Needless to say, I’ve been disappointed with the direction the interest rate is going on my Emigrant Direct account.  Not that I don’t understand why is going down, I’m just disappointed every time I see it drop another quarter point.  With last weeks drop from 2.75% to 2.5%, I figured I better start looking for alternatives.

I didn’t have to look far.  DollarSavingsDirect.com is another offshoot of Emigrant Bank, much like EmigrantDirect.com.  However, the rate at Dollar Savings Direct is a bit healthier at 4% (although I expect it too to start dropping).

I have a feeling this spinoff is an effort by Emigrant Bank to attract new customers without having to pay existing customers a higher interest rate, although there is nothing keeping you from transferring all your funds from Emigrant Direct to Dollar Savings Direct.

The website template looks the same, the interface is the same, the application process is the same… the only difference is that at Dollar Savings Direct there is a minimum balance requirement of $1,000 compared to no minimum at Emigrant Direct.

I’m not one to jump in the deep end without testing the water temperature first, so I’ve opened an account and deposited the minimum amount required to see how the process pans out.

If all looks good, I’ll start making Dollar Savings Direct the place to stash cash.

Banking, Finance, Saving Dollar Savings Direct, Emigrant Bank, Emigrant Direct, high interest savings, online savings account

Last week I made my final contribution to my Roth IRA for 2008. So we’ve contributed all we can to both my wife and I’s personal retirement accounts.  This is on top of our individual company sponsored retirement plans.

I’m happy to say that we’ve managed to fulfill this goal about 6 months early this year, which gives us time to start saving for next years $10,000+ contribution limits.

(Starting in 2009, the Roth IRA contribution limits will be indexed to inflation.)

So now I have to figure out where to stash the money for the next six months.  I’m leaning towards the Emigrant Direct account, since they increased the APY to 3%.

Finance, Goals, Retirement, Saving Emigrant Direct, Roth IRA

Today I noticed that the Emigrant Direct online savings rate is now an even 3%. So it appears that rates may be on the rebound for those of us who are stashing cash away for a rainy day.

Saving Emigrant Direct, savings