If you have ever looked into making money online you may have already come across HubPages. I came across the site HubPages.com just over two years ago, and even though I haven’t created many hubs since then (my total count is currently seventeen) I have plans to add a lot more.

Make Money With Google Adsense & HubPages

Why is this you may ask? Well I have discovered that it is well worth creating these short articles known as hubs, mainly because you can add Google Adsense to them. And that means you can earn an income from your writing that keeps accumulating over the long term.

Now I should say here that this is one of those classic situations where you get out of it what you put in. It’s no good just writing one hub, associating your article with Adsense and then expecting loads of money to come rolling in. It doesn’t work that way. But it is definitely worth writing as many hubs as you can and starting to make a name for yourself on HubPages, because this is where the real rewards lie.

How Much Can You Earn From HubPages?

I know someone who is making over $100 a month in Adsense revenue from the hubs she has put up on the site over the last year. Actually that was the figure she gave me after just six months on the site –- and I have every reason to believe it will be higher now. She finds articles on all kinds of subjects that are easy to write, and puts them on the site. Some are around 400 words or above, while others are quite a bit longer. But they all give her the opportunity to earn some cash.

Now $100 a month may not sound like a lot. But I have realized that this is a numbers game and the more hubs I add to my collection, the more I will earn from Google Adsense.

To this end I have come up with a plan to start adding one hub a day to my total. Now believe me when I say that 400 words or so a day is not a lot to write. As it stands, the article you are reading (including the title) is 400 words long right about NOW. It isn’t much really, is it? And yet you have the chance to publish such articles for free (and as many as you like as well) to ensure that you can start to build your revenue stream.

Monetizing Your Hubs

Along with Adsense, you can also add eBay ads to your hubs if you can get accepted as one of their affiliates. I tried and didn’t succeed –- they seem to be quite picky about whom they accept. But I was able to get an Amazon affiliate account and thus, some of my hubs sport Amazon ads on them as well. From my experience though, I have found that my best returns have been from Google Adsense. Try each method yourself and perform some experiments to see which ones work for you. Things could vary depending on what you want to write about.

So you see, if you are looking to get started with Google Adsense but you don’t have your own website yet, you can give HubPages a try first. It might just be the best way to start.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

Make Money With Google Adsense & HubPages

If the idea of investing intimidates you, then you might be interested in a company that allows you to buy stocks online without a premium price tag. Or maybe you’ve already tried a few online stock brokerage firms, but you want the simplicity of automatic investing.

This time out, let’s take a look at ShareBuilder. ShareBuilder is offered by ING Direct, which is popular thanks to its online savings account and Electric Orange checking account. There are several types of ShareBuilder accounts including:

• Individual or joint accounts
• Retirement accounts: traditional, Roth, or rollover IRAs
• For children: Educational Savings Account or a custodial account

You aren’t limited to one type of account. If you have several goals, then you’re welcome to have multiple accounts with just one log-in. This is a convenience compared to having accounts all over town or the country.

ShareBuilder’s Pricing

Once you figure out which type of account you’d like, you need to pick out a pricing plan. The Basic account charges you $4 per scheduled investment and there’s no subscription fee. You might prefer this account if you’re a novice investor or you don’t plan to invest very often. Tools you can access are PortfolioBuilder and Gain & Loss Tracking.

With the Standard account, you’re allowed to have 6 scheduled investments for $12 each month. You’ll also be able to use various investing tools as much as you’d like. These tools include PortfolioBuilder, Gain & Loss Tracking, and Stock Grades. ShareBuilder is offering a free one-month trial of the Standard Account. This can allow you to get familiar with ShareBuilder’s features without committing a lot of cash to it.

The Advantage account gives you up to 20 scheduled investments for $20. In addition, you can explore all the investment tools, such as the ones mentioned above, the Stock Reports and IPO Priority Notification.

There’s no account minimum, and you don’t have to lose money to inactivity fees. You can fund your account with automatic electronic fund transfers from your checking or high yield savings account.

Or you can mail in a check, wire the deposit, or even fund it through a payroll deduction. If you already have a brokerage account, then ShareBuilder will allow you to transfer funds from it for free. You might even be eligible for a $100 bonus if you transfer a minimum of $500 from another brokerage and you fill out the form.

There are more than 7,000 stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs for you to choose from. You can make your investment choices in real-time during market hours. If the market’s open, you can buy and sell in seconds. That way, if you spot a buying opportunity, you can act on it quickly.

