Savings Account question

[kellia]

Dh and I are taking the Dave Ramsey class through church, hopefully that will give us the motivation we need to get our mess in order! I had a question about where those of you who have savings accounts for "emergency funds" put it. Do you keep it in a regular savings acct at your bank or is there some other place that has a better return rate that would be easy to get the money if you needed it? We've almost got our $1000 and I want to set something up to start taking money out of our account automatically to start saving some more.

 

[budbeerlady]

I keep mine in ING, I have a separte emergency fund account. Then if I need it I can transfer it to either my checking or to my ing checking if I need it that day.

 

[tomthebarncat]

We keep exactly 1 year of DH salary in CD's that are renewable every 90 days. I am thinking about moving it into Roth IRA for the tax benefits but have not really decided. We have a few bucks in Vanguard money market accounts but most of our money is sitting in our bank in CDS as we live in Germany and need to be able to access our money in case we need to go back to the states on very short notice.

 

[canwegosoon]

I use ING...but there are several better rates out there HBSC I think is one.

 

[disneedee]

i do the online acct (ing). it is set up to take money out of my regular checking acct every week. also have some in the company credit union, which is an auto deposit from paycheck. both must be accessed online or by phone so getting $ is a little more difficult than just in the regular acct and the interest rate is better than the regular bank also. (not that i'm going to make much on the interest but it is better than nothing)

 

[mmfan53226]

We are in the beginning of getting our savings back in order. I have a separate account at a different bank that we do our normal banking in. No tyme cards only access to view on the web.

I have also just started putting away a small amount from each paycheck.

It is slowly mounting, which is a good thing.

Krystine

 

[firsttimer2007]

We bounce ours around. Money Market rates run from 5%-7% if you have over $10,000.

Local banks will run specials on Money Market accounts with deposits of $10,000 or more (new money). The rate is usurally set for 6 months. So we stick it somewhere for 6 months then move it to the next place that has a great rate. That way our money stays liquid but earns a great rate too.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We have ours in an FDIC insured money market account.

 

[nowellsl]

I have mine in an internet money market checking account (GMAC bank). It comes with a debit card and checks so I can get to it locally if I need to.

 

[Chelley00]

We keep our emergency fund in a HSBC account, separate from our vacation savings account. We have an ATM card we can get it if we need it, but we leave that card at home in a filing cabinet so its untouchable unless it's a true emergency.

 

[ceecee]

We bounce ours around. Money Market rates run from 5%-7% if you have over $10,000.

Local banks will run specials on Money Market accounts with deposits of $10,000 or more (new money). The rate is usurally set for 6 months. So we stick it somewhere for 6 months then move it to the next place that has a great rate. That way our money stays liquid but earns a great rate too.

Wow...7%? I haven't seen that for a MM (or CD) in years! Our bank had a 5% special w/ a deposit of 5000 and you had to leave it in for 6 mos. That's the best I've seen in our area in MM or CDs. Some advertise with higher interest but they compound differently daily verus monthly verus yearly so they turn out closer to being the same.

 

[jetprincess]

Do you mind me asking where you have had the best luck?

 

[FinallyHome]

Our emergency fund is in a regular savings account. We also have a Roth IRA and 401 K that we have no intent on spending until we're in our 60's. We're fortunate that with our bank (USAA) we get a really high interest rate as far as savings accounts go (slightly higher than ING). I've heard good things about ING though. Good luck!
~Christy

 

[Chicago526]

Right now we only have about 1k in savings (Dave Ramsey plan) so I just keep it in regular savings. Yeah it's only 1% but it's also only $1k so it doesn't really matter. I want it instantly available.

Once our debt is paid off (3 years, give or take a month) and we start putting serious money away for a real emergency fund, then we'll look at either a money market at my bank or one of the online banks, it will depend on who has the best rate.