Oct 23, 2008 11:15 am US/Eastern
Internet Company Offers Couples Millionaire Status
BOSTON (CBS) ―
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Internet company uTango offers married couples big bucks for shopping online.
WBZ
How would you like to wake up to a million dollars by staying married for 30 years? That's the promise of a new internet program called uTANGO.com, reports CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston.
Carmelina and Daniel Rakiec, married just four months, are uTANGO members. They believe their marriage will last. "Just knowing that God has placed us together, and we're going to work really hard," Carmelina said.
They've decided to get a financial reward for making that commitment.
"We have three different plans: the quarter of a million dollar plan, the half million dollar plan, and the million dollar plan," says uTANGO founder Jim Miller.
Here's how uTANGO works: Membership is free. To be eligible, you must be single, engaged, or married less than three years.
Members accumulate points by shopping at over 300 merchants that have partnered with uTANGO. You need to go on the uTANGO site first, then to the merchant. Each merchant assigns a point value for every dollar spent. For example, Home Depot gives you 2 points for every dollar spent. Ann Taylor will give you five. Married couples need to choose one of the three plans offered. The higher the reward, the more points you must accumulate each year. For example, if you are going for $1 million after 30 years you need to rack up 120,000 points per year or spend, on average, $20,000.
Daniel and Carmelina chose the lowest plan, $250,000 after 30 years to fit into their newlywed budget. They need to spend about $5,000 each year. They also signed up for the uTANGO credit card, which gives them extra points for every dollar they spend.
"It's not too hard to accumulate points" says Daniel.
In fact the couple already has nearly 60,000 points. "I think the biggest thing we did online was with the wedding, our wedding invitations and our hotels."
And you don't have to wait 30 years to get paid. There are big rewards at 10 year intervals says Jim Miller. "You get up to $10,000 in 10 years, and $100,000 in 20 years. You also get yearly cash back rewards up to $800 depending on how much you spend."
uTANGO seems like a simple way to make big bucks if your marriage lasts. But one consumer expert says it pays to look a little deeper.
"How many people are gong to follow through on a 30-year commitment and buy tens of thousands of dollars a year through one Web site?" asks Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.Org.
He also points out that in the Membership Agreement there is a paragraph that says reward amounts are not guaranteed. We asked Jim Miller about that.
"The member has to understand, and we need to disclose to them, that the money is being invested in the market and the market does fluctuate," says Miller.
And the recent financial meltdown means this is a potential issue.
Still, Daniel and Carmelina are making the commit to one another and the uTANGO program.
"We are only going to use that credit card and we're not going to use any others. It's easier to commit to that than a marriage."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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