Savings Rates

[Michael G.]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

What's your gut feeling on On-Line savings accounts?

Rates very tempting.

Cheers TV People!

[Altavia]

Inflation rates are increasing much faster than interest rates, not sure there is any comfort in that situation.

[JohnN]

What are the rates these days? Last time I looked they were .2%

[Mrfriendly]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

What's your gut feeling on On-Line savings accounts?

Rates very tempting.

Cheers TV People!

Capital One up to 1.2% for savings. Chase still not so much :cry:

[retiredguy123]

The Vanguard Money Market Fund is paying 1.5 percent, and the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund is paying 3.33 percent. I think a combination of those two funds will outperform most online savings rates, even though you have a little risk with the bond fund.

It looks like the highest online savings rate is about 1.75 percent. I will stay with mutual funds for the cash portion of my portfolio.

[Babubhat]

3 month Treasury 2.5%. Better than cd

[MartinSE]

I hear all this about savings being good or bad. I am not smart when it comes to investing, but "savings" accounts have always seems to be so low as to not be worth while to me. Mutual funds or other liquidish places always seem to pay more.

[Michael G.]

Capital One up to 1.2% for savings. Chase still not so much :cry:

Goldman Sacs has a internet banking rate of 1.90%

[Michael G.]

Those rates on checking accounts are a joke.
Why waste the time/effort with $5,000 - $8,000 in a checking account and get 6 - 7cents a month.

[Caymus]

Goldman Sacs has a internet banking rate of 1.90%
You may be looking at their CD rate or a promo. The savings rate (Marcus) is 1.2%. So, after inflation and taxes the real loss is only about 10%.:smiley:

[retiredguy123]

Goldman Sacs has a internet banking rate of 1.90%
It looks like the Goldman Sachs 1.9 percent rate is for a 12 month CD. The regular savings rate is 1.2 percent.

The highest online savings rate listed at bankrate.com is 1.75 percent at Citizens Access Savings Account. Note that it is "Citizens" not the "Citizens First" in The Villages.

[Michael G.]

You may be looking at their CD rate or a promo. The savings rate (Marcus) is 1.2%. So, after inflation and taxes the real loss is only about 10%.:smiley:

The same way I feel about mutual funds, Taxes PLUS commission.
What's left?

[Caymus]

The same way I feel about mutual funds, Taxes PLUS commission.
What's left?

You should never need to pay a commission. Schwab and others have tons of no commission and low fee funds. I hope you are not dealing with a "full service" salesman.

[Michael G.]

You should never need to pay a commission. Schwab and others have tons of no commission and low fee funds. I hope you are not dealing with a "full service" salesman.

I should of not use the word commission.
I should of stated "taxes + low fees" that needs to be paid.

[retiredguy123]

The same way I feel about mutual funds, Taxes PLUS commission.
What's left?
The expense ratio for the Vanguard money market fund is 0.10 percent and the expense ratio for the short term bond index fund is 0.07 percent. There is no commission. These are extremely low cost funds that provide a reasonable interest rate and liquidity. You can also get paper checks if you want instant access to your money.

[MartinSE]

The expense ratio for the Vanguard money market fund is 0.10 percent and the expense ratio for the short term bond index fund is 0.07 percent. There is no commission. These are extremely low cost funds that provide a reasonable interest rate and liquidity. You can also get paper checks if you want instant access to your money.

Thank you, that is very useful information.

[Hape2Bhr]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

Hard to believe this was missed by someone...are they giving us new calipers/shoes?

[MartinSE]

Hard to believe this was missed by someone...are they giving us new calipers/shoes?

I have heard it takes a master cylinder to activate them, I am only an apprentice cylinder

[Stu from NYC]

Banks have a nice way now to make money. Take in deposits pay almost nothing and use the money to fund mortgages and loans.

[Michael G.]

Hard to believe this was missed by someone...are they giving us new calipers/shoes?

