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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: EpicCrawfish on July 15, 2018, 07:33:09 PM

Title: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: EpicCrawfish on July 15, 2018, 07:33:09 PM
My wife and I sold our house in April and have the proceeds sitting in a USAA savings account earning .3% APY. This feels very low. We'd invest the money, except that we will likely need it in 2 to 5 years for another house purchase. It seems like we could at least find a high-interest savings account and make more like 1.5-17.5% APY.

I'm skeptical of things that seem like free money, so my question: What should we be on the lookout for when choose a high-interest account / what criteria should we be considering?

Or, is there some other instrument we should be considering? We're well invested otherwise, so it feels okay to keep this money is something conservative considering that it's basically earmarked.

Thanks!
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Orin! on July 15, 2018, 07:57:50 PM
Discover has a 1.75% interest savings account. They also have year a 5 year CD for 2.9%.

Those are no risk options.

Other savings accounts and CD rates with various banks are listed here:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Radagast on July 15, 2018, 08:24:02 PM
Vanguard's money market account is at 1.84% right now, invests in short term US government bills which are actually safer than FDIC accounts, and is a handy platform for launching into more profitable long term investments.

In addition to many others depending on your tax rate, there are also:
Ultra-short term bond 2.43%
Limited term tax exempt 1.91%
Short term corporate bond 3.37% (this one looks pretty good now, as if I would know)
etc.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: CrispKale on July 16, 2018, 11:40:49 AM
Another vote here for the Discover online savings account, I've had them for about 4 years and highly recommend them.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: appleshampooid on July 16, 2018, 01:30:48 PM
I've had Discover bank, good as noted above. Lately I had been using Barclays US as they had similar rates to Discover (slightly higher when I switched, I think now they are almost always in lock step).

But I am moving away from the online savings accounts in favor of dumping that cash into my Vanguard account using a money market fund. The default settlement fund is currently at 1.84%. You can also buy in to the Prime money market fund (VMMXX) which is just over 2% right now.

These are not technically FDIC insured, but the risk of loss seems minimal. And as another poster noted above, easy to transfer into more aggressive long-term investments if the situation warrants it.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: ginjaninja on July 16, 2018, 03:41:20 PM
I really have been happy with CapitalOne...Discover and CO seem to be competing for rates.  CapitalOne has a 1.75% money market for an account with a balance greater than $10,000.  They have given me a rate increase 4 or 5 times since the account has been open for less than a year.  I have a sneaky suspicion in has to do with the Fed interest rate.

If you have a credit card with discover or CapitalOne I would go with the bank that you have the card with!

Also if you decided to go CapitalOne I can give you a referral link that will get you $100 for opening an account.  #shamelessplug but actually I have been really happy with their service.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: DreamFIRE on July 16, 2018, 03:55:55 PM
VG PR MM compounded YLD 2.07%
2 YR CD YLD 2.8%
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: daverobev on July 16, 2018, 06:33:08 PM
I like Alliant Credit Union. They seem to raise their rates in a timely manner.

I think they are giving 1.7% now.

But still, if you have a particular timeframe, get the highest rate you can for that length of time. I believe there are periodic sign up bonuses for Discover.

In fact, you may find you do better going for sign up bonuses even if the rate is lower. Lock up a few k for a few months and get $300 or whatever.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: DavidAnnArbor on July 16, 2018, 08:46:09 PM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: MrUpwardlyMobile on July 16, 2018, 08:59:36 PM
Marcus by Goldman Sachs is a 1.80% APY FDIC insured savings account. I think CIT Bank is offering 1.85%
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: tralfamadorian on July 17, 2018, 11:27:40 AM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.

Thank you for posting this. ICSH is a new one to me and would be perfect for parking some funds for the short-medium term.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: DavidAnnArbor on July 17, 2018, 11:35:50 AM
I too was thinking of parking some funds there for the short term in my Fidelity brokerage account.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on July 17, 2018, 12:49:55 PM
Lot's of good options. We use Ally's savings account which is currently at 1.75% with no minimums.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: EpicCrawfish on July 17, 2018, 01:03:45 PM
Thanks for all the input! It also occurs to me that given my timeline (12-24 months) a CD might also be a reasonable choice. Most of the same high interest banks mentioned here have 12 month CDs at ~2.3%. It seems like that would be a good choice if I was going to be conservative and go with a savings account in the first place... any other opinions?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on July 18, 2018, 01:55:34 PM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.

