- - Page 2 of 5 The Finance Gourmet

Are High Interest Checking Accounts Worth It?

January 4, 2024April 5, 2023 by Finance Gourmet

There are a lot of high-interest checking accounts out there these days, but is a high-interest checking account worth it? The answer depends not only on how you use your checking account, but also the details of each account. As is so often the case with personal finance, the devil is in the fine print details. Be sure to understand all of the fine print before rushing off to transfer your checking accounts. Check out my Acorns review. High-Interest Checking Account Qualifications The first thing you want to look at is how to qualify for a high interest checking account. At most banks, getting the highest interest rate on your checking account requires you to make a minimum number of debit card transactions. That is because the bank earns money on each one of those transactions. In a way, with every debit card purchase you make, you earn the money the bank uses to pay you the higher interest. You also are usually required to get a direct deposit into the checking account each month. For many people, the only direct deposit they could get on a monthly basis is their paycheck. The idea is that by requiring a direct …

FDIC Insurance Limits

January 4, 2024February 28, 2023 by Finance Gourmet

FDIC insurance coverage of $250,000 per account has been extended through 2014.

Free ATM Fees

May 28, 2023February 3, 2023 by Finance Gourmet

If you are still paying ATM fees, it’s time to find a new bank. Too many customers have gotten used to paying ATM fees, but there is no reason for it. Good banks, credit unions, and financial institutions all have multiple options to use ATMs for free, including, in some cases, refunding ATM charges. Keep in mind this all applies to checking accounts or checking-linked accounts. Savings accounts and money market accounts have different rules and restrictions. After all, savings accounts are not designed for frequent fund access, that’s why they pay you higher interest rates. Check out my Digit reviews. High ATM Fees It used to always surprise me as a financial advisor in the Denver area how many people would proudly tell me about all of the hoops they jumped through to get a credit card with zero interest for six months, or how to get a fraction of a percentage higher interest rate on their savings account, only to later learn that they were shelling out for much worse charges like ATM fees. Sure, six months of free interest on a hefty credit card balance is probably worth more than $5 or $10, but getting that extra …

Interest Rates, Mortgages, HELOCs, Credit Cards, and the Fed

January 20, 2024December 17, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Originally published 12/17/2008, this post is being kept for its historical value, as the economy was still reeling from the housing market collapse and subsequent market swoon. For fun (and education), pull out your favorite charting tool and set the dates to either side of this date. This rate cut will mark the bottoming of the stock market (by March of 2009). Days like yesterday and today are why I write the Finance Gourmet. For those of you who didn’t see it, the Federal Reserve, or Fed cut interest rates to between 0% and 0.25%. All day today, the media has been droning on about what it means for consumers, homeowners, and the economy. Unfortunately, they are in such a hurry to do so, that they skip over all the details. So, here it is, what the Fed’s rate cut means to you. What To Do Now That Interest Rates Have Been Cut After reading the above, you should be aware that there are no quick and easy, or automatic solutions coming based on this rate cut. Frankly, that isn’t really what it is supposed to do. But, that doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do. First, don’t count …

What Is ACH?

August 17, 2023November 1, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House (ACH). It is governed by NACHA which issues rules and standards. If you can’t comply with Nacha, you can’t be part of the ACH network. What Is ACH Used For? ACH is a way to make payments to bank accounts regardless of which banks are involved. Many companies use ACH to deposit employee paychecks on a regular basis. Most people know this as direct deposit. Direct deposit, whether recurring, or one-time takes place via the ACH network. Consumers also use ACH to automatically pay bills or payments. In this case, the ACH takes money from the person’s account and deposits it in the company’s account. Although the viewpoint has changed, this is the same form of transaction. Using ACH this way is often known as automatic payment. Can ACH Be Used for One-Time Payments ACH can be used for one-time transactions. Many of these transactions originate on the internet. These transactions are referred to as WEB entries. Consumers may log in to financial institutions or bank accounts and make one-time payments or transfers. Examples include, paying some or all of the balance of a credit card account, making a mortgage payment manually, or even …

Fidelity Youth Account for Kids $50 Bonus

September 23, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Now that the economy is no longer awash in free money, financial companies, banks and brokerages are in customer acquisition mode. New customers tend to stay customers, especially when scary stories on TV or scary circumstances trigger the impulse to stay put. $50 Fee for Fidelity Youth Account You probably started seeing postcards and letters in the mail with local banks trying to seduce you with offers of $200 cash for opening a new account, or something similar. This is a version of that. The idea from Fidelity’s end, of course, is that your child is getting older and if they already have a Fidelity account when they leave and go out into the world, there is a much better chance that they will keep that account than there is that they would find their way back on their own. How Do I Get $50 For Fidelity Kids Account? Fortunately, since this is for a kids account, there are kid sized requirements to earn the $50 bonus. First, the parent must be a Fidelity account holder. If you already are, then you can move to the next step. If you aren’t you have to make a choice about whether opening …

