 Saginaw  | 10 May 2012 4:55 a.m. PST |
Let's say I want to put some money in a bank, in a savings account that will draw decent interest, with NO unnecessary "bells and whistles". Can anyone suggest one? Thank you. |
The G Dog  | 10 May 2012 5:49 a.m. PST |
Define "decent interest rate", please? I've not seen a decent interest rate on a savings account in years. |
 GeoffQRF  | 10 May 2012 5:51 a.m. PST |
Well… we could suggest investing in a wargames company… :-) |
| jdpintex | 10 May 2012 6:23 a.m. PST |
Yeah tell us if you find a bank paying "decent interest". |
| stenicplus | 10 May 2012 6:37 a.m. PST |
Equally define NO unnecessary "bells and whistles". One man's necessary is another's pointless waste of time. Do you want instant access? Online banking? Regular statements? Do you want a branch on you high street? Check the interest rates online of local banks then go in and see them. But as G Dog suggests, you are hard pressed to find a dcent interest rate these days. |
| Jana Wang | 10 May 2012 6:43 a.m. PST |
Almost any bank will offer you a vanilla savings account at the going rate of about half a percent. If you have a lot of money to park you might look into CDs. Higher amounts and longer terms will get you a better rate. |
| GeoffQRF | 10 May 2012 6:48 a.m. PST |
In the UK you can get an individual savings account (ISA). This one is giving 3.5% tax free : link We have a very handy 'money supermarket' moneysupermarket.com Do you have an equivalent in the USA? |
| britishlinescarlet2 | 10 May 2012 7:36 a.m. PST |
I have a "friend" in Africa who is the son of an oil minister. He could invest the money for you…. |
| The Dozing Dragon | 10 May 2012 7:46 a.m. PST |
I have a "friend" in Africa who is the son of an oil minister. He could invest the money for you That's a coincidence, he emailed me today and I have put my life's savings his way. Lovely chap and all that  |
 RavenscraftCybernetics | 10 May 2012 7:57 a.m. PST |
I can make the money vanish so yoou wont have to worry about taxes next year. |
| GeoffQRF | 10 May 2012 8:08 a.m. PST |
Yes, you do that by investing in a wargames company… |
| Saginaw | 10 May 2012 8:25 a.m. PST |
Well… we could suggest investing in a wargames company… :-)Yes, you do that by investing in a wargames company… You trying to tell me something, Geoff?  Do you want instant access? Online banking? Regular statements? Do you want a branch on you high street? Let's see…."yes", "no", "not if I'm going to get charged for them", and "yes". Anyway, I've been away from banks for quite a while, so all of this is "new" again for me. But yeah, I was looking to tuck some green into a typical "vanilla" savings account, just like in "ye olden dayes", and I didn't know interest rates from savings accounts were that low. CDs, IRAs, Roth, etc., etc., etc…such a "brave, (and rather confusing) new world". I'm gonna have to do some deep homework on this. Thanks, everyone! |
| Sane Max | 10 May 2012 8:26 a.m. PST |
Anyone who asks a bunch of random people on the internet for Financial advice, rather paradoxically a) needs all the advice he can get and b) should ignore all the advice he gets… So in the spirit of this thread – There are some great banks in Iceland offering really exceptional rates of return…… and a free cod with every $mil invested. Pat |
 Parzival | 10 May 2012 9:05 a.m. PST |
Bank accounts exist to allow you to have ready access to cash. They ceased to be any sort of "investment" opportunity a long time ago. Actual investment return comes in something else, like a mutual fund, IRA, etc.. Significant returns come only with risk, such as in the stock market (though if you pick the right company and don't do the foolish buy and sell day trading stuff, the risk over the long term is minimal. I bought some Apple stock a few years ago with "fun money." It's now the biggest single value in my portfolio, worth 400% or more what I invested. Might it drop below that? Yeah. Will it ever lose value from what I put in? I seriously doubt it. The drawback of course is that it's not ready cash, and if I do sell it I have to pay capital gains "thank you for helping our economy hire people. Now pay up, punk," taxes. And no, it ain't even close to millionaire levels. It's just worth way more than what I paid, and for Uncle Sam, that's enough.) So if your goal is to just set money aside and not use it and have it earn some interest, skip the bank and look into something else.
If you need a rainy-day fund, then consider a bank or a fund account that lets you write checks. Oh, don't bother with U.S. Treasury Savings Bonds. My aunt and uncle gave me two $50 USD bonds when I graduated from high school way back during the Reagan days. I think they're worth about $60 USD each now, if that. Woohoo. Maybe I should just cash 'em in for the Ogre kickstarter campaign… |
 Cold Steel | 10 May 2012 9:26 a.m. PST |
Don't bother chasing the latest advertising gimicks. If you are a vet or one of your parents are, contact the USAA for both banking and insurance. Voted the best bank in the USA 12 years in a row and their insurance rates make a geko envious. If not a vet, then call your local credit union |
| Saginaw | 10 May 2012 9:27 a.m. PST |
Oh, don't bother with U.S. Treasury Savings Bonds. My aunt and uncle gave me two $50 USD USD bonds when I graduated from high school way back during the Reagan days. I think they're worth about $60 USD USD each now, if that. Woohoo. Maybe I should just cash 'em in for the Ogre kickstarter campaign… Sheesh, Parzival! Good thing I cashed in my $100 USD bond that I was awarded for winning a logo contest back in the '80s. |
| Ed Mohrmann | 10 May 2012 11:32 a.m. PST |
Saginaw, if preserving the value of the cash is the
imperative, rather than making $$ from the interest,
look into US Treasury I-bonds. |
| WeeSparky | 10 May 2012 2:16 p.m. PST |
Do not invest in anything related to the stock market. I am currently in the process of de-stabalising it and expect to bring it down by the end of the year. Have you considered Canadian silver coins? |
| brucka | 10 May 2012 4:23 p.m. PST |
might want to look at ING direct.
link
No, I use CD's for short term stuff or put money in an account that's a pain to access.
My (Employee Trust Fund- State of Wisconsin) ETF (for now) is one of the best run in the nation for long term retirement savings. |
 The Editor  | 10 May 2012 7:13 p.m. PST |
It all depends how likely you are to need the money… the longer you can salt it away, the better the interest. Right? |
 Martin Rapier | 11 May 2012 7:52 a.m. PST |
All I can really suggest is that you shop around but watch the interest rates like a hawk. Many accounts have introductory high rates which vanish after a year or six months. You will get a better rate on longer term accounts, online accounts and ones without paper statements. Generally. Finding any savings account which is paying more than the rate of inflation is a challenge these days, but at least it is losing value less quickly in the higher paying accounts. |
 great hall games | 02 Jun 2012 8:46 a.m. PST |
As Geoff mentioned, Money Market Accounts often give better rates, but the minimums to open the account are higher and the rate is usually in some degree determined by how much is in the acct. You might also investigate credit unions, rather than banks. They tend to have lower rates and more personal service. |
