Freezing in NH

I keep the bulk of my emergency money in a savings account with HSBC Direct (5.05% APY right now) and the rest in a money market attached to my checking account (which gives me free overdraft protection).  It can take a few days for HSBC to transfer money, so the MM account gives me immediate cash for anything that doesn’t take credit cards and can’t wait a week.

But if I were opening an account today, I’d go with GMAC.  There is a $500 minimum balance, but the rate is 5.30% APY.  They have some good tips on the opening page (How to maximize your FDIC insurance for example if you have lots of cash hanging around).  Plus a tip that changes on the side: 

Try to do your grocery shopping during off peak hours. This will not only save you time, but will also mean less time waiting at the cash register where all the compulsive buy items are placed.

Nice of them.  I suspect that the 5.30% rate is promotional and it will drop back around five, so I’m not rushing to open an account. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 9:24 am and is filed under saving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.