When considering various investments and savings options for making your money grow, it’s a good idea to know a little about each type of investment. The US Savings Bond is one of the most risk-free investments available, because the US government is repaying you. You can count on receiving the expected amount when the bond matures.

There are different types of savings bonds. The Series EE and Series I savings bonds both have certain types that can be cashed in without paying federal income tax on the interest the bonds have earned. Other types of US savings bonds will require that you pay federal income tax on the money the bonds earned you while your money was invested.

Because US savings bonds are virtually risk free, the amount of interest you earn will be much lower than that which could be earned with successful stocks. People generally invest in savings bonds when they’re looking to diversify their portfolio and include a number of different types of investments with varying levels of risk. US Savings bonds are rarely the only investment strategy an individual would use – instead, they become part of a portfolio that might include mutual funds, stocks and other investments, as well.

The biggest risk when it comes to US Savings bonds is inflation. When you buy a bond, it’s like the government is issuing you an IOU to pay you back at some date in the future the amount of your investment plus the interest. Some bonds have a fixed interest rate which will not change, and others have variable interest rates. For fixed interest rate bonds, if the interest rate on the bond is 6% and inflation is 3%, then you make a real return of 3% (the 6% interest minus the 3% for inflation). On the other hand, if the inflation heats up to 8%, then you are worse off because the cost of living has increased more than what you’ve earned in interest by tying your money up in US Savings bonds.

In order to counter the effects of inflation and the risk of inflation on US savings bonds, you could invest in the “I” bond. The “I” bond is a US Savings bond that increases it’s interest rate when the rate of inflation increases, ensuring that your investment will keep up with the changes in the cost of living. So while the overall interest will still be lower than other, riskier investments, it eliminates the risk of inflation eating away your profits.

is a website that allows banks to bid for your business. You’re probably familiar with services like LendingTree.com – where banks compete for your mortgage with the idea that when the banks compete, you’ll get a better interest rate. The same theory is applied to MoneyAisle, except instead of competing for mortgages – banks are competing for your savings account and certificate of deposit business.

You can try the site for free and without registering to see what kind of interest rates you will be offered for both bank certificate of deposit products and high yield savings accounts. The only information you’re asked to provide to view rates offered for high yield savings accounts is the amount of your initial deposit, your state of residence, your zip code (which is optional, but recommended as some banks require the zip code in order to bid), and once you hit the submit button – the banks start bidding. In a few seconds, you’ll see the highest rate offered and have 30 minutes to decide whether or not you want to open the account with that bank and with those terms.

You can see rates offered for a single certificate of deposit by providing the amount of your initial deposit, the length of time you plan to hold the CD for, your state and zip code.

When the results are displayed for your searches, you can also see how the rate you are offered compares to the average rate on that deposit product in your state, and nationally. In the case of certificate of deposits, you can also compare the rate you are offered with the US Treasury average yield.

If you would like to try more advanced features of the site, like creating CD ladders across multiple banks, or business deposits accounts as a credit union, business municipality or non-profit organization, you will need to register for a free account. Another advantage of registering for an account is that you can compare rates for different deposit amounts and savings durations in the same session and read user reviews of the banks that are bidding for your business.

All banks and organizations that bid for business through MoneyAisle are FDIC insured, which means your deposits are safe. Initial deposits must be between $1,000 and $500,000 to use MoneyAisle and it’s important to read all conditions that are provided before accepting a rate offered to ensure you’ve chosen an appropriate deposit account for your needs.

IndyMac Bank was sold in March. The new owners have named the bank OneWest Bank. Liquid Certificates of Deposit offered through OneWest Bank are available nationally. They happen to call the product “Online Keep Your Options Open CD“, which isn’t exactly catchy, but gives you a good idea of the liquidity of the product just the same.

Liquid Certificate of Deposits

To open this certificate of deposit, you need to have a minimum of $5,000 and agree to keep your money in the “keep your options open CD” for at least a year – although there are some nice features that make this a liquid CD, including the ability to make up to two penalty free withdrawals during the course of the selected term. You receive a 2.00% fixed-rate APY, which is not among the highest available rates for CD products of 1 year terms, but it’s still a reasonable offer which is probably counter-acted by the ability to make two withdrawals without penalty if you need to – and the ability to make additional deposits. While you hold the liquid certificate of deposit with OneWest Bank, you have the option to make additional deposits at any time, as long as they are at least $1,000 and keep your principal balance at $100,000 or less.

OneWest Bank also offers an Online 2 Year Flexible CD and an Online Raise Your Rate CD which are considered liquid, but are not quite as flexible as the Keep Your Options Open CD. You cannot make additional deposits or penalty-free withdrawals with either of the other liquid online certificate of deposit products at OneWest Bank. The interest rates on both are slightly higher than the Keep Your Options Open CD, in exchange for having less flexibility. The Online 2 Year Flexible CD currently has a rate of 2.45% APY, while the Raise Your Rate CD has a rate of 2.10% APY.