I have heard it takes a master cylinder to activate them, I am only an apprentice cylinder

You two jokers must of missed the part when I wrote ON OUR SAVINGS

[kkingston57]

Wells Fargo offered us 3% 1 year CD. Thought it was too good. Per broker we could get it if we opened brokerage account. PASS

[talonip]

Right now IBONDS are over 9%.

[Rwirish]

Getting 3.35% on a Fidelity two year CD.

[lildfromnyc]

Right now IBONDS are over 9%.

I just started my research on IBonds. I was wondering if it was a good investment.

[Papa_lecki]

I personally would like savings rates at 0.2% and inflation at 2% vs 1.2% and 9%. But that’s me.

[Catalina36]

Keeping ALL of your hard earned cash savings in a bank savings account is a joke. The interest the banks are paying is an insult. I would only keep a enough cash in a bank savings account to access in case of an emergency. Open a brokerage account with TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, or Schwab. Theres a municipal Bond Fund that trades like a stock and pays approx. 5.7% annual interest FEDERAL TAX FREE. Best of All, pays a monthly interest on the first of every month. Yes, the Bond price goes up and down. But really, 5.7% Fed tax Free and a monthly payout. I have been following this Municipal Bond fund for 7 years. I truly believe it's a great fund that should be in your portfolio. Check it out the symbol is IIM.

[HospitalCoder]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

What's your gut feeling on On-Line savings accounts?

Rates very tempting.

Cheers TV People!

My current rate at Ally is 1.24%. I’ve been happy with my savings account. I added a checking account there after moving from the Chicago area. My main account is with Chase and I lived somewhere with no Chase ATMs. Ally reimburses ATM fees so it’s handy sometimes to stop for cash at the postal box area. There app is very nice. It’s super easy to transfer money around, including to and from my Chase account.

[MandoMan]

The Vanguard Money Market Fund is paying 1.5 percent, and the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund is paying 3.33 percent. I think a combination of those two funds will outperform most online savings rates, even though you have a little risk with the bond fund.

It looks like the highest online savings rate is about 1.75 percent. I will stay with mutual funds for the cash portion of my portfolio.

Even 3.33% looks lousy when the inflation rate is hovering around 9%. You still lose more than 5% of your savings a year. So sure, pull out the money in you mutual funds that are down 30% and put them in the best savings account you can find. Lock in that rate. And then, like two days ago, the Dow goes up 780 points in a day, and there’s a year’s interest or more that you missed out on. What is happening now in the market is mostly the expected aftereffects of closing down the country to a sizable extent for many people in 2019 as a result of Covid. It couldn’t be helped. But it will get better. Another big chunk is Russia’s dirty war in Ukraine. That will get better, too. Then the gas prices will drop even more than they have so far and the market will climb. Mutual fund prices will climb far beyond savings accounts. Prices will still be higher on many things because many restaurant and farm workers have received big raises, bringing their incomes, maybe, closer to not being in the poverty range. This is the fair thing to do, and we just have to live with it.

[bragones]

I just started my research on IBonds. I was wondering if it was a good investment.
Ibonds are a good investment but limited. Max is $10k (per person per year). You cannot cash the bond before 12 months from purchase. There's a 3 month interest penalty if you cash the bond prior to 15 months. Of course if you keep the bond beyond 15 months, it continues to earn compound interest. Current interest rate is 9.6% and adjusted every 6 months, based on the current inflation rate. Setting up an account on treasurydirect.gov was straight forward. It took less than 15 minutes. You must link to a bank/checking account for the purchase.

[retiredguy123]

Keeping ALL of your hard earned cash savings in a bank savings account is a joke. The interest the banks are paying is an insult. I would only keep a enough cash in a bank savings account to access in case of an emergency. Open a brokerage account with TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, or Schwab. Theres a municipal Bond Fund that trades like a stock and pays approx. 5.7% annual interest FEDERAL TAX FREE. Best of All, pays a monthly interest on the first of every month. Yes, the Bond price goes up and down. But really, 5.7% Fed tax Free and a monthly payout. I have been following this Municipal Bond fund for 7 years. I truly believe it's a great fund that should be in your portfolio. Check it out the symbol is IIM.
IIM is a closed end bond fund, which means that you cannot buy new shares, so you must buy them on the open market. It has a relative high expense ratio of 1.44 percent. It has provided average returns over the years compared to similar funds, but I wouldn't call it great.

