E Savings Account Where’s Your Money

This subject actually came up yesterday when a colleague was talking about how they were unsure what they should be investing their money in.  The first question I asked was where do you have your money now and of course it was setting in a savings account that draws around the National Average of 0.82% (U.S.).  I know that there are different averages internationally but I am going to focus on the (U.S) since that is where I am from. 

This is something that you hear all the time (I do not know how to save) well at least I do anyway. An easy solution is take charge of your life and start putting your money into the highest yielding savings account you can find, until you can get your head out of your ass and learn or find a financial advisor to help sort you out.  Why is it that people spend more time researching what cars, pizzas, and clothes they are going to buy than they do on how to save and what the best possible place is for their money? 

The worst thing I’ve heard about saving money actually came from my father when he said why save your money when you may be dead before you retire and get to spend it. While this may true yes you may die but what if you don’t!  Everyone has their guilty pleasures just as my wife and I have ours (cars) but we still research, plan and set successful goals for the future. 

Off  Topic Some: We spent $50,000 on a BMW Convertible and to some that is a waste of money.  Our answer to that is we maybe dead (father’s reason) before we are able to buy a luxury car when people say it is appropriate to do so. You know when we are unable to see and walk and then the grandchildren come over and steal the car. Which brings to me to say, Where’s Your Money take control of your finances like you would do to ensure you have that pizza, burger and beer on the weekend. I know that I am going way off topic oh wellbecause I wanted add some facts about my life that show the ability for change and taking control of your life! Ok, my background poor trailer trash kid that swore to himself that he would never live that way again and have been digging himself out of that hole for years (if you like that life then more power to you -I do not). Accomplishments so far; Bachelors degree from OSU - Computer Information Systems, Minor in Management, First Real Estate investment purchase 28 (Kelly (British-Wife) purchased her first & second house at 19 & 22 - influenced me on Real Estate investment), that BMW at 29 paid cash, Successful Marriage, Great job working in Europe, Seeing the World Traveling, setting values to live by and doing things for our children that I could never imagine as a child growing up. Oh and almost forgot I am 32 now and Ja Kel Daily Dot Com one the most successful blogs on the net - around 2 years from now. 

Back on subject since I have been using E*Trade (5.05%) for four years now and they have the new Complete Savings Account that has no minimums and no account fees (5.05%), I will be recommending them because the bottom line is they satisfy all my financial needs; kids trust funds, e-payments, mutual funds, stocks, CDs, and of course the savings complete account. In case in the back of your head you are thinking this is an affiliate attempt on my part it is not.  At the moment I just want to help people get the most out of their money.  However if I do find an E*Trade affiliate program I will definitely be promoting it in the future - just like my RSS Feeds.  

There are other E Savings accounts out there  that have much higher yields than the average such as; ING Direct (4.50%), Emigrant Direct (5.05%) and Citibank Direct (4.75%). Unfortunately, I do not have any recommendations on the International side since I have not done the research so I am leaving that up the International readers to educate others by commenting on what places are best to save your hard earned currency at.

Bottom line is that people are going to do what they want in the end but at least research things first before just doing what you and leaving your money in the first hole in the ground that you find.

March 30, 2007 | posted in Improvement 

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17 Responses to “E Savings Account Where’s Your Money”

  1. Jon Lee on March 30th, 2007

    For Canadians, there are several choices:
    ING Direct offers 3.50%
    PC Financial offers 4% (over $1000) + small annual bonus
    ICICIC offers 3.75%
    Citizen’s Bank offers 3.55%
    Achieva offers 4.10%

  2. Jason Neuman on March 30th, 2007

    Ok now we have Canadian rates now we need some more locations. If you from a location other than Canada the States just post the rates.

  3. Ed on March 31st, 2007

    I don’t know any rates outside the US, but eTrade have had our business since we got interested in a million dollar blog! I would highly recommend Bryan C Flemings website for anyone who cant get their head around why they should save and invest and better still, feel happy about spending (or in his philosophy, giving money away too!) It is a simple premise built on saving $3 a day, ($1 to save, $1 to invest and $1 to give away). It may sound puerile, but even if you are a complete financial basket case today, within 20 days you will have developed a saving habit, your intake of expensive coffee will have dropped and your eyes will be open to how to make the most of what you earn. We now save $200 a month without even missing a step in our daily lives. Pretty cool return on investment for reading some very simple blog posts. (This is a review section I did of the Million dollar experiment)

  4. Gregg on March 31st, 2007

    Sounds like Etrade is a pretty secure investment :D I’m investing in a ROTH IRA right now…My annual return has averaged about 10% for the last two years. Granted I’m only investing $2,000 so I can learn a little more, but everyone has to start somewhere.

  5. Jon Lee on April 2nd, 2007

    Anyone know if ETrade accepts Canadian accounts?

  6. Jason Neuman on April 2nd, 2007

    https://www.canada.etrade.com/pages/home/main.shtml

  7. digitalnomad on April 5th, 2007

    You ever think of real estate? With the kind of cash you are talking about ($50K) you could control a coupe million dollars worth of rental property with a positive cash flow, and no more out of pocket.

    Heck, you don’t even need the cash, just the credit. Hold it for 2-3 years and made a 20-30% profit.

    Bank rates are so low, it makes no since to keep money in a bank.

  8. Jason Neuman on April 5th, 2007

    Yes the properpty I own now is an investment. Will be paid off in 7 more years / renting it out for the last five years. In 18 months we will be buying another investment property. Since we are living in Belgium at the moment I did not want to much international real estate to worry about when moving back to the states.

  9. digitalnomad on April 5th, 2007

    Good for you. I used to trade stocks for my own portfolio. You can make good returns in stocks and bonds, once you realize it is just gambling.

    Always have a set point on the top and bottom where you will automatically exit no matter what. Piggy people are the losers in that game.

  10. Jason Neuman on April 5th, 2007

    Yes that is true but I have heard that if you take loss you can write it off on your taxes. Not sure if that is true or not.

  11. cheap domain on August 13th, 2007

    if you does it that mean you dont think before doing your action..

  12. Artie on September 29th, 2007

    Etrade the way to go then? Sounds good thats for sure.

  13. digitalnomad on September 29th, 2007

    Are you still committed to ETrade? Still happy with it?

  14. Jason Neuman on September 29th, 2007

    Yes still using it and very happy with it.

  15. ING Direct Savings Accounts on May 1st, 2008

    I use ING Direct, but boy you make a pretty convincing case for using ETrade. It would be nice to be able to easily move savings into equities quickly.

  16. water powered cars on May 6th, 2008

    I really like your father’s idea : why save your money when you may be dead before you retire and get to spend it.

  17. Carrie on July 6th, 2008

    I just opened an eTrade account. I have to say so far its a bit more confusing than ING Direct. I guess that’s because eTrade is more of a brokerage and offers many different types of accounts versus ING’s smaller offering. It’s only been a week though so we’ll see.

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