d4&k_kw=%2Bcredit%20%2Bagency&k_mt=b&pc=sem_exp_google&cc=sem_exp_google_ad_360793749_25001308989_112807642029_%2Bcredit%20%2Bagency_b_1t2_7885a615-a324-4897-bd3c-a39b4ee888d4&ref=generics&gclid=CN_G_prb49MCFQcPaQod5LQODw ) or TransUnion site (https://www.transunion.com/marketing/ppc-wave?channel=paid&cid=ppc:GOOGLE:c:TU_NB_Credit_Agency_Phrase:credit+agency:cid1&kwid=43700005559342724&opti_ca=168084061&opti_ag=12182791501&opti_ad=174126306459&opti_key=kwd-40236791&gclid=CIfEybfb49MCFQQbaQodNGAIag&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CLSs0rfb49MCFQNgAQodN8ECPw).
• Consider a security freeze on your credit files.
• Collect mail promptly.