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Are You Ready for a Cashless Society?Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for all of your support this year.
DA member 51hh said it well last Thanksgiving, "Even though the economy and the overall savings domain were not that satisfactory for the recent months/years, we should all give some thanks for our health, family, and blessings."
I thought it would be useful and interesting to look back at some of the bank deals this year that we can be thankful for. The bank deals may not compare to the good old days when it was easy to get 5% on savings accounts, but we should remember that things this year could have been worse. Here are a few of this year's bank deals that we can be thankful for:
- A few all-access credit unions offered CD and IRA CD rates in January and February that were much higher than what was available at internet banks. Two examples included a 2.68% APY 5-year CD at Melrose Credit Union and a 2.76% APY 7-year CD at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
- The Treasury Direct doubled the annual purchase limit for online savings bonds in January. This was intended to make up for the loss of the ability to buy new paper bonds so it doesn't come close in matching the old pre-2008 limits. Nevertheless, it makes it easier to buy I Bonds which are still pretty good deals for $10K deposits compared to bank CDs.
- In February TIAA Direct was launched with an internet savings and money market accounts that paid 1.25% APY. Even though the bank stopped accepting new customers in July, existing customers are still earning 1.25% APY.
- In addition to TIAA Direct, other internet banks were launched this year. That competition has provided a little boost to internet savings and money market account rates. Some of the new internet banks that are still taking applications and are still offering competitive rates include Barclays, CIT Bank and ableBanking.
- The new competition probably encouraged FNBO Direct to offer a savings account promotion to its existing customers guaranteeing 1.35% APY on new money until the end of this year.
I know some of these deals had issues, but let's focus on the positives today.
What deposit account deals were you thankful for this year?
I am thankful for finding DepositsOnline and all of Ken's hard work. My special finds for this year were Springfield Bank and South Central. Not rates everyone would be thrilled about but in these times, they fit "my" criteria. They are no longer available now. Have a great Thanksgiving to Ken and to all!
Next year is another year:-)
And Ken, thank you for all the work you do here, day after day. It's helped many of us out, myself included. Thank you!
Kudos and . . . . . . . . . . . . . gobble gobble!
Thank you Ken for all your hard work. I'm lucky to have found your blog when online bank rates were 5% and above.
So I have no idea what you are talking about in general and are looking forward to your own meaningful contribution to this forum.
Cheers.:-)
.
Dear Mr Tumin,
Happy Thanksgiving to you.
>> What deposit account deals were you thankful for this year?
1) Navy FCU's "Appreciation CD" of 1 year term, with $4000 max deposit, at 4% APY
2) Air Force FCU's facility to store max 10 computer files per month securely (I posted about this)
3) DCU's similar facility to store computer files securely
4) DCU's reporting of FICO score per month for free (I posted about this)
As always, I am very thankful to my seniors, and the previous generations of Americans that helped create (a) the biggest economy in the world (b) the only reserve currency in the world (c) two robust government bodies viz. the US Treasury, and the US Federal Reserve.
Yours Truly,
- Anonymous
I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving yesterday. I too have much to give thanks for – health (mine and that of my favorite senior), family, friends (both virtual and real-time) who have become like family, and an abundance of blessings too numerous and varied to mention. As is my tradition, I began the week with a private thanks-giving celebration by making donations to organizations which bring food, clean water, and good health/comfort to others as an outward expression of my inner gratitude. In this economy, the amounts were more modest than in years past, but every little bit helps.
As far as DA I am thankful for the hard work, commitment, dedication and persistence of Ken in bringing us an amazing website, as well as that of his technical partner Jeremy and their other associates. I found several wonderful deals (unfortunately short-lived and no longer available) thanks to the incredible information here.
I am also grateful for all who contribute to this site, as their comments and perspectives (even when I disagree) offer food for thought and challenge my own way of thinking.
As to Carl #8...why bother answering this ignoramus entity??? He's not worth Ken's spit!!!
;-) Adela
But I prefer to paraphrase the words of the immortal Larry Holmes, a former World Heavyweight Champion and a towering figure if I say so myself. I never met Holmes, but I once was in the same room with the guy as he addressed a group of which I was a member. He is a mountain of a man.
To paraphrase Larry Holmes: #8 could not carry Ken's jock strap.
So you will know I'm not making this up, here is a reference to Larry Holmes' original quote. It's the first quote on the list. You will need to copy and paste the link into your browser:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Larry_Holmes
#8 would be funny, if only he were not so desperate, so pathetic, so slothful, and so hopelessly wrong.
It looks like you did a good investment at 5%! And if you don't need that money then it's great. When buying a muni bond, what's more important to look for - the interest rate or the price of the bond? Thank you. :)
In addition to the yield to maturity, you need to look at the credit rating for the bond. Typically, the lower the rating, the higher the yield to maturity.
I would imagine the 5% quoted by anonymous is the yield to maturity. If he bought the bond when it was newly issued, the coupon rate and the yield to maturity was probably the same because he would have bought the bond at face value. If you buy it in the secondary market, you generally are either buying it at either a discount or premium and the yield to maturity will vary from the coupon rate.
Good points about YTM and premium/discount price. I got mine in the secondary market as investors were dumping bonds soon after the 2008 meltdown. The issued rate on my bond is 5%. I bought it at a discount, so my YTM is over 7%. And that is tax-free for both Federal and State.