MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard Devalues

Brutal Devaluation Coming to MBNA Rewards WE

A popular MBNA cash back credit card is going through a two-fold massive devaluation. Not only is the annual fee is increasing, but also its point redemption rates are being axed by TD.

Starting September 6, 2018, MBNA Rewards WE’s annual fee will be $120, up from $89. If that’s not bad enough, MBNA is decreasing the rewards rate of return on this card from a flat 2 percent to 1.67 percent starting February 1, 2019.

Currently each 100 points generates $1 cash back, giving the card a 2 percent flat return on all purchases because it earns 2 points per dollar spent. After the devaluation to generate $1 you would require 120 points.

However, for travel redemptions only, the devaluation does not kick in because you will still get 2 percent return or $1 for in that category.

Most MBNA Rewards cardholders use this card for the cash back feature, so after devaluation MBNA will lose a lot of its clients. MBNA is aware of that because it’s lowering its minimum points requirement to redeem points from 5,000 to 1,000 from September 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019.

Even if you use this card solely for travel redemptions, you should take a hard look after the devaluation because of the annual fee increase and this card has minimal insurances.

There are other cash back credit cards available that can replace MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard and even provides better benefits. I have discussed these cards and the MBNA devaluation in this video: Brutal Devaluation | MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard |

Since TD took over MBNA, they keep slashing rewards and benefits for most of that MBNA cards one by one, even including TD’s own travel rewards cards.

Because there are better options available, always look for something better to get the most out of your credit cards.

How To Improve Your Life

Five Ways To Spring Clean Your Life

At present, we are all feeling the pretty rough end of the bad news that seems to filter through the airwaves every day. It can be pretty overwhelming and it’s totally understandable that you might feel you are swimming against the tide. But to look at it another way, when things are seemingly at a bit of a low for everyone it makes sense to use that time to try and build from the bottom up. Following a few simple tips can see a real improvement.

1) Procrastination is the thief of time: Making things better in the short term can be simple, but counter productive. Sure, moving some things around, and putting a few off until later might make the rest of the week go OK, but you will be cursing yourself two weeks from now when it’s due (or overdue) and you’ve still not got it done. It’s surely better to have the relaxation to look forward to and the work done.

2) Try saying “yes” more often: Caution is a useful trait, used at the right times and in the right way. But it can easily become a habitual thing, and you end up putting things off and turning them down because you’re not sure about whether they are quite the right thing to do. If something sounds like fun, but you aren’t totally sure it is for you, why not try it once?

3) Listen to compliments: There are a lot of people about whom you will hear people say “he/she only responds to criticism”. They are the people who, when offered a compliment, will try and palm it off, giving the credit to someone else, or some force like plain dumb luck. Every once in a while being gracious is good, but if you never accept a compliment you miss out on a lot of positivity

4) Do one thing each week that is just for you: Relaxation works much better for you when it comes at a time when you are able to appreciate it. Working all week and then falling into bed for a couple of days is not a good cycle for anyone. You will come to resent the work without having a competing positive thing because you are too busy sleeping. So set some time – sacred time – aside for doing something just for you.

5) Don’t worry about what others think: As the old saying goes, you cannot please all of the people all of the time. So if you are worried about doing something you want to do because you don’t want other people to look upon you worse for it, forget them. Chances are they are small-minded enough to look negatively upon anything you do. So forget them – don’t let them dictate what you do, they are not worth it. Do you know who matters here? You. So please yourself. You cannot do that if you are always concerned about whether people will take a negative view.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Entrepreneur Journey site. In the future, I plan to write more personal development articles on Entrepreneur Journey . This article originally published on the above website on Feb 16, 2009.

Will Chinese Economy Surpasses USA?

India, China, and Global Economy

First Published: ADawnJournal.com February 3, 2010
 

While the global recession has just come to an end, and some nations are starting to dig their way out of financial distress, the economies of India and China continued to grow while most others were bogged down.

Some economists even point out that India and China are leading the way and doing more than their share when it comes to boosting the global recovery. Many of them also predict that China will eventually take over from the United States as the world’s economic superpower sometime during the next 10 years.

That doesn’t really come as much of a surprise to the man on the street though, but what may be a shocker is that India may also soon overtake the mighty U.S.  However, while the two up and comers are become big players in the global economic game, they are achieving it in with a different set of skills and under dissimilar governments.

