Steadfast Finances

 Banking, Business Trends, Peer to Peer Lending         10 comments

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I ran across this clever, or ghastly if you work in the banking industry, idea from Thomas Power from Ecademy.com.
What if Facebook became a bank?

If you’re a banker, I’d bet the Bank of Walmart idea is looking pretty good about now since the Internet is steadily putting the …

 Banking, Debt Reduction, Lessons Learned         4 comments

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As a self confessed quotes junkie, few things in life can change my thought process or motivate me to change my opinion more than a hard to forget quote.
Not only are they fairly easy to remember and somewhat sexy to interject into everyday conversation, but in a small number of …

 Advertising, Banking, Financial Crisis         14 comments

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I’ve been asking for months now: why haven’t credit unions and small regional banks created a nationwide “Anti-Too Big To Fail Bank” advertising campaign for the sole purpose of taking market share?

Why haven’t they capitalized on this incredible marketing opportunity to draw upon the public’s resentment for fat cat bankers …

 Banking, Business Trends, Entrepreneurship, Investing 101, Peer to Peer Lending, Personal Finance Tips, Saving Money         14 comments

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I’m not an expert in business trends by any means, but it really seems like the disintermediation opportunities the Internet provides is beginning to replace, well… almost everything.
Think about this for a moment.
Where do you check the morning news? Where do you get your music? Manage your money? Place phone …

 Administration, Banking, Investing 101, Peer to Peer Lending         5 comments

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When one of the best commodities traders around (Dennis Gartman) tells you that gold is going higher, but also warns that gold bubble has formed, then it’s time to hold on for a wild ride. Which is why I keep saying that traders know it’s a bubble, and that gold …

 Banking, Consumer Education, Credit Cards         15 comments

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I’m convinced that the current administration will fail to significantly alter the regulatory framework that governs the investment banking community, as well as the fee based business model practiced by the institutional mega-banks. Regardless of the new regulations that will be drafted, or the old regulations that might be reinstated, …

 Banking, Online Savings Accounts, Personal Finance Tips         4 comments

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As a young professional who came of age during the Internet boom, I was among the first wave of consumers to adopt the Internet banking meme. At that time, it was no where near mainstream and was generally considered to be another dot com fad.

Fairly quickly, the Internet banks began …

 Banking, Lessons Learned, Peer to Peer Lending         3 comments

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Banking is supposed to be boring. There, I said it.
I’m not a banker, nor will I likely ever be one in the future (unless my P2P lending plan works out supremely well), but as I’ve mentioned several times, banking is all about the boring ol’ 3-6-3 rule.
Bring in deposits …

 Banking, Business Trends, Peer to Peer Lending         7 comments

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Now this is how you run a solid, old fashioned type of bank. CNBC interviewed a small, community bank CEO (Frank Sorrentino) from North Jersey Community Bank today, and if I was ever fortunate enough to run a bank, this is how I would hope to get it done.
The old …

 Banking, Online Savings Accounts, Personal Finance Tips         23 comments

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If you’re the type to chase high interest savings rates, the first quarter of 2009 has kept you busy.
Nearly all of the major internet banks have slashed their savings account interest rates on a near biweekly basis.
Being somewhat of a rate chaser myself, I noticed all three of my older savings accounts have been substantially …

 Banking, Credit Cards, Financial Crisis         No comments

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I’m a firm believer that the stock market will tell you the answer to nearly any financial related question if you know how to ask the question, and similarly, where to find the right answers.
So when someone posed the following question to me today, I did a little digging.
What happened …

 Frugal Living, Green Living, Personal Finance Tips, Savings Accounts         1 comment

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2008 sucked!  The only folks who seemingly made any money last year were the bankruptcy lawyers and the uber bears that shorted the market. 
Like most, I’m welcoming the new year a little more than usual.
That said, most of us have the pleasant (or foolish) belief that a new year brings new hopes and new …