$125 CHECKING ACCOUNT BONUS FROM REGIONS BANK: Here you go. Open only to residents of AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA. (Thanks FWF)
$150 BONUS FROM PNC: Have fun. This one’s open to residents of AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, VA and WI.
BUYING AND SELLING STUFF FOR FUN AND PROFIT: Being an internet reseller is a niche some people have figured out to the point where they can make a living at it. Other people do it as a side gig, sometimes for profit and sometimes for points, and Frequent Miler gives you some ideas on how the game is played. This is an area where being a credit card geek can serve you very well since you can work stack credit card bonuses and portal bonuses, not to mention coupons. FM’s sources for resale items: Kohl’s, Staples, OfficeMax, Lowe’s, and Drugstore.com.
HOW TO BOOK A ONE-WAY DELTA AWARD FLIGHT: It’s not possible to book a one-way award flight on Delta using Delta’s system, but it is possible using somebody else’s system. Points, Miles, and Martinis reports on a nice little travel hack. In a nutshell, you convert Amex Membership Reward points to Flying Blue points (that’s the Air France / KLM frequent flyer program), then check availability and book the reward from the Air France website. Very clever!
PUERTO RICO’S BID TO BE A TAX HAVEN: I stumbled across this while perusing FWF and thought it deserved an item of its own. Apparently, Puerto Rico is trying to position itself as a tax shelter for Americans:
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, but for tax purposes, it is treated differently. Most residents of Puerto Rico, with the exception of federal employees, already pay no federal income tax. A person needs to live 183 days a year on the island to become a legal resident.
…The new tax breaks are a radical shift in that they focus on financial, legal and other services, not manufacturing. Puerto Rico slashed taxes on interest and dividends to zero from 33 percent, and it lowered taxes on capital gains, a major source of income for hedge fund managers, to zero to 10 percent.
The incentives work with existing United States breaks. While residents still have to file a federal tax return, they do not have to pay capital gains taxes of 15 percent on assets held before moving and sold after 10 years of island residency.
You could certainly do worse than spending 183 days a year in the Caribbean.
Then again, this isn’t a sure thing. Fortune would like the billionaire readers of my blog to know a few things:
The U.S. territory has a bevy of social and economic problems that appear to be getting worse by the day, making it an inhospitable place for a wealthy individual seeking safety and stability. Crime broke through record highs in the last few years and has started to spill into the wealthy neighborhoods of San Juan, the capital. The violence and economic malaise show little sign of abating. It’s a long way from the financial paradise the Puerto Rican government is trying so hard to portray it as.
…Politically, Puerto Rico is in a state of flux, which means its new investment law could be countered or revoked. There is a reason why Puerto Rico hasn’t tried this beggar-thy-neighbor kind of tax war with the U.S. in the past — it makes Washington angry. That’s a big deal given that Puerto Rico receives around $22 billion from the U.S. every year in the form of aid and subsidies. That makes up around a quarter of the island’s GDP. It could see some of that aid sliced off if it nails some big billionaire fish like Paulson.
Well, shoot. Where the heck is a guy supposed to flee to these days?
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