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Shop around for best bank account terms

If you don't pay much attention to bank fees, chances are good that you're getting socked and don't even realize it.

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published July 3, 2005

Americans spend close to $4-billion a year just on ATM fees, according to Bankrate.com, which tracks bank fees and rates. In addition, many pay monthly service charges they could easily avoid by shopping for a no-fee account.

The typical ATM charge for a noncustomer is $1.50, and many banks charge $2. In addition, your bank may add its own fee, pushing the price of that transaction to $3 or more.

While some banks forgo the ATM surcharge, more than than 90 percent levy them, up from 74 percent six years ago. That's a reason to pay with plastic at the cash register. Using your debit card for a purchase is cheaper than stopping at the nearest ATM for cash and more convenient than hunting down your bank's cash dispenser.

However, you'd better be careful to keep track of what you spend. The average charge for bouncing a check is $27.13, up 24 percent in the past six years.

These days the best deals are checking accounts that don't pay interest, according to Bankrate.com's survey. With a little legwork (or mouse clicking) you probably can find one that's free with a relatively low minimum balance requirement. Most interest-bearing accounts have balance requirements - nearly $2,300 on average - to avoid monthly fees averaging $11.08. But the accounts pay almost nothing in interest: an average of 0.28 percent. That makes most of them poor deals.

If you want an interest-bearing account and don't mind maintaining a big balance, check out money market accounts and online banks. Don't keep a big chunk of money tied up for less than 1 percent interest.

I have had a gasoline credit card since 1947 with a due date of the 29th of the month. I tried to change it to the 5th or 6th and was told they would change the date but also change my card number. I said I wanted to keep my card number, just change the date. They won't do that. This month I had to pay a $15 late charge because they received my payment on June 2 instead of May 29, even though this was the first time I was late in 58 years. What can I do? I am retired and some months I might be very short and get charged a late fee again.

You must be awfully sentimental about that credit card number. What's wrong with taking them up on their offer of a new card number? If you insist on keeping your card number, I'd say your alternatives are to stop using the card or to develop a better system for managing your payments.

You might try this approach: Each time you use the card, subtract the amount from the balance in your checkbook or put that much cash in an envelope. Then at the end of the month, you should have enough to pay your bill.

You can call the company and ask for the prior late fee to be waived. This is sometimes done for good customers. But even if you are successful, you should not count on being able to get by with this repeatedly.

I am a senior citizen who sold my house in Florida in March and now live in Maine. Do I owe anything to the state of Florida?

Not likely. As I'm sure you know, there is no state income tax in Florida, and your local real estate taxes and transaction taxes associated with the sale would have been settled at the closing.

Since you were a resident on Jan. 1, you would owe intangibles tax if your investments on that date were worth at least $310,000 (single) or $560,000 (married), not including bank accounts, retirement accounts or insurance products.

The Legislature just cut the tax in half - from $1 to 50 cents per $1,000 of nonexempt assets - but the lower rate applies to next year's taxes. Check with the Florida Department of Revenue (call toll-free 1-800-352-3671) if you need more information.

-- Helen Huntley writes about investing and markets for the Times. If you have a question about investments or personal finance, send it to On Money. We'll try to answer those we think are of greatest reader interest. All questions must be submitted in writing, but readers' names will not be published. Send questions to huntley@sptimes.com or Helen Huntley, Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

[Last modified July 3, 2005, 02:00:20]