There is no doubt that money makes the world go round and has the power to shape the course of people’s lives. When those people are your children, you will naturally want the best for them.

However, many of today’s younger generation of today are used to instant gratification as the internet and modern technology has put everything they want at their fingertips. So how do you teach financial responsibility?

There are many ways to install financial understanding in your children. This can start at a young age with a piggybank and develop into helping them understand the idea of savings, credit and money saving tips such as balance transfers before they leave for college.

Introduce the idea of being responsible with money at an early age to your children. If you install good values in them, they will grow up respecting money and avoid unnecessary debt as an adult.

Let your child choose their own piggybank, as then he or she will feel involved from the start. Teach them that people work hard to earn money and that it helps you have more options in life.

Agree small tasks for little ones, such as feeding the family pet or always putting toys away. Older children can clean bedrooms and bathrooms or tidy the garage. Make them tasks that can be done regularly.

Write the jobs on a notice board and put a tick next to each time they do their tasks. Set a ‘pay day’ each week where the children can claim their earnings if they have performed well.

Teach your children to divide their money into different pots. A pot for saving for a small goal, a pot for a longer-term goal and a pot for spending on what they wish.

This will help children to grow up with the knowledge that you can enjoy fun and spontaneity with money, but also feel the satisfaction of buying an item with their own savings.

As your children become older, introduce them to the idea of credit and loans so that they have knowledge of how these things work. Remember, knowledge is power and you want your children to be financially astute.

Help them understand the difference between necessary debt, such as student loans and frivolous debt, which may spiral out of control. Take the fear and mystery out of money issues for them.

Explain how balance transfers can be an effective way of reducing interest payments and that taking advantage of low and 0% balance transfers can be a smart way to reduce debt.

Ensure that they know how to be organized with their financial records and how to keep to payment deadlines. Providing them with this insight will be invaluable when they are independent adults.

Allow your children to learn the hard way too. If they make mistakes with money as a youngster, it can be a lesson they won’t repeat as an adult.

It is every parent’s hope that their children achieve their dreams and money can be such a huge factor in that equation. Help them dream big by visiting Colleges and reading biographies of inspirational individuals.

They say that money can’t buy happiness but having money can take away some of the worries of everyday life. Educate your children so they know this for themselves and are money smart.

For those moving abroad to work and live, the ex-pat lifestyle can be hugely tempting. Thousands of Brits head to the US every year to enjoy our standard of living and pursue the American dream. Sometimes they return after a set period of time, but plenty stay and choose to settle.

For those who do head to our shores – and beyond – to enjoy ex-pat living, international and offshore bank accounts are ideal for accessing money when required and without attracting punitive fees.

If you’re a Brit living in the US for example, you may have found that keeping a UK based account has led to your earnings being eroded by regular transfer, commission and transaction fees between UK pounds and US dollars.

Avoid the headache and set up an international bank account. There are wide number available and you can search for them in the same way you might for credit cards or loans, via price comparison websites.

Good international bank accounts will offer fee free purchases in US dollars and fee-free withdrawals from certain ATM machines. They should also offer round the clock global and online banking and generally not have monthly fees, although this is changing.

Other sweeteners may be offered, such as travel insurance, legal expenses insurance or travel concierge services, very useful for regular travellers.

Most offshore accounts are familiar to Brits in the US, being offered by the same UK banks that provide their home loans and UK based savings accounts.

They offer the usual benefits of their onshore account, such as debit card, overdraft and the choice of which currency the account is denominated in.

So as a British ex-pat, it makes sense to have an account held in US dollars, particularly if this is the currency that you’re paid in.

However, as with the difficulty of getting credit or loans abroad, even basic offshore bank accounts aren’t always available to all. Many require elevated minimum balances, or monthly fees apply.

If you are having problems opening an international account, or decide it isn’t worthwhile, then consider opening an account with a local bank – you will need identification, proof of residence, visa details and employment information.

Similarly, if you still have financial interests UK based, or linked products such as savings or loans that channel money from your UK account, you may wish to keep a UK based account but find a bank that doesn’t charge for withdrawing money overseas.

If you decide to move to the US from the UK, there is the option of opening offshore accounts with high street banks, designed specifically for those living away for extended periods and not usually required to pay tax on interest earned to the UK government.

