Bank rates

**crud3w4re** · 05-10-2007 06:28 AM

Which bank rate is good nowadays? And which is the best to get? I heard that anything below 4% APY is a waste, true?

Also, why would anyone get an IRA? I've read that they're uninsured, so wtf? lol

**jasaunders** · 05-10-2007 07:36 AM

Bank rates vary, check out www.bankrate.com
Most good online savings account should get you above 4%. ING is at 4.5% I think. Places like Emmigrant Direct and ETrade are higher.

IRA's have tax benefits. Roth IRA's are great investment tools for young professionals, especially self-employed because you pay taxes on the money you are putting in now and you withdraw it later tax free. If you anticipate being in a higher tax bracket when you are 60 than you are now (which I hope you do) you would pay a lower tax.

This is true of course, unless you are a RK idol worshipper believing every word the guy says, in which case you believe Roth IRA's are a very bad investment and then 99% of people in the financial world disagree with you.

**crud3w4re** · 05-10-2007 07:44 AM

RK idol worshipper? Nah. I'm just saying that I have read that IRA's are uninsured, so how can we be sure that our money will be there down the road? When I see "FDIC insured of up to 100k" then my limit in this one account would be 100k! I wish lol but yeah. Then I would probaby take the interest from the 100k and hoard gold / silver .. etc it must be great to have interests rolling in!

bankrate.com is a good site

ty

**jasaunders** · 05-10-2007 07:55 AM

I wasn't saying you are an RK worshipper or saying anything bad against you. I just know a lot of people on this site love RK and he is anti-IRA and anti-retirement investing in general, which is again the entire rest of the financial community pretty much.

My understanding is, and I could be wrong, I don't think any retirement investments are insured. FDIC insured deposits are usually only for basic savings/checkings and other simple accounts. I am not an expert on this by any means, but most investments are not FDIC insured. You don't know it will be there, its a risk, a gamble, thats what an investment is.

**Bestmiler** · 05-10-2007 08:00 AM

If the interest rate is below 4% then its a waste. I would open a CD or Roth IRA (if you are in college or relatively young)

**crud3w4re** · 05-10-2007 09:21 AM

Yes, CD's are good. I'd say a good mix is a Money Market + CD investing.

Question:

1Annual Percentage Yield (APY) accurate as of 05/08/2007. There is no minimum account balance required to earn this APY. Earn our highest published money market yield for the first 6 months, then earn the corresponding yield based on your account average daily balance. Interest rate and APY may change after the account is opened. Service fees or penalties charged against the account may reduce earnings. 05/08/2007

You earn 4.50% APY for the first 6 months, but how can one calculate the APY after that? This is Netbank's MM account.

**Young Spark** · 05-10-2007 10:29 AM

Its still a bit bad even if its 5% APY... cause let's use an example, let's say you put $10k into a CD. 5% APY is only $500... that may sound good but do some research, do you know how much the bank is actually making from your money, they are probably investing it into mortgages and getting back about 3-4 times more then the APY... shouldn't you be getting a bit more. Just goes to show that banks can be thieves as well.

Also, realize that many of them want a minimum of atleast $2,000+ or more... as if somebody can really afford that unless were talking tax time or a major business investor.

**crud3w4re** · 05-10-2007 11:27 AM

5% is good. 5% on what though? MM, or something in general? Checking accounts tend to pay much, much lower. A minimum of 2k or more for what? There's a $100 minimum to open a MM account, but deposit atleast $500 to avoid the fees. Yeah, banks make out well. Can we create a bank? No. That's why they do well, only the elitists are able to start banks in the US.