ING Direct?
 

My Citibank "super" money market account is crappy...earning a tad above 1%. I'm going with Fidelity on investments (maybe this could use another thread) but for this, I just want a good rate on a standard savings account.

Does anybody have any experience with <a href="http://www.ingdirect.com">ING Direct</a>? Any recommendations? What's the catch? They are claiming 3.4% on a simple account, and their CDs look good, upwards of 5%.

Should I just forget about savings accounts (minimize the amount I have there) and focus on good short-, mid-, and long-term investing?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It depends how liquid you want your savings to be... If you might need the money fast then don't put it in a CD- although some banks let you do 6 month ones.

I use an ING orange savings account- it has a great return.
I still dont get how they do it... compared to USBANK and other banks their return is just awsome. I suppose its the lack of physical locations ...?

also if you open an account try to get a referal- gives you 25 bucks and the referer $10

I would suggest that you keep at least several months worth of expenses in a liquid short term savings account - such as ING direct. I have an account there myself and have had no problems with it. The rate they offer is the rate they give - no minimums or monthly fees. If you do need to withdraw money, however, give yourself a couple of days to recieve it.

Once you have your short term savings set up and funded, I would then recommend starting to concentrate on other investments. I've seen quite a few people jump the gun on long term investing and end up needing the cash way ahead of schedule - and paid for it in taxes and penaties.

For more opinions on ING, you can take a look at this thread

Hope this helps :D

ING is good. I've got a fair amount of money parked there. There've been no problems, and money moves back and forth in within the timeframe they guarantee -- sometimes much faster.

I've no idea how they do it, but they're FDIC-insured, and that's all that counts.

ING is goo,d I also like emigrant-direct.com which offers a bit higher percent. From my personal experience emigrant takes longer to transfer the money, thus your money is less liquid.

I tried to start an ING account, and I set up the transfer and everything, and then I checked it out a week later and for some reason it had kicked back to me, money never went in. Couldn't figure it out. I would like to try to get it to work though. I'll have to try it again when I get some time/money. My friends all love it!

I have ING and love it.. even have house loan through them. great company. highly recomend this company.