Real-time trades cost $9.95 per online trade. And if you want phone trades for real-time and mutual fund trades, they will cost you $19.95. Here’s where to go to get more info. Also, note that at times, ShareBuilder holds promotions that you may want to take advantage of.

Automate Your Investing

To make your investments grow on a regular basis, you can opt to automate your investing. Choose from weekly, biweekly, or monthly investments. You can even buy your stocks in specific amounts. If you go the automatic route, your investments will happen on Tuesdays.

Research and Tools

If you aren’t sure where to start your portfolio, the PortfolioBuilder tool can help. It can assist you with a personalized portfolio and a profile analysis that can examine your risk tolerance. When you’re ready, you can use the portfolio for your automated investment plan.

Research tools include stock, ETF, and mutual fund finders; the Quick Fund Selector; a watch list; and a tool to help you check historic prices on certain stocks that may interest you.

When you provide your email address and name, ShareBuilder will send you a guide that covers the basics of investing.

As with many investments, you need to remember that your account can lose money. Plus, securities aren’t insured by the FDIC the way checking and savings accounts are backed by the government.

But all in all, getting started with buying stocks doesn’t have to be an ordeal. If you’re willing to try online investing and you don’t want to pay a ton of fees, then check out ShareBuilder. Over time, your investments here can be worth quite a bit.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

Sharebuilder Broker Review

Want to make money online? Well, you have to start somewhere….

If you’re thinking of starting your own blog or online business, chances are that you’ll need a web host. Especially if you’re thinking of becoming a problogger one day! So today, I’ll take a look at a popular web hosting service which is also my personal choice: HostMonster.

Hostmonster Review: Top Web Hosting Service Features

Starting and maintaining a website can involve the use of a few tools, and HostMonster has a lot of options for all of its hosting accounts. Benefits include unlimited web hosting space, a free domain name, the ability to host an unlimited number of domains, plus it also supports international domain names.

There’s also an unlimited number of site transfers available. If you want to transfer files, you can do it via FTP. With HostMonster, you can have anonymous FTP and an unlimited number of FTP accounts as well.

In case you need tools to create your site, HostMonster provides a free drag and drop site builder; this can be handy if you aren’t familiar with hand-coding a website. There are a number of templates to choose from. You can also use a one-click installer for a wide variety of scripts.

Email Choices

You’ll need a way to communicate with your audience or customers too. You can have unlimited POP3 email support or IMAP email support; unlimited forwarding of email accounts; an unlimited email autoresponder; and to fend off spam, there’s Spam Assassin.

E-Commerce Tools

In case you want to sell products or services on your website, you’ll need some e-commerce features. You can set up an OS Commerce shopping cart or an Agora shopping cart, and apply password protected directories, a free generated certificate, a secure server and encryption.

Servers at the Ready

One advantage of working with a web hosting service instead of going the do it yourself route is that the host can keep an eye on things 24/7. HostMonster offers round-the-clock monitoring and courtesy site backups. The company uses quad processor performance servers and UPS power back-ups, which should minimize downtime on your website.

Logs

Running your website requires many moving parts, so files and logs can help you sort out your operational data. Some logs that you can utilize include a latest visitor log, bandwidth, CPU throttling, and error logs.

Going Multimedia

Nothing draws an audience like multimedia features. With HostMonster, you can support streaming video or audio; there’s Real audio and video support, and you can benefit from Flash, Shockwave, and other file types.

Bonus Features

Additional features include a bulletin board, blog support (including WordPress), mailing lists, poll and survey software, image galleries, and the ability to work with Drupal, Joomla, Ruby on Rails, and more!

And when you’re ready to promote your site, HostMonster can assist you with free search engine submissions and $50 in Google credits.

Customer Service

If you need assistance with your HostMonster account, you can check out the Help Center. It has features such as a Getting Started wizard, video tutorials, a knowledge base, cPanel documentation, and a user forum. You can also check the status of your server here.

If you need more help, technical support is available 24/7 and they have a toll free number. And with regards to billing, there aren’t long-term contracts so if you want to cancel, you won’t be hit with a cancellation fee.

Billing Plans

Let’s take a look at HostMonster’s billing plans. New customers can sign up for the promotional rate of $5.95 a month.

Once the promotional period ends, there are a few other billing plans available. A 12 Month account costs $8.95 a month; this gives you a free domain registration that will last for the duration of your hosting package, and there aren’t any set up fees. $107.40 will be due when you sign up (this covers the 12 months).

