I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to money and no little other than the piggy bank method.

I am looking for a savings account (or not so long term CD) rate that's a bit above normal, not a very high minimum but would yield me better results than I'm currently getting.

Any ideas?
I assume any bank will let me do it all online, no matter where they're located.

I haven't looked into this, but my Mint.com account has been suggesting WaMu to me. It offers 3.30% APR. I use PayPal myself, though it only earns 2.97% at the moment.

http://www.wamu.com/personal/default.asp

Side thought - the WaMu account isn't actually a savings account (it's checking), but there's no reason you should have to spend any of the money.

Tell me what you think about it.

I'm getting 3.5% at FNBO Direct. I'm getting much more on the CD I got this past November but yeah.

You can get 3.50% at HSBC Online right now.

a bit OT - do people really move their money all the time between banks, when finding a better rate?

I do.

Have you compared rates at bankrate.com?

I don't unless the new rate is substantially higher.

FYI, any of the online banks mentioned are good. Make sure you don't need a minimum deposit though to get the high interest rate (unless you are well clear of the minimum that is).

In any case, if this is your retirement savings you should have them in better investments. If you are concerned, then speak to a professional financial advisor.

I'm bad at money decisions, which is why I need to know what you guys think, not what I think.


I don't usually but I just found out my current bank is 0.75% and I think that's pathetic for the current market


No, but maybe now I will that I know it exists.


I don't have any diffrenciation (sp?) between retirement savings and regular savings other than the little bit I once put in an IRA. Is that bad?

It isn't good. You should have a set aside savings which is only for retirement. An account such as an IRA would be a very good idea. Specifically, you should have money in an account which is untouchable. Otherwise, when it comes time to pay tuition the schools will see that you have money in the bank and they will want it. If it is untouchable in a retirement account they can't get it.

Plus, your retirement account should be something in the stock market. For your situation I would highly recommend an index fund. That means your money is invested in all the stocks (companies) in a specific market index (e.g. the S&P 500, google it for more information). It means when the market as a whole does well you do well and when the market as a whole does poorly, you don't do well. But, it removes the need to make decisions regarding individual companies. Instead of owning lots of shares in one company you own a very little bit in hundreds of companies.

How much should I keep in savings vs. how much should I put into retirement?

I don't know much about S&P 500, but whenever I turn on radio to hear the weather, it ALWAYS says they're down so it doesn't sound like a good idea to me?

A lot.
Google "how much do i need for retirement". There are no shortage of online calculators to give you a ball park about what you're up against.


Try turning on the radio to listen to something else because you might catch the S&P 500 when it's up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SP500FF.svg

All the other stuff on there is garbage, basically.
I know that Hillary gave it up and Obama won the primaries
I really don't care about kelly (or whoever that guy is)
I know that the national average of gas is over $4/gallon

That's about all the news, imo....anything important is on h.com

Good advice, Doughnut.

http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/best-inves...youll-never-get

That could be, but you're getting a skewed view of the S&P 500 since apparently whatever station you're tuned to only announces when the S&P 500 is down during the weather broadcast. It goes up and down, but the trend over the past few years has been up.




Kelly Clarkson? I think she's a she. Or do you mean a different Kelly? I think you're more up on the news than I am.

Ok. Could be.



I have no idea.

I will read the article, thanks milton

I just checked here and top option looks best, no?

FYI, the market goes up and down. Recently it has been down. It will go back up. When you invest you do so for the long-term, so you should not pay attention to relativel