When it comes to choosing a bank there are so many things you need to keep in mind. It really is easy to find the right financial institution for you if you simply do a little bit of research and find the best one for you.

For example, some people are looking for a place that will allow them to earn some cash on their checking account while others are more concerned with low charge on their home mortgages. Some people want to use one banking institution for all of their financial needs while others are happy to search out the best for different areas and use several.

Whatever works for you is what is best, but the following suggestions are some things you will want to keep in mind when you begin looking for a bank.

Tip #1 Interest Rates

When it comes to choosing an institution to deposit your cash, you want to know a place that has the highest possible interest.

Some banks provide high amount CDs or on money market accounts but don’t offer interest checking. Other institutions will give less mortgage interest in addition to low quotations on car loans, high quotations on checking accounts, and more.

So, just because the first place you visit does not have the best rates does not mean that you can’t find a place that will offer you the interest rates you desire. You may even notice that some of the best financial institutions are not the traditional brick and mortar ones but rather online.

Since the overhead is much lower, these online banks are able to offer better quotation most of the time.

Tip #2 Low Fees

No matter where you keep your cash on deposit you will have to pay fees. The goal is to look out for a place to deposit money that does not require you to spend money on every little thing.

Finding fewer amounts of fees is important otherwise you will spend all of your money on little of it here and there. Look for a banking institution that is willing to offer you low fees as a trade off for your banking with them.

Again, a better way to find banks with the lowest fees is to simply search the web until you find a few with low rates and then compare them.

Tip #3 Customer Service

The next important aspect you will be looking for is excellent customer service.

When it comes to your money there is no room for error or mistake, and you don’t have a lot of patience for joking around. As a result, you should look out for a location that gives 110 percent all the time and that strives to improve their business.

You want to be greeted and worked with as well as have someone to talk to you about your questions and anything you don’t understand. This is really important and can make up for quite a lot of other things when it comes to choosing a bank.

Immediate annuities provide a guaranteed income.  But if you choose a lifetime payout, the payments stops when you die.  Since you don’t know when you go, your annuity becomes an “uncertain” investment.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have the assurance of additional fixed monthly income with some assurance about the investment outcome?

The fixed term immediate annuity

Rather than take the lifetime income option, get a single premium immediate annuity and select the period certain options (e.g. 10 years). The idea is to get the fixed term immediate with only 50% of your savings. The term you choose depends on how much extra fixed income you need and what you plan to do with remainder of savings.

Example of a new retiree

Say you’re a 66 year old starting retirement with $500,000 in savings but no pension. You want to supplement your Social Security income with immediate annuity income while you pursue some part time consulting for the next ten years of your retirement. But you don’t want to give up control over your assets for later alternative choices.

You decide to purchase a ten year term immediate annuity that pays you $2,084 per month to supplement your social security for $200,000.  This leaves you with $300,000 in savings to invest and grow over the next ten years. With the assurance of the immediate annuity income, you can invest this $300,000 of your savings more aggressively, knowing it does not need to be touched for ten years. The growth you can expect will depend on your investment choices and if that money can be employed in a tax-deferred account. Alternatively, you could buy a deferred annuity at a guaranteed rate and still remain in control of those assets, to do as you please at the end of the term.

Example of Older retiree

Let’s consider and older retiree, worried about a legacy and current living expenses. Consider an 80 year old woman with $200,000 in savings and a house free and clear. She’s using up her savings at $2,000 per month and is concerned about depleting her nest egg and losing her legacy for her kin.

She could purchase an immediate for a fixed term – ay ten years – with a fraction of her savings to compensate for the monthly drain on her savings and invest the remainder in a deferred annuity to grow for later use or as a legacy. Her home equity can be the ace in the hole–also be a source of income using a reverse mortgage when and if necessary.

Check the immediate annuity calculator to see what kind of income you can get from a single premium immediate annuity.

The financial business is adding new terms and neologisms every month due to the increasingly complexity of personal finance and commerce or business relationships. However, for someone that is not familiar with all this jargon it turns very difficult to understand even the basic explanatory brochures or articles explaining common products. To clear some basic concepts, following is a list of common terms used frequently on financial flyers and other pieces of writing.

Collateral, Guarantee, Security

There are two types of loans out there: Secured and unsecured. Unsecured loans are awarded to people without other assurance of repayment than their word (signature) or personal credit. This means that if the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender has no other means of claiming his money than taking the debtor to court on a long and tedious legal process.

