Banks-24

Recently, we took a look at the controversy surrounding Wal-Mart becoming a bank. Because the company has such major economic muscle, many feel that it would unfairly take over a banking industry that is struggling to get back on its feet.

But with hundreds of banks having gone bankrupt and others tightening up their lending practices while maintaining lower interest rates on bank accounts, other entities have room to step up to the plate. This includes Wal-Mart and another major economic force: Google.

The possibility of Google becoming a bank has been in the news for a few years; however, it has yet to do so. But with the company venturing into so many other industries, does it make sense for it to get into the banking business also?

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River Region Credit Union is offering a reward checking account which can probably be considered the best checking account in the market today. With a 4.00% APY, it’s pretty hard to beat. However, the balance cap seems a little steep. The top yield will only be applied to balances that reach $20,000. A base 0.10% APY will be rewarded for balances exceeding $20,000.

Aside from the cap balance which stops this from being the best reward checking account in the market, the debit requirements seem stringent. In a month, you need to make fifteen debit purchases which are non-PIN, make at least one direct deposit, log in to the CU’s homepage at least twice, and agree to receive electronic statements. If you don’t fulfill these requirements, your APY falls back to the base 0.10% APY.

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About three years ago, when we bought our home, it occurred to me that we were putting ourselves at a bit at risk. I am the primary breadwinner, and we hadn’t made provisions for what could happen if I could no longer work. Buying the house really made me think about whether or not my family was truly protected. We had add a bigger term life insurance policy to reflect the obligation of owning a home, but life insurance wouldn’t help if something happened to my hands or arms and I could no longer type.

So I decided to buy a disability insurance policy. The policy is not terribly expensive, and it covers loss of income due to a number of issues. It has provided a great deal of peace of mind — especially for my husband, who worries every time I go camping that some catastrophe will occur to limit my ability to do my work. You m

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Lynnae McCoy is a freelance writer, homeschooling mom, and frugal living enthusiast. She writes about frugal living at Being Frugal.net and about balancing work and homeschooling at Freelance Homeschool Mom. When she has a rare spare moment, you can find her on Twitter.

With the economy still struggling, many people are scrutinizing their bills, wondering what can be cut and what is necessary. Since most people have cell phones these days, its understandable that the need for a landline is questioned more and more.

For some people, getting rid of the landline is an expense worth cutting. For others, though, it makes more sense to hang on to the old fashioned phone line. Here are some things to consider if youre questioning your need for a landline.

Do you have young children in the home?

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Ken Feinberg’s final report as the Obama Administration’s pay “czar” is good for only one thing — reminding us that the controversy over sky-high pay on Wall Street will be with us for a loooong time. He comes to the entirely unremarkable conclusion that big financial firms in 2009 rewarded executives with huge bonuses even as taxpayers were saving their pinstriped hides. Ya don’t say.

Wait a sec, though. Doesn’t the newly passed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act tackle banker pay? Not really. The law merely gives the issue a trim, in the form of more stringent compensation disclosure requirements for financial firms. But it leaves it to financial regulators to come up more substantive rules.

The legislation does give investors “say on pay,” allowing shareholders to vote every three years whether to approve a company’s executive comp. The catch? The vote

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BBVA Compass is offering several bonuses for those who own a business. It would be difficult to qualify for all of them but if you are a business owner you would probably be able to qualify for enough of them to make it worth your while. Some of the fine print from the bank promo site:

The “Up to $1,700 in cash” offer applies to new business customers that have a Compass Business Checking account, a Compass Business money market or business savings account AND the customer makes at least 5 online bill payments OR initiates at least 5 qualifying purchases with their BBVA Compass Visa® Business Check Card by August 31, 2010 or existing customers that have a Compass Business Checking account, a Compass Business money market or business savings account and has online bill pay or a Visa Business Check Card.

This offer is only available in states where BBVA Compass has branches. Visi

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A self-directed Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is exactly what the name describes. It allows an account owner to make investment decisions on his or her own behalf for retirement while continuing to provide the account holder with tax benefits.

You can have either a traditional self directed IRA or a self directed Roth IRA. You have control over your retirement money in your nest egg instead of relying on the recommendations of a mutual fund manager or account manager. Unlike the self directed IRAs more famous cousins, the Roth and Traditional IRA, you call all the shots in the self directed version.

What You Can Invest In

Under IRS rules and regulations, you are pretty much only limited by your imagination on what you can invest in inside your self directed IRA.

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