After seeing rapid growth in a two-year period, Mint has been acquired by financial-software giant Intuit. An impressive valuation for a firm that began on a shoestring budget offering a free product.
The CEO of mint has written an interesting history of their company for TechCrunch. Some excerpts:
And so here we are two years later. We’ve attracted over 1.5 million users, found over $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets, and helped people track nearly $200 billion in purchases. Most importantly, we’ve helped a lot of people better understand and do more with their money. Thousands of people have told us that Mint.com has helped them pay off debt, control their spending, manage job loss, and even resolve money disputes with their significant other…
…So that’s the Mint story. $0 to $170m in three years flat. While everyone else was doing social media, music, video or the startup de jour, we tried to ground ourselves in what any business should be doing: solve a real problem for people. Make something that is faster, more efficient, cheaper (in this case free), and innovate on technology or business model to make a healthy revenue stream doing it.
This integration of Quicken Online with Mint makes Intuit the owner of two of the largest personal finance software programs on the web.
photo credit: zolierdos
14.Sep.09 
Financial Planning 
Comments (0)
A lot of attention is going to General Motors for their announcement that they will be accepting returns on most of their 2009 and 2010 vehicles. The program allows a buyer to return a vehicle after using it between 31 and 60 days and driving it fewer than 4,000 miles.
Upon return, a consumer is eligible for a full refund including sales tax, however dealer options, trade-in credits, and other options may not be refunded.
GM seems unconcerned that consumers may decide to simply use this program as a two-month free rental stating:
“We think if consumers give us a fair chance and look at the facts on the things that matter most to them, like design, fuel economy, warranty, and safety, our vehicles are the best choices and that’s what makes an offer like this possible.”
The program will only run until the end of November and is limited to one per household. It will be interesting to see if this program is successful or simply allows thousands of consumers to drive Cadillacs free of charge for two months. Of course, if it fails GM can always go with a tried and true strategy: lobby for another bailout.
photo credit: JLaw45
11.Sep.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
Many consumers have found it increasingly difficult to purchase a used car as a result of the government’s cash for clunkers program. The generous subsidy offered by the government has created a shortage of old cars that is affecting the economy in unexpected ways.
One group that has been particularly affected is that of demolition-derby drivers. Many an old car has met with retirement at the hands of such a driver, but rising prices on used cars is creating a hardship for these daredevils.
According to an article in Time magazine:
“Obama is an anti-demo-derby guy,” says Tory Schutte, head of the Demolition Derby Drivers Association. “He’s targeting the cars we’ve been using.”
Also contributing to the shortage of derby-worthy cars: scrap-metal prices have doubled in the past two years, leading more owners to sell their cars to the junkyard instead of to a local kid with demo-derby dreams.”
Several billion dollars have already been used towards paying dealers an incentive to accept older trade-ins. While an effective means of creating artificial demand for dealers, this program has hurt those that traditionally buy used cars by driving prices up.
photo credit: ThreadedThoughts
10.Sep.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
As economies turn south, counterfeiting tends to increase. Unfortunately, very few consumers are familiar with the various changes made to US bills in past years. Possesion of a counterfeit bill can lead to its seizure as well as a report to the Secret Service. The alleged counterfeit is not returned until an investigation determines the bill to be genuine.
The best way to identify a legitimate bill is by its security thread. Each bill carries a different color and can be identified as follows:
$100 = Red
$50 = Yellow
$20 = Green
$10 = Orange
$5 = Blue
The yellow thread on $50 bills is one of the easiest to identify visually, and for this reason it is one of the least counterfeited bills. Choosing to accept cash in $50s instead of $100s can reduce your risk of receiving a counterfeit bill.
