ETrade's been good to me. If you have enough money (minimum $5k), get the maxrate checking that gives you 3.25% and unlimited ATM fee refunds. I think the rate for complete savings is currently 4.4%. It might be 5.05%. I'm not sure.
And then link that account with a Citibank checking so you can deposit easily.
"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
Well, it was 5.05 when I opened it last May which was the best around (ING was already down to 4.75 then). Now after every Fed cut I get a friendly email that my rate is being "re-evaluated" - it's currently 3.55%. In my opinion, those 4% accounts out there aren't going to last (if there are any left).
I chose HSBC because it has no minimums, or stupid fees. You can link up an account from any bank to do transfers to/from without fees. It takes 3 days to transfer your money which is kind of ridiculous, but I can live with it.
In retrospect I should have got a 1 year CD at the time, which were 5.10 to 5.15, since I didn't need the money for awhile (haven't touched it so far). At the time I thought, why sacrifice a year of liquidity for a measly handful of extra basis points, when I can have liquidity at 5.05%? After the Fed cut 1.25% inside of two weeks, I'm like "oh yeah that's why." Short versus long maturities. Rookie mistake.
Good thing I'm not a trader. Although I hear SocGen is hiring.
Could always check out Prosper or Zopa (both peer-to-peer lending sites) and potentially get 10%+ interest without investing in the stock market or anything. It IS of course riskier and people do default on loans, but I have friends who have used both and gotten significantly better interest than with high-yield savings accounts.
I've used ING before but rates seem to be a bit lower than others so not sure how good it is - HSBC is great because of the no minimums/no fees.
Charles Schwab is nice, plus you can use any atm anywhere in the world for free.
I opened this account this past summe when the rate was 4.5%. It's really a great deal - you have total liquidity (debit card, checks, etc), and you earn significant interest on your money. Because they don't have many ATMs, they will also refund ALL ATM fees from any bank's machine that you use.
Of course with the Fed cuts the rate is now down to 3%, however, I still love the account because of the free ATM use.
I've got it linked to a Wachovia free checking account so I can easily deposit anywhere, then transfer electronically into Schwab.
- Capt K -
"Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
Opened a WaMu online savings account back in 06 when the going rate was 5.0%. Current rate is 4.25%. I doubt it will stay that high, but WaMu needs cash, and at 125 bps above fed fund it's not too far from where they could currently get done at. Real bank, real branches, and competitive rates. Also beware of the free ATM use. Although the bank does not charge you, the ATM owner would probably charge you another $1 or 2. That alone is probably the reason why I keep my checking account with Chase, because they have ATMs all over new york city.
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ETrade's been good to me. If you have enough money (minimum $5k), get the maxrate checking that gives you 3.25% and unlimited ATM fee refunds. I think the rate for complete savings is currently 4.4%. It might be 5.05%. I'm not sure.
And then link that account with a Citibank checking so you can deposit easily.
"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
Well, it was 5.05 when I opened it last May which was the best around (ING was already down to 4.75 then). Now after every Fed cut I get a friendly email that my rate is being "re-evaluated" - it's currently 3.55%. In my opinion, those 4% accounts out there aren't going to last (if there are any left).
I chose HSBC because it has no minimums, or stupid fees. You can link up an account from any bank to do transfers to/from without fees. It takes 3 days to transfer your money which is kind of ridiculous, but I can live with it.
In retrospect I should have got a 1 year CD at the time, which were 5.10 to 5.15, since I didn't need the money for awhile (haven't touched it so far). At the time I thought, why sacrifice a year of liquidity for a measly handful of extra basis points, when I can have liquidity at 5.05%? After the Fed cut 1.25% inside of two weeks, I'm like "oh yeah that's why." Short versus long maturities. Rookie mistake.
Good thing I'm not a trader. Although I hear SocGen is hiring.
Could always check out Prosper or Zopa (both peer-to-peer lending sites) and potentially get 10%+ interest without investing in the stock market or anything. It IS of course riskier and people do default on loans, but I have friends who have used both and gotten significantly better interest than with high-yield savings accounts.
I've used ING before but rates seem to be a bit lower than others so not sure how good it is - HSBC is great because of the no minimums/no fees.
I haven't actually used it, but I heard that bankrate.com lets you compare all the rates different banks are offering.
Charles Schwab is nice, plus you can use any atm anywhere in the world for free.
I opened this account this past summe when the rate was 4.5%. It's really a great deal - you have total liquidity (debit card, checks, etc), and you earn significant interest on your money. Because they don't have many ATMs, they will also refund ALL ATM fees from any bank's machine that you use.
Of course with the Fed cuts the rate is now down to 3%, however, I still love the account because of the free ATM use.
I've got it linked to a Wachovia free checking account so I can easily deposit anywhere, then transfer electronically into Schwab.
I 2nd Etrade
Opened a WaMu online savings account back in 06 when the going rate was 5.0%. Current rate is 4.25%. I doubt it will stay that high, but WaMu needs cash, and at 125 bps above fed fund it's not too far from where they could currently get done at. Real bank, real branches, and competitive rates. Also beware of the free ATM use. Although the bank does not charge you, the ATM owner would probably charge you another $1 or 2. That alone is probably the reason why I keep my checking account with Chase, because they have ATMs all over new york city.
I 3rd E-Trade
I 2nd HSBC.
there is no minimum balance, and it covers your atm fees. (3x a month or so)
besides the 3 days to transfer funds, i like it.
schwab is the best if you have quite a bit to play around with
citibank e-savings. get to use the atms, which is a plus,
What about ETFs? Are any of you using an ETrade type service and putting most of your savings into ETFs?
if you dont mind the fx exposure, there are a couple of places where you can get 6% on the SEK I imagine it'd be a hassle to set up tho :P
I was looking at emerging mkt ETFs which did between 30 to 60% LTM. Is it worth getting into this late?
ING Direct - best customer service handsdown. There is a huge discussion about this on Get Rich Slowly.
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/03/21/which-online-high-yield-sa…
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