Thank you for posting this. ICSH is a new one to me and would be perfect for parking some funds for the short-medium term.

I'm looking into this too.
I have "discounted trades available" at Vanguard, in my Brokerage Account. So it would cost me $7 to make a purchase of this ETF. If I were wanting to just move my emergency fund there (say $7k or so), I could buy this ETF once, pay my $7 and then earn 2.44% interest over the next year, right? Then I'd just have that amount that sits in the ICSH ETF 'earmarked' as my emergency fund. That would earn me $170 over the course of a year, which I'm realizing is not as good as one of those banks offering a bonus.

...Maybe I should look into that more..but that's more work  haha

How much do you expect the rate on something like that to fluctuate over time?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: DreamFIRE on July 18, 2018, 04:39:12 PM
Thanks for all the input! It also occurs to me that given my timeline (12-24 months) a CD might also be a reasonable choice. Most of the same high interest banks mentioned here have 12 month CDs at ~2.3%. It seems like that would be a good choice if I was going to be conservative and go with a savings account in the first place... any other opinions?

The OP said 2 to 5 years, which is why I suggested the 2 year CD.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Radagast on July 18, 2018, 05:42:21 PM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.

Thank you for posting this. ICSH is a new one to me and would be perfect for parking some funds for the short-medium term.

I'm looking into this too.
I have "discounted trades available" at Vanguard, in my Brokerage Account. So it would cost me $7 to make a purchase of this ETF. If I were wanting to just move my emergency fund there (say $7k or so), I could buy this ETF once, pay my $7 and then earn 2.44% interest over the next year, right? Then I'd just have that amount that sits in the ICSH ETF 'earmarked' as my emergency fund. That would earn me $170 over the course of a year, which I'm realizing is not as good as one of those banks offering a bonus.

...Maybe I should look into that more..but that's more work  haha

How much do you expect the rate on something like that to fluctuate over time?
Vanguard also has an ultrashort bond fund. Though, it looks like it is not exactly the same. Vanguard's takes a little bit more credit risk (moderate vs high) and owns slightly longer term bonds (duration of 1 year vs 3 months, maturity of 1 year vs 10 months).
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on July 19, 2018, 07:07:28 AM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.

Thank you for posting this. ICSH is a new one to me and would be perfect for parking some funds for the short-medium term.

I'm looking into this too.
I have "discounted trades available" at Vanguard, in my Brokerage Account. So it would cost me $7 to make a purchase of this ETF. If I were wanting to just move my emergency fund there (say $7k or so), I could buy this ETF once, pay my $7 and then earn 2.44% interest over the next year, right? Then I'd just have that amount that sits in the ICSH ETF 'earmarked' as my emergency fund. That would earn me $170 over the course of a year, which I'm realizing is not as good as one of those banks offering a bonus.

...Maybe I should look into that more..but that's more work  haha

How much do you expect the rate on something like that to fluctuate over time?
Vanguard also has an ultrashort bond fund. Though, it looks like it is not exactly the same. Vanguard's takes a little bit more credit risk (moderate vs high) and owns slightly longer term bonds (duration of 1 year vs 3 months, maturity of 1 year vs 10 months).
are you referring to VUBFX?

Are you saying VUBFX takes less risk because it doesn't have a "Cash and other equivalents" Component like the ICSH one does?

Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: katsiki on July 19, 2018, 08:10:17 AM
I like Alliant Credit Union. They seem to raise their rates in a timely manner.

I think they are giving 1.7% now.

But still, if you have a particular timeframe, get the highest rate you can for that length of time. I believe there are periodic sign up bonuses for Discover.

In fact, you may find you do better going for sign up bonuses even if the rate is lower. Lock up a few k for a few months and get $300 or whatever.

Alliant is great.  +1  I also like them for other products.  They are a good CU.

For CDs, check out Andrews FCU, 9 month 2.75% CD.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Radagast on July 19, 2018, 09:28:13 AM
ICSH ETF (2.44%) if you get free trades somewhere.

