Free Banking Services

Do you have a bank account that is charging you a monthly fee? Are you paying $10, or maybe you're paying $20. That's $240 a year! Just on banking fees. I know I could do a lot of things with $240. Why pay banking fees when there are so many other options out there to eliminate these fees. If you work for a bank, you most likely are not paying any fees at all. Usually bank employees get free banking.

But not everyone is lucky enough to work for a bank. Don't worry, there are other options. I've been banking with President's Choice for a number of years and I find them to be excellent. President's Choice is a virtual bank that offers no fee banking. You can open a chequing and a savings account for no charge at all and get unlimited transactions. Which means you can pay as many bills as you like, charge as many interact transactions as you like and make as many withdrawals as you like. I should also mention that cheques are free.

Some other cool features that I like are:

Direct Payroll Deposit
You can have your pay cheques deposited directly into your PC account from your employer.

Automatic Bill Payments
This feature allows you to automatically pay a bill on a scheduled date. This is great, especially if you forget to pay your bills on time.

Pre-authorized Bill Payments
This is the opposite of automatic bill payments. This feature allows creditors to automatically debit the amount owing to them directly from your account. I don't recommend this option unless you have a fixed amount that you pay monthly. I've seen situations where companies have cleared out accounts.

Personal Finance Manager
If you manage your money by using Quicken or Microsoft Money, PC gives you access to download your account information into it for free.

Monthly Statements
You have access to your statement online, which you can print for no charge. Statements can be viewed for the past 13 months. PC does charge for mailed statements.

Email Money Transfer
This service allows you to transfer money from your PC account to a friend or a family member through email. There is a charge for this.

President's Choice is a part of CIBC, so you can use any CIBC bank machine in Canada to do your banking. There are also PC bank machines at PC Pavilions which are located in Loblaws, Superstore, Fortino's, and some No Frills locations. There are some things you should be aware of. PC does not have any teller service. Money orders and drafts have to be ordered online or over the phone. If you need U.S funds, you can make a withdrawal at select CIBC bank machines. Look for the U.S funds symbol.

Also, be aware of the fees that are charged for insufficient funds, overdraft protection, money orders and drafts. They may cost more with PC than with other banks.

ING Direct is another virtual bank that offers free banking services. ING offers both chequing and saving accounts. Most people I know with an ING account have a savings account. It's a great account to use for an emergency fund. ING recently introduced their Thrive Chequing account, which is a no fee chequing account. With an ING account, you also have access to free email money transfers and mobile banking with their app. There aren't as many ING bank machines as you may be use to, but they are out there. ING also allows you to set up a bank account with another bank and link it to your ING account for convenient transfers.

Are you banking for free, or do you pay a monthly fee?

Tithe Or Become Rich?

Tithing has been a controversial issue for decades! Why is it so hard for people to part from their money? I know for me it has been extremely hard. I am better now than I was 10 years ago, but I will admit that it's still not easy for me to just give away my money.

Webster's definition of tithing is to pay or give a tenth part of especially for support of the church. In other words it's giving 10% of your income to your church. I grew up in church and for years I never gave 10%. I would usually give whatever pocket change I had. Although I knew giving was the right thing to do, it was just much easier to save it than give it away. Logically it makes sense to save more to have more.

It wasn't until I started to read and understand how the wealthy live that started to change my mindset. Most wealthy people give a lot of money away. Some people don't necessarily call it tithing because tithing is a biblical term, but they donate to charity and call it charitable giving.

What I noticed among wealthy people that give is that they are much happier and fulfilled. Which is ultimately the life we are all searching for. I'll never forget when I read Proverbs 28:22 that says, a stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him. As funny as that scripture sounds, it sure did wake me up. I started tithing right away! After I started tithing, I began to realize that giving is about changing your behavior. It began to change the way I look at money. As I said earlier I haven't perfected this part of my life. I currently give 10%, but I would like to give more in the future.

I've heard some people ask if you should tithe your gross or net income. This is a decision that is up to you. I've decided to tithe my gross income because I also made a decision to save a portion of my gross income, so I thought it would only be fair to tithe from my gross versus my net.

