The Sunshine State has been swamped by a bad economy, but floridacentral Credit Union offers residents a ray of good news with its high-yield checking account that outshines the best nationally available deal.

The Tampa-based credit union is paying 4.50% APY on its Ultimate Checking account for balances of up to $15,000.

That tops the best nationally available deal of 4.11% APY for balances up to $10,000 at Liberty National Bank of Lawton, Okla.

The account carries no fees and has no minimum balance requirements.

But to get the top rate you must make 12 check card transactions per month, make one recurring direct deposit or automatic debit, and sign up for eStatements.

If you don’t meet the requirements, the APY falls to 0.10% for the month. Credit union membership is open to anyone who lives or works in the Central Florida counties of Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte or Lake. Y

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Tower Federal Credit Union is still giving away $125 worth of bonus when you open a checking account and setup a direct deposit. This is a good money in the bank deal because unlike other banks, the regular checking account of Tower FCU is free and you do not have to worry about monthly charges and balance requirements.

This best checking account promo for a checking account bonus will run until the end of this year. So you must post a direct deposit by 31 December 2011. Direct deposits are considered qualified if they will come from your paycheck, pension, or social security that you will electronically deposit to your Regular Checking Account. A direct deposit should be at least $100 and must re-occur in 2 consecutive months. You cannot combine smaller deposits per month to meet the $100 requirement for each month.

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The economy is very tight nowadays and many people are experiencing debts way over their head. Some do not have experiences yet handling too much credit balances and debt obligations to pay every month. This may be a very hard situation for them and learning more about debts can greatly help them to be able to overcome and surpass their debt struggles. Here are some of the commonly asked questions about debt. You can also find in this article the answers to the question so you do not have to worry anymore on searching for good answers.

What are the different types of debts?

There are different types of debts and they may include your credit card debt, personal loan, mortgages, store card debt, utility bills and many more.

What is the best way to pay all my debts?

Having a debt payment plan is a good start to pay your debts.

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North Carolina disability attorney is unsuccessful in obtaining disability insurance benefits for former TYCO employee

This short term disability insurance case originated from North Carolina and involved a claim that was denied under the TYCO short term disability plan. This North Carolina disability claim was not governed by ERISA as the TYCO short term disability plan is self-funded. The theory for filing a lawsuit in this claim was breach of contract, but in an unusual argument the North Carolina disability insurance attorney attempted to argue that ERISA should apply to the case. This case is an unusual disability insurance claim.

Guardian disability insurance denial is upheld by Ohio Federal Court & Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

A federal court of appeals upheld Guardian Insurance Company’s denial of disability benefits. T

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There is new information regarding CDs. Please click here for the latest version of this story.

The traditional certificate of deposit remains the most popular type of CD, but a growing number of financial institutions are offering a variety of nontraditional CDs that have an element of flexibility. If you’re willing to sacrifice some yield, you can find CD options that might better suit your financial needs.

Here are the more popular types of CDs.

Deposit a fixed amount of money for a specific term and receive a predetermined interest rate. You have the option of cashing out at the end of the term, or rolling over the CD for another term. Most institutions allow you to add additional funds during the term or when rolling over. Penalties for early withdrawal can be quite stiff and will cause you to lose interest and, possibly, principal. Read more…

This post comes from Michael, chief editor of DoughRoller.net, which helps consumers find the best online banks available today.

You hear and read it everywhere: “If you want to save money, look at the little things. They add up! Consider how much you’re spending on that latte!”

Sure, your mid-morning trips to the coffee shop add up. If you’re spending $3-4 on a specialty coffee drink every work day, you’re probably spending $650-900 each year on coffee and steamed milk. That isn’t a small number by any means, but consider how much of your budget flies out of your wallet without thought every month.

Consider things like your mortgage, car insurance, health insurance, phone, internet access, cable and utilities. Those are the heavy hitters for a lot of people, but most of us rarely reevaluate these services once we sign up for them. Here’s a lo

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Honestly addressing mortgage related issues is an attitude I’ve always tried to maintain. So, rather than talk one-sidedly on the topic of no-cost mortgages, I’ll let the facts tell the story:

1.      Higher Interest Rates

The interest rate of a no-cost mortgage is typically between 0.25 and 0.5% higher than comparable loans where fees are paid up front. Because you aren’t paying up front, there may be more fees required and your lender will have to pay them. The higher rate ensures that the lender gets the overall benefit from the transaction.

2.      No-Cost Mortgage Types

A no cost mortgage can come in a variety of types. Usually either the lender or third party fees are covered by the lender. In some cases both are covered by your lender and then added into your interest rate and/or overall loan balance. In almost all c

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Similar to Dave Ramsey’s snowball effect, a debt ladder is the same concept, and whether you’ve heard about it, or you want to create one, but you don’t know how, let’s take a look at how it is done.  By following the steps below, you will find that it is quite easy to create a debt ladder that will help you get out of debt in an organized fashion.

Step 1: You will first want to gather up all your statements that have your details on it such as what you owe, what your minimum payments are, as well as your interest rate.  This first step is going to allow you to gather up your debts to become organized.

Step 2: With the next step, you’re going to want to take your debts, and order them by the lowest debt at the top, and continue to write your debts from lowest to higher.  This is going to become your debt ladder.

For example, it may look something such as this:

• Debt 1:  $349
• Debt 2:  $844
• Debt 3:  $2,392
• Debt 4: $4,599

Step 3: You’re going to want to prepare to pay the minimum on every account, no questions asked.  This is going to keep your accounts in good standing, as well as keep your credit score higher.  If you miss one payment, you will find that not only will your score drop significantly, it will result in many numerous calls if you miss many payments.

Step 4: With our example above, you will want to pay the minimum on 2, 3 and 4.  With #1, you will want to pay as much as you can toward that debt.  So if you had $1,000 to pay off bills, you would put the minimum of whatever toward 2, 3 and 4, while applying the additional to the #1.  Once #1 is paid off, #2 will then become #1 and so forth.

Free up money, and continue the process.   While Dave Ramsey recommends that you pay off the highest interest rate first, this is more of a psychological effect, as it will feel as if you have less bills.   Many people prefer this route as they find that it does help them with attacking debt.  Have you used a debt ladder before?

You need to know how to calculate the interest you’ll get by leaving your money on deposit for a certain amount of time, but it’s also good to know how financial institutions arrive at the interest rates they advertise.

Interest rates are affected by a number of factors. The Federal Reserve, which is charged with maintaining the stability of the nation’s financial system, raises or lowers short-term interest rates in an effort to maintain that stability. The Fed regularly takes these actions in response to economic ups and downs that the country goes through on a fairly routine basis.

When the economy is growing — companies are profitable, unemployment is low, and consumers are spending money — short-term rates are raised to keep the economy from building too fast and risking inflation. Inflation is when too much money chases too few goods and services, driving prices upward. Read more…