Searching for the Right Bank

You might already realize that you don’t like your bank. High fees and low rates are not a good combination. But now what? How can you tell the difference between one online bank and the next? If you are considering ditching your local bank, here are few things to consider:
1. When looking at bank deals [...]

Multiple Signs Point to Increased CD Rate Volatility

They seem like unrelated stories, and none has really grabbed leading headlines:

China proposes a global currency as an alternative to the dominance of the U.S. dollar
Oil prices surge by more than 40% in less than four months
Treasury yields add nearly a full percentage point since mid-March

As isolated as these stories may seem, they all add up [...]

Do You Have What it Takes to Earn 5% on Your Checking Account?

Reward checking. You have probably heard the term by now, but should you sign up for one? If you like the thought of earning 5.01% instead of 0.51% , maybe the answer is yes. A reward checking account is a FDIC-insured checking account that pays a higher rate of interest to customers who meet certain [...]

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth: Thoughts on Extending FDIC Insurance Coverage

Last week, President Obama signed a bill which extended the $250,000 ceiling on FDIC deposit insurance through the year 2013.
Until late last year, the limit had been $100,000. It was then increased to $250,000 to shore up depositor confidence in the midst of the banking crisis. This was supposed to be a temporary measure, through the [...]

Credit Card Reform Passes Congress with a Surprise Amendment

Credit card reform appears close to a reality now that both the House and Senate have passed a final version of the bill. The credit card industry can expect new regulations as soon as next week, when President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. The credit card reform bill did not make it through [...]

Thinking Ahead: Inside the Inflation Numbers

April’s inflation number (CPI), released last week showed a year-over-year decline in consumber prices of 0.7%. Prior to March, year-over-year inflation hadn’t been negative since 1955. Now we’ve seen it happen for consecutive months, and the bigger decrease in prices through the end of April might seem to suggest that the pace of deflation is [...]

Don’t Forget IRS is Waiving Mandatory IRA Distributions for 2009

The tax rules of the IRS are complicated. That’s why it is important that if you know a friend or relative who is at least 70 years old and owns an IRA, that you make sure they understand the IRS has waived mandatory distributions for IRA accounts for this calendar year. For a long time [...]

As CD Rates Get Lower, the Reward for Shopping Around Gets Greater

Remarkably, CD rates got even lower last week. What’s more, the gap between 1-month and 6-month CD rates is starting to contract. There is, however, one remaining way to get a decent CD rate, and that’s by smart shopping.
Let’s start with CD rates overall. On average, based on figures from the Federal Reserve, both 1-month [...]

Will We Get Stress Tests from our Lenders?

The whole idea of a stress test on a financial institution seems prudent. Doubly-so when that institution is receiving taxpayer money. The stress test is supposed to tell us if a bank is prepared for disaster. We found out recently that some banks passed and some banks failed when put under the microscope. We are [...]

Rising Treasury Rates — the Shape of Things to Come for Bank Rates?

Short-term CD rates remained calm last week, but action on the long end of the U.S. Treasury yield curve suggested that changes may be ahead for CDs and other bank rates.
Like their CD counterparts, short-term Treasury yields were roughly unchanged last week, but yields of one year or longer Treasuries all rose. 30-year rates experienced [...]

Are 0% Intro-APR Credit Cards a Form of Savings?

Everybody knows the United States is a debtor nation. We owe literally trillions of dollars on money we have borrowed and spent. As a nation, we have even borrowed against our social security trust fund through an accounting trick. Is it any surprise that the citizens of this debtor nation face their own issues with [...]

Free Advice — For What It’s Worth

This blog centers around advice and commentary on interest rates, specifically CD rates and interest on money market and savings accounts. Of course, these relatively short-term financial vehicles are only part of a savings or wealth management program. What’s a good way to get advice on other aspects of handling money, from using credit cards [...]

Bank Rates Likely to Get Better

Rates on bank deposits are set to go higher if the recent statements of leading economists and the Federal Reserve Chairman are to be believed. The economy is still mired in recession, but the pace of contraction has decreased. Any hints of economic growth, when combined with the enormous amount of money flooded into the [...]

Taking the Stress out of the Stress Test

With results of the banking “stress test” to be released tomorrow, one has to wonder whether this process has been a little too public — too much like watching sausage being made.
This type of regulatory scrutiny is certainly appropriate given the conditions of the past year. However, this latest step didn’t have to be quite [...]

A New Type of Savings Account with Higher Rates

How come some of the best ideas arrive at the worst time? Disciplined savings programs, called installment savings accounts, could have saved the day for many Americans who have now lost meaningful savings they had designated for college, a vacation, a wedding, or another family event. Instead, we are just now hearing about these nifty savings programs. [...]

Redefining “Local Bank”

A conversation this weekend really brought into focus the way banking has changed — and how bank customers should think about banks as a result.
We were talking about choosing banks, and someone made the point that she hadn’t chosen her bank — it was chosen for her. You see, she started out a dozen years [...]