Bank Deals Blog: Deposits Education and Strategies

Venmo is a free mobile wallet and digital payment network owned by PayPal that has revolutionized splitting the dinner bill since its founding in 2009. The platform, which comes in the form of an app, as well as a website, lets users transfer money instantly to friends, family and businesses. Users link their debit card, bank account or credit card to the iOS- and Android-friendly app, and can then pay and receive cash via the platform. Money is stored in a user’s Venmo account until they send it...

The Fed moved as expected by raising the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. This is the second Fed rate hike of 2018 and the seventh rate hike since the Fed started to raise rates in December 2015. Here’s that all important paragraph in today’s FOMC statement:

Just like in March, today’s decision was unanimous with all FOMC participants voting in favor of the rate hike.

In addition to announcing the rate hike, the FOMC statement described the state of the economy and the changes since the last...

As expected, no policy changes were announced today at the end of the two-day FOMC meeting. The Fed decided to hold off on a rate hike, but a rate hike in June still looks very likely. The language in the FOMC statement describing the economy supports the continuation of the Fed’s gradual rate hikes. A few small changes in the statement language may be seen as increasing the odds of four rate hikes in 2018 (instead of just three). One is the change in the description of inflation:

We can all pretty much agree that a college education is an investment in any young adult’s future — and a significant one at that. The average net cost of a four-year degree today is over $58,000. And, according to Fidelity’s Annual College Savings Indicator study, parents are on track to cover only 29% of college tuition by the time their child reaches college age.

One common way parents can save for their child’s future college expenses is by using a 529 college savings plan. 529...

What is a safe deposit box?

A safe deposit box, also referred to as a safety deposit box, is a small secured box that sits in a vault, usually at a bank or credit union. Think of these as a smaller version of a safe, one you can rent to store valuables and important documents. The idea is that storing such items in a safe deposit box will protect them from fire, theft, tampering and other types of natural disasters. This is because a safe deposit...

Many people are aware that their credit report is tracked by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) such as Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. There’s also a similar system that tracks your banking history, a CRA named ChexSystems. If you’ve ever opened a checking or savings account, you may have a ChexSystems report, also called a consumer disclosure.

Banks and credit unions report information on closed checking and savings accounts to ChexSystems, which puts the data in a report that can be used by financial institutions to deny your application for...

The Fed moved as expected by raising the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. This is the first Fed rate hike of 2018 and the sixth rate hike since the Fed started to raise rates in December 2015. Here’s that all important paragraph in today’s FOMC statement:

Unlike in December when two Fed officials voted against the rate hike, today’s decision was unanimous.

An added sentence in today’s FOMC statement bodes well for 2018:

However, the economic outlook hasn’t strengthened enough for the Fed to speed up the pace...

Since the financial crisis in 2008, CD rates have been consistently higher than equivalent term Treasury notes (notes have a maturity between one and 10 years). As a result, in most cases, an investor could get a better rate if they looked to CDs. As the chart below shows, this calculus has changed a bit over the last six months as the rates on Treasuries have shot up with the accelerating economy.

So, if you have a chunk of money to invest in a risk-free asset, which will be it...

Planning for retirement and having a successful retirement remains one of the biggest financial concerns among Americans today. According to Prudential's 2016 Retirement Preparedness Survey, 49% of respondents cite saving for retirement as their number one financial concern, followed by not having enough money to maintain their lifestyle through retirement at 47%.

Figuring out your retirement options isn’t always easy though. You have to choose a retirement plan that works best for you, know how much you should be investing, select an investment strategy and periodically...

If you change employers or you’re ready to retire and are wondering what to do with your old retirement plan, you may be interested in learning more about rollovers.

A rollover is simply what happens when you move savings in one retirement fund into a new retirement fund.

Rolling over an IRA can be tricky, however, and investors should make sure they are up-to-date on the latest tax rules before moving money from one retirement account to another.

How do I rollover my IRA distributions?

There are three ways to roll...