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Savings with the Anglo Irish Bank?

Bank Account That Aids in Forced Savings?

  • I'm trying to find a bank that might have a certain kind of bank account to aid me in the discipline of saving a certain amount of money; barring that, I'd appreciate any creative ideas on how to accomplish the same goal. More inside. When I have excess money in a paycheck, I've been putting that money towards the debt du jour, paying off debts one by one. However, I have two 401(k) loans out that do not let me "pay ahead" on the loan; I can either pay it off all at once or continue with my payroll deductions. This means that for both debts, I'm required to have the discipline to put that money into my savings account and not touch it. I'd like to say I have that discipline, but, unfortunately, very often I'll find myself in circumstances where I'll dip into savings and screw myself over. I'm seeking a way by which I can place money into a savings account of some sort which would only allow me to withdraw money in two circumstances: either a major financial emergency (such as unemployment), or when I've reached the financial goal in question and am ready for the next one. Not before then. (As far as I understand the idea of certificates of deposit, they require you to make one deposit at the time of purchase and then leave the money alone for a period of time. That's not what I'm going for. When I called my bank, they didn't believe they had any account which would match my criteria.) I'm leery of setting something up with family or friends — not because I don't trust them, but just because I don't think it's intrinsically a wise thing to do. I'm aware that one can disconnect the ATM card and online access from the savings account, but unfortunately, there's a bank branch right there where I work, making it just too blasted convenient. To recap, a savings account (or a means of saving money) that essentially is "deposit-only" until such time as the financial goal has been reached, or in case of dire financial emergency. Thoughts?

  • Answer:

    there was an article in the wsj the other week about a site that matches people up with all kinds of financial advisors - http://www.myfinancialadvice.com/Customer/Default.aspx. I tried http://www.myfinancialadvice.com/Common/ViewAdvisorProfile.aspx?AdvisorId=472 out and must say I was impressed by how thorough he was. I highly recommend them and him. also: HSBC has an online savings account with a flexible interest rate that really does pay quite handsomly. it's free of charge, you get a debit card and https://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal/savings/online-savings?code=mdtsp. I signed up back when it was 4.50% and have seen the rate rise constantly. do it like I did and skip the card. that way, online bank transfers into your checking account (which are free, too) will take 4-5 days. that makes the itch to casually take out a couple bucks all the time a lot easier to stomach. finally: if you absolutely want to have no way to get your hands on the money but still feel like getting an interest rate, consider registering at http://www.prosper.com and lend it to someone with a decent credit rating. just don't do it if it's all the cash you have, you don't want to be ruined if your borrower falls through, no matter what the interest rate you're getting. (fargo: no association, hidden agenda or payback here.)

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To everyone who asked for referrals: enjoy the savings. Good luck!

sdrawkcab

The more votility in the fund, the more you're investment will grow over the years. First, what is "votility?" Second, you can never be sure your investment will grow. It might lose money.

grouse

I have one solution for you. Set up an automated monthly deposit into T. Row Price (they take it out of your checking account) in one of their low risk funds. I personally buy PREIX, their S&P 500 fund. There is something called dollar cost averaging you get buy repeatedly buy the same fund over and over. The more votility in the fund, the more you're investment will grow over the years. See http://www.btonline.com.au/content/investor/buildwealth_1.htm here for a much better explaination. And yes, there is a paper saying it is "Suboptimal" however the paper doesn't take into account that you'd never get the "Single Large Investment" it talks about accumulated without the monthly buying. While you could close the account in a true emergency, you can't just withdraw some portion of the money randomly, and pay it back (You don't have enough to do that) Here are some neat number to deposit monthly to save at certain rates (I also use this table when signing up for monthly giving to the causes I support): 21 Bucks a month == $250 a year 42 Bucks a Month == $500 a Year 84 Bucks a month == $1000 a Year 417 a month == $5000 a Year 375 a month == $4500 a year, the max amount you can invest pretax into a personal traditional IRA (which you can also make emergency withdraws/loans with). --Michael

gte910h

Thanks very much, grouse! We'll probably be setting our account up sometime in the next week. Much appreciated!

dryad

dryad: Sent.

grouse

I'm a bit late to the party, but this thread has been really enlightening & helpful! It's helped me to realize that I really need to get my savings in order -- Does anyone, by chance, still have ING Direct referrals to offer? My email's in my profile. Thanks!

dryad

It's a gigantic Dutch back, quite solvent that statement reminds me of what they would say of a certain british bank: they are gigantic, quite solvent and also old. their name was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barings_Bank. ING's rate is not the highest. according to bankrate.com, ELOANs is. make sure they are FDIC insured. 5.50% ... I might just say bye to HSBC and their 5.05% rate.

krautland

http://ingdirect.com or similar for short-term savings; http://www.sharebuilder.com for regular (weekly, monthly, etc.) fractional-share investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds... if you expect to take a year or more to achieve your savings goal, you might well get a better return with a mix of exchange-traded funds (a split between stock and bond index funds, for instance) than you will with a 4% interest online savings account. (Referrals available for either :-) - e-mail's in profile.)

enrevanche

If you are set on the savings route, you can find a savings account that has an even http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33 than ING Direct. Just be sure to pick one that is FDIC insured as not all money market accounts have to be.

grouse

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