Best Nationally Available High APY Liquid Accounts

Ken’s site is working for me now. Sorry to say that nothing looks interesting at this point.

As far as Savings rates go, EBSB Direct savings 2.5% is still the best. But, Ally Bank’s Payback Promotion $1000 Bonus is a good deal. (to late to go for it now) I did manage to get in before the closing date & I have until 10/31/18 to get my money deposited.

I took a close look at this deal earlier today. There is no rate guarantee at all and the application process is unprofessional, so I’m remaining with NBD.

Actually you have until 11/5 to get your money in. This date can be found in the terms and conditions.

I did an online chat with them to make sure that the new money transfer in did not have to be in a single transaction. It doesn’t. This person said that the 11/5 date applied to completed transfers that were initiated 10/31 or prior. I’m getting my $99,951 to them by 10/31 just to make sure.

Yes StatGren, like you I have made an earlier $25K deposit to the Ally Bank’s Bonus promo. I have a CD that matures 10/28 & I will ACH the rest of the money the next day. A Rep did say you had to have the funds in transfer mode by 10/31, & completed by 11/5.

I read somewhere that if the full $100K were deposited in a timely manner that this deal would be similar to a 3mo 6.1% CD…:wink:

If you already have an Ally account, then you can login and schedule the transfer. Just set it and forget it!

The following is copied and pasted directly from the Ally Bank terms and conditions for this offer. The bolding is my own:

1% Cash Bonus Promotional Offer: Terms and Conditions

New or existing Ally Bank account customers who 1) Enroll for the Cash Bonus through the designated website during Enrollment Period AND 2) Deposit new funds into their eligible account(s) between 10/08/18 and 11/05/18 will receive a Cash Bonus of 1% of their new deposit, up to a maximum of $1,000. New deposits must remain in the eligible account(s) through 01/15/19 in order to qualify for the Cash Bonus. Withdrawals made during the Retention Period may reduce the Cash Bonus amount. Cash Bonus payout will occur within 30 calendar days following fulfillment of these requirements.

Kindly note:

There is no mention there at all of a 10/31 date. In particular, there is no mention there of need even to initiate transfer of funds on or before 10/31.

I do readily concede if your funds are not at Ally by 11/5 you are totally out of luck!

You might wonder why, even in some Ally material, there IS mention of a 10/31 date. According to a post on Ken’s website, 10/31 is a nominal date promulgated by Ally to lessen chance of people missing the deal. The post said if you miss 10/31 by a little Ally will be forgiving. But if you miss 11/5 there will be no forgiveness at all. If you miss 11/5, for any reason, you miss out. Period.

To find the yield multiplier for this deal:

Assume for ease of calculation a 2.5 month term (November 1 through January 15).

Divide 12 by 2.5 to get 4.8. Multiply the yield premium of 1% by 4.8 to get 4.8%. So 4.8% is the APY owing to the premium.

Now add to 4.8% the APY of whatever Ally investment you choose. For example, if you go with the Ally OSA your total YTM is

4.8% plus 1.9% which gives you 6.7% APY during the investment interval of November 1 through January 15. If you choose the Ally no-penalty CD instead you can do a bit better.

2 Likes

Thanks shinobi…

You have this deal figured out to the penny. So it’s even better than I figured, 6.7% rather than 6.1% for the 3mo. I choose the Savings account, 1.9% because I had it previously, with a $12 balance.

Hey, do I get no credit for figuring out that $99,951 is the optimal amount to deposit? :slight_smile:

I thought it should be $99901? :slight_smile:

1% x 99901 = 999.01. Round up to nearest dollar = $1000.

Dang it! Didn’t catch the “up” part of that.

I give you credit. That’s an excellent catch on a detail which I missed. Thank you!

And, yup, I double checked the terms and conditions and you are 100% kee-recht.

I have saved a copy of those terms and conditions, BTW. Sure hope I don’t need 'em after January fifteenth.:wink:

Finally, I do agree with scanchain on the $99901 number. Between the two of you all necessary information is available right here.:grinning:

Question…
I have $12.+ still in my Savings acct right now. With the $25K I already deposited in the Ally Bonus plus the $75K moving in 10/31, my total will amount to $100,012.00. Will this be a problem?

Nooo (cuz post must be at least 4 characters)

Only if you consider making just 1.9% on $12 a problem.

1 Like

Should I withdraw the $12 & make the total Savings Bonus on the $100K. I don’t understand StatGren, talking about $999,951 being the optimal amount to deposit.

The Deal Summary: Bonus amount ranges from $10 ($1K or new money) to $1,000 ($100K of new money).
I assume we make 1.9% on the total amount of funds in the Bonus Savings account.

Don’t take my comment about $99,901 (as corrected by scanchain; Ally says they will round up to the next dollar for the bonus) too seriously. You’ll get exactly $1000 bonus no matter if your balance through the period is

  • $99,901
  • $100,000
  • $100,012
  • $250,000

$99,901 is therefore the least amount of money you can put in and still get the maximum bonus. Meanwhile, the rest of your money can be somewhere else chasing another bonus and/or higher interest.

Just as a side note, I always prefer to deal with odd, not round, numbers. With 30 years of digital financial records, I like the uniqueness of, say, $99.83 transaction vs. $100. If I ever have to search or manually reconcile something, it makes life a lot easier not to have a multitude of round number transactions.

4 Likes

Thanks StatGren! I’m more confident now after reading your last comment.:wink:

This is just slightly off-topic, but those of you with lots of money chasing highest APY savings should keep T-Bills in mind. The 4-week T-Bill is paying ~2.18% and is free of state/local income tax. While I-Bonds have annual purchase limits and longer terms, T-Bills have no limit (well, $5MM per auction) and the shortest term is just 4 weeks.

6 Likes

Can I buy them with a Costco cash card even if I don’t have a Costco membership?

3 Likes