An alternative fund would be the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares, which has an expense ratio of only 0.09 percent. Another alternative is the Vanguard Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund, which has an expense ratio of 0.17 percent. These are not a closed end funds, so you can buy new shares directly from Vanguard, with no commission. To me, the Vanguard funds are a better alternative for a tax exempt investment. Vanguard also has three other tax exempt bond funds.

Comparing the total returns for IIM and the two Vanguard funds, IIM performed slightly better than the Vanguard index fund, but not as well as the Vanguard long term fund.

[Blackbird45]

The only reason to keep money in a bank is to store money safely, it's not to make money. If you want to earn money on your money you would be better off opening up a lemonade stand on your front lawn, then in a bank.

[NoMo50]

I just started my research on IBonds. I was wondering if it was a good investment.

Yes.

[Haggar]

Ibonds are a good investment but limited. Max is $10k (per person per year). You cannot cash the bond before 12 months from purchase. There's a 3 month interest penalty if you cash the bond prior to 15 months. Of course if you keep the bond beyond 15 months, it continues to earn compound interest. Current interest rate is 9.6% and adjusted every 6 months, based on the current inflation rate. Setting up an account on treasurydirect.gov was straight forward. It took less than 15 minutes. You must link to a bank/checking account for the purchase.

If you cash I Bonds in before 5 years (not fifteen months) you lose interest for the previous 3 months.

[Pommom91]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

What's your gut feeling on On-Line savings accounts?

Rates very tempting.

Cheers TV People!

Series I bonds paying over 9% right now. Go to treasurydirect.gov

[Blueblaze]

Oh, yeah, it's great. Inflation is running at least 20% (always double the government's number for the real rate), and if you loan your money to the same government that created all that inflation, they'll let you have a 1.5% return! Hooray!

But at least it's better than last month, when it was only 0.5%!

For the hundred years prior to 2008 (when they nationalized the banking system), you could get a point less than the mortgage rate in any run of the mill money market fund. That would be 5% here and now. Heck, I paid for my first car (a 3-year-old Mustang!) with lawn mower money that made 4.25% in a passbook savings account -- back when inflation ran about 0% (before Nixon took us off the gold standard).

Sure is great having experts to run the world instead of that nasty old capitalism, right?

[bragones]

If you cash I Bonds in before 5 years (not fifteen months) you lose interest for the previous 3 months.
You are indeed right. Thank you for the correction.

[Edzo49]

Series I bonds 9.62%. TreasuryDirect.com

[bowlingal]

A brake?? or a break!!

[Catalina36]

IIM is a closed end bond fund, which means that you cannot buy new shares, so you must buy them on the open market. It has a relative high expense ratio of 1.44 percent. It has provided average returns over the years compared to similar funds, but I wouldn't call it great.

An alternative fund would be the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares, which has an expense ratio of only 0.09 percent. Another alternative is the Vanguard Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund, which has an expense ratio of 0.17 percent. These are not a closed end funds, so you can buy new shares directly from Vanguard, with no commission. To me, the Vanguard funds are a better alternative for a tax exempt investment. Vanguard also has three other tax exempt bond funds.

Comparing the total returns for IIM and the two Vanguard funds, IIM performed slightly better than the Vanguard index fund, but not as well as the Vanguard long term fund.
Thanks for that info. Buying new funds of IIM or buying on the open market brokerage account. Whats the difference if I am getting 5.7% fed tax free and a monthly payout?

