This year was a tumultuous one for banking: Occupy Wall Street protests around the country focused Americans' anger against the financial industry, while widespread outrage over banks' attempts to charge fees for debit card use culminated in a call for Americans to pull their money out of big banks last month on what was dubbed "Bank Transfer Day." But whether your checking account is at a big national bank, small community bank, online bank or credit union, 2012 is a chance to begin afresh.
Money market mutual funds are not the same as savings accounts. A lot of people don’t understand that, and now the SEC wants to make it clear.
Most bank accounts pay little or no interest these days. Consumers seeking an extra (or any) return on their money could, however, check out high-yield checking accounts, some of which pay 2%, 3%, even 6% APY. But such accounts tend to come with peculiar requirements and restrictions—mandatory usage of a debit card 10 times a [...]
Consumers are spending less. Some because they have less to spend. But others because, given the fragile, uncertain state of the economy, they feel compelled to save more. As a result, banks are being flooded with deposits. But guess what? Many don’t want your money.
Most people work toward several financial goals at once but keep their money clumped together in a single savings account. With this setup, it’s easy to forget how much you’ve saved for each goal — and to borrow money from one goal to pay for something else. I’ve found a better way.
If you suddenly needed $1,000 to cover an unexpected expense, how would you come up with the money? In a new survey, only 36% of Americans said they’d simply turn to their trusty savings accounts. The rest would be forced to hit up friends, family, or loan operations for the money, get a cash advance [...]
Now that Capital One has bought ING Direct USA for $9 billion, here’s a plea on the behalf of all ING Direct customers who have long gotten a kick out of the way the company’s marketing mocks other banks for being fee crazy and nickel and diming customers: Please don’t turn ING Direct into just another bank that the old ING Direct would’ve made fun of.
Having a job may cause you to gain weight. Not having a job may also cause you to gain weight.
One reason people live poverty-stricken lives in developing countries like Nicaragua is that jobs pay meager wages. Also, there aren’t that many places to save your money. Also, workers spend a big chunk of what little money they do make on vices, including alcohol, prostitutes, and Coca Cola.
Some people are lucky enough to be wondering not how to get money, but what to do with a sum that’s landed somewhat surprisingly in their laps.