However, be sure that you are following the tax rules of the US, or your new host country. Offshore accounts will be registered generally in Jersey or the Isle of Man and their tax rules are different. Seek expert advice to ensure you don’t fall foul of the law.

Similarly, if while living abroad you need loans, for example home buying loans or car finance, speak to a financial adviser who specialises in ex-pat financial products, for the best, most accurate advice.

If you have ears or eyes, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ve heard or read an urban legend. It’s the kind of thing which usually starts with “a friend of a friend told me that…” and goes on to describe some cool-sounding life hack or shocking fact which raises your eyebrows and intrigues you.

Rather than being completely false, urban legends usually begin with a grain of truth and are then exaggerated to within an inch of their life. Because of the truth element, they’re often quite believeable by even the smartest people.

To add to the confusion, some urban legends have actually been proved to be true, such as the one about the real body hanging in a funhouse, or the fact that Disneyland used to prohibit long-haired males from entering the park.

Urban legends exist for pretty much every area of life, but for the purposes of this post I’m going to look at some of the more common money-related myths and commonly held beliefs. I’ll throw the odd true one in there too!

The anti-counterfit strip in paper money can be used to track the notes

FALSE

The earliest reference of this legend I could find was 2001, and it claimed that the source was told by a bank teller that the plastic strip on the US banknote was actually put there as a way for the government to see, via satellite, how much cash an individual was carrying at any given time.

Another version of the myth is that airport security uses special scanners to see how much cash travellers have; too much and you could be detained as a smuggler.

Having a prayer room in your home exempts you from council tax

FALSE

Until I began researching this article I’d never heard of this myth but apparently it originated as a racist myth in forums, and was subsequently believed by enough people to award it urban legend status.

But, unless the building is a certified place of worship (which a private family home is not), still council tax needs to be paid at the going rate.

A large proportion of dollar bills contain trace amounts of cocaine

TRUE (sort of)

People hearing this story believe that the trace amounts of cocaine are there because of the bill having been used to snort lines of it, and by using the bills they’re at risk of getting high, done for possession, or worse. But this isn’t strictly true.

In actual fact, if just one bill in a cashier’s drawer or bank’s sorting machine was used in this way, all of the other notes in there could become contaminated too.

But because the amount is so negligible, only those with jobs requiring them to handle huge amounts of money on a daily basis (bank tellers, casino workers etc) are at any risk whatsoever. However, the fact remains that yes, there are notes out there with traces of cocaine, but the method of contamination isn’t quite as people often believe.

Writing a cheque in red ink delays the verification process for longer

FALSE

The myth goes that as cheque-scanning machines can’t read red ink, the cheque floats in the system longer, giving the writer more time before the funds disappear from their account.

While it’s true that most cheque scanning machines can’t in fact read red ink, it’s not to the benefit of the writer. What’s more likely to happen, and indeed has, is that the cheque will be marked ‘blank’ and returned as a bounced payment, or even result in your account closed under suspicion of fraud.

So if you do still use cheques, make sure you keep a blue or black pen with your book at all times!

I guess the moral here is to take anything related to money with a pinch of salt, unless coming from a reliable source like a bank manager or financial advisor. Even articles on financial blogs like this shouldn’t replace professional advice; we’re here to guide, inform and help with the research of credit cards, isas, mortgages and other financial products, but never base your decisions solely on one website’s content.

Banks have progressively become more sales oriented over the past decade. The continued efforts to make clients the center of the experience has placed stress on hearing what the customer needs and responding to it with applicable offers. This sort of sales campaign has proven to work well and many banks have all but abandoned traditional cold sales. “Banker hours” is becoming a cliché of the past as most branches remain open to service the customer base after the traditional work day has ended. The new focus aims to secure clients through promotional offers and loyalty bonuses.

Popular checking account promotions include give away bonuses for signing up and cash incentives. A common promotion offers something liken an iPod shuffle for the customer who opens an account with two hundred dollars deposited into a checking account. While the give-away may seem like free money, the bank is relying upon an established relationship to sell other offers such as high limit credit cards, credit lines and account protections that will add up to profits for the bank. The relationship, however, can be mutually beneficial for customers who spend and pay bills responsibly.

