List Of The Best Online Brokers By Smart Money 2010

By MoneyBlueBook

Review of SmartMoney Magazine's Top Discount Brokerages Below

While I have written about the best online discount brokers in the past - reviewing what I believe to be the top brokerage companies out there for new stock and fund investors - it's always good to check out what the financial experts have to say on the subject. For almost two decades now, the editors at SmartMoney Magazine have been reviewing and releasing their annual list of the best stock brokerage companies, thoroughly researching and comparing the candidates based on a variety of key competitive factors. For customers and broker firms alike, their award wining list is always a popular read.

In this year's 18th annual broker survey, SmartMoney updated its ranked list of the best and worst brokers after conducting a variety of performance based tests and undercover research as well as reviewing the responses to surveys by the online brokerages themselves. As the folks at Smart Money remarked in this year's review - "no detail was too small" - as they poked and prodded the various available trading tools and features, even going so far as to go incognito - calling customer support lines and posing as prospective brokerage customers, while jotting down comments in regards to the quality of the phone service they received. For new and seasoned investors, this list serves as an excellent jumping off point for those on the fence and not sure which investment broker to go with or to switch to. While the exact sequencing order of the rankings

By MoneyBlueBook

Update: New FDIC and NCUA Insured Limits Extended Until January 1, 2014

After months of bank failures and gloomy economic news, we finally have some good tidings from our federal government. No, it's not another round of stimulus checks for those of you who have been hoping and waiting with bated breath, but rather, it pertains to the FDIC insurance that guarantees the safety and security of bank deposits.

The current increased FDIC insurance limits of $250,000 were scheduled to be rolled back to the previous $100,000 limits on the last day of 2009. However just recently, Congress voted to extend the deadline for four more years - through December 31, 2013. Those of us who have significant amounts of money in the bank or sizable funds invested into long term certificates of deposit (CD rates) undoubtedly have been nervously eyeing the impending December 31 expiration date of the $250,000 threshold. Thus this news ought to come as a tremendous welcomed relief. Those of us who have been considering renewing our certificates of deposit can now consider maturities with a longer time horizon without fear of falling outside of federally protected limits.

Avoid Banks That Are Not FDIC Insured, Or Credit Unions That Are Not NCUA Protected

As many of you may know, if you have money in a bank account, your bank deposits are generally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to the maximum current limit of $250,000. Similarly, if you have money saved in a credit union account, your deposits are

By MoneyBlueBook

Review Of Ally Bank.com's High Yield Money Markets, Savings, and CD Offers

After a rather bumpy ride over the last few years, the financial institution formerly known as GMAC Bank is now Ally Bank. In mid-May 2009, the former financial lending and banking arm of General Motors took the first of what it hopes to be a series of reinvigorating steps towards distancing itself from the much criticized and tainted image of the now bankrupt auto maker.

Since then, many of you may haven noticed their recent aggressive purple-themed advertising blitz on TV spots and online ads. With the launch of Ally Bank, the company is undertaking a massive promotional effort to differentiate itself from the collectively damaged reputations of other struggling online banks in the hopes of positioning itself as a commercial advocate of honesty, transparency, and accountability. Though the former bank has been struggling mightily in the midst of the worst economic recession and subprime mortgage crisis in decades, now that it's flush with bailout funds courtesy of the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the new Ally Bank is now sufficiently stabilized to concentrate on growing its depositor base and rebuilding its image.

Currently, Ally Bank's interest rate offers are extraordinarily competitive and have been consistently dominating the high end of the bank rate spectrum. If you are willing to accept the view and belief (as you perhaps ought to) that the government's FDIC insurance protections are more than adequate to guarantee the safety and security of your banking

By MoneyBlueBook

News Update: Is the New Financial Face Of GMAC Bank

As of mid-May 2009, GMAC Bank is now officially called Ally Bank. With a new aggressive marketing blitz on cable TV channels and via Internet ads, the new purple themed Ally Bank is embarking on a quest to rebrand its image and change the public's perception of its former beleaguered self. Touting the new banking persona as a new and better type of bank - an ally and friend to consumer customers of sorts, AllyBank.com's new banking slogan is - "No minimum deposits. No monthly fees. No minimum balance. No sneaky disclaimers."

Sporting a very impressive array of high yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and high interest CD rates, Ally Bank is hoping to win the public over with its dazzling new message and cache of revamped services. Looking back at its history, the bank formerly known as GMAC Bank has certainly had quite a rough and tumultuous ride to get to where it is today.

Ally Bank - Starting Anew With A Fresh New Name and Top Tier Rates

For those not in the know, Ally Bank used to be GMAC Bank, a bank built on the troubled and rather shaky foundations of GMAC Financial Services - the banking, savings, and financial lending arm of currently bankrupt American vehicle manufacturer General Motors (GM). Originally established as a lending authority to provide automotive financing loans to car buyers and auto dealerships of GM brand vehicles, GMAC has been hit particularly hard by

By MoneyBlueBook

Well it's that time of the month again. It's time to calculate my net worth, and update readers with a review of my current financial situation and prospective outlook. So, after spending a few months overseas for personal family reasons, I've finally returned home. As the bulk of my online and so-called real life business operations are run and managed over email, instant messaging, and Skype, there was barely a blip on my small business operations while I was away. In fact, despite me not even being in the country to run things for much of the last few months, the month of May still saw a pretty healthy bump up in income (as reflected by the significant increase in total assets), thanks primarily to the acquisition of several new legal clients and online affiliate partners. As my total net income is comprised of several income sources to form a diversified base, I've fortunately avoided much of the devastating carnage leveled by this ongoing economic recession. Only time will tell whether this healthy income streak will be able to continue for the foreseeable future at its current rate - however, I remain hopeful despite my cautiously bearish nature of late.

Thus, as far as I can tell based on current projections and observations, the only significantly damaging element that has the foreseeable potential to hurt me financially in a big way - is higher federal and state income taxes. Hopefully President Obama will play nice and leave existing federal tax rates alone and not

By MoneyBlueBook

If you have a high yield savings account or have funds invested in a certificate of deposit, no doubt you will have noticed that interest rates on formerly high yielding bank deposits have been dropping for months now. Thanks to this ongoing economic recession, interest rates have been steadily declining, much to the frustration and chagrin of aggressive savers like myself. While certain faithful online banks such as Ally Bank (formerly GMAC Bank) and Everbank continue to offer competitive rates that are as high as the market place will permit, the vast majority of bank rates have plummeted across the board. With many so-called "high yield savings rates" now only offering rates in the 1-2% APY range, it's getting more and more difficult for any serious cash investor or fixed interest rate chaser to make money on existing balances while remaining in these types of declining accounts.

While high yield savings accounts and CD deposits (with their formidable FDIC insurance guarantees of up to $250,000 and steady rates of return) will continue to serve important and irreplaceable roles as reliable short term cash savings options for consumers, those seeking a higher rate of return may want to start looking elsewhere. Despite this type of depressed market, a variety of rather compelling CD alternatives have emerged as serious high interest contenders, all worth a review.

High Yield CD Rate Alternatives May Not Be Fully FDIC Insured, But Many Still Offer Safety, Security, Liquidity, and Low Risk Opportunities

Before you decide to move away from traditional