Bankrate.com is an independent comparison service and an advertising-supported publisher. It covers nearly 4800 banks and credit unions across all 50 states in the United States to provide a well-researched and detailed comparison of the best CD rates. It thereby enables you to find the best Certificates of Deposit (CD) rates by taking into account the following parameters: the annual percentage yield, minimum deposit required, term and the penalty that will be charged for early withdrawal.
Additionally, Bankrate provides several tools to help users manage and maximize returns from their CDs.
CD Calculator: Bankrate provides users with an online calculator to calculate the interest earned on a CD. You need to enter the necessary information such as the initial deposit, months, interest rate and compounding to calculate the annual percentage yield (APY) and the closing balance. It also offers a detailed report highlighting the schedule of the CD’s balance and interest earned.
CD Laddering Calculator: You can also use Bankrate’s CD Laddering calculator to determine how to increase your CD investment returns to land the best CD rate. This will help you build a CD ladder for yourself that enables you to draw high yields and provide sufficient access to your cash.
Investment Calculator: You can use Bankrate’s extensive investment calculator to examine if your investment efforts are on the right track to reaching your investment goals. You can do this by entering vital information such as
- Investment goal: the total value of your investment goal
- Years to accumulate: the numbers of years you have to accumulate this sum
- Amount of initial investment: the amount you have invested towards your final goal
- Periodic contribution: the amount you will contribute on a regular basis towards your investment goal
- Contribution frequency: how frequently you are going to contribute towards the investment
- Compound interest: compounded daily, monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually
With the above information, you can determine the rate of return you can expect from your investments.
Savings Calculator: Bankrate’s savings calculator can help you analyze your investment growth over a period.
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Best Antivirus Keep Your Pc Safe
Read moreAntivirus software can identify, disallow, and erase or quarantine harmful viruses. It is also known as anti-malware software. There are many types of viruses. Each virus has its own way of affecting any device which includes a computer, mobile phone, and network. Make sure you make a thorough research on the antivirus as per your requirements.
Harmful effects of the virus
Harmful effects of viruses are:
-Programs will run slower
-Important files and documents may be deleted
-The computer may be subjected to severe damage beyond repair
-Spyware steals personal details stored on your computer. Details include financial statements, credit or debit card data, and passwords
-You are likely to receive unwanted spam emails and advertisements
-Surfing the Internet without protection can infect and damage computers or mobilesIn what ways can an antivirus protect you?
Besides virus protection, modern antivirus suites protect your computer from threats as follows:
-Spyware, browser hijackers
-Trojans, adware, malware, worms
-Keyloggers
-Rootkits, bootkits, backdoors
-Certain antivirus also have other features and Internet security included which protect from:
-Online banking attacks
-Malicious spam, phishing, scam attacks, malicious email attachments
-RansomwareBest antivirus makers
To prevent viruses from infecting your PC, you must install an antivirus. Also, you need to update the antivirus software on a regular basis. There are many companies offering the best antivirus and Internet security products in the market. Some of the best antivirus makers are:
-Kaspersky Lab
-Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
-Avira
-F-Secure
-McAfee Antivirus Plus
-Symantec Norton Antivirus
-Avast Pro Antivirus
-Emsisoft Anti-Malware
-Panda
-ESET Antivirus
-Webroot Secureanywhere Antivirus
-Trend MicroWhat to look for in antivirus software?
You have to check that the antivirus software fulfills the following elementary needs:
-Detection rate for viruses and malware is high
-It has a low impact on your system configuration
-It is user-friendly
-It has the least influence on the normal running of your system
-Automatic scanning capability for threats
-It is compatible with your operating system
-The price is within your budget
-Updates are readily availableComparison of best antivirus Bitdefender
The independent testing lab gave it the highest rating in most of the tests. Close at heels is the Kaspersky antivirus and total security. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus has a lot of features. Its added features are the operating bootable scanner and Wi-Fi security check. Bitdefender prevents webcam spying and acts against data-stealing Trojans. It has a lot of useful features.
Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab antivirus scored high on tests run by antivirus laboratories. Its detection of legitimate threats is better than others. It has some special features than its competitors. It automatically scans USB drives and emails for threats.
Avira Antivirus Pro
Avira eradicates threats from already infected computers and repairs damage caused by malware. It is good at combating malware attack. It is able to make a distinction between an Internet threat and a legitimate website. It scans and blocks without creating lag or significant use of computer resources. Safe banking feature is missing in Avira.
Avast
Avast Pro antivirus scored very high in detecting and removing viruses. To find malware, Avast uses a sizeable part of a computer’s resources. It did not get a good score for computer lag during the virus scan.
Symantec Norton Antivirus
This antivirus needs four extensions while installing the program. Scan time for virus scan is quite high. Technical support is not up to the mark. It is costlier than the leading antivirus makers.
Panda
Panda does not do a full antivirus protection and scanning time is high.
None of the best antiviruses can detect and protect your devices against 100% of the viruses. The best antivirus offers protection between 91% to 99.9%. It is advisable to go for the best antivirus program, scoring high in antivirus lab tests. Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Aviran, Avast are the best antivirus available in the market.
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Cellphones without contracts
Read moreWhat is a carrier?
Carrier is a commonly used term in the US and Canada for a company that provides voice or data services. These services can be either wireless or through wired landlines. (For example: T-Mobile, Verizon,Sprint, Time Warner, AT&T, Cricket Wireless, etc.)What is a no-contract phone?
When a cellphone is bought, the customer will have an option to either buy the phone with a subsidized price and sign-up with the said carrier or pay-up the entire cost of the phone and choose a carrier of his/her choice. While the former comes with typically a two year contract which binds the customer to stay with the carrier for the said period and requires a hefty termination fees to be paid in case he chooses to switch to another carrier within the contract period, the latter is called a no-contract phone. Almost all phones and carriers in the US have both contract and no-contract plans.How to own cheap cellphones without contract?
No-contract phones can be bought with two types of payment options. One is to buy a lump sum amount as a one-time payment and the other one is through installments payed through PayPal or credit cards with an interest fee distributed over the period of payment. If the usage of the phone is limited to just text and call, it is better to pay for the phone upfront and have a flexibility to switch over carriers whenever preferred based on the type of plans offered.
At the same time, prepaid, also known as pay-as-you-go options, are offered by most carriers these days which means you can buy a phone of your choice with an amount paid in advance for the services to be used. This will help to control the budget on phone usage itself and also not paying unnecessarily for the features that are not used. Once the prepaid amount is used up, the phone can be returned back or topped-up (prepay the amount again) to continue with the services.Prepaid phones eliminates the costs incurred on activation, overage, changing carriers, and termination fees, and at the same time gives the flexibility to choose the phone and the carrier making it a cheaper option over the traditional contract phones.
Although no-contract plans are offered by all major phone manufacturers, only some phones will be compatible with the carrier’s network. So, this has to be kept in mind while buying a phone or a carrier to save up on unnecessary charges for the features that will not be usable.
It is also a cheaper option to own a basic model if the usage is limited to just voice and texts. As there will be no features in the phone to get updated, the overall life of the phone itself will increase. Retaining the phone for more years helps in recovering the initial investment on the phone.