Best Bank Rates and Deals

Discover is looking to entice customers with more than just an awesome cash back deal, they are adding $50 to the mix.

The Discover More Credit Card offers rotating cash back categories throughout the year. Customers can enjoy 5% cash back on items ranging from travel to groceries.

This is a card that comes with no annual fee, and offers a $50 bonus. In order to be eligible for the bonus you must make $500 in purchases within your first 3 months of owning the card. 

On top of the 5% cash back bonus you can also get up to 20% on special online deals through the discover shopping mall. Dont worry, your purchases not qualifying for the monthly categories get cash back love as well, with 1% automatically offered.

The 2011 cash back categories are:

• January March: Travel and Restaurants. There is a bonus cap of $800 meaning the most you can earn that month would be $40.
• April June: Home and Fashion.

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Today we’ll take a closer took at the “FHA PowerSaver” loan program, which aims to make it easier for homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes.

In short, the FHA PowerSaver loan is essentially an alternative to home equity loans, which have become more difficult to come by ever since the mortgage crisis.

How it works:

PowerSaver allows homeowners to borrow up to $25,000 for terms as long as 20 years to make certain energy improvements, including insulation, duct sealing, energy-efficient doors/windows, HVAC systems, water heaters, solar panels, and geothermal systems.

The FHA encourages homeowners to get an energy audit to determine which improvements will be most cost-effective.

What about rates?

The mortgage rate for a PowerSaver loan is expected to be between five and seven percent, but comparable or lower than other options available to homeowners.

PowerSaver loans are backed by the FHA, with federal mortgage insurance covering 90 percent of the loan, and private mortgage lenders retaining the remaining risk.

The loans will be subordinated behind existing first mortgages, and borrowers must have existing home equity, as the max combined loan-to-value ratio is 100 percent.

Eighteen national, regional, and local mortgage lenders are taking part in the two-year pilot program.

It is expected to help roughly 30,000 homeowners finance energy-efficient upgrades, while creating 3,000 jobs.

FHA PowerSaver Requirements

Loan term: Up to 20 years
Minimum credit score: 660
Max loan amount: $25,000
Max debt-to-income ratio: 45%
Max combined loan-to-value ratio: 100%

FHA PowerSaver Approved Lenders

1. Admir

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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Miller of 48Days.net.  Dan was kind enough to devote several hours of his time to the Debt Free Adventure audience addressing the subjects of debt and career specifically focusing on breaking barriers while pursuing your passion and succeeding in the changing workplace environment.

Dan is a pioneer in the Life Coach movement, the founder of the 48Days.Net community, and two time best selling author who has helped millions of people transition from working jobs they hate, to leading successful, mission-focused work lives.  Dan is also a joyful Christian, father, grandfather, and successful Eaglepreneur.  Find more of Dan by reading his bio, reading his 48Days blog, and by reading his bestselling and powerful books: 48 Days To The Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays.

As an added bonus Dan is offering an incredible resource to readers for free his eBook 48 Low Cost Business Ideas.  Make sure you download and read the book its packed with unique and profitable business ideas that have very low start up costs.

Folks, this challenge and piece of advice from Dan is crucial and very powerful.  If you take nothing else away from this interview article be sure to spend a few hours contemplating the wisdom he gives below.

Dan advises us to:

Look inward first.  Take 2 hours to look internally and say, what are my unique skills and abilities, what are my personality tendencies, what are those recurring dreams that I keep having? From that you should be able to create a clear focus and then decide, what kind of work embraces all of those things that I now know about myself? That is the starting point, and that has been the freeing process for a whole lot of people that I have had the privileged of intersecting lives with over the last few years.

If you are ready for a change and want to take positive action toward that change take Dans challenge seriously and go do this now.

Please enjoy it was a great joy to interview Dan and I hope to collaborate with him more in the future.

