Banking Advice | BankingAdvice.com » Savings

Paying Yourself First – The Key to Saving Money

walter — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:48:22 +0000

There are many different ways to build your savings and secure your financial future. Reducing your highest interest debt before paying down other debt, setting and sticking to a budget and reducing unnecessary costs are all important pieces of meeting your financial goals. One concept that isn’t quite as well known, but which is very effective (as well as being very easy) is the idea of “paying yourself first.” The basic idea is to characterize your savings or investment plan as a “bill” that needs to be paid just like any other. Below is banking advice you can use to...

How to Find High Yield Bank Certificates of Deposit

walter — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:30:19 +0000

Just a few years ago, it was relatively easy to find a five-year CD that would pay a healthy 4 to 5% interest rate. The savings landscape is much different today, as those long-term CDs are now likely to have interest rates around 2%, and even a one year CD is not likely to break the 1% interest rate level. Even with these lower rates, there are many people who still want the security of insured CDs for their savings. This particularly true for individuals who want to reduce their exposure to the sometimes violent swings that we’ve seen in...

Save an Extra $50 a Week Into Your Banking Account

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:19:32 +0000

Wouldn't it be a great feeling to know that you're moving ahead financially? Even an additional $100 a month in savings would help most families. Saving money is one of those things that is easier said than done. To find extra money for saving, dig deep into your money management and spending habits. Here is some banking advice to consider for finding an extra $50 a week to save. After all, if you do, you'll end up with an extra $200 per month. In just 6 months, you'll have saved $1,200.

Think about the money that you spend each week on...
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How Does the Current Economic Crisis Affect Your Money Market Account?

walter — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:24:31 +0000
The current economic crisis is one of the worst in history. While recent recessions didn’t have a major effect on the average person, this crisis has touched just about everyone. Banks have failed, jobs have been cut, homes have been lost, retirement funds have been decimated, and it has become more difficult to borrow money. There have even been questions about the reliability of treasury bonds, and that was previously unheard of. So what’s next – could the savings in your money market account be at risk? All in all, money market accounts are very safe places to keep your...
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How to Compare Money Market Accounts

walter — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:12:19 +0000
Setting up a savings account is an important step in securing your financial future. It allows your money to earn interest, yet allows you easy access to it in the event of an emergency. But most basic savings accounts offer low interest rates compared to those of CDs and other accounts that provide limited access to your money. One way you can keep your money available while earning higher interest is by putting it into a money market account. Money market accounts let you withdraw your money when you need it, yet pay higher interest than your average savings account....
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Finding the Best Online Savings Account

walter — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:42:09 +0000
Gone are the days when you had to make a trip to the bank to open a savings account. Now there are lots of online banks to choose from, and you can open an account with them from the comfort of your own home. Since they do business exclusively online and have no branch locations, they have low overhead and can offer very competitive interest rates and low fees. That’s not to say that there are no disadvantages. If you go with an online bank, the chances of finding a current customer to talk to about his experiences, and whether...
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What Is a Health Savings Account?

walter — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:03:47 +0000
The Health Savings Account, or HSA, is a relatively new option for U.S. taxpayers. Signed into law in 2003 as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, these accounts were intended to help compensate for the high deductibles and low reimbursements of some healthcare plans. Health Savings Accounts allow workers to make tax-exempt deposits to be used toward medical expenses. The funds can pay for medical bills not covered by insurance, over the counter medications that are prescribed by a doctor, or even non-medical expenses if they are taken after retirement age. Here is some advice and...
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Coping With Potentially Higher Inflation Rates

walter — Mon, 30 May 2011 23:06:28 +0000
Generally speaking, inflation occurs when the price of goods and services increase over time. For consumers, inflation is usually considered to be a bad thing, because your money will buy fewer and fewer things. If your income is growing at a rate faster than the rate of inflation then you won’t have this reduced spending power. However, many workers are finding that their incomes aren’t rising fast enough to keep up. From a saver’ s perspective, however, inflation isn’t a bad thing. Rising interest rates go hand in hand with rising inflation, including the interest rates that are available...
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How an Upcoming Inflationary Period Can Affect You

walter — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:38:04 +0000
The concept of inflation is pretty simple. It is defined as a general rise in prices in an economy over a given amount of time. There is some debate about the causes of inflation, but its effects on consumers are clear. It reduces the value of currency, which means that the same amount of money buys us a lower amount of goods and services than it did before. The rate of inflation varies from year to year. Monetary authorities strive to keep inflation low and steady, but sometimes it rises due to circumstances beyond their control. Fortunately, rising inflation rates...
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Financial Planning for Newlyweds

walter — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:25:17 +0000
Marriage is more than just an affirmation of two people’s love for one another. It’s a joining of two lives. Once you become husband and wife, you become one household with one set of finances. While you might keep separate bank accounts, any money that one spouse makes or any debt that one spouse incurs now belongs to both of you. That’s why it’s so important that newlyweds do some serious financial planning. Ideally, it should start before you tie the knot. At the very least, it needs to get underway as soon as the honeymoon is over. Here is some...
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