MoneyRates Blog
Savings vs. Debt Equation Gaining Important Publicity
If you have not already, make sure to read the great articles from Money-Rates.com contributors Adam Jusko and Richard Barrington that mutually show how saving money is much better than going into unneccessary debt.
Indeed, saving money has become as wise today as refinancing the house was (or seemed?) when you had 75 percent equity and could [...]
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Banking or Health Care: Which Is In Greater Need of Reform?
Talk of Federal regulation is swirling around two industries: banking and health care. Both are essential to our modern way of life, and both have their critics and backers. The health care system has never gone through a massive meltdown like banking did a year ago, but many people see it as suffering a slow [...]
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Pending Rule Will Make Bank Rates A Possible Sign of Health
Banks offering high interest rates on savings accounts, CDs, and other deposits are attractive to savvy bank shoppers anyway, but a pending FDIC rule could make them even more appealing. Effective January 1, 2010, the FDIC will put a cap on bank rates offered by institutions categorized as “less than well capitalized.”
The new rule addresses [...]
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Big Banks May Be Forced to Pay Extra Insurance
The so-called “G20″ nations will meet today and tomorrow in Pittsburgh. One particularly prominent issue is what to do about banks that are “too big to fail.”
If you have CDs, savings accounts, or money market accounts, the G20 meeting may actually amount to something more than bland platitudes this year.
Big Banks Backed by Government No Matter What
The repeated and [...]
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Mixed Message from FDIC Leaves Bank Rates Up in the Air
Last week, the FDIC went out of its way to clarify its accounting policies, to show that the draw down of its deposit insurance fund was not as severe as it seems. This week, they are rather publicly weighing options for giving that fund an emergency shot in the arm.
So which is it — is [...]
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Increased Demand for CDs On the Horizon
There is a lot of talk in the financial press these days about “cash on the sidelines.” Usually, cash on the sidelines is mentioned as a reason why stocks will continue to rise as more buyers enter the market.
But what if a lot of that cash goes into CDs? It’s very possible.
Cash on the Sidelines Less [...]
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What’s the Right Cure for High Bank Fee Rates?
Senator Christopher Dodd is reportedly planning on introducing legislation to curb high bank overdraft charges. These charges have been on the rise lately, as banks look for various ways of shoring up profitability. Certainly, overdraft charges can seem excessive, but is legislating against them really the right solution?
According to research firm Moebs Services, the average [...]
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Money Market Accounts, Money Market Funds, and September 18
In September of 2008, a $62.5 billion money market fund operated by the late Lehman Brothers “broke the buck,” meaning that the net asset value (NAV) of the fund dropped below the value of the investor contributions.
That is not ever supposed to happen, and when it did, the Great Panic of 2008 was officially underway.
Government [...]
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Strength of FDIC Fund Could Affect Bank Rates and Security
It has been widely reported that the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund has been rapidly declining, raising concerns that it might require special funding soon to support the growing number of banks classified as troubled. In response, the FDIC has publicly clarified its accounting to show that the fund is not actually declining nearly as rapidly [...]
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Three Reasons Why Inflation Won’t Kill Your Retirement Savings
So, Ben Bernanke says that this brutal recession has “very likely ended.” For Money-Rates readers who hold money in CDs or savings accounts, this silver lining may appear obscured by a dark cloud:
Worries over inflation. Already, CD rates are too slow to keep up with even a moderate rate of price growth.
However:
1. Foreign Goods Help [...]
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Looking for the Next Clue About the Direction of Bank Rates?
Where are bank rates going next? Whether you’ve been shopping for money market rates, savings account rates, or CD rates, you’ve probably been shaking your head over how low bank rates are in general. The question is, can they go any lower?
The next clue may come this Wednesday, with the release of August’s Consumer Price [...]
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Worried About the Dollar, China Buys More Gold
For those of us who watch for the best bank rates on CDs, savings accounts, and money market accounts, watching for changes in Chinese savings patterns is a must.
China has about one trillion dollars stashed in U.S. Treasury bonds, and hundreds of billions more in U.S. banks.
Concerned about high U.S. government spending, Chinese finance officials have [...]
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An Odd Wrinkle In Mortgage Rates
One of the reasons that money-rates.com exists is that the market for bank rates — including deposit account interest and mortgage rates – is far from efficient. Everyone may talk about interest rates going up and down as if they all moved uniformly, but as you can see every day on money-rates.com, different banks offer very [...]
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One Percent Infographic an Argument for Easy
If you haven’t yet seen this excellent infographic about why to find the best rates on CDs, savings, and checking accounts, look at it now.
The graphic describes the story of two families, one who troubles to find the best bank rates online, and one who doesn’t. Over the course of 40 years, a one percent [...]
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As Bank Rates Fall, Executive Compensation Rises
The always-prickly issue of executive compensation popped up again last week, as a report on the subject was released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Executives at some of the large financial institutions which received billions in taxpayer bailout money were paid in early 2009 with stock options now worth $87 billion, according to the report.
There [...]
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Bouyant Housing Market Funded by Government
Terrific home mortgage rates are one reason why this summer saw notable and consistent jumps in home sales. Government participation in the housing market is another reason why home sales have surged.
The $8,000, fully refundable federal tax credit for first time homebuyers is the obvious example of government involvement in the housing market, but a [...]
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Think Bank Rates Are Low Now? Imagine Negative Interest Rates!
A generation of depositors is currently seeing the lowest bank rates of their lives onCDs, savings, and money market accounts. As those rates approach zero, the natural assumption is that things can’t get much worse. Or can’t it?
It may be a little mind-bending to think about negative interest rates, but the concept does exist. The [...]
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Higher Taxes or Higher Interest Rates: If You Had to Choose
The government has spent a tremendous amount of money–up to $23 trillion, according to one estimate–on bolstering the financial system. The banks still haven’t dealt with the “toxic asset” problem that precipitated much of that government spending going to banks. Investors continue to buy U.S. Treasury bonds, but there are sellers, too.
Popular wisdom is that, [...]
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