I have received numerous phone calls from this phone number from someone claiming to be from Bank of America. They want to speak to me about my Bank of America Account. Of course I never provide any additional information and simply take down the number and a message but they never want to leave a message.

So what’s going on here? I do occasionally receive legitimate phone calls from credit card companies and banks in the event of potential fraud on my account. Sometimes I will get a phone call to verify that large charges (especially outside of my local area) are valid.

Protecting your personal information is very important these days, so I decided to contact BofA to inquire about this mysterious phone number. This is the email I received back:

Dear [],

Thank you for your inquiry dated 6/22/09 regarding the calls you are
receiving. We will be able to assist you.

Our records do not show that the number in question is a registered Bank
of America phone number. However, if you may require more information if
there was a recent call made by Bank of America, please contact us at
1.800.622.8731. We are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through
Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Pacific Time.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If we may be of
further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for
contacting Bank of America.

Sincerely,

[bofa rep]
Bank of America

To sum up, phone calls from 800-4570-3732 are NOT coming from any bank or financial institution. These people are trying to steal your information which leads to IDENTITY THEFT. Tell them to put you on the do not call list and never provide any more information to these criminals.

Ally Bank has the highest CD rates on 1 year CDs at 2.49% Annual Percentage Yield. No minimum deposit is required. Here’s a bank rate comparison for 12 month certificates of deposit:

• Etrade CD Rates: 0.70% APY
• Eloan CD Rates 1.60% APY
• ING Direct CD Rates: 1.50% APY

The hottest new VOIP system out there has to be Ooma Phone System. Ooma works just like most other Voice Over IP phone systems since it uses the Internet to provide telephone service for your home (like a landline). Ooma is better than the competitors since there are no more monthly phone bills to pay! Vonage Voice Over IP Phone service costs 25 bucks a month.

Unlike normal landline telephone service, VOIP phone service does not work when the power is out since it requires AC power as well as an active internet connection. But that’s about it for the negatives. Let’s get on to the positives:

1. 1. no more monthly phone bills (with the basic Ooma service)
2. 2. ability to port your old number over or get an entirely new phone number at no additional charge
3. 3. choice of area codes if new phone number is chosen
4. 4. free domestic calling and low rate international calling
5. 5. voicemail included
6. 6. easy installation
7. 7. ability to add on additional Ooma Scout units at any time to expand your phone network

The Ooma core system comes with a base station and an Ooma scout. The Ooma base station connects to your internet router and phone line. It can also connect an existing phone to the Ooma phone service. The Ooma scout is module that plugs into any existing phone line and allows you to add an additional normal telephone to your Ooma system. The Scout also requires AC power. Additional Ooma scouts can be purchased as needed however it is possible to split the Ooma phone signal to multiple phones from any of the units.

Ooma VOIP Review
A “landline” phone was necessary for us since we needed the ability to let people into our place remotely. We don’t ever use “landline” phones for any other purpose so the Ooma seemed to fit the bill. Cheap, easy to install and use, and good sound. It’s not exactly the same as a normal landline phone since conversations through the Ooma system sound a little muffled. Since it is only used to answer the door it definitely meets our needs and will save tons of money in the long run. Go Ooma and save some money! It’s only about 200 bucks for the Ooma core system with 1 Ooma scout included.

With the stock market looking up these days, the thrill of trading is back. Open a new Sharebuilder account and buy stocks the same day when you use funds from your Orange Savings Account or Electric Orange checking. To get you started, ING Direct is offering a $25 bonus when you open your new account and make a trade before 7/15. Use ING Direct promotion code 25RT. Invest in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs with no account minimums or no inactivity fees. Who doesn’t love free money?

First State Community Bank has great long term bank CD rates for large deposit jumbo CDs that require at least $100,000 to open. The FDIC will insure your money up to $250k per depositor for a total of up to $500,000 at any single financial institution. It is definitely wise to diversify risk by spreading out extremely large investments across several banks to get the maximum protection from the government. Current fscb.com jumbo certificate of deposit rates:

Nationwide Bank has highest IRA rates on a tiered basis with a $500 minimum. The interest rates go up as the deposit increases.

Nationwide also offers:

• auto insurance
• life insurance
• health insurance (accident medical insurance)
• credit cards
• home mortgage loans
• mutual funds

Many companies give their employees the option to engage in ESPP (employee stock purchase program/plan). The specific details vary by employer.