[retiredguy123]

Thanks for that info. Buying new funds of IIM or buying on the open market brokerage account. Whats the difference if I am getting 5.7% fed tax free and a monthly payout?
There is not much difference, if you are not paying a commission to buy and sell shares, and your broker is calculating your cost basis and taxable events for you. The only other difference would be if you want more liquidity. With Vanguard mutual funds, I can transfer money from a mutual fund to my money market account online, and write a check immediately. But, as I said, IIM appears to be a good investment. I don't use a brokerage account because I have always been able to find an equivalent alternative for almost any type of investment using no load mutual funds.

[Caymus]

There is not much difference, if you are not paying a commission to buy and sell shares, and your broker is calculating your cost basis and taxable events for you. The only other difference would be if you want more liquidity. With Vanguard mutual funds, I can transfer money from a mutual fund to my money market account online, and write a check immediately. But, as I said, IIM appears to be a good investment. I don't use a brokerage account because I have always been able to find an equivalent alternative for almost any type of investment using no load mutual funds.


Have you looked at Target Maturity Bond ETF's?

[rsmurano]

If you use a savings account to save money, you are always losing money. Not now but the only way to make money grow is to invest it in the market: in the Dow/Nasdaq/S&P

[retiredguy123]

Have you looked at Target Maturity Bond ETF's?
Yes. I don't see anything wrong with them, if you want to create a bond ladder for various maturity dates. Personally, I don't like any mutual fund or ETF that is based on a specific target date for cashing out. Most people cannot foresee the future and when they will need to spend their money. But, for bond investing, when interest rates are rising, I would not buy any bonds, funds, or ETFs where the bonds have a maturity date of more than about 8 years or so. Too risky. I have my bond investments in the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, and the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund. I also have a small percentage in the Vanguard High Yield Bond Fund (junk bonds). No long term bond funds. Vanguard funds have such a low expense ratio, that I don't see an advantage to using ETFs at all.

[OhioBuckeye]

I feel just like everyone else. We’re all caught between a rock & a Hard Place. I think we all have to do what they give us or go somewhere else & let them tell you the same thing. It’s a sign of the times. We citizen’s are in hard times!

[kkingston57]

I feel just like everyone else. We’re all caught between a rock & a Hard Place. I think we all have to do what they give us or go somewhere else & let them tell you the same thing. It’s a sign of the times. We citizen’s are in hard times!

For the entirety of my adult life, have felt this way. Now, due to age, we have less choices. Have been investing in preferred stocks. Steady rate. My broker tells me that he can sleep at night.

[Ptmckiou]

Bank of America has a tier system depending how much you have in your savings account. Up to 4%. I’m currently getting 3.3% on savings. Plus, on top of that, if you use their Visa card you can get up to 3% cash back on all purchases. They deposit the 3% cash back monthly into your savings account.

[retiredguy123]

Bank of America has a tier system depending how much you have in your savings account. Up to 4%. I’m currently getting 3.3% on savings. Plus, on top of that, if you use their Visa card you can get up to 3% cash back on all purchases. They deposit the 3% cash back monthly into your savings account.
Huh? Can you please explain what type of savings account at Bank of America pays 4 percent interest? I have a Bank of America VISA credit card account, and I don't see any savings rates that are anywhere near 4 percent. According to their website, their Platinum Honors Tier savings account is paying 0.04 percent. Did you get the decimal point in the wrong place?

[M2inOR]

Huh? Can you please explain what type of savings account at Bank of America pays 4 percent interest? I have a Bank of America VISA credit card account, and I don't see any savings rates that are anywhere near 4 percent. According to their website, their Platinum Honors Tier savings account is paying 0.04 percent. Did you get the decimal point in the wrong place?

I agree. I think other person misinterpreted the listed 0.04% as 4%

I just checked, too, thinking I missed a great deal:

Account name, Interest Rate, APY, Minimum Deposit
Advantage Savings, Platinum Honors 0.04% 0.04% $100

[mrf0151]

Finally....., Us "poor" people are finally getting a brake on our savings rates.

What's your gut feeling on On-Line savings accounts?

Rates very tempting.