Thank you for posting this. ICSH is a new one to me and would be perfect for parking some funds for the short-medium term.

I'm looking into this too.
I have "discounted trades available" at Vanguard, in my Brokerage Account. So it would cost me $7 to make a purchase of this ETF. If I were wanting to just move my emergency fund there (say $7k or so), I could buy this ETF once, pay my $7 and then earn 2.44% interest over the next year, right? Then I'd just have that amount that sits in the ICSH ETF 'earmarked' as my emergency fund. That would earn me $170 over the course of a year, which I'm realizing is not as good as one of those banks offering a bonus.

...Maybe I should look into that more..but that's more work  haha

How much do you expect the rate on something like that to fluctuate over time?
Vanguard also has an ultrashort bond fund. Though, it looks like it is not exactly the same. Vanguard's takes a little bit more credit risk (moderate vs high) and owns slightly longer term bonds (duration of 1 year vs 3 months, maturity of 1 year vs 10 months).
are you referring to VUBFX?

Are you saying VUBFX takes less risk because it doesn't have a "Cash and other equivalents" Component like the ICSH one does?
I looked at the Morningstar website to compare the two, hopefully it is accurate. I saw that the Vanguard fund has more risk all around (but still tiny compared to most common bond funds, even more so stock funds). "Cash and equivalents" should be very low risk.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: grandep on July 19, 2018, 01:20:16 PM
Consumers Credit Union offers 3.05% interest on checking accounts, FDIC insured, only a few hoops to jump through to qualify for the higher rate. This is better or equivalent to the yield on most bond-funds, with zero principal risk or interest-rate risk.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: zazpowered on July 19, 2018, 01:31:44 PM
I'm using PurePoint at 1.90% APY 10k min. That's the highest I've seen without some sort of state requirement or other requirements https://www.purepoint.com/
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: One on July 19, 2018, 02:05:22 PM
My wife and I sold our house in April and have the proceeds sitting in a USAA savings account earning .3% APY. This feels very low. We'd invest the money, except that we will likely need it in 2 to 5 years for another house purchase. It seems like we could at least find a high-interest savings account and make more like 1.5-17.5% APY.

I'm skeptical of things that seem like free money, so my question: What should we be on the lookout for when choose a high-interest account / what criteria should we be considering?

Or, is there some other instrument we should be considering? We're well invested otherwise, so it feels okay to keep this money is something conservative considering that it's basically earmarked.

Thanks!

US treasuries, buy short term 1 to 2 year at auction through vanguard, no fee. Better than cd because no state tax.
2 year is 2.6 percent

Here's the rates
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=yield
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Radagast on July 19, 2018, 02:06:58 PM
Consumers Credit Union offers 3.05% interest on checking accounts, FDIC insured, only a few hoops to jump through to qualify for the higher rate. This is better or equivalent to the yield on most bond-funds, with zero principal risk or interest-rate risk.
I looked really hard at this. Ultimately I decided not to because I would have to spend a lot of time buying $.50 Amazon gift cards to get the rate. I would essentially get paid $1 every time I bought one, but I'd have to do it at least 10 times a month regardless of what was going on in my life. I realized that it made sense even from an hourly pay perspective, but it was not what I wanted to spend my time on.

Right now I would personally choose something in a brokerage account I already had because that would give both a higher rate and greater simplicity.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: grandep on July 19, 2018, 02:30:01 PM
I looked really hard at this. Ultimately I decided not to because I would have to spend a lot of time buying $.50 Amazon gift cards to get the rate. I would essentially get paid $1 every time I bought one, but I'd have to do it at least 10 times a month regardless of what was going on in my life. I realized that it made sense even from an hourly pay perspective, but it was not what I wanted to spend my time on.

Right now I would personally choose something in a brokerage account I already had because that would give both a higher rate and greater simplicity.

Fair enough. For anyone else who may be interested, one of the requirements to get the ~3% interest rate with CCU is to make 12 debit card transactions per month, which you can do by buying 12 $0.50 Amazon gift cards to your own account (that is what Radagast is referring to). For reference, it takes me probably less than 2 minutes to do this, but yes it is one more thing to have to remember to do each month and it is a bit annoying.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Orin! on July 19, 2018, 03:45:11 PM
I just got an email from Discover that they are offering 12 mo CD for 2.25%. For a no risk investment short term this sounds pretty good.