The 24 Month account costs $7.95 a month, which adds up to $190.80 due when you sign up (covers 24 months at $7.95 per month). The 36 Month account costs $6.95 a month, which comes out to $250.20 due when you sign up (36 months at $6.95 a month).

After you sign up, you can opt for additional features. A dedicated IP address is $30 a year; additional domain names are $10 each year; SSL certificates are $45 each year; and you can pay for other benefits.

Conclusion

HostMonster has a lot of options for building and hosting your website. Take a look at the demo to get a feel for the offerings and read the terms to see if the service is a good fit for your needs.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

HostMonster Review: Top Web Hosting Service

You can start your own online business with a small budget.

How To Make Money Online With An Online Business

Starting an online business can seem like a monumental task, but with some advance planning and shopping around, it doesn’t have to be too expensive. Let’s explore just how doable it is to get a web business off the ground. Here (and in our online business guide), we’ll outline some steps that you can take to become your own boss without a huge budget.

Who’s Your Web Host?

One key aspect of an online business is the actual website you’ll use to attract customers and offer your products or services. A reliable and inexpensive web host can be a crucial backbone to your website, so it’s wise to invest some time before signing up with one.

Decide on what you’d like in terms of storage space, data transfer limits, number of hosted domains, and other services. Also, check reviews from customers to see how the company responds during problems or outages. A free hosting plan isn’t worth it if the customer service is skimpy or non-existent, in my opinion.

Here are a few of our top picks for cheap web hosting services:

Cover Your Domain

If you need your online business’ web presence to have a unique name, you’ll want to register your own domain. Your web host might throw in domain registration as part of your package. If not, a site like GoDaddy offers domain registration as low as $1.99 if you qualify.

Designs and Logos

Instead of spending hours trying to come up with designs on your own, you can hire someone else for your site design and logos. Check out the rates of graphic artists who often try to find freelance work at sites such as Gofreelance.com, Guru.com or Elance, where bids for jobs start as low as $50. Ask your prospective designers to share their portfolios so you can see examples of their work before you hire anyone.

You can also check out online sites that offer such services and packages for a good rate. Try LogoWorks, a service that can create a logo design for you, but is also recognized as a one stop shop for business cards, stationery, brochures and other items that help you build your business identity.

Site Building

You can build a site easily through tools like SiteSell, which are geared towards helping you develop sites that monetize well or that earn an income for you.

If you need an e-commerce package with options for product entry, billing, order processing, and beyond, a choice like Yahoo! Merchant Solutions might suit you. Prices start at $39.95 a month with a $50 setup fee.

Features like credit card or PayPal processing, unlimited disk space, and podcasting tools might be offered as part of some ecommerce packages, too.

Blogging Can Be Cheaper

If you prefer to go with a blog instead of a website, you can get started for free over at Google’s Blogger.com. From experience, I know it doesn’t take long to set up. It’s a simple process to add posts with pictures or videos, and it’s easy to edit posts, too. You can also customize your posts with labels, HTML, or templates. If you want to hear from your customers, let them add comments to your posts. You can let your blog be hosted for free on Blog*Spot or give your blog a custom domain name.

Another popular choice is WordPress, which has a wide array of themes and tools to personalize your blog. You’ll need a web host to get started.

Get Marketing

With the help of free social sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can quickly connect with potential customers. Share brief posts about your products, ask customers to tweet about their favorite experiences with your company, or hold contests for promotional items. Taking advantage of free sites like Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon, among others, might benefit your online business too.

Another marketing idea is to write guest posts for sites that are relevant to your niche. For instance, if you’d like to promote your new online video game store, you might want to seek out a video game blogger and ask to write a feature about a gaming topic of interest to both of you. Or you can add insightful comments on other websites and build up a network over time. Later on, you might want to compile an ebook about your product or services to give away as a freebie.

How About Ads?

Putting up a website or blog at a low cost is great, now what about bringing in some revenue? Here’s where advertising comes into the picture. See if a program like Google’s AdSense can work for you. You may not make millions each month, but even a small amount of revenue can help. In addition, affiliate programs such as the one from Amazon.com might make money for you.

A crash course in SEO (search engine optimization) can help you build your traffic too. Darren Rowse of Problogger has some great tips to share, including 8 First Step SEO Tips for Bloggers that can apply to non-bloggers as well.

