TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Credit Card Review: Should You Keep It?

TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Credit Card Review

Disclosure: Information provided here may not be accurate and no longer valid. The mentioned card provider is not related to AhmedDawn.com and neither monitor this site nor responsible for any inaccurate information. Contact the card company directly for accurate and updated information. AhmedDawn.com or my YouTube Channel are not compensated by or affiliated with any credit card companies. All credit card articles are 100% unbiased and honest.

TD Cask Back Visa Infinite card is a cash back rewards credit card that lets you earn cash rewards for everyday purchases, which can be redeemed any time it reaches $25.

The Cost

Annual Fee = $120. Additional cards = $50

Minimum annual income required = $60,000 (or household income = $100,000)

Rewards Points Snapshot

– Earn 3 percent at eligible gas stations, grocery stores, and recurring bill payments Canada.

– Earn 1 percent on everything else.

First Time Bonus

TD is running a promotional 6% return on all purchases for 3 months up to first $3,500 spending. This offer ends on Dec 3, 2017. Also, the annual fee is waived for the first year.

Anniversary Bonus

None.

Features & Benefits

– Visa Infinite benefits, including Concierge Services.

– Emergency Medical Insurance (10 days <65, if 65 or older 4 days, Amount: $2 million).

–– Lost and Delayed Luggage ($1,000 maximum)

– Purchase Security (Not clear)

– Extended Warranty Insurance (Not clear)

What’s Missing

Because this is not a travel rewards credit card, I can’t mention anything here like I do for a travel credit cards review.

The 3 percent return on recurring bill payments makes this card unique when compared to any other cash back credit card in Canada and this is the highest return you will find in this category. The 3 percent return on grocery and gas is not bad, but you will find better cards that I will talk about shortly.

There is a flexibility to redeem cash back any time you want when it reaches a $25 minimum. This is a nice option as well.

As sweeteners, TD is throwing in some benefits such as limited travel insurances and auto club membership. However, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Cash Back Card offers better travel insurances and the BMO World Elite Cash Back Credit Card offers a complimentary roadside assistance program that includes free battery boosts, flat-tire change, lockout service, and towing.

The $120 annual fee may be standard these days, but the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite is a better option with a $99 annual fee and offering more features and more return on specific categories such as gas and grocery. This Scotia card returns 2 percent on drug store and recurring bill payments.

TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Credit Card, Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite and some other cash back credit cards to consider are SimplyCash Preferred Amex, MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard, BMO World Elite Cash Back Credit Card, Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, etc. I do have reviews on some of these cards on YouTube and I provided links for them.

As cash back credit cards are becoming more popular due to their simplicity, credit card providers are stepping up their games and expect more cards to choose from in the future.

MoneySense Published 2017 Canada’s Best Credit Cards

Canada's Best Credit Cards

After questionably selecting the WestJet World Elite MasterCard as Canada’s best travel credit card for a few years in a row, this year personal finance magazine MoneySense came up with better rankings that are more aligned with reality. We will never know what kind of compensations took place behind the scenes, if any, or what else made MoneySense pick the WestJet World Elite MasterCard year after year as the best travel credit card that has a low return (1.5% on everyday purchases) and does not provide trip cancellation insurance and concierge service.

Another mega website, Rewards Canada, also uses a questionable practise of selecting the American Express Rewards Gold credit card as the best travel credit card in Canada. Worse yet, this site is even pumping up 1 to 2 articles per month talking about all the good things Amex Rewards Gold has to offer, without mentioning what it does not offer. And why should it? The more good things these affiliated sites can say to promote credit cards, the more money they will make; each time someone clicks on these affiliated links to get credit cards, they make money from the credit card provider. So you will definitely not hear anywhere that Amex Gold is not suitable to stand as the best travel credit card because although it charges a hefty $150 annual fee, it’s lacking very important travel insurance trip cancellation and does not provide any concierge service.

