I’m counting this one as done even though it’s technically not. What’s left are just technicalities.
My brick-and-mortar bank was giving me 0.5% on my savings account and this needed to change. From what I’ve read, online banks tend to offer the best rates. I decided to go with ING Direct. Why?
Several reasons. I did a lot of reading on different possibilities; while anecdotal evidence isn’t definitive, when a diversified audience all say the same positive things, it’s worth looking into. I think I read, maybe, one negative review of ING. Additionally, many of the personal finance bloggers I read speak highly of ING and specifically mention their excellent interface and customer support.
By opening an account with more than $250, they offer a $25 reward, which is pretty sweet. I got a referral from one of those personal finance bloggers (An English Major’s Money), additionally she gets $10 for referring, so we’re all better off.
While they don’t offer the highest interest rate–despite the recent Fed cut, you can still get above 5%–their 3.65% is still seven times what I would be earning otherwise. When the economy gets better, I may look into moving the cash to a higher yield account, but for now I’m satisfied.
The account is open and I only moved a (relatively) small amount of my savings over. I can’t access the money for 10 days, so I didn’t want to move it all because I’m paranoid. But once I verify that I do actually own my checking account and the 10 days are up, I’m moving almost all of my savings over, at least until I decide how to invest the non-Emergency Fund portion.
Accomplishing this makes me feel quite good; this is one of the things on my list that serve, partly, as a foundation for other goals. More on that later.