If your company offers ESPP at a discount then it makes sense to take advantage of it as long as you can live with the impact on cash flow. The profit from the ESPP plan can be pretty good and well worth the wait if stocks are purchased at a discount.

Here’s an example of how participating in ESPP can be beneficial. Your company may offer a discount on the purchase of stocks as part of the ESPP. If the discount is 15%, then you get a discount on your lock price (the first of a set of offering periods) or the value of the stock at closing of the last day of the ESPP period, whichever one is lower. So if you sell all of the stock immediately then a gain of 15% can be made on this investment. You’ll have to pay income tax on this gain so you won’t pocket the whole 15% but it is a great return on investment with no risk.

401k and similar employer provided retirement investment plans can be a great asset for those that want to put some money away for their future.

Benefits of contributing to retirement funds

1. Free money: If your employer matches any portion of your contribution then not electing to go with a 401k or similar plan is just throwing money away. At a minimum it’s best to contribute the maximum that your employer will match. For example your employer may match 50 cents to every dollar that you contribute to the plan up to 6% of your salary. This means that if your paycheck is 1000 and you contributed 6% of your salary to 401k then the amount deducted from each paycheck would be $60. Since this is a tax deferred investment it really won’t hurt much. Now add in $30 (free money!) for the 50% employer matching and that is $90 per paycheck.
2. Take advantage of compounding interest: This This reoccurring investment along with the power of compounding interest will really add up over time. The earlier you can start a 401k plan the better since there will be more time to compound interest.
3. Tax Deferred Investment: The money elected to go into this type of retirement account does not get taxed by the government at the time of deposit. You will end up paying taxes on this money however it will be when you are retired and potentially in a lower income bracket.

401k investments not guaranteed and can lose value. The best way to keep this investment as safe as possible is to diversify risk by diversifying your investment portfolio. Some investment retirement plans allow a wide variety of choices while others offer very few. Spreading out the investment through different types of funds will help to absorb the effects of constantly fluctuating market. This is also called changing the asset mix. Right now I own about 6 or so different types of funds but I only contribute to two or three of them at a time since I change them around a few times a year. This is not a suggestion, just an example of how I have spread out my 401k investments.

Many people that can afford it will simply max out this pre tax investment (around $16k per year currently.)

Metlife Bank has the best 9 month jumbo certificate of deposit rates (CD’s with an initial deposit of over $100,000) at 2.00% Annual Percentage Yield. Here’s a full list of Met Life Bank’s current CD rates:

The minimum deposit for any new bank CD is $2,000 and the interest rates earned have a direct positive correlation with the amount deposited. Larger deposits can earn higher rates.

Apply online, call them at 1-866-BankMet (1-866-226-5638) or download an application and send it in to get started.

evantage bank rates

• electronic delivery of monthly statement
• up to 6 free withdrawals each month (there is a $5 charge for additional withdrawals, and the month cycle resets on the 3rd Wednesday of every month)
• Evantage MasterCard CheckCard provided for easy instant ATM access
• No minimum balance requirement

INGDirect is giving out a $25 bonus for opening a new ShareBuilder investment account. The Share Builder account can be used to trade stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. Normal real time trades are $9.95 and there is no minimum account balance that must be maintained for this low price. There are many different rates including discount rates for Automatic Investments (scheduled investments).

To get the $25 bonus punch in promotion code 4BUCKS when signing up and make a trade before May 1, 2009. ING Direct will automatically deposit the bonus into the new acct within 4-6 weeks.

CapitalOne Direct Banking has top online savings rates at a very high rate of 1.99% APR / 2.01% APY. This is a very competitive interest rate for online savings accounts which don’t have the same early withdrawal penalties that bank certificates of deposit have.

The savings rates are tiered based on the average daily account balance:

These rates are better than current short term Jumbo CD rates.

UmbrellaBank.com has highest money market account rates on a tiered basis. Here are the current MMA rates for UmbrellaBank’s online Pot O’Gold Money Market Accounts:

There’s a $1,000 minimum balance requirement to open a new money mkt account. Interest earned from this bank account is compounded daily for the maximum benefit to the account holder and deposited into the MMA account on the 10th of every month.

Money market accounts differ from fixed rate certificate of deposit investments since the interest rate varies over time. Money market rates have been lower than CD rates in recent months however UmbrellaBank has some of the highest interest rates today. There is no guaranteed rate of return since money market account interest rates are based on current market conditions and subject to the same fluctuations that the market is prone to.

