When you are young it may seem as if financial worries are the least of concerns. Perhaps you are worried most about making a name for yourself in a good job, finding a spouse, or having a great looking car. But it is when you are young that the start of your financial future really begins to take shape. Essentially, the younger you are when you start saving, the more time you have to save more money.

Ideally, when you are young your financial priorities should involve two specific goals: savings and preventing debt.

Savings
Young people today face a much tougher job market than those of years past. They will need to learn how to make and manage their money from the start. They also need to learn the importance of benefits from a job, including health insurance and a retirement plan. Too often the young will be quick to jump into a seemingly great job without a concern for such benefits. If you are not contributing to a retirement fund from the start, you are losing an opportunity to sock away more cash for a longer period of time. Also, it is important the young learn the importance of paying themselves first. For each paycheck earned, a percentage should be immediately put into savings and left untouched. As years pass and savings accrues, there will be more opportunities in the future and less financial stressors.

Debt
Ideally, it is best for a young person to learn early how important it is to spend less than you earn. Getting buried under debt at a young age sets you up for a struggle for years to come. If you are still young and single, it is important to focus on paying off debts fully as fast as possible. Student loans and credit card debt can plague a young person for many years to come and if you start off on the right financial foot, you can work for many years to save your money instead of working solely to pay off bills. Having a healthy savings account allows for more opportunities in the job market. You can be more picky about what positions you take instead of being forced to work at any job just to make an income.

While the economy has thrown many generations for a loop, it is important for the young and single individuals to prioritize their finances while still young to prevent  financial struggle in the future.

Even though the housing industry is still in a slump that does not mean that you cannot get a very good interest rate and deal on a house in 2009.  The most obvious thing to do is to shop around for the best rate that you can find.  While that is true, there are some other things you can do to help in the process.

Check your credit score.  You can check your credit score and report once per year for free.  If you are in the market for a house, then now is the time to exercise that right.  The higher your score, the lower your interest rate will be so it is worth looking at in advance of the process.

The Federal Trade Commission has a web site where you can find out how to get your free report.  Go to: www.ftc.gov/freereports.  You will also find detailed instructions on what to do if you find errors or other misinformation contained in your report.

Clean up your credit report.  Once you have checked your credit score, look at the accompanying credit report.  If you see incorrect items on it, you need to clean these up so that they do not negatively affect your ability to get a great rate.  While this can be a time-consuming and protracted task, it is well worth performing.  In fact, you will want to delay moving ahead in the process until this is completed.  It is that important.

Make positive changes to your financial picture.  There is nothing like a clean financial picture that makes financial institutions easy to work with in obtaining a mortgage.  Take the time to pay off small, high interest consumer loans like credit cards, etc.  The best thing here to remember is that a strong financial picture and getting on top fo your personal budget shows low overall debt and a high amount of cash and assets on hand.

Consult a Realtor.  One of the many benefits of working with a real estate agency or broker is that they can direct you to the best sources of financing.  It stands to reason that since they deal with those who need financing on a daily basis, the probably have some knowledge of where to you go to obtain a great rate and service.

Compare and Be Aware.  Approach the financing portion of buying a house as you would an interview only you will be doing the interview.  Find out from two or three sources what the going interest rates are and what the details are regarding the loan and any origination and other charges that you will be required to pay at closing.  You might find some very attractive options. Use tools such as an amortization calculator, an interest only mortgage calculator and other mortgage calculators to help you with the math.

If you use these steps you can find a great interest rate on a new house mortgage in 2009.

With the economy facing a down turn, Many Americans are taking a hard look at their finances and finding that they are in a much worse position than they might have originally wanted to admit. They have all sorts of credit card debt, cars that they owe more on than what the car is actually worth and home mortgages which are very disproportionate to their incomes. Many are now following financial advice offered by more conservative financial authors such as Dave Ramsey and Daniel Lapin which suggest that we should have a buffer of 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings and that we should become debt free as fast and as soon as possible.

Of course we can only use a dollar bill to do one thing at a time, and we are forced to prioritize. Do we start throwing as much money at our consumer debt as quick as possible in hopes of getting debt relief solutions, or do we start saving and build a up a buffer to prevent us from getting into any further debt. Many have said that to get out of a hole, the first thing one needs to do to get out of a hole is quit digging down. Certainly one will never get out of debt by taking out new debt while paying off old debt, so first we must accept that we won’t take out any new debt for any reason.

If we make a commitment to not take out any new debt, we’re going to need some money in savings to take care of emergency situations, such as car break downs and trips to the hospital, but we’re not going to want to save up tens of thousands of dollars earning 3% interest while we’re paying 20%+ in interest on credit card debt.

