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Do you try and get the best deals for savings accounts?

Pankratous

Pankratous

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,246
It seems like everyone I know is happy to stick with the same bank and savings account regardless of how bad the interest rate is, including myself. My interest rate is currently 0.15%, close to non existent.

I've looked around and I could get 1.35% at best (non-fixed/paid account) which is some free money lying on the table, so I guess I could open a new account but then I feel like I just can't be arsed juggling accounts.

Same time though, I feel like if more people played the game and swapped to the best rates then it would force the banks to actually think about being competitive and drive interest rates up a little, so maybe it would be good for everyone to try and start getting the most out of banks.

I know exactly one person who tries to take advantage of all the switching deals, but that's it.

I've personally had the same bank and accounts for my entire life. How about you?
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
15,993
Savings account? What year is this? Get in contact with Vanguard or Fidelity if you have money you'd like to save with a decent return. Savings accounts are pointless.
 
GK86

GK86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,751
I have been with my bank for about 6 or 7 years at this point. But when I found out that Discover has 1.30% (it is up to 1.70% now) for their savings account, I opened one up. I ain't loyal.
 
Massicot

Massicot

RPG Site
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,232
United States
I got the highest rate account available at my bank, I could probably get an even better one if I shopped around but 1.) I can't be arsed 2.) I would rather just pull money out of the savings account and put into something like an index fund at that point anyway.
 
Ikuu

Ikuu

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,294
You should only use Savings Accounts for holding onto an emergency fund or any short term savings, anything else you'll want to look elsewhere.

Pankratous said:
I've personally had the same bank and accounts for my entire life. How about you?
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This is just stupid. You could easily have made £1000 switching accounts, or just moved to a better account.

ZackieChan said:
Basically this. Savings accounts are for 5 year olds and grandmas.
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You're suggesting that people invest their emergency funds? And also place them in an account they don't have instant access to?
 
x3sphere

x3sphere

Member
Oct 27, 2017
973
I wouldn't bother switching for a small amount but there's a lot of banks offering way more than 0.15 % so you should get on that.

been using Amex Savings for awhile now, it was up to 2% at one point, I think down to around 1.7% now but still very competitive

Most of the banks offering good returns are online only so it's simple to open up an account. I don't know why you wouldn't bother
 
SpillYerBeans

SpillYerBeans

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,204
I was taught you have more than 1 bank account in case things go south so yeah, I have a savings account with a online bank and they offer a nice percentage.
 
Addie

Addie

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,687
DFW
Manmademan said:
Savings account? What year is this? Get in contact with Vanguard or Fidelity if you have money you'd like to save with a decent return. Savings accounts are pointless.
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Exactly this.

I get keeping a some amount of money liquid, but it should be as small as reasonably possible and only as large as strictly necessary.
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
15,993
Ikuu said:
You're suggesting that people invest their emergency funds? And also place them in an account they don't have instant access to?
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One assumes a checking account would be sufficient for emergency funds. But the OP seemed to be concerned about rate of return, which didn't really say "emergency fund" money to me here.

The discussion of organizing to force banks to raise interest rates on savings accounts doesn't make a lot of sense if we're strictly talking emergency funds here.
 
x3sphere

x3sphere

Member
Oct 27, 2017
973
Ikuu said:
You're suggesting that people invest their emergency funds? And also place them in an account they don't have instant access to?
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He seems to be, which is silly. I max out my Roth and 401k but still have a savings account with at least six months living expenses. I could certainly dump the rest in a taxable account with Vanguard but for an emergency fund that doesn't seem smart at all
 
tommyv2

tommyv2

Member
Nov 6, 2017
1,425
Savings accounts are for 3 months' salary savings for emergencies only. Get a nice investment portfolio and enjoy your future!
 
Ikuu

Ikuu

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,294
Manmademan said:
One assumes a checking account would be sufficient for emergency funds. But the OP seemed to be concerned about rate of return, which didn't really say "emergency fund" money to me here.

The discussion of organizing to force banks to raise interest rates on savings accounts doesn't make a lot of sense if we're strictly talking emergency funds here.
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OP is in the UK and Savings Accounts give a better return than a Current Account on anything over a few thousand. If you're saving for a deposit for a house you'll want to put that somewhere also.
 
lt519

lt519

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,064
Get the best rate for yourself. 0.15% is garbage.

Emergency funds go in a savings account and not the market. Excess funds should be redirected to go into 401 and IRA if not already maxed. If maxed, then yeah sure play around in the market if you want.
 
ZackieChan

ZackieChan

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,056
Ikuu said:
You should only use Savings Accounts for holding onto an emergency fund or any short term savings, anything else you'll want to look elsewhere.



This is just stupid. You could easily have made £1000 switching accounts, or just moved to a better account.


