Automatic Savings Plan at ING Direct

This morning I programmed a monthly automatic transfer of funds from my day-to-day bank account to my ING Direct account (where I have my emergency fund).

I had noticed that ING Direct was offering an incentive to start one, so I decided to take advantage of this. You have to have an account to even see the offer, so I cannot provide a link for the details. Basically, the offer is:

• Must be set up before August 16th;
• Minimum $100 per automatic transfer;
• Can be monthly, bi-weekly or weekkly; and
• Must be kept for at least 6 months.

So I set up a $100 transfer every month for the next 7 months. The $25 should be deposited around March next year -- I made sure to print the offer so I can follow up with them if the cash isn't transferred to me at that time.

I wanted to put away more money anyway, as I plan on purchasing a new car next year. So why not get a free $25 at the same time? This promotion yields me about 3.5% of the invested amount ($25 for $700), on top of the small interest paid on the savings account (currently 1.3% per year).

GE Increases Its Dividend

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has just announced that the company was raising its quarterly dividend 20%, from $0.10 to $0.12, starting in October. The company, which is often seen as a proxy for the U.S. economy, cited "continued strong cash generation, recovery at GE Capital, and solid underlying performance in our Industrial businesses through the first half of 2010" as a reason for boosting the dividend earlier than previously hinted. The company is also reinstating its share buyback program.

GE cut its dividend by 67% a bit over a year ago to $0.10 per quarter. Even with this increase, the dividend is still far from the $0.31 per quarter that GE was paying before the cut.

Still this is a positive move from the company. I own shares of GE in my RRSP portfolio, where the increase will mean a small $17 per year added to my dividends.

Preet Giving Away an iPad

To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the "Where Does All My Money Go" blog, Preet is giving away an iPad and more.

Happy anniversary!

Net Worth Update

As of July 1st, my net worth was $119 661 (up 1% from $118 488). If I exclude house-related assets and liabilities, my net worth was $78 839 (up 1.2% from $77 920). I'm a bit late posting this month's update because I was on vacation beginning the month, and coming back to work I was quite busy.

Assets ($182 169, up 0.3% from $181 591)

• Bank Accounts $3 699 (up 24% from $2 981)
• Emergency Funds $1 763 (down 22% from $2 261)
• RRSP Accounts $52 936 (down 0.8% from $53 375)
• Non-Retirement Investments $24 911 (up 1.9% from $24 445)
• Home $96 330 (stable)

Liabilities ($62 508, down 1% from $63 103)

• Credit Cards $4 790 (down 7% from $5 154)
• Mortgage $57 608 (down 0.4% from $57 862)
• Line of Credit $0 (stable)

Ratios

• Debt / assets: 0.343 (down from 0.348)
• House value / total assets: 0.540 (down from 0.542)

I moved some money from my emergency fund to my daily bank account at the end of the month to pay back a credit card financing plan -- that way I'll be able to close that credit card before the end of July. Total amount on my credit cards was down, and I plan on lowering it even further this month. I got paid back for the summer festival passes that I purchased for family members. Haven't had much time to work on the house and courtyard, but next weekend I should be free to do that.

Tonight I'm going to see Santana as part of the summer festival, and Friday is Black Eyed Peas. Both shows should be quite good!