If they have a reciprocal arrangement with other institutions for free ATM use at an acceptable number of locations, go with the smaller, SECU.

Who invests in Certificates of Deposit anymore, anyway? The .001% extra interest hardly makes up for what you lose in liquidity.

School Employees seem to have a lot more specialized financial services products than BECU. But no CD's? or did I miss them.

BECU 'neighborhood' centers seem to be popping up around the city. I don't know the extent of SECU locations. But equal amounts of ATMs, heh.

A personal anecdote: I had lost a debit card, and I found myself on the way to work with out any cash or lunch, I had left my money at home. I was able to stop by the neighborhood center in the U-dist and get a debit card on the spot. Not just an ATM card, but a brand new debit card with a PIN of my choice.

Two locations have been built within a mile of my house since I started living here years ago.

I've been with School Employees for almost 20 years, and I've been really happy with them. Nice folks, very helpful and efficient. They just have the one actual branch(in South Lake Union, just down from REI), but you an use any credit union's ATM's for free (including BECU's). My only complaint is that the branch doesn't open on Saturday, and like Tracy M, about once a year I need to actually go in for something, so Saturday hours would be handy. Otherwise, I'm a very satisfied SECUW customer.

I think you'll be very happy with either, because most (if not all) of the Credit Unions in Washington share ATM's and some even share branches. I am a member at both BECU and Seattle Metropolitan CU.

I LOVE BECU. Been happily banking with them since college (so, gosh, more than a decade). Their online system is great, offering free bill pay and lots of info. They have many many ATMs (and you can use other CU ATM if need be). There are the "neighborhood centers" around, where you can ask questions or deal with loans. But if you need teller services, you pretty much have to drive to Everett or Tukwila. This hasn't been a huge issue for me, but about once a year I find myself needing to leave work a little bit early to go up to one of those two real branches. But generally everything can be handled through the ATM or online (or over the phone). And they're updating many of their ATM's to the kind that scan your check and cash, so you have a photo/accounting on your receipt (makes me more confident in doing a cash deposit).

I think the biggest choice is going to be how much teller interaction you want, and your geographical relation to their branches. My mom is only with SMCU (not BECU) because she wants to walk into a bank, hand over cash/checks for deposit to a real person, etc. So, if that is important to you, you'll want to choose the credit union that has a teller branch nearest you (the BECU neighborhood centers do not have tellers/safes, etc. They can answer questions and do paperwork, but not handle money). But if you're more interested in digital options, online bill pay, etc, I'd encourage you to investigate both CU websites to see which you like better. BECU is larger than SECU. This gives them more power/ability to upgrade more quickly, it feels to me. And if you sign up for e-statements and use online bill pay once (you don't have to do it each month, just one time) they offer a bonus higher interest rate on the first $500 in your checking and savings (and you qualify for a higher rate on your money market acct, too).

I've also been very happy with SMCU. I don't do my checking through them (so i haven't used their online system) but their credit card and savings services have been lovely. And it is kind of nice to actually walk into a bank sometimes, be greeted by employees who know your name, etc. Generally, it's fine banking with BECU only through ATMs or online. But last year an ATM malfunctioned and wouldn't release my debit card. While I was able to call the bank the next day and have them send me a new card express shipping, it was a LONG 3 days. Not being able to make a deposit or get cash suddenly became an issue, of course. But it was a freak thing and I survived it. *smile*

When the overall market is rising, you probably should be in funds, this way your likely to get a gain.

However, what we're in now is kind of mismash where there doesn't seem to be a general direction for broad category of industry.

For myself, I've switched to a strategy of being 50% in a synthetic cash fund, 15% in cash, 10% in a small cap fund, and the rest in individual stocks that I picked.

Is it successful? Only in the sense that my overall net gains are positive by a few percentage.

However, I my point is that I have most of my money "locked in" so I don't lose, which lets me bet on bigger risks with individual stocks.

This may sound snarky but it isn't: if you look at your investment in the stock market as "play", you should not go it alone.

People new to individual investments can start small, in direct purchase plans or in investment clubs. Penny stocks are very volatile and possibly best fit the aggressive, highly informed investor.

If you don't know much about stocks, please read Andrew Tobias' The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, The Motley Fool, and investopedia.com. If you want to learn about investment clubs, BetterInvesting.org run by the National Association of Investors Corporation is a great place to start. NAIC can show you how to assess the growth prospects of a stock and calculate upside potential.