Radio host and financial author Dave Ramsey suggests that we save $1000 and then start paying off our consumer debt. This is a good number because it gives us some cushion and allows us to pay cash for many of the smaller things that would traditionally cause us to take out new debt. After that $1000 is saved we can start paying on our highest-interest or smallest-balance debt. Either way is fine, as long as you pay off your debt with focused intensity and treat it like the cancer that it really is. Of all of the debt relief options on the market, paying them off as fast and quickly as possible is the single most effective way in reducing credit card debt.

Standard advice during slow economic times calls for the tightening of purse strings and discourages making big purchases. The flip side to this scenario is the fact that many manufacturers are currently desperate to make a sale and you might find yourself missing out on the many great deals that are now available. If you want or need another vehicle and are in a position to afford the expense these handy tips for buying a new or used automobile.

• Read the fine print- As with any other contractual obligation, you should carefully read the fine print before signing on the dotted line. In many cases people get so caught up on the price, financing and monthly payment figure they fail to notice the question the many additional fees and charges that often appear in the fine print. Make sure you are aware of and in agreement with all charges and do not allow any blank spaces that may be filled in at a later date.
• Research the car and the car dealer- The stereotypical image of a car dealer is not favorable on the profession but there are reputable car dealers out there if you only take the time to do a little research. You can do a quick Internet search to see if you find any reviews either positive or negative from other consumers who have dealt with the dealership as well as checking out their record on the Better Business Bureau. If your dealer is local, ask around, you will likely be able to find someone who has done business with the company and they may be able to give you first hand details on their experience. If you have a specific make or model in mind you should research the vehicle in advance. This will give you a better idea of the going prices and leverage when you begin negotiations with the dealer.
• Check the history of used cars- Years ago you were at the mercy of the car dealer to disclose all the information about the history of a used vehicle and even then they were limited to what they knew about the car. Today that is not the case, if you are shopping for a used car you can find the history of the vehicle online using www.carfax.com. You will need the VIN number of the vehicle in question to request the vehicle history report. This is not a free service however the small fee you are required to pay for the vehicle history is a small investment to avoid purchasing a vehicle that will cost you more money down the road.

The internet makes it possible and easy to comparison shop for loans.  Whether you’re looking for a car loan, student loan, mortgage or debt consolidation loan – there are a number of websites that exist to help you compare rates and loan terms.  Whenever you need to borrow money, it’s a good idea to weigh your options but you need to be careful that you aren’t damaging your credit score in the process.

Most loan comparison websites give you a list of possible rates for the various types of loans.    These rates actually mean nothing to you, because the loan rates an individual receives is based on their credit score and credit history.  Just because there are car loans available with 0% interest for the life of the loan doesn’t mean you will necessarily qualify for that rate.  In order to get offers from lenders that are specific to what you qualify for, you have to enter your social security number.

Lenders use the social security number to do a hard pull of your credit report.  Each time the information is obtained by a potential lender, your credit score will be effected as you are seen by lenders as someone who is desperate for cash and high risk. When you have multiple inquiries in a short amount of time, you’ll start receiving loan offers with less and less desirable interest rates due to the lowered score and increased number of inquiries.

It’s always better to “shop around” before making a big ticket purchase, but in the case of shopping for loans you are better off not entering your social security number on multiple sites.  The only way to find out what rates you would qualify for when loan shopping online is to enter your social security number and chance lowering your credit score if you decide the first offer isn’t good enough and go on to check several other sites.

The exception to this rule is when comparison shopping for automobile loans and mortgages.    The company that calculates credit scores claims that all automobile and mortgage inquiries made in the previous 30 days are ignored when the score is calculated.  Prior to the 30 days,  multiple inquiries for a car loan or for a mortgage are treated as a single inquiry when made within a 14 day period.

In order to get the best rates, use the internet to narrow down your top lender choices.  Find out what you can regarding their requirements for qualifying for the loan or how they calculate the interest rates on their loans before you enter your social security number or fill out an application.  Sometimes you can use the internet to narrow down your top choices of lenders, then call each of them to get more information.  If you know your FICO credit score and have a general idea of your credit history, they should be able to give you an estimated interest rate which you can use to compare your choice lenders before making the official application for the loan.

If you ever purchased an annuity, you got yourself into a situation that’s very difficult to get out of. There are often major fees involved if you ever want to take your money out of an annuity, so you’re almost stuck there. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it seems you have fewer options in the event that you need to liquiditate your money.