Tying Up Loose Ends

And finally, be aware of the legal aspects of running an online business. Does your region require licenses or fees for starting an online business? You may want to consult a lawyer about incorporating and your insurance agent for liability coverage too. Don’t forget to budget for these sort of expenses as well.

As you can see, starting your online business doesn’t necessarily require an enormous investment, but it can yield lasting rewards in terms of income as well as customers if done in a thoughtful manner. For more information on the topic of entrepreneurship, check out our small business management tips or our small business section.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

How To Make Money Online With An Online Business

More traveling tips for the happy traveler! Here’s how to save on travel with the right resources.

Around this time of year, I feel the need to get out of the house. Since I can’t yet travel to space on Virgin Galactic, I often look for ways to find travel deals at some popular sites. By browsing some of the well known travel sites and online resources available, you’re bound to find great savings for any trip you plan carefully. Here’s a list of the sites I use when planning for an affordable vacation:

How To Get The Best Travel Deals For Budget Vacations

1. Expedia: Putting Yourself Up in Style

Expedia can help you with vacation packages, hotels, cruises, flights, cars, and more. If you’re willing to be flexible, you can go to the Deals & Offers section to see what’s on tap. For instance, say you want a spur of the moment trip to a popular destination like Las Vegas or San Francisco and need a hotel room. Expedia can show you a list of hotel rooms that range in price from the ultra-cheap to less than $150 a day. For other destinations, check out the drop down box to find last-minute deals in other cities such as Atlanta, Charleston, Vancouver, or even cities in Europe or the Caribbean.

If you want to plan ahead, you can book early for package deals. That way, you could explore popular destinations like Hawaii and Florida and budget in extra money for sunblock and souvenirs. Going this route, you could book a flight to Honolulu and four nights at a hotel there for as low as $501 — saving 30% off the regular prices. Generally, any day on the North Shore is a good day, but a day that costs me less is even better.

Booking trips on Expedia can also lead to rewards. If your trips are eligible, you could save up the reward points to redeem for travel rewards, gift cards, home products, and other benefits.

For more of our insights on this, you can check out our Expedia deals and travel discounts page.

2. Travelocity Will Get Us There

Travelocity has lots for the budget-minded traveler, too. For example, if you’re interested in a particular activity, you can specify what you’d like to do and the site will respond with different selections. You can choose categories like attractions, shows and events, tours and activities, outdoors, and dining for the city you want to visit.

When I asked for activities in Boston, Travelocity let me know about the Boston CityPass, which gives discounts to venues like a variety of museums, the aquarium, and an observatory.

How about a cruise instead? If you want to go to sea, Travelocity can find you plenty of cruise deals. An inside cabin might not have a great view, but it will generally cost less than a suite. A limited-time offer might yield a great price, too. If you’ve never been on a cruise before, Travelocity has a helpful FAQ for first-time cruisers.

Sometimes, a low-cost flight can become a good motivator to get out of town. I like the Low Fare Alert, which is an RSS feed you can add to your reader so you don’t have to keep tabs on the fares yourself. You might even save 20% or more on your fare. The FareFinder Search feature allows you to add in the number of people who are traveling with you, and determines if they’re kids, seniors, or adults.

3. Priceline.com: Get a Trip!

Booking travel packages is a great savings strategy when using Priceline. You can bundle a flight, hotel, and car for discounts. If you prefer, you can go the Name Your Own Price route. This strategy might save you up to $100 for hotel rooms.

When I looked at flights from Tulsa to Portland along with hotel accommodations, I found packages that ranged from just above $500 to more than $600. I was able to sort the deals by most popular, lowest price, star rating, and by hotel names and their locations. Adding a car rental might cost as low as $27 a day. It should be easy enough to book through Priceline’s website or through their call in number to get started on your getaway.

One great benefit to booking with Priceline is its Pricedrop Protection. If you’re eligible, you can get up to $300 back if your flight drops in price, and up to $600 back if your vacation package drops in price.

And one more feature to keep in mind for family reunions or other gatherings: Priceline can help with group hotel reservations.

So what are you waiting for? Time to pack your bags!

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

How To Get The Best Travel Deals For Budget Vacations

What’s more affordable than hiring a tax advisor? Check out our tax software review and find out!

