emergency fund
November 4th, 2007
Through the pf world, I’ve been reading for months about emergency funds. A lot of bloggers have sections in their sidebar that track their progress. I’ve decided it’s a good idea and want to start one.
Help!
If you have an emergency fund, what are you saving the money in? An ING? Something else? I want it to be something that gains interest and something that I can liquidate easily. Any advice/suggestions are appreciated. If I can get you a referral bonus or something, let me know.
Filed under emergency fund, investing, questions |
15 Responses to “emergency fund”
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I would love the code for the sidebar if you’re willing to share it. I’ve been looking for one for quite some time, now and can’t find any that look like yours.
I like the idea of visualizing your goals coming to fruition. You’re not doing too badly in your goals, thus far. Keep up the good work!
Dreamy1, You can just go to the View tab up above and click on Page Source (Or just do Control + U). There, you’ll see my page’s code and be able to copy out the goal-tracking thing. (That’s how I got it, too.) Enjoy!
I’ve been with ING for a while now and am super happy with how it works. This year I’ve made over $180 in interest! Free money baby!
I’ve been (oh so slowly, as I’m still transitioning into having a Real Job and repaying my parents) saving in what will be my Emergency Fund through HSBC Direct. They have a higher interest rate than ING (even after the recent drop); it’s currently at 4.5% (when I joined last May, it was at 5.05%), and is really easy to use.
ING might have more features, I’m not sure, but as this is my “don’t touch this” savings money, I wasn’t concerned with ATM’s or checking accounts (both of which I think HSBC offers, but I’m not sure). All I needed was high interest and the ability to transfer money from my Wells Fargo bank account to and from (mostly to) HSBC.
So far, I’m loving it.
I keep my emergency fund in Emigrant Direct, and I have other savings in ING. Both are good; I find ING’s template easier to work with. The one thing I’ve done to help with my EF work is to have a certain amount direct deposited into my EF every paycheck, so I don’t have to think about it. I don’t ever see that money, it just goes there.
If you decide to go with ING, and want a referral code (it’ll get both of us a little extra moola), let me know and I’ll send you one.
LOVE the purple progress bars!
etrade also has a savings account. I think it pays 4.7 percent right now.
I currently use ING because I ‘ve been using it for a long time and I don’t want to deal with the hassle of moving funds every time a bank offers a better rate.
My Capital One money market has a slightly higher interest rate than ING. Right now, ING is advertising 4.20%. My interest on November 1st was 4.64% with Capital One.
I do see, though, that Emigrant Direct is advertising 4.75% right now.
The Capital One account is online-only — no ATM or checks or anything. It usually takes about 4 days to make a transfer to or from my checking account. Aside from that slight inconvenience, which I can’t imagine is much better anywhere else, I have been satisfied with it.
GradGirl, where do you keep your downpayment fund?
nice bars
i’m still trying to figure mine out!
i love ing’s interface. it is very easy and really intuitive. it also, in a weird way, inspires me to save. i think because i can label different accounts for different goals. as you’ve probably read on other blogs (boston gal posted a hilarious break up letter), it is rarely an interest rate leader for an online bank. but it’s not too far behind, and with the bonus a slow ascent to $8,000 at ing is worth it.
There’s a bundle of cash in my tiered money-market account at a local not-for-profit bank. The not-for-profit banks have a higher rate of return than other local commercial ones but have a few number of ATM machines within their network. If you don’t plan ahead and use an ATM machine outside of their network, you’ll really pay for withdrawing money. However, the local not-for-profit banks are no match to the online ones in terms of interest rates.
Another bundle of money sits in a mutual fund, and I treat that bundle as if it doesn’t exist, putting money into the fund quarterly but never drawing from it.
Thanks for all the great advice, all! I’m feeling pretty interested in an ING, mainly because so many people are telling me about its usability.
Nut: Way to go–$180 is no chump change. Are you leaving the money in the account? Doing something else with it?
Kim: I’ll let you in on a secret: I love it when people tell me they’re doing any admirable thing slowly. It gives me hope.
Gilded: I e-mailed you yesterday about the ING. Send me the referral; I’d love to use it!
Matt: Good point. I think once I set this up, I’ll stick with it for a while, too.
LN: You make a strong argument for Capital One or EDirect. How easy to use is Capital, would you say? That’s my only concern, I guess.
As far as my downpayment fund, it’s my stock portfolio—the one I’ve had since college. I currently trade through Scottrade.
PiggyBankBlues: You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to figure them out. I was determined!
Again, you’re adding to the case for an ING.
SP: So when you say not-for-profit bank, what do you mean? I’d be OK with no ATMs because I don’t plan on withdrawing often.
I think Capital One is pretty easy to use, although what PiggyBankBlues said about ING letting you label different things sounds neat, and Capital One doesn’t have that.
Basically, I just linked it to my checking account, and there are 2-3 little screens to go through to schedule a transfer. There is the option of a one-time transfer or a recurring automatic transfer. There’s not much to it.
I had to close a savings account today.
I had gotten an account with a local credit union several years ago, before I opened up my Capital One account, and I had left about $85 in it just to have some spare money somewhere else. But it was only making about ten cents per month interest (!) and they just started charging me some dumb fees. So I got them to refund me those fees, and I closed the account. I guess I should’ve done it a long time ago. 
By a not-for-profit bank I mean a credit union. They don’t have a commercial interest in its customers. Profits are given back to the customers in forms of dividends in savings/money market accounts or lower interest rates on loans.
[...] to everyone for the advice—you reminded me what I love best about the PF blogging [...]
I’m belated, but thought I’d drop in and tell you how, and why, I do it. I’m also at ING: I have four accounts there for different purposes, and I like that flexibility.
As to why, which is more important: I save up for “emergencies” not so much because I anticipate catastrophe but because my life is so much in flux. I like knowing that I can make decisions that require spending money if I think they’re best for me. I like knowing that I can quit, or move across the country, or start a little teeny business, or whatever. That’s why I call it my “freedom fund.”
[...] to everyone for the advice—you reminded me what I love best about the PF blogging world. Filed under [...]