Best Nationally Available High APY Liquid Accounts

Finance
588

Is such a thing even possible? Please understand, this is not a hostile post. This is not even an unfriendly post. I actually respect your thinking.

But this entire Ally deal leaves me, at best, unsettled. I have not yet dived in, and I’m uncertain whether I shall . . . or not.

We all, understandably, seek to optimize such a deal as this, and to protect ourselves if things (both internal to the deal and external, i.e., market conditions) in the out months go awry. At least two factors stand in opposition to our optimization efforts:

  1. Complexity of the deal when matters stray from its obvious terms

  2. Difficulty obtaining reliable information from Ally representatives who most likely never were trained to answer our probing questions

Personally I dunno where I will go with this thing. I’m already an Ally customer so that part is easy. If I do jump in it’s not gonna be immediately. I can “wait and see” for at least a little while longer without suffering significant negative consequence.

589

I agree this could get complicated, especially if you use Ally’s checking account actively.

What about the monthly bills and withdrawals you make on your checking account? Does that subtract away from the deposit you made during the qualifying period?

Below, I reproduce a post I found on Bogleheads:

I have a few questions about the terms and conditions for the 1% payback promotion, which I have already read (so please don’t just quote those terms back to me in answering these questions). The questions are mostly about exactly how you count “new money” during the deposit period of 10/8/2018 - 11/5/2018, and how deposits and withdrawals during the retention period affect the bonus. Since I use my Ally checking accounts to pay my bills, there have been and will continue to be ongoing deposits and withdrawals from my eligible accounts.

Deposit period
-------------------
Say there are withdrawals of $5,000 from my checking accounts, mostly to pay bills, between 10/8/2018 and 11/5/2018. Must I deposit $100,000 or $105,000 during this period to qualify for the maximum bonus of $1,000?

Assuming the answer is $105,000, do bills paid out of my wife’s and my joint checking account count against both my wife’s and my “new money” in full, or one half for each of us?

Retention period.
----------------------
_Say I put $100,000 into an 11-month no-penalty CD by 11/5/2018, and leave it in the CD account until 1/15/2019, at which time I do an early withdrawal and transfer it out of Ally, but I still have other eligible accounts open into which the bonus can be deposited until 2/15/2019. During the retention period, I continue to make deposits and withdrawals from my Ally checking accounts. _

Do you subtract withdrawals from deposits during the retention period, and compare it to the balances in all eligible accounts as of 11/5/2018 to determine if I’ve maintained the full $100K in eligible accounts during the retention period?

Assuming it works this way, do you look at the minimum balance at any time between 11/5/2018 and 1/15/2019 to see if it is less than the total balances in all eligible accounts as of 11/5/2018, or do you look only at the balance as of 1/15/2019 compared to the balance as of 11/5/2018?

POD accounts. Trust accounts are not eligible accounts, but there is no mention of POD accounts. Are accounts with POD designations eligible accounts? I ask because these also are referred to as Totten trust accounts

Refusal to pay cash bonus. I am concerned about the second part of this clause in the consent terms: “Ally Bank reserves the right to refuse to open an account or pay out the Cash Bonus, at any time, for any reason.” How do I know Ally will not simply refuse to pay the bonus within 30 calendar days at the end of the retention period without providing any reason, even if I have met all of the stated conditions? This clause seems to make that possible. What are examples of things that might cause Ally not to pay the bonus?

590

This post is about Purepoint. I’m posting for information only and for whatever assistance this might provide to other participants here. This Purepoint data point will come as no surprise to many of you:

Yesterday, with some trepidation and for the first time, I used Purepoint’s ACH service to move a significant sum of money to an outside bank. Really I had no clue how things would go, the amount being large as it was and this being my first time to boot.

Bottom line, Purepoint came through and I’m a happy camper!! The money was subtracted from my Purepoint account the moment I scheduled the transfer. I’ve no problem with that. But most important I just checked this morning and the money arrived straightaway, and with no delay, today at the destination bank. My total loss of interest is one single day of interest. I can live with that, especially considering Purepoint allows for the movement of large sums of money all at once.

