Capital One 360 is an online bank that provide checking accounts. We love the fact that we get paid interest instead of paying monthly fees and they have none of those insane minimum balance requirements that other banks require. Also P2P is an awesome feature in which you can pay anyone instantly for free and the only information you would need is the last 4 digits of their bank account and their email address. Being able to deposit a check through a smartphone/tablet app is also a big plus. You and I also get a nice bonus by using this link: https://r.capitalone360.com/fr9wprZbxR
Mint is a free online service that helps you to manage and track your money. It is, in our opinion, one of the best money management software out there. It’s also the first step one should take to get finances under control. We use it all the time. We love the design, simplicity and very powerful snapshots of our finances.
SallieMae is another online bank that offers very competitive rates, especially for high yield savings and CD accounts. We find these accounts helpful in saving for the long term and emergency funds.
Vanguard is one of the world’s largest and most respected mutual fund companies. Something remarkable about Vanguard is how it remained untouched through the financial scandals of the Great Recession. What we like about Vanguard the most is their ownership structure and low expense ratios. The only shareholders they have to report to is the regular investor like you and I so there’s no conflict of interest.