With an increasing number of banks partnering with local grocery markets, common checking account promotions offer incentives to shop in the supermarket such as free grocery money for opening an account. These incentives are easy to advertise to and are focused on a captive audience. The positive aspect to this kind of marketing relies on each individual’s needs to purchase food at the grocery store, and since they have already come to shop, the bank capitalizes on only needing a few moments to get the account going. Usually the pitch is to deposit fifty to one hundred dollars into the account to receive a comparable amount in grocery reimbursement. These direct client efforts make customers feel cared for and listened to.

You may be wondering why a bank would give you free money, but this is just one of the banks’ marketing ploys to get you to do business with them. Getting free money from a bank may sound too good to be true and sometimes it is, but there are free money banking promotions that you can take advantage of and see your free money in your new account.

There are certain things you should know if you are attempting to get money from a banking account promotion. Be sure that you read this article before you sign any type of new agreement for a bank account.

Before you sign up for any type of new checking account promotion, be sure that you read all the fine print that goes along with the account. Many times banks will certain stipulations on the promotion in the fine print. Some of these stipulations may actually do more harm to you than good. There may be fees associated with the new account that will actually have you paying more money to the bank than they are giving you. Never, ever sign a new account promotion without exactly knowing what is in the fine print.

Secondly, determine if the promotion is actually doable for you and worth the hassle. For example, if you have to deposit at least $500 in one month to receive $25, you may not have the $500 to deposit or it may not be worth it for only $25. On the other hand, if all you have to do is sign up for a new checking account and make two deposits in 60 days and you get $100 free, this offer may be more suitable and reasonable for you.

Lastly make sure you know when you should be receiving your free money and how you will receive it. Some banks give out prepaid Visa cards while others will directly deposit the money into your new account. When it comes to when you will receive the money, some banks may give it to right away while other promotions may not give you the money for several months. It’s wise to know how much money you should be receiving, when you will receive and how you will receive it.

Checking account promotions and other bank promotions can be a good way to take advantage of free money from lenders, but not all of them are worth the hassle or will even benefit you. Before you ever sign up for a new account at any bank or online lender, be sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Banks have come up with a lot of solutions to provide their customers with better service.  One of the biggest advantages of these days’ technology is to do your banking online.  Almost all banks have integrated this option in their portfolio.  Banks that do not provide this service are lacking in their products.  Customers nowadays demand the option to do their banking from their homes, behind their PCs.

Internet banking is a term that is used to indicate that a customer deals with its bank at Internet.  Almost all banks of significant size offer to customers the option to bank at Internet in one form or another advantage for the banks.  Is that they do not need to deal with as many transcripts that need to be sent every month. Instead, you can use your own A3 Laser to print the statements yourself. The advantage for customers is that they can access their accounts at any time of day.

For a lot of people, security is a hot topic when it comes to Internet banking.  They are scared because of the easiness of accessing their accounts.  However, most banks have taken ample measures to prevent criminals from accessing customers’ accounts.  The login process consists of a password in combination with a token or TAN code, which is a temporary login and thus to us not very interesting for people who have bad intentions with your account information.

There are new banks that have no customer offices in real life. They exist online, cutting a lot of overhead costs. However, it can be hard to find a way to transfer money to those accounts, especially cash, and they might charge higher fees for ATM use, since they do not own any ATM machines themselves. Other banks such as Fortis encourage their customers to use Fortis PC Banking, because the automation of transactions reduces effort, costs, and time.

In the future, we can expect to get even more services provided via internet banking, and current banks trying to convince their customers to use internet banking even more. Let us just hope this will be done with excellent products and functionality, instead of fees on the older channels.

Wasted time and effort is about the worst that could happen when dealing with new checking account promotions and financial institutions. As long as an individual only considers looking at reputable and well-known companies and corporations to ensure that nothing sketchy will happen, there is a great chance to earn some money while spending little time doing so. To actually go through the entire process of driving to a local branch, signing up for a brand new account and driving back home, the estimated time could range anywhere from forty five minutes to two hours at the absolute maximum. Making even fifty dollars would mean that the whole entire experience would have been like making twenty five dollars per hour and that is definitely nothing to complain about. Furthermore, the fact that the utilized bank or credit union could actually be an incredibly customer service oriented company and be able to satisfy a great deal of customers could mean even more great news for the chance taker because not only did they make some change but they also found a quality company to stay loyal with.