Merely checking a bill for a security thread is not enough, as clever counterfeiters have taken to bleaching $5 bills and printing $100 notes over them. This method fools most counterfeit-detecting pens as the bills are genuine lower denomination bills. A small UV penlight can be purchased for less than $10 and is a good investment if you handle large amounts of cash. Use of a UV light combined with a knowledge of the security thread’s colors can greatly reduce the chance of being fooled by a counterfeit bill.
photo credit: {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}
31.Aug.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
It’s no secret that unemployment has been climbing steadily. A job’s report issued this last friday indicated that this trend may be slowing.
Those looking to invest, purchase a home, or just trying to gauge their saving habits can benefit greatly from such news. This said, just how much unemployment has actually slowed is currently the subject of much debate.
According to Forbes,
The Labor Department reported Friday that the jobless rate in July was 9.4%, one-tenth of percentage point lower than in June. The U-6 rate, which includes frustrated part-timers as well as those who have stopped looking, also fell slightly, to 16.3%. Williams figures that broader rate hit 20.6%, 25% higher than the government figure
This seems to indicate that the figures being reported have been manipulated to indicate a ’slowing’ in unemployment. Given the discrepencies in data, whether unemployment has actually declined is difficult to determine.
An excellent resource for comparing Government statistics to real numbers can be found at ShadowStats. Taking a look at the numbers there can help one make a better decision for future investments.
photo credit: austrini
10.Aug.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
Publications in recent months, such as Reader’s Digest, have run articles that spotlight a number of methods which they feel help people to save.
While some of the tips seem like fluff (like one insisting that you make sure your kids pay taxes), others are genuinely useful.
We’ve made our own list of ten key methods of saving more money:
- Shop around for savings/checking accounts: some accounts carry much higher interest and lower fees.
- Avoid high risk: if it sounds too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. Run away.
- Never cancel a no-fee credit card: if you’re racking up debt, cut up the card but keep the account.
- Pay more on your mortgage: an extra payment now shaves months off the end of the amortization schedule.
- Shop around to reduce bills: Internet, Cable TV, and Insurance can all be greatly lowered in as little as 15 minutes of shopping around.
- Get term life, not whole: term life insurance is a better buy.
- Pay bills as close to the due date as possible: be careful not to pay late.
- Max your 401k: if the company matches.
- Diversify: Do not put all your savings into one thing. Property values can decline, stocks can fail, investments go bust.
- Take advantage of tax breaks: Use of FSA, retirement breaks, and housing credits can save you hundreds of thousands if used right.
photo credit: voobie
20.Jul.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
Many tech employers have made the news in recent years for offering unbelievable perks to their employees such as free massages. In contrast, some employers have instituted ridiculous requirements on their workers that can leave them owing their employer money at the end of a work day.
State laws generally serve to protect employees, but many employers get by instituting unfair policies or illegally disregarding labor rules. Reporting an employer’s violation may lead to them being penalized, but will almost always result in the whistleblower being fired.
- Waiter/Waitress at a Diner – In many states, restaurants such as Denny’s pay their servers as little as $2.13 an hour with the expectation that tips (which are taxed!) will make up for the low wages. Tips can be abysmally absent in a slow economy or during the night shift, leaving one’s wages well below minimum wage. While most restaurants are required to pay a tip differential, servers rarely see it.
- Newspaper Journalist – Often requiring a great deal of time, stress, and travel, a journalist enjoys very little job security in today’s newspapers. With high numbers of layoffs, a journalist must often dedicate more than 40 hours a week to handle the increased work load. Those starting in the field can expect to make less than $35,000 a year during their first five years, and few last longer than that.
- Gas Station Attendant – Most gas station attendants are required to pay for drive-offs, so when gas prices are high, a thief can cost you your day’s wages. In addition, most customer treat you poorly, particularly when gas prices are up. Sadly, the attendants don’t even get a discount on filling up their own cars.
- Cab Driver – With gas prices up and more people avoiding unnecessary expenses, cab drivers are increasingly finding themselves losing money as they drive around looking for fares. Even with customers, trips tend to be shorter and tips are shrinking. Consistently rated as one of the worst jobs, driving a cab can actually be a money losing occupation after expenses.