I personally am more adventurous and like some risk and go with vanguard total stock index. But that is not what this iriginal poster is asking for,
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: pdxvandal on July 20, 2018, 12:04:43 AM
I did a no-penalty CD at CIT Bank for 1.85%. I had the money in there for 2 months, then pulled it out, no questions asked. FDIC insured and no fees. Vanguard federal MM also a good option, but I had 150k in there, so felt slightly safer with FDIC.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on July 20, 2018, 11:37:55 AM

I looked really hard at this. Ultimately I decided not to because I would have to spend a lot of time buying $.50 Amazon gift cards to get the rate.

Really?  This was your barrier?  This takes me less than 30 seconds.

By the way, if you're going to bother with getting set up with Consumers, its really worth it to go for the full 4.6% return (up to 20 K balance) as opposed to their lowest rate.  To me, this was the only way it was really worth it.  I think it's the ultimate "emergency" and cash fund.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: eraserhead97 on August 02, 2018, 01:29:11 AM
SallieMae is currently paying 1.90% for online savings.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: wirednuke83 on August 02, 2018, 06:23:09 AM
I just signed up for the Discover account at 1.75%. They also gave me a 250$ bonus for depositing 20,000. Customer support has been great so far, and I like their App.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: jpdx on August 03, 2018, 10:07:24 PM
Can someone outline the pros/cons of using a online Savings account vs a Vanguard Money Market fund or similar alternative? I understand the savings account would be FDIC insured, the MM fund would not, but please elaborate.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: grandep on August 06, 2018, 03:13:41 PM
Can someone outline the pros/cons of using a online Savings account vs a Vanguard Money Market fund or similar alternative? I understand the savings account would be FDIC insured, the MM fund would not, but please elaborate.

What other elaboration do you need? A MM fund has a slightly higher interest rate for the slight additional risk (lack of FDIC insurance).
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: MustacheAndaHalf on August 07, 2018, 02:06:44 AM
When comparing CDs, pay attention to the early withdrawal penalty.  Some companies have severe penalties, others reasonable ones.  I'd recommend you compare other companies against Ally, which has low penalties of 2-5 months (depending on length of the CD).

I sometimes find longer CDs better despite paying the withdrawal penalty.  Take Ally's 9 month CD and 18 month CD, if you only hold it 9/12th of a year:
9 month CD 1.25% x 9/12 = 0.94%
18 month CD 2.15% x (9/12 - 2/12 penalty) = 7/12 * 2.15 = 1.25%

You can actually make more money off an 18 month CD - and cancelling it after 9 months - than if you pick the 9 month CD.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: dkb140 on August 13, 2018, 01:40:34 PM
Depending on how much you're looking to park, 2.25% at Northfield Bank ($0 to $100,000) or Customers Bank ($25000 - $500000) might be a good place to start.

https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/best-high-yield-interests-savings-accounts/
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: OurTown on August 15, 2018, 01:02:32 PM
SallieMae is currently paying 1.90% for online savings.

This is where I keep my "spending" account.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on September 17, 2018, 07:57:10 AM

I looked really hard at this. Ultimately I decided not to because I would have to spend a lot of time buying $.50 Amazon gift cards to get the rate.

Really?  This was your barrier?  This takes me less than 30 seconds.

By the way, if you're going to bother with getting set up with Consumers, its really worth it to go for the full 4.6% return (up to 20 K balance) as opposed to their lowest rate.  To me, this was the only way it was really worth it.  I think it's the ultimate "emergency" and cash fund.
so you're also putting the $12k per year on their card, and I imagine you're using the 3-2-1 card, so you're only getting the percentage cash back on the first $6k of spend? Is that right?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on September 17, 2018, 09:25:13 AM
I keep coming back to this thread and Doctor of Credit.

I am realizing I have a couple things to ask for more detailed answers about:
1) I am considering going for the Consumer Credit Union account where you keep $20k on the sidelines, meet the spend requirements on their credit card ($12k per year) and the debit card transactions each month, and get 4.6% on your $20k. BUT the way I see it is, I should really only have an emergency fund of around $5-7k based on my lifestyle. So that's the amount of money I should be keeping in cash, outside of the market. For the remainder up to $20k, my question is "would you take a guaranteed return of 4.6% on $13k, as opposed to having it in the market?" It requires some work though...
I feel like my answer is "no", so I think I'm going to pass on this, but wanted to hear what others think.

