Eloan has jumped to the forefront of internet savings rates, now offering 5.5% with a minimal balance of $5000. I have had my savings sitting in IngDirect for the past 5 years and now am sad to see how far behind they're lagging (only earning about 4.3%). I'm tempted to open this new savings account....but I'm hesitant because what if this starts the vicious cycle where I am constantly opening a new savings account as new banks start competing to raise their interest rates? Would I be better off putting money into a CD- something that offers a definite future deadline to decide where to allocate my savings, taking into consideration my changing financial needs?
Help! I also don't want to become some crazy person, worrying too much about the "best" place for my money and keeping a frantic eagle eye on interest rates...
Eloan or -----?
October 23rd, 2006 at 03:05 pm
October 23rd, 2006 at 04:55 pm 1161618921
October 24th, 2006 at 04:49 am 1161661741
Skipping around for rates will depend on how much money we are talking about. I figure that if you have about or less than $1500 in ING, its about 10$ difference in interest between Emigrant and ING...which you can make up if someone accepts your ING invite, if still you have ING invites.
Also think outside the box a bit - 4 wk T-bills at auction lately are paying between 4.6 - 5.1%, and you only pay federal taxes on them. If you are in a state with income tax, that might be another option. You can buy them at treasurydirect.gov, and set them up so that you can buy them weekly and the next T-bill is bought from the T-bill before.