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There are many strategies going on these days as people try to get out from under their current mortgages.

CDARS is a service provided by select banks that allows you as a depositor to get up to $50,000,000 in FDIC insurance for Certificates of Deposit.

Many people think that reverse mortgages are safe. While they are safer than most traditional mortgage products, they are not completely safe from default. There is a large number of senior citizens who have taken out a reverse mortgage and are now in danger of defaulting and getting foreclosed on because of unpaid taxes and unpaid insurance premiums that they are required to pay under their deal with the reverse mortgage agreement.

There was a point before internet banking that passbooks were all the rage. These archaic devices were great. They were a constant running record of all of your transactions in an up to the minute format. From a tellers perspective they were horrible tedious accounts for old people. However they very much served a purpose. All of these new money market and high yield savings accounts didn't exist. But, now they do. These new accounts from banks and credit unions and other (i.e. Sallie Mae Bank, Discover Bank) are far superior to most brick and mortar savings accounts.

At this point in my young adult life I can tell my children (when and/if they come to exist) that when I started driving gas was $0.98 a gallon, Sudan was one nation and that dividend stocks attracted bond investors. With the decimation of 2008 and early 2009 behind us, the economy is in recovery mode. We have all heard that, but it is.

The safest banks in the United States based on FDIC data. The health of a bank is especially important if you have more than the FDIC insurance limit on deposit at the bank.

Variable annuities are similar to individual retirement accounts: A customer's upfront payments go into tax-deferred investment funds (usually mutual funds) and the value of the investment depends on the performance of these underlying investment products. The return you get on your purchase payments depends on the performance of these investments.

Fixed annuities are ordinarily used by people who are not fully participating in the workforce, are about to retire, or have retired.

A charitable Gift Annuity (CGA), is a contract in which a charity, in return for the transfer of cash, stock, or some other asset, agrees to make specified, fixed payments to the donor for the life of the donor.

Annuities are a powerful vehicle for saving for retirement and guaranteeing regular streams of income upon retirement. They are often used for tax deferral and savings. At the same time, annuities can be very tricky to manage for maximum returns since the cost of insurance features can eat into the return you get on your initial investment. Annuity contracts are complicated, and those who do not understand them may end up paying a great deal of money for an instrument that does not serve its intended purpose. To reap the benefits of reduced taxes, stabilized returns and invaluable peace of mind which fixed annuities can offer, investors need to thoroughly research and consider these instruments in light of other retirement income such as pension payouts and other IRAs.

For all annuities, the growth of the money invested is tax deferred, but annuities can be purchased with pretax income and be tax deferred, or they may be purchased with money that has already been taxed. The type of income (pretax or after-tax) with which an annuity is purchased determines whether it qualifies for tax-deferred status.