If you don't already have a specific service in mind for your unique financial needs, ask family and friends for their recommendations and look online for reviews and comments from those already using the service or company.

Protecting Your Privacy First
Protecting your privacy should be one of your top priorities at all times, as while it may be perfectly safe to do things such as your banking online through a secure, protected site with a reputable financial service, the overall safety relies greatly upon you the end user and the choices you make. Remember your financial service will not send emails asking for your password or other sensitive information, and when it doubt, always contact the company via telephone before doing anything.

When it comes to handling your finances online, protecting your privacy also entails the important matter of keeping your passwords safe and secure. Don't choose a password with your birth date or address and instead create one that's completely unique and meaningless, writing it down and keeping it in a safe place and also changing the password every month or so.

Your computer should be equipped with the latest antivirus software and firewall protection in order to keep prying eyes away from your vital, personal information. Any financial services you deal with should also have a secure, encrypted website and those details should be easily visible on their website.

The variety of financial tools and services available today has multiplied dramatically from a generation ago. On both the personal front and in the business sector there has been a dramatic increase in the number of products available, the methods by which they are delivered and the services they require. The internet is a perfect system for laying out preliminary information in the financial services industry, where product options can get complicated fairly quickly.

Businesses of all sizes that are engaged in some portion of this industry are finding that a website makes good business sense. An enormous amount of financially related business is still done at the local level. Mortgages, auto and home loans and insurance policies are still usually secured from a local agent.
The small businessman engaged in providing such products need only think about the amount of time he or she spends on the phone explaining the basics of their services to realize how much time a website could save them.

When a customer calls about auto insurance, think about the ability to refer the caller to your website to learn about the required minimum coverage, about the relationship of the vehicle's value, about the relationship of personal injury coverage to health insurance.

Think about having a website that explains the four or five home mortgage options that are available, about how they are affected by down payment, credit history and loan amount. Consider the enormous number of variables available in health insurance for both individuals and families, and envision a chart on your own website that explains how those policies work.

* Home loans, including specialties such as tenants-in kind
* Real estate history and trends in your area
* Auto insurance, including the effects of driving records and assigned risk
* Investments - mutual funds or annuities? Stocks or CDs?
* Estate planning
* Health insurance - a new policy, or COBRA?