There are a lot of things to consider when starting a business.  Probably one of the most pressing considerations is where you are going to entrust your money.  While just about any bank will work fine for your personal accounts, not every bank is equipped to address the needs of a small business.  Not only will you need to open a business checking account, but, odds are, you will need a small business loan at some point as well. 

Entrepreneur magazine has conducted a survey and has ranked some of the top small-business friendly banks both on a local and national level, which takes the guesswork out of figuring out which bank will be able to serve your needs.  Entrepreneur has taken some statistical data from the Small Business Association’s latest study on small business lending.  Each bank is ranked on the ratio of small and micro business loans made versus total assets, the ratio between small/micro business loans to total business loans and the dollar value of the small/micro business loans. 

Ever heard the old adage “Never put all of your eggs in one basket”?  While this old saying applies to many different situations, it is extremely relevant to your investment portfolio.  Having all of your eggs (or dollars) in stocks or bonds or even mutual funds means that you risk losing it all if your preferred investment type takes a nosedive.  All the validation you need to confirm this notion lies within the financial history books of the past three years. 

So, if you are ready to break out and diversify your portfolio in 2011, here are some good places to look:

Mutual funds have been around forever, but many investors have chosen to look the other way thanks to a few unscrupulous fund managers who try to boost commissions by making unnecessary trades.  But, actively managed mutual funds offer investors a great opportunity to take advantage of potentially thousands of stocks and the skill of a good investor.   By placing just one mutual fund into your investment mix, you allow yourself to not only add diversity through numbers but also gives you the opportunity to invest against your normal investment strategy.  For instance, if you are normally a conservative investor, you can add a growth fund to your portfolio as a counter balance.

Exchange traded funds, or EFTs, are passive funds that do not require a manager to make investment decisions.  Rather, these funds tend to run on autopilot and mimic a specified index.  They are generally much cheaper than mutual funds and provide a great way to diversify your portfolio.

The key to making money is all about finding the least risky investment that returns the highest interest rate. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by finding a high yield jumbo CD.

For those of you who are new to investing, a jumbo CD is a certificate of deposit that requires a large deposit, usually $100,000 or more. A certificate of deposit is a deposit you make with your investment firm or bank that requires you to leave your money invested for a specified period of time, anywhere from three months to six years or longer.

Ok, so now that that’s out of the way, here are a few tips for finding the ones that pay out the most amount of cash.

In the world of CDs, your investment adviser may not be the best avenue for finding high paying jumbo CDs. Why? Because investment brokers only have access to brokered CDs. These CDs are hovering right around 0.35% for a one year investment. There are plenty of better opportunities out there. Simply plugging “Jumbo CD Rates” into your Internet search browser will net you a list of opportunities you can take advantage of including the purchase of 2 year CDs at 2.50%.

Money talks, especially when it comes to financial institutions. So, the next time you find yourself looking for a place to put your money, take it to your local bank and plop it down on the counter. Ask to place it in a high yield jumbo CD. At first, you will probably be offered their standard fare, a CD that returns around 0.50%, but don’t settle. Ask to speak to the branch manager. If they still refuse to offer you a better deal, simply walk away and look for another bank who will give you what you are looking for. You can find other banks in your area by visiting the FDIC website.

When it comes to buying a house, one of the most daunting tasks in 2011 will be to secure a mortgage.  Thanks to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the current credit crunch, a lot has changed in the mortgage industry over the past three years.  The good news is that interest rates are the lowest they’ve been in an extremely long time. But getting a mortgage is much more complex today than it was in recent years.  If you are thinking of buying a house in 2001, here are a few things you’ll need to do in order to give yourself the best chance at landing a mortgage.

Before you ever set foot in the office of a realtor or into the front lobby of a mortgage lender, you need to understand how much money you can comfortably spend.  The first test in determining how much house you can afford lies in the monthly mortgage payment itself.  Your mortgage payment (principle and interest only) should not exceed 28 percent of your gross monthly income.  This isn’t your take home pay, but what you actually earn before tax, tag and title (or taxes, insurance, and other withdrawals).  

The next test you should conduct is the maximum housing payment test.  This test is designed to ensure that your total monthly housing payment does not exceed 32 percent of your gross monthly income.  The difference between the tests is that test one only takes into account the principle and interest on the loan but test two includes other things like your home owner’s insurance, property taxes, private mortgage insurance (where applicable) and anything else that is being added to your payment. 

On August 5, 2010, banks had to change the rules and require customers to opt into overdraft protection, defaulting accounts to no protection. The reasons for this federal rule change were many, but the point is that you should have been asked by your bank if you wanted to have overdraft protection (and it’s resulting charges).

Many chose to opt-in, thinking they needed this coverage. The fees are horrible, however, and can be avoided. Here are 3 ways to avoid those fees and still have the security of overdraft coverage.

Many banks offer lines of credit, which are similar to personal signature loans. If you have good credit, you can likely qualify for a line of credit for $500 or more to use as overdraft protection. This is especially true for those banking with credit unions. These lines of credit have much lower “overdraft” fees when used to cover overages on your checking and often have no fees at all – just interest on the loan.

