The Best Savings Account ! … by neil smith

10/16/07

I like keeping my dollars liquid and no, I'm not a shill for any banks, but I did find a really great savings account that earns only about 1% less interest than a CD, so I figured I would share!

It is with an online bank called ING Direct . You make around 4.35% interest with no fees and it's FDIC insured.

You sign up online at ingdirect.com and transfer money from your regular bank account and start earning the interest. When you need to access that money, you transfer it back (can take around 3 days or so for the transfer to happen, but at 4.5%, it’s well worth a small annoyance such as this).

You can also set up sub-accounts if you wish to earmark certain amounts for different things and tranfer your money around instantly. Personally, I use the main account for my safety net (a must for the self-employed) and a sub account to for property taxes (why have them withheld by your mortgage company when they do not pay you interest!?).

I also use sub-accounts to hold deposits placed by my music business clients when they schedule me for events far in the future. Because they reserve the right to cancel up to one month in advance and receive a portion of their deposit back, I need to have these funds set aside until it is less than one month before, so I may as well earn interest on it in the meantime.

There are also other offerings, none of which have interested me in the slightest such as CD (certificates of deposit) which start around 5.5% for a 6-month CD and only go up in small increments for longer terms. Now, if I am already earning 4.5%, why in the hell would I want to tie my money up for 6 months only to earn a lousy extra one percent!? They also do home loans and lots of other things I really have not had a calling to explore any further, but if you care to check it out, I encourage you to do so.

By the way, if you think I am a shill for ING, I am definitely not. It is just a cool savings plan that has served me very well for years and I am just passing the info along. If you have any thoughts on this, or better yet, know of something better, please visit my official website at http://www.letsgetahead.com and leave a posting in the comments. I would love to read your thoughts!

Neil Smith is the owner of LET'S GET AHEAD! Make Money, Save Money, Live Better!
Please visit and contribute at the official website http://www.letsgetahead.com

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