Fortunately, there are now options for people stuck in this situation. There are companies that will allow you to sell annuities that you might have. They will take a look at the agreement you have with the company or individual that is paying you the annuity and then offer you a lump sum quote for how much money they will give you to Sell Annuities that you might have. The company that bought your annuity will then take ownership and start receiving the payments that you would have had.

Quite often the companies that will allow you to SELL ANNUITIES will take about a 7% or 8% discount rate on your money. This means that their calculations relating to the value of getting your money now versus over a period of time (ie, the interest you would be able to earn on that money that you have now), at about 7% or 8%. This isn’t too unreasonable, but you definitely want to shop around if you plan on trying to sell an annuity or other structured setttlement.

Be very careful though, you don’t want to sell a annuity as a bandaid solution to a much larger problem. If you don’t have any money to begin with and you aren’t making any money, one lump sum of money will only delay your problems, not fix them. Ask yourself if you will be in the same situation, just delayed by a few months or a year, after receiving the lump sum of money that you might get initially.

Most consumers at some point in their lives have managed to save money for a tangible reason, such as a down payment on a house, a car, a new television, or even a great vacation. But most fail to realize the importance of saving for no reason in particular. That is what an emergency fund is for and you definitely need one.

There are just too many uncertainties in life that can through a wrench in your finances in a quick minute. Your car breaks down and you can not get to work; you lose your job unexpectedly; you break your leg and can’t go back to work in construction. Establishing an emergency fund will take care of those little curveballs life is prone to throwing.

Many people understand the concept of saving but fail to understand how to get the ball rolling. So let’s break down what should constitute your emergency fund.

How Much Money

You must figure out how much money to work towards for establishing an emergency fund. To do that, you need to take your current income, added to your spouse if applicable, and multiply by the number of months you could be out of work at any one time. Say you make $2,000 a month and figure that you need to prepare for an 8 month leave of work. Your emergency fund will need to maintain $16,000.

Establishing the Fund

It won’t be easy or quick to save $16,000 so you will need to plan how to add money consistently and without stress to your budget. A good way to begin saving is to calculate the amount of one month’s worth of your income and make it your goal to save that much each year, roughly 8% of your income on a monthly basis. Whenever your income increases, your savings will in turn increase and you will be on your way to saving more money towards your goal each year. Anytime you get “extra” money, such as from a bonus, inheritance, income tax refund, or monetary gifts, put it directly into your account.

Holding the Money

Essentially you need to consider the amount you are to save each month as another bill that needs to be paid. Add it into your budget and make a commitment to paying it in full each month. It is advisable that you open an account for the money and not just keep the cash in your freezer. You may want to consider a money market account that pays a good interest rate and one that invests in tax-free securities so you do not end up paying taxes on any interest. A savings account is also an option but you may not earn as much interest. It is also advisable that you open an account with a bank that you do not already use to help avoid the temptation of touching. Set up a direct deposit from your paycheck or an automatic withdrawal from your checking account for each month instead of waiting to see how much money is left over. That method will never get you anywhere.

Looking for a new checking or savings account?  Unhappy with your bank and want to switch?  Just like credit card companies compete with one another with their rewards programs, banks compete with each other for new customers by offering sign-up bonuses.  Here are several institutions, banks, and online payment companies that are offering cash bonuses when you open a new account with them:

IngDirect Savings and/or Checking Accounts: 

If you are referred by a current ING account holder, you can get a $25 bonus for opening either a savings or a checking account through ING (with a minimum opening deposit of $250).  I have an ING account with both a savings and checking account and love them both.  It’s online banking at it’s best.  For the few bills I pay each month that don’t actually let me pay online, I just fill in a “check” through my ING account online, and they physically print and mail it for me (I don’t even pay for the stamps).  There are a number of other benefits with the ING bank accounts, including above average interest rates you earn on your money, and the ability to make direct deposits into other people’s bank accounts without paying any fees (like an e-check).  If you want to get a referral to receive your $25 sign up bonus, email ggreenblog@hotmail.com and let him know!

Bank of America Personal Checking Accounts

Open a Bank of America personal checking account before July 31st, 2008 and use offer code AOU260508 to receive a $75 sign up bonus.  You can apply online or at your nearest Bank of America location, but you will only qualify if you do not already have a Bank of America account.  Student checking accounts also will not apply.

