Earn $100 For Signing Up To A New Chase Personal Checking Account
September 24, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking
Recently, I received a flyer in the mail from Chase offering a $100 credit for opening a personal checking account to new customers. Existing customers are not able to cancel their account and sign back up to receive the $100 credit. Here are a few more things to consider about the offer:
- The $100 will be treated like interest income, so you’ll need to report it as such on your taxes.
- In order for this account to remain free, you have to abide by Chase Bank’s rules. Keep your direct deposit or make five debit card purchases each month to avoid a $6 monthly fee.
USAA Offers Check Deposit Feature With iPhone
August 11, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Tools
The Texas based bank, USAA, released an update to their iPhone application that allows customers to deposit a check through the iPhone. Simply snap a photo of the front and back of the check, and the application will process the check electronically. You never need to physically send in the paper check.
Security issues? USAA realizes that this could bring about security problems, and that is why they are only allowing the feature for customers with another account with them such as an insurance policy or a line of credit.
The Way2Save Savings Plan By Wachovia
July 17, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Investing, Spending and Saving
I was talking with a friend the other day about the Way2Save Wachovia savings plan, and he has had a great experience with it so far. He and his wife were able to save almost $2,000 in less than a year without consciously making an effort to save on a consistent basis. Bank of America had a “Keep the Change” savings program that is similar to this, and I am sure other banks have similar plans, but after reading about Wachovia’s program, I think it’s one of the better automatic savings plans for people that have a hard time saving money. Here’s how it works:
How To Avoid Banking Overdraft Fees
June 29, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Spending and Saving
There are many things that I hate paying for in life, but bank fees are definitely in my top three for most hated expenses. When you deposit your money into a commercial bank, you are already doing them a favor, because that increases their ability to loan more money to other customers and make money from the loan interest. Nickel and diming you with exorbitant fees is not good customer service, yet many banks still try to get away with it. Now with the government sticking their noses in banking interest rates and foreclosure costs, banks will look to fees more than ever to make up for lost revenue.
Savings Tip: Eliminate Your Private Mortgage Insurance
April 7, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Real Estate, Spending and Saving
There are a great deal of people who are paying private mortgage insurance premiums every month that don’t need to be paying them anymore. The market value of real estate has definitely gone down the past two years, but many of you still have 20% or more equity in your home, which qualifies you to remove the private mortgage insurance from your mortgage. If you think this might be you, do the following:
- Purchase an appraisal from a certified housing appraiser.
Organize Your Savings With The ING Direct Orange Savings Account
April 1, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Investing, Spending and Saving, Taxes
Many other bloggers have written about how to set up sub-savings accounts with ING Direct’s Orange savings account, so I won’t go into a huge tutorial about how to do it. Recently, I decided it would be a good idea for us to start categorizing our short-term savings. Lately, we have simply thrown money into the account, and used it for whatever short-term savings goals we had. However, I know there were some times that we used it for things that we didn’t plan on using it for a few months prior. ING Direct has a cool feature in their Orange savings accounts. You can set up as many sub savings accounts as you want. Here’s a quick run-down on how to do it:
Dow Jones Index Drops to 6800 For The First Time In 12 Years
March 2, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Credit and Debt, Economy
I don’t know what to tell you. Even Warren Buffet has lost confidence in our economy. Much of the country is not paying attention to the fact that we are 10 percentage points away from nationalizing a bank, the government pledging about $1.5 trillion dollars in 6 weeks, and the largest insurance company and auto maker dwindling to nothing.
Here are my thoughts on why the stock market continues to go south:
- Investors are reacting negatively to the massive amounts of spending in the Obama economic recovery agenda.
Updated Online Savings Account Rates
February 24, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Spending and Saving
I am a big proponent of online high-yield sa vings accounts, because they offer much better savings rates than most traditional savings accounts, and they are a little harder to access. You might think ease of access is a good thing, but it’s not a good thing if it’s too easy to tap into your emergency fund or short-term savings. I agree that easy access to the money when you need it most is important, but online savings accounts help take away the urge to spend that money on things you don’t need. Given the recent plunge in the stock market and the financial meltdown, the online savings rates have declined quite a bit. The good ole’ days of getting a 5% savings rate is long gone, so here is are the updated rates of the top four online savings accounts.
Is It Time To Pull Your Money Out of Bank Of America?
February 5, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Economy
I just read this article on CNN Money, and it made me a little worried.
We have our primary checking account with Bank of America, but I am about ready to close the account and switch to a credit union. I have kept our checking account with Bank of America for two reasons. We have a lot of bills that automatically draft from that account and our paychecks are set up with direct deposit into that account. I know that I can change all of that, but it would take a lot of time to get done. The other reason is that Bank of America can be found almost anywhere in the Southeast. The convenience of finding an ATM wherever we are has been nice. But, I think the time has come.
Should Obama Limited CEO Compensation?
February 5, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Careers, Economic Policy
Yesterday, President Obama announced that he would limit CEO compensation of private corporations that received bailout money from the federal government. The moment that a private company receives government money, they are taking taxpayer’s money. The government doesn’t have their own money. They have our money. So, Obama and many Ameriicans want this bailout money being used responsibly by these private corporations. They don’t want them using the money for executive bonuses, vacation retreats, and corporate jets. I agree and disagree with this issue.
Why I Agree With What Obama Did
