The maximum amount of insurance on deposit accounts guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was raised during the credit crisis from $100,000 to $250,000 per account. This new $250,000 limit is in effect until December 31, 2013. On January 1, 2014 the maximum amount of deposit insurance will revert back to $100,000.

Even with the increase in FDIC coverage what if you have more money to invest than the maximum amount per account? You can go to as many banks as necessary and open certificates of deposit, making sure you stay under the insured amount.

Another option is opening certificate of deposit accounts at one bank and receiving up to $50 million in coverage.

How is it possible?

The Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS).

The CDARS makes getting FDIC insurance protection on more than $250,000 per account painless. You only have to deal with one bank directly when you open your CD accounts.

When you open CD accounts at a participating CDARS bank your deposits are spread across the network of banks of just under the $250,000 limit to qualify for FDIC insurance coverage.

You choose certificate of deposit terms between 1 month to 60 months and you earn the same CD rate at all banks. You also receive one monthly statement that has all the details of your CD investments from all banks.

Another good thing about this service is there are no transaction fees, or any fees at all.  The CDARS network has over 2000 banks that are overseen by the FDIC and only banks with the highest FDIC rating can participate.

In you are interested in learning more about CDARS you can view this video: About CDARS.

You can also find out which banks are participating in the network by name or you can search for banks in your state that belong: CDARS banks by state or name.

Low mortgage rates and the expanded home buyer tax credit couldn’t stop pending home sales from going down in January 2010 according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index is a forward looking indicator based on contracts signed in January which fell 7.6 percent to 90.4 percent.

Find current mortgage rates here: Current Mortgage Rates.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, believes the bad weather will likely impact pending home sales. “January pending sales, though still higher than one year ago, remain much lower than expected given that a large number of potential buyers are eligible for the expanded home buyer tax credit. Moreover, the abnormally severe and prolonged winter weather, which affected large regions of the U.S., hampered shopping activity in February,” he said. 

Here is more from Lawrence Yun on pending home sales.

Looking for mortgage rates? Search for mortgage rates here: Today’s Mortgage Interest Rates.

The Making Home Affordable Program is becoming a little less cumbersome starting June 1, 2010. The U.S. Treasury Department announced it was streamlining the program to increase the number of successful home loan modifications.

Right now home loan borrowers are first put into a trial home loan modification plan and asked to produce more financial documentation. Starting June 1, 2010, banks and mortgage companies participating the the program will be required to collect all the borrower’s documents that are needed in the initial loan modification application.

Many borrowers who initially meet the requirements for a loan modification are complaining about having to submit the required documents several times because banks and mortgage companies are losing the documents.

Another change to the program is home loan borrowers looking to have their mortgage modified will only have to submit the last two pay stubs and a form allowing access to their tax returns. Right now, borrowers have to submit a W-2 form.

Fannie Mae Homes Eligible for Special HomePath® Mortgages

CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA - Special financing is available through the HomePath® Mortgage and Renovation Mortgage on properties owned by Fannie Mae in the HomePath® database.  These HomePath® financing programs offer features such as low down payment, flexible mortgage terms, no mortgage insurance, and no appraisal fees.  When shopping for mortgages, Informa Research Services, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE: INF), suggests starting online to find the best mortgage interest rates.

The HomePath® Mortgage is available on designated Fannie Mae homes, which you can browse online at HomePath.com.  This financing is available from both local and national lenders.  To find the lenders with the best mortgage rates and find out more about a HomePath® Mortgage, check online.

Additionally, the HomePath® Renovation Mortgage provides special financing on the property you make your primary residence that not only funds the purchase of the home, but also assists with light renovations.

Not all of Fannie Mae’s real estate owned (REO) properties are eligible for the HomePath® financing and not every lender is certified to structure this type of loan.  Some lenders, such as AimLoan.com, offer competitive rates and can provide more information regarding this program.

From mortgages to certificates of deposit, the fastest way to find the best rates for your financial products is to look online at rate comparison tables like those found on MonitorBankRates.com.  Since these tables are updated continuously throughout each day, they provide the most current rates available.

MonitorBankRates.com has just released a free jumbo mortgage rates widget that lists national average mortgage rates. The jumbo mortgage rate widget is a great tool for real estate agent websites, financial websites or any other website that would like to keep their readers up to date with current mortgage rates.

In addition to the new jumbo mortgage rate widget, MonitorBankRates.com also offers a free conforming mortgage widget that lists mortgage rates nationally and state mortgage widgets that list average mortgage rates by state. Mortgage rates on all widgets are updated daily.

Get Your Free Jumbo Mortgage Rates Widget Here

Get Your Free Conforming Mortgage Rates Widget Here

Get Your Free Mortgage Rates by State Widget Here

During the housing boom we saw several years ago, homeowners used the equity in their homes as a piggy bank. The credit crunch, the downturn in housing prices, and the recession turned the equity loan spigot off for many. As a result, banks lowered available credit in home equity lines of credit and sometimes closed HELOC accounts if no money was owed.

Now that housing prices are stabilizing and even going up again in some areas, banks have become more willing to open lines of credit. A HELOC or home equity loan can be a smart way to go if you’re in need of a loan.

Rates on both types of loans are typically lower than credit card rates and auto loan rates on average. The average HELOC rate is also cheaper than the average home equity loan rate and 30 year mortgage interest rate.

One major difference between the two types of loans is a home equity loan is a fixed rate loan and a HELOC is a variable rate loan, meaning the interest rate you pay can change at anytime.

Another major difference is with a home equity loan you are given the total loan at once and with a HELOC you can take out what you need (or nothing at all) but you don’t have to take out the entire loan amount.

If you’re looking for either type of loan, you can use our rate tables to find banks and lenders offering rates in your state or zip code. Find the lowest loan rates here.

Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA makes sense if you believe you will be in the same or higher tax bracket when you retire. Considering the current budget deficit and the Bush tax cuts expiring in 2011, we all might see higher tax rates in the future.

There are restrictions in place that bars anyone making over $100,000 per year from converting to a Roth IRA but those restrictions will be history starting in January 2010.

When you convert to a Roth IRA you won’t pay a penalty but you will have to pay taxes (at your current tax rate). Ah, but when you retire, any money you withdraw from a Roth IRA is tax-free because you already paid taxes on the money deposited.

Other benefits of a Roth IRA over a traditional IRA include the fact that you don’t have to start making mandatory withdrawals after age 70¹⁄². Money withdrawn from a Roth IRA doesn’t count towards determining if any of your Social Security benefits are taxable.

After four straight quarters of declines in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the U.S. economy expanded by a healthy 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009 according to The Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The recession which started in the fourth quarter of 2008 is over, but will officially be over when we have back to back quarters of positive GDP growth.

Adding to positive growth in the third quarter was personal consumption, exports and federal government stimulus spending. Automobile output had a significant contribution to GPD in the third quarter, adding 1.66 percentage points to the third-quarter change in real GDP. The Cash for Clunkers program increased motor vehicle purchases in the quarter and is the main reason for the increase.

Subtracting from growth in the third quarter was an upturn in imports, a downturn in state and local government spending, and a deceleration in federal government spending.