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Saving money can be challenging when there are so many tempting items out there to buy. This is especially true when you’re faced with a huge sale or coupons that reduce prices considerably. If your goal is to save in a tough economy, then it’s important that you are aware of possible financial pitfalls. So to help you out, here are a couple of tips to help you hold on to your money a little longer.  

Savings Tip #1: Comparison Shop – Even with a Coupon

It can be so tempting to hop on an item that you have a coupon for just because you have it. But it’s not the best idea when saving money is on the agenda. Usually, when you take that stroll down the aisle and find your item, it is sitting next to a store brand or generic product that is cheaper. So don’t let the coupon decide your ultimate purchasing fate. It’s good to comparison shop while you’re there. You may find an even better deal with another popular – or generic – item that is the same or better in quality as the one for which you’re holding the coupon. 

Savings Tip #2: Remember What You Came to Buy

There is nothing better than browsing the aisles of your favorite supermarket or retailer and being surprised by a wonderful item that is on sale. If it’s clothing, you immediately run to the dressing room to try it on, imagining the event you can wear it to. And if you’re in the supermarket, you think of all of the great meals you can make with your food of choice.

But while you may be excited about your new find, if this particular item was nowhere on your agenda before arriving, then it’s a good idea to keep it off. In other words, stick to what you went there for to avoid spending money you can sit in your bank account instead.

During tough economic times, it’s more important than ever to place saving money high on your priority list. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t splurge here and there. But if you do, try to avoid letting the sale item or coupon make the final decision for you.

A savings account is an integral part of anyone’s plan, whether long term or short, to building wealth. When you put money aside into a savings account, you’re creating a “safety net” for you, your family, and your hopes and dreams. By being prudent and responsible in the short term, you’re doing a good job at taking care of yourself and those you love in the long term. It’s hard and you definitely need willpower to not spend your savings on all kinds of fun things, like shiny new toys and gadgets, or trips to Mexico or Italy – you need to ask yourself which is harder, resisting the urge to buy something you don’t really need, or getting through an emergency without the necessary funds? You’ll probably agree that foregoing a new gadget is easier than not being able to pay your rent or mortgage.

As part of a long-term strategy of building your personal wealth, a savings account will be one of the major players. Savings accounts can offer competitive interest rates that will actually add to your reserves. What’s more, the money you put into your savings account will be accessible at any given moment. Other investments and wealth-building instruments, such as stocks and bonds, or money market accounts, may take longer to access should you need to cash them in, or may come at a price. For example, many financial institutions charge fees when you sell a stock, or take money from a money market account. In general, that’s not true of savings accounts.

Slowly but surely building wealth by depositing money into your savings account is a practical, prudent, and responsible thing to do. It doesn’t involve risk, like buying stocks or bonds, and the more you do it the more you enjoy it. Putting money into a savings account builds more than just a stable future, it builds your character.

To learn more about savings accounts and overall strategies for building your wealth, be sure to sit down with a financial advisor or bank representative to get the full picture. You’ll learn a lot and get some great ideas on how to prepare for a better future.

The advent of Internet technology has revolutionized the way we live. We order food, buy presents, communicate, make travel arrangements, search for information, read the newspapers, and even find love and friendship because of what it can do. Its become such a staple of modern life that it’s hard to imagine how we ever lived without it. One area which has been transformed by the Internet is banking and money management. Many people do their banking online exclusively, making a trip to the bank a thing of the past, and writing an actual, physical check a novel experience.

When you open up an online savings account, for example, you can manage your money very easily and conveniently, 24 hours a day. You can check your balance, see how much interest you’ve earned, check on all of your deposits and withdrawals, move money from one account to another, get email alerts from your bank or credit union regarding specific transactions and events, and even get extra money by referring people to your bank as fellow customers. You can also review your bank statements online, thereby avoiding wasteful paper. Banks will also post frequently asked questions – “FAQs” – online next to your account so that you can find out what’s what should their information line be closed for the day. Also, when you make a withdrawal from your online savings account, you no longer need to get a paper receipt for it, since the transaction will be recorded online. This cuts down on paper waste that can accumulate in pockets and drawers and just about any other surface. That in itself is a great benefit to having an online savings account.

If you’re thinking about opening an online savings account, be sure to sit down or speak to a qualified bank representative to get all the information you need. Once you commit to online banking you’ll find it hard to go back to the old-fashioned ways of managing your money.