Please excuse the quality of the sound and video it was my first attempt at recording a Skype call.  I wish the quality were better but cannot change it now.  I promise the quality will be better in future videos but also wanted to share this wise quote on the subject of publishing less than perfect content

I loved this book so much that Im giving a copy away to one lucky DFA subscriber.  If youre already subscribed, youre already entered to win!  If youre not subscribed you can enter to win below.  By entering you will also begin receiving free DFA email updates directly in your email!

The winner will be announced on Friday, June 3rd 2011.

The best Oregon CD Rates from a bank are from Capital Pacific Bank in Portland. They have a minimum deposit amount of $1,000 and $100,000. The 3 month CD is earning an APY of 0.25% and 0.60% respectively. The 6 month CD is earning an APY of 0.50% and 0.70%. The 1 year CD is earning an APY of 0.60% and 0.90%. The 2 year CD is earning an APY of 0.90% and 1.06%. These rates were posted on May, 16, 2011.

The Columbia River Bank has locations all over the state for their customer’s convenience. Customers can also use any Bank of Astoria to conduct their financial business matters. Their Bank CD Rates are in a tiered rate with minimum deposits of $500, $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000.

The 1 month CD is earning an APY of 0.11%, 0.22%, 0.23% and 0.25% respectively. The 6 month CD is earning an APY of 0.17%, 0.33%, 0.35% and 0.38%. The 1 year CD is earning an APY of 0.26%, 0.51%, 0.54% and 0.59%.

The 2 year CD is earning an APY of 0.38%, 0.77%, 0.80% and 0.88%. T

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The CEO of HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, announced recently that while he’s pleased with the state of the U.S. economy, he feels keeping the card business in the country does not make strategic sense. As a result, he is hinting at the possibility of phasing out the company’s credit card business in the United States.

HSBC Looking for a Buyer

While attending a World Economic Forum event in Jakarta, Gulliver told reporters on the sidelines that he was considering a departure from the U.S. card market. He stated, “If we can’t find a buyer we will put it into rundown.”

HSBC is currently Europe’s largest bank. Last month, it said it planned to slash up to $3.5 billion in costs and cut back in retail banking in order to lift its return on equity.

Gulliver Wants to Change the Shape of the Business

The bank noted its decision to consider dropping the U.S. card business has a lot to do with the fact that the U.S. customer base

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This list of Bank CD Rates May 2011 that are well above the national average include the short term CDs at Aurora Bank in Wilmington, Delaware. Their Bank CD Rates are in a tiered format with minimum deposits of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Unfortunately they are the same except for the $100,000 ones that actually gives you just a little more for your deposit.

The 6 month CD is earning 1.06% and 1.08% respectively. The 1 year CD is earning an APY of 1.23% and 1.25%. The 18 month CD is earning 1.36% and 1.39% respectively. The 2 year CD is earning an APY of 1.23% and 1.25%. 

The 3 year CD is earning an APY of 1.82% and 1.84%. . The 4 year CD is earning an APY of 2.05% and 2.08%. . The 5 year CD is earning an APY of 2.41% and 2.44%.

Doral Bank with location in Puerto Rico, New York and Florida has great short term CD rates. The 6 month CD is earning an APY of 0.75%. The 1 year CD is earning an APY of 1.40%. The rest of the rates, which are of a longer term only get as high as 1.25%.

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If you own property in New Jersey and think your taxes are alarmingly high then don’t think it’s just you—both states are currently leading the nation in property tax rates according to The Tax Foundation.

The county of Hunterdon, N.J., took the gold in terms of its median tax rates, with residents of the region paying as much as $8,216 (+/-114) in median property taxes on their homes, according to the foundation. On the opposite end of the spectrum, those living in Caldwell Parish County, located in Louisiana, paid as little as $115 on property taxes on their homes, give or take $4.

As a whole, those living in Orleans County, N.Y. paid the highest median property tax rates as a percentage of their home value at 3.05%, while those living in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census area in Alaska had the lowest median property tax rate as a percentage of home value, paying just 0.12%.

If you live in Passaic County, N.J. and are

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