WTDirect is among the top five percent of U.S. banks for savings rates, and they even give you a chance to test drive the account with no risk to yourself.

At the time of this writing, opening a savings account with WTDirect gives you a return of 1.66 APY for the first two months no matter how much you put in the account to begin with. Once that two-month period is over, you then must maintain a minimum of $10,000 in the account to get the highest savings rate.

That’s a nice feature because a number of banks bring down the interest rate in a savings account as the account gets bigger.

There is also no restrictions on needing have a checking account with the company in order to have a savings account with a higher interest rate. Another nice feature is there is no minimum amount needed to open or maintain an account, and no fees regardless of how much money you have in it.

Also included is the current FDIC guarantee of up to $250,000 for your savings. As with all U.S. FDIC-guaranteed accounts, that will revert back to $100,000 as of January 1, 2014.

What’s nice about this for savers, depending on how you like to do your banking business, is this is one of those built-in savings accounts which can work good for those not concerned over moving their money in and out of an account. For two months you can get a good return with no minimum amount in the account, and no fees.

And if you like your experience, and have $10,000 available, you can always just keep your money in the WTDirect savings account if you choose to in order to get the higher interest rate.

You are also allowed to transfer any of your funds between your WTDirect savings account and other financial institutions you use; something not all banks allow.

On the heels of its successful first quarter strategy of offering new checking account customers signing up for a Premiere or Interest Checking Account, Sovereign Bank is again offering $100 during the second quarter for those successfully opening a new checking account with them.

There are several thing a potential customer must do in order to qualify for the $100 bonus for opening an Interest Checking Account or Premiere Account. Here is what those steps to take are to get the incentive:

1. To qualify, you must open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking or Partnership Checking account by October 30, 2009, with a minimum opening deposit of $100;
2. The next step you must take is to ask for a Sovereign CheckCard (”CheckCard”) and make a minimum of 2 CheckCard purchases within 60 days after you open your account;
3. If you already have a savings or money market savings account, this next step won’t be necessary, but if not, you need to open any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100;
4. Finally, you must enroll in Online Banking at the time of the account opening. When you qualify, you will receive a credit of $100 to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account. There is only one $100 credit allowed per customer.

No matter whether we’re living in tough or good economic times, it’s always best to take advantage of every type of additional source of income and interest we can in our personal finances and bank accounts, and even though a checking account interest rate will never be that high, it’s something we get for simply following the terms of service from the financial institution or bank.

In this case, the $100 dollars also has a great incentive to grab a checking account from Sovereign Bank. Another reason? According to Global Finance Magazine, Sovereign Bank is among the ten most safe banks in the world, another reason to seriously consider opening an account with them.

There are now over 50 million Americans without health insurance. Most people that have insurance are lucky enough to get health insurance from their employers but those without health insurance from work are left high and dry. Some people are waiting for Congress to pass some sort of health care reform to make coverage more affordable, but the truth is that you can’t afford not to have health care insurance—otherwise you could find yourself with a pile of medical bills and heading straight toward bankruptcy.

If you find yourself without health insurance you should take the time to sit down with an independent insurance agent to help you shop for cheap health insurance and find a policy that works for you and your family. They can take your information and run it against dozens of different proprietary quoting systems and find you the best deal.

Another option is to consider a health savings account and a high-deductible health plan. The high-deductible health plan will take care of all of your costs above a certain deductible. Essentially, they take care of major problems and you are left to take care of the smaller day to day issues. These plans are great for people who are healthy and allow people to save money tax-free.

An unusual place that some self-employed people have found to get group coverage is through Sam’s club and Costco. Both of these companies have group health plans that its members that are a lot more affordable than many options on the open market.

Some states also have state health insurance plans that you may be able to sign-up for. These will also likely be more affordable than private health insurance. You can check with your state’s health board to see if your state has any options.

If you absolutely can’t afford health insurance, there is public health insurance that you can at least get for your children. The children’s health insurance program (SCHIP) provides coverage to many children whose parents cannot afford health insurance for them.

Get health insurance if there’s any way that you can make it happen. If you find yourself with major medical costs and don’t have health insurance to pay for it, fortunately most medical institutions have a lot of mercy to customers that can’t afford to pay their bills. Quite often you can offer them a portion of your bill and they will take it as a settlement in full.

With the names sounding so similar, a money market account and a money market fund can be confusing at times to many people, and considered a different name for the same investment vehicle, when in reality they’re very different in spite of similar sounding names.

For a money market account, this is a savings account banks or credit unions will offer to their customers, where the difference is it’ll have a higher interest rate based on higher minimum balance requirements than a passbook savings account would, which usually has no minimum balance requirements.

A money market account’s funds will also be backed up by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), for up to $250,000 at this time, which could be brought back down to the normal $100,000, once the temporary higher protection may be lifted.

