Jesus Pimp

Can anyone recommend a good ones? I'm currently ING Direct.

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tinfoil

What country?

CIBC has some higher interest accounts in Canada, but you have to keep a certain minimum balance.

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Jesus Pimp

US

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Randerolf

I'm not sure what organizations you are involved with, but Credit Unions usually beat traditional banks on intrest rates on savings accounts, loans, and other financial products.

I am a member of Seaboard Credit Union, a railroad related organization. From credit unions for people in the navy and their familly to educational credit unions, They are a great way to go.


PS The people at mine know me by name. Credit Unions are great.

Jdoe

I would tend to advise against savings accounts. The taxes you will pay on any interest for the year will kill any minimal return you would have.

If you are looking for long term, open an IRA and two no down mutual funds. If you are looking for something temporary, you would probably be better off doing anything other than a savings account. The hassle with the taxes alone would keep me out of that, much less the lack of any real gain.

Jdoe

cowlick

If you've got over 5G, look for a money market for a very flexible slightly higher interest rate than a regular savings account.

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aisoku

Haha! I just looked at my last bank statement, my annual interest is 0.10%

That's such a joke!

alkaloid

If you have money, the goal is to grow it faster than inflation rate. You know there is a whole profession called financial planners/money managers who do this for you. Their job is to assess your growth needs, risk tolerance, and cashflow/liquidity requirements and create a balanced portfolio for you. They charge certain fraction of your money, usually less than 1%, and/or hourly fee. And yes they will usually recommend equities as part of your portfolio. If you had put your money in a simple blue chip index fund 6 months ago, your money would now be worth 25% more. That's like 50% annualized return.

To make money, I have come to realize that it really helps to have a lot of money already. Also, ability to predict future (correctly) is immensely useful.

rodgerd

Shit, I can get 4 - 4.5% in a New Zealand account, and up to 5.5% on a term deposit.

Of course, you'd have to juggle the whole exchange rate business if you're outside NZ.

Dnz

interest rates are at an all time low. Its not time to save, its time to invest, wisely.

j8ear

I've heard from a few different sources that the ING direct savings account is currently about the best you can get.

2.0 percent. That is awesome.

Beats both of my credit union accounts [Navy (1.26 %) AND NASA (.8 %) federal credit unions].

Looks like you've already found the sweetest of saving returns

-bear

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jujueye

Dnz you beat me to it. Savings cannot be considered an investment, but can be a safe place for your dollars.

Try a credit union. OR try a money market account, which often pay lots better than a regular savings account through dividends.

Dnz

Now is the time to invest if you want returns tho, coz stocks etc are undervalued. Saving is not good at the moment, if you want to grow wealth, invest.

rodgerd

Undervalued? Most stocks are still at P/E ratios well above historical norms.

Frozen North

May I suggest getting some U.S. Treasury bonds at least? (~2% rate of return, if I remember correctly)

Dnz

New zealand stocks are doing ok considering, But overseas, they are below what they should be.. I mean look, just coz mr osama sent a videotape, all the stockmarkets closed down in points today!

Jesus Pimp

Thanks all for the advice. I have the slightest clue about investing. Anyone have any good resources?

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Battlefield

If you are looking for the liquidity of a savings account then ING I think is best. As to hiring a financial anaylst, unless you have significant amount I wouldn't bother. Most anaylsts can at best only give you a market return, obviously. Paying someone to do something you can do yourself for free is a complete waste of money.

If you're looking for a good resource theres 100's of books on the topic or you can just go to webpages like msnmoney and cnnfn.com.

It can get quite complicated with tax considerations but you sound young and I don't think you should be too worried about taxes(although I'm not all that familiar with US tax) from your investment income.

cowlick

A great website for learning some basic advice on investing and saving and such:
http://www.fool.com

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viejo gringo

I invest with R W Baird---getting 6% on some tax free
bonds...Wisconsin health has some good tax free's.

Denver civic center is also selling some attractive bonds.

Dnz

Yeah, bonds are currently very attractive compared to bank savings..

alkaloid

I second cowlick
fool.com is great.