Not happy with your local bank’s options for a savings account? The good news is that you don’t have to go with a brick-and-mortar bank these days. Many online-only banks offer high-interest savings accounts and added benefits like no monthly fees, low (or no) minimum balances, easy account transfers and much more.
Planning for your future is not only a daunting task, but it’s also labor intensive. With all the financial services marketing to you constantly, it can be difficult to sift through and find out what works and what doesn’t. Our financial experts bring you in-depth research explaining retirement plans, investing strategies and answering questions on investment methodologies (heard of a robo advisor?).
With college costs continuing to soar, you may wonder how in the world you’ll ever be able to pay for your kids’ education. Of course, the sooner you start saving, the better — especially with a 529 plan. These plans are specifically designed to make saving for future education costs as easy as possible. They also offer some enticing benefits compared to many other types of investment savings plans. See what 529 plans have to offer and if they’re the best fit for your financial planning needs.
Financial investing isn’t just for the wealthy anymore, thanks to — you guessed it — technology. Having a robo advisor is the wave of the future, say investment experts, and they’ll transform the way younger generations (even some Baby Boomers) conduct their financial planning.
Looking for a holistic view of your personal finances? Personal Capital gathers all of your finances into one easy to use service. Personal Capital specializes in two things: personal financial aggregating and advisory service to manage your money. The free service specializes in investment planning, which it does a great job at. With the ability to track every aspect of your finances you get (what Personal Capital calls) a 360° View of Your Financial Life.
Investing your money wisely takes a great deal of ongoing research. And with hundreds of financial websites at your fingertips, where do you start? If you’re a serious investor, free advice only goes but so far. We’ve chosen some of the best investment advice websites that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, so you can instead focus on investing your hard-earned dollars.
If you’re into DIY investing, several investment advising services should be on your radar. Morningstar is one of the most popular and well-established options — it’s been around for more than 35 years. You can find a decent amount of information on Morningstar for free, but if you’re a serious investor, you’ll want to consider its premium membership to gain access to the juicy content. But is Morningstar Premium worth $199 per year, or are you better off just investing that money instead?
