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Firstrade is a discount brokerage firm that is smaller but has been around for decades. They have a new IRA match promotion with a 3% match on contributions and a 2% match on IRA transfers and 401k-to-IRA rollovers (up to a $20,000 match amount). They have no minimum balance requirements, no annual fees on the IRA, and they don’t require any premium subscription (like Robinhood Gold). There is a minimum 5-year hold period. You can also get up to $250 in transfer fee rebates for eligible transfers over $2,500. Must open IRA by 2/21/25.

More details:

1. Open a Firstrade IRA. Open a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or Rollover IRA during the promotion period.

2. Make Contributions or Transfers. Contributions: We’ll match 3% of new contributions made within 30 days of account opening. Transfers: We’ll match 2% of the total amount transferred from another IRA or 401(k) made within 30 days of account opening, up to a maximum of $20,000 match bonus.

3. Earn Rewards. Bonuses are paid 30 days after your new account is approved.

Get a 3% match on contributions and a 2% account transfer boost when you open a Firstrade No-Fee IRA. No minimums, annual, setup or maintenance fees—plus, enjoy commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds.

Promotion Period: Open to U.S. residents who open a new retirement account (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or Rollover IRA) between January 21, 2025, and February 21, 2025, and fund the account within 30 days of approval.

This is very similar to the current Robinhood IRA promo, but without the Robinhood Gold requirement that costs $5/month. You may prefer Firstrade as they have a published phone customer service number and a physical branch in Flushing, NY. Customer support is also available in traditional and simplified Chinese, with representatives who speak both Cantonese and Mandarin. Or you may just appreciate that they aren’t Robinhood.

This would be a great offer if Robinhood didn’t already do it first and locked many of us into their 5-year hold period, but then again, if Robinhood didn’t do it first, then Firstrade probably wouldn’t have made this offer.

Updated. US Bank has a up to $450 new checking promotion when you open a Bank Smartly Checking account with $25 minimum and complete the following within 90 days:

• Enroll in the U.S. Bank Mobile App or online banking.
• Complete two or more direct deposits.

Your bonus is determined by the total amount of your direct deposits in those 90 days:

• Earn $250 when your direct deposits total $2,000 to $4,999.99.
• Earn $350 when your direct deposits total $5,000 to $7,999.99.
• Earn $450 when your direct deposits total $8,000 or more.

The Smartly Checking account has a $6.95 monthly fee which that is waived with any one of the following:

• Your combined monthly direct deposits total $1,000 or more.
• You keep a minimum average account balance of $1,500 or more.
• You are age 24 and under.
• You are age 65 and over.
• You are a member of the military.
• You hold an eligible US Bank credit card
• Qualify for one of the four Smart Rewards® tiers (Primary, Plus, Premium or Pinnacle).
• Are a member of another of their “special customer groups”.

You may still be considered a “new” account even if you had a US Bank account years ago:

U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking bonus: To be eligible, you or any owner(s) on your new Bank Smartly Checking account cannot have an existing U.S. Bank consumer checking account, had a U.S. Bank consumer checking account in the last 12 months or received other U.S. Bank consumer checking bonus offers within the past 12 months.

Note: US Bank often restricts their financial products to those states where US Bank has a physical branch presence. They will filter you out by zip code.

Tip: However, people outside this footprint may be allowed to open an account if they have other US Bank products. I was more recently able to get this bonus even though I was outside their physical branch footprint by opening a Smartly Savings account first. I think they may have opened just the Smartly Savings nationwide recently (or was it just me?). If that isn’t working for you, you may also try to open a small certificate of deposit (CD) or even a brokerage account or go directly for a credit card. It’s strange, but once they let you open one account, they’ll let you open the rest quite easily.

This offer comes around regularly, but is still a pretty solid bonus if you haven’t done it before. You may also find it worth the effort now due to the new US Bank Smartly credit card that can earn up to 4% cash back with enough assets at US Bank.

Update 1/28: Pepper again has some solid extended sales from now until February 2nd. Be sure you see the 5X/8X offer on your screen before tapping “Buy gift card”. For example, if you buy a $50 Amazon gift card during an 8X offer you’ll get a total of 8,000 points – 4,000 instantly and 4,000 extra later (8,000 points = $4, screenshot below). I check the Pepper app first thing every morning to see the limited-time Flash Sales and to redeem all my available points that arrived from past purchases. Also, check your AmEx Offers to see if you have a targeted $30 off $75 at Pepper.

• Amazon/Amazon Fresh 8X/8% back. Amazon and Amazon Fresh codes are interchangeable. I load them immediately into my account after purchase.
• Sam’s Club 5X/5% back. Sam’s Club and Walmart codes are interchangeable.
• Lowe’s 8X/8%.
• Nike 8X/8%.
• Sephora 8X/8%.
• Old Navy 20X/20% back. This one ends 1/29/25 at 11:59pm ET. Stacks well when Old Navy has their own big sales.

