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Home > THIRD entry... hehe. I need a little advice!

THIRD entry... hehe. I need a little advice!

November 11th, 2006 at 07:02 am

So after my last post and a couple responses about the incredibly low interest rate on my savings account, I started looking into online savings accounts. This is where I finally figured out what an ING account was, hehe. I did a little research, talked to BF about it, read a couple threads in the forums, and did a little more research. I've decided to open up an emigrantdirect account. 5.05% sounds a bit better than 0.55%. My problem is this: I just opened up my National City savings account a couple months ago. I dont know why I didn't do all this research then, but for some reason I though it was just best to go with the bank where my checking was. At any rate, I'm not sure if the bank charges a fee for closing the account, but even beyond that I dont think it looks very good to creditors to see closed checking accounts on my record. I may want to buy a car someday or something to that effect. So should I leave the minimum $300 in the account and just transfer the difference into the emigrant account, or close my national city account and transfer the whole? Obviously I'd make the most in interest if I closed the account and transferred the total, but I'm not sure of all the consequences following the closing of a savings account. Thanks guys! Hopefully I'll make my way to the bank tomorrow to get this all sorted out! Smile

Posted in Daily Little Blurbs, The Budget | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “THIRD entry... hehe. I need a little advice!”

  1. tinapbeana Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 02:03 pm 1163253805
    1163253805

    IMO, always keep a real life checking, and possibly a savings, account. that's where i keep my bill money and my super-emergency money. all actual savings, EF, yearly bill money, etc goes into the online account.

    i'm under the impression that having multiple accounts can be a positive thing when one is trying to build credit/apply for loans etc. i know my mortgage broker was tickled pink to see three checking accounts , 2 savings accounts, and a 401k from DH and me in june...

  2. Joe W Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 02:10 pm 1163254209
    1163254209

    Keep your checking account open - you'll need a checking account to transfer your money to and from your on-line savings account (e.g. Emigrant Direct or ING).

    Close the savings account. Normally banks charge a fee if you go below a certain ammount in your savings account; however, if you close the account completely (after transfering your savings account money to another account (i.e. your checking account) the bank cannot charge you a fee for this because the account is closed. And no banks do not charge you fees for closing an account.

    As far as dinging your credit reports, savings and checking accounts are not on your credit reports and no one cares how often you open and close a savings account. Plus you will still have a savings account with Emigrant Direct...So, get the larger interest with Emigrant Direct and kick the .55% savings account to the curb.

  3. campfrugal Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 02:12 pm 1163254357
    1163254357

    I have a savings account attached to my checking account in one bank, just in case I need funds right away. Some call it an EF (emergency fund) here on the blogs. When it gets to a certain amount, I transfer that to my ING account to draw the higher interest. My checking and savings accounts are bare bones accounts, where my money is direct deposited and I do all of my bill paying, savings transfers, ING deposit, mutual fund deductions, etc. My Pay Pal is also connected to this account for e-bay and other transactions, but kept with no money in it, but Pay Pal is a useful tool when someone needs to pay me. A certain amount of money is transferred to my savings account every month from my checking and the rest is used to do the transactions listed above, then I manually transfer any overages and extras to my ING account or to another financial institution (not listed here in my blog) for safer keeping. I also use a debit card off of my bare bones account and that is the only card I use, just in case someone steals my purse or it gets lost, my bare bones accounts are the only ones breached. I set it up that way so that most of my money is protected in other areas. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Just my opinion.

  4. pjmama Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 02:44 pm 1163256243
    1163256243

    Thanks guys! And just to clarify, I was going to keep my checking open... Smile I think I kinda need that to do the online savings anyway, haha. I've decided to keep some money in my national city account- my emergency funds. Mom said I should have some cash stored away to the tune of 3 months expenses. I'm not sure what's in there now will cover that, but it's something I can work on. I'll leave one month's expenses in there for now. Thanks for the input!

  5. monkeymama Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 03:06 pm 1163257591
    1163257591

    Cool. I just made that "oh so obvious" switch a few months back. I feel so dumb for settling for 0.85% for so long - LOL. You will be rolling in interest soon - hehe - hooray!!!!

  6. PRICEPLUS Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 03:16 pm 1163258181
    1163258181

    pjmama, I am so glad you are opening the ED account. It shows youare very proactive now when it comes to your money! Good for you!Smile

  7. LuxLiving Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 04:10 pm 1163261414
    1163261414

    Each and every day you are getting more savvy and smart about your money! GOOD on YOU!!!

  8. LuckyRobin Says:
    November 11th, 2006 at 09:30 pm 1163280620
    1163280620

    I opened the ING account to get the $25 bonus. After 6 months (the time you must have the $250 in there for to keep the bonus) I may close it and transfer it all to Emigrant, depends on where interest rates are then, or I may just open an ING CD for a better rate. But $25 is a lot of money. $25 interest in a year would be 10 percent of 250. $25 interest in six months is phenomonal. Just something to think about.

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