About a decade ago, I realized that doing taxes on my own calls for more than a calculator, pencils, and a fistful of erasers. This time, I’m taking a look at H&R Block At Home (formerly TaxCut). Like TurboTax, H&R Block At Home offers tax services and popular tax preparation software. The desktop versions are available on Windows XP and Vista, as well as for Macs. Here’s a look at some of H&R Block’s services and products.

H&R Block At Home Review: Online Services

As its name suggests, the H&R Block At Home Free Federal + e-File version is available at no cost. It includes helpful step-by-step guidance for tax preparation, ensures correct entry of your information and allows for 1 federal e-file. If you’ve got a simple return, then this is a service you can use. For state tax preparation, you’ll have to pay extra.

Meanwhile, the H&R Block At Home Deluxe is billed as “best for investors and homeowners”. It has all the features of the Free version, but also has personalized tax guidance and support for deductions and investment management requirements. You can also receive audit assistance from a tax professional when you utilize this particular solution.

With the H&R Premium Federal + E-file (State extra) version, you can enter your information and be guided through the various steps of filling out your federal tax forms. This version offers help for business owners, the self-employed and rental property owners. Business owners and the self-employed can take advantage of tax advice and specific forms for their needs. Additional support can be found for investment income, stock options, rental income, and expenses. Self-employed tax payers can also get business expense assistance, rental income assistance, access to advanced tax calculators and as mentioned, one session of live tax advice (a $19.95 value).

This version covers forms such as the Form 1040 Individual Tax Return; Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business; Schedule E Rents, Royalties, Partnerships, and many others. Worksheets include those for Capital Gains, Charitable Contributions, Tuition Payments, and more. In addition, you can get online support for state tax preparation too, if you pay an additional fee.

What H&R Block At Home Offers

H&R Block At Home will help you avoid errors by conducting an in-depth interview with you and by double-checking your entries. This can be a big time-saver, as anyone who’s had to amend a return can agree.

Marriage, buying a home, retirement, and having college-bound dependents can all trigger tax milestones in our lives. H&R Block At Home can help you navigate the tax-related questions you may have about these events. If you want, you can also have an H&R Block tax professional actually prepare your taxes online: they’ll review, certify and file your return for $79.95. You’re also entitled to full access to a tax professional anytime you have tax questions or need tax advice. Your questions can be answered via email or phone.

For those who’ve used H&R Block At Home (or TaxCut) before, you can import your data into the new version. You can also import data from programs like TurboTax, Microsoft Money, Quicken, and DeductionPro. Import options can save you a lot of time. Please bear in mind that it costs extra to e-file for a state return.

Support & Guarantees

In the event that you’re audited on your H&R Block At Home-filed return, you can fall back on Worry-free Audit Support. This means that H&R Block will send an enrolled agent to represent you. There’s also an “Accurate Calculations Guarantee”, meaning that you’ll be reimbursed for any IRS penalties and interest charges if it’s determined that H&R Block made incorrect calculations on your return. They also have the self-explanatory “Maximum Refund Guarantee”, which promises to yield you the maximum refund that you’re entitled to, or your return is free.

You can file up to five electronic federal returns for free, and you can expect to receive your refund in as little as eight days — a big improvement over the days when you’d need to wait for weeks on end. If you don’t want to file electronically, then you can print out your forms and mail them. Either way, with these H&R Block services/software programs, you won’t have to hunt down the forms you need from the post office or library and fight the crowds for them.

Given all this, H&R Block At Home seems like a reasonably priced way to get your taxes done.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

H&R Block Tax Products & Online Services (Formerly TaxCut)

optionsXpress is an online stock broker that’s become more popular over the last few years. They’ve also been given a “Best Online Broker” designation by Barron’s for 4 years. Today, I’ll take a closer look at what optionsXpress can do for new customers.

Since many investors have more than one area of interest, optionsXpress seems convenient because you can manage options, stocks, futures, ETFs, bonds, and mutual funds under one account.

optionsXpress Review: Top Broker for Stock & Options Traders

To get you started, there are tools to help you find the right investments for you, a lot of which have interesting names. These tools include The Dragon, which searches the market for top stocks and options based on categories of your choosing. You can also seek out options through StrategyScan, which will pull up to three options based on your preferences. There’s also a calendar section so you can have an overview of your trading schedule, and a screener to narrow down your choices.

For analysis tools, you can track options or stocks with Watch Lists; learn more about particular options or stocks with Quote Detail; use the Options Pricer to determine an options’ potential risk; or use the Trade & Margin Calculator to help try to forecast potential losses or profits.