2) Currently I'm the guy that has my emergency fund (and then some) getting basically 0% in savings and checking at Wells Fargo. I value simplicity, so in evaluating where I should park my emergency fund cash to earn more money, I've realized I should probably be looking at something that serves as a checking account as well as a savings account. (I feel everyone needs the ability to write checks, at least every once in a while). So a "high interest savings account" on it's own held at ally, alliant, etc. doesn't do much for me. I would then still need to have a separate checking account, like the one I currently have at wells fargo.

I would like to find a high interest checking account, and maybe a little savings account on the side I guess, and completely terminate my relationship with WF. here's the catch: My oldest line of credit is the credit card I was issued by wells fargo when I was in college. I think that means something significant for my credit score, but don't know how to quantify it.

So I think I'm going to move all the money from wells fargo to whichever high interest checking account/savings account combo I decide on, and leave the credit card open at WF for all of time. Not much in the way of simplicity, but I really won't pay much attention to that old credit card account ever.

3)
Ultimate Goal: all this boils down to I'd like to find a high interest checking account so that I can write checks from it, but basically just have it serve as my slush fund to pay off my credit card each month. Keep maybe $3k in there.
I think I like the idea above of having my true emergency fund just buying treasury bonds in my vanguard taxable account. Then I get to capture the rising interest rates of the fed right? or am I misunderstanding how that works? Is it more like I 'lock in' my rate with the treasury bonds I buy, and then if rates go up I'm actually suffering?
If that's the case, would high interest checking/savings accounts be more likely to keep up with/outpace the rising rates?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 11:11:03 AM
Consumers Credit Union unfortunately lowered their interest and changed some of the guidelines.  It's no longer worth it to me.  I've switched to Heritage Bank which gives 3.33% up to 25 K, with no CC hoops to hit. 
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 11:13:35 AM

so you're also putting the $12k per year on their card, and I imagine you're using the 3-2-1 card, so you're only getting the percentage cash back on the first $6k of spend? Is that right?

I was actually using just the 1% category, as I have cards that earn more for the other categories.  My apartment allows me to pay with CC (6 K limit is just the 3% category).

However, as mentioned above, with their new structure it's no longer worth it to me so I switched credit unions.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: IsThisAGoodUsername on September 17, 2018, 11:20:18 AM
I've switched to Heritage Bank which gives 3.33% up to 25 K, with no CC hoops to hit.

I just put some money there, too. Be aware of the required number of transactions per month to achieve the 3.33% rate.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Another Reader on September 17, 2018, 11:23:18 AM
For the best rates, see www.depositaccounts.com. 

I would keep my checking account with Wells Fargo as long as you are not being charged a fee.  A bricks and mortar bank can be useful at times.  I second the recommendation to buy short term treasuries in a brokerage account as the yields are higher than short term CD's and the interest is exempt from state income tax.  CD's offered at the brokers are FDIC insured and the rates are higher than at most retail banks.  I find the Fidelity website to be the easiest to use, but Vanguard and Schwab offer the same products.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 11:24:56 AM
I've switched to Heritage Bank which gives 3.33% up to 25 K, with no CC hoops to hit.

I just put some money there, too. Be aware of the required number of transactions per month to achieve the 3.33% rate.

Yep, consumers had the same requirement.  I just load up my amz balance with 0.50 cent transactions.  By the way, for all you cheap bastards out there like me, most credit cards forgive 0.99 if that's all you charge (exceptions being Chase and Amex -- discover allows 1.99).  I have tons of CC's, so I essentially have a day where I do an "amz balance load" with all my cards/credit union.  Keeps my cards active, and its free money.  Basically it pays for amz prime.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on September 17, 2018, 12:25:30 PM
I've switched to Heritage Bank which gives 3.33% up to 25 K, with no CC hoops to hit.

I just put some money there, too. Be aware of the required number of transactions per month to achieve the 3.33% rate.

