The Power of Referrals

Being in the military means dealing with change. Frequent moving around involves frequently opening up new accounts with banks, service providers and utility companies. But do you know there is a way to cash in on all this?

Several companies often offer referrals to benefit the existing customer and the new customer. If everyone in the military started taking more advantage of these referrals, then we could really start making some money off our frequent moves.

In 2014, my family and I moved to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. We bought a house and established our utilities by using the ones recommended to us by friends. But if the Housing Office or some private organization on every installation had a running list of referrals, then once you inprocessed, you could choose your service providers and then you would be provided a "referrer's" name to use, so both people make money. This list would be even more beneficial to those coming back from an overseas assignment since they would have to establish all new accounts versus transferring like CONUS-to-CONUS moves.

Here are two examples of what I'm talking about. But review the services you currently use and then look up the potential referral money you can pursue.

Dish Network: My family loves Dish Network. If someone refers a friend to Dish Network, they both get $50 off their next bill.

Internet Service Providers: Our local area uses Sudden Link for cable modem service (faster/cheaper than the DSL offered here). Their refer a friend gives $25 to both the referrer and the one being referred (is that considered a referee?).

Referral programs are important outside of frequent military moves too. Most banks and brokerage companies offer referral programs too. Here is an example from one of the banks I use:

Capital One 360: This is a separate bank I use solely for my emergency savings account. This bank, formerly known as ING Direct, pays both people $20 if customers open a bank account with $250 or more. If you are interested in this bank while reading this post, use this link to set an account with $250 or more: https://r.capitalone360.com/V1AVDPYTUb

I'm going to see if one of the private organizations I regularly participate in would allow me to establish this program. A new member to a unit could simply choose the service providers they would like to use, contact me, and I could provide a name, on a first in/first out basis, and both would benefit.

Make Money With Me!

One of the most important steps in financial planning is to ensure you have an emergency savings account.  If you have trouble saving, then putting your money into another account that has a time delay in getting access to your money is the best advice.  I use CapitalOne 360 (formerly known as ING Direct).  It takes a couple of days for your money to be available and another couple of days to get your money transferred back to your account.

If I were to need to dip into my emergency savings account then I would put the expense on my credit card and withdrawal the money back into my normal checkings account to instantly pay off the credit card.  All interest rates are low in the country and CapitalOne 360 is currently at .75%.  You can find higher interest rates at several banks and you can always check the rates using www.bankrate.com.  Make sure there is $0/$1 to open and no annual fees.

An emergency account should be 3-6 months of all your expenses.  Emergency requirements are usually where financial troubles start; whether it be your car broke down, some medical expenses or any other unexpected requirement.  People will use credit cards or worse, pull money out of retirement accounts and end up paying interest and/or taxes and the unexpected requirement costs even more.  When people are strapped, these emergencies can be the breaking point.  Before saving for retirement or even reducing debt, it is important to have an emergency savings account that earns interest.

When I first started using ING Direct, they were consistently rated 5 stars and were in the top 5 highest interest rates.  I've been with them for a very long time and the interface is super easy.  They are still rated 5 stars on Bankrate but their interest rate is lower than some other banks.

If you have $250 to start an emergency savings account and are interested in starting your emergency savings account with CapitalOne 360, then please use this link to sign up.  https://r.capitalone360.com/V1AVDPYTUb You will get a $20 sign up bonus and so will I.  Remember, you need to open the bank account with at least $250.