Smart Personal Development

With the stock market showing it’s adventurous side, and its obvious fondness for doing jig-jags and riding roller coasters, many people are looking to find a new way to put their money to work without needing to buy stock. Have no fear, the CD rates are here.

A CD is an FDIC insured place to put your money. You can put the money in a CD for a set period of time, and collect it with the interest (usually pretty high) at the end of the agreed period.

So you want to find the best CD rates out there? Me too. The best I’ve found are:

BankRate.com
MoneyAisle.com
MonitorBankRates.com
Bankaholic.com

There are, of course, dozens of websites that provide similar services. Even mine that I linked to above explains how you can find the best CD rates. Just keep looking, and you’ll be sure to find them — no need to worry about your credit.

Online savings is fantastic for people who have found one of the many real online jobs. In that case, you can make all of your banking completely automatic and electronic.

Don't forget you can have this website set to automatically send you updates! Just check out the free RSS feed, or just enter your email address below -- it's that easy. I'll take care of the rest!

Do you remember the traditional bank down the street that you put your savings into for years? The women behind the customer service desk wore dark blue skirts and jackets and the men had on gray flannel suits. Behind them was a counter with tellers who would take your deposits and hand you your withdrawals. And everything was done with a smile.

That bank with its solid oak doors was as solid as a rock. Your deposits cleared into your account the very next business day.

Then one day in 2009, you were on the Internet and you saw something called, “Online Savings Accounts.” All you had to do was have your paycheck directly deposited into a virtual bank and everything would be taken care of. Your account statement appeared instantly on your monitor with a click of your mouse.

Better yet, that online savings account offered you interest that you couldn’t find at your bank down the corner; sometimes the rates were as high as 2.5 % for this online savings account, and you could actually do your banking in your pajamas and slippers. It all seemed so simple and efficient.

But problems began to occur. As you started to put money into your online savings account and take money out, things you never thought of happened. This online account was not as wonderful as it seemed.

For one, there was no customer service when you had a question. If there was a toll free number listed on the website, it was shown way down at the bottom of the page, as if this online bank were trying to hide it from you. That sent you a bad message to begin with.

When you dialed the number there was only an automated menu and maybe a number to hit to get to a real live human being. If a choice was given for person to person service, it was the last choice on the menu and most of the time an automated voice told you there was a fifteen minute wait or the system was overloaded and asked you to call back. When a voice did pick up on the other end, they couldn’t access your account without a pin number that you lost a long time ago.

You had checks to deposit other then payroll checks. There were days when you wondered what happened to the check that you mailed in for deposit into your online savings account. Why was it taking so long to clear? The FAQ’s section on the online bank’s website did mention that checks had to be received in a mail room, processed, deposited into your account and then it took a day if deposited before two in the afternoon for money to be cleared through the Federal Reserve Clearing House. Who was getting the interest on that money while you waited to see if it showed up on your online statement?

Sometimes, you needed to pull money out of your savings account and you were set up with a checking account that also worked online. But once again, the high-yield online savings account reviews took another two to three days to make the transfer from your savings account to your checking account. In the meantime, your mother had advanced you the money until you had access. This was not good every time an emergency arose.

One day your PC pulled the online savings account website up, and the biggest problem of all occurred. The screen told you that the webpage could not be accessed and one of the reasons noted was that the site was having technical difficulties and was down. There was no mention of when it would come back up.It appeared that getting your hands on your money was not so easy at times.

This online bank was sure saving a lot of money by not having a real office with real people. And the extra point or two in interest amounted to very little because you weren’t Donald Trump and your account was not earning interest on a whole lot of money to begin with. Then there was the time the realtor would only take a cashier’s check. How were you supposed to get a cashier’s check delivered into your dining room over the Internet? Bill Gates hadn’t figured that out yet.

Everyday the three big problems seemed to outweigh the advantages. You missed those oak doors and those people with papers and pens, didn’t you?

Well, if not, then check out my article about finding the best online savings account. =p

Having applied for scholarships, financial aid, grants and all the available free money for a college student, you find yourself ready to head to college. However, no funds have arrived yet. What other options are available?

While you’re waiting for those awarded and guaranteed funds to reach you or your chosen institution of higher learning, there is another temporary source of funding at your reach. Colleges and universities have limited funds available. The short-term loan.

Short term student loans are available to assist when money is tight and you might need a little financial assistance until your other funding resources are available.

The Short Term Student loan is available to any college student who needs assistance to pay for their tuition, books, supplies and or other educational related expenses.

Items that Qualify as Educational Expenses

There are no many restrictions as to what students can use their loan to pay for. Students can determine their immediate needs and use the loan accordingly. Quite frankly almost anything the loan is used to pay may be justified as a college related expense.

For instance, during the cold weather, if getting to school is based on the purchase of a new coat, students may justify purchasing a coat as a college related expense.

Most students use the short term student loan to pay for computers, books, calculators, journals, supplies, magazine subscriptions, clothing, or even some have been known to use the student loan as a down payment on a car.

Some students use the short term student loan to pay for necessary living expenses incurred. Successfully passing college courses takes concentration, time and a lot of studying. Students who have to work to provide for their living expenses generally find themselves not doing as well as they like. Some students seek the short term student loan to assist in room and board.

Some students will delay purchasing anything extravagant until they have completed college. Being that education is paramount to a happy successful life, some students realize the delay in pleasure is well worth the long lasting joy to be experienced later.

Items that will not qualify as Educational Expenses

Quite frankly almost any reasonable purchase while in college can be justified as an educational expense. However, there are some exceptions to this logic.

Purchasing illegal drugs will not qualify as an educational expense. In fact, if discovered the funds have been used for illegal purposes could land you in serious legal trouble for life.

Items such as porno magazines, liquor, beer, cigarettes, etc. are not and will not be accepted under any conditions as educational expenses.

Extravagant clothing purchases cannot be justified as educational expenses. Students have been known to wear one pair of jeans and change their shirts to keep expenses at a minimal while in school.
An iPod would not be considered an educational expense.

If the purchase is reasonable, explaining the need to further your education can be warranted. However, remember, items of a questionable nation should be avoided at all cost if financial aid funds are to be used.