– Pepper points will now expire if 60 days pass without a purchase. If you made a purchase prior to 11/15/24, you’ll enjoy a grace period; this policy change will not take effect until February 1, 2025. Keep in mind you can buy a $1 Amazon gift card.

– Pepper has changed their referral offer to a fixed $20 bonus after spending $200 in your first 15 days. Stack with AmEx offers and a flash sale, if possible.)

Look to stack it with this $30 off $75 AmEx Offer. Search for “Pepper” in your AmEx app. You are less likely to find it again if you used it already.

See new offers daily in-app with the Inbox 📩 envelope icon. Confirm the Boosts on screen before you click “Buy gift card”, as quantities may be limited. 2,000 points = $1.

Original post, updated:

Pepper continues to offer up “flash sales” that offer big discounts on gift cards from Amazon, REI, Sam’s Club, and so on. Plus you still get whatever credit card rewards from the Pepper purchase. Examples are Amazon at 12X/12% back (Amazon Fresh = Amazon), Sam’s Club (= Walmart) at 10% back, IKEA 18% back, Airbnb 14% back in the form of points. Stock up quickly when you see the sale in the app. Redeem instantly into your respective store accounts, if you wish. (Tip: The math will work out. Every 2,000 points is worth $1 in future gift cards. 10,000 points = $5, and so on. Must redeem in increments of $5.)

Here’s the current offer for new Pepper users:

• Download the Pepper Rewards app and be sure to enter a referral code 588494 on the first screen when joining. Thanks if you use it!
• Get $20 after spending $200 in your first 15 days. This bonus has changed from the previous offer, but still not bad astheir old double offer only applied on their standard 4X rates, while their daily flash rates are 12X to 14X.
• You’ll also earn rewards from using your credit card for purchase. Use a 2% or better cash back rewards card, or use it to satisfy a credit card bonus spending requirement that is even better than 2%.

Pepper is an iOS and Android app that sells discounted, new gift cards in exact amounts that are delivered instantly on your phone. This lets you to wait until the moment before purchase when you already have the final purchase price (in-person or online), and then go buy a discounted gift card via the app down to the penny. The main problem with gift cards is when you don’t use up the entire balance. This helps to avoid the waste. I load my Amazon/Amazon Fresh cards into my app the moment after purchase.

Vanguard recently released their most recent annual 10-year forecast as of mid-November 2024 (effectively the beginning of 2025). The beginning of the year is the time for forecasts, and that also makes it a good time to remind ourselves how badly they can be wrong and how you shouldn’t really use them for anything.

Let’s look back at how those same forecasts performed from 2011-2021, with confidence ranges within the 25th and 75th percentiles. I have some old images saved from when Vanguard gave us an update in 2021.

For US Stocks between 2011-2021, their forecast in 2011 was roughly between 6% and 12% annually for US stocks, for a median around 9%. That a wide band! The actual return? 13.4%. As of early 2025, we are still outside their confidence bands.

For Global ex-US Stocks between 2011-2021, their forecast in 2011 was roughly between 6% and 11% annually for US stocks, for a median around 8.5%. The actual return? 4.0%. As of early 2025, we are still outside their confidence bands here as well.

I’m not trying to pick on Vanguard here, but they do release these things with a certain degree of seriousness and brand authority. But honestly, I wish they wouldn’t. I mean, sooner or later they’ll be correct, but how could you possibly attribute that to skill and not luck?

I’m going to include a copy of their late 2024 10-year forecasts (close to the start of 2025) here because they usually delete the post after a couple of years. This way, we can look back again in the future. For this chart, the ranges are their median forecast with a fixed 2% range of confidence for stocks and 1% range for bonds.

Notably, the 10-year median return forecast is 3.8% for US stocks, 7.9% for Global ex-US stocks, and 4.8% for US total bond. This table includes their percentile confidence ranges.

This all reminds of me of the old joke: How can you tell economists have a sense of humor? They use decimal points.

Checked and updated for 2025. Since these are available every 12 months, it is a good idea to check these near or around the same time each year. A lot of companies make their money by collecting and selling data – your personal data. It can be critical to know what they are telling prospective lenders, landlords, even employers about you. Under the FCRA and/or FACT Act, many consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) are now legally required to send you a free copy of your report every 12 months, as well as provide a way to dispute incorrect information.

Some have an online request form, but some are purposefully making it harder to check your reports by removing the online option. Don’t be afraid to call them if needed. You probably won’t want to bother checking all of them anyhow, but if you’ve experienced any sort of rejection or adverse action in these areas the cause might be found inside one of these databases. Keep in mind that you may not have a file with all of these places. Requesting a copy of your own consumer reports does not hurt your credit score.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been doing a better job maintaining their own comprehensive list of CRAs (PDF version) recently, so I am editing down this list to include direct links to the overall categories along with the larger and more widely-used consumer reporting agencies.

Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The three major credit bureaus track your credit accounts, payment history, and other related information like bankrupts and liens. Free online credit reports now available weekly (the frequency was increased from annual to weekly during the COVID pandemic, but that change has been made permanent).