People open joint savings accounts for different reasons. Sometimes it’s a husband and wife or two partners who decide to pool their income into a single account, since their relationship contract by definition means that their property has become communal. Other people who open joint accounts are parents and their children, as parents seek to instill the virtues of common sense, thrift, and responsibility into their children. Yet another example of people who open joint accounts are the elderly and their younger caregivers. There are many benefits to opening a joint account, and certain potential problems to be mindful of.

One benefit of opening a joint savings account is that it’s an easy way to keep track of progress towards a specific goal. Many young newlyweds are saving up to buy their first home. With a joint savings account they can track their progress and stay on top of weekly or monthly deposits. Some people may opt to have a portion of their auto deposits put into the savings account too.

For a parent opening a joint savings account with their child, it’s a great way to encourage wise and responsible fiscal habits in a young person. They can see their savings grow, and, as with all joint accounts, it’s possible that two signatures can be required to withdraw money from a joint savings account. That’s an almost fool-proof way of ensuring that the money gets to where it needs to go.

Of course, opening a joint bank account has its risks. Both parties will be responsible for any overdrafts – it’s not the bank’s job to monitor who is spending what. And all parties need to trust each other with this pooled asset. If a marriage should end in divorce, for example, whoever is on the account can simply withdraw everything, and the other party will have no recourse except to go through the laborious process of small claims court.

Before you open a joint savings account, be sure to go over the pros and cons with your financial advisor or a bank representative.

Many of us work very hard for our money. We do it in order to stay alive, stay afloat, and live a good life. When we put that money aside into our savings accounts we can use it for our and our children’s dreams and aspirations, or as a safety net; should we ever encounter an emergency. Every month we put aside as much as we can into our savings accounts. However, while our money protects us and our dreams, who is protecting the money in our savings accounts? The answer is the federal government.

The Great Depression began in the 1920s, and a big part of that problem was the failure of thousands of banks. When those banks failed, customers lost their money. It was devastating. Imagine working hard all your life and putting your earnings away, only to see it all vanish over night in an incredible economic collapse. Of course, many people lost their homes and were forced into a life of poverty. Banks had failed before, of course, but never on such a massive scale.

As a response to this devastating event, the government created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC takes monthly premiums from American banks and creates a fund which can be drawn upon in the event of a bank failing. The bank may fail, but customers will not lose their money. All deposits are insured up to $100,000, and certain other retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000. The current economic and banking crisis has caused the FDIC to raise the amount of money insured to $250,000. It will revert to its normal level of $100,000 on January 1, 2010.

If you have more questions about your savings, the FDIC, the current banking crisis, or any other aspects of your financial picture - be sure to sit down with a financial adviser or qualified financial services expert until you feel comfortable with your knowledge.

US Savings Bonds have a long history of being a secure, safe, and easy way for investing money for long-term growth. The system was originally developed as a way for the cash strapped US government to borrow money from their citizens to help fund wars. Because it is a loan to the Federal Government, investors will get their money back, plus interest and additional Tax Benefits exclusive of Savings Bonds.

There are a multitude of Tax Benefits for Savings Bonds. These bonds are federally issued, thus making them tax exempt from local and state taxes. When cashing out a savings bond, there will be no taxes paid to your city or state for the profit generated from these investments. Federal taxes still apply and must be paid the year the bond is cashed out.

However, if they are cashed out to fund the continuing education for yourself, your spouse or your child all taxes can be avoided. To take advantage of this Tax Benefit for Savings Bonds, the person must go to a qualified college or university as determined by the government. The tax-free money can be used to pay for tuition and fees, but not for housing and other expenses, such as sports and hobbies.

Even though there are amazing Tax Benefits to Savings Bonds, there are some things to be aware of. If you are cashing out your bonds and not applying the profit to qualifying educational expenses, there will be taxes owed to the Federal Government.

Although as a Tax Benefits to Savings Bonds, there will be no income tax due to the state or city. The money earned needs to be included into the total gross for the year. Thus, depending on the tax bracket, it can fluctuate making the overall amount of taxes that need to be paid different thann originally anticipated for the year.

After weeks of researching, saving, planning, and finally purchasing you still have many unanswered questions about the US Savings Bonds you have purchase. Like why are there two rates for your Savings Bond, seriously what is that all about?

The first things you need to figure out is: why is there multiple interest rates on your savings bonds, what series your savings bond is, and when it was issued. For example, if you are an owner of an I Series Savings Bond - the interest rate is derived from a combination of a fixed rate and a semiannual inflation rate. According to TreasuryDirect, the US Treasury’s website:

Additionally, you may see two rates for your Savings Bond, if you own the EE Series as depending on when you purchased them; they each earn a different rate of return. That breakdown of rates is done by time and is as follows:

Please note this specific rate information is current as of the November 1, 2008 The Bureau of the Public Debt reports.

