February 8, 2008

Chasing Savings Account Rates

When we first opened our Emigrant Direct savings account ~1 year ago, the APY was 5.15%. Since then, the APY has been reduced multiple times, and is currently at 3.60%. Emigrant Direct has worked well for us, but we've been disappointed with how much the APY has dropped over the year.

Today, my wife saw an E*TRADE ad on television mentioning their 4.40% APY savings account. After checking out their website, we decided to apply. Like Emigrant Direct, E*TRADE does not have minimums balances or account fees and is FDIC-insured up to $100,000.

The new E*TRADE account will be opened within a couple of days, at which time we will begin moving our $6,051.84 Emigrant Direct balance to the E*TRADE account. We understand the futility of switching banks everytime rates drop a bit, however, we feel it's worth it to go from 3.60% APY to 4.40% APY.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you made a smart move. I like the combo that E*Trade offers – a good savings rate, a nice checking account option, and easy transfers to their brokerage accounts. The $5,000 minimum on the checking account is a bit steep, but the account does offer free ATM refunds and a rate of 3.25% apy.

1MansMoney said...

Thanks emoneycentral, we feel good about the move.

I looked at their 3.25% APY checking account, but was put off by the $5,000 minimum. So, for now we will just be utilizing their 4.40% APY savings account.

-1MansMoney