Especially with Purepoint’s recent interest rate increase, I find myself using them more and more to satisfy my financial services needs.

591

Agreed. And thanks for a good and helpful post.

You have placed your finger squarely on my issue with this Ally deal, to wit:

Is the complication, and the resultant hassle, really worth the income difference between doing this deal and not? And that goes double considering the entire “income difference” is subject to taxation.

I appreciate tax-free income. I relish taxable income less.

592

Hey, even if you don’t think the deal is good, you should sign up anyway since you are already using Ally. Just put whatever money you have accessible during this qualifying period and use your account as per usual after that. Let Ally track the qualifying balance. You will get a payout in Feb versus nothing if you don’t sign up.

For me, this deal is not that complicated because I don’t have any money with Ally. I am putting in new money and then treating it as a roughly 6% APY 3-month+ CD. Not touching it, not withdrawing it during the 3 months.

And come to think of it, I don’t think I will try to optimize it by switching accounts when rates are expected to rise in Dec.

The question for me becomes whether I should put it in online savings or the NP CD?

Online savings is now 1.9%, NP CD is now 2.1%. I will get an additional 0.2% with the NP CD.
If rates were raised 0.25% in Dec, the online savings could go to 2.15%. I will then lose out 0.05% if I don’t break the NP CD. But considering that I will break the NP CD in Feb anyway, I think the NP CD is still better – gain 0.2% for say 1.5 months but lose out 0.05% for 2 months.

593

Hey back atcha. Here’s the rub . . one of 'em anyway:

Concern relates to liquidity (see title of this thread!). It being today only about three weeks in advance of the election, I place an especially HIGH value on liquidity. I’m simply not smart enough to know which direction the election will take, not sufficiently prescient to gauge ensuing events. I dearly wish I did know. But with my opaque crystal ball, one goal is top of mind for now: Dry powder!!

594

I have just started to think about the ALLY deal that has much discussion going on now… Like you shinobi, I am also most interested in liquidity although I did just opened the AgFed 21-mo 3.2% CD. However I recently opened the EBSB Direct Savings that is paying 2.5%. I really hate the idea of taking money out of EBSB at this point.

But, I do have an old Veridian CU CD that matures 10/28, which would be available to add to the ALLY deal. It would be timely for Ally. But maybe just wait for something to happen after the election. I can always put the Veridian funds into my EBSB savings 2.5% & see what happens.

Like you no crystal ball to tell the future. :wink: What to do?

595

I’m not sure if this is the best thread to post this, but I didn’t see a bank bonus thread. Maybe we should have one.

Capital One 360 Money Market is offering a $500 bonus on a $50,000 deposit for 60 days. Offer code: OFFER500. Must be funded by 10/31/2018 and you may not have had a savings account open after 1/1/2016

I just got the mailer, but it seems this offer has been around for a while. On another site people are reporting getting the bonus in about 5 days from funding. Also, it has been noted that you don’t have to keep $50,000 in the account. You can deposit $25,000, withdraw it, and then deposit it again to qualify for the $50,000 in deposits.

This seems like the best deal I’ve seen in a while.

Edit to add official terms and conditions:

Questions? Call us at 1-800-289-1992 to talk to a real person. We’re here 7 days a week, 8 a.m.–11 p.m. ET.

Here’s the full scoop on how to earn your $500 bonus : Open a 360 Money Market account and deposit at least $50,000 between 12:00 a.m. ET on September 1, 2018, and 11:59 p.m. ET on October 31, 2018. When you open your account, enter your promotional code—OFFER500. (Please do not share this code with others.) Deposits must be from another bank (transfers between Capital One accounts will not qualify). If you have or had an open savings product with Capital One after January 1, 2016, you’re ineligible for the bonus. This offer cannot be combined with any other Capital One Bank or Capital One 360 new account opening offer. Bonus is only valid for one account.

