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A new place for cash with good yields


Guest Blogger John Carrig John%20Carrig.JPG is answering a question today. John, who is a certified financial planner, is the head of Gold Coast Financial Planning in Boca Raton.

With CD rates so low, what other insured alternatives do investors have?

Many individuals have placed funds in low yielding insured money market or checking accounts.

They want safe, secure, insured places to put their money.

There's a new option for those who put safety first with their money.

Some financial institutions are marketing a hybrid checking account that offers expanded benefits along with safety features. Sometimes called a rewards checking account, these can offer higher-than-usual rates, low or no fees and complete liquidity. But they also come with some restrictions.

Who offers them? Mostly community financial institutions (banks and credit unions) that want to attract new accounts.

Are they really safe? The majority of community banks and credit unions are not only stable, but they are still lending and fully insured by the FDIC or the National Credit Union Administration.

The hybrid checking account comes with strings attached. Keep reading to see the pros and cons:

Pros:
Better rates than standard bank accounts. As of October 14, 2009, rates were as high as high as 6.01% - Average 3.5% to 4.5%
Same federal insurance offered on other accounts, up to $250,000.
100% liquidity, no fees for early withdrawal.
No monthly service charges.
Electronic banking and statement.
Debit card comes with account.
Free on-line banking.

Cons:
May require a monthly ACH (automatic) deposit.
Possible minimum number of debit card transactions required, usually 10 per month.
May require a minimum number of bill payment online transactions.
High interest rate may apply to deposits up to a certain level, say $25,000 or $50,000. Above that amount the normal interest rate (around 1.4 percent) hat type of account will be paid.
Possible limits. May be available to only individuals living in a certain geographic area, typically states in which the financial institution has branch offices,
Need to monitor rates because these attractive offers change frequently.

To learn more about financial institutions offering this new type of checking account visit

http://www.money-rates.com/rewardschecking.htm

and

https://www.checkingfinder.com/.

Still worried?

Even though the deposits are federally insured, the unknown banks might be of concern. The safety ratings can be found on the Bank Rate Monitor website:

http://http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/bank-ratings-search.aspx

Categories: Your Money (252)
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Comments

These attractive offers.
***************
olivia
Cash For Gold Colchester


i like your ideas and views.


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About the author
You've got the job of managing your money. No one in school taught you how. But you and I, we can teach each other, how to handle it, how to save for retirement, how to make money last, how to educate the kids, how to make a budget work. The conversations I have with my readers are fun. Money's important, but discussing it does not have to be boring.

Harriet Johnson Brackey Harriet Johnson Brackey, the personal finance columnist for the Sun Sentinel, is an award-winning business reporter. Her columns for 2008 were named "The Best in the Business," a national award chosen by her colleagues at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Brackey has worked at Business Week magazine and at USA TODAY, where she was a founder and part of the original staff of the Money section at the country's first national newspaper. After nearly 11 years there - spent covering the 1980s bull market, the insider trading scandals, the 1987 crash - Brackey left Washington, D.C., and came to The Miami Herald. She spent the next decade writing a column about personal finance that chronicled the stock market's Internet boom and bust, as well as the popular Money Makeover features.

Brackey also has done commentaries for Marketplace Money, which airs on National Public Radio and The Nightly Business Report which is broadcast on more than 250 PBS television stations nationwide. She also has been a radio guest on WLRN’s Miami Herald News.
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