There are simply too many financial institutions that care too much about the money that they make, and because they know that they will be able to consistently profit year in and year out due to their sheer popularity and customer base they do not need to treat their customers with the utmost respect. Fortunately, people have the luxury to choose where they want their money to be stored and with the huge variety of banks and credit unions just about everyone should be able to find the perfect company for having everything that they could possibly desire. All in all, taking a chance and getting a new checking account can either be a money making experience or a money making experience that leads to long term loyalty.

Choosing the best bank for ones needs can be a difficult and stressful process. With so many different offers and varying rates and accounts, it can be difficult to decide on the best bank for ones needs. Researching each bank and the benefits that they offer is the best way to choose where to bank at. Asking all the right questions and thinking about the future can save one a headache down the road.

When making a decision about a bank it is important to figure out exactly what one needs from the bank. Knowing rather the bank is going to be for a saving account, bonds or regular checking account is important to know before looking into the best banks in America. Many of the best banks in America offer sessions with knowledgeable employees about all of the offers and perks the bank has. Doing a local search of different local banks and credit unions can help in finding best bank accounts.

In todays society having online banking is just as important as having the best bank accounts. Many people choose to do their banking on the go and need to rely on the best online bank to make the experience smooth and easy. Finding the best online bank for you is easy. Look into the different fees that are associated with online banking, bill pay and transfers before making a decision on a bank. Many of the best online banks offer great services like automatic bill payment, payment reminders and balance notifications.

To get the best bank rates it is necessary to talk to each banker and discuss your financial plans. Many of the best bank rates come from discussing future plans with personal bankers. Shopping around can help on get the best bank interest rates as well. Many of the best bank interest rates are given to loyal customers.

During the cold war the idea of mutual destruction was the concern and safety of the day.  Each major nation was building enough nukes and delivery systems that they could completely destroy their enemies if attacked.  During this same period the idea came that if all the currencies and economies were tied together no one could be attacked without hurting the finances of the aggressing nation.

There is only one problem with this concept, what happens if one of the nations gets a debt problem?  It’s like getting in a partnership with your best friend.  Then your friend never shows up to work on time, spends company money on lavish lunches and beer, and then calls it a day early.  Despite all this the company makes a good profit and you are bound to split it with the dead beat partner.  This could be the world economy.

One nation decides they don’t need productivity and spends, spends, spends all the other major nations whose banks own large portions of their treasury bills is obligated to bail them out of their situation so the bonds don’t default.  Really politically corrupt or impotent nations will realize that the other nations must help them so they continue to avoid tough problems to further their political careers.

This situation only leaves two solutions to the problem of corrupt and lazy governments.  Your nation must either spit itself out of the system by becoming financially stable on its own (which getting any government to eliminate debt is difficult) or you must combine all nations into one government so no one small faction can bring down all.  Which is the better answer is beyond the scope of this article, but it makes some great debates around is your nation strong enough to stand on its own or if it’s even fair to the world to do that.

When other banks won’t give you an account it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing out there that will help.  Fortunately, second chance bank accounts are available to just about anyone who wants them.  They work in a very similar fashion as the traditional accounts do, but you don’t deal with the bank.  In this post I want to explain why banks are refusing to work with you, and how these accounts work.

If you’ve defaulted on a traditional bank account, the bank likely reported you to a company called Chexsystem that “blacklists” you from getting a new account.  Banks get reports on new applicants from this company to protect themselves from those that have had problems in the past.  It’s rough for those of us that are stuck in this system, but there is help!  Second chance bank accounts are a great alternative!

These alternative bank accounts approve anyone who applies, no matter your credit score, employment status, or prior banking history.  The only thing needed to be approved is proof that you’re a US citizen!

Rather than dealing with a bank, these companies essentially give you a line of credit that is equal to how much money you’ve deposited in your account.  They offer services like debit cards, online banking, direct deposit, cash withdrawal, and paper checks.

You can’t expect a service like this to be free, but the fees are surprisingly low.  If you’ve had to resort to going to a check cashing store to get cash, you’ll probably save money over that service with a 2nd chance account.  Each company will have their own specific fees, but they are usually incurred when depositing or withdrawing money, or a flat monthly fee.  The fees are generally lower when you enroll in their direct deposit program since they don’t have to deal with traditional banks at all.

Second chance bank accounts are a great way to get a new start with your finances.  They cost more than a traditional account, but are way less than check cashing and payday loan services!