Back in January, I made a commitment to open a high yield savings account. At the time, the rates were great...a little over 5%. Even though they are down now, it still beats what my standard brick and mortar bank is offering.
The first change I made was with my PayPal account. I changed it to a Money Market account and my PayPal is currently earning 3.13% APY. I usually don't move any money from PayPal since it is close to my savings APY and I use this money frequently online.
My local bank, SunTrust, is only offering 0.23% APY. We have two accounts: One to pay bills and one to use for daily expenses with a check card. I'm slowly preparing to move this account completely to my new Charles Schwab account so it can actually earn some money while waiting to pay the bills.
When I opened an account with Charles Schwab, I was totally amazed. I got the standard email from the "New Client Concierge" letting me know how important I was and that help was just a phone call away. So I decided to give it try and see just how important I am. She actually answered the phone and was ready to assist me. I did have a slight problem (I mailed checks to them with the wrong account #). She had it corrected by the time I disconnected the line. Very professional customer service. Right now, I'm only using this account for GPT checks and my flex account reimbursement, but eventually, this is where I want to do my banking. This checking account is currently earning 3.01% APY.
I also opened an E*trade Complete Savings account. It was the highest APY without a minimum balance. Every paycheck, I take $100 and transfer to this account. The biggest test for this account is "how long does it take to transfer to and from my other accounts. So far, incoming is about one day and outbound transfers, about two days. This account is currently earning 3.45% APY.
At work, we have a local credit union that we do automatic deposits from our check. The APY is around 1%, so whenever I accumulate a substantial amount, I withdraw and transfer to E*trade.
Eventually, I would like to have two accounts...a high yield checking and savings, without a minimum balance. Once I get to that comfort level of knowing how easy it is to pay my bills, make deposits and actually access my money, I will finally close my SunTrust account. It was kind of bittersweet...I earned more interest in one month with E*trade with only a couple hundred dollars than I did all year with SunTrust with thousands of dollars. I hope this helps you decide to make the choice to move to a high yield account.
The first change I made was with my PayPal account. I changed it to a Money Market account and my PayPal is currently earning 3.13% APY. I usually don't move any money from PayPal since it is close to my savings APY and I use this money frequently online.
My local bank, SunTrust, is only offering 0.23% APY. We have two accounts: One to pay bills and one to use for daily expenses with a check card. I'm slowly preparing to move this account completely to my new Charles Schwab account so it can actually earn some money while waiting to pay the bills.
When I opened an account with Charles Schwab, I was totally amazed. I got the standard email from the "New Client Concierge" letting me know how important I was and that help was just a phone call away. So I decided to give it try and see just how important I am. She actually answered the phone and was ready to assist me. I did have a slight problem (I mailed checks to them with the wrong account #). She had it corrected by the time I disconnected the line. Very professional customer service. Right now, I'm only using this account for GPT checks and my flex account reimbursement, but eventually, this is where I want to do my banking. This checking account is currently earning 3.01% APY.
I also opened an E*trade Complete Savings account. It was the highest APY without a minimum balance. Every paycheck, I take $100 and transfer to this account. The biggest test for this account is "how long does it take to transfer to and from my other accounts. So far, incoming is about one day and outbound transfers, about two days. This account is currently earning 3.45% APY.
At work, we have a local credit union that we do automatic deposits from our check. The APY is around 1%, so whenever I accumulate a substantial amount, I withdraw and transfer to E*trade.
Eventually, I would like to have two accounts...a high yield checking and savings, without a minimum balance. Once I get to that comfort level of knowing how easy it is to pay my bills, make deposits and actually access my money, I will finally close my SunTrust account. It was kind of bittersweet...I earned more interest in one month with E*trade with only a couple hundred dollars than I did all year with SunTrust with thousands of dollars. I hope this helps you decide to make the choice to move to a high yield account.