Yep, consumers had the same requirement.  I just load up my amz balance with 0.50 cent transactions.  By the way, for all you cheap bastards out there like me, most credit cards forgive 0.99 if that's all you charge (exceptions being Chase and Amex -- discover allows 1.99).  I have tons of CC's, so I essentially have a day where I do an "amz balance load" with all my cards/credit union.  Keeps my cards active, and its free money.  Basically it pays for amz prime.
What do you mean by 'forgive'? Like they just don't show up if you charge it exactly as 0.99? that's pretty awesome.

but, why would that matter if the point is to use the debit card to rack up 10 or 12 transactions per month?

... I'm just not following but thanks for the insight so far!
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Road2Freedom on September 17, 2018, 12:27:58 PM
Lot's of good options. We use Ally's savings account which is currently at 1.75% with no minimums.

Went with Ally as well and now they're at 1.85%.  Was also with USAA and had the whopping .3% account.  Opening the account and making transfers is pretty seamless.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 12:29:38 PM

What do you mean by 'forgive'? Like they just don't show up if you charge it exactly as 0.99? that's pretty awesome.

but, why would that matter if the point is to use the debit card to rack up 10 or 12 transactions per month?

... I'm just not following but thanks for the insight so far!

The credit card company will waive the balance, probably to reduce the cost of processing a statement, particularly if you are on paper statements (though it still works with electronic).  This does not work for Chase or Amex.   Sorry, I wasn't trying to confuse you -- this is totally separate from the debit transactions required for credit unions.  Essentially what I meant was that I will take ~ 10 minutes each month to hit my debit transaction requirements as well as charge all my cc's for 0.99 (1.99 for Discover) by loading up my AMZ balance.  Amz reloads are an efficient way to hit the tier required for debit transactions (50 cents works) and get free money from your CC.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/small-balance-waiver-a-k-a-lots-of-free-99-cent-amazon-gcs/
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on September 17, 2018, 01:43:04 PM
What do you mean by 'forgive'?

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/small-balance-waiver-a-k-a-lots-of-free-99-cent-amazon-gcs/

This sounds like both a moderate amount of effort for minimal gain and ethically dubious...
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 01:59:34 PM


This sounds like both a moderate amount of effort for minimal gain and ethically dubious...

Its not much effort, takes a couple minutes/month.  Keeps the card active so that it doesn't go dormant and get cancelled, and it's a bit of free money.  Pays for my amazon prime membership.  I don't think it's ethically dubious at all, if the card company doesn't want to charge me for the amount, that's up to them.  I'm not breaking any rules and I'm definitely not feeling any guilt taking a couple dollars from large credit card companies.  Somehow I manage to still sleep at night.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: DavidAnnArbor on September 17, 2018, 04:12:57 PM


This sounds like both a moderate amount of effort for minimal gain and ethically dubious...

Its not much effort, takes a couple minutes/month.  Keeps the card active so that it doesn't go dormant and get cancelled, and it's a bit of free money.  Pays for my amazon prime membership.  I don't think it's ethically dubious at all, if the card company doesn't want to charge me for the amount, that's up to them.  I'm not breaking any rules and I'm definitely not feeling any guilt taking a couple dollars from large credit card companies.  Somehow I manage to still sleep at night.


How does this work?  You charge a credit card 0.50 on Amazon to buy an Amazon gift card?

Then you use all these gift cards you purchase to pay for the Prime membership ?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: FrugalFisherman10 on September 17, 2018, 06:41:07 PM
So I guess to sum up my questions above, I'm wanting the highest interest rate checking account without having to deal with the 10-12 transactions per month type thing.
Does a checking account with an interest rate of 1.5%+ and no monthly transaction requirements exist?
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on September 17, 2018, 07:07:23 PM
So I guess to sum up my questions above, I'm wanting the highest interest rate checking account without having to deal with the 10-12 transactions per month type thing.
Does a checking account with an interest rate of 1.5%+ and no monthly transaction requirements exist?

Ally's savings account is currently at 1.85% and you can link a checking account such that it will pull funds from the savings account automatically.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 08:11:05 PM
Ally has some limitations on how many transactions you can do without fees
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on September 17, 2018, 08:25:20 PM
Ally has some limitations on how many transactions you can do without fees

Only on the savings account.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 08:51:18 PM
Ally has some limitations on how many transactions you can do without fees

Only on the savings account.

