Best high yield savings account for emergency fund?

[TridenT]

Any thoughts? I'm right now looking at online savings accounts. I'd prefer one with an ATM card that doesn't issue transaction fees and has at least 1.05% interest rate. (Preferably 1.10% interest rate)

Monkey market and blah blah is not really on my mind right now. This account is mostly going to be for emergency funds or just saving until I can figure out what I want to do with the money.

 

[IronWing]

Best high yield savings account for emergency fund?

High yield or emergency fund, pick one.

 

[TridenT]

High yield or emergency fund, pick one.

Keyword being savings account. Maybe I should've said, "highest yield"

 

[DAGTA]

I was using GE Online (1.05%). They recently sold their accounts to Goldman Sachs (GSBank.com). I haven't looked to see if they still offer that rate to new accounts.

 

[Imp]

Maybe I'm old and bitter but I don't care anymore about the rate savings accounts give because they're all garbage these days. I think my savings accounts are around 1%, best I've seen from small banks is maybe a ~3% teaser rate?

To put it into perspective, 1% for every $10k is $100/year (using simple interest for simplicity). It's fully taxable as income here, not sure about US.

That and I'm comfortable gambling with securities nowadays and things move 5% on good days -- or lose 10%.

 

[Jumpem]

I use Capital One 360 (used to be ING). The APY is .75%, but I don't think it worth the hassle of moving to chase an extra quarter of a percentage point.

ATM cards don't matter with this type of account. Just perform transfers electronically to your checking account as needed.

 

[alcoholbob]

Currently that would be gold coins (lol).

Don't have to worry about a bank holiday, ATM cash widthdrawal limits, don't have to worry about the stock market being closed.

Also gained 22% this year

 

[Imp]

lololol... I just checked my savings account rate: 0.80%.

But if I open a new account, 2.40% for the first 6 months!

 

[Crusty]

Currently that would be gold coins (lol).

Don't have to worry about a bank holiday, ATM cash widthdrawal limits, don't have to worry about the stock market being closed.

Also gained 22% this year

Good luck trying to spend your gold... besides Gold has been trending downwards since 2012.

 

[Chiropteran]

Bitcoins.

 

[MongGrel]

As much advice the OP has ignored over time, it's almost amusing.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sadly there are no "high yield" accounts outside of teaser rates. Chase & Cap360 and other are probably at least higher than your bank though.

If you get an offer for any decent one with good teaser rate and/or $100-300 signing bonus that's your best bet. I think I've gotten offers like that from both Chase and Capital One.

It's still worth doing, since with these you can transfer the money to checking in 1-3 days with no "early termination fees" or such.

Money market funds are paying close to 0% and can be ignored. CDs and bond funds are for your investments not emergency funds.

 

[Yossarian]

You can park 15k at Lake Michigan Credit Union at 3%.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can park 15k at Lake Michigan Credit Union at 3%.

Kind of sleazy and with a set of hoops:

https://www.lmcu.org/banking/checking/checking_max.aspx

"Easy monthly usage requirements:
Direct deposit into any LMCU account
Minimum of 10 posted debit card purchases per month
Minimum of 4 logins to home banking per month
Sign up to receive eStatements/eNotices

* Annual percentage yield. Rate subject to change. Interest not paid on balances over $15,000. Some requirements apply."

If you fail the minimums, you lose the 3% and get charged who-knows-what.

 

[blinblue]

You can park 15k at Lake Michigan Credit Union at 3%.

Consumers Credit Union has a similar account that gets 3.09% interest, up to 4.59% if you jump through more hoops and have their Visa credit card.

It is super easy for me to meet the requirements. My work lets me set up direct deposits very easily, getting 12 transactions a month is no problem either. I can do a series of small payments to my ATT internet bill. For just a little work I can get 3.09% on a nice chunk of money, so it is totally worth it for me.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Consumers Credit Union has a similar account that gets 3.09% interest, up to 4.59% if you jump through more hoops and have their Visa credit card.

It is super easy for me to meet the requirements. My work lets me set up direct deposits very easily, getting 12 transactions a month is no problem either. I can do a series of small payments to my ATT internet bill. For just a little work I can get 3.09% on a nice chunk of money, so it is totally worth it for me.

Also pays only 0.2% above the cap.

