Americans put more of their hard-earned dough into savings in October and increased their spending only very little.
Let's face it: 2011 was pretty abysmal when it came to savings rates, and 2012 won't be much brighter.
I'm 23 years old and working full-time. I'm on track to set aside about $10,000 this year. I'm typically very cautious, which makes me unlikely to invest in stocks or anything that is not guaranteed. So my question is: how should I invest my money? -- Laura Hochman, Lawrence, Kan.
As other banks recoil from the customer wrath they faced after attempting to introduce debit card fees, TD Bank is rolling out a brand new fee and hiking others.
One savings account at a time, "Sweet" Alice Harris is trying to save youths from the temptations of crime and violence in Los Angeles' notoriously troubled neighborhood of Watts.
This week, co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson issued their joint proposal for consideration by the full National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Their joint proposal represents a commendable, comprehensive, aggressive and good faith effort to address our nation's structural deficit. It recognizes the need for economic recovery now while addressing the structural deficits that represent the real threat to our collective future.
updated: Fri Nov 12 2010 08:13:00
CNN's John King discusses the tough decisions behind cutting the deficit.
Consumer spending rose in July, but Americans remain wary about the future of the economy. Personal spending rose by $44.1 billion last month, or 0.4%, after falling less than 0.1% in June. This came in above the 0.3% increase economists expected.
Say goodbye to those nasty surprise overdraft fees.
Americans saved a slightly larger chunk of their disposable income for a third straight month in June, pushing the personal savings rate to its highest level in a year, according to government data released Tuesday.
Question: I'm 26 years old and keep my money, about $300,000, in a savings account because I can't handle the volatility of the stock market. Until the recession hit, I was earning at least 4%. But now I'm getting a pathetic 1%. What's the smartest way for me to get a decent return? -- Daniel, Brooklyn, New York
The long decline of the savings rate in the United States has been widely discussed, yet every revisit of the data brings new cause for alarm. Hedgeye recently provided its clients a chart showing savings as a percentage of GDP. In the 1970s and 1980s savings were in the 5 - 7% range. In the decades since, personal savings have declined to the 1 - 3% range.
We all supposedly learned our lesson. The credit bubble and Great Recession taught us to be more fiscally fit. Save more and spend within your means. For a while, it looked like a new era of thrift was upon us.
Millions of low and middle-income Americans don't have a savings account, but a group of large banks and consumer advocates kicked off an effort Thursday to change that.
Question: I'm 58 and have $30,000 sitting in an online savings account earning around 2% annually. Is there some way I can get a better return on this money? I want to use some of it within the next five years or so for travel. --Nate, Texas
Will this newfound culture of thrift soon be a distant memory?
Americans may be saving more nowadays, but they certainly aren't getting paid for it.
Many owners of our country's bonds are worried that the federal government is spending like inebriated sailors on shore leave to try and get the nation out of this economic mess.
As the economy slows, millions of Americans will cut their budgets to stay afloat. This generates conflicting impulses: If I skip that morning coffee and granola, will my thriftiness put my local coffee shop out of business?
The personal savings rate has been rising: In the last three months of 2008, it hit its highest level in six years.
Consumer spending rose more than expected in January, after declining for six consecutive months, according to government figures released Monday.
It wasn't that long ago that many economists worried that Americans were saving too little.
Consumers continued to retrench in December, capping off the worst year for consumer spending since 1961, according to a government report released Monday.
Ever since Joseph decoded Pharaoh's dream about fat cows and thin ones and delivered his policy response - save in the fat years to survive in the lean times - consumers have followed that model.
The American consumer, hunkered down since this past September, is showing no signs of rebounding any time soon, remaining on the defensive in the midst of a historic economic downturn compounded by a headline-grabbing banking sector crisis.
As the stock market goes through stomach-turning ups and downs, Sen. Barack Obama is accusing Sen. John McCain of wanting to "gamble with Social Security," a charge the Republican presidential nominee rejects as fear mongering.
updated: Mon Sep 22 2008 13:42:00
McCain's campaign responds to Obama's question of Social Security. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.
New York Private Bank & Trust, the holding company of Emigrant Bancorp, Inc., unveiled a new online savings account Monday that the company claims will provide the highest interest rate in the country.
Question: I'm 23 and make $50,000 a year. I put 8% into a 401(k) with a 4% match and $1,800 a year into a Roth IRA, but I would like to start saving to buy a house. I currently have $10,000 in an online savings account that earns 5% interest. Are stocks too risky for money I want to spend in the next couple years? Will bonds make more than 5% a year?
Among the many promises being made by the 2008 candidates for president, fixing Social Security is getting increasing play on the campaign stump.
Britain will guarantee the security of personal savings accounts at all banks up to $70,000 (£35,000), the government said Monday, matching the security extended to Northern Rock customers during last month's run on deposits.