Possibly the surest way to provide overdraft protection without the fees, this method is simply an accounting trick many use in their check registers. This is basically a buffer in your checking that you use to cover yourself – a sort of checking-based, small savings account. Simply save money in your checking account and deduct it from the register so that your accounting shows it as not being there. A $300 buffer is fairly easy for just about anyone to keep on hand. So a checking account with a balance of $500 would appear in your personal check register as having a balance of $200 with the other $300 being an overdraft buffer.

A similar method to the above, but with the added bonus of gaining interest, is to tie a savings account in with a checking account. Most banks allow customers to do this and will use your savings as a buffer. Some charge small fees for the funds transfers, but many do not. If your bank does charge a fee, you can transfer money yourself (using an ATM or the Internet) to avoid the fees and “pad” your checking.

Fred Leo runs OnlineBanksBlog.com, a personal finance website dedicated to helping people find the best bank rates. Please check out his articles on PNC Online Banking and SunTrust CD Rates.

Overview: A secure, online financial tracking program for small business owners and entrepreneurs, Outright makes tracking expenses, mileage, sales and more a snap. It integrates with your bank statements, invoicing services, Paypal, eBay accounts, and websites like Shoeboxed, a service that scans and stores all your business receipts.

I like the website’s own description of its target market the best, so I’ll share it here: “Outright is for people who don’t want to record expenses—or miss deductions, deal with bookkeeping, or think about what to send the IRS but DO want to be instantly organized and ready for tax time, have an up-to-the-minute snapshot of how business is going, and use a simple and free accounting solution.”

Sounds good to me.

Outright.com can generate profit and loss statements at the click of a button, track your best customers and most successful income streams, and highlight your biggest expenses. If you hire freelancers or subcontractors, Outright makes tax time easier by helping you generate the appropriate forms, too. Bookkeepers can also use the service for their small business clients.

This is a guest post by Jason D. Steele, who has been a personal finance writer for the blog at AskMrCreditCard.com since 2008.

The credit crisis has been going on in this country on both a national scale and on a personal scale. You can read about the national credit crisis in the newspapers, but the personal credit crisis is much less publicized. People are simply getting tired of being in debt, and are fearful of using their credit cards.

Debit Cards

Debit cards are one of the most popular ways of avoiding credit card debt. Until recently, debit card overdrafts risked expensive fees. Stories were commonplace about people purchasing a 3 dollar cup of coffee being hit with a a$35 overdraft fee. Today, such charges are declined unless you have specifically chosen to op-in to overdraft protection.

The following post is by Fred from OnlineBanksBlog.com, a personal finance site focused on helping people find the best bank rates. OnlineBanksBlog.com focuses on providing bank review so that consumers can find the best banks and the best interest rates. You might like its reviews of M&T Online Banking and Regions Online Banking.

Almost everyone has had a bank account at some time in their lives. But, too often people are confused as to what type of bank account is right for them.

Savings Accounts

Savings accounts are something everyone should have. Starting a savings account and keeping up with its growth is an important part of financial stability. The first thing you should do when looking at an online savings account is consider what it is you really need and how much you have to deposit to begin with.

If you have just a few dollars – less than $5,000, as a rule of thumb – then you’ll want to look at passbook (regular) savings accounts. If you have more than that, then other options like high yield savings, certificates of deposit (CD), and even money market accounts may be better suited to your needs.

Here are the top mid-September rates for money market accounts:

1) 1.35% annual percentage yield: Two banks offer this rate, and both serve online customers. Discover Bank only requires a minimum deposit of $500. Capital One Bank makes you pony up $1,000 to get this rate, but rewards you with a 10% bonus on accrued interest every quarter.

2)1.3% APY: American Express Bank FSB is promoting this rate for all MMA deposits. That’s right – no minimum balances are needed. For Colorado residents, you can also find this rate at the Colorado Federal Savings Bank in Greenwood – but you’ll have to deposit at least $2,500.

3) 1.26% APY: EverBank (based in Jacksonville, Florida) gives you this yield if you deposit $1,500 or more into your online account. However, you’ll need to maintain a balance of at least $50,000 if you want to avoid the $8.95 monthly service fee.

4) 1.25% APY: Ally Bank in Midvale, Utah is offering this rate without a required minimum deposit. This online bank also compounds interest daily to maximize your return.

Some people like the security of certificates of deposit, but don’t like the idea of having their money tied up for a number of years. These individuals may tend to invest in CDs with terms of 12 months or less.

Here are some attractive yields for short-term CDs.

3-Month: ISN Bank has an annual rate of return of 1.01%. But a hefty $10,000 minimum is required. The New Jersey institution has offices in Somers Point, Cherry hill, and Woodstown.

6-month: Commerce National Bank and Trust’s branch in Winter Haven, Florida is offering an impressive annual yield of 1.26%. And you only need $500 to qualify for this rate.

12-month: NewDominion Bank is promoting an APY of 1.51% with a $3,000 minimum deposit. Though it has branches in Mooresville and Charlotte, North Carolina, it accepts online applications from customers in any state. Also, Melrose Credit Union in Queens, New York is offering the same rate for its 1-year CDs if you have at least $5,000 to deposit. Membership in the credit union is open to any U.S. resident.