Another element of the money market account is you can only make up to six withdrawals a month, and in some cases also have check writing privileges of three a month for the account. Fees can be applied if you go beyond the limitations of the terms of agreement, so they should be read and understood so you aren’t charged unnecessary fees.

If you belong to a credit union, your capital in a money market account would be protected by the National Credit Union Administration, which is also a federal agency.

A money market fund on the other hand is a mutual fund which invests in short-term securities like U.S.Treasuries, commercial paper and CDs, among a number of others.

Although a money market fund has no guarantees for you capital, they rarely fall below their net asset value, although a recent case happened when it did, when Lehman Brothers collapsed last year and people lost money in their money market fund accounts. This is extremely rare, but it can happen.

Of course the slightly higher risk comes from slightly better returns.

Either one of these accounts should be used to place your backup capital for emergencies, where you can get almost immediate access to your money.

The trade-off between the two is a little less interest with absolute guarantee for your money in a money market bank account, while the money market fund will normally give you a better return with a little more risk, and no guarantee of your money.

With the economic crisis not going to abate any time soon, and all of us working on paying down our debt, saving more and cutting back on spending, a growing number of banks are wisely implementing new credit card services built for customers to help pay down, avoid interest fees and better manage their personal finances.

There are a wide range of services, and it would be good for you to check if your bank has implemented one for their customers as part of their service package to you.

What most of these will usually entail, is some way to put a automatic payment plan in place for the credit cards of choice for you, where you can have them paid off on a monthly basis in a way that will keep you from incurring interest fees; an important step toward managing your personal finances. Here’s one from JP Chase Morgan called Chase Blueprints you can look at if you do business with them, or as an example of what a plan like this would look like in general.

With the types of busy lives we live, and listening to a lot of people complain about interest fees and other late fees related to their banking, getting into these types of financial management services are a great way to take the onus off of your memory and busy life you live. Why get socked with late fees and interest fees when you can sign up for programs like this and take all the pressure off yourself and just leave it in the hands of those running the program?

If your bank doesn’t have this type of service yet, ask them if there are plans in the works for one, and if so, how long will it take to get it going. If your bank doens’t have one, and has no plans to put one in place, it could be well worth you time and energy to look for a bank that does offer this type of service.

There is just too much money to safe and peace of mind that comes with a program of this type to ignore it and go on doing business as usual. Now that banks are offering this opportunity, why pass on it and continue to pay far more money than you need to for your various accounts?

With the collapse of the banking system and unsurety of a lot of investments, many people are rightfully concerned about where to put their money; not only to increase it, but to even hold on to it.

Although we usually talk about what is considered very safe investments at Savings Toolbox, there is one investment that has been largely ignored for a long time because it’s somewhat boring and unexciting to talk about or invest in, and that is the incredible safety and value in targeting companies that pay out dividends.

With safety being one of the major concern at Savings Toolbox, we’ll focus on how you can invest in a company that almost ensures a good return for years into the future, no matter what the current economic conditions are, and whether the stock price goes up or down.

The secret in this is to find companies that have a record over a period of time of raising their dividends year after year. That means that they are in a great competitive position and as Warren Buffett would say, have a moat around them protecting their business from competitive pressures.

For example, take Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). Every year since they became a public company, they’ve increased their dividend year after year. So whether their stock price went up or down or not didn’t matter, you still build wealth through the dividends always kicking in. Any company that has a proven record of increasing their dividends every year means they have a competitive advantage over the market of markets they serve, and even if you don’t understand their overall business, that in itself will be one of the key metrics to use in determining how strong of a company they are.

The second part of the power of investing in a company for their dividends is to be sure to reinvest those dividends back into the company. That will build up uninterruptedly for years into the future, and ensure a safe and sound return until the day you want to tap it for retirement.

Why can this happen? When a company starts to mature while dominating their market, the need for capital to market and expand the business at a strong pace recedes, and so capital expenditures decrease, making the company strong in cash, which is the key to ongoing dividends.

So our job is to find companies like a Wal-Mart and others that have been around even longer, and find out the history of their dividend payments. When you do, you understand that they have prospered during good times and bad, and so can be counted on to build your wealth with a long term horizon in mind, and do it safely. Don’t underestimate of be afraid of investing in these companies, just to invest in companies that don’t have that type of proven dividend-increasing track record.

After declaring bankruptcy, GMAC has re-branded itself as Ally bank, and in efforts to generate new customers, is offering high yield savings account with a rate of 1.73 percent, and an APY of 1.75 percent, as of this writing.

There are several other features of the High Yield Savings Account at Ally Bank which also make it attractive:

• You can open an account with $0
• There are no minimum balances required
• Interest is compounded daily
• All accounts are insured by the FDIC
• No monthly fees

Do remember that the no monthly fees is based on usual practices. If you exceed 6 withdrawals or transfers within a statement cycle, you would be charged $10, and if a deposit item is returned, there is a $7.50 fee. Don’t be put off by the 6 withdrawal or transfer rule, that’s actually mandated by federal law, and all savings accounts have it.