Cheers TV People!
Have had Synchrony on line High Yield savings for years. Easy to get your money anytime. Pays much higher than banks.
Treasury I-Bonds are something to look at. Current yield is 9.6%. Check out the pros and cons, but I think you will see it is a really good thing to do for money you don't need right away.

[jimschlaefer]

I personally limit my exposure, regarding personal information, as much as possible from the public Internet. Huge advances have been made in security of systems, et al. But the truth be known, most companies are way behind in their ability to protect private and corporate data. Many in my family use Internet services with their banks, stocks, and many other things that require you to share your PII (Personal Identifying Information). My attitude is, if I don't need it and it's all about convenience, I'll wait a bit longer before using it.

[haysus7]

Look up I-bonds from the USTreasury 9.25% on $10,000.00

[clouwho]

Have had Synchrony on line High Yield savings for years. Easy to get your money anytime. Pays much higher than banks.
Treasury I-Bonds are something to look at. Current yield is 9.6%. Check out the pros and cons, but I think you will see it is a really good thing to do for money you don't need right away.

We have also had Synchrony online bank hi yield money market and CD accounts for our short term money for years.
Current 19 month CD is 2.65%.

We also have a different account with NASA FCU (don’t have to work for NASA to open account) that is 2.75% for 15 months that we have had for years.

Are these rates keeping up with inflation. Nope. But they are for our near term bucket of funds that need to be kept safe and liquid. The days of rewarding savers ended in the early 2000s (although I am happy to say I had 4.5% CDs for a couple of years when trump was president (and inflation was under 2%). It is all about borrowers and propping up the market now.

I bonds are great right now, but have an pathetic low ceiling of $10k per person per year. There are strategies to tweak that and buy more but you need to look that up on internet where financial advisors have outlined how to do so specifically and follow instructions to the letter.

I frequently check with bauerfinancial.com to verify the rating and financial standing of our banking institutions. Don’t assume that because your bank had a great rating two years ago, that it still does.

[retiredguy123]

I agree. I think other person misinterpreted the listed 0.04% as 4%

I just checked, too, thinking I missed a great deal:

Account name, Interest Rate, APY, Minimum Deposit
Advantage Savings, Platinum Honors 0.04% 0.04% $100
So, if you maintain a balance of $2,500 in the account, they will pay you one dollar in interest per year. If I were Bank of America, I would be ashamed to even offer an account like that, and call it "Platinum Honors".

[fgaba1949]

What are the rates these days? Last time I looked they were .2%

Discover CD 2% for 12 months
Marcus a little more

[Michael G.]

Discover CD 2% for 12 months
Marcus a little more

CAREFUL.....Marcus is and uses hedge funds, and you know how wild they can be.

[Babubhat]

Check Fidelity. Treasury rates usually higher than cd. Ignore the link error message

Fidelity.com is Temporarily Unavailable (https://fixedincome.fidelity.com/ftgw/fi/FILanding?bar=p#tbcurrent-yields%7Chighest-yield)

[manaboutown]

Well I bit the bullet and bought an I bond on TreasuryDirect. It is a drop in the bucket but thought I might as well go for it.

I wonder how the Fed's action this week will affect T Bill rates?

[Caymus]

Just received an email from Citi that they raised the rate to 1.4%. Now only losing about 9% to inflation

[twoplanekid]

Free investment advice and how the Villages is doing with your monies - follow this link ->

https://district.novusagenda.com/AgendaPublic/CoverSheet.aspx?
ItemID=59520&MeetingID=2201 (https://district.novusagenda.com/AgendaPublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=59520&MeetingID=2201)

a lot of data to view plus a few trends to think about -

If you have questions, I will be attending this 9 AM investment advisory meeting August 2 at the Savannah Center to ask your questions and or you are always welcome to attend in person.

[Blueblaze]

Look up I-bonds from the USTreasury 9.25% on $10,000.00

Wow, what a big help! So the FED that created 20% inflation will let you protect almost two month's worth of your annual spend rate from inflation if you loan it to them, instead! How generous of them!