Discover Savings account

[Humboldt]

Looking at the pitiful interest rates I get in savings accounts with BOA and Umpqua (west coast).

0.01%

Please don't flag me Philip, but anyone here tried the Discover Savings account, or anything similar:
https://www.discover.com/online-bank...vings-account/
?

Not a ton in the accounts but they're growing, and long term 0.40% seems a hell of a lot better than 0.01%

Would rather keep this money safe and growing instead of investing it.

[Philip]

I don't think the difference of 0.39% is worth jumping through many hoops, but yeah, Discover, CITI and a few other banks have higher yield savings.
Your next option if you want to stay FDIC insured is CD accounts (locking your money for a period of time, let's say a year), they offer slightly higher APY, maybe up to 0.7% currently.
There are some compared here: https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds...#best-cd-rates

Moving up from there, you can get into US Government Treasury bonds, which would yield you 1-3%, but you'd have to lock your money for a couple of years or so, and buy bonds in 2-5k chunks. Your money there would not be FDIC insured, but still backed by the "full faith in the US government". Most banks also have affiliation with some brokerage firms, for example Bank of America works with Merrill Lynch, and they can open both bank and brokerage accounts and have them linked to each other for easy money transfer. You don't have to buy risky investments if you don't want, government bonds is just another very safe option I am throwing out there as food for thought.

[Humboldt]

I don't think the difference of 0.39% is worth jumping through many hoops, but yeah, Discover, CITI and a few other banks have higher yield savings.
Your next option if you want to stay FDIC insured is CD accounts (locking your money for a period of time, let's say a year), they offer slightly higher APY, maybe up to 0.7% currently.
There are some compared here: https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds...#best-cd-rates

Moving up from there, you can get into US Government Treasury bonds, which would yield you 1-3%, but you'd have to lock your money for a couple of years or so, and buy bonds in 2-5k chunks. Your money there would not be FDIC insured, but still backed by the "full faith in the US government". Most banks also have affiliation with some brokerage firms, for example Bank of America works with Merrill Lynch, and they can open both bank and brokerage accounts and have them linked to each other for easy money transfer. You don't have to buy risky investments if you don't want, government bonds is just another very safe option I am throwing out there as food for thought.

Thanks for the tips.

I have stocks and financial advisors, already doing the risky investments.
Already both BOA and Merrill customer.

Just want to treat my savings account the way I've thought about them since I was a kid...put money in when you can but don't take it back out unless you really need it, figure making a bit more wouldn't hurt.
Not making much but available immediately if you need it.

Wouldn't have the time constraints of a CD, but I'll look into them.

Would rather have a bit set aside not tied into stocks.

[Easto]

I can't add too much to what has already been said, but Philip is correct about jumping through some hoops trying to take advantage of a few 10ths of a percentage point, it just isn't worth it. Even if you're talking about $100,000 + in a savings account you're wasting your time thinking that it's an investment. With interest rates being so low it's just a place to park your money. You could buy a couple CDs but you're still fooling yourself into believing there is some substantial difference in returns that is going to put you over the top.

As an example, the return that Mrs. Easto and I made off our "backup" savings account was only 2.8% of what we made in one of our conservative mutual fund investments (all things being equal).

[YARDofSTUF]

CDs are nice, and say you have about 2 grand saved, put a grand in a CD for a year, then 6 months later if you are still able to save or not need to dip into your savings, put another grand into a 1 year and keep them rolling like that, and if you are able to save up another grand, roll that into one at another interval, so you arent locked out of all of it for a whole year.

And I wouldnt bother with a 2 year CD unless it was at least .95.

[Humboldt]

I can't add too much to what has already been said, but Philip is correct about jumping through some hoops trying to take advantage of a few 10ths of a percentage point, it just isn't worth it.

I hear you, although it be a 3900% increase...I think.
https://www.percentagecal.com/answer...om-0.01-to-0.4

I just want to keep the money handy if I need it on short notice. Plenty of stocks and ETFs.

[Easto]

I just want to keep the money handy if I need it on short notice.

I totally understand, it is ingrained into me too. Some of my earliest memories as a kid were when my mom took me to the bank to open my own savings account. From early on I always knew the concept of savings and what it was for. Saving money and having a readily available stash of cash is really just part of who I am.

[Philip]

I have a few bucks in a joint savings account with the Ms, but I've just lowered my expectations of any return/interest in there to the point where it's just a nuisance when I have to remember to include that few bucks of "interest" on my taxes, it's less than a case of beer so I don't even think about it as investment. It is still somewhat useful because when linked with checking accounts, it helps maintain a good relationship/status with the bank, that way they charge fewer monthly fees for linked accounts. I am talking about fee schedule overall, as in ATM fees, Wire/ACH transfer fees, check image fees, paper statement fees, card replacement fees, check order fees, etc. etc. Those are a lot more than any interest I'd earn.