A checking account is a building block for a successful financial life. Use a checking account to deposit paychecks, pay bills and conduct everyday transactions. More and more banks and credit unions are offering their checking account services in electronic forms. Look here for information about checking account options and what you can do with your money.
Mixing Rental And Personal Income
Is there a problem when co-mingling personal and investment finances? Unless you have a corporation or business structure set up, having one bank account for personal expenses and a business, like a rental building, is OK. However, you want to make sure you keep very clear records in case you're audited.
Netspend Stored Value Cards
The Netspend card is a stored value card. It looks like a credit card, but acts like a debit card. However, instead of being tied to a checking account, you have to load up the card with cash before you use it. Here are a few of the new Netspend features.
Money Classes: Learning About Personal Finance
Learning how to manage your money and take care of your personal finances isn't easy. But if you live in the Chicago area, the free Money Matters classes are a great way to bone up on the basics of money management.
Check Cashing Fees At Currency Exchanges
What can a currency exchange do for you that a bank can't? Many people use currency exchanges to cash checks, pay bills or obtain money orders. For people living in neighborhoods that don't have many financial institutions, currency exchanges offer easy access to various financial services. However, currency exchanges earn a profit by charging a fee for most of their services. As such they tend to be a more expensive option than other financial institutions. More importantly, there are no savings accounts at currency exchanges. You won't build up your personal net worth if you only frequent currency exchanges and never visit the bank.
Receive Social Security Via Direct Deposit
Getting your paycheck or Social Security check electronically through direct deposit has many benefits including safety. Hear the story of one senior who now receives her Social Security money electronically and really likes it. In addition, if all Social Security recipients received their cash directly into bank accounts it would save the federal government a lot of money in postage and printing expenses.
Bounced Check Sold To Collection Agency
A woman has a $29 bounced check that turned into $200 of fines to a collection agency. The collection agency then took the money -- and then some -- from her checking account. Since the implementation of Check 21, the new check processing law, all checks are digitized and settled through electronic transfer meaning that funds must be available when a check is written.
Paying Bills While On Vacation
Looking forward to a good vacation is one of the great pleasures of life but unfortunately you still need to pay your bills while you are gone. That’s easier than you might think. Manage your personal finances away from home with online banking and automatic bill pay. Simply keep track of when your payments are due and set up the automatic payments ahead of time.
Stored Value Cards
A stored value card, also known as a prepaid debit card, looks like a regular credit card. But instead of acting like a credit card, a stored value card acts like a debit card attached to a checking account -- except there is no checking account. Instead, you put cash on the card in a variety of ways.
No Checking Or Savings Account? Use Prepaid Cash Card
Prepaid cash cards have come to the financial rescue for millions of Americans who don't have a checking or savings account. Having a checking or savings account is better for Americans, because it gives them more options. More than 250,000 people don't have a checking or savings account, so they use a prepaid cash card.
Bank Accounts
As hard as it is to believe, up to 50 percent of Chicagoans do not have bank accounts. But without a bank account, it's a lot harder to establish good credit, rent a car or even buy an airplane ticket.