Making Your Money Work For You
- March 21st 2008
- Saving for your trip
I love the ING Direct commercials. The little dollar bills that are laying around on the couch eating junk food that are whipped into shape and start jazzerscizing when they get with ING is just such a perfect illustration of my frustration with most savings accounts. Thank goodness I say for the advent of the Internet!!! Now, to compete with ING’s Internet-based checking almost all banks have high-yield Internet savings accounts that will give you 4-5% interest. That’s a far cry from the passbook saving account I had with a credit union for years that gave me .01% and told me I was lucky.
If you’re working hard to save money for your vacation, you should make sure that your money is working just as hard for you. If you’ve got more than $1 saved for your trip you need to find yourself a high-yield savings account, and don’t settle for less than 4.5%. You can get at least that from simply transferring your money into your PayPal account, which pays Money Market dividends. I always suggest checking with your local bank first though because the online banking is all in one place then if they will give you a competitive rate.
This isn’t professional financial advice, rather simple common sense. You should make sure your account doesn’t charge any fees and that you will be able to access your money quickly if you’re going with a savings account. If you’ve got more than $1000 in savings you should look into Money Markets and Certificates of Deposits (CD accounts) that can give you higher interest rates, although they have restrictions on when you can withdraw your funds. Many these days will let you add more money at any time so you can get the same rate, so long as you wait till it matures to withdraw it. Remember, the interest rate you get from these should be significantly better than the interest you get from your savings account, at least a percentage point. Also, if you’ve got even more money don’t ever overlook the possibility of negotiating a higher rate.
Check out Bankrate.com for sample rates from banks in your area. Also, check out Credit Unions around you as they frequently can offer higher interest rates since they are nonprofit organizations.
** Check out Los Angeles Family Hotels from around the web**
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