For your consideration: Avoid These 5 Mistakes!

Over at mainstreet.com, the authors are giving us all a lesson in saving, and what to avoid when trying to start a savings program.

Check IT out.

Because, we couldn’t say it any better! What you’ve got to think about is that saving isn’t easy. It isn’t easy to modify your lifestyle. It isn’t easy to put money away.

When you’ve got even the president of the United States (because he’s got nothing else to work on) telling you to go spend, spend, spend, what are you to do?

What’s nice is that you don’t really have a damn choice. Things are a lot easier when you’ve got zero options. You’re not going to have a pension (most of you). So, you have to save all those millions yourself ORRRRR, you’ll be saying, “Welcome to McDonald’s. Can I take your order, please?” when you’re 68 years old—probably till you die. How’s that sound?

Don’t believe us? Get over to mainstreet.com and listen to them. You know we don’t lie, and neither do they.

Good luck out there.

Keywords: pensions, saving, investing, retirement, difficult, impossible

We didn’t really believe what we were seeing when we saw it, but now that we’ve seen it, researched it and experienced it, we’re recommending it.

For your consideration: Try SmartyPig.com!

Why would you want to do this?

Well . . .

1. It’s a real bank, sort of. SmartyPig.com is actually a program run by West Bancorporation, Inc. out of Iowa.
2. SmartyPig.com is offering a whopping 4.30% on savings right now. That’s a full 1% or more over popular online savings rates offered by HSBC, ING and others.
3. Because they’re backed by a real, American bank, SmartyPig.com is FDIC insured. They’re web site might look a little childish, but it’s legit.

Another innovative part of the SmartyPig.com system is the idea of public savings goal. With this idea, you can tell your friends and family to visit SmartyPig.com, view your own savings goal and make contributions of their own. Saving for a house or maybe for a child’s college education are easy saving scenarios that nicely fit this innovative way to save and EMPHASIZE the importance of savings to those people who might simply buy your kids a new video game for their birthday or maybe another Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card for your anniversary.

For your consideration: We Discover Eddie Money Is A Money King!

Rember the popular 80s singer Eddie Money? No?! Not a problem. That's why we have Wikipedia.

The Money Kings were looking at Eddie's song “Baby Hold On” and realized that what we previously thought was an ode to a lover was really a song teaching all of us the value of keeping a savings account!

Let's take a look at some of the lyrics:

Baby hold on to me
Whatever will be, will be
The future is ours to see
So baby hold on to me

We get it! We'll all have a better future, if we stay liquid and hang on to our savings.

Baby, what's these things
You've been sayin' about me
Behind my back
Is it true you might want a better life
Is it true you think
These things are lies, now
think about it baby
I'm gonna take you to the top

We've all been here before. We look at our savings account and start thinking of how we could live better if we just spent all that money on something “fun.” But Eddie's lyrics are like our savings account whispering in our ears These things are lies, baby. Our savings accounts are going to take us to the top!

Hey-ey baby
You know the future's lookin' brighter
Every morning' when i get up
Don't be thinkin' 'bout what's not enough,now baby
Just be thinkin' 'bout what we got

For your consideration: Save Big Money With These Easy Mobile Banking Tips.

You might have noticed a ton of billboards advertising Chase Mobile Banking. If you're not a Chase customer, then maybe you haven't noticed them at all. All of this doesn't matter. The truth is: Mobile banking is here to stay.

Before you go signing up and using your cell phone to mess with your bank accounts. We want you to consider the following issues:

1. Problem: If your cell phone has its own memory system and you lose your phone, then whoever finds it might be able to get to your accounts. Solution: Consider putting a password on your phone. Yeah! You know. That feature you're currently NOT using.
2. Problem: If your cell phone doesn't provide free data services or you haven't budgeted for this expense, your phone bill could skyrocket from using mobile banking. Solution: Delay your foray into the mobile banking world until you get a new plan with data services included.
3. Problem: The screen on your phone might be too small to see your banks mobile banking display. Solution: Get a new phone (Yuck!), or delay your foray into the mobile banking world until you get a new phone with your new plan.

Last night I saw an advertisement on the television announcing the new Way2Save program from Wachovia Bank. It sounds like an interesting program which basically forces you to save money even as your spending money. It works like this: For every check card or online bill pay transaction you perform from a Wachovia Free checking account, $1 will be transferred into a high interest Way2Save savings account. This account earns 5% for the first year, and at the end of the first year you will also get a 5% bonus, up to a maximum of $300.

The Way2Save program sounded great and prompted me to look into it further so I can start getting a 5% return. I thought that this would be a perfect replacement for my HSBC account whose rates are falling (they’re at 3.80% now). As usual, there are some limitations of the Way2Save program which prevented me from signing up. The biggest limitation is that the ONLY ways you can deposit money into the Way2Save savings account are through: the $1 transferred in from each purchase, and by setting up an automated recurring monthly transfer of up to $100 per month.

Today MarketWatch.com is reporting that a half-point cut in the Fed Funds rate is likely to happen this Wednesday. This will follow a three-quarters of a point cut that happened just less than a week ago on 1/22/08. If the half-point cut goes through, the Fed Funds rate will be reduced to 3%.

The reduced Fed Funds rate will likely have an impact on the Prime Rate, reducing it by the same amount. This could translate into lower rates on which businesses can borrow capital, and hopefully will increase profitability, growth, and expansion. The lower interest rate should also have an effect on the interest rates you pay on your ARMs, student loans, HELOC rates, auto loans, and credit card interest. On the downside, this also means that the interest rates paid by savings account may yet be headed for another drop. So much for my high interest savings account with HSBC…