Your Bank Hates You...Fire Them

As wise man fond of cliches once remarked, "A penny saved is a penny earned." I'd like to think he was referring to the fact that looking for bargains and not giving into the temptation to spend signified an effort that could in effect double your money. But it was hard to tell seeing as how he immediately followed with, "An apple a day keeps the crabs away." Wise though he was, the old man often confused things. As far as the former statement goes he could also be referring to a saving man's good friend, Interest.

It's nice that banks pay you to hold on to your money, very kind of them. Of course some also charge you to take your money or move your money around; think checking costs, transfer fees, and those roguish ATM charges. And when you're dealing with one of those brick and mortar, Greek column, bedrock facilities of finance (which often fold like a deck of cards) you should know that you're not getting paid enough. Today I looked at two such institutions to see what they were offering in way of interest for saving accounts. If you're a small fish you might get .2%, if you can afford to leave $25,000 rotting in a savings account, then they hop you up to .45%, almost half a percentage point, which will yield you a whopping $112 dollars at the end of the year, and they said the first the million is the hardest. Of course there are CDs but they require large opening balances and you can't touch your money for 8 months, or whatever.

Well ING is here to save us from the tyranny of our banks. They ask for no minimum balance and offer ten times the other banks' high-roller's rate. And they extend a similar deal even to checking. It's a no brainer. Of course you have to be comfortable with the internet and trust that some cyberpunk won't run off with your funds, but even if such a feat is pulled off, we've got the FDIC to swoop in and bail us out. So barring nuclear annihilation, your money is safe, and safely earning interest. Lots of interest. I opened one less than two weeks ago and have already gotten $1.13. Woo hoo! Bubble gum's on me boys!

I looked into how they make their money. It basically boils down to the fact that you can't play with it right away. They loan your money out and charge someone else twice the interest. They also have a much loved mortgage racket. Added to the fact that they don't have any brick and mortar overhead and you reap the benefits.

So I say dump your big market bank and get with the new wave kids.

Packed breakfast and lunch today. And I used my old bank to turn rolled change into cash. But that won't count towards my bank roll. So on to...

The Daily Breakdown

Starting Balance: $-26.50

IN: $10

OUT: $0

BALANCE: $-16.50