Online banking is a fast growing industry because of its ease of use. Millions of American�s are opening online banking accounts to help take care of their finances, why? Because it makes life easier! Most online banks offer online bill paying, reducing your need to write checks, address letters and send mail. Additionally online banks give you complete access to your account without leaving your house and going out to the bank.

Many people still don�t feel comfortable using an online bank; this is for many reasons including: not trusting the new internet banks, not wanting to switch banks and just not feeling confident to use the internet. The reality of the situation is that these are not valid excuses.

With the internet came hundreds of thousands of new companies, some of these new companies are banks. A majority of Americans are uneasy with putting there money into a bank which has not been around for a long period of time and has no physical structure to it. Studies have shown that most American�s prefer a bank that looks physically strong, stable and reliable rather than a bank that really is. In actuality these internet banks are just as trustworthy as the non-online banks. The internet banks are bound by the same government rules, regulations and process that physical banks are. This guarantees that you will not be �screwed over� by these companies. Rest assured, your money is just as safe with an online bank as it is in a physical bank.

Another reason why people hesitate at using online banking is because they believe they need to switch banks in order to take advantage of it. This is a very common misconception. In fact most of the country�s large banks and many of the smaller ones offer online banking to its customers. Banks that offer online banking and physical banking are: Citibank, Wachovia and Bank of America, just to name a few.

Lastly is the feeling of confidence people have in themselves when it comes to the internet. A lot of people shiver when thinking about having the ability to manage their own finances through the computer. Technology can be an intimidating thing, and people don�t like that.

Online banking is going to play a major role in society�s future; there is no doubt about that. Whether people are afraid of banks they can�t physically visit, don�t want to change current banks or are just afraid to use the internet more and more people will continue to take advantage of the convenience of online banking. My suggestion is get over your problems now and get used to it, it will save you time and money in the long run.

Palm Pilot, the original big name in the handheld device world has recently stunned the technology industry. On September 26th 2005 the company publicly released that its newest smart phone would be running the Microsoft Windows CE operating system. As quoted from David Ewalt at Forbes.com, “…it was the equivalent of Coca-Cola agreeing to fill its bottles with Pepsi.”

For nearly 10 years now Palm and Microsoft have been in a head to head battle for dominance in the handheld computer industry. (The author of this blog happens to use a Microsoft powered device himself.) Palm was the originator and the innovator; they set the standard and made people realize that handheld computing was a possibility. Microsoft was left out of the loop, until they poured their billions of dollars into research and development.

“Palm made handhelds mainstream,” says Current Analysis analyst Sam Bhavnani. “The Palm Pilot [brand] was used to describe even non-Palm products, like Kleenex or Rollerblades.”

Even up until one year ago, Palm was still considered to be the front runner in the handheld software market. During the second quarter of 2004 nearly 42% of all handhelds shipped in the US were done so with the Palm operating system installed. Windows only accounted for roughly 36%. Exactly one year later in 2005 Palm fell drastically behind, holding on to only 18% of the market.

What is it that stopped Palm cold in its track? What could have happened so drastically that Palm would give up its own software in favor of that of its main competitor? Money. As mentioned before, Microsoft has billions of dollars at its disposal and can move into virtually any market they please. Also have multi-billion dollar software contracts with leading handheld manufacturers such as HP and Dell doesn’t hurt either.

Palm was being forced out of the market so abruptly that partnering with Microsoft was their only choice. Palm will now be focusing on hardware development and software development other than operating systems. Instead of OS development Palm will concentrate on business software which is compatible with the Windows operating system.

What is next for PDA’s? This is a question on a lot of people’s minds and from what it looks like, phones and integrated PDA’s are the future. Cell phone networks offer connectivity pretty much anywhere you could want to be, and it’s getting even better. With the ability to be connected pretty much anywhere, why not have your computer with you at all times and be able to feed off that same connectivity?

Well I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start posting favorite articles from this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and Carnival of the Capitalists., so here they are:

Weight Loss and Gym Memberships: Financial Fruition compares the cost of of gym memberships in his locale and why he is joining a gym (both the personal and financial implications). There’s also a special tip for roommates, friends, and others who could save money from a “couples” membership.

Dividends: why high dividend stocks perform better over the long run. Several authors have presented some compelling evidence for high dividend stocks.

Hedging Against Energy Prices; Exxon Stock vs Gas Prices: An article, graphs and all, showing the impact of hedging rising energy prices by using an investment in Exxon stock.

Check these out and look for a whole new batch later this week!

Customize Your Insurance – Part IV

Unlike auto insurance, it is important to make sure that your home insurance is always kept up-to-date. If you haven’t updated your home insurance policy lately, you could be headed for some serious problems if something were to happen. Unlike cars, the value of homes has been rising and will continue to do so. This means if your home insurance is up to date with the current financial trends, than neither is your coverage.

What most people don’t think about it the amount they need the insurance to cover. You need to cover the cost it would replace you to rebuild your home, not your current home’s value. Say you bought a home 5 years ago and its value was $500k. Your insurance was most likely for $500k. But now with rising costs, 5 years later it would cost you $750k to rebuild your home in the event of destruction. Your insurance policy is not going to cover that $750k you need, rather they will just cover the $500k which you are insured for.

Think you don’t need insurance if you rent? Wrong. Renters too need insurance, obviously not for the property of the building which they live in, rather for the personal items which the own inside of the building. When looking for a renters policy make sure to get actual replacement cost coverage. This way your policy pays you what it will cost for you to replace all lost items, not the depreciated value of those items.

Regardless of whether you are looking for renter’s insurance or home owners insurance it is suggested that you ask the insurer to include an umbrella liability policy. This should cost you about $200 per year extra, but will give you up to $1 million in liability coverage should there ever be an accident or an injury on your property.

Customize Your Insurance – Part III

Auto insurance is probably the most well known and most feared type of insurance. Most state’s have low requirements for your insurance such as $30,000 of coverage for bodily injury, $50,000 total coverage for the accident and $20,000 coverage for property damage, including your vehicle. This is, in my opinion, not enough. What happens if you were to injure someone severely and they sued you? There is no way that low budget insurance plan will cover more than 10% of their lawsuit.

If the car you are looking to buy and insure is an expensive car, it is suggested you look into your policy’s “replacement cost” coverage. Most plans will only give you what they believe your car’s value was just before the accident, not what it will actually cost you to replace the car if you were to go out and get the same car again.

Looking at it from the opposite end, if your car is what many considered to be a “beater” or a “jalopy” you can easily save some money by dropping collision coverage. If the car is already in bad shape, will you mind driving around with a dented bumper? I didn’t think so. Save your money and drop the collision if the appearance isn’t so important to you.

As mentioned earlier in Part II, consider a policy which requires a higher deductible be paid in the even of an accident. Go for the $1000 deductible instead of the $500. This will result in a lower premium and save you money.