Regular Certificates of Deposit

If liquidity is not what you’re looking for, OneWest Bank also offers competitive online CD rates for regular certificate of deposit products. Their most competitive interest rates are the 60 month CD for 3.65% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 and the 12 month CD with 2.25% APY and a minimum $5,000 deposit.

Like all regular CD’s, all OneWest Bank regular certificate of deposits impose early withdrawal penalties if you take your money out before the term ends. You have a 7 day grace period at maturity from which you can withdraw the money or start a new CD.

If you happen to live near a California OneWest Bank Branch, you can get better certificate of deposit rates than they provide for their online CDs – 2.00% APY on a 6 month CD, 2.5% APY on a 2-year CD and 3.75% APY on a 5-year CD.

The eSavings Time Deposit is offered through Amboy Direct, the online version of Amboy Bank from New Jersey, featuring a reasonable 2.35% APY for savings of $10,000 or more and 1% APY for $100 to $9,999.  You can open the time deposit with a small minimum of just $100 and you are required to leave your money in the savings for a 12 month term.  If you would like to make additional deposits to the eSavings Time Deposit you can do so within the first six months of opening your eSavings Time Deposit, up to a maximum balance of $100,000.  Your interest rate is guaranteed throughout the twelve month term.  The only other stipulation is you can’t open an eSavings Time Deposit with money you already have saved with Amboy Direct.

It’s not in your best interest to save money in an eSavings Time Deposit if you don’t think you can leave the money untouched for at least 12 months.  If you withdraw your money before the 12 month term, you will pay a penalty equivalent to 3 months of nterest.  When making a withdrawal from an eSavings Time Deposit, you cannot withdraw just a part of the money – they require that you withdraw the full amount, and the enire balance is subject to the early withdrawal penalty.

The eSavings Time Deposit is available nationally.  They have an online application available on their Certificate of Deposits page.  Deposits and add-on deposits to the eSavings Time Deposit need to be done through ACH (electronic transfer) from a checking account held at any other, non-Amboy Direct bank.  The interest rates for eSavings Time Deposits lock in when the application is submitted.

This Time Deposit (CD) will be converted to the basic eSavings account unless you contact Amboy Direct and ask them to renew your Certificate of Deposit.  So if you are not interested in having an eSavings account with Amboy Direct, you’ll want to be sure to contact the bank for renewing your CD or withdrawing your money upon maturity.

Most certificate of deposit products require much higher minimums.  The Amboy Direct eSavings Time Deposit makes it possible to open your account with just $100.  During your first six months you can continue to deposit to the account to build it up and earn more interest.

Amboy Direct and Amboy Bank is FDIC insured up to the regular deposit limits.  Bankrate gives the financial institution 4 stars.

The United Central Bank, a financial institution with both offline and online capabilities, offers a variety of banking products with industry competitive rates, from money market accounts to certificate of deposits and installment savings accounts. Some of the rates have dropped a bit from May’s published rates, however they are still competitive with most of the banks offering the same products.

As of June 2009, the following competitive rates are in effect for the following United Central Bank deposit products:

• Certificate of Deposits: a 12 month Certificate of Deposit offers 2.4%. 6 month CD offers 2.15%.
• Super Saver Installment Certificate of Deposit: 1 to 5 years is 3.30%
• Global Savings Account: $25,000 to $50,000 offers 2%; while a $50,000 or more is 2.5%
• Global Money Market Account: $5,000 to $75,000 is 2.39%, while deposits over $75,000 and up to a maximum of $300,000 receive 2.59%

Certificate of Deposits are available as IRAs for terms that are 12 months and longer.

There is an online application which is available to anyone in the United States which can be used to open some of the accounts online, instead of finding a physical bank branch. Unfortunately, not all products can be opened using the online application at this time, but the list is growing. The online application can currently be used to open a Global Money Market Account, a 12 month IRA Certificate of Deposit, and a 12 or 36 month Certificate of Deposit.. The website does not provide a full list of funding options for opening and funding new accounts, and a customer service representative wasn’t very knowledgeable of the topic either. The customer service representative said you can write a check to fund or open an account with United Central Bank,, but that she wasn’t sure if you could fund them electronically or not. Once you fill out the online application, you receive an email with instructions for funding the account.

United Central Bank also offers small business loan programs, business banking, and free bill pay.
You can also open a United Central Bank account at any of their branches, if you prefer to open your bank accounts in person rather than over the internet. There are United Central Bank branches located in select cities within Texas, California, Virgina, Georgia and Maryland. BaeurFinancial gave the bank 3.5 stars in May 2009, while Bankrate gave the bank 3 stars in December of 2008. United Central Bank is a FDIC member, since 1984.

