Savings accounts

[UteStar]

I have mentioned this to others, but I have gotten out of the local bank savings account business. Though I never had a huge amount of money in my typical savings account, I moved it out and went to ING. As you know, ING is one of the largest banks in the world. Its savings account is pretty terrific as of now. It is currently earning just over 4% interest and you can add or pull money out whenever you want. I also think there are a few other banks that offer pretty good savings interest but I am not familiar with the other players. All I know is, I was earning about .50% interest on my savings account at Zions.

On top of that, I got a $25 bonus for signing up (I had to deposit $250 initially). Anyway, it has worked for us. If anyone has any questions on it, let me know. If anyone has another suggestion for me on this as well, let me know. Thanks.

[COUGZ]

I'm interested in hearing some more about this...my local savings account doesn't give me crap and I have a pretty good one that I think it would be worthwhile getting some good interest off of.

Thanks man.

[All-American]

The Zions bank internet money market account has about a 4% interest rate, with a deposit/withdrawal limit of 6 (i think) per month. It's working out rather well for me. I get $20 a month just to have my money grow mold in THIS vault instead of THAT vault.

[Colly Wolly]

I have also been very interested in this. I opened an ING account late last year and have been very pleased. Brick and mortar bank savings accounts are a joke compared to what you can get online. Citibank is offering a slightly higher rate than ING right now 4.5% vs. 4.00%. I opened a Citibank account last month as well. Account set-up was more hassle-free with ING than with Citibank.

[Parrot Head]

If you're a Costco member, you can get solid rates on CDs and Money Market accounts too. http://www.capitalone.com/investments/offers/costco/?linkid=CSCO_Z_Z_Z_CSERV_C3_02_T_DCSCO

If you aren't a Costco member, why not? Join, it's totally worth it. Mmmmmmm... free sample Fridays.

[bluegoose]

If you aren't a Costco member, why not? Join, it's totally worth it. Mmmmmmm... free sample Fridays.

I haven't bought lunch on a saturday afternoon for about 3 1/2 years, thanks to free sample saturday.

[realtall]

I have an account with EmigrantDirect (http://www.emigrantdirect.com/) myself. They're at 4.5% now. I never thought that I'd see the day when I got substantial interest off of a savings account but that is what's happening. Those $$ accrue a lot quicker than they used to(with my 1.3% credit union savings account).

[bYuPride]

On top of that, I got a $25 bonus for signing up (I had to deposit $250 initially). Anyway, it has worked for us. If anyone has any questions on it, let me know. If anyone has another suggestion for me on this as well, let me know. Thanks.

how do you open up an account with ING? and what's the minimum requirement you need to maintain in the account to earn a decent interest rate?

[Colly Wolly]

how do you open up an account with ING? and what's the minimum requirement you need to maintain in the account to earn a decent interest rate?

Opening an account with ING is all done online, all you need is your checkbook from another bank so you can provide the routing number to link up your current bank to your ING account. ING will withdraw the money from your current bank and place it in your ING account. It is very simple.

There are no minimums to open and maintain an ING account. However, if you deposit $250 at the time of opening, ING will give you a $25 account opening bonus. I can send you the link if you are interested (ING customers also get a $10 bonus for referring people who open an account with $250 or more).

[bYuPride]

I can send you the link if you are interested (ING customers also get a $10 bonus for referring people who open an account with $250 or more).

that would be great. thanks!

[All-American]

By the way, I just got an email from Zions bank regarding the Money Market account. The interest rate has gone up again. 4.75%.

That is all.

[bYuPride]

By the way, I just got an email from Zions bank regarding the Money Market account. The interest rate has gone up again. 4.75%.

That is all.

is there a minimum balance requirement to get the 4.75%?

[bYuPride]

I can send you the link if you are interested (ING customers also get a $10 bonus for referring people who open an account with $250 or more).

is it the ingdirect.com?

[Colly Wolly]

is it the ingdirect.com?

You can set up an account at any time through ingdirect.com. The $25 account opening bonus is only available through a member referral link that is sent to your email account. You click on that link, open the account with atleast $250.00 and you get a $25 account opening bonus. I opened my ing account this way, and then promptly referred my brother. He opened his account, got the $25, and I got ten bucks for referring him. Its great. FYI, the account opening bonus is not available immediately. It sits in your account and earns interest, but you cant take out that portion for a few weeks.

