The money you put in a savings account it likely to do you more good for two important reasons: if you are keeping your money at home and some disaster strikes, such a flooding or a fire, all your money could be wiped out. Banks and credit unions are superior places to keep your savings, since they maintain your money in a locked fireproof safe. Furthermore, banks insure your money through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (or, the FDIC). That means if anything happens at the bank such as robbery, or a bank going out of business, the savings you had stored there will still be in tact.

How do banks and credit unions profit from savings accounts? How can they afford to pay you any interest at all on the money you deposit with them? When you get ready to start a savings account, here is how it will generally go:

• open your account at a bank or credit union.
• earn interest on the money that you deposit and leave in that account each month.
• the institution makes its money by loaning out your money to others at a higher interest rate

So, if they are paying you 1.25% monthly on your savings account deposits and charging those they lend to 4.5%, the difference in those two amounts is the money they make off of your money.  That’s essentially how they profit.

If you are not saving any money because you feel you can’t trust banks and institutions, then you might want to consider giving it a try.  You are less likely to spend money that you have allotted to your savings account, simply because it is not sitting there in your checking — or worse, in a shoe box underneath your bed. Saving money can be fun, and if you can leave what you are saving in the bank long enough, the interest will begin to add up. There are lots of ways you can cut your spending and save money. For example, take inventory of your bills and try to make cuts. When I decided to start saving, I looked at my utilities. I switched from cable to dish network dallas, and instantly saved money. I then started unplugging appliances I wasn’t using every day, and that cut my electric bill significantly. All that extra money went into my savings!

Of course, there is always the other side of the coin.  Without any savings, unexpected expenses can be devastating.  Consider your savings account the most important bill you pay each month — a dividend to yourself that is well deserved.  Even if it’s only ten dollars a week, it will add up.

The following infographic shows us a breakdown of the wealth of average households according to national median income comparisons, and then percentage comparisons with one another.  The average US household median income is about $50,000, but as you will see, it is far less, and sometimes substantially more, depending on which state you live in.

Here is a breakdown in simple terms:  the Forex market trades currency. Trading takes place 24 hours a day, five and a half days a week. The Forex market trades in a single day what it takes Wall Street one month to trade, so Forex trumps Wall Street in terms of sheer volume. The value of any given country’s currency is subject to many dynamic factors that can impact its value, making Forex trading rather cutting edge and exciting.

If you are interested in Forex trading, a rule of thumb that could be helpful is to do some research on Forex markets and stick to popularly traded currencies during your exploratory period.  Before long, you will being to spot trends, just as you would in stock market trading, and you’ll develop that special sense that can help guide you in making the wisest investments in currencies.

To help out with the particulars, enjoy this infographic that explains the Forex market in more detail.  Happy trading!

If more money printing takes place on a wide scale as it has in the past, then the Fed could significantly raise gold, but other corrections are called for in the even that doesn’t pan out.  Investors enjoyed the ride with gold’s latest rally after the precious metal surged almost 20 percent in early August to all time record highs at $1,911.46 per ounce.

No one at this point can be sure where the decline in gold may bottom out.  The metal’s overall upward trend, which has seen it soar more than 20 percent this year, is for the time being still in tact.

“Would I say that investing in gold is a good idea right now?” one analyst pitched to a room full of information hungry investors.  ”I can’t say that today.  I think right now we may be on the cusp of a significant change, perhaps a decline in the value of the metal.  The next logical step for many people right now would be to sell, and cash in on the crest of the wave before it washes out.”

But with gold, the prices eventually recover, so holding on to what you’ve got is never bad advice.  Even if the prices should plummet as forecast, it won’t last for very long because gold is a solid, real commodity, and its value can never drop below the value of the currency for which it stands.

In home security systems are always a good investment.

For one thing, gold is the ultimate inflation buster. It’s no surprise that the price of gold begins to really take off anytime investors fear inflation is nearing. While the world’s central banks are inflating the economy by flooding it with money,  economists in the know are predicting a coming period of inflation.  When that happens, the value of your cash holdings is going to go down, rather than holding steady or going up.  But the value of gold is the standard on which currencies are based, and it holds its value.  A dollar might only be worth .87 cents during inflation, but an ounce of gold is still worth an ounce.  Gold is better than money.

Finally, gold is the only universally accepted medium of exchange. Anywhere you may go in the world, gold is accepted as valuable. And the value of gold does not waver from one country to the next.  It is always worth what it is worth, everywhere you go.

You can imagine how this would be a sort of money pit after a while.  Many people find it is less expensive and more financially sound to purchase their own, private health insurance and take greater control of their procedures and costs.  Check out this informative infographic for a look at the most common medical procedures being done today, and how much they are costing.

I have a friend, Sam, who for the 10 or so years that I’ve known him has been the guy with the large house and Mercedes that I just can’t quite afford.  This is the only Sam I had ever known, until I got a glimpse of the man that had sacrificed the little things to make the big picture more promising.  I normally only see him in a professional or social setting, not lounging in front of his flat screen at home so I was surprised to at the scenario I found one day when I came over to watch a football game.  His socks had holes in the toes.  I asked him about the situation and he responded, “They still work.”  His wife was heading off to the store and asked if he wanted her to pick up any peaches since they were on sale that week.  It had never occurred to me that even someone with wealth to spare would check for sales at the grocery and neglect to buy some new socks because the old ones did the trick.

When I asked Sam about this he explained his most powerful piece of financial advice to me: preservation.  He had slowly and steadily accumulated his wealth by being fiscally responsible and knowing the turns of the investment market so now he aims to preserve that wealth while earning a substantial rate of return.  He explained that he is at a mature stage in his life where he can afford the newest Mercedes but he didn’t care there by taking risks, he got there by preserving what he had built up.

After letting that settle in, I asked Sam if he had his funds mostly tied up in investments or if he had quite a bit of liquidity.  Sure enough, he advised me to always have a healthy amount of cash on hand.  Sam had encountered his fair share of emergency situations throughout his financial life but always managed to come out strong since he had some liquid assets to fall back on.  I was very impressed to hear this realistic mentality coming from a millionaire and I have a new found respect for this upper class citizen with the humility to walk around in old socks.