Raise your hand if you need help saving money. I’m guessing there are a lot of readers who have their hand in the air. Saving money for retirement or your child’s college education requires a different strategy than saving money for your emergency fund or other short term goals. Fortunately, with the launch of an innovative website in April 2008, saving money for specific short term goals has become easier for consumers who traditionally find it difficult to put money aside for specific goals.

What is SmartyPig?

Co-founded by Mike Ferrari and Jon Gaskell, SmartyPig was created to help consumers reach short term savings goals. The concept is brilliant in its simplicity. Basically you register for an account on SmartyPig, establish a savings goal and time frame in which you would like to achieve your goal and SmartyPig does the rest of the work. For example, if you want to save money for your next family vacation you simply enter how much money you want to save and by what date and SmartyPig will determine how much money you have to put away to reach your goal. You then set up an automated withdrawal from your bank account to fund your new savings account. Once you register your account you can simply set it and forget it.

Where does your money go?

If you are like me, you are probably wondering where exactly your money is being held. Once you authorize automated withdrawals your money is held at West Bank, an FDIC insured bank. SmartyPig works to provide the most competitive interest rates in the country allowing your money to grow while you save for your goal.

What about security?

Now that you know where you money is being held, the next logical question would be concerning security. SmartyPig offers a secure account set-up, account log-in, timed log-off and a powerful state of the art firewall that blocks unauthorized entry. All account information is encrypted and the website is secured with VeriSign Extended Validation SSL. Find more security information on SmartyPig’s security page.

Unique Features.

SmartyPig offers unique features that make saving and accessing your money easier than ever before. Not only are you able to save for your short term goals, but friends and family can offer their support as well. You can make your goal public on social networks like MySpace or Facebook as well as your blog or website and other people can support or even contribute toward your goal if they wish.

Once you reach your savings goal you will have the option of accessing your money via a SmartyPig debit card (accepted wherever MasterCard is accepted). Another option which can increase your savings even more (up to 6.00%) would be receiving your money via a gift card from participating retailers (list of retailers provided on website). Of course you can also simply transfer your money back into your bank account allowing you the freedom to use your money however you please.

SmartyPig certainly appears to offer a unique way to set and achieve short term savings goals that otherwise might get placed on the back burner in a shaky economy. More and more consumers are adopting a new mindset when it comes to spending and saving money which will certainly only add to the popularity of online money management or savings tools.

West Boston Savings Bank has created an online division called EBSB Direct.  The online savings account is ideal for individuals who have a large amount of money to save, as the interest rates are best for balances over $50,000.  For balances over $50,000, EBSB Direct is offering a 2.81% APY through September 30, 2009.

For balances between $5,000 and $50,000 during the same time period, the rate is 2.00% APY and the minimum balance to open the account is $5,000.  If you don’t have a lot of money to deposit, you  will probably be better off checking around for banks that don’t have such a high minimum balance requirement.  With EBSB Direct, when your balance falls below $5,000, you pay a monthly fee of $15 and will not earn interest on your savings. You can save up to $1 million maximum in an EBSB Direct savings account.

The bank offers unlimited external account linking, which means you can connect your EBSB Direct savings account with as many other accounts as you like to transfer money via the ACH bank-to-bank transfer service.   To verify external banks, EBSB Direct will make small deposits to the external bank that you can confirm in order to verify the account you are linking is your own.  They have a maximum transfer limit of $150,000 per transfer, which makes it easy to transfer money between your accounts whenever you need to.

EBSB Direct is available nationwide, and can be opened online. You can make your initial deposit and subsequent deposits with ACH transfers from other bank accounts.  The account you use to initially fund an EBSB Direct savings account does not need to go through any further verification process in order to perform additional bank-to-bank transfers in the future.

According to the bank’s published FAQ’s, there is no credit report accessed when you open an account.  You are limited to a total of 6 withdrawals per month from your account as is true with many pure savings accounts, and there is no check writing feature. If you meet the minimum balance requirement to earn the interest on your savings, interest is compounded and credited monthly.

The CEO of USAA Bank is offering a promotional offer for a 3.25% APY 2-year CD from now until May 31^st, 2009. You must be eligible for USAA property and casualty insurance to qualify for the CD, and the minimum deposit is $1,000. You need to mention the offer code CEO CD when opening your 2-Year CD. You won’t find this offer on the main USAA Bank website; it appears to only be offered through the link above.

USAA has received no government bailout money. In their 2008 report to members, they indicated that 94% of the members say USAA Bank meets or exceeds their family needs for financial solutions and advice. It also includes financial data that USAA is profitable and returned more than $857 million to the members – a portion of which were bank rebates and rewards.

