ING Direct has really got this down. A giant in the branchless, internet-based account arena, they consistently deliver one of the highest interest rates on the market. Currently their checking account earns 1.75% and their savings earns 3.00%. In addition to these great rates, they don't have any fees of any kind. You notice this is a recurring theme in my selections here. Banks are already making money off of your money. If there's one thing I can stand about banks, it's fees for every possible action you can take.

They have a simple, relatively attractive website. Additionally, (and this is rare for a bank) I've had great experiences with their customer service people. I once left them in search of greener pastures but ended up coming back and reopening my accounts. In both the closing and reopening processes, the staff were incredibly friendly and did exactly what I needed without any hassle.

Every now and then someone will spring up with a better deal than ING Direct, but over the long term I haven't been able to beat them. The one thing keeping them from perfect is the lack of ATMs. They use the 32,000 ATMs in the Allpoint nework but I'd like to see them refund fees for any ATM like some banks have started to do.

After wading through a mountain of credit card offers and their various rewards structures, I decided on Clear. My two favorite features: No fees of any kind and Automatic Rewards. The card has no annual fee, no late fee, no cash advance fee... the list goes on. In addition, they offer 1% cash back. This isn't some trick where you accumulate 'points' that you may or may not ever be able to use depending on how long your account is open or how many points you earn in a month. Every time you spend $2500, a $25 gift card shows up in your mailbox. It's simple, and there's no limit to the rewards.

This topic is a bit more complicated but the earlier you start saving, the easier it is to have a comfortable retirement so if you haven't started yet it's time to dive in. This should be something you contribute to every month, for most of your life. Let's look at what could happen if you just contribute this year and then don't touch your account until you retire, assuming you could make 10% every year, you want to retire at 65, and you max out a Roth IRA this year (that's $5000 in 2008). If you're 30, then you'd have $140,512 (5000*1.1^35). If you did this when you were 20, you'd have $364,452. That's more than 2.5 times as much. Every year counts.

Finding the right account can be a daunting task. If your company offers a 401(k), find out more about the program and start putting money into it immediately. If you're like myself, however, you need an Individual Retirement Account or IRA. There are many types, but the two most common are Traditional and Roth. A Tradition IRA allows you to put money in before you pay taxes on it, so you can save a little money now. A Roth IRA, however, requires that you put money in after you pay taxes on it, but then you get to take money out tax free after you retire. If you expect to have more money when you retire than you do now, this can be a great savings.

Finally, you have to decide what to do with your money now that it's in a retirement account.

Unless you're extremely rich or extremely lucky, your best bet is to buy mutual funds. A mutual fund pools your money with a large number of other people and then invests it in a larger number of stocks and/or bonds to give you instant diversification. Consistent with my earlier sentiments on fees, I prefer Index Funds. Index funds are mutual funds that follow an index of stocks such as the S&P 500. Historically these funds do nearly as well as (if not better than) actively managed funds (mutual funds where a group of fund managers decides what to buy) but charge significantly less to manage your money. The difference can often be as much as 1 or 2 percent each year. This really adds up over time.

After that complicated bit about retirement accounts, I'll offer some relatively simple advice. It's up to you to decide what's best for your situation and how much risk you can tolerate, but here's my situation and what I chose.

I'm 22. This means I have a long time before I retire and can therefore tolerate more risk than someone who will retire in a few years.

I hope to have more income when I retire than I do now, so I take advantage of the tax benefits that a Roth IRA will offer me.

As I said above, I prefer index funds. Vanguard is credited with the invention of the index fund and still maintains some of the lowest management fees in the industry.

My recommendation is this: Open a Roth IRA with Vanguard. Start with the Total Stock Market Index(VTSMX). Every month add a regular amount to the account. Once you have enough money in the account (around $6000), add Vanguard's Small-Cap Index Fund (NAESX), and then maybe the Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX). This is a relatively risky portfolio, but if you've got a while until retirement it could pay off.

If you like a little less hastle, you might try Vanguard's Target Retirement Funds.