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Keep banking costs down. With planning, you can sidestep some of the more costly fees and penalties. Examples:
In addition, pay your credit card bill on time. One reason is to avoid late fees. Another is that late payments can damage your credit record. If repeated, they could even trigger interest rate increases on your credit cards and loans.
Your bank may offer various "overdraft protection" services for your checking account, but be aware that these come with their own costs. Reynolds added that one of the least expensive options could be to ask your bank to cover insufficient funds by automatically transferring money from your savings account.
Understand your FDIC insurance coverage so you can be fully protected if your bank fails. If you (or your family) have $100,000 or less in all of your deposit accounts at the same insured bank, you don't need to worry about your insurance coverage. Your deposits are fully protected under federal law because the basic insurance coverage is $100,000 per depositor per insured institution.
You also may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at one insured bank. For example, the money you have in your individually owned accounts (not including your retirement accounts) is insured up to $100,000 separately from your share of any joint accounts at the same bank. Deposits designated to pass to named beneficiaries upon the death of the owner, such as in payable-on-death accounts, also can be insured for more than $100,000 under certain circumstances. And, some retirement accounts (notably Individual Retirement Accounts) are insured up to $250,000.
Remember that investments can lose value. Investment products include stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Over the long term, investments might produce higher returns than bank deposits. However, investments are not deposits, they are not FDIC-insured — not even the ones sold through FDIC-insured institutions — and they can lose value. Because of the risks associated with any investment, always deal with a reputable, licensed salesperson and research the product before making a purchase.
Certain annuities are a type of investment. In general, an annuity is a contract with an insurance company. The consumer makes one or more payments to the insurer, as an investment, and the insurer agrees to make a series of income payments to the consumer as long as he or she lives. Be particularly careful before investing in "variable" annuities which frequently come with high fees and penalties if you withdraw money early.
Especially troubling have been reports of marketers steering people into annuities that are unsuitable for them. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has published a consumer alert to help consumers, especially seniors, better understand annuities and recognize questionable sales practices.
There also have been reports of marketers making false statements about the FDIC — such as claims that the FDIC doesn't have the financial resources to protect insured deposit accounts — as a way to sell investments or annuities to consumers.