Money deposited in an Umbrella Bank money market account can be accessed in several ways:

• Standard electronic transfers (typical of any online banking account)
• Check writing
• ATM withdrawals

Service fees, penalties, and other limits of this MMA:

• Monthly service fee for accounts with less than $1,000 average daily minimum balance
• Only 6 non ATM transactions are allowed per month

Discover Bank is offering $50 for opening a new Certificate of Deposit account online.  Open a new CD account at DiscoverBank.com with a minimum of $10,000 by 2/28/2009 and and Discover Bank will credit your certificate of deposit account with an additional $50 dollars.

You must use Offer Code D100743 on the online form in order to qualify (the above link will automatically fill it in for you).  You are welcome to share this code with friends but they’ll need to either come to this site and click the link or enter the offer code on the application form in order to get the free $50.

Discover Bank CD Rates are very high CD rates indeed. Here’s a quick snapshot of their long term CD rates (jumbo CD rates are the same):

• 5 years CD: 3.51% APY
• 7 years CD: 3.75% APY
• 10 years CD: 4.00% APY

This promotional offer is good through February 28, 2009. To earn the cash offer, a minimum deposit of $10,000 in new funds must be received by March 15, 2009 and those funds must remain on deposit for at least 90 days. The cash offer will be credited to your Discover Bank account 4 to 6 weeks after the 90-day period. Offer limited to one per customer and not applicable for accounts opened via phone or mail.

HSBC Direct has top C.D. rates for 18 month CD’s at 2.75% APY. They call this a special interest rate but really no rate is guaranteed until you open the certificate of deposit. HSBCdirect can change their CD rates on a daily basis if they choose to do so.

The minimum opening deposit for a C.D. account at HSBC Direct Bank is only $10. Online checking accounts and savings accounts can be accessed through a network of ATMs. These rates apply to online accounts only and do not apply at local HSBC banks.

24 hour customer service for HSBC Direct: 1-800-975-4722

Here is an email that I received today that got through yahoo’s spam blocker, looks legitimate, and appears to come from Bank of America but it is totally a scam. Important things to note:

• Bank of America would NEVER have a contact email address at GMAIL
• The “contact” at Bank of America would provide their FULL NAME
• Of course google maps can’t even map the fake branch address provided

Please do not believe for a second that you will actually get a single penny from this scammer. Idiots that send out garbage like this deserve jail time for preying on hard working Americans especially in such tough economic times. I forwarded these emails to abuse [at] bankofamerica [dotcom] and abuse [at] gmail [dotcom].

I also have heard about this same type of scam targeting older folks (senior citizens) but coming through normal US mail. They ask for some money as a fee in return for some large sum of money. While I believe that most people are not gullible enough to believe this I do want to put this out there so people are aware of these horrible scams.

***************** WARNING SCAM EMAIL BELOW *****************

(apparently) FROM: customerservice@bankofamerica.com SUBJECT: Bank of America Alerts: Confirmation of Telegraphic Wire Transfer This email was sent to you by Bank of America. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add customerservice@bankofamerica.com to your address book or safe sender list.

Bank of America
Corporate Headquarters
100 North Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28255
BANK OF AMERICA ONLINE NOTIFICATION This message is to officially inform you that on Friday, February 6, 2009, we received a Telegraphic Wire Transfer of $450,090.00 from the United States Government as your compensatory grant for the current economic hardship.
Please be aware that this compensatory grant has been deposited into an escrow account at Bank of America/Alabama branch office and is available for remittance immediately.
The standard payment procedure is as follows:- The funds will be wired into any bank account of your choice by Bank of America and the time frame for delivery is 24-48 hrs.
It is mandatory that you activate the escrow account by making a one-time payment of $500.00 via the western union money transfer or money gram to enable the wire transfer function of the escrow account.
Please Note: The Escrow Account Activation Fee could not be deducted from your funds as your funds are protected by a Federal Government Premium Hardcover Insurance Policy installed to prevent any deductions from your funds.
The fee must be paid by you via the western union money transfer network or money gram to the payment secretary at branch office in Alabama. CONTACT BANK OF AMERICA PAYMENT SECRETARY IN ALABAMA TO RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION ON HOW TO PAY THE ESCROW ACCOUNT ACTIVATION FEE IMMEDIATELY: PAYMENT SECRETARY: Ms. Pell BRANCH OFFICE: 77 Crow Drive, Birmingham, AL 35201 CONTACT E-MAIL: paysecretary@gmail.com UPON CONFIRMATION OF PAYMENT OF THE ESCROW ACCOUNT ACTIVATION FEE, YOUR FUNDS WILL BE WIRED DIRECTLY INTO ANY BANK ACCOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE AND THE TIME FRAME FOR DELIVERY IS 24-48 HRS. The remittance procedure can only be completed through the payment secretary. This notification is for information purposes only.
Please do not reply to this message.