Right, but if you are linking a checking account to it to get the savings interest, isn't it going to count as a transaction each time you pull funds to the checking?  Seems like you'd be moving funds fairly frequently, unless you keep a decent balance in the checking which wouldn't be a very good move as the interest is low on their checking.  This sounds to me like more work than just having a high yield checking acc.

Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: ThatGuy on September 17, 2018, 09:15:42 PM
Transferring funds from checking to savings/mma isn't a problem.  Transferring from savings/mma to checking there is a limit of six per month.  This limit is in place at every U.S. bank.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 17, 2018, 09:22:04 PM
Transferring funds from checking to savings/mma isn't a problem.  Transferring from savings/mma to checking there is a limit of six per month.  This limit is in place at every U.S. bank.

Yep, that's what I thought.  This would be a real pain imo.  High yield checking is much more practical.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on September 18, 2018, 07:26:59 AM
I have my wife's direct deposit going into our Ally checking account so usually I'm only pushing money out to the savings account instead of the other direction. I leave enough buffer to pay all our bills. I haven't found the savings account transaction limit to be an issue.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 18, 2018, 08:32:01 AM
Right.  I guess if you don’t mind losing interest on the 5 k or whatever the buffer is.  Personally I want all my $ earning.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: fn43086 on September 18, 2018, 09:20:23 AM
Synchrony Bank (https://www.synchronybank.com/ (https://www.synchronybank.com/)) has a high-yield savings account currently at 1.85%. They also offer CD's, Money Markets, IRA CD's, and IRA Money Markets. The only account I have with them is the savings account so I can't speak for the others, but the savings has been consistently "high-yield" for the past few years since I opened it. It was lower when I started, I can't remember the exact rate, but has consistently gone up since (of course, no guarantees). It's a nice (no monthly-fee) account for short-term saving, and/or an emergency funds account.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: katsiki on September 18, 2018, 07:44:20 PM
If you are considering the checking + savings option, check out Alliant credit union.

https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/bank/free-credit-union-checking-account


https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/bank/high-yield-savings
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: Another Reader on September 18, 2018, 10:02:13 PM
Right.  I guess if you don’t mind losing interest on the 5 k or whatever the buffer is.  Personally I want all my $ earning.

I have not found any really good, high yield, no effort checking accounts.  A lot of the banks and CU's charge for checks.  Most require a minimum balance of $10k, and you would probably be better off keeping most of your money in a high yield savings or money market find and transferring money to your existing checking account to pay bills.  Here's a current list from www.depositaccounts.com:  https://www.depositaccounts.com/checking/

They also have lists of jump through the hoops rewards checking:  https://www.depositaccounts.com/checking/reward-checking-accounts.html
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: RWD on September 19, 2018, 08:50:19 AM
Right.  I guess if you don’t mind losing interest on the 5 k or whatever the buffer is.  Personally I want all my $ earning.

Probably works out to a lost $50 per year. Personally I prefer my finances to be simple so I can spend my mental energy elsewhere rather than squeeze out every last dollar of efficiency. I was responding to FrugalFisherman10 who didn't want to jump through hoops. Looks like there are some decent options in the list linked by Another Reader.
Title: Re: How to choose a high interest savings account (or an alternative)?
Post by: HBFIRE on September 19, 2018, 09:57:13 AM
Right.  I guess if you don’t mind losing interest on the 5 k or whatever the buffer is.  Personally I want all my $ earning.

I have not found any really good, high yield, no effort checking accounts.  A lot of the banks and CU's charge for checks.  Most require a minimum balance of $10k, and you would probably be better off keeping most of your money in a high yield savings or money market find and transferring money to your existing checking account to pay bills.  Here's a current list from www.depositaccounts.com:  https://www.depositaccounts.com/checking/

They also have lists of jump through the hoops rewards checking:  https://www.depositaccounts.com/checking/reward-checking-accounts.html

Heritage I have found to be a good option, no minimum and 3.33% up to 25 K.  The only "hoop" is 10 debit transactions, which can be done via a 1 min amazon reload.  If I need to write a check, I use a different account.  I don't really use checks at all.