[The_Tick]

You can set up an account at any time through ingdirect.com. The $25 account opening bonus is only available through a member referral link that is sent to your email account. You click on that link, open the account with atleast $250.00 and you get a $25 account opening bonus. I opened my ing account this way, and then promptly referred my brother. He opened his account, got the $25, and I got ten bucks for referring him. Its great. FYI, the account opening bonus is not available immediately. It sits in your account and earns interest, but you cant take out that portion for a few weeks.

How do you get access to the money? Do they give you an ATM card?

I have some cash that I wouldn't mind moving around...

[livecoug]

I can help you with that, Tick

[Colly Wolly]

How do you get access to the money? Do they give you an ATM card?

I have some cash that I wouldn't mind moving around...

The ING account is linked electronically to your checking account at your credit union or bank. When opening and ING account, you have to have your checkbook so you can supply your routing number. You tell ING how much you want to open your account with, and ING will with draw that money from your checking account and put in ING. In your regular bank, it looks like a check payment/regular deduction out of your checking account. Withdrawing money from ING is the opposite. ING uses the same method to put the money back into your checking account.

Be advised that moving money back and forth is not instantaneous. It takes 2 business days for money to get into your account, and then 2 business days for you to take money out of your account. So it isnt quite as liquid as a regular savings account. But, the 4.15% is great, and I am only putting money in there that I can afford to do without, so the latency has not been a problem for me.

Oh yeah, no ATM cards.

[The_Tick]

So if I understand interest correctly....

If I deposit 1000....

I make about 41.50 a month on that 1K?

[Colly Wolly]

So if I understand interest correctly....

If I deposit 1000....

I make about 41.50 a month on that 1K?

Ha, I wish. The 4.15% is an Annual Percentage Yield. You would make 41.50 in a year with a G in an ING account.

Interest is deposited at the end of each month into your account. Your total interest dividends for a year would equal 41.50.

[Mormon Red Death]

Ha, I wish. The 4.15% is an Annual Percentage Yield. You would make 41.50 in a year with a G in an ING account.

Interest is deposited at the end of each month into your account. Your total interest dividends for a year would equal 41.50.

Actually you would get $42.30 (compounding interest)

[Colly Wolly]

Actually you would get $42.30 (compounding interest)

Are you sure? I thought with an APY of 4.15% on one grand, you would get $41.50, making the APR slightly less than 4.15%. The APY takes the compounding interest into account, while the APR does not. I could be wrong.

[Mormon Red Death]

Are you sure? I thought with an APY of 4.15% on one grand, you would get $41.50, making the APR slightly less than 4.15%. The APY takes the compounding interest into account, while the APR does not. I could be wrong.

Doesn't APR stand for Annual Percentage Rate? take APR divide by 12 you get ~.35% time that to 1000 and you get something like $3.50 for month 1 then in Month 2 your time $1003.50 by ~.35% and so on and it gets a little over $42.

then again I guess the APY and APR are two different things so you could be correct

[Colly Wolly]

Doesn't APR stand for Annual Percentage Rate? take APR divide by 12 you get ~.35% time that to 1000 and you get something like $3.50 for month 1 then in Month 2 your time $1003.50 by ~.35% and so on and it gets a little over $42.

then again I guess the APY and APR are two different things so you could be correct

I could be completely wrong, but I when I use an APR of 4.15% on 1k over a year I get 42.30 in interest over one year (like you said). So the APR is 4.15% and the APY is 4.23%.

Someone settle this, its gnawing at my brain.

[Mormon Red Death]

I could be completely wrong, but I when I use an APR of 4.15% on 1k over a year I get 42.30 in interest over one year (like you said). So the APR is 4.15% and the APY is 4.23%.

Someone settle this, its gnawing at my brain.

This is correct assuming that 4.15% is the Annual Percentage RATE if it is the Annual Percentage Yield then the APR would be lower (like you said)

[All-American]

I'm not sure exactly how the numbers work on that money market account. A $1,000 deposit is required to start the account. From there, I get about one dollar a month for every $280 that is in the money market account.

Not bad work for idle money.

[realtall]

EmigrantDirect.com doesn't have a signup or a referal bonus but it does have a 4.5% interest rate and no minimum initial(or subsequent) deposit amount and no fees.