...my point is that $150 extra a year if you have $100k in a savings account (please tell me why you would)
@undercover, I know your reply isn't directed toward me, but ...
There are lots of reasons why someone may need to park a lot of cash
somewhere safe, preferably FDIC insured.*
I don't think anyone is recommending keeping a large allocation of
their assets in Ally as an investment strategy. And as I mentioned
above, it's hard to get mentally adjusted to the new reality of sub-4%
savings rates, but I'm also not clamoring for double-digit inflation
again.
*Me? Huge (anticipated) tax bill coming up in about 9 months.
Onward to some potentially helpful inforomation for anyone in the US who wants
to safely maximize their short-term cash interest rate in an insured checking
account. With a bit of extra work, you can park up to $15K at Lake Michigan
Credit Union with a 3% rate:
https://lmcu.orgHere are the criteria to qualify for the 3% rate in an LMCU Max Checking account:
- Sign up for e-statements.
- Minimum of 4 logins to online banking per month.
- Minimum of 10 debit card purchases per month.
- Direct deposit in your account at least once per month.
I have my LMCU account linked to Mint.com, which handles the minimal
required logins.
On the first Monday of each month, I reload my Amazon gift balance
with ten purchases of $0.50 each for a total of $5.00 to satisfy my debit
card requirement.
I also transfer $5 each month from my primary checking account into LMCU via
an automated ACH transfer which counts as a direct deposit.
The entire process takes less than 10 minutes each month after you've
got your account set up. LMCU has a nice link on your account page to
confirm you've met all the requirements to qualify for the 3% rate.