When you’re ready to trade, you can benefit from the Xspreads Spread Book, which can connect you with buyers and sellers, and free Streaming Quotes, so you can track your progress and view quotes and chains.

optionsXpress Pricing Details

Now that you’ve seen a sampling of their comprehensive tool set, let’s check out their commission rates. So how does the pricing work out? Here’s a quick rundown:

• For 1 to 10 options contracts, you can expect to pay $12.95 if you’re able to make 35 or more trades per quarter.
• For futures, you can drop your rate to $2.99 per contract per side if you have over 1,000 contracts per month.
• For stocks, you’ll pay $9.95 a trade if you make 9 or more stock trades per quarter (for up to 1,000 shares). But you’ll pay more ($14.95 per trade) if you make fewer than 9 trades a quarter.

Some nice benefits include the free broker-assisted trades, account transfers and real-time and streaming quotes. At any other online stock broker, you’ll most likely pay quite a bit for broker assistance. For more information on pricing, do visit the optionsXpress site for specifics.

The TradeWizard and Virtual Trading

Those investors who don’t have a lot of options trading experience might find the TradeWizard particularly appealing. It guides you through filling out a trade ticket in four easy steps — selecting an option, choosing an action, entering your quantity, and picking your price type. If you don’t know your pick’s stock symbol, the TradeWizard can look it up for you. You’ll get to preview your order before you place it.

We’ve also written about the benefits of how to trade stocks without risk, by using a virtual stock trading system. Such a feature is supported at optionsXpress, which makes them a particularly attractive broker to active investors and traders.

When you open an account, you’re given the chance to try your hand with Virtual Trading. By using virtual cash in place of your own money, you’ll be in a position to learn how the platform works and to play with features without risk of losing a cent. You can practice trading options or stocks for free this way. Change your quantities, study your gains and losses, and make adjustments to your virtual trade account, and you’ll be in a better position to understand the market when you shift to real trading.

Over in the Education Center, you can learn more about options, futures, stocks, bonds, and other topics. For the novice options trader, there are webinars on placing options trades, on using chains and on using tools such as the TradeWizard. Intermediate options traders can learn more about spreads, about using screeners and charts, as well as the benefits of quote details. There are also topics for advanced options traders.

Follow Your Account While You’re on the Go

Even when you aren’t at your computer, you can still check up on your account with the optionsXpress mobile application. Download the app to your iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre or Pixi, Android device, or Windows Mobile smartphone or device.

To start with, you’ll see a dashboard with up-to-date market news, an index chart so you know how NASDAQ and other markets are doing, and a trend list. Other features of the mobile app include streaming quotes, watch lists for your portfolio, the ability to place one-click orders, and charts.

And finally, if you need customer service, you can seek it from live online help or by calling customer service. And you can always turn to email, fax, or mail anytime.

Overall, optionsXpress appears to have a user-friendly layout, a helpful set of tools, and moderate pricing options.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

optionsXpress Review: Top Broker for Stock & Options Traders

I’ll count the WTDirect Savings Account as one of the better known online savings accounts that’s in the market today. If you’re looking for a place to park your savings, the WTDirect account may serve as a great spot for your cash or emergency fund.

Now not all bank accounts are created equal: I believe that WTDirect is best suited for higher net worth individuals and those who care about a more personalized service that’s associated with an online account. For those who expect greater flexibility, accessibility and convenience from their savings account, then the WTDirect Savings Account may be a good fit for you, if you don’t mind the higher balance required to allow you to earn the highest interest rate that’s offered.

WTDirect Savings Account Review

Here are just some of the features I like about this product:

• It’s got a reasonable interest rate of 1.16% APY, which you’ll earn for the first 60 days from the date the account is opened, regardless of how much you have in the account. But in order to keep earning this designated APY beyond the 60 days, you’ll need to maintain an account with at least $10,000 in it. If you are unable to keep this balance, your interest will fall to 0.15% APY after the 60 days are up.
• The WTDirect savings rate of 1.16% APY is among the top 5% of what’s offered by U.S. banks; it’s also 6 times the national statement savings average.
• Their customer service is easy to reach and promises to be always available. You’ll reach a customer service agent anytime, 7 days a week.
• Your funds are of course, FDIC insured to the maximum allowable limit.
• There are no minimum balances nor hidden monthly fees charged.
• There is no minimum deposit required to open an account.
• You are allowed higher transfer limits, since this savings account is geared toward higher net worth individuals (with higher balances).
• You can receive next day transfers if you qualify. Most banks don’t have this kind of convenience and benefit afforded to their customers.
• You can associate your account with any number of external bank accounts. That is, you can link your WTDirect account to an unlimited number of external accounts you own.
• You’re allowed to initiate transfers from another bank.
• There are many ways to move your money, which supports the fact that this account is one that’s geared towards convenience and accessibility.
• There’s free mobile banking so that you can access your account anywhere you go. You’ll be able to check your balance, view your account history and make transfers with your browser-enabled smartphone.
• You can open an account under any one of several personal account registrations, including Totten Trust and Beneficiary Accounts.