When will I actually get my bonus? Capital One will deposit the $500 bonus money into your account within 60 days after completing the above conditions. If your account is in default, closed, or suspended, or otherwise not in good standing, you will not receive the bonus.

What you need to know about the 360 Money Market account : A rate of 1.85% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to accounts with balances of $10,000 or more. A rate of 0.85% APY applies to accounts with balances less than $10,000. Advertised rates are effective and variable as of 10/17/2018. Rates are subject to change at any time after account opening.

To calculate interest, we apply a daily periodic rate to the principal in the account each day.

360 Money Market accounts dont have debit cards or check-writing capabilities. There’s no monthly cycle service charge for the account, and no minimum balance required to open or maintain the account. Accounts are subject to statement cycle transaction limits. This account is a consumer-only product. Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are acceptable for account opening in Branches.

The national average for money market accounts at top 50 banks by deposits is based on balances of $10,000.00 as of 08/20/2018, per Informa Research Services, Calabasas, CA, www.informars.com. Although the information has been obtained from various institutions, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

Please see www.fdic.gov for additional information.

1 Like
596

The problem with CapitalOne is their T&C says not eligible if you already have an account. I have a doorman CapOne account that used to be INGDirect which seems to disqualify me from this.

597

I called to see if I was eligible and I was told that I was. The rep could have been wrong. The terms state no savings account since 1/1/2016.

598

Yes, I’ve had a savings account opened sicne like 2003. I never bothered to close it. Nor have they. My understanding is I’m not eligible.

599

@_TJ why don’t you close it now so you’re potentially eligible for future promotions…?

1 Like
600

I’m confused by how you think the election will have a huge effect on interest rates. What does control of the House and Senate have to do with rates?

It should also be note that POTUS has attacked the Fed multiple times in the past week for raising rates too fast and said it has gone “crazy” (of course, he’s the one who appointed Powell as Fed Chair).

Spoiler alert: the Rs will retain control of the Senate and the Ds will take the House.

601

Lazy. I also don’t expect to maintain such a large cash position after I do the Ally.

602

I may be missing something, but I see the Ally deal as a no-brainer. It’s equivalent to a 6% 3-month CD. I’ll put the max in, let it sit, then take it out after 1/15. That’s not a lot of work for several hundred dollars.

Are there going to be great CD deals between November and 1/15 that will be substantially worse after that date? Possible, but doubtful. Even if there are, I usually keep at least $100K liquid somewhere. In this case, a large portion will be in Ally.

I don’t understand the issue with it being taxable. Don’t you always pay taxes for interest in a non-retirement account? I can’t see wanting less in interest so I wouldn’t have to pay the tax on it.

1 Like
603

Based on the updated blog entry at DepositAccounts, I think you are right:

After adding new funds to Ally, can I transfer funds between eligible accounts?

  • During the promotion, you can transfer the new external funds between eligible accounts, as defined in the T&Cs.

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/ally-bank/offers/

604

You appear not to believe the election will influence rates. I think that is a perfectly reasonable belief. I won’t try to persuade you to my way of thinking, which happens to differ. You surely could be right . . . or not. We shall know in the fullness of time. Meanwhile I sincerely wish you very best of luck, and I hope things work out well for you.

605

I’m alternating between thinking it is OK and it is not OK to move the funds around for the Ally promotion.

I think I will put the money in the NP CD. If the rates on the NP CD hikes, I will send Ally a message to ask if it is OK for me to break the CD and purchase another one (and still stay on the bonus). If they say yes, then I’ll do it, and I will have a written record.

606

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…

In a rare advance notice, Redneck/All America Bank is raising their Mega MM accounts to 2.25% effective 10/22.

1 Like
607

[quote=“glitch99, post:606, topic:2349”]
In a rare advance notice, Redneck/All America Bank is raising their Mega MM accounts to 2.25% effective 10/22
[/quote]`

Hmmmm. The advantage there over NBD would be gaining an extension of the guarantee period . . . . if there is a guarantee period at Redneck.