This blog aims to bring out the best CD rates available in the market currently and in this series, we will look into the CD rates at TD Bank.

TD Bank is one of the top banks with more than 6.5 million customers in the US. They offer many kinds of products and services to customers who are located on the eastern coast, south-east and mid west part of the country. One of their most popular product is the certificate of deposits.

There are four kinds of CDs offered by TD Bank and they are Basic CDs, No Catch CDs, Step Rate CDs and IRA Add-vantage CDs. The Basic CD requires a minimum amount of $250 to open an account and there is no monthly maintenance fee associated with it. The current TD CD rates for this CD is 0.60% for a period of 11 months. The second kind of CD is the no catch CD and it also requires a minimum amount of $250 to open an account.

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You may want to start saving money now to prepare for the $4 gas prices some experts expect to see, possibly by the summer. That’s according to a new Fortune Magazine article that says U.S. gas prices reach levels we haven’t seen since 2008 before the end of this year.

Why Gas Prices Could Be On the Rise

We have been able to benefit from relatively low gas prices for the past couple of years and with the economy still struggling a bit, no one is looking forward to prices increasing anytime soon.

But as noted by Fortune writer Colin Barr, prices could easily increase, largely because much of the gasoline being produced today costs $105 a barrel thanks to Middle East unrest an overseas economic growth.

Even the government agrees that we could see increase in prices soon. Right

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For the past couple of years our writers have used clever pen names.

We thought it was a funny way to give readers a sense of where those contributors were coming from and their areas of expertise.

RateRunner is always looking for the top interest on CDs rates while Jen Stryker rails against costly bank fees and CardMogul delights in finding the best deals on credit cards.

But over the past few months we’ve wondered whether those pseudonyms have detracted from our credibility.

That would be a shame because all of Bankaholic’s writers and editors work incredibly hard to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information you’ll find anywhere on the web, to help you make the smartest possible decisions with your money.

So starting right now, all posts will be published under the writer’s real name.

Mike “CrankySaver” Sante

Managing Editor, Bankaholic.com

One way to track down how you are currently dealing with your financial situation is to know your income and the debt you have. Of course, it is much better if your income and your financial assets are greater than your debt and credit status. So how would you know if the income you have is good enough than the amount of liability to you have. This is where the debt ratio formula comes in. This formula will give you a quick calculation on your financial status. Knowing your debt ratio will help you to decide on financial expenses that will come in the future. Most lenders use this debt to income ratio so they will know if they debtors have the capacity to pay them. Generally, you can get your debt ratio by dividing your total liability from your total assets. Here are the steps you can follow to compute for your debt to income ratio formula.

1. Add up all your monthly income.

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We all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the cold-hearted, greedy man who despised Christmas, not only because it brought cheer to others, but because it required doing one thing he hated: giving.

Over the years, the world has seen millionaires and billionaires who have had the same “Bah humbug” attitude as Scrooge. They love to receive and hate to give. Let’s take a look at some past and current rich people who also happened to have Scrooge’s miser tendencies.

1) Gerry Harvey

Australian penny-pincher Gerry Harvey is known for making money ($870 million to date) and holding on to it with all his might. In the book Gerry Harvey: Business Secrets of Harvey Norman’s Retailing Mastermind, written by James Kirby, Harvey’s frugal ways are described in depth.

The book explains that he is known for spending two months deciding whether to buy a new pair of shoes and is not above recycling paper clips. In addition

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First State Bank headquartered in Illinois is still offering attractive checking account rates for their reward checking account with the companion savings account. The reward checking account and the savings account are both under the Kasasa brands.

The reward checking account under the Kasasa Cash brand is a free checking account that has the following current interest rates:

• 3.50% APY for deposits through $25,000
• 1.00% APY for portion of the funds above $25K
• base interest rate of 0.25% APY when requirements are not satisfied
• ATM surcharges are refunded nationwide

This best reward checking account has the following monthly requirements:

• account holder must post a minimum of 10 purhcases using the debit card
• make a direct deposit or setup an automatic payment via ACH
• choose electronic statements over paper bank statements

When an account holder meets the requirements of the best checking account, you automatically qualify for the high interest rates of the Kasasa Saver that earns 1.50% APY for any balance and 0.25% APY when the prerequisites are not met.

Both the savings account and the checking account do not charge monthly service fees.

The rates of the Kasasa Cash is a few notch better than what you can get in other nationally available reward checking accounts.

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Being worried because of your debts will not help you to solve your financial problems. What you most need to do is to make a detailed debt payment plan so you can systematically pay for them. At first, it will be very difficult to think and decide on how you will deal with your debts. The most important things you should think about in your initial stage of thinking is to decide on what debt accounts you need to pay, which account are you going to prioritize eliminating and then how much money you would need to get out of your debts. If you already figure out these things, then it will be very much convenient for you to make a specific plan that suits your regular income and your debt obligations.  Here are the simple steps you can do to make a debt payment plan that can help you eliminate your debts one by one.

• Make a list of all your debt accounts.

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As consumers struggle with steadily falling rates on CDs, money market and savings accounts, the chance to earn a sizable return on your cash can be a real challenge. Despite low interest rates, though, it’s always a good time to start a savings plan.If you are young, record-low rates may make you wonder if you should even bother stashing away a certain amount each month. What’s the difference if you start now or in two years, after rates have perhaps climbed? Well, it turns out that delaying saving can cost you big time. If you put aside $200 per month for 10 years at even 1 percent, you end up with about $25,245. Waiting two years to start, however, “costs” you more than $5,000.Paying medical bills or dealing with unemployment is expensive. These unexpected events can be serious stress-inducers — unless you’re prepared. D

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Commercial property took less of a drubbing than residential real estate in the recession but still faces a long and painful recovery.

Banks have already taken $80 billion in commercial-real-estate losses—about half of what they are expected to take as a result of the recession, according to the Federal Reserve.

But in some markets, commercial-property values have soared more than 30% from their lows in 2009, according to one industry gauge. For properties such as marquee apartment buildings in New York City and office buildings in Washington, D.C., values are even approaching pre-crash levels.

Last week, a Washington building that had been the headquarters of the Mortgage Bankers Association sold for $101 million—just a year after the trade group sold the 10-story building for $41.3 million. Eve

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