This year, MoneySense picked top credit cards for several categories such as rewards, no-fee, travel rewards, and students rewards. Here are the top 3 credit cards for cash back and travel rewards:

2017 Canada's Best Travel Credit Cards by MoneySense

1. BMO World Elite MasterCard

2. Scotiabank Gold American Express

3. American Express Gold Rewards

2017 Canada's Best Cash Back Credit Cards by MoneySense

1. Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite Card

2. MBNA Rewards World Elite

3. SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express

How To Be An Entrepreneur

How To Become An Entrepreneur

A lot of people want to start their own business because that allows them to take their career into their own hands. In tough economic times, working for someone else is not always guaranteed and there is often very few jobs to choose from. As a result, many people will start to be an entrepreneur because they want to own their own business and be in charge of their own lives. So, how do you go about being an entrepreneur? Just do the following:

1. Think of a great idea that you believe will be something you are interested in. If you are providing a service, make sure it is something that you are going to love doing. If you are making a product, look at how much it costs to make, whether it will be popular and how long each product takes you to make. You should do a test market for your product or service to determine who will want the product so you can know who to sell to.
2. You need to do up a business plan and this is very important. The business plan is what ensures that you start your business off on the right track. Through the business plan you are stating how you will make money, what you will be selling, who you will be selling to and what you hope to gain from the business. Other things that make up a business plan is an assessment of your competition, your marketing plan, sales forecasts and the analysis of the market you are getting into.
3. If you need money, you should look at getting a small business loan or going to venture capitalists. Not all businesses can be started for nothing, so you may need a loan or investment. However, if you can start a home business without borrowing money, then all the better as you can start making a profit much quicker.
4. It is very important that you do what you can to network with other entrepreneurs. By doing that, you can ensure that you are meeting with people in your industry who can serve as mentors. Networking gives you the ability to tap into a wealth of knowledge that will ensure your business stays successful for many years to come.
5. The last thing you need to remember when you want to know how to be an entrepreneur, is to do everything you can to make your business successful. This means working long hours, talking with people, doing cold calls and more. As an entrepreneur you need to be a public relations expert, a marketer, an innovator, a sales person and more, all rolled into one. It is not always the easiest job in the world, but it does have its rewards and it can be something you truly enjoy.

There is much to remember if you want to be an entrepreneur but it all comes down to doing what you love, knowing how to be successful and having the drive to make yourself successful.

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Jun 5, 2010

The Internet Habits of Personal Finance Bloggers - Get Rich Slowly

J.D. Roth - Get Rich Slowly

On April 30, 2007, I wrote an article on Web 2.0. The web has evolved so much that it is an indispensable part of our life, and we don't use the web the same way it used to be. Professional Internet users, such as bloggers, or any others who depend on the Web for a living, use the Internet differently than average users. I thought it would be helpful for my readers to know how a professional, such as Get Rich Slowly's author J. D., uses the Internet on a daily basis. Here is what J. D. provided for A D Journal readers.

A Day in the Life of a Blogger

I am an internet junkie. I have been addicted to the net since 1994 - and earlier if you count USENET newsgroups and the bulletin boards of the 1980s. I've always craved a connection with other people, the mad exchange of ideas that interconnectivity allows.

Since I began blogging full-time this March, it's become painfully apparent just how much time I spend online.

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is roll to the edge of the bed and grab my MacBook Pro from the floor. While I grog awake, I make a quick pass to verify that Get Rich Slowly hasn't imploded. (It never has!) I also tabulate statistics from the day before, entering them into an Excel spreadsheet.

After I get out of bed, I spend half an hour in Apple Mail, processing the most urgent messages. I used to reply to every piece of mail I received, but that's physically impossible now. It bothers me that I have so many unanswered messages in my mailbox, but there's nothing I can do about it.

After breakfast and after exercise, I spend time gathering information in my web browser (Safari) and composing articles in my text editor (BBEdit). This generally takes several hours of my day, during which I'm also on iChat with other bloggers and friends.

I also try to make time to visit other personal finance sites, especially blogs. I used to read everything via RSS feed, but like my e-mail, this has become unmanageable. I've abandoned my feed reader (NetNewsWire) and now read blogs the old-fashioned way: via the web. But this means I don't catch new stories as soon as I once did. Sometimes I miss great stories completely.