What are your thoughts on tithing?

Are You Thinking About Going Back To School?

Are you thinking about going back to school? Or are you currently in school and have no idea how you are going to pay for it?

There are many ways to get the money for College or University without going into debt. When I was 18 years old I decided I wanted to go to College. I was working at the Bank of Montreal at the time. They had a tuition refund program that I took advantage of. Whatever percentage you worked, they would pay for your tuition. I worked part-time at the time, which worked out to be 50%. All I had to do was pass the course and they would refund my tuition and books. It was great to have the company I worked for, pay half of my tuition. In my last year in College I decided to work full time and go to College part time. That meant that I would be working 100%, so my full tuition would be paid. Although it took a bit longer to graduate, it was much better to have my full tuition paid versus half of it paid.

What's great about working for a company that pays your tuition is that you are more likely to get a promotion because you are current with your knowledge. Plus the company is investing in you, so why wouldn't they want to promote you.

After I graduated from College I got a promotion at BMO. I had less competition because I had three years of job experience at BMO and an education. Most people out of College only have an education and minimal or no job experience at all. I definitely think it's worth getting a job in your field of study prior to starting College or University. For this to happen, you will need some job experience prior to applying for a job in your field of study.

I began working really early in life. My mom was all about being independent and not depending on anyone to take care of you. So I started working at twelve years old delivering newspapers and selling chocolates with my brother. Selling chocolates helped me develop my social skills. I took that experience and started doing telemarketing jobs at the age of sixteen. My telemarketing experience was what I needed to get into the bank. My first job at BMO was in customer service.

After College I knew I needed more education, so I decided to go to University to obtain my bachelors degree. I was still working full time at BMO at the time, so they paid 100% of my tuition in University as well. I left BMO while obtaining my degree to pursue an opportunity with the Government. I negotiated with the Government that they would pay my tuition until I completed my bachelors degree. This deal was better than BMO because they paid my tuition upfront versus reimbursing me after I pass the course.

There are several companies out there that will pay for you to go to school if it's job related, and if you commit to staying with the company for a number of years.

Scholarships and Grants are also another way to pay for school. There are thousands of scholarships out there that go unclaimed each year. If you are interested in applying for scholarships, I would start by finding out which scholarships and grants are offered at the College or University you would like to attend. You can also check out the scholarship positions website for a variety of different scholarships.

Applying for scholarships is a lot of work. But it is so worth not going into debt. I have a friend and a cousin who paid for their MBA's all on scholarship money. They applied for hundreds of scholarships each, but they both graduated and don't have any school debt.

Is Debt Controlling Your Life?

When you see a pair of amazing shoes that would go perfectly with that dress in your closet, do you just have to buy it? I know, I know it's tempting. My first question to you would be, what are you even doing in the mall? Maybe you're window shopping or maybe you went to the mall for another reason and ended up in Nine West. Whatever the reason is, do you really need those shoes? More importantly, is that purchase going on your credit card? If so, are you telling me that you are going to borrow money from the bank to buy a pair of shoes that you may not even need? I can hear you saying, I'll pay it off within the month, so I don't pay any interest. According to Consumer Reports Magazine only 54% of consumers pay their credit card balance in full each month. Which means there is still a large group of consumers who carry balances.

This is my take on credit card companies.
Most credit card issuers are banks. Do you ever notice how large and nice the office buildings are of these banks that offer you credit cards. Have you ever thought of how and where they get the money to buy or lease these beautiful 50 storey buildings? I am sure you know where I am going here. They get the money from you. For every debt you have with one of these companies, they're receiving interest from you. That's what they use to run the bank. I haven't even addressed late payments and annual fees that banks charge to take more of your money away from you. According to a survey released by a national consumer credit counseling group, nearly 34 million Americans admitted they have been late making credit card payments, and about 18 million people say they've missed payments entirely. That's a staggering number of consumers that make late payments.

