FINANCIAL INNOVATION 2008: Mint and Cake Financial Lead the Way

Online financial management has taken a big leap with the introduction of two new sites designed to make money management simple, easy, and efficient. Mint.com allows users to improve their spending and savings habits by securely consolidating all their financial information on one platform and providing comparisions and online budgeting. Cake Financial is all about portfolio management by providing a streamlined report detailing all of an investor's online brokerage accounts. This wealth of information allows users of the site to see how their portfolio stacks up to the Cake Financial's community. Visit both sites for improved money management.

Posted 5/8/08

COLLEGE SAVINGS: The Best and Worst 529 Plans

The Morningstar list of best and worst 529 plans for 2008 was recently released with the 529 plans available in Illinois, Maryland, Colorado, and Virginia (both broker and direct plans) selected as the best and the 529 plans in Ohio, New York, Nebraska, and Mississippi (both broker and direct plans) selected as the worst. One of the biggest factors in rating 529 plans is the fee structure of the plans with some of the broker-sold plans rating far below the 529 plans available directly to the public due to higher expenses and fees. For more information on 529 plans and the myriad of college savings options available for parents including custodial accounts, Education IRAs, Independent 529 plans, and bank savings plans visit the Money-Rates.com College Savings Page.

Posted 5/7/08

SOCIAL LENDING REPORT: Prosper Announces Deal, Loanio Coming Soon

Prosper has announced a new partnership with a Utah bank, WebBank, which will allow the social lending site to replace their state specific lending caps with a national rate cap of 36%. The new lending cap could potentially increase lender returns in certain states where the cap was below 10%. Prosper has also has to $50 the minimum transfer amount for members who have installed Prosper's Facebook application. Loanio, a person-to-person lending site in development, has a target sometime in June 2008 to launch their site. The Loanio model is expected to closely resemble the Prosper P2P model. More social lendings news.

Posted 5/7/08

ONLINE SAVINGS RATES: Rates and Deals

Online banks offer a variety of incentives, above-market rates, and programs designed to reward banking customers who open savings and/or checking accounts online. The latest deals and rates include:

• A new social networking site, SmartyPig.com, allows friends and family to contribute easily to public savings goals through their site.
• Wachovia Bank's Way2Save program will pay a 5% APY for one year as well as a 5% bonus (up to $300) in the Wachovia savings account.
• EverBank has extended their special 4.01% introductory yield on checking and money market accounts.
• National City Bank has extended their 5.00% APY 4-year CD rate.
• 4.50% APY on a high yield savings account now available from on the Money-Rates.com Savings Page
• Reward checking programs with yields of 6.00% and higher can be found on the Money-Rates.com Reward Checking Page
• Bank deals including free cash, airline miles, and free iPods available from banks listed on the Money-Rates.com Online Bank Deals Page

Posted 5/7/08

CREDIT CARD RATES: Rates Above 20% for Many Americans

Bad consumer loan writeoffs have forced many major card issuers to raise rates steeply. Check your card statment carefully to ensure you are not one of the millions of American cardholders who are now paying an APR of over 20% unexpectedly. Find new deals and lower rates on student cards, airline mileage cards, rewards cards as well as basic purchase cards or check out today's featured credit card:

 

MICROFINANCE REPORT: 3% Yields Available on Socially-Responsible Investments

Microfinance sites offer socially responsible investors a chance to earn a return while making loans to the world's working poor. Private sector microfinance is a relatively new phenomenom, but is expected to grow to over a $20 billion industry in the next ten years as a form of global charity that can also produce investment returns. MicroPlace, a major microfinance site owned by eBay Inc, has announced that it has added nine new countries including Mexico, Peru, and South Africa to the list of countries for which MicroPlace offers investments through the Calvert Foundation. The investments at MicroPlace typically range in terms from one year to over four years with interest rates currently in a range of 1% to 3% depending upon the country and program. Investments can be made for as low as $25. Already an estimated 100,000 working people living in poverty have been assisted by loans generated through MicroPlace. Visit the Money-Rates.com Microfinance Page for more information about MicroPlace and other microfinance sites.

Posted 5/2/08

SAVINGS BONDS REPORT : Treasury Department Resets Rates on Series I Savings Bonds

The Treasury Department lowered the fixed rate component of their Series I Savings Bonds from 1.20% to 0.00%. The new rate will mean that purchasers of the Series I bonds for the next six months will earn a return equal to the increase in the CPI index (inflation) with no fixed-rate component. The fixed-rate component has been as high as 3.60% for purchasers from May 2000 through November 2000 which means at the current annual inflation rate of 4.84% holders of those older bonds will earn 8.44% for at least the next six months. Economists are projecting an inflation rate of between 2% and 4% over the next year indicating that the Series I Bonds could still outperform savings alternatives. For more information or to purchase US Savings Bonds online visit Savingsbonds.gov.

Posted 5/2/08

ONLINE BROKER REWARDS: E*Trade, Zecco, Schwab, and Fidelity Compete for Accounts

Rewards including high yielding savings accounts, free-commission trading, and cash bonuses are being offered by online brokers as incentives to bring in new customers. Check all the latest online broker rewards on the Money-Rates.com Online Broker Rewards page.

Posted 5/2/08

MONEY FUND REPORT: Yields Drop Below 3%, Expense Ratios May be Reduced

As expected yields on mutual fund money markets have dropped below 3% as fund managers are investing and reinvesting their portfolio holdings at lower rates. The yields on US Treasury-only money funds have dropped even further with most Treasury money funds now yielding below 2%. With yields so low, major mutual fund companies may be forced to cut fund expenses charged to investors to keep yields above 1% on some of their money funds. The low yields have not decreased the popularity of money funds as investors have switched assets into money funds at a record pace. For more money fund news and the yields on money funds offered by major financial companies like Fidelity, Vanguard, and AARP Financial visit the money-rates.com money fund report.

Posted 4/25/08