Secured loans on the other side provide the lender with an additional protection. An asset is pledged as guarantee of repayment and in the event of default (lack of repayment), the lender can either repossess the asset or obtain the money owed by forcing its sell on a public auction. The asset pledged as an assurance of repayment is indistinctively referred to as: Collateral, Security or Guarantee.

Provisional Financing, Refinancing, Restructuring, Roll Over Agreement

These terms are often used with different meanings but with the intent of clarifying financial jargon, we suggest the following uses for the terms: Provisional financing refers to a short term loan or line of credit that is used for buying the borrower some time till a more convenient and definite loan can be obtained; Refinancing implies the cancellation of a previous loan with the money obtained from a new one that has different terms (usually lower monthly payments either because of a lower rate or a longer repayment program); Restructuring often implies a series of refinancing agreements that imply more than one debt and more drastically term changes than a simple extension of the repayment program; Finally, a roll over agreement implies the postponement of the loan repayment by obtaining approval for an identical loan with the same lender.

Delinquency, Default, Bad Credit

These terms are often used on articles and flyers about personal financing and non-traditional financing. People that have to face financial difficulties often damage their credit by paying late debts that are due, or missing a payment or missing several consecutive payments. All of these are recorded on the debtors’ credit report and hurt their credit stance lowering their score.

The above situations are referred to as delinquencies: paying late or missing payments. Failing to repay the loan (missing several consecutive payments) is known as default and usually leads to the debt being sold to collection agencies that will try to claim the money by different means. Finally, the consequences of default and delinquencies on your credit along with other problems like excessive debt have a negative impact on people’s credit which is known as bad credit, poor credit or low credit score.

Principal, Interest, Term

The Principal is the amount of money that is lent by the lender to the borrower and has to be repaid. The Interest is the price of the transaction: This price can be expressed as an overall amount but unless the loan is a short term loan, it is usually expressed as a rate or percentage. The term is the period of time for the loan repayment; it can refer to the overall repayment period including the repayment deadline but it can also refer to the repayment frequency whether you have to make monthly, biweekly or weekly payment.

Families are beginning to feel the impact of a slowdown in the economy with a new survey finding that parents are cutting back on the amount they spend on their children. Initially, fears of a recession seemed to be confined to the City, but research from Engage Mutual Assurance suggests that children might be the latest victim of 2008’s economic woes.

The financial services provider notes that just over half of parents will have to restrict spending on their children in 2008 as living costs increase. Nearly one in two families are struggling to make ends meet and almost a third of those who are living comfortably now expect to have to make cut backs this year. For such consumers, it is possible that a consolidation loan could be an important consideration.

It is not just younger parents who are bearing the brunt of the slowdown, in fact Engage Mutual Assurance finds that it is older mother and fathers that are struggling the most, with parents aged 45 to 54 finding it hardest to give their children what they want or need. Additionally, nearly half of all older parents are having difficulty coping financially.

With many parents highlighting reductions in the amount they spend on their children for toys and clothes it may be advisable for families to take out a personal loan in order to provide their kids with welcome presents come birthday and Christmas. Additionally, with 38 per cent of parents stating that holidays will see a cut back in 2008, a personal loan may be the best bet for those wishing to take a well-earned break this summer.

Rising food and energy costs have been cited as one major cause for a gloomy 2008. Karl Elliot 3GB spokesperson for Engage Mutual Assurance, commented: “With the increased cost of food, fuel and mortgages taking effect, our research shows that many parents anticipate finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet in the year ahead.”

For the 44 per cent of respondents who admitted that they were already finding it hard to make ends meet, nearly three-quarters of these anticipated further cut backs on their kids this year. A cheap consolidation loan may be advisable for those struggling financially as it could allow them to get their financial house in order.

Meanwhile, a new report from price comparison and switching service uSwitch has further highlighted the financial troubles experienced by many Brits, detailing that nearly five million adults spend more they earn and nine million only just break even each month. The research also revealed that almost six million consumers use debt to fund spending but with debt repayments rocketing by 104 per cent this decade, it might be advisable for many Brits to seek a personal debt consolidation loan to get their finances back on track and ensure that spending starts to meet income.

It is not only families that are in a position where they could benefit from a cheap consolidation loan. According to data from the Manchester Business School compiled last summer, around 13,000 couples in England and Wales alone were forced to apply for insolvency over the previous 12 months. Had they addressed their debt issues earlier using debt consolidation it is possible that they could have avoided such a situation.