Online banking pioneer ING Direct helped transform the banking industry through its high-yield savings accounts, sparking a wave of copycats competing to attract tech-savvy consumers eager for a higher return.
Americans once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression.
HSBC Direct raised the annual yield on its online savings account by nearly one percentage point to 6 percent Monday, the latest move by an online bank to attract customers as competition heats up for deposits.
Don't call us the Grinch for bringing this up with Christmas right around the corner, but Americans are spending more than they're earning, and some critics say the economy is at risk because of this.
Question: My wife and I have saved an emergency fund of $30,000, or about six months' worth of living expenses. We also have about $150,000 in student loans from law school, $50,000 of which are private loans with a 7.87% interest rate.
We all know the health-care system is a $2 trillion dinosaur of the way-old economy. So where's the opportunity in that? Everywhere. But forget about trying to drag doctors, insurers, and hospitals...
For parents of high school kids, the end of summer may bring a merciful end to tense discussions about weeknight curfews and the family car. But beware. Tussles over lunch money and school clothes ...
Just two months after Citigroup jumped into Internet banking, the company's high-yield online savings account is rocking, Citigroup CEO Charles Prince said Thursday.
Q. I want to open savings accounts for my daughter, age 9, and my son, 7. But the high fees on low-balance accounts mean they're likely to end up losing money. Is there a solution?
The President talked about health savings accounts as a way to make health care more affordable in his State of the Union address yesterday.
The spend-to-save phenomenon is gaining more steam as EmigrantDirect becomes the latest bank to introduce a credit card that allows consumers to sock away a few extra dollars into a savings account with every purchase.
If you've managed to stash away some cash this year, congratulations -- the hard work's over. But managing your savings is one extra step that will make your effort even more worthwhile.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Carmen Kelley was worried.
It's a lesson most children learn from their parents: a penny saved is a penny earned. Now banks are shaking up that notion by telling consumers that a dollar spent could lead to a penny saved.
It seems that everywhere you turn, Internet banks are trying to woo you with the promise of higher returns on your savings.
Now that interest rates are finally above water, this is a golden opportunity to make some dough on your dollars.
The savings of U.S. consumers are:
Democratic members of Congress introduced a retirement security plan Tuesday that promises to foster savings among middle- and working-class individuals.
It's a simple savings philosophy, but Mike Rogalski hopes that discipline and "paying yourself first" will put him at millionaire status by the time he reaches his early 40s.
Saving money can be as easy as collecting your spare change for sorting, and as smart as maximizing your 401(k) match for the free money. Here are more smart saving tips.
President Bush said Tuesday the "economy is strong," but he urged members of Congress to reform Social Security and pass his energy bill.
You read the papers and are well aware that the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates six times in the past year. So why is your bank still paying you a piddling 0.5% on your savings? No good r...
American households are running on empty, spending virtually all the money they have, or more, and putting nothing in the bank. But the economy is hooked on shoppers who give everything they've got at the cash register.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In the State of the Union address Wednesday evening, President Bush answered some important questions about his plans for Social Security reform and the creation of individual investment accounts. Many issues remain unclear, however.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Social Security reform will be a focal point of President Bush's State of the Union address Wednesday.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In the first solo news conference of his second term, President Bush on Wednesday said he's "open to good ideas" from lawmakers about Social Security reform.
A key Senate Republican is questioning President Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security, amounting to perhaps the most public GOP skepticism to date of the White House effort.
A key Senate Republican Sunday questioned both the president's proposal and strategy to reform Social Security, amounting to perhaps the most public GOP skepticism to date of the White House effort.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry seized on a report Sunday that President Bush would seek to quickly privatize Social Security in a second term.
On a postcard summer afternoon before the GOP rolled into New York for its national convention, Pete Peterson was in his Park Avenue office, wearing a pin-striped suit and a perfect Hamptons tan, a...
The Fed raised rates yet again.
When he accepts his party's nomination for a second term this week, President Bush likely will promise to give individuals greater control of their savings, retirement and health-care benefits, shrink the federal budget deficit and make recent tax cuts permanent.
Financial markets hold their breath whenever Alan Greenspan speaks, parsing his words to guess when interest rates might start rising. They certainly won't stay at 1% for much longer, and probably ...
Never count George Bush out. When he hits a roadblock, he will often overcome it with sheer persistence. No, we don't mean the capture of Saddam Hussein. We're talking about privatizing Social Secu...
We'll go out on a limb and make the following assumption: It has been a while since you took stock of your financial well-being. We understand. Closing your eyes to how badly your various brokerage...
For parents saving for their children's college education, the past few years have delivered a harsh lesson in economics. Even as the bear market has laid waste to portfolios--the typical age-based...
Could the plight of the retirement investor get any worse? The once vaunted 401(k) has disappointed the millions of participants who've watched their retirement dreams shrink right along with their...
