Best short-term investing?

[kellia]

What's the best way to invest a small amount for a year or so? DD (currently in 11th grade) wants to get a full time job this summer and put most of the money into a savings account for college.

Thanks!

 

[vaDisneyGuy]

Savings accounts do not pay that much in interest. A short term CD might pay a little bit more interest.
I would talk with someone at the bank you plan to use and they can go over the accounts that they offer.

 

[starry_solo]

Check with your local bank (not one of the big ones like BofA, Chase, Citi) but a local one to your city/state. A lot of times, they have kids savings accounts that pay 2% interest per year, no minimum amount but the only catch is that the person has to be under 18 years of age (hence, a "kids" savings account).

My local bank has that promotion and I'm like, ooh, too bad I'm not under 18!

Another idea, if your child is older, check into savings and checking accounts at Chase if you have a minimum amount. I keep on getting these deals in the credit card that if you open a checking account and have direct deposit, you can get $125-150 in 6 months (really, it's in 3 months but you need to keep the account open for 6 months). That's not a bad deal. Savings - if you have $10K - you can also open a Chase account and get $150 in 6 months. That's a potential of $275 - 300 in 6 months, which is pretty good!

 

[amcnj]

Don't forget to check internet banks and local credit unions. They sometimes offer much better rates on savings than other bankls do. The savings rates can be close to what a cd rate is and you are not tying up the money and can add or withdraw as needed.

 

[fab5friend99]

Check out discoverbank.com and personalsavings.americanexpress.com. Discover has the higher rate now for their online savings which is still not saying much. But it's safe and it's not a CD.