My readership has had a substantial jump, lately--part of it is that WSJ article I was mentioned in, but I think part of it, too, is the increased attention to money management around the New Year--apparently, the most common resolution is to save more money. So though it's often taken for granted in the pf blogosphere, I thought I'd mention the financial staple that is online high-yield savings accounts.
Like many personal finance bloggers (and many non-bloggers!) I keep my savings in ING Direct's high-yield online savings account. It's not the highest rate out there--I think that crown sits atop Emigrant Direct or E*Trade's head at present. Nevertheless, I stick with ING because I like their super-easy interface, great reliability, and, perhaps most of all, the ability to set aside money in sub-accounts for different purposes. And the 4.1% is higher than you'll find at nearly any brick-and-mortar bank. I think I was earning .05% before I found ING. (Yuck.)
I've referred a bunch of friends and family to ING, but, as Single Ma pointed out, ING has wiped their referral logs, so I can refer some of my readers. If you use this link to open an Orange Savings account with $250 or more, you get a $25 bonus--that more than equalizes the interest rate issue for most modest savings accounts (based on some quick calculations, it's worth going elsewhere for a 5% interest rate if your account is starting at $2,777 or higher--you may want to do your own math, given that I, uh, majored in English). I get $10, too, which I'd count as non-salary income and put towards grad school. Everybody wins.
Referral #11Referral #12Referral #13Referral #14
Referral #15
Like Trent does, I also use Electric Orange Checking. It's not my primary checking--it's a dedicated account for my grad school application expenses--but I do find it useful and simple. If I ever needed to get cash from that account, there's a very comprehensive network of free ATMs, too (though so far I haven't tried using one).
Anyway, if you're interested in that, give it a shot. Same $25/$10 referral structure. Here it's actually an even better deal, since interest on checking accounts is lower than on savings accounts.
Referral #1
Referral #2
I'm pretty sure you can only get one bonus. Let me know if it turns out otherwise!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Get Your ING Sign-Up Bonus Here!
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3 comments:
Hey,
Found your site through pfblogs.com. It sounds like we're on the same mission. I just started a blog called www.wealthygrad.com and graduated with a degree in Literature AND one of my very first posts was about the awesomeness of high-yield savings accounts.
I would love to hear more about why you started this blog, how long you've been around, and what some of your major goals are.
Email me at pamelacapalad@gmail.com if you have time.
Pamela.
The ING Orange is my main savings account. The ATM network is super convenient and reliable. The main one for is a Chase ATM at my local Duane Reade across the street.
The people at ING seem pretty stupid to me. I tried to claim a $50 bonus for signing up there that came with my new computer or software; they said someone had already used the code and they didn't seem interested in investigating the obvious fraud.
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