I try to wind down my heavy internet use by about mid-afternoon so that I can spend time with my wife when she gets home. Still, I check in on the site every hour or two to make sure things are okay. And then before bed, I show Kris the preliminary numbers for the day.

All told, I spend about 70 hours a week online. According to the marvelous utility RescueTime, I spend about three hours on my computer every Saturday, about five hours each on Friday and Sunday, and then about 14 hours a day Monday through Thursday.

Of this, about 12 hours a week is spent in BBEdit, performing that physical act of writing. About ten hours is spent at Get Rich Slowly performing a variety of blog-related tasks. I spend nearly eight hours a week processing e-mail — and remember, that's just handling the barest essentials. Finally, I spend about three hours every week fussing with Excel. Those four tasks take 33 hours of my time every week, and that doesn't include research for various articles.

I'm not happy with how much time I spend online. Tracking my habits with RescueTime is the first step in determining methods to reduce the madness. My goal is to become more efficient, to become less wired. My goal is to spend more time in real life again!

First Published: ADawnJournal.com Jun 13, 2008

Ten Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

Why Are Entrepreneurs Different?

Due to the global financial meltdown and corporate downsizing, the concept of entrepreneurship has steadily captured the attention of the general public. Statistics Canada reports that self-employment increased by 4.3 per cent between October 2008 and October 2009. However, the interesting part is the rise in entrepreneurship was not the main cause of people losing jobs due to economic downturn, as the characteristics of those who lost jobs did not resemble the characteristics of those that became entrepreneurs.

There are various factors leading people to become entrepreneurs. However, there are some characteristics entrepreneurs have in common. I contemplate these “special” characteristics all the time; today, I decided to mention some of them I can think of off the top of my head.

Entrepreneurs Go Against The Norms of Society – We are programmed by our society from a young age to go to school, get a job, make someone else (most likely a corporation) rich, and one day retire or die while making that person or entity rich. Entrepreneurs break these traditional societal norms and the vicious cycle of making someone else rich by exiting the traditional comfort zone and trying something beyond the ordinary.

Integrity – Integrity leads the way to becoming courageous and taking necessary risks to becoming successful in a business. Entrepreneurs earn credibility by sticking to their principles and values, thus attracting more business (because people always want to do with business with someone they can trust and feel comfortable dealing with) in their respective fields.

Determination, Dedication, and Hard Work - Determination, dedication, and hard work lead to the bridge to success. The majority of non-entrepreneurs are lacking the combination of these three virtues. Drop any one from these three, and the other two will be meaningless.

A Receptive Mind – Entrepreneurs are always learning new things and they are always on the lookout for new knowledge.

Time Is Precious – Our time is very limited on Earth. We all have two options regarding the use of our limited time: we can make someone else rich by working for someone else, or we can use this limited time to work for ourselves, making ourselves rich and spending this limited time our own way. Entrepreneurs pick the latter one.

Life Starts Now - Entrepreneurs do not want to start life at 69 when they need hip replacement surgery. Regular people wait to start life at 69, once they retire. Entrepreneurs have already started their lives and living their life. The time is NOW, there is no need to wait for life to start at 69 (after having hips replaced).

Higher Degree of Frustration, Rejection, and Criticism Tolerance – Entrepreneurs can tolerate frustrations, rejections, and criticisms a lot better than non-entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs gather feedback from these obstacles and put them into productive use.

Discipline and Self-Control – Entrepreneurs have the ability to manage emotions and live a disciplined life.

Tenacity – Entrepreneurs practise enormous persistency and never give up on their dreams.

Optimism – Entrepreneurs always have a positive outlook about everything and about life in general. They always believe in a positive future and lay out a solid roadmap to reach the future.

Do you have these in you? If you want to be an entrepreneur and think you are missing some or all of them, there is no need to worry. We were not born with these characteristics, and they can be learned. If you are determined to be an entrepreneur and have the willingness to change, you will be an entrepreneur one day. When that happens, it will be my pleasure to greet you saying, “Welcome to the club!” I am looking forward to that day.

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com May 17, 2010