I used to be a NAIC member and in an investment club many years ago, and now invest individually in mutual funds (strongly recommended before getting into stocks), exchange-traded funds, and stocks. My direct purchase plan stocks include Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), which I mention because as a known company with both growth and income benefits, it is great for beginner investors.

Time to get some real education!

This one just ended, so I would suggest you start looking to sign up for the next one or find a similar class offered locally. Personally I would suggest attending a course taught in a local college or other educational institution and not one offered by a broker or other concern that stands to earn money from you (other than the tuition for the class).

Read the description of this class:
http://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/investing-stock-market/uw-seattle-winter-2012/

Even if you decide in the end to not invest directly in the stock market, you will be a much more savvy consumer and better understand the financial reporting in the news.

No, this is a very bad idea. If it was easy everyone would do it. Making money on individual stocks takes a huge amount of skill and luck.

A 401k is the best deal going and you should put as much there as you possibly can. People with LOTS of money who invest in the market get the best results from investing the same way that your 401k does. They have diversified and well managed portfolios that spread the risk across a variety of different types of investments.

Investing in stocks is a bit like gambling on horses. You can spend a lot of time analyzing different companies and making informed decisions, but you can't really predict which companies will do well, or what the overall state of the economy will be.

In fact, full-time professional investors, in the long run, don't seem to do better than the overall economy. This is why a lot of retirement programs now use "index" funds, which just try to match the performance of the overall stock market, over managed mutual funds, in which professional investors pick and choose stocks to try to beat the market.

The success of index funds, by the way, does point out something important. The difference between gambling and investing is that in gambling, you always lose in the long run because the house always has to take a cut. The stock market, however, isn't stacked against you. If you invested in index funds, you would make a significant (more than inflation) amount of money in the long run. You still risk severe ups and downs, and you can't guarantee that your investments won't have lost money at the time you want to withdraw your funds, but the market has always grown in the long run.

It's my guess that closing a credit card account with a zero balance is no big deal. I had a card once from a bank that went belly up. Hence, the card was closed, and it isn't a derogatory entry on my credit report.

The only time opening and closing activity may not be optimal is right before applying for a mortgage. They don't like to see any changes for six months to a year before an application. Voluntarily closing a card can - believe or not - lower your credit score because it changes that credit limit/balance ratio. And opening up new accounts looks bad because it appears to a mortgage officer that you are about to do some shopping.

Congrats on paying off a large medical bill in a year. That must have been tough.

I don't think it will be a huge problem, although credit unions are more picky than banks in approving credit cards in my experience. As far as your credit record goes, the WF account should just show up as closed, but not delinquent - you don't want a lot of closed accounts, but as long as you weren't late on payments it should look the same as if you closed the account. It will hurt your credit score a little, because now you're using more of your total available credit, but unless you've recently checked your credit score before this happened it's hard to see how much that was affected.

Your WF credit card was probably closed because you didn't use it very much. You were totally responsible about your personal finances, but banks have been closing inactive credit card accounts a lot the last few years - even for long-time customers with perfect credit. Banks generally don't give any notice before they do this - I would say protosaurus' example is an exception. It's a decision made by an algorithm, and whoever told you it was due to "mismanagement of other accounts" probably had nothing to do with the decision, and just wanted to get you off the phone.

If you do get another credit card, and you're not carrying a balance, you need to charge something at least once every month or two, and then pay off your balance monthly so you don't get charged interest. That way you're showing activity, and the lender is making a little money on the transaction fees. It also will look good on your credit. It doesn't have to be a lot - maybe $10 - $25 a month, something you would normally pay cash for. If for whatever reason you don't want to use the credit card like this, you might want to apply for a line of credit with your credit union - it's unsecured credit like a credit card, but is intended to be used as a safety net, like if you overdrew your checking account. You should definitely ask what happens in case of fraud, like if someone got access to your accounts - I think credit card accounts have more consumer protection for fraudulent charges than a line of credit account.

It's a good idea to check your credit before applying - you get a free report from each of the three credit bureaus once a year through annualcreditreport.com. (How to read your credit report at about.com is helpful for interpreting your report.) If you want to check your credit score, don't waste time paying for anything except your official FICO score - this is the score used by most lenders, and you can only get it at myfico.com. You can get it free with a credit monitoring trial, but don't forget to cancel the program before you get charged. You can get a rough idea of your FICO score for free through Credit Karma - they have a lot of helpful information about improving your credit, but they don't use the official FICO score. About.com has some info about how to Check your credit score online.

