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Mapping Out Our Financial Life
The other night I spent some time streamlining our banking system. I’ve more or less settled on three core online savings accounts: ING Direct, Ally Bank, and Discover Bank to go along with our local...
View ArticleDiscover Bank Premium Savings Account Upgrade
In talking about our financial network map, I mentioned that we’re receiving 1.50% APY from Discover Bank. A reader named Alan asked about this, pointing out that Discover lists 1.35% APY on their...
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How to Handle a Bank Error in Your Favor
As you’re likely aware, bank aren’t perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes actually favor the customer. Over the past week I’ve been dealing with a fairly significant bank...
View ArticleChase (Sort of) Addresses Downtime
If you have an account with Chase and you tried to access it online earlier this week, then you’re likely aware that their website suffered a major outage spanning parts of three days. Well, the site...
View ArticleHow and Why to Set Up a Certificate of Deposit (CD) Ladder
In this period of low interest rates, many savers aren’t seeing their money produce nearly as much income as they want. Some people want to keep their money in a better interest bearing vehicle. One...
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Depositing Checks With the PayPal iPhone App
Earlier this week, PayPal updated their iPhone app. While there were a number of minor improvements, there was one major change that really stood out. They added the ability to capture and deposit...
View ArticleING Direct Offering 1% Cash Back on Debit Purchases
This is just a quick note to let you know that ING Direct is offering 1% cash back on Electric Orange debit card transactions. This promo applied to all signature and PIN-based purchases under $50....
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Ally Bank 0.25% CD Renewal Bonus
Two years ago, I set up a CD ladder at Ally Bank, though they were still technically GMAC Bank at the time. I did this by buying a one, two, three, four, and five year CD and have been renewing each...
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How to Close an FNBO Direct Savings Account
As part of our New Year’s reorganization, I’ve been closing extraneous accounts that we’re no longer using. One of these is our old FNBO Direct savings account, which has been sitting dormant with a...
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How to Close a DollarSavingsDirect Savings Account
As I noted earlier in the week, I’ve recently spent some time cleaning up and organizing our finances. As part of this process, I closed our FNBO Direct savings account. Today I want to share the...
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Use Long Term CDs to Improve Your Short Term Savings Yields
The past few years haven’t been kind to savers. Interest rates have plummeted, and the typical online savings account is now paying just a bit more than 1% APY. Sure, CD rates are a little better, but...
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Alternatives to Lending Money to Family or Friends
Lending money to family or friends can be an awkward decision. On the one hand, you want to help out a loved one in need, but will you ever get your money back? If you want to help, but think that...
View ArticleCan Banks or Credit Unions Change the Terms of Existing CDs?
I recently ran across a rather disconcerting bit of news about a credit union that changed the terms of their existing CDs. The institution in question is Fort Knox Credit Union, which is based out of...
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Banks With the Highest Interest Rates
If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for ways to get more from your money. Unfortunately, recent years haven’t been kind to savers, with saving account interest rates averaging...
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How to Deposit a Foreign Check
Have you ever dealt with a foreign check? Until about two weeks ago, I had never received one. But then it happened… I opened my mailbox to fund a check from the United Kingdom for some consulting...
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Ally Bank to Buy ING Direct?
According to the New York Post, Ally Financial (the parent company of Ally Bank) is in talks to buy ING Direct. Ally is reportedly making this move in hopes of boosting their deposit base as they wind...
View ArticleING Direct Adds Read-Only Access for Online Aggregators
One of the biggest objections to managing your finances online with financial data aggregators such as Mint.com has been concern over account security. After all, you’re handing over your login...
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Capital One is Buying ING Direct
Remember when I reported a rumor that Ally Financial (parent company of Ally Bank) was interested in buying ING Direct? Well, that rumor turned out to be wrong. Instead, it was recently revealed that...
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ING Direct to Add Remote Deposit?
As a followup to the recent news that Capital One is buying ING Direct, which was met with mixed reactions, I thought I’d share some positive news about ING Direct… According to a series of Twitter...
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Use a Reverse CD Ladder to Save for Future Expenses
I’m guessing that the vast majority of your are familiar with the concept of a CD ladder, wherein you invest in a series of overlapping CDs with a certain maturity. For example, you might own 12 x 1...
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