Debit Card Fraud

November 28, 2022August 26, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

A debit card is a useful money management tool. It provides credit card-like access to purchases, but the money comes directly from your checking account, not from a line of credit. Many people prefer to use debit cards in order to avoid the pitfalls of credit cards. Some banks and credit unions even offer rewards programs similar to credit card rewards programs. For example, Target offers the Redcard Debit card that offers 5% off of each purchase, just like the Target credit card does. However, there are some very big differences between credit cards and debit cards when it comes to fraudulent charges. Debit Card Charges Fraud One of the major differences between a debit card and a credit card is that a debit card can be used both as a debit card, via a PIN number, and as a credit charge card, via a signature. If you use the PIN number method, you must enter your PIN into a little terminal. Never give your PIN or say your PIN to the person conducting the transaction. If you cannot enter your PIN secretly, then process the transaction as a charge transaction instead. The PIN number provides a little bit of …

$400 Wells Fargo Free Checking Offer

September 13, 2022June 13, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

I have been in the personal finance game long enough to have seen some trends. One of those trends is the increase in free money offers, zero interest offers, and cash back offers, like the $400 Wells Fargo Free Checking offer that showed up in my mail. If you are in your 30s or 40s, you can probably remember the opposite, when credit cards were stingy with approval and even basic checking came with some sort of minimum fee. Banking and credit offers are a lagging indicator. They get good after the economy and markets get good and stay good after the rest of the market rolls over. Wells Fargo Checking $400 Bonus The Wells Fargo $400 bonus works like most cash bonus offers from other banks. There is no Wells Fargo $400 bonus scam, but you need to read all of the requirements before you leap into a new checking account. First, you have to use the special offer code when you open your new checking account with Wells Fargo. That’s the easy part. How Do I Get $400 from Wells Fargo? Then, you have to have $1,000 worth of qualifying direct deposits during the first 90 days your …

When Will My Savings Interest Rates Go Up?

March 18, 2022 by Finance Gourmet

Waiting for your bank or credit union to raise the interest rate they pay you on your savings or money market accounts? Don’t hold your breath. Better Savings Interest Rates While the Fed kept interest rates at zero, most banks followed suit with their basic interest-bearing accounts, getting as close as their computer software allowed, 0.01% interest or APY if you prefer. A quick search of big bank websites shows mostly the same. Sure, you can grab a little bit more interest on a little bit more money if you meet certain terms and conditions, but the basic savings accounts all look like this. Bank Interest Rate Chase Savings Interest Rate 0.01% US Bank Standard Savings Interest Rate 0.01% FirstBank Regular Savings Interest Rate 0.01% Bank of America Advantage Savings Interest Rate 0.01% USAA Savings Account Interest Rate 0.01% Wells Fargo Way2Save Interest Rate 0.01% According to company’s website as of 3/18/22 You get the idea. Most of these banks have a way to earn more interest if you perform certain steps like setting up direct deposit or keeping a minimum balance, but even then, the rates are nothing to write home about. The best high-yield savings accounts online do …

What Is Afterpay Scam Legit Worth It?

September 8, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

What Is Afterpay? Is Afterpay a good deal? How does After pay work, and what do Afterpay reviews say about the buy now, pay later, company? What Is Afterpay? Even before the Square buyout of Afterpay was announced, there was increasing buzz around the so-called buy now, pay later company, mostly in the form of breathless, Guess What Millennials are Doing Now? articles. So, what is Afterpay? Afterpay is a financial company. The Afterpay app is the main way of interacting with Afterpay, although many Afterpay stores integrate directly with the company. To sign up, you apply for credit with Afterpay. Afterpay sets a limit on the amount you can spend. When you buy something, the money doesn’t come out of your bank account, but rather goes on your Afterpay account as a debit that you have to pay back. Sound familar? If you said, “Hey, that’s what a credit card is,” then you have your money brain on this morning, but there are a few very important differences that make Afterpay not a credit card. How Is Afterpay Different from a Credit Card? The main difference between Afterpay and a credit card is that Afterpay charges no interest. However, …