I’ve been getting requests to talk about strategies to balancing your checkbook. Mostly because people are sick of paying fees out of their bank account. One incident can easily cost in the hundreds of dollars. Here’s the run down: Banks make money off of overdraft fees, but a lot of peo...

Saving money at college is tough, but it’s definitely possible. Once you scraped together some money, where do you go from there? Luckily, there are many options available, including the beautiful thing called “Online Banking.” Why Online Banking? Higher interest rates. Online ban...

I’ve been following this election closely since I realized that we are going to see the end of the Bush administration.  I should just come right out and say that I’m one of those “God Damn Independents”.  I don’t pledge allegiance to any party; just America.  My deg...

Ever heard of the FDIC? That’s too bad. You see back during the Great Depression, banks lost a lot of money. People panicked and ran to the banks to take out their money. Banks lost even more money, and this processed repeated itself for awhile. Savings were being wiped out. It was ugly with a c...

I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal Online (WSJ) about prepaid debit cards the other day. It’s basically a debit card that isn’t linked to a traditional bank account. Here’s a quick run down of some of the advantages and disadvantages: Advantages: It’s co...

Why choose to invest in a CD over another form of investment such as stocks or bonds? There are lots of good reasons to choose CDs as an investment tool, especially for college students who often don’t have a lot of disposable income or money to play around with. Here are some of the benefits&...

The Rule of 72 is a general rule of thumb telling how long it will take your money to double at a given rate of return, known as the annual percentage rate (APR). To use the rule, start with the number 72 and divide it by your expected rate of return. Let’s say you are earning 6% interest on an in...

One of the things I am constantly doing is going to BankRate.com and checking out the latest financial rates, such as for CDs or savings accounts.  Its was hard for me to save money during undergrad, so whenever I did save money, I wanted to make sure I was making it work as hard for me as possible...

By Chelsea Jamison - Seattle Pacific University You’re all probably aware of savings accounts, the stock market and bonds as common ways to invest and receive a positive (hopefully!) return on your money. But what about certificates of deposits (CDs)? Why would you invest in one? WaitR...

In our fast-paced financial world where everyone wants your money as fast as they can get their hands on it, how can you avoid getting caught in the current, floating towards disaster? Float time is how long it takes a transaction to clear your checking account. Let’s say you deposit your paycheck...