Where to keep basic savings?

[greenmimama]

We have a few things we are saving up for, like a vehicle replacement fund and a house fund, these are large enough I would like to make something off of them but our MMMF is paying out a .015%

Where can I get more than that but still get it out in a relatively short amount of time?

Thank you.

I do have a 3% checking but they only pay that on the first 15k

[fiveoh]

I'd like to know an answer to this as well.  Where do you have 3% checking at?

[greenmimama]

Lake MI credit union, if you live in West MI or donate to the ALS I believe then you can be qualified to have an account, it has some stipulations that are pretty easy to meet.

[rubybeth]

Well, I'd argue you can get money out of a taxable mutual fund/index fund in about a day, if you need it, and with a car or home purchase, you usually know what your plans are a few weeks if not months in advance and can pull it out accordingly on an 'up' day. Will you make money on it? No guarantees, but if you're willing to accept some risk, it could work.

[usmarine1975]

We opened a brokerage account for long term savings funds.  It's invested, obviously you are taking some risk as the money is invested, if you can not or won't accept risk what you are getting now is probably about the best.  Of course I would hear any other ideas if they exist.

[frugaliknowit]

For no-risk the best is to stack rewards checking accounts.  I research at kasasa.com. 

[rugorak]

Sallie Mae Money market account. It is basically savings but pays a tiny bit more. There are plenty of other high yield online savings accounts out there as well. Capital One 360, Ally, etc. For some reason none of the places that list accounts ever list Sallie Mae. Either they aren't getting a kick back or they just hate them because they do student loans. I don't know but I have had no issues with them. Like most online savings accounts it takes a few days for the money to move, but nothing too big. I only keep my liquid emergency fund there and stage money to go into investments. Most of my goals are flexible enough that if the market tanks I'll just wait until it recovers.

[usmarine1975]

http://www.nerdwallet.com/rates/savings-account

Not sure how accurate as I did not check the rates.

[ragnathor]

We opened a brokerage account for long term savings funds.  It's invested, obviously you are taking some risk as the money is invested, if you can not or won't accept risk what you are getting now is probably about the best.  Of course I would hear any other ideas if they exist.

Agree with this. I use mutual funds that invest in bonds for long-term savings. There is more risk but better return than a checking account, but not as volatile as equities.

[megamomo]

We opened a brokerage account for long term savings funds.  It's invested, obviously you are taking some risk as the money is invested, if you can not or won't accept risk what you are getting now is probably about the best.  Of course I would hear any other ideas if they exist.

Agree with this. I use mutual funds that invest in bonds for long-term savings. There is more risk but better return than a checking account, but not as volatile as equities.

On top of that some brokerages like Etrade and Fidelity offer no-commission ETFs.  For short-term savings with some risk, I have picked a few of the bond funds offered within this no-commission group.  These are highly liquid but it may take a few days for funds transfers from a brokerage back to your bank.

[stlbrah]

Gecapital

[rmendpara]

Depends on your time horizon.

It's usually good to keep some amount in liquid savings accounts and you can invest the rest if your time horizon is long enough. Then, as you approach your target date, you can start cashing out some investments if they are in favorable gain positions.

The "easiest" place to put it is probably in online savings accounts. Capital One 360 offers 0.75% on savings accounts. You transfer in/out for free through ACH transfers. Other online banks also offer accounts (GE capital, everbank, etc), and some I think offer slightly higher rates than Capital One. I chose Capital One a few years back and didn't make the effort to switch everything over to gain just .10 or .20%.