The Sun's Financial Diary

A couple of days ago I was feeling pretty good about Dollar Savings Direct (Dollar Savings Direct reviews) and their seemingly unbeatable 4.00% APY. Today, I am feeling a little disappointed when they finally decided to follow what other banks have done already, cutting their rate to 3.50% APY. From the bank’s point of view, [...]

If you are preparing your own 2008 taxes, there are some changes in the tax law in 2008 that you should be aware of, because the changes will affect your taxes. The IRS recently published 2008 tax law changes, among them the following are more common to taxpayers: Economic stimulus payment: The economic stimulus payment [...]

For those who have been following this blog long enough, you know I spent quite a lot of time updating interest rates of popular online banks. I even have a table listing the latest interest rates and a Best Online Savings Account Deals page to help track where the good deals are. While keeping the [...]

When the RevolutionCard was first introduced in September 2007, I took a look at the card’s advertised features, which include PIN based transactions, but didn’t really feel how that measure can prevent fraud. I prefer signing the transaction to using a PIN, even though almost nobody actually checks the signature. Still, I want a *proof* [...]

Is anybody using this bank? I didn’t pay much attention to Bank of Internet until recently when I noticed their interest rates: Checking 2.80% APY and Savings 3.51% APY, the combination of the two could be the best for those who need both products (exclude those so-called reward checking of course). For those who are [...]

IGoBanking, one of the banks I use but fell out of favor recently, is out with a new tactics to lure existing customers like me back. In an email I received yesterday, with the subject line as “Celebrate the Inauguration with IGoBanking,” the bank says from now till March 18, 2009, any money transferred between [...]

Yesterday, when I was doing my spending analysis, I noticed that my Chase Freedom Card has already accumulated more than $200 in rewards. I got the card almost two years ago and redeemed my first $250 Freedom cash check in June 2007. As you know, Chase Freedom Card has been one of my favorite since [...]

Though I no longer actively use HSBC Direct any more (my account is still open, but with no money in it), I have been keeping an eye on its rate changes, especially after other popular banks, such as FNBO Direct, etc., lowered their rates to below 3.0% recently. I want to see how long HSBC [...]