New York Governor Splits With No. 2 on Budget

New York Governor Splits With No. 2 on Budget
Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, whom Gov. David A. Paterson fought to get into office for his financial acumen, saw his main plans shunted aside.

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Financial Advice : Finance: Gas Budget

For personal finance, a gas budget can be trimmed by carpooling, traveling less and taking public transportation. Calculate a gas budget with tips from a young professional in this free video on financial advice. Expert: Jessica Rose Smith Bio: Jessica Rose Smith has been attending Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, NC, for more than a year now. Filmmaker: Reel Media LLC

Banks selling risky financial products to pensioners come under scrutiny

Banks selling risky financial products to pensioners come under scrutiny
Alistair Darling sets up working group to investigate mis-selling as complaints mount, reports Lisa Bachelor High street banks and other financial companies that coerce staff into selling unsuitable products by paying them commission and other incentives are to be hit by a two-pronged approach from the government. A paragraph buried in the small print of last week’s budget revealed Alistair …

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Saving with SmartyPig

West Bank’s SmartyPig Tries to Make Goal-Based Saving Social, Easy

What do you do when you want a specific item that just doesn’t fit into your existing budget?

You could pull out the plastic. However, those credit card purchases will cost you an arm, a leg and even a few ribs by the time you get done wrestling with the near-usury of their interest rates.

Additionally, far too many of us are learning that our credit limits and our cards’ terms aren’t what they used to be. Card companies have been jacking up rates and killing accounts in response to the economic downturn and pending federal regulations. The “I’ll just charge it” mentality is finally (and smartly) on its way out.

You could save the money. That’s the smart choice. It’s a proven technique that responsible people have been using for centuries. Some people build up cash in coffee cans. Some just try to build up more in their checking or savings accounts.

Those techniques can work, but their not quite as easy as they sound. We tend to fall off the savings wagon unless there’s a great deal of motivation. The failure to make regularly scheduled additions to savings can also make saving tough. When you’re saving by putting money into an existing account it can be hard to tell what’s really available for your purchase and what should stay there.

West Bank thinks they have a solution. They call it SmartyPig and it’s an online savings systems.

SmartyPig allows people to set up savings accounts tied to a specific cash goal. You can set it up to grab money from your other accounts automatically, on schedule to get you to that goal. The FDIC-insured accounts feature nice interest rates that stack up to other high-interest savings programs, too.

SmartyPig accounts don’t allow much flexibility. You can’t withdraw a portion of your account. You either wait until you’ve hit your savings mark or you shut down the account early. There’s no “in between.” If you do close the account, you can’t transfer the funds electronically to your bank, either. You’ll need to wait a few days for West Bank to send you a check.