You're suggesting that people invest their emergency funds? And also place them in an account they don't have instant access to?
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Checking account or credit cards for emergency fund, the rest of your money in some index funds.
 
scurker

scurker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
657
Ikuu said:
You're suggesting that people invest their emergency funds? And also place them in an account they don't have instant access to?
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It's not for the risk adverse, but it's what I do. I have 25% of my emergency fund in liquid savings, and the other 75% is in a vanguard account split between a bond index fund, and a total market index fund. My philosophy has been there are few to little emergencies where I will need immediate access to liquid cash. So a 1-2 week delay is likely acceptable for the trade-off of a potentially higher return. Yes, there's a chance I would lose some emergency funds in this scenario, but I'm also "losing" money if I leave it just sitting there in a low-rate interest account so any trade-offs are worth the risk to me.

A safer option if you're risk adverse is to establish a CD ladder. It will take a couple of years to build up successfully, but it's a much lower risk than putting in the market, but a higher return than just using savings.
 
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OP
OP
Pankratous

Pankratous

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,246
Surprised to see so many people talking about stocks and shares already... I thought very few people did that sort of thing. I don't know anybody who does.
 

Deleted member 4367

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scurker said:
It's not for the risk adverse, but it's what I do. I have 25% of my emergency fund in liquid savings, and the other 75% is in a vanguard account split between a bond index fund, and a total market index fund. My philosophy has been there are few to little emergencies where I will need immediate access to liquid cash. So a 1-2 week delay is likely acceptable for the trade-off of a potentially higher return. Yes, there's a chance I would lose some emergency funds in this scenario, but I'm also "losing" money if I leave it just sitting there in a low-rate interest account so any trade-offs are worth the risk to me.
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But liquidating investment money is a taxable event right?
 
BDS

BDS

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,845
Manmademan said:
One assumes a checking account would be sufficient for emergency funds.
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I don't put all my eggs in one basket. What happens if someone hacks my bank account or steals my debit card?

I split my money evenly between a checking account and an Ally Bank savings account with a ~1.7% interest rate (keeps going down every few months).
 
lt519

lt519

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,064
Pankratous said:
Surprised to see so many people talking about stocks and shares already... I thought very few people did that sort of thing. I don't know anybody who does.
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You should only be getting into that once you've built up an emergency fund, have maxed all your tax-free/pre-tax investment options (IRA, 401, ISA, whatever it is the UK has), and even then putting the rest in index funds is still poor diversification. Go get advice from the investment OT instead of Etcetera. Some of the advice in this thread is astoundingly bad, like using a credit card as your emergency fund.
 
Septimus Prime

Septimus Prime

EA
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
8,500
No. As mentioned above, there's no real point trying to min-max when the difference in interest is like 0.02%. You're better off dropping it into a safe investment like indeed funds.
 
ZackieChan

ZackieChan

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,056
konka said:
That's pretty silly. Why would I keep that in a checkout accounting making zero interest when an Ally account is at 1.6%.
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i mean, the checking account portion is negligible- I basically use my credit cards as a liquid emergency fund, backed up by what is in the higher interest accounts in index funds.
 
OP
OP
Pankratous

Pankratous

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,246
Ikuu said:
Would be Workplace Pension, SIPP, or Stocks and Shares ISA here. Most people are completely clueless about these sorts of things, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_chiIIxMGl0 this is a good video series that explains passive investing.
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I'll give this a watch purely out of interest, but from what I've read already it isn't for me. At least not until I'm in a position to commit for a few years.
 
SABO.

SABO.

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,872
I get 2.15% on my savings account. Getting less than 2% is madness to me lol.

ZackieChan said:
i mean, the checking account portion is negligible- I basically use my credit cards as a liquid emergency fund, backed up by what is in the higher interest accounts in index funds.
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Theres no way I'd recommend most people to use a credit card as an emergency fund.

You realize most people are poor or not good enough with money to handle a credit card? (That applies to rich people too) A savings account is a much better and safer option for most people.
 
konka

konka

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,856
ZackieChan said:
i mean, the checking account portion is negligible- I basically use my credit cards as a liquid emergency fund, backed up by what is in the higher interest accounts in index funds.
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I mean sure. But you still need to be able to back your credit card charges with money. For people with large mortgage and student loan balances those are going to be priorities in the case of job loss, which credit cards are not viable emergency options for paying. So I guess good for you and your confidence but I ain't gonna keep my 6 months of living expenses in index funds.
 
ZackieChan

ZackieChan

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,056
SABO. said:
I get 2.15% on my savings account. Getting less than 2% is madness to me lol.



Theres no way I'd recommend most people to use a credit card as an emergency fund.

You realize most people are poor or not good enough with money to handle a credit card? (That applies to rich people too) A savings account is a much better and safer option for most people.
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Yes, all those poor people who can't get credit cards but also have huge emergency funds where 1% difference in interest rate is a big deal. Would love to see that Venn diagram.
konka said:
I mean sure. But you still need to be able to back your credit card charges with money. For people with large mortgage and student loan balances those are going to be priorities in the case of job loss, which credit cards are not viable emergency options for paying. So I guess good for you and your confidence but I ain't gonna keep my 6 months of living expenses in index funds.
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You can pay student loans and I'd imagine a mortgage (don't know) with a credit card. Or keep a few months of mortgage payments on hand in your checking account. I dunno, just doesn't seem worth any of the hassle to get a slightly better rate in a savings account. Especially when I can pay out of my Schwab investment account the next day after selling shares.
 