When you apply for credit, it probably doesn't matter whether you do it online or in person - it all goes through a program, and there's no opportunity to explain the circumstances. When I first joined BECU I applied for a credit card in person, and was denied; I got a letter with the reasons why, including an old delinquent account that was still on my credit report, and a phone number of a credit specialist at BECU I could call. I thought it was weird because I had a few credit cards from banks with great payment records for at least a couple of years at the time. I didn't bother calling, and then about a year later I was offered a line of credit with BECU and eventually a BECU Visa. They definitely pay attention to credit improvements.

It sounds like you've got a great recent credit history; I would be more worried about the past collection, because that will still show up. Make sure that it it shows up as paid on your credit reports - if it doesn't, get that fixed before applying with your credit union. If you do get denied, try calling and talking with the credit or loan specialist and see if they can help you. If you still get denied, try again in a year, or maybe apply for a credit card with a traditional bank.

I hope you are saving for emergencies - it's much better to have at least 6 months of living expenses saved up as a safety net instead of using credit cards. Even if you can't save very much at a time, save something every paycheck & keep it in a separate account, like an online savings account, if you're tempted to spend it. Once you save at least 6 months of total living expenses, keep saving & transfer money every once in awhile into another savings account fund for something like a dream vacation or health/dental expenses.

I'll let someone else speak to the financial realities but my guess is since you have other credit established and being paid off, opening a new line of revolving credit at your new bank won't be a big deal and your credit will be fine.

Having WF randomly kill your card is a yellow flag. Did you do a credit report on yourself? annualcreditreport.com gives you a free yearly one from all 3 places. You should double check WF didn't have other reasons for killing that card.

They should have, at bare minimum, sent you a bunch of crap in the mail about closing the account long before they actually did it. Even if you're totally paperless.

About 2 years ago I killed my WF checking/savings account but left a credit card open. After about a year of not using the card at all, they sent me a letter saying they were going to close it if I didn't use it within 2 months, but they'd give me 0% interest for a while if I did use it -- a little bribe.

No, they cannot. They can raise their prices, if they so choose, to compensate for and projected loss, but they cannot tack on an additional charge. Some businesses get clever by being "cash only" and installing an ATM, from which they actually make some money instead of losing it. Other ways they've been getting creative is by passing it off on their employees. For instance, I waited tables during college and my employer would deduct payment processing fees from my tips at the end of the night. Ridiculous, right? I also read recently about cab drivers in San Francisco (a city dear to my heart) having to cover the fees themselves, with many now saying they don't accept cards whatsoever and offer to drive riders to ATMS (which riders of course must pay for in mileage and waiting time) to cover the fare. Source: http://www.creditcardprocessing.net/san-francisco-taxi-drivers-upset-about-processing-fees/

Truthfully, I don't think Visa or Mastercard or whoever else should be making more than 1 cent per swipe. It's not like the technology is cutting edge or anything. Just a simple swap of digits.

While technically banks don't cash checks after 3 or 4 months, that is NOT always the case. So it's quite possible she COULD cash this check. But calling the old roommate first is definitely the courteous thing to do. Sadly, many folks do not balance checkbooks/keep good registers, and so just trust their ATM or online balance (eep!) and so cashing it without calling first is kind of slimey.

It would be best to call the former roommate and ask if she could trade her the old check for a current one.

Call the old roomate before cashing it , not everyone has alot of cash in their account if they're living paycheck to paycheck and if she forgot about it it might cause her account to overdraw which will cause way more drama. Be nice and explain that it had been lost but point out that it was for something that was covered if she throws a fit

The bank won't cash a check more than 90 (or 120, depending on the account or the bank) days past the date it is written.

I found two references to acoustigraphs online, but the authors don't seem to agree on what the machine does. The first (from a Google Books result that does not look terribly well researched) claims that an acoustigraph is set up underwater and can be used to search for "the telltale signs of sonar."

The second is a patent filed in 1929 for a device that looks like it might be an early teleprompter. The timing would be about right for your mystery company. Here's the patent: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1985253.pdf

Standard & Poor used to have a service that provided books with every publically-traded corporation from 1904 onward and its fate (bankruptcy or merger). Ask somebody at the library.