• AnnualCreditReport.com
• 877-322-8228

(Note: As part of a class action settlement, you may also request up to six additional free copies of your Equifax credit report directly from myEquifax during any 12-month period through December 2026.)

You can also now freeze your credit reports for free, but you must contact each bureau separately. For the contact info, please see Big List of Ways To Protect Your Identity: Free Credit Monitoring, Free Credit Locks, and Free Credit Freezes

LexisNexis. One of the largest personal information databases that includes public records, real estate transaction and ownership data, lien, judgment, and bankruptcy records, professional license information, and historical addresses on file. Free copy, must mail in form.

• LexisNexis.com request page
• 866-897-8126

CoreLogic Credco. One of the largest credit-related CRAs and often used by mortgage lenders, your CoreLogic Credco Consumer File can contain: previous homeownership and mortgage info, rental payment history, any reported delinquencies, and other debt obligations like child support. Free copy once every 12 months.

• Credco.com request page
• 800-637-2422

Chexsystems. A consumer information database used by an estimated 80-90% of all banks to help determine the risk of opening new accounts. Think of it as the banks’ version of a credit bureau. If a person commits check fraud or overdraws their account, it will be listed here. In addition, the simple act of opening or closing a bank account may be recorded in their database. Having a negative ChexSystems record can leave you blacklisted from opening bank accounts at most major banks. Free copy once every 12 months. You can now request your report online.

• ChexSystems request page
• 800-428-9623

Microbilt and subsidiary Payment Reporting Builds Credit (PRBC). Microbilt is a provider of credit data for the “approximately 110 million underserved and underbanked consumers in the United States.” Free copy once every 12 months.

• Microbilt.com request form
• 888-222-7621

Realpage (LeasingDesk) Consumer Report. Provides tenant screening through their LeasingDesk product, including “the industry’s largest rental payment history database.”

• RealPage.com report request page
• 866-934-1124

CoreLogic SafeRent. SafeRent provides both tenant and employment screening data, including information regarding landlord tenant and criminal public court records. One free report every 12 months.

• CoreLogic.com report request form
• 888-333-2413

Experian RentBureau Rental History Report. “Every 24 hours, Experian RentBureau receives updated rental payment history data from property owners/managers, electronic rent payment services and collection companies and makes that information available immediately to the multifamily industry through our resident screening partners.”

• Experian.com/RentBureau report request page (scroll down a bit; PDF form)
• 877-704-4519

TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions. SmartMove provides tenant credit, eviction, and background checks.

• MySmartMove.com FAQ page
• SmartMove will disclose the contents of a criminal and/or credit report retained by SmartMove to an individual who requests a copy of their report. To verify your identity and obtain a copy of your report(s) or dispute any information within that report, please contact customer service at 866-775-0961.

C.L.U.E. Personal Property Report. A division of LexisNexis, CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, which collects information that is used to calculate your insurance premiums. This report provides a seven year history of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property. Includes date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name. This also means you can find out about previous claims on the house you are currently renting or recently bought, even if they weren’t made by you.

• LexisNexis.com CLUE report request page
• 866-312-8076

C.L.U.E. Auto Report. This report provides a seven year history of automobile insurance losses associated with an individual. Includes date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.

• LexisNexis.com CLUE report request page
• 866-312-8076

A-PLUS Loss History Reports, subsidiary of Verisk. ISO stands for Insurance Services Office, A-PLUS stands for Automated Property Loss Underwriting System. Auto and property loss claim history.

• Verisk.com report request page
• 800-627-3487

National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange. NCTUE tracks when people don’t pay their phone, cable, or utility bills. One free report every 12 months.

• NCTUE.com report request page
• 866-349-5185

The Retail Equation. Tracks product return and exchange abuse at retail merchants.

• TheRetailEquation.com request page
• 800-652-2331 or returnactivityreport@theretailequation.com

MIB (previously known as Medical Information Bureau). Run by 470 insurance companies with a “primary mission of detecting and deterring fraud that may occur in the course of obtaining life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance.” They record information of “underwriting significance” like medical conditions or hazardous activities. If you have not applied for individually underwritten life, health, or disability income insurance during the preceding seven year period, then you probably don’t have a record.

• MIB.com report request page
• 866-692-6901

Milliman IntelliScript. Tracks your prescription drug purchase history. “Milliman IntelliScript will have prescription information about you only if you authorized the release of your medical records to an insurance company and that company requested that we gather a report on you.”

• RXHistories.com report request page (see bottom)
• 877-211-4816

The following companies all offer background screening services for employers. Most will not have any information about you unless you authorized a potential employer to run a background check on you (probably during the application process). Some will not provide you information unless there was adverse action. Otherwise, you can get one free copy every 12 months. There are a LOT more of these companies in the full list linked above.

The Work Number (division of Equifax). They also keep historical income records.

• TheWorkNumber.com report request page
• 866-604-6570

Backgroundchecks.com

• Backgroundchecks.com report request page
• 866-265-6602

Checkr

• Checkr candidate portal (access report here).
• 844-824-3257

Accurate

• Accurate.com report request page
• 800-216-8024