Sincerely,

Bank of America Contact us about this email
Please do not reply to this email. If you have any questions, please contact the official in charge.

Privacy and Security
Keeping your financial information secure is one of our most important responsibilities. For an explanation of how we manage customer information, please read our Privacy Policy. You can also learn how Bank of America keeps your personal information secure and how you can help protect yourself.

Bank of America Email, 8th Floor, 101 South Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28255. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender
© 2009 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

***************** END SCAM EMAIL *****************

Electric Orange Checking from ING Direct is a high interest bearing free online checking account that includes the Electric Orange MasterCard Debit Card for instant access to your investment funds. INGDirect pays high interest rates on your checking account balance. The rates vary depending on how much money is in the account and the annual percentage yield goes up as your balance increases. Here are ing’s checking rates:

• 2.50% APY electric orange checking account balances over $100,000
• 2.30% APY electric orange checking account balances between $50,000 and $99,999
• 0.50% APY electric orange checking account balances up to $49,999

Sign up for ING Electric Orange Checking now and get $25 for free! Here’s how the ING Direct $25 bonus promotion works:

1. go to: http://www.ingdirect.com/electric/
2. sign up for ING Direct Electric Orange Checking
3. activate the free debit card from INGDirect (Electric Orange Mastercard)
4. use the Electric Orange MasterCard to make a minimum of three purchases with a signature (pin transactions do not count) within 45 days from the opening of your ing Electric Orange Checking account

The free $25 is deposited automatically into your new Ing checking account on day 50.

$25 for free with interest bearing checking and great interest rates. If you’re looking for an online checking account that will earn some interest then look no further.

Reference Code EM245 shouldn’t be needed but you can punch it in to ensure the $25 dollar bonus coupon kicks in.

We the Savers

Gas is very expensive now a days so the best way to save money on gas is to use a gas credit card that gives you the maximum cash back for your gasoline purchases. You are going to buy gas regardless of the price so having a credit card that pays you back is the best way you can fight the prices at the pump.

I suggest getting a gasoline credit card that can be used at most gas stations such as this Discover card. The drawback to other gas cards such as Chevron gas cards or Shell gas cards is that you’re restricted to receiving the maximum rebate at those gas stations only. With the Discover Gas Credit Card you can go anywhere it’s accepted and get the full 5% rebate for buying gas (Discover is accepted at most places such as Chevron, 76, Mobil, Shell, Vallero, BP etc.).

With gas fast approaching 5 dollars a gallon this card is a very smart move. I’ve received over 100 dollars in cash back in less than 1 year (took me about 9 months) since you get 5% cash back on all gasoline purchases. This card has no annual fee-click the link below to get started:

Smart Financial Credit Union has the best CD rates for 60 month certificates of deposit at 3.5% APR (3.56% APY). Smart Financial CU has a minimum deposit requirement of $10,000 for new CD accounts to receive this high interest rate.

5 year jumbo CD rates are extremely high at 3.7% APR (3.76% APY). Calculate CD interest to estimate the potential net profit gained from a CD investment account from a this reputable NCUA insured financial institution. The NCUA is similar to the FDIC since they are both government institutions that essentially insure deposit accounts up to a certain limit (currently $250,000 per account owner).

smartcu.org reserves the right to charge a penalty for early withdrawal of funds from a CD before maturity however it’s not clearly stated how much this penalty could be on the website.

Many online banks have not been offering higher interest rates for jumbo CDs with the exception of Capital One Direct Banking (Capital 1’s online bank). Here are the current jumbo CD rates from the Capital One website:

Jumbo Certificates of Deposit for Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.

Jumbo CD Rates (minimum deposit of $100,000)

Citigroup ordered a brand spankin new $50 million dollar corporate jet 4 years ago and was scheduled to take possession of it this year. However there was pressure from President Barack Obama dissuaded the deal. Citigroup already received $50 billion dollars in federal bailout money. Even though they claimed that the bailout money would not be used for the corporate jet purchase the deal was in fact cancelled.

