You've saved, you've planned and you're finally on your way to the vacation of your dreams - jetting to one of the largest cities in South America - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So much to do in your ten day trip. Immediately upon departing the plane, you're greeted by the sound of samba music. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the Atlantic rain forest - covered mountains and the happy faces of the cariocas - the people who are born and raised in Rio De Janeiro.

The second day of your trip you'll likely find yourself at the world-famous Copacabana. From the beach, you can see the Sugarloaf and the Corcovado Mountain where the Christ the Redeemer statue stands overlooking the city.

You are indeed having the time of your life. You've taken the tours, sampled the food and even had time to partake in a few adult beverages. But, you've also blown your budget. Not to worry - help is just a phone call or mouse click away. A money transfer will have you back to your jet setting vacation in no time. So what's involved with doing a money transfer? Is it safe? Is it secure? Assuming that you are calling a family member in the United States to send money to you, the easiest way to accomplish the money transfer is by using a credit card, debit card or even a bank account. Before you can receive the money though, you're going to have to have a prepaid Visa or MasterCard to load the money on to.

To initiate the money transfer, the person you have sending the money will need to use a service like Pay Pal to transfer the money from their credit or debit card to your prepaid Visa or MasterCard. Once the transfer is complete - which is as close to instantaneous as you can get without handing the money over in person - you will be able to use your prepaid Visa or MasterCard immediately wherever they are accepted. You can even access the freshly transferred money by finding an ATM and doing a cash withdrawal. If you are going to need cash and need to do a currency exchange, this is going to be the easiest way to get money quickly. The major benefit of transferring money in this manner is there are no agents to charge you any fees. The transfer is done through secure sites online and your financial information doesn't have to be stored.

If you have looked at your financial situation and you know that you're going to run out of money while you're having fun in the sun, but you have a little time left before you do, you can choose to money transferred through a normal bank wire transfer. The money is transferred from a bank in the United States to the bank you've chosen in Rio. There are two downsides to this option, however. One it can be very expensive, as both banks will likely charge associated fees. The second is that the transfer usually takes four to ten days.

Whatever way you choose, you'll have money in your hands in a short amount of time.