But as far as minimum balances and normal use of the savings account, there are no hidden fees, which can give you peace of mind in contrast to other banks’ High Yield Savings Accounts which many times penalize if you drop below a required amount.

In contrast to most other large banks, this is a great interest rate and deal, as I couldn’t find a better savings rate for a no-minimum bank in America.

While there is no investment without risk, a money market fund comes about as close as you can to meeting that criteria.

What is a money market fund?

A money market fund is nothing more or less than a mutual fund, which most of you reading this will understand. The difference in what the mutual fund invests in.

In the case of a money market fund, the law requires that it invests in securities that are low risk; things like certificates of deposit, short-term bonds, commercial paper and government securities.

As the money market fund does that, the goal is to keep the net asset value of the fund at $1 a share. Very seldom historically has it fell below that level at any money market fund.

Because money market funds invest in low-risk securities, the interest or dividends paid out are low, so are best used in certain situations where that type of pay out is conducive to existing living circumstances and conditions.

For example, in our current economic crisis it could be a good way to retain capital. Sometime we get into these type of difficult economic times, and we need to be defensive rather than offensive in our investment decisions. This is where money market funds can meet that particular need.

Temporary Guarantee Program
 
Under the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds administered by the the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Treasury Department guarantees the share price of participating money market mutual funds.

Here’s the guidelines stated by the SEC for those money market funds that would qualify:

As part of the program, all money market funds that are regulated under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and are publicly offered and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission will be eligible to participate. 

What are strategies to use money market fund?

So when would be good times to use a money market fund as part of your investment strategy?

If you think of investing as a marathon instead of a sprint, you would see that there are stages you start off on, and adjust to accordingly as age and circumstances change.

One example would be when you’re younger, middle aged and approaching retirement. When you get closer to retirement, conserving capital is more important than growing capital, so things like a money market fund are used by many in those conditions.

But age isn’t always a factor either for using a money market fund.

Let’s use a case of building up a ’529 College Savings Plan.’ Similar to someone starting off in their investment strategy, you use more aggressive investment vehicles to build up your 529 College Savings Plan at the beginning, but as the time for college approaches, again, it’s conserving capital that is more important than building capital, so again, this is a place you could use a money market fund to fulfil that need.

The secret is to apply it to temporary or overall life circumstances. The beginning of an investment cycle should be aggressive, and as it gradually moves toward its end, think of using a money market fund manage your capital the final stages.

Most people get a little confused when thinking about using a U.S. Treasuries as a safe investment vehicle, because there are types types of loans connected to the investment, and each on is called something different based upon how long it takes to mature.

When I mentioned four types of loans, that’s what investing in a U.S. Treasury really is: giving the U.S. government a loan in return for one of the safest investments you can make, being backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

The government then takes that money and uses it for a variety of purposes.

There are four types of Treasuries to invest in: Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury bonds and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The first three are distinguished by the duration of the investment, and TIPS are defined by inflation adjustments to the interest on the investment.

Treasury Bills

A Treasury Bill is recognizable from having a maturity date of one year or less. You also don’t have to pay state or local taxes on what you make on it.

The Treasury Bill is also called a T-Bill or U.S. Treasury Bill, which all means the same thing, so don’t get confused there.

Treasury note
 
A Treasury note will mature from between two to ten years, with maturity dates usually set at 2, 3, 5, 7 or 10 years (in other words you can buy them at those intervals).

When you listen to or read about the U.S. Treasuries market, it’s normally the 10-year note that you hear quoted as to where bonds are priced at the moment.

Treasury Bonds

Treasury Bonds are can be bought from between twenty to thirty years to maturity.

Taxes on these are the same as the T-Bill and T-Note, with Federal taxes still applying, but state and local being tax exampt.

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities ( TIPS)

Also debt issued by the U.S. Treasury, TIPS are unique in that the interest rate adjusts to inflation based upon the Consumer Price Index, which is the primary source used to measure inflation.

TIPS at this time are issued in five, ten and twenty year maturities.

Treasury Strategy

So with these various safe options available, what would be the best one at this time if you’re interested in investing in one of the Treasuries?

Personally I like the TIPS the best, based on the extraordinary amount of debt and deficits taken on by the U.S. government.

With the printing of billions upon billions of dollars, that will eventually lead to huge price increases as inflation rises.

So investing in some of the other Treasuries, especially the more long term ones, could end up eating into your capital based upon the rate of inflation, and you would be stuck with that.

Investing in TIPS would allow your return on capital to adjust with it, making it a highly desirable investment.

One other thing to consider would be how long you want to tie up your money. If you want it to be available at some reasonable time period, a T-Bill might be best for you, and that has some built-in inflation protection just based on the short period of time you would hold it.