Had Citigroup bought the new airplane they would have added to their existing collection of 5 jets. Investment banks shouldn’t even be considering spending money like this amidst our current economic crisis.

Citibank actually has 5 year top jumbo bank CD rates at 3.5% APY.

source: sfgate-citigroup jet

2009 is the year of the Earth Ox.

Earth Ox

Those that are fortunate enough to receive red envelopes for Chinese New Year should consider investing their money this year. If you like to have 24×7 account access then electronic banking is the way to go. Lower overhead equates to higher interest rates for consumers. Traditional banks offer similar investments but the return on investment is lower since interest rates are usually lower.

Make the Most out of your Investment

Current online savings account interest rates are very high right now compared to short term certificates of deposit. Both online savings accounts and online CDs are very safe, near zero risk investments (as long as you’re banking with an FDIC insured financial institution).

DollarSavingsDirect.com claims that their Online Savings Account has the highest savings interest rate in America. This is actually not hard to believe since they’re giving away such a great interest rate of 4.00% APY! This beats most certificates of deposit (even jumbo CD rates).

DollarSavingsDirect.com is actually the online branch of Emigrant Bank (Emigrant Bank has been around since 1850). Here are some brief details:

• No minimums beyond the initial $1000 dollar deposit.
• There’s 24 hour access to your account since this is an online bank.
• Dollar Savings Direct Bank is FDIC insured up to $250000 per depositor.
• Electronic transfers to and from external account can take 2 to 4 business days to complete.
• Check deposits are held for 10 business days initially with the possibility of 5 day holds later.

This is a great opportunity to earn a high return on your investment while retaining liquidity of your funds. Open up an online savings account today by going to their website or calling DollarSavingsDirect.com at 1-866-395-8693.

iGObanking.com

has one of the highest current online savings interest rates at 3.08% APY. This is a great place to invest if you want to make some money in interest while still having relatively instant access to your funds. It’s very easy to open an account online and there is no minimum deposit required to open a new savings account (okay I lied, it’s a $1 minimum).

iGObanking.com is a member of the FDIC. Toll Free number: 1-888-432-5890

I’ve created a little Flex app that calculates the amount of interest you can make given a certain certificate of deposit term length in months, APR or APY, and amount of initial deposit.  Check it out: CD Calculator

Many banks have opted to have your certificate of deposit renew automatically upon maturity. Some banks, such as ING Direct, will even send you a notice in the mail to give you fair warning that your C.D. is maturing and that it is set to auto renew into the same term deposit. If you don’t want to reinvest your money in the same length certificate of deposit then make sure to log in to your online account and take the necessary steps to stop it.

Some banks may have a grace period (it can be a few days to as many as 10 days) to get your cash out of the new certificate of deposit. Make sure you check with your financial investment institution.

CDARS, the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service, is a product that may be offered at a local bank.  It is one way to reap the benefits of FDIC insurance with a large deposit.  A bank that offers CDARS will give you one interest rate while they spread your money across many other financial institutions to give you full FDIC coverage on your investment.  For more information and for a list of participating banks go to the CDARS website.

If you need instant access to your money then a certificate of deposit or online savings account may not be right for you. However you can still earn interest on money that is sitting in your checking account by considering one of the following bank investment products.

Electric Orange (from INGDirect) and Thunderbolt Checking (from UmbrellaBank) are high yield interest bearing checking accounts. Both banks are online banks (Umbrella bank is actually the online division of New South Federal Savings Bank) so electronic transactions are utilized.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Electric Orange users can send a paper check overnight to arrive by the next business day for a fee of $15 but you must get your request in by 11AM Eastern Time.

Interest Rates

Here’s where the two online checking accounts are very different.

Based on today’s online checking account rates it makes sense to go with UmbrellaBank’s basic interest checking Thunderbolt Checking Account only if you have less than $2000 AND meet the requirements of getting the monthly fee waived. It’s better to go with Electric Orange from ING Direct if you have $50000+ to invest OR if you would have to pay the $4.50 monthly fee by going with Umbrella Bank.

Discover Bank (the same bank behind DiscoverCard) is offering the some of the highest current C.D. rates around. Here’s a look at their current certificate of deposit rates:

There is a minimum deposit requirement of $2500 to open a new CD account and they are FDIC Insured.