StarStorm

StarStorm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
7,595
I still have a savings account that gave 0.01% which is practically nothing. Moved some of my funds to another savings account at a credit union which gave 0.8%. Then I started investing last year into stocks or ETF's. Still new to this. Wished I jumped into Tesla when it was low.
 
konka

konka

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,856
ZackieChan said:
Yes, all those poor people who can't get credit cards but also have huge emergency funds where 1% difference in interest rate is a big deal. Would love to see that Venn diagram.

You can pay student loans and I'd imagine a mortgage (don't know) with a credit card. Or keep a few months of mortgage payments on hand in your checking account. I dunno, just doesn't seem worth any of the hassle to get a slightly better rate in a savings account. Especially when I can pay out of my Schwab investment account the next day after selling shares.
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Paying a credit line with a credit line is a balance transfer and comes with all the associated fees. Again, it's fine if you fe comfortable with it but most people aren't going to be comfortable keeping emergency funds in uninsured accounts.
 
SABO.

SABO.

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,872
ZackieChan said:
Yes, all those poor people who can't get credit cards but also have huge emergency funds where 1% difference in interest rate is a big deal. Would love to see that Venn diagram.
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Are you that detached from reality? You think everyone uses a credit card as they should be? You need to get out of that bubble.

Most people use credit cards to buy shit out of their means and are not able to pay the balance in full each month.

Theres a reason why majority of people are in debt and it's not because they're investing in assets that will have long term gain.


ValuePenguin found that more than 40% of all US households carry credit card debt, with the average American household carrying a balance of $US5,700. For only indebted households, which excludes people who pay their balances in full every month, the average debt is $US9,333.
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For most people, a credit card is not a good idea.
 
lt519

lt519

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,064
Ikuu said:
Why do you say this?
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In the context of my post of what to do after maxing out your retirement savings (which will be diversified for you and when younger tracking towards Large Cap Growth Index Funds anyway) you'd want to be in more than just equities. A diversified portfolio of wealth isn't 100% equity based. Property should be a percentage of a well balanced portfolio among other things. Earning passive income through renting, etc, are all great ways of making your money work for you that spread out the risk.

As always do your own research and don't rely on Etcetera for investment advice. Everyone's situation is different.
 
DocTarHeel

DocTarHeel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
88
Of course - its the smart thing to do. I have a 3 month emergency fund that is split between a high yield savings account at a local credit union solely for the liquidity and the rest is in a 5 year CD ladder at ally bank.
 
sfedai0

sfedai0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,937
Nah. 1.5-2% is just not worth parking my money when the equity market is so hot. Plus, I tend to keep less than 10k on hand. I see no situation where I would need cash immediate.
 
aerts1js

aerts1js

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May 11, 2019
1,384
I put every spare penny I have into index funds; not gonna waste my time with savings accounts
 

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x3sphere said:
I wouldn't bother switching for a small amount but there's a lot of banks offering way more than 0.15 % so you should get on that.

been using Amex Savings for awhile now, it was up to 2% at one point, I think down to around 1.7% now but still very competitive

Most of the banks offering good returns are online only so it's simple to open up an account. I don't know why you wouldn't bother
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I keep 6 months savings in that Amex Savings for an emergency fund, +500$ a month towards it, everything else is in checking for active needs, paying down car note or student loans, in fidelity or vanguard serving some explicit purpose. Even my job is 6% Match on 401k with 3% auto (give 6%, you get 15% in your 401k, vesting after 1 year you can't beat that)

I'm building up multiple streams of income but this is not the place for financial advice. I never heard of someone paying student loans with a credit card. Ever. That's just a balance transfer.
 
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super-famicom

super-famicom

Avenger
Oct 26, 2017
25,161
Look into switching to an online bank. I currently have a savings account with Ally Bank, which currently has a 1.60% APY, as well as another savings account with Discover Bank that currently has a 1.70% APY. They both fluctuate due to the market and were at 2.00% for the majority of last year.
 
ChrisR

ChrisR

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,795
Man fuck Ally, put a bunch of money in there and they've cut rates what seems like every other week since
 
ZackieChan

ZackieChan

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,056
SABO. said:
Are you that detached from reality? You think everyone uses a credit card as they should be? You need to get out of that bubble.

Most people use credit cards to buy shit out of their means and are not able to pay the balance in full each month.

Theres a reason why majority of people are in debt and it's not because they're investing in assets that will have long term gain.




For most people, a credit card is not a good idea.
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They should be paying off the debt that's costing them 20% interest and not fretting about which savings account to park all this extra emergency fund money in, which gets them an extra .5% in interest? I could do this all day.
 
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