There are several reasons for why there may be two rates for your Savings Bond . Make sure to find out which bond you have, know the issue date, and then you can find the proper answers.

Even though some investments are Non-Marketable Securities, meaning they cannot be sold on the free market, they still can be transferred from owner to owner in some situations. Bond Transfers always begin with completed forms and documents and end with the investments switching ownership.

The way Bond Transfers work, regardless of who issued the bond, which is through documentation to make them a legal transactions. US Savings Bonds are the most popular types of bonds and people may want to switch from person to person - for a variety of reasons.

One of the best places to begin this process of a Bond Transfer is through the official website of the US Treasury, called TreasuryDirect.  The individuals who are the original owners of the bonds first must know exactly what type of investment he/she would want to transfer and to whom. The original owner of the bond must be over 18 years of age, however he/she can set up a bond for a minor on a joint account and then complete some forms to get the bond transferred.

How a Bond Transfer works is not glamorous or exciting. It is just a basic process of filling out the proper documentation for switching ownership. These are non-marketable securities and cannot be sold on the open market, therefore, transferring is truly the only way these types of investments can move from owner to owner.

US Savings Bonds are directly linked to the owner’s social security numbers, thus making it virtually impossible to sell, or to do anything less than a legal trading activity. However, it is completely legal, as long as the proper paperwork is completed and the amount of the Bond Transfer does not exceed the annual legal purchase amount for such types of investments.

Safe, secure, and a guaranteed return on investments - Savings Bonds are an excellent tool for diversifying a portfolio. Savings Bonds are government-backed securities. US citizens purchase the bonds from the US Treasury. Over time the value of the bonds increase as they are guaranteed a rate of return. When it is time to pay back the loan, the bonds mature and investors get their initial money back, as well as compounded interest. The Average Return for Savings Bondsdepends on several factors.

Unfortunately there is no Average Return for Savings Bonds because each Saving Bond operates differently from its predecessor. The Average Returns for Savings Bonds depends on whether one is in possession of an A, B, C, D, E, EE, F, G, H, HH, I, J or K savings bonds, when they matured and when they are cashed in. 

The best way to locate the Average Return for Savings Bonds is to visit Treasury Direct which is the website managed by the US government. Recently they released news on the Average Interest Rate for current Savings Bonds, the Series I Savings Bonds and Series EE. When the bonds are purchased between November 2008 Through April 2009, Series I, the Average Interest Rate for these Savings Bonds are 5.64%, Series EE to Earn 1.30% Fixed Rate.

The Average Return for Savings Bonds is currently on the decline. Many savings bonds operate on a so-called inflation-index therefore the current earnings will fall sharply. For example, the EE Savings Bonds, the interest rate is directly related to the five-year Treasury note yield. The EE Average Interest bond rate is changed every six months to be 90% of the average five-year T-note market yield in the preceding six months.

The Average Return for Savings Bond for the I series is calculated by adding a fixed rate. The rate is currently set at 1.1% of the inflation rate over the preceding six months as measured by the government’s consumer price index.

For decades we have been educated that not only is it our civic duty to buy Savings Bonds for the greater good of the country, but that they are an amazingly safe, secure, and easy way to diversify our portfolio and prepare for our financial future. Sure they are a risk free investment option, but there are penalties of cashing out savings bonds early.

One of the main penalties of cashing out savings bonds early is the forfeiting of interest. The 3 most recent months’ interest will be lost if bonds are redeemed within the first 5 years of purchase. After 5 years there are no penalties for withdrawal. Bonds must be held for a full year to be cashed out at all.

In general there are no tax penalties of cashing out savings bonds early. Savings bonds are a federally issued commodity and therefore the interest is already exempt from state and city taxes. However, the total profit from your savings bond will be added to your income for the year and could affect your tax bracket.

Although you may plan on holding a savings bond for the full 30 years of maturity, you may need to suck up the penalties of cashing out savings bonds early. In the case of emergency, such as a medical situation or loss of home - if you need money, you have to access whatever options you can. Weigh your financial options and compare to see if the benefits outweigh the lost interest.

Experts advise that savings bonds are great ways of building your long-term investment portfolio. The biggest penalty of cashing out savings bonds early are the ones you cause yourself. You will not be able to take advantage of a long-term savings strategy and the guaranteed return on investment that Savings Bonds offers if you cash in before the maturity date.