- Nursing – Taking care of the infirm is both stressful and messy. The relatively low wages in relation to the amount of schooling required leaves many nurses wondering why they chose their careers.
- School Teacher - Tenure can make it difficult to fire a teacher, but it hasn’t stopped New York City from sitting hundreds of teachers in rooms with nothing to do. Every day. For years. Often resulting as a punishment for upsetting administration, a teacher can be left with the unfulfilling assignment of sitting unproductively with no one to teach.
- Clarian Health – Imagine being charged $10 per paycheck because your employer thinks you’re fat. That’s what actually occurs if your employer Clarian decides you fall into the ‘fat’ category of employees.
07.Jul.09 Financial Planning Comments (0)
What do CEOs, professional sports athletes, and high ranking government officials have in common? They all expect incredible salaries. These positions are extremely scarce rather than simply overpaid.
If everyone could play basketball well enough to make the NBA, the salaries would quickly drop from being 100 times that of a public school teacher to a more reasonable amount.
But, not every high paying position is limited to the mega-talented. Some jobs let anyone earn a six figure income without having advanced education or outstanding ability.
Want to be happily overpaid? Here are five high-income occupations pretty much anyone can do:
- Wedding Photographers – Charging between $2,000 and $6,000 per wedding, wedding photographers are incredibly overpaid. Total work for each wedding is generally just a sit-down consultation combined with a single day spent following the happy couple. While equipment costs and film development must be covered, thanks to digital technology such costs have been heavily reduced. Unfortunately for the consumer, photographers do not offer any reduction in price for missed photos, amateur shots, or other mediocre work product.
- Motivational Speakers – While former political office holders such as Rudy Giuliani easily command 6 figures per speech, there are thousands of ‘gurus’ across the United States turning a significant profit on very little work. For-profit seminars often charge attendees up to $100 per hour to listen to speakers with little if any actual experience. Often, posting an ad in the newspaper combined with some local signage and flyers is enough to convince several dozen people to come to a ‘free seminar’. These meetings are then used to pressure the attendees into spending several thousand dollars to attend the seminars where the ‘real’ secrets to success will be shared.
- Timeshare Sales Associate – Anyone willing to work in these high pressure sales environments can earn more than $100,000 with 20 hour work weeks and no education. The downside is that most if not all of the money earned is tied to commissions. A sales associate earns between $1,000 and $5,000 per sale, with a steady stream of 1-3 potential clients committing to listen to your sales approach every day. Still, with average salaries in excess of $40,000, selling timeshares makes more money than being a teacher
- Real Estate Agent – Anyone willing to dedicate 200 hours to attending real estate school, and pony up roughly $1,000 in licensing fees can become a real estate agent. With commissions of 3% per sale, the small amount of work required in selling just two $300,000 homes will earn an agent more than a year working full time on a minimum wage job.
- Longshoremen – No education is required for the unionized job of handling shipping cargo. With wages in excess of $100,000 per year, this job pays far more than one could expect performing construction or any other manual labor.
06.Jul.09 Financial Planning Comments (8)
This week, we’re proud to announce the launch of our groundbreaking financial-wellness website. There are a lot of financial services out there, but there’s never been anything like MoneyDesktop.com.
We offer all of the features people want in a money management program: the ability to track multiple accounts, to monitor your debt, and to record your expenses.
More importantly, we offer groundbreaking tools to help make your money work for you. Use our program to evaluate major purchases, plan for retirement, and pay off debt using advanced financial strategies. You can even run scenarios that simulate the impact of a financial decision.
We also offer users exclusive access to a mortgage payoff program currently sold for $3,500. This proven program is accessible to every account, at no additional cost.
The MoneyDesktop team has a passion for helping people achieve financial wellness. Sign up today to see how we can help you get out of debt, save for the future, and achieve financial stability.
24.Jun.09 Financial Planning Comment (1)
