BootsnAll Travel Community

I've been using ETrade for all my banking for years and they just recently started offering a savings account with the highest APY that I'm aware of - 5.05%. It's even higher than ING's, who I've also had an account with for a while.

ETrade Complete Saving Account - https://us.etrade.com/e/t/welcome/completesavings

Don't leave your spare change sitting around in jars when it could be collecting interest!

Just my $0.02.

HSBC is also 5.05%
http://www.hsbcdirect.com/1/2/1/offer?code=husa

I wonder how the two services compare?

anyone?

I haven't used HSBC, but have used Etrade. I've had some issues with them -- they screwed up some of my investments permanently. I guess it's good that I didn't have that much in it..but still, it left me with a run around with the IRS and Etrade wouldn't help...when they finally fessed up that they messed up, it was all too late...

What exactly happened marisa?

They said that I had overcontributed to my Roth IRA for the year, which I didn't b/c 1)can't afford to overcontribute and 2)know my limits. I had a good trading strategy in at the time, long term investment, but I entered at a good time. Was in my investments for about a year or two?, but they'd already gone up about 40%, so I really wanted to keep them in there. Needless to say, after many phone calls to Etrade, and even to the IRS, trying to find an actual person to talk to there...Etrade at the time couldn't prove or disprove that I had overcontributed. I had a hard time proving it to them. I was going to get penalized..(for what, I don't know how they were going to figure that out!), so I pulled the money I had contributed, exited the trades (which still today would be awesome) (at the last date before penalization), so that I would avoid the beurocratic red tape that goes on with investments and the IRS. Months later, Etrade called and were like..oh..it looks like we made a mistake...f*$%. Oh well. I didn't have *that* much in anyways, so it's not like a *huge* deal, but regardless, it sucked!

I'm confused, maybe because I don't know too much about IRAs.

If you really did put in too much one year there'd be a penalty on the overcontribution only. But contributions would be very well-documented, and it should've been easy to go back and check those if the amount contributed was in dispute I mean, if both Etrade and yourself don't have access to records of contributions... well, what type of service is that?!

And more importantly.. why would that force you to pull out of the IRA? Doing that is what would create the real pain, from taxes and penalties on all the earnings- not just those from the one overcontribution.

So basically, if there's a dispute I'd say fight it until resolved. If resolved in your favor, you owe nothing; if you did overcontribute, pay the fee on the overcontribution. But if you just pull out completely (why you'd do that is what I want to know?) you're going to get penalized on all earnings.

I pulled some out in the nick of time to not get falsely penalized (I didn't overcontribute, they put it under the wrong year). I mean I literally was battling back and forth till the day before penalties. Unfortunately, their records were a bit sketchy. And I guess that was a lesson to me to printscreen *every* transaction I did with them *before and after* I actually submitted them. The etrade rep asked me for paperwork, and I was like..uh..don't you have it? I didn't really have the time/drive/legal resources to fight them. I didn't get penalized on the withdrawal, it was more like that deposit never happened. I didn't pull out completely, just what I had contributed for the next calendar year (that was falsely put under the current calendar year at the time). The rest of the IRA stayed the same, so I wasn't penalized on what I had contributed over the previous years. In other words, I still have the base IRA. I'll only pull out of that one if I need major surgery that will cost me thousands of dollars or something like that...

I have an etrade account as well, and I have found they are a bit silly at times, and if you ever have to talk to them, well, good luck. Im not sure if someone hasnt already run with this in another thread, but what are peoples experiences with online banks/brokerages, and does anyone have one they like, and are willing to give props too?

I've been with Fidelity for a while and find the entire service outstanding. Highly recommended. Also heard terrific things about Charles Schwab.

I've got Citibank right now, it's 5%.

If you only want a savings account and aren't interested in trading, I'd stick with HSBC. They have great customer service.

Genaro - I'm also with Fidelity and I was amazed with how friendly and thorough their customer service people are.

quote:

I've been with Fidelity for a while and find the entire service outstanding.

I'll third this. No complaints with Fidelity whatsoever.

TIAA-CREF for me. The reps are fantastic. Money Market is at 5.05% as well.

Emigrant Direct gives a 5.05% interest rate, and I've never had any problems with my account. In fact, they have great customer service (you can actually get a live person on the phone very easily). I recommend it if you're looking for a good savings account that consistently has the highest interest rate available.

I've been with E-Trade for a couple of years now with no problems. Right now their savings accounts are paying 5.05%, not bad. The few phone calls I've made to them were quick and painless. I like that they offer a lot of mutual funds and also banking services, so I can keep my retirement account and my travel fund in the same place. I also like that their fees are low and you don't have to be a millionaire to get decent service (I'm looking at you, Vanguard!).

Has anyone had a high interest account that has dropped in interest? I have HSBC now and it's great, but it comes with a disclaimer (as do most if not all companies) that the interest can be changed at any time.

The banks in New Zealand have online savings accounts that pay 7%. (Westpac, The National Bank)

Not sure about setting up accounts from overseas though.

Cheers,
Chris

How many of you are seeing a interest rates drop?? After the Fed cut the rate my HSBC account has gone down to 4.25 (still great but not as good as it was). I've had my eye on other places that are still paying more than 5% but dunno if it is worth transferring my money at the moment ...

^^HSBC have dropped again to %3.80 this is my travel money. I noticed E*trade is at %4.40 but Im not going to be hasty, but I started out at 5.25 with hsbc so its steadily declining. I only do savings, no investments. Should I just transfer my entire account somewhere else???

How about putting them in CD's which yeild about 5%...only if you can put that money away for 6 months.

I just changed a bunch of things around and put my day to day money in Schwab which was giving me 4% along with no ATM charges worldwide.