Investing in CDs is a safe investment when an FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) bank is chosen for your electronic banking. The fed raised the limits of FDIC insurance to $250,000 through the end of 2009. If a financial institution that you are banking with fails, the FDIC insurance will protect your money up to the limit of coverage.

Investing in the stock market can definitely be risky because of all the recent volatility in the financial markets in America. A certificate of deposit by comparison incurs zero risk. The best way to manage risk is to diversify your investments. If you “put all your eggs in one basket” then you run the risk of your single investment failing. A combination of CDs and online savings accounts will net you a safe investment but you may not yield the highest returns simply because they are considered no risk investment products.

Search for CD rates and start investing your money today.

ETRADE Financial is offering high savings account interest rates at 3.01% APY. This is actually higher than certificate of deposit rates at many other financial institutions. E trade’s CDs are only at 1.70% APY at the highest for their 5 year CD! Current online savings account interest rates are so much better than other bank CD rates that it makes more sense to open a saving account at Etrade instead of a CD. This is the best deal in electronic banking right now.

Etrade Financial Bank is FDIC Insured and there are no minimums or account fees.

GMAC Bank has 12 month bank CDs (1 yr cd rate) at 3.75% APY making their certificate of deposit rates highest right now. Countrywide bank by comparison has their 1 year CDs at only 2.10% Annual percentage yield. INGdirect’s 12 month CDs are at 2.75% APY.

ING Direct is giving away 25 dollars to those that open a new Orange Savings Account or Electric Orange account. Your initial deposit must be at least $250. You can only receive this offer via an email invite so leave me a comment (I won’t publish your email address) and I’ll send you an invite while they last.

I’ve had an INGDirect online savings account and CD accounts for over 3 years.  Their website is easy to navigate and it’s very easy to open additional accounts and new Certificates of Deposit.  You have the ability to transfer funds immediately as well as schedule future transfers and set up automatic recurring deposits to your bank accounts.  You can also cancel accidental transfers within a certain amount of time (unlike ELoan when I banked with them last about a year ago.)

Washington Mutual is giving away 75 bucks for signing up for their free checking account.  I’ve had a free checking account with WaMu for over 10 years and haven’t had a problem with them.  Here are the details:

• Open your account by January 24, 2009
• One offer per household
• $100 minimum opening balance
• 75 dollar bonus is deposited within 12 weeks of account opening

Your money will be safe with WaMu since they were recently acquired by Chase. A benefit of this merger is that you’ll be able to access your money at more places since you can use WaMu and Chase ATMs.

Promo code: 0028-ADBM-5675

GMAC Bank has the best certificate of deposit rates for right now for CDs with a life of 3 months to 3 years.  They only require $500 minimum to open a new CD account and they are FDIC insured.

Here is a list of GMAC Bank’s current CD rates:

Better CD rates can be found at Eloan for 4 year, 5 year, and 6 year CDs. Eloan requires $10,000 to open a new certificate of deposit account.

Don’t get stuck with a low CD rate from another bank and invest your money in the best rates that you can find to maximize your return on investment.

Eloan has the best CD rates for 6 month CDs at 4.00% APY. Eloan has a minimum deposit requirement of $10,000. Their high CD rates also the same as Eloan Jumbo CD rates (Certificates of deposit that are $100,000 or greater).

Comparison of other banks 6 month CD rates:
Countrywide: 3.00% APY
Etrade: 2.25% APY

Eloan’s 12 month CD rate (1 year CD rate) is also at a very competitive 4.36% APY.

The FDIC has raised their insurance limits on deposit accounts from $100,000 to $250,000. This means joint accounts can now be covered up to $500,000 in the event of a bank failure.

This should help build some confidence in our nation’s banks and possibly encourage people to save some money.  Here’s the breakdown from FDIC.gov:

Single Accounts (owned by one person): $250,000 per owner

Joint Accounts (two or more persons): $250,000 per co-owner

IRAs and certain other retirement accounts: $250,000 per owner

Trust Accounts: $250,000 per owner per beneficiary subject to specific limitations and requirements

Corporation, Partnership and Unincorporated Association Accounts: $250,000 per corporation, partnership or unincorporated association

Employee Benefit Plan Accounts: $250,000 for the non-contingent, ascertainable interest of each participant

Government Accounts: $250,000 per official custodian

Dollar Savings Direct is offering an incredibly high interest rate for online savings accounts at 3.75% APY. While this online savings account interest rate is not as high as current CD rates, it is definitely higher than most brick & mortar banks and comparable online banks. They do require a low $1,000 minimum deposit to open a new savings account. DollarSavingsDirect.com is a an online division of Emigrant Bank and is FDIC insured.

