Banking Rates, CDs, Mortgages

Raising minimum wage is a hotly contested topic. The idea of putting a few extra dollars in the savings accounts of hardworking Americans currently earning minimum wage sounds good, but critics claim the resulting economic damage more than offsets the benefits for the people it tries to help, along with everyone else for that matter.

Minimum Wage in the United States

The minimum wage law was permanently adopted by the U.S. in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act in an effort to prevent businesses from exploiting impoverished workers.

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Established in 1978, the Meridian Bank CD rates comes from an institution whose very name means “the utmost” or “the highest degree”. Originating in Wickenburg, Arizona, Meridian Bank has expanded to seven additional locations in Phoenix Metro Area including Central Phoenix, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Scottsdale, McDowell Mountain, West Phoenix, and Wickenburg.

Meridian Bank CDs are tiered and require a minimum deposit of $1000 to obtain an APY. At present, they are offering two special CDs.

The 18 Month Special Bump-Up CD has an interest rate of 1.34% with an APY of 1.35%. It has

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One of the ways you can build an income stream is to start your own business. But you don’t have to start your own business to find success in that arena. If you are looking for success in business, whether on your own or within someone else’s business, these posts might be able to help:

Best Home Based Business Ideas

The Digerati Life offers some great ideas for home based businesses. If

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I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but American Express Bank now holds a spot in three of our six rankings of the best nationally available CD rates.

The online bank owned by the upscale credit card company has claimed the fourth spot for 24-, 36- and 60-month certificates of deposit.

American Express has often offered above-average returns.

Back in July, for example, it began paying 1.75% APY on 24-month CDs.

That was much better than the average return of about 1% during the middle of the summer, but not quite competitive with the 2% returns the leading banks were offering.

Over the past couple of months though, American Express has stuck with that 1.75% APY while all of the top-paying banks lowered their returns.

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Determining your highest income earning years is a tricky thing. There are so many variables that affect how much money a person can earn in their lifetime. Factors like career opportunities, economic stability, the industry you’re in and whether or not you own your own business all come into play. When you will land your first high-income job isn’t set in stone, but there are certain trends that help to identify when most people experience their highest earning potential.

Photo: emdot

According to the Federal Reserve’s 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, most people peak in earning power between the ages of 40 to 50 years old and then a sharp drop off occurs as they head toward their 60s. The S

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Chase has released the new categories that will allow you to earn 5% cash back using their Chase Freedom Card. (See my $100 Bonus Post)

For the fourth quarter (October 1st to December 31st) you will receive an additional 4% cashback in addition to the standard 1% cash back for purchases made in the following categories using your Chase Freedom Card:

• Grocery Stores
• Department Stores
• Movies

The great one there is the added cash back at Grocery Stores.

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Today at Online Banks, we have some exciting news. A couple of years ago, a 1.40% annual percentage yield on a high interest savings account would not have been very exciting. In today’s market? It’s news.

With this Salllie Mae 1.40% APY offer, Sallie Mae is in the top 2% of all banks nationally. Their nearest competitor for this rate is ING at 1.10%.

Sallie Mae offers a very basic, simple and easy to sign-up online savings account that currently sports a 1.40% APY. Funding and withdrawals are made with the touch of a button and one of the cool features that the Sallie Mae Online Savings ACcount offers is a 10% Upromise match.

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If you are interested in marketing and were thinking of enrolling in a couple of marketing classes, no need. This video does an excellent job in summing up the important marketing concepts in 2 minutes. Read more…