The WTDirect Savings Account stands out by sporting an above average interest rate, being an online high yield savings account. Such accounts, especially those from top banks like Wilmington Trust (the bank behind WTDirect), have typically higher rates due to the lower cost model they follow as an online savings product. Online banks tend to have lower overhead than their brick and mortar counterparts.

Hopefully the information we’ve presented here will give you enough information to decide if WTDirect is indeed a savings account that will fit your needs.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

WTDirect Savings Account Review

So you’re an avid stock investor and/or trader. If you’re interested in expanding your portfolio with options trading or you’re looking for a new online stock broker that has strong support for both stock investors and options traders, then you might want to get to know OptionsHouse. This broker offers low rates and even some commission-free trades. Let’s jump right into the details of OptionsHouse:

OptionsHouse Review: Brokerage For Stock & Options Trading

Pricing and Commission Rates

For stock trades, they’re available at a flat rate of $2.95. Note that you’ll also pay $.005 per share if the stock you’re interested in is $2.00 or less and isn’t options-eligible. This is one of the cheapest stock brokers around, as a lot of brokers I’ve seen charge $10 or more per trade.

You have a few choices when it comes to picking your rates for options trading. If you intend to keep your account low-volume, you’re likely to appreciate the Up to 5 for $5 rate. Those who want to trade more than 10 contracts should consider the other rate, which is $8.50 plus $.15 per contract.

In the event that you start out at one rate, then want to switch, you won’t be locked in to any one rate. You can change your rate once a day, and the change will go into effect the following day.

The rates for stock and options trading seem like a good deal compared to some of OptionsHouse’s competitors. For example, at ETrade, stock and options trades are available to qualifying customers for $7.99 to $9.99, plus $.75 per option. The expenses can add up if you make a lot of trades in a month. Some brokers charge extra for broker-assisted trades, but they’re free with OptionsHouse.

You can check out the pricing for other brokers in our TradeKing review and Zecco review, but you’ll find that OptionsHouse does have the lowest rates compared to most brokers.

Account Registration

There’s no minimum balance you’ll have to maintain, but there is a minimum funding amount of $1,000 for cash accounts and $2,000 for margin accounts. You can open an individual, joint, or corporate account, or a variety of IRAs and other accounts. If you prefer, you can also roll over your current 401(k) into an IRA here.

Some types of accounts offer check writing and the first 40 checks are free. The debit card has a fee of $30 a year, so you might want to go with a cheaper debit card elsewhere.

OptionsHouse Platform & Tools

Looking over the platform, you’ll see how the site has attempted to streamline the trading experience. You can place orders, look up quotes, and customize your screens without wading through an excessive amount of information.

Tools include a stock screener, enhanced charting, a risk viewer, a probability calculator, and more. There’s also access to streaming quotes and news, so you can assess the market with up to the minute data.

Mobile users will be able to access OptionsHouse on the iPhone, Palm Pre, G1, and a selection of BlackBerry devices. You should be able to trade stocks, options, and ETFs, but you won’t be able to make advanced orders this way.

Practice with Virtual Trading

In case you don’t have a lot of experience with stock and options trading or you simply want to get to know the platform in depth before diving in, you’re welcome to try out Virtual Trading, which is a great way to learn how to trade stocks without risk. You’ll be handed $5,000 in fake money so you can enter virtual orders. That way, you can get to know the stocks and options that interest you, get a feel for how the tools work, and refine your trading strategies without losing any real money. There aren’t any risks with virtual trading and you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with the platform at your own pace.

Community & FAQ

When some companies promote themselves as a Web 2.0 choice, you might expect a social networking platform to be baked in. Instead, OptionsHouse is on Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, and has a blog that offers discussions on financial news, tools, and closer looks at companies on the OptionsHouse Hotlist. A stock or options novice would probably prefer a community to interact with, which is a great way to learn from other users.