3% on 15K only gets you an extra $20-25 per year for the teaser max, and on every 10K above that you lose $3-5 because they switch to paying less than Cap360 / Chase / etc..

With a plain online savings account you lose the $20-25, but then have no hoops at all and slowly gain it back as you add in more than 15,000. If you have 45,000 in the account you're only losing $5-10 a year to live hoop-free.

 

[alcoholbob]

Good luck trying to spend your gold... besides Gold has been trending downwards since 2012.

Gold has been trending upwards since the gold standard ended in 1933. Seems to be a bit a longer trend than the 3 year window you base your investments on

As far as selling gold, it's pretty easy to get above spot price for gold in small domination. It's even easier if you have large bars. You can easily get $200/ounce over spot if you have gold in large denominations/bars with gold brokers, as demand for gold bars is quite high.

 

[DrPizza]

Gold has been trending upwards since the gold standard ended in 1933. Seems to be a bit a longer trend than the 3 year window you base your investments on

As far as selling gold, it's pretty easy to get above spot price for gold in small domination. It's even easier if you have large bars. You can easily get $200/ounce over spot if you have gold in large denominations/bars with gold brokers, as demand for gold bars is quite high.

Long term, of course it's going to go up. Short term, for a rainy day fund, it carries a lot more risk than a savings account. Apparently you didn't read that the OP specified savings account.

OP, unless you're talking about significantly more than 5k, interest difference are fairly negligible; ease of accessing your account (how close is the bank, transaction fees at the ATM, etc.,) starts to become pretty important compared to the couple dozen extra dollars you might earn.

 

[ponyo]

Gold has been trending upwards since the gold standard ended in 1933. Seems to be a bit a longer trend than the 3 year window you base your investments on

As far as selling gold, it's pretty easy to get above spot price for gold in small domination. It's even easier if you have large bars. You can easily get $200/ounce over spot if you have gold in large denominations/bars with gold brokers, as demand for gold bars is quite high.

Tell me more. I find that hard to believe. How big of a bar we talking here?

As to OP question, don't even bother. Just be happy you're not paying interest to the banks to keep your money.

 

[Away]

Ally's savings account is sitting at 1.00% and their money market is 0.85%.

 

[Imp]

Gold has been trending upwards since the gold standard ended in 1933. Seems to be a bit a longer trend than the 3 year window you base your investments on

I think gold, pre-2008, hovered around $300 to $500 inflation adjusted. The financial crisis, money printing, and negative rates sent it up past $1800.

Seeing as how none of the financial problems have been solved and things may even be getting worse, I agree, gold's probably going to keep trending upwards. However, I am concerned that it could lose 2/3 of its current value if it goes back to its historic price.

 

[videogames101]

Sadly there are no "high yield" accounts outside of teaser rates. Chase & Cap360 and other are probably at least higher than your bank though.

Best I know of is Netspend. It gives 5% upto $5000 but you won't find it difficult to open at least 2 accounts if you have a friend. Make sure you set up automated transfers to pull the interest out and put money in (to avoid fees).

See this post for instructions:
https://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1432026/

 

[ponyo]

I think gold, pre-2008, hovered around $300 to $500 inflation adjusted. The financial crisis, money printing, and negative rates sent it up past $1800.

Seeing as how none of the financial problems have been solved and things may even be getting worse, I agree, gold's probably going to keep trending upwards. However, I am concerned that it could lose 2/3 of its current value if it goes back to its historic price.

I would sell all my stocks and empty my savings to load the boat if gold lost 2/3 of its current value. I wouldn't even mind seeing $1,000 an ounce. I would buy couple kilos at that price.

 

[Crusty]

Gold has been trending upwards since the gold standard ended in 1933. Seems to be a bit a longer trend than the 3 year window you base your investments on

As far as selling gold, it's pretty easy to get above spot price for gold in small domination. It's even easier if you have large bars. You can easily get $200/ounce over spot if you have gold in large denominations/bars with gold brokers, as demand for gold bars is quite high.

Funny how in your post you claim a ridiculous return in a 1-yr window.

Do you also realize that you lose value when selling at spot price? Gold is not the place to put cash for your emergency fund.

 

[pete6032]

Ally's savings account is sitting at 1.00% and their money market is 0.85%.

That's where my E.F. is.