At present, most economists will agree that when it comes to the top tier of global economic standing, the U.S. leads Japan and China. According to the CIA World Fact book, the GDP (gross domestic product) in 2008 showed the U.S. at US $14 trillion, Japan at $5 trillion and  China $4.4 at trillion. However, India has cracked the top 2$1.20 and sat at number 12 on the 2008 list at trillion.

While China may be growing pretty rapidly, it’s still got a long journey ahead before it catches up to America. And from these figures, that would appear it might take decades. However, the key point to remember is that while the economies of China and India are still growing, the rest of the nations’ GDP around the world has certainly stalled or at least slowed down for the time being due to the recession.

When a country’s economy is considered to be strong, its citizens often spend their money on big-ticket items such as homes and automobiles. However, when a recession hits and the economy is weakened, people hang on to their money and these types of purchases are postponed, especially when jobs are being lost. This can clearly be seen over the past couple of years in the U.S.

But the citizens of China are spending their hard-earned money at a high rate and it’s predicted that by next year China will surpass America when it comes to car sales. The recent recall of millions of Toyota automobiles and the temporary halt of production in North America will also hurt American sales.

It is estimated that China’s growth rate averages between seven and eight per cent, while the U.S. predicted growth is just over one percent. If these numbers are accurate, sooner or later China will pass the leader in our lifetime.

It also looks like India will soon become a major player as its growth rate looks pretty high for the next few years. While the nations’ GDP is well below the U.S. and China at the moment, it has one of the largest populations in the world.  And considering the comparatively low wages and areas of poverty, India’s GDP is quite impressive.

However, India’s economy is mainly based on services instead of goods and its economy has the potential for great growth because of its population and excellent knowledge base.  In fact, many economists predict that India will be among the top economies of the world by the year 2020.

What Motivates Entrepreneurs?

3 Things That Motivate Entrepreneurs

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Mar 9, 2013

Motivation is what makes entrepreneurs think outside the box and come up with bright ideas to change lives. But is there any common denominator that motivates entrepreneurs? There are too many, actually. I will discuss three common motivators that make entrepreneurs break boundaries to make the impossible possible. 

Freedom - As simple as it sounds, entrepreneurs value their independence more than anything else. To come up with new ideas and products, entrepreneurs need to break the rules, and breaking the rules is not possible when you are under someone else’s authority. Behavioral science research and consulting firm Humantelligence research shows that 60 percent of entrepreneurs valued their independence more than anything else. 

Passion - Passion or obsession is one of the most important denominators that make entrepreneurs engaging and keep motivated at a project even if there is no quick solution in sight. You can not be persistent at something if it’s not interesting, challenging, satisfying, and stimulating. And that is only possible when are passionate about what you are doing and you love and enjoy doing it. 

Money - If you look at Forbes The World’s Billionaires list, a high percentage of super-rich persons are entrepreneurs. Some entrepreneurs are motivated by wealth to become financially independent and some entrepreneurs are motivated by wealth to reach the ultra-rich class. So money is another major factor that motivates entrepreneurs. 

A point worth mentioning is that there are many other motivators and they do not equally motivate each entrepreneur, as everyone is different. However, there is one thing that applies equally to all entrepreneurs and that is all entrepreneurs are working hard across the globe to enrich the lives of all of us.

Will IMF Be The World’s Central Bank?

IMF & Global Economy

First Published Published Date : October 7, 2010 ADawnJournal.com

Slow Global Economic Recovery – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the world’s economic recovery is underway but seems to be unbalanced and sluggish. Emerging and developing countries are recovering stronger and faster than developed countries.

Global Financial safety Net – To manage future financial crisis better, IMF plans to create a framework of global financial safety nets. The safety net would be a pool of money to provide some sort of credit line to those countries in need to cope with financial volatility and crisis. This is like – IMF will be working as a global central bank. However, Germany opposes IMF’s role as a global central bank. A Deutsche Bundesbank official said that it would create moral hazard for those who agree to provide unlimited, unconditional liquidity in financial crisis. During the Asian financial crisis, IMF did not approve an idea of creating an Asian Monetary Fund by Asian countries.

Canadian Building Permits Drop – Stats Canada reports that building permits in August dropped 9.2 per cent from July. The big chunk of drop came from non-residential sector. However, the residential sector increased by 2 per cent after declining for 4 months.

What’s Happening – A Test Project

Whenever I come across interesting news, events, stories, etc., I will be sharing them with my readers in mini blog posts.  This is a test project. Based on readers’ responses, I will decide to continue or discontinue later on. No links will be provided; if you would like to find out more on these events, please search on Google