#1 Your FICO Score

You’ll need a good one to get a good rate on a loan. Bankrate has a free calculator to estimate where you stand.
Get an estimate here.

#2 How Compound Interest Works

The rule of 72 tells you how long it will take your invested money to double. Get a full explanation here.
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It’s Easy to Start Saving Online

Whether you have $10 or $10,000 to save there is a magical place where you can get better rates on your money. It’s called… dun dun dun… the Internet.

If you don’t have an online checking or savings account, it is likely that most of your money is sitting in a traditional bank account making jack squat. Your money is lonely and the 0.1% interest rate is all the love it is getting unless you…

WAKE UP TO THE 21ST CENTURY!!!

Here are 6 reputable FDIC insured banks that consistently pay out the highest interest rates for checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts according to Bankrate.com.

From what I have observed these rates fluctuate as the banks continually try to one-up each other and each bank has their own unique products to offer.

Discover has good rates on their IRA CDs not offered elsewhere, Everbank has the highest guaranteed rate for 1 year, and Ally has a good variety interest checking, CDs, and savings products.

Ally Bank

Ally Bank, formally known as GMAC, is great for anyone just starting out savings as they have no minimum balance requirements and great yields on both their money market, online savings, and newly added interest checking accounts.

There are no gimmicks with Ally and they now offer 24 hour telephone support. A real person will actually pick up the phone whenever you call!

I started out with them back when they were GMAC bank and they have definitely changed for the better. Their rates are always on top and there are zero account fees!

American Express Savings

American Express offers 2 savings products that I recently found out about; a high yield savings account and CDs of varying lengths.

Their interest rates are consistently in the top 6 on Bankrate.com and the they are FDIC insured like everyone else mentioned here.

 
 

Capital One Direct Banking

This one surprised me, but the Viking’s at Capital One are doling out some of their treasures with a high yield savings account.

Their “Interest Plus” savings account requires a $2,500 minimum balance, but pays you a rate in line with the other banks listed here + an additional 10% bonus on the interest you earn. To get the 10% bonus on interest you must do one of 2 things. Either have a $15,000 minimum account balance or use a Capital One credit card one per month.

As the Vikings say… What’s in your wallet?

Discover Bank

Discover Bank is probably one of the best options out there to keep some of your retirement money safe in an IRA CD. I’m not sure where else you can get one of these with a competitive interest rate.

Discover also has regular CD’s, money markets, and one the the best savings accounts out there.

EverBank

Everbank is currently offering the best rate around with an initial rate of 2.25% on their “Yield Pledge” money market account. The 2.25% rate is good for 3 months and you get the rest of the year at 1.51%. Then the yield pledge guarantees that you will still get an interest rate in the top 5% nationwide.

The highest rate any other national bank is currently offers on a savings product is 1.40% at Sallie Mae, but like I said before these rates change frequently.

Everbank does pay a higher rate than anyone else, but you need to maintain a $5,000 minimum balance or they charge an account fee of $8.95/month. In order to get the best rate out there you need to have a little something saved already.

If I had 5K sitting in another bank then I would move it here. If not I would look at another high yield savings account that has no minimum like Ally, American Express, Discover, or Sallie Mae.

The high rate for Everbank mentioned here will not show up on Bankrate.com because it is a 1st year intro rate. That said, Everbank’s regular money market rate still ranks in the top 6 banks nationally on Bank Rate’s website.

Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae (the student loan people) just came out with an interesting high yield savings account that pays good interest and currently tops most other banks APYs.

This is a great account to look into if you have children or are saving for college because you can get an additional 10% match on your Upromise earnings. Upromise is a program that gives you a shopping rebate that can be used for investing in a 529 plan, paying down student loans, or assisting with college expenses.

For more information on how Upromise works a complete review is available here on epinions.com.

Work Isn’t Always Fun

Want a job that’s fun and exciting, but also pays 6 figures?

Well, welcome to 2010 where the jobs are few. Companies make you work more, pay you less, and have cut benefits. Read the rest of this entry »

Drink More Coffee (:

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. My favorite coffee company has 2 new promotions going on. I’ve talked a lot about coffee deals lately because Boca Java keeps putting out insanely good ones and sticking them in my inbox.

Grades of Coffee

Just like other fine foods, coffee has several different grades: specialty, premium, standard, exchange, and off-grade. Boca Java only uses “specialty” beans which rank in the top 2% of coffee beans in the world.

The Deals

The first deal came up last week and includes four 2oz sample bags for just $2.99 (shipping cost). This coffee deal is only good for brand new customers and is a cheap way to try out something good.

The next deal is for one day only and is good for everyone. I pickup a few bags for myself and a couple of gifts with this one.
Receive 50% off coffee from Boca Java on 4/15/10.

If you love coffee then this is a good chance to try some of the best beans in the world for next to nothing. Enjoy!

Can a Plugin Save You Money?

Just the other day, I decided to browse through all kinds of browser plugins. I wanted to see if there was anything new out there that could make my deal searching safer and faster and I managed to find 2 incredibly useful tools.

The first plugin I found is a price comparison tool called Invisible Hand and the second is a “safe browsing tool that warns you about risky sites that cheat customers, deliver malware, or send spam” known as Web of Trust (WOT).
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Gourmet Brew for $2.99

Boca Java, one of my favorite coffee companies, is giving away 4 2oz coffee samples to first time customers. You have to be willing to pay the $2.99 for shipping costs, but this is NOT one of their usual offers that gives you a deal and then auto enrolls you in their monthly coffee club. Read the rest of this entry »

Get $100 for Saving Money

Suze Orman has partnered with TD Ameritrade to encourage you to save money. Open a “Save Yourself Account” and make 12 monthly deposits of at least $100. Then TD Ameritrade will reward you with 100 bucks. Read the rest of this entry »

I Bet You $100

What if I said, “I bet you $100 you can’t lose 10 pounds by next month.” Do you think you could do it? Would you take the bet? Read the rest of this entry »

What is Open Source?

Open source software is free software developed by a collective of people working for no other reason than to further technology and provide something of value to the public. Their full agendas may vary, but this is one case where the something for free will not cost you a dime. Read the rest of this entry »

Where Do You Buy Medicine?

I never thought much about where I got my prescriptions filled, where I bought Sudafed, or where I picked up medication for colds and allergies. Most of the time it was because I was sick and didn’t really care about the price.

I recently ran out my heartburn medication last month. It was the generic store brand for Gaviscon. I had previously paid between $6-$8 at Walgreen’s for the medicine.

Out of convenience I stopped by CVS and found their generic brand “On Sale” for $8.99. The regular price was over $10 which got me questioning what was going on.
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