<div><h1> STRESS-TEST YOUR BANK </h1><p>About $4 trillion in wealth is currently idling in U.S. money market accounts earning an average of 0.33%. Such puny rates are encouraging some intrepid souls, reassured by the FDIC's deposit insurance of up to $250,000 per account, ...
<div id="subtitle">Borrowing drops by nearly $8 billion</div><div><p>Consumers seemingly shredded their credit cards in November, as consumer credit fell at an annual rate of 3.75 percent. The $7.94 billion drop in borrowing was a record.</p><p>Analysts say the report ...
<div><p>Having a cash stash by any name — emergency fund, contingency fund, rainy-day fund — may be back in vogue after decades of declining savings.</p><p>The continuing challenge: How to manage this set-aside money effectively.</p><p>Americans saved more than 10 percent of their income ...
<div id="subtitle">Best places to stuff your cash right now; shop around and cover your bases first</div><div><p>Americans who are feeling frugal and able to squirrel away regular savings should think as hard about where to stash it as many did about stocks when ...
<div><p><p>Icarus, meet your new friend Bankrate (Nasdaq: RATE).</p><p>Financial rate publisher Bankrate has finally flown too close to the sun with its waxy wings, lowering its guidance this morning in light of display advertising weakness.</p><p>The company's new ...
<div><p>Hordes of homeowners are walking away from mortgages they can no longer afford, making it clear that plenty of people closed on loans they didn't understand. It's bad enough that lenders' laundry lists of fees make comparison-shopping a challenge. Insult is added ...
<div><h1> AGES 35 TO 55: TURNING CONSERVATIVE </h1><p>You're in transition: saving for retirement and college costs but beginning to shift to preserving assets.</p><p> In the recession, be sure to have a cash cushion--in money-market funds or short-term certificates of deposit--to cover at ...
<div id="subtitle">Tightening of limits spurs borrowers to turn their backs</div><div><p>Credit card companies appear to be tightening up policies and reducing the amount of credit to some consumers, and consumers apparently think that's just fine.</p><p>A new poll by Bankrate ...
<div id="subtitle">Average interest charged on 3 popular types of credit cards continued fall in the past week</div><div><p>The average annual interest rates charged on popular types of credit cards fell again last week, according to Bankrate.com.</p><p>For low-interest cards, which ...
<div id="subtitle">ATM surcharges, bounced check fees, monthly service charges all up</div><div><p>A new study finds that checking account fees have risen again this year to an all-time high. Bankrate's 2008 Checking Study details the average fees associated with using and maintaining an interest ...