I would like to challenge you this week to plan your purchases. If you need something in the mall, know exactly what you want to purchase before going to the mall. Go with a list, so you go shopping with a purpose. I wrote a previous blog on the importance of a list and the strategies store owners use to keep you in their stores. Please don't fall into their traps, I have fallen into them many times.

92 Bank Closures In The U.S In 2011

Is it me, or is it just crazy that 92 banks in the U.S have shut down in 2011 alone. This number is less than in 2010, where 157 banks were closed. However, that's still a large number of bank closures.

What's extremely sad is the amount of individuals who have lost their jobs as a result of the closures. No job means mortgage payments aren't being paid, which of course ultimately leads to foreclosures. I never thought I would ever in my life time see such a catastrophe in the U.S economy.

The bank closure trend seems to be continuing. At the time of this post, 9 banks have already been shut down in 2012. So what does that mean for you as a customer who had a bank account with one of these banks. If your bank was insured by The Federal Insurance Corporation (FDIC), then you are protected for your deposits up to $250,000. FDIC has a tool on their website, where you can find out if the account that you had with a bank that has been closed is fully insured or not. Here is the link.  Look for your bank from the drop down menu and then click go.

Check out the table below from the FDIC website to see what qualifies for insurance.

FDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage Limits
by account ownership category

Single Accounts owned by one person	$ 250,000 per owner
Joint Accounts owned by two or more persons	$ 250,000 per co-owner
Certain Retirement Accounts includes IRAs	$ 250,000 per owner
Revocable Trust Accounts	$ 250,000 per owner per beneficiary up to 5 beneficiaries (more coverage available with 6 or more beneficiaries subject to specific conditions and requirements)
Corporation, Partnership and Unincorporated Association Accounts	$ 250,000 per corporation, partnership or unincorporated association
Irrevocable Trust Accounts	$ 250,000 for the non-contingent, ascertainable interest of each beneficiary
Employee Benefit Plan Accounts	$ 250,000 for the non-contingent, ascertainable interest of each plan participant
Government Accounts	$ 250,000 per official custodian (more coverage available subject to specific conditions)

You may not have been a victim of one of these failed banks, but might be wondering if your current bank is insured under FDIC. Check out this website to find out if your bank is insured under FDIC, or contact your bank to find out. 

What is insured and what is not

• FDIC insures checking accounts, which include money market deposit accounts. They also insure savings accounts and Certificates of Insurance.
• FDIC does not insure mutual funds, annuities, stocks bonds and treasury securities.

Were you a victim of a bank closure?

I am Firing My Financial Planner!

I've been with the same financial planner for 10 years. Although she's an extremely nice lady, I haven't been making any money on my investments with her company in the past year. What's interesting is that I have been making more money on my other investments that I've been managing myself. So why pay someone to loose money for me. That just doesn't make sense! Thank God I didn't have all of my eggs in one basket.

I am to blame for loosing money because I haven't been paying much attention to the investments that she has been managing. I learned a huge lesson here. Manage my own funds. Even if you hire a broker to manage your funds for you, You still need to constantly monitor your money. At the end of the day, it's my money and I am responsible for what happens to it.

I am also firing my financial planner for a couple of other reasons. I haven't heard from her in approximately two years. I've only received mass emails that she sends to all of her customers. Prior to the past two years, I use to hear from her at least two to three times a year. About 5 years ago I asked her if she knew any accountants because I needed some tax advice. After filing my taxes with this gentleman, I came to realize that he wasn't someone I could trust. I called my financial planner to tell her my concerns with the accountant and she said she regretted referring me to him. That was fine, we all make mistakes. Of course that was the last time I used that accountant. Then there was a real estate lawyer she referred me too that wanted to charge me for the first five minute conversation we had. I didn't even bother to tell my financial planner about that situation. At that point I knew I wouldn't be doing business with any more of her referrals. She must have found out about that last situation because after that, I stopped hearing from her.

I just heard from her last week when I sent her an email telling her that I am leaving her company. I probably wouldn't have heard from her for another two years. Lol!

I am really glad this is happening now when I am still fairly young and have lots of time to make some serious money on my investments. I would rather loose money because I am managing it on my own, rather than pay someone to loose it for me.

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