Credit cards

Written by Marc Sylvester


Continued from page 1

Besides general branding and usage ads, Visa will supportrepparttar check card (a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" spot currently is running) and its "Verified by Visa" product, an online authentication service for card users making Internet purchases. Visa's ad spend last year was $251 million, per CMR. American Express, which spent $154 million in 2001, recently launched an extensive brand campaign withrepparttar 136655 new tag, "Make life rewarding." The initial phase includes nine TV spots, some of which highlightrepparttar 136656 overall brand while others feature specific AmEx services, such as financial planning or travel assistance. AmEx also bowed ads for its new small business network, OPEN, earlier this year.

Discover Card, meanwhile, is bringing backrepparttar 136657 "It pays to discover" tag, replacing "Forrepparttar 136658 slightly smarter consumer." This summer, Discover will communicaterepparttar 136659 convenience of its just-introduced 2G0 card, an oblong-shaped card housed in a plastic case that can be attached to a key chain. Discover also will continue its sponsorship of ESPN's College GameDay program, with promotions and advertising related to college football. New this spring isrepparttar 136660 "Discover Card Shops with Lucky" platform, a 12-city tour done in conjunction with Lucky magazine. The program, which will receive local ad support, includes fashion shows, makeovers and hair consultations at retail locations including Guess?, Sephora and Nine West. Discover spent $82 million in 2001, per CMR.

Finally,repparttar 136661 buzz around chip cards, a talked-about trend last year as Visa and American Express touted their entries inrepparttar 136662 category, has quieted. Chips cards carry technology that can store consumer data and allow particular market segments to be targeted, giving a means to retain and reward customers. But merchants must use still-rare readers in order forrepparttar 136663 cards' benefits to activate, making their actual level of functionality inrepparttar 136664 real world low.

Marc Sylvester is expect based in Edison, NJ . He holds expertise in the banking and finance sector and is a conultant to leading business houses.


Dos and Don'ts: Student loans

Written by Marc Sylvester


Continued from page 1

The safest, easiest and most disciplined way to invest in equities is through mutual funds. Not only do funds offer diversification but many will also waive initial investment minimums if you make automatic deposits every month, typically as little as $50 or $100. To avoid having any money siphoned off in commissions, stick with no-load funds likerepparttar ones we name in this article.

--Don't neglect saving for retirement. Planning for your child's education should not sidetrack you from making regular contributions to your own 401(k), IRA or similar tax-deferred retirement account. You simply don't want to missrepparttar 136654 chance to makerepparttar 136655 most ofrepparttar 136656 tax-deferred gains available in such accounts. And retirement assets won't affect your eligibility for federal need-based college financial aid.

--Don't invest in esoterica. From time to time, you may encounter sales pitches encouraging you to save for college with investments such as annuities or cash-value life insurance. Both defer taxes on your investment earnings but atrepparttar 136657 price of costly withdrawal rules. Many deferred annuities, for example, charge penalties of 7% or more if you need to take out money within seven years of making your investment. Tempted to buy zero-coupon Treasury bonds, which recently yielded 6.6%? They can be fine investments--as long as you buy ones that will be redeemed when you needrepparttar 136658 money. If you have to sell a zero before maturity, you may lose principal if interest rates have risen since you bought it. Prepaid-tuition plans, another way of building up college savings, can make sense if you're too nervous to invest in stocks (seerepparttar 136659 box opposite).

--Don't put your money in your child's name if you hope to get financial aid. College financial aid formulas generally require a child to contribute 35% of his or her assets toward costs, but parents typically need to put up no more than 5.6% of their savings.

With those basic dos and don'ts atrepparttar 136660 heart of your investment strategy, here are moves to make, based on your kid's age:

If your child is 13 or younger, you have enough time to weather any short-term stock market squalls. Investment strategists therefore recommend that you put 75% to 100% of your college savings in stock funds, depending on how much risk you can tolerate, andrepparttar 136661 rest in such fixed-income investments as bonds and bond mutual funds. You might start your savings program with a fund that holds shares of large and mid-size companies with consistent earnings gains and strong growth potential. Financial planner Michael Zabalaoui at Resource Management in Metairie, La. suggests Oakmark (up an average of 25.13% annually forrepparttar 136662 three years that ended June 30; 800-625-6275). Pearman recommends Vanguard Index Value (up 25.46%; 800-851-4999). Both funds seek out undervalued equities and bear below-average risk, according to fund ranker Morningstar.

After you have accumulated $5,000 in your starter portfolio, you can move as much as a third of your holdings into small-company and international stock funds, which offerrepparttar 136663 prospect of juicier returns but also carry greater risk. For funds specializing in shares of small companies, Zabalaoui favors Berger Small Cap Value (up 22.6%; 800-333-1001). Among international funds, he likes Janus Worldwide (up 24.7%; 800-525-8983).

If your child is 14 or older, reduce risk to safeguard savings. Zabalaoui recommends getting at least 50% of your money out of stocks byrepparttar 136664 end of your child's freshman year and moving all of your college savings for that child into short-term bonds, fixed income and cash byrepparttar 136665 end of her sophomore year. To keep risk low, most investment experts prescribe short- and inter- mediate-term bond funds, which will add more pop to your total return than CDs or U.S. Savings Bonds. Pearman likes Vanguard Bond Index Intermediate-Term (up 8.62%; 800-851-4999). The fund shuns high-risk bonds and has an extremely low annual expense ratio of about 0.2% of principal, enabling more savings to go toward your child's college costs.

Marc Sylvester is expect based in Edison, NJ . He holds expertise in the banking and finance sector and is a consultant to leading business houses.


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