If you want more information, the FAQ covers a lot of ground. Also, customer service is offered through live chat, phone, or email. You can also learn more with the videos, webinars, and live seminars offered on the site.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

OptionsHouse Review: Brokerage For Stock & Options Trading

How about this for a great online savings account option?

Over the years, I’ve squirreled spare cash in a variety of jars, old Altoid tins, and a few high yield savings accounts. But I’ve been looking for a much better alternative for my money and one option I’m considering is a SmartyPig savings account.

First off, the APY is 2.01%. A quick inspection of Bankrate showed that popular institutions like Ally Bank and HSBC Advance have savings accounts at rates of 1.50% or lower. Keeping your money in a bank with a higher APY means that you’re likely to reach your goals faster.

SmartyPig Review: Best Savings Account For Your Goals

Here’s what I find intriguing about this savings account. When you sign up for a free SmartyPig account, you can pick a specific goal for your savings: that can mean anything from a new car or a vacation, to the purchase of big ticket items like a new TV or video game console. Or maybe you have more medium term goals like a down payment for a house or a college fund. With SmartyPig, you can set up an automated savings program where you can indicate how much you want to save and the date of your goal. You’ll be able to access tools to help you reach the finish line.

Playing with SmartyPig’s interactive calculator can help you determine how much to allocate to each savings goal and how much you need to set aside each month. For instance, I entered $2,100 for a vacation I’m preparing for, with a goal date of December 1, 2010. The calculator told me I’d need to set aside $191 each month. If need be, I can add more goals and different amounts to see how my savings can grow.

Share Goals, Build Your Savings!

You don’t have to save alone, either. SmartyPig provides you with widgets so you can share your goals with others through Facebook, MySpace, blogs, or even your website. There’s also the option to build your own SmartyPig Friends Network. This is where the beauty of using SmartyPig becomes apparent: using these tools, your friends and family can assist you with your savings goals. Your friends and family can contribute to your goal or buy a SmartyPig gift card (although it will cost them a 2.9% processing fee if they use a credit card). But if you prefer your privacy, you don’t have to share your goal.

What happens when you reach your savings goal? You can withdraw or use the money in your account through a SmartyPig MasterCard debit card or an ACH transfer. In addition, you can opt to put your savings onto a gift card from one of SmartyPig’s partners. If you choose this method, you might be eligible for a cash boost as high as 12% of your balance.

The retailers that have partnered with SmartyPig include well-known names like Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, iTunes, Macy’s, and others. If you don’t want to put all your money onto one card, then you can spread it among several cards.

Account Security & Mobile Access

Your SmartyPig account is part of West Bank in Iowa and comes with FDIC insurance. Your information here is encrypted and there are also other security measures in place, such as secure account log-in and firewall protection. If you stray from your computer while using SmartyPig, you’ll be logged out once your screen is inactive for at least 15 minutes. This can be helpful when you leave your computer unattended for long periods of time.

One feature I appreciate is SmartyPig’s support for a variety of web browsers. You can access your account through any web browser. I’ve used four different browsers in the last few days, and the site functions well on all of them. Clearly, this online savings platform is highly portable, and allows easy access from most places.

Now if you want to catch up with your SmartyPig account while you’re on the go, then there’s a mobile version of the website that users can sign into from their smartphones or other devices.

Miscellaneous Features

Just to round out this review, I’ll cover a few more features that the SmartyPig site offers. Their blog covers information on financial goals, contests, savings tips, and other related topics. You can also follow SmartyPig on Facebook or Twitter. What I like about them is that they have a more personal feel than some of the bank websites I’ve previously encountered.

You’ll need $25 or more to open an account and a minimum of $250 to set a minimum savings goal. Meanwhile, the maximum savings goal is $250,000. You can add money to your savings fund whenever you want, but the account will grow steadily over time with recurring monthly contributions. The minimum for recurring contributions is $10, while the maximum is $50,000.

One reason a lot of people like automatic savings programs is because of the “set it and forget it” aspect. Ironically, SmartyPig seems useful because you’re not supposed to forget about it — by sharing your goals on Twitter or other sites, you can keep reminding yourself of what you’re saving for. This may help keep you on track and also get you in touch with your own cheerleaders who are willing to help you meet your savings goals.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

SmartyPig Review: Best Savings Account For Your Goals