My husband insists on not using our savings account to pay off our $14,000 credit card bill because he doesn't like the idea of not having any savings. I feel we should pay off the credit card and start to build the savings account again.
You can't pick up the newspaper these days without seeing some pundit chastising us for not saving enough. And based on the U.S. government's official figures you could easily get the impression th...
Jerry Shay, president of KME America, is on the front lines of small business' fight against rising medical costs. Over the past three years he has watched the health insurance premiums at his 11-p...
Just Moments after President Clinton presented his Social Security reform plan during his State of the Union address, Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn of Washington went on camera to deliver ...
For some time the Japanese, who have amassed an eye-popping $10.6 trillion in savings, have had to put up with paltry returns. Standard passbook savings accounts pay a stunning 0.1%. (Yes, the deci...
THIS MONTH: --Getting help with your debts --The best rates for CDs, loans
THIS MONTH:
Remember when you got a toaster for opening a checking account at your neighborhood bank? Well, things have changed: Today when you open an account at the typical bank you get toasted. Since 1985, ...
Our parents' generation didn't worry about instructing their children in the ABCs of investing. They seemed content to stash their money in low-yielding savings accounts and a handful of blue-chip ...
Tax-cut fever is gripping Washington. But once again it appears that Congress is about to hand out vote-getting goodies that will only worsen the troubles that the tax code already inflicts on the ...
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: 100 Highest Yields, Money Fund Report, Morningstar, Veribanc, Salomon Bros. CAPTION: THE BEST SAVINGS YIELDS IN THE U.S.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: 100 Highest Yields, Morningstar, Money Fund Report, Veribanc, Salomon Bros. CAPTION: THE BEST SAVINGS YIELDS IN THE U.S.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: 100 Highest Yields; Money Fund Report; Morningstar; Veribanc; Salomon Bros. CAPTION: THE BEST SAVINGS YIELDS IN THE U.S.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Veribanc CAPTION: THE BEST SAVINGS YIELDS IN THE U.S.
Alan Naisuler had thought his savings were insured. Naisuler, 44, a computer consultant, had $140,488 on deposit at Guaranty-First Trust of Waltham, Mass. About $47,000 was in various accounts in h...
AMERICANS don't save enough, and they don't invest enough in plant and equipment. Say that to almost any economist or politician -- liberal, conservative, progressive, supply-side, or neo-whatsit -...
A POWERFUL NEW FORCE is invading the stock market. After a decade of hiding in bank and money market accounts, individual investors are galloping back to equities, lifting prices to new highs. Wait...
Today the U.S. has the world's highest standard of living, but we will not retain that No. 1 position forever if we become complacent. Left unattended, four worrisome domestic problems -- our low s...
WE HAVE ENTERED the last decade of what Henry Luce, FORTUNE's founder, called ''the American Century.'' Writing in Life 50 years ago, when Britain stood alone against Hitler and the American people...
If Americans want to spend less and save more in the '90s, America's bankers are ready to grab a piece of that action. The latest bank marketing innovation is called a forced savings account.
Suddenly saving is in. After dropping to 3.2% of after-tax income in 1987, a low for the past 40 years, the personal savings rate climbed above 5% for all of 1989 and hit 6.1% in November -- the hi...
AMERICA ENTERS the 1990s bristling with opportunity. The spread of pluralistic, democratic capitalism -- a victory for American ideals and policy -- promises a world bound more tightly together, la...
Lieut. Col. Oliver North had an automatic savings plan that was uniquely his own. Every Friday night for 20 years he emptied the change from his pockets into a metal box that was bolted to his clos...
Like a tap dancer, a saver needs a fixed routine and the discipline to practice it. You will profit by taking your first steps now, even if you set aside only token amounts. The reason: you get the...
According to the ads, one-stop banking is the only way to go. The promise: sign on with the right bank or savings and loan and never again will you have to spend time hunting for the best deal on a...
SINCE AT LEAST the Book of Proverbs -- ''A wise man saves for the future, but a foolish man spends whatever he gets'' -- saving has stood as a test of virtue. America looks to be flunking the test ...
As a child, Dianne Palmieri listened closely when her mother used to tell her, ''Always put money in the bank.'' She has been following that advice ever since. Palmieri, who dropped out of the Univ...
In the 1980s, Americans acquired the image of being the world's biggest wastrels. As the federal deficit was swelling to a record level, so was the money owed by consumers on credit cards and auto ...
Dare we say it? Dare we even think it? Have we beaten the banks? For years we have been nibbled at with sharp little fees for previously free services. For decades we have been alternately insulted...
Americans stand accused of being spendthrifts. Are you, personally, guilty as charged? Use this worksheet to find out. You will discover much of the information you need in year-end brokerage and m...
AT THE BEGINNING of the fourth year of economic expansion, business executives are turning a bit more cautious in their spending plans. Responding to FORTUNE's semiannual survey of the business moo...
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