Wachovia Checking Accounts

Have a Wachovia account?  Refer a friend and you both get a $25 bonus, in the form of a Wachovia prepaid Visa card, when the friend opens their checking account.  If you don’t have an account already, find someone who does to give you a referral certificate (printable right from the Wachovia website) and you can both earn $25 for the time it takes to print out the form and fill it in.  Can’t find anyone with a Wachovia account?  This person will find one so you can get the bonus (and so can the other guy!): maximizingmoney@gmail.com

Keybank Student Checking Accounts

Need a student account?  Students who sign up for the Keybank Free Student Checking Package (pretty much everything you need, including a checking account, debit and credit card) will receive a free 4GB iPod nano.  Offer expires August 28, 2008.

Midwest Bank

New customers opening a checking and relationship savings account with Midwest Bank get a $100 bonus when you set up the checking account to have a direct deposit.  Only one $100 bonus allowed per household.

 Sovereign Bank

Students who open a checking account with Sovereign Bank with a minimum of a $10 deposit and sign up for the Visa CheckCard are rewarded with a $24 iTunes gift card bonus.

Westbridge Bank and Trust

The Westbridge Bank and Trust wants to help you pay for your gas.  Open an interest checking account (current interest yield of 3.55%) and receive a free $50 BP gas card as a sign up bonus.  If you have some money to store in a CD, open an 18 month CD with a minimum of $5,000 (at 3.65%) and receive a $100 BP gas card bonus.

Have you ever considered why you chose the bank that you bank at? Was it because your parent’s bank there, it’s close to your house, or that it was the first place you stopped at? Most of us end up banking at large mega-banks with billions of dollars in assets, even though these types of banks offer some of the worst deals out there when it comes to savings and investments.

These major mega-banks are not terribly concerned that average Americans with average incomes become their customers, rather they put their emphasis on scoring big accounts because those are much more profitable to hold. Many of them don’t put much of an effort in the products they create or the marketing that they do for the average customer.

Many of these banks have very lousy products for the average consumer, especially when it comes to savings accounts. Wells Fargo is offering a meager 0.1% on their standard goal savings. Bank of America is offering a 0.2% interest rate on their regular savings and Wachovia is offering 0.15% on their “Premium” savings.

Most of these banks have very lousy checking accounts as well. You might get a free checking account with the first set of checks for free, but that’s about it. No ATM refunds to speak of, no free checks later on, and if you want to just about anything out of the normal, you’re going to end up paying a fee to make it happen.

There are so many better options when it comes to your checking and savings accounts, especially when you shop for them online. There are a number of banks, such as HSBC Direct, ING Direct, Emigrant Direct, IGO Banking and E-Loan that are offering high-yield savings accounts to their internet customers offering rates anywhere between 2.75% and 3.75% APY, that’s 20-30 times more than Wells Fargo will give you with their basic savings!

When it comes to checking accounts, you probably won’t earn a dime in interest from any major bank, but when you go online you can easily get from 3% to 4% APY on the money that’s sitting in your checking account. Some of the accounts available will even refund any ATM fees that you incur!

Major mega-banks have been giving their regular customers a raw deal for far too long, if you still keep your money at one of these banks offering you an abysmal savings rate, it’s time to move your money.

Image from savingsaccountforchildren.net

You don’t have to be a financial adviser to understand that the sooner you start putting money into a FDIC insured, interest-earning account, the more money you’ll have when you’re older. If you start saving for college when you’re an infant, compounding interest will work more in your favor than if you started as a high school freshman. Even if the child decides not to attend college, having a savings account that has been growing since they were babies will certainly give them a nice chunk of change when they enter the “real world” of working adults, and perhaps help them secure their first home or vehicle.

There are many options for saving money that offer interest. If you’re interested in starting a regular savings account for your child, take the time to find one that offers the highest interest rate possible. Chances are you won’t need any extra functionality (like a debit card or unlimited withdrawal transactions), so you can focus on finding high interest savings accounts to really maximize the savings potential of the money you deposit over time.

If you’re looking to start a college savings account, you probably want to consider a 529 plan. Each state has their own version of a 529 education savings plan – but their benefits are similar regardless of which state you live in. You can open 529 plans with a small deposit, and contribute regularly (up to a state mandated maximum amount per year). Friends and family can make gift contributions to a 529 account. When your child is old enough to attend college, the money saved in a 529 does not hurt their chances of receiving financial aid as much as other savings accounts might.

Another option for saving for your child’s future is to save money in certificates of deposit. Many people mistakenly believe you need to have thousands of dollars before a certificate of deposit will earn any interest worthwhile, but if you’re starting to put money aside for your child’s future, you have many years to invest. Choose long term certificates of deposit at the highest interest rates you can find, and keep re-investing the profits into a new certificate of deposit each time it matures to benefit the most from CDs. You can also learn to ladder your CD investments to further maximize potential interest earnings.