Hit the tacoma library. They may have something on microfiche that hasn't gotten entered into databases. Also they probably know local historians. I would assume it has something to do with drawing sound ( like how seismic maps are made) you might also try contacting some people at uw or burke museum or mohi if the company got formulated into another company they may have some leads on where they were incorporated
You need to find the nerds with books not the geeks on the net for combing through old records

I know this might be contrarian, but you aren't required to purchase accounting software, especially if you are the sole proprietor for a small service-based business.

Right now I'm taking accounting courses at community college, and I've done some very simple bookkeeping in the past. Before you make any decisions in this area, find a good CPA - ask people you know with similar businesses for recommendations. They could help you decide what system would work for you. For example, do you want to learn how to do your own bookkeeping? Or do you want to just turn everything over to someone else? If you'd rather focus on therapy and building your business, it might be worth it to you to just turn everything over to a professional.

If you do turn everything over, the CPA (and/or their bookkeeper) will probably set up a company file for you on Quickbooks. They'll do all the data entry, reconcile your checking account, and give you reports on where the business stands. They can also do your taxes. It might seem expensive, but don't skimp on this. You'll probably only have a few hours of bookkeeping per month to begin with.

In the future, you could always buy a copy of Quickbooks, use the company file the CPA has been using, and do your own bookkeeping. Even though Quickbooks can be used like a check register, I highly recommend you learn some basic small business accounting before you take over. Look for a CPA who can provide training or give you recommendations. They'll still check your books, but you can send them an accountant's copy of your Quickbooks file.

If you want to take classes, you could take Acct 110 (Intro to Bookkeeping) and Acct 131 (Quickbooks) at either North or South Community Colleges. They are often offered online, or look for similar courses that focus on bookkeeping for sole proprietorships. You should be able to find classes tailored for people who want to start their own businesses; this is another good question to ask for recommendations.

I do agree with everyone else so far that Quickbooks is the most widely-used software, so if you do buy something get a basic version of Quickbooks. I find that it's easier to use than Peachtree - the screens and menus are less cluttered in Quickbooks. You could register for the 30-day free trial of Quickbooks Online and see what you think - I think you have to give them your credit card number though.

Good Luck!

We've been using Quickbooks for over a decade, and it has the largest marketshare of small businesses. This means that there are also tons of websites, youtube videos, and other businesses offering training/etc. Those with actual accounting backgrounds get annoyed with it, as it has a few quirks. But it's been around for so long, that any accountant knows how to work with it. And it IS pretty user friendly.

Regardless of what you choose, the most important factor is going to be initially setting up your company correctly. If you have any CPA or bookkeeping friends, I'd lean heavily on them for help. Otherwise, it may be worthwhile to pay someone to help. Although, if your business is just service based, and you've just got some basic hourly charges/etc, this may not matter as much (if you've got a variety of goods and services to sell, you need to make sure that you get things in the proper categories (expense, income, cost of goods, longterm liability, equity, etc). The initial Quickbooks tutorial/walkthrough is pretty helpful about explaining/helping you choose, actually. And if you're starting out small/low-volume, you'll probably be fine. So I guess I've changed my mind while typing this paragraph. While still helpful to have a professional assist you in setting up the company, you'll probably be okay without that. *smile* The more accurately you set it up, the more you can trust/utilize the built-in reports (profit & loss, balance sheet, accounts receivable, etc).

So, as I ramble/type out my thoughts, I think you'll be happiest with Quickbooks. And it's utilized so heavily, there will be many friends/acquaintances familiar with the system to help. Plus, there is a HUGE variety of websites and other resources for tutorials and help.

Intuit (the makers of Quickbooks) will want you to spend a ton of cash on a specialized edition (contractor edition, etc) but I'm guessing the basic will probably suit your needs. Also, check retailmenot.com for a coupon code before making your final purchase at the intuit website. Then price check that with some of the office supply stores. Often it's cheaper, but sometimes Costco can beat them.

Oh, Intuit likes to "sunset" each QB program after 3 years, and they lean heavily on you to upgrade. Many businesses feel forced to do this because they use the internal email system to send pdf files of estimates and invoices. But know that there's a great FREE program PDFCreator http://www.pdfforge.org/download that will set up as one of your printers. So then, you can choose the "printer" named PDF Creator and save each document as a PDF. Then you have the freedom to email your documents without having to buy new software within 3 years. (Doesn't matter now...you're welcome to use the free QB email service, but just wanted you to know for the future).