Other online bank account savings rates:

• fnbo direct - 3.50% APY
• hsbc - 3.25% APY
• ing direct 3.00% APY
• eloan - 3.01% APY

The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) is a government institution that insures bank deposit accounts up to 100,000 in the event of a bank failure.  Most people know that their normal savings, checking, or CD accounts are covered but there are ways of getting more coverage. If you have over 100,000 in investments then it may be wise to spread out your money if you want to take full advantage of the FDIC.

Joint Accounts
The FDIC insures up to $100,000 for each joint account holder so you can be covered for up to $200,000 if you open a joint deposit bank account.

Brokerage CDs
Brokerage CDs are CDs that can be bought and sold on the market. These CDs are riskier than classic certificates of deposit because they may gain or lose value since they are subject to market risk. The FDIC does cover these brokered CDs for up to 100,000 each.

Retirement Accounts
IRAs and some 401k accounts are covered by the FDIC for up to $250,000. Be aware that you are covered for the total of all your covered accounts up to $250000 (not separate coverage for each account).

Credit Union Accounts
The NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) provides similar coverage to Credit Unions. Of course the Credit Union must be a member of the NCUA to be covered.

Washington Mutual (WAMU) has the best CD rates for 12 month CDs at an amazing 4.50% APY interest rate! This is a very high CD rate for a nationwide, reputable bank. This rate only applies to certificates of deposit accounts opened online and does NOT apply at their normal bank branches.

• Only $1000 minimum required to open a new CD account
• FDIC Insured
• Can take as little as 7 minutes with their online application

Comparison of 1 year CDs (12 month CDs) at other banks:

• etrade: 3.45% APY
• eloan: 4.35% APY
• countrywide: 3.90% APY

American Express has one of the best all around credit cards with cash rewards right now. This card is basically exclusive to Costco members since the annual fee is waived for Costco members.

Main benefits:

• 3% cash back for gasoline purchases
• 3% cash back for restaurant purchases/dining out
• 2% cash back for travel
• 1% cash back for everything else, including Costco purchases

This card is great because you can replace several cards with this one card if you are so inclined. Most credit cards won’t give you such high cash back rewards for everyday purchases AND give you decent rewards for gas purchases. Typically gas cards can reach up to 5% cash back however they usually don’t give you much cash back on your other daily purchases.

AmtrustDirect has the best CD rate of 3.51% APY on 6 month CDs. The minimum deposit is only 1000 dollars. Here are some online reviews for Amtrust Direct Bank.

If you are interested in 9 month certificates of deposit then AmtrustDirect also has a great rate of 3.76% APY. E-Loan also has 9 month CDs at 3.66% APY (10,000 minimum). Both AmtrustDirect and E-Loan beat Countrywide’s CD rates by a wide margin. Their 9 month CD is only at 3.00% APY with a 10,000 dollar minimum deposit. Countrywide’s CD rates are likely falling because of their recent merger with Bank of America.

AmtrustDirect.com says that you can open a new CD account with them online in less than 10 minutes. If this is true then it’s definitely a plus; it’s sometimes painful to wait for snail mail to complete a new online account creation.

Eloan currently has the highest CD rates for 3 month CD rates at 3.26% APY. Now this is definitely one of the best rates right now on a short term certificate of deposit. There’s a $10,000 minimum deposit required to open a CD at E-loan and they are FDIC insured.

I’ve had experience with Eloan before and although I didn’t like how their online savings account worked I still might back to them if they had the best rate for a CD with the appropriate length. I would not open another online savings account with Eloan.

The good news about Eloan is that it was easy enough to get my money out of there and my money still earned the best savings account interest rates at the time.

Indymac Bank has been shut down however those that had up to the maximum insured amount by the FDIC should be reimbursed 100%. The FDIC will cover up to $100,000 for deposit accounts and up to $250,000 for some IRA accounts. In some cases, amounts over $100000 are also insured (the FDIC has full information as well as an Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) calculator).

The failure of Indymac Bank is a good example of why you should ALWAYS choose an FDIC insured bank for your banking needs.