Membership to USAA Bank is open to individuals who meet at least one of the following membership criteria:

• Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.
• Children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product.¹
• National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
• Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).
• Former military personnel:
  • Retired officers and enlisted personnel.
  • Former officers and enlisted personnel who separated from the military on or after Jan. 1, 1996.
• Former USAA members who had USAA auto or property insurance.

In addition to the 3.25% APY for the 2-Year CD promotion, if you are eligible for the CD you are also eligible to open a checking account and receive a $100 checking bonus. This offer is available through 5/31/2009 as well. If you’d like to call USAA Bank to open your CD or checking account with bonus, the phone number is (800) 531-8132.

While you must meet the above membership requirements for the promotional 2-Year CD and checking promotion described here, USAA Bank allows all United States Citizens to open a deposit product. They offer a free checking account with free ATM use around the world, and it includes free checks. Their CD products have a history of higher than average interest rates, and the USAA is known for providing quality services for consumers looking for automobile insurance coverage and mutual funds.

USAA Bank has headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. It is FDIC insured and has been since 1983. The BauerFinancial rating is 5 stars (superior) and Bankrate.com gives it a sound rating of 4 stars based on December 2008 data.

Consignment shops are stores where people can bring in their used items (typically clothing and accessories) and let the dealer (the store) sell them. The dealer (the consignment shop) will then price the items and put them in the store for buyers to browse and purchase. The longer the items remain in the store, the lower the price becomes.  After a certain amount of time, if the items are not purchased, they are returned to the original owner and no compensation is given.  If the item is sold, a percentage goes to the owner and a percentage goes to the consignment shop.

The difference between a Thrift Store and a Consignment shop is that in a thrift store, the items are donated to the store to sell to turn a profit; or the thrift store might purchase items at very low cost and then turn around to sell them at higher prices.

Benefits for Consignment Shops during a Recession

Consignment shops do great business when consumers are feeling the strains of a poor economy.  More people are watching their spending and will visit consignment shops before shopping more expensive stores.  Additionally, consignment shops don’t need to shell out money for inventory since people provide the items in hopes of receiving a percentage of the sales if their items are purchased by someone browsing the store.

Benefits for Sellers

Having yardsales and garage sales are time consuming.  Many people prefer to simply drop off their used and no longer needed items to a consignment store and let someone else deal with the actual sales transactions.  They don’t have to sit around and wait for people to come in, and hope that someone buys their items.  They can just drop it off and the store will take care of the rest.

Benefits for Buyers

When times are tight financially, people look for ways to reduce their expenses.  After you’ve turned out the lights you’re not using, replaced the ones you are with compact energy efficient lightbulbs and turned your heat down – where else can you save some money to help stretch your income?

Consignment stores give people a way to still get something new, but without breaking the bank or going outside of their budget. When you need something, many times you don’t necessarily need to buy it brand new so it makes sense to pay less money for the items you need at a consignment store.

When you open a qualifying new checking account by 4/24/09 with KeyBank, you can receive a free Garmin nuvi 205W GPS, or a Garmin nuvi 265WT GPS.

The Garmin nuvi 205W GPS promotional offer requires that you open a qualifying checking account by 4/24/09 and make one debit card transaction and 2 direct deposits or automated payments of at least $100 by 6/26/09. You can open the Express Free Checking to qualify if you meet the other requirements.

To receive the 265WT GPS (more expensive version) you must open either a Key Privilege, Key Privilege Select or business checking accounts by 4/24/09. You still need to make one debit card transaction and either 2 direct deposits or automated payments of $100 or more by 6/26/09. These accounts require fairly large minimum balances in order to avoid monthly fees.

If you meet the requirements of the KeyBank checking account promotion, you will receive a Garmin GPS within 90 days of meeting all requirements specified. Direct deposit transactions are classified as payroll, pension, government benefits or social security benefit deposits. An automated payment excludes Key Bill Pay, PayPal transactions, automated payments made with your debit card and account to account balance transfers – so be sure to understand what classifies as an automated payment.

If you have opened a KeyBank account within the last 12 months, you don’t qualify for this promotion. The value of whichever GPS unit you receive will be reported on a Form 1099-INT, in the amount of $166 for the 205W and $240 for the 265WT. Don’t close your account within 180 days of opening it or you’ll get charged a $25 early closure fee.

This is available in any area where there are physical KeyBank branches. You can open the account at any KeyBank branch, online at Key.com, or by calling 1-877-888-3658.

The Key Express Free Checking has a $50 minimum opening deposit, but no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. You can use ACH transfers with this account. If you use a non-KeyBank Atm you’ll be hit with a $2 fee (in addition to the other ATM’s fee).

KeyBank uses the ChexSystem for application approvals. KeyBank is an FDIC insured institution, since 1956.