Let’s face it, banks aren’t your friend. They count on you using your money improperly and will charge you outrageous fees and interest for doing so. However, if you are responsible with your money, you can turn the tables on them. Here’s how:

Let’s say you spend around $1,500 a month on “stuff” (groceries, gas, haircuts, household items, etc.). If you use a 2% cash back credit card, the bank will pay you $30 for that spending AND will give you a 30 day grace period to pay for it.

So, at your credit card due date, you should owe $3,000 ($1,500 from the last statement plus $1,500 in current months spending). You pay the $1,500 at the due date and have another 30 days to pay the other $1,500.

Do you see what just happened? Not only are you making $30 each month in cash back rewards on your typical spending but the bank is giving you an interest free personal loan of $1500.

So, you should 1) Never be using a debit card for anything, 2) Always be using a cash back rewards card and 3) Always have a balance on that credit card that you pay 0 interest on.

Planning tip: Make certain that the carrying balance on the credit card never exceeds 10% of the credit limit (request a higher limit if necessary) to maximize your credit score.

You always thought credit cards were evil didn’t you?

For those people facing retirement today, full retirement age is 67 with the ability to start drawing Social Security at 62. So should you start taking it at 62 or wait the five years to full retirement age. Here’s some very basic facts for those faced with this decision:

First: Are you actually retired? If you start drawing Social Security and have earned income in excess of about 20,000, they will start taking back $1 for every $2 over that limit. Thus, it is likely not worth it if you are still working full time.

Next, let’s provide some numbers: Life expectancy right now is around 83 years. The break even point for drawing early (if you spend the money and don’t invest it) is around 78. Thus, if you live to life expectancy, you lose by drawing early. If you live well beyond life expectancy (1 in 4 will live to 90), you really lose. However, if you die before 78, you will have benefited by drawing early. So drawing early is really a gamble on your own life.

Now, if you start drawing early and invest the money (most don’t) until full retirement age and can get an average return of around 5%, the break even jumps to around 90. So investors can beat the system drawing early if they truly invest all the money.

Of course there are other reasons for drawing early such as you don’t trust the government not to change the system or reduce benefits and view a bird in the hand as being better than nothing. In any case, this can be a difficult decision to make and must be made after taking a hard look at your own facts and circumstances because there really is no right, wrong, or definitive answer.