Many banks charge a fee if a minimum balance isn't maintained in a checking account. Frequently this is calculated in terms of an "average daily balance", a running total of where an account holder stands every day in maintaining that minimum average. But no bank provides a way for account holders to track it themselves, nor provide the metric they use. And, as The New York Times has noted, banks frequently don't calculate the average until the end of the month.

Although his father was the first candidate to release their tax returns, the impetus for Massachussetts governor Mitt Romney making his financial life public — and the rallying cry of Gingrich-boosting Super PACs — is the assertion that Romney is too rich and therefore too out of touch to be president. Throughout the decades, Americans have elected very wealthy men to the White House without any fanfare. Yet with record rates of unemployment that many are experiencing over a period of years, the issue of class in the U.S. has gained a new significance.

Be it from ticket sales, memorabilia, television rights, or donors, college sports generate over $6 billion in annual revenue. Yet while coaches are receiving larger and larger contracts — the average college football coach's salary in 2010 was $1.36 million — the money doesn't trickle down to the players. The discrepancy has led many to call for stipends or other methods of paying college athletes for their work on the field. On January 14, the National Collegiate Athletic Association will review the issue.

The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday night to reaffirm "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the United States. The resolution, sponsored by Virginia Republican J. Randy Forbes, was overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 396 to 9. At a time when public trust in government and major institutions like the banks is at an all time low, what do Americans trust in? It's a question The Takeaway posed to listeners. Who or what does America trust? God? The almighty dollar? The Federal Reserve?

Banks were in dire trouble back in 2008, when the financial crisis hit. Stalwarts like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers kicked the bucket and other banks like Citigroup still haven't fully recovered. It appears though that banks may have a new problem: too much money. Many people, with no safe alternatives, are depositing their money into banks, but the banks have no where to invest it, so they are trying to deter consumers from giving them their money.

Yesterday, our partner The New York Times reported that the United States Treasury Department is printing far less cash than it had been in recent years. Production of dollar bills fell to a modern low last year, the number of $5 bills rolling off the presses dropped to its lowest level in 30 years, and the Treasury did not print any $10 bills at all. As the number of places that don't accept cash at all increases — Internet retail sites, in-flight purchases on airlines, and certain New York restaurants fall into that category — it would seem that cash is in decline. With no quantifiable data to support this, however, we can only speculate. Do you find yourself using cash less and less, and opting for credit instead?

It’s report card season around America, the time of year when thousands of students and parents wait on pins and needles for what they hope will be good grades. But this year, some, if not many parents, may find themselves disappointed. And here’s why: student test scores tend to drop along with a community’s economy – regardless of whether their own parents have lost their jobs.

The banking industry, like basically all commercial industry, is always looking for ways to innovate their products and services. Take ATMs or the kind of innovation that allows customers to view the image of their check right on their banking receipt - those cost money to develop. And the banking industry has been lobbying to change the patent laws tied to these sorts of business innovations.

Earlier this week, we told you that hackers had infiltrated Citibank’s security system and gained the sensitive account information of more than 200,000 of their customers. What we didn’t know then was that Citigroup officials had discovered the security breach three weeks earlier and failed to notify their customers.

Utah has the first law on the books encouraging residents to use gold or silver coins made by the Mint as cash. The legislation is called the Legal Tender Act of 2011. The law was inspired by Tea Party supporters who believe the dollar should be backed by gold or silver and worry that a currency collapse looms in our country's future.

Poverty continues to raise questions for economists, who have differing viewpoints on its source and its solution. A new book out by two MIT Economists moves away from the question of why poverty toward looking at how poor people behave and survive. They are asking questions like, "why would a man in Morocco, who doesn’t have enough to eat, buy at television set?" and "Does having lots of children make you poorer?"

Insurance companies have traditionally set up subsidiaries in off-shore tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands in part to get around strict state regulations regarding their investment strategies. But according to a report by our partner, The New York Times, a number of states have begun luring insurance giants back by allowing them to establish "captive" subsidiaries — risk management systems that allow companies to invest and reinsure without as much capital backing. Now some state insurance commissioners are warning that captives could put insurance policy holders at risk in the same way that the housing market was endangered by mortgage-backed securities.

A lot of parents grapple with how to talk to their kids about a certain sensitive topic. They want to know: Are the kids old enough to understand? Am I too late? And will I explain things right? We refer, of course, to money. Takeaway contributor Beth Kobliner has been working with the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability on this very topic. She joins us from Washington DC, where she’s been on duty. Chuck Kalish is also here. A professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he researches and develops financial literacy curriculum for preschoolers.

Many parents grapple with how to talk to their kids about a certain sensitive topic. They want to know: Are the kids old enough to understand? Am I talking about this too late, or too early? Will I explain things clearly, or just confuse them? I'm referring, of course, to the money talk. And I'm a firm believer in the idea that no kid is too young to get it.

It’s tax day. And if you haven’t done so already, it’s your last chance to fill out your income tax forms and make a payment to the IRS. It’s a time-honored tradition. It’s a civic duty. It’s a pain. And we all have to do it. But how much do we really know about how our tax money gets used?

During the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, 800 bank officials ended up in jail over misconduct that led to the crisis. So why hasn’t a single bank executive been charged with any crime in the 2008 financial crisis? Louise Story, Wall Street and Finance Reporter for The New York Times lays out the lapses in regulation that led up to the crisis and also may now be responsible for the lack of evidence to try bank executives. Why did the FBI, the Justice Department and the SEC all chose to scale back their investigations into questionable banking practices?

Many of the big banks received huge bailouts from the government during the great recession. If they faced a crisis again, what would stop them from expecting another bailout the next time around? That question has led one Fed official, Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, to raise the issue of whether big banks should be reclassified as government sponsored entities, kind of like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

If JP Morgan loses a current class action suit, big banks may have to take more responsibility for informing their clients when a deal or a financial instrument raises red flags. New documents have surfaced in a class-action suit a group of pension funds is leading against JP Morgan. They show that during the financial crisis, JP Morgan executives realized a certain investment entity called Sigma was going under. They hedged their own bets, but didn't let their clients — the group of pension funds now suing — know of the danger. If JP Morgan loses this case, big banks may be obliged to intervene in such matters. Louise Story, whose piece on the suit was just published in The New York Times, tells us more. 

It’s the season of college acceptance and rejection letters, and all this week, we’ve been talking about college-related topics.

Today, we’re talking again with Beth Kobliner, Takeaway contributor and appointee to the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. Beth was here on Tuesday to walk us through the ABCs of college loans, financial aid, and debt.

Beth is back today to answer all the listener questions that have come in since her appearance on Tuesday.

It’s college acceptance letter season, and all this week, we’re talking about college-related issues. Up until the 1960s, historically black colleges were the primary higher learning institutions available to African-Americans. Some of the most famous black people in the U.S., from Oprah Winfrey to Spike Lee, have attended them and went on to achieve great success. But in our seemingly less-segregated times, are these colleges really a good educational option?