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Retirement Savings: How Much Should I Save Each Month?Best Local Deals for Top Money Market Account Rates
With the recent rate cut at UFB Direct, savers may be looking for another good savings or money market deal. Yesterday I reviewed some nationally available savings and checking accounts which still have yields above 1.00%. There are still many reward checking accounts with yields over 3.00%, but these have balance caps and monthly debit card usage requirements. If you want a liquid account with yields over 1.00% without balance caps or activity requirements, there aren't many choices left. If you're lucky, you might find higher rates in your local area. I did some searching in our money market accounts rate table, and I came across some good local deals. Here are a few of them:
- Alton Bank has the highest money market rate at a bank with a 1.65% APY on balances over $100K. Unfortunately, it's a small bank located in a low-populated area of Missouri.
- Oriental Bank and Trust has a money market account called Oriental Money with a 1.51% APY on balances over $25K. It's a large bank, but all of its branches are in Puerto Rico.
- Utilities Employees Credit Union is a large credit union in Pennsylvania, but it's mostly limited to people in the utility and energy industries. Its Advantages Money Market Savings has a 1.50% APY on balances over $50K
- Alliance Bank & Trust Company has four North Carolina branches just west of Charlotte. Its tiered money market account has a top rate of 1.45% APY on balances over $100K. The bank also has 1.26% APY savings account with a minimum balance of $2,500.
- LOMTO Federal Credit Union is one of the few institutions with a top rate that's in a big city. It's open to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school in parts of the west side of Manhattan in New York City. Its money market page lists a 1.35% APY for balances over $10K.
- State Bank of Texas is another institution in a big city with four branches in the Dallas metro area. Its rate sheet lists a Jumbo money market deposit account with a 1.26% APY for balances over $100K.
The above rates are listed on the institutions' websites as of 1/19/2012. As is typically the case, money market and savings account rates are subject to change at anytime. That's the problem with liquid accounts. Rates can fall, and they can fall considerably especially if the bank attracts too many deposits.
If you plan to hold a significant amount of money in liquid accounts because you don't want to be locked into long-term CDs, you might want to consider CIT Bank's 2-year Achiever CD with a minimum deposit. If rates keep falling, you can fall back to this CD by making one unlimited add-on deposit. I have more details in my CIT Bank Achiever CD review.