I don't consult in this area but our firm has folks that do, plus I talk to lots of businesses in my job including about what systems they run. QuickBooks is the most popular accounting product by far.

It works best when used in a very small org, doing one type of business. It isn't good at handling multiple company records (this could happen, you never know). It also has the ability to unpost transactions which can be a liability in a larger org as it makes it easier for someone in a larger org to be able to steal and cover their tracks .

There are a lot of Quick Books consultants available through the Ibtuit site, and courses should be pretty readily available for this product at community colleges I would think.

Microsoft also has a small business accounting package you could look into.

Look into services through XE.

I transfered a substantial payment of funds across different currencies using their services quite a while ago and thought it went smoothly and at reasonable cost. You may want to monitor exchange rates to secure the most advantageous time to do the transfer.

www.XE.com

Paypal? I use it all the time though never from Italy. Still, it ought to work.

When my wife bought a car 30 years ago, she specifically asked for a plan that would allow her to pay it off early without penalty. She frequently would pay more than the minimum amount, and as a result, cut two years off the loan.

When she made her final payment, she called for the payoff amount, and received the quote. She wrote a certified check for the amount, and printed "Paid in Full" on the check with the account number as instructed.

Sure enough, she received the clear title to her car from GMAC and was very pleased...until the phone calls started coming from various levels at GMAC asking her to pay the additional amount of interest that she had eliminated by paying off two years early.

She pointed out that they had cashed the final check, based upon their quote of the total amount due, and that the check was marked "Paid in Full". She refused to pay anything more.

The calls continued, with people trying to tell her, "don't you feel that you ought to pay us our money...", "Gee, you're putting americans out of work," and "You're violating the contract we agreed to based upon your paying this extra interest to finance the loan..."

Finally, she'd had enough and let the manager know that if they continued to call or contact her, she would go to the local media and file a harassment suit against them considering she owned the car free and clear, and what they were doing was basically unwarranted, illegal harassment to extort money from her. She said the next call would provoke legal action against the manager specifically unless he took positive action to stop the calls and cancel the account.

She never heard from them again.
I know this is not a federal student loan, but the point is people can and do fight the system and get what they deserve for living up to their obligations and paying their bills early. It's worth a try.

If i remember correctly if you are paying a federal direct loan there are two options in making additional payments one (default) is that the extra will be applied to your next bill, ie if your monthly payment is $50 and you pay $100 the bill for the next month should be $0 Or you can select an option to apply extra payment to principle.

Hope this helps

I haven't tried this myself, but I have heard that you should make any extra payment with a separate check, sent with a letter instructing the lender/administrator to apply it to the principle only. You should make sure that you're current on your monthly payment first, or they may ignore your instructions. So, if you pay on the first of the month, send your extra payment and instruction letter on the fifteenth.

If you give this a try, let us Qlanders know if it worked.

Assuming that you are working with a Federal Direct Loan (http://www.direct.ed.gov) it appears that they have a specifically defined set of repayment plans with interest rates related to the length of the repayment period. There are also some plans that can be used by a student repaying their own loans that adjust to income being earned (not available for parent signed loans), http://www.direct.ed.gov/RepayCalc/dlindex2.html

Because you would be in one of those defined repayment plans they are treating the extra money being sent against the overall interest you are scheduled to pay. If you continued like this, I assume, they would inform you that your payments would end earlier but you would still end up paying the original plan amount, just over a quicker time. In short, it doesn't appear that they are prepared to apply any over payment to the loan principal and therefore lessen your overall amount paid. Read the descriptions of the plans and see how your loan payment program is structured.

Most of the site is aimed at how folks can deal with not being able to meet their repayment schedule and not paying it off early, so a phone call is probably is your best source of information, http://www.direct.ed.gov/callus.html

Having said that I should warn you that my own experience in talking to call center folks with the Direct Loan program is that you cannot trust the information you get. Try calling several times and ask the same question and see if you consistently get the same answer before you believe it. I would suggest you ask for any specific information about early repayment in writing from them also (always ask for a printout to be mailed to you so you have proof in your files).

I bet that it isn't possible to just send in extra when you can and expect it to be applied directly to the loan principal. My guess is you can restructure your payment plan but it would require you to pay more each month consistently. There may also be a way to pay off a sizable lump sum off principal and restructure the loan as a one time deal (like if you got an inheritance).