, where she can earn interest of 2% or more — about 200 times what she'd been earning at a traditional bank.After working as a bank manager and more than a decade of writing about personal finance, my little sister finally came around and asked me for advice on how to handle her money. When she, she wanted to make sure she was doing things right.
at any of the largest banks in the US is typically below 0.10%. In some cases, you'll get a paltry 0.01%! That's far less than inflation, which means you are effectively losing money with this type of account., on the other hand, typically offer 2% or more on a savings account. If you move from an account that pays 0.01% to one that pays 2%, you are getting 200 times more. That is far from insignificant.
But for today, you can avoid them by moving to a bank that doesn't have minimum balance requirements or other silly fees on savings accounts.Once we finished looking things over, I told my sister she should move her emergency fund to either Capital One or Ally. Both banks offer competitive interest rates, have no minimum fees, and offer excellent customer service. I have banked with both and encouraged my sister to choose between the two.
as well. In her situation, it is unlikely she would need access to her funds in less than three business days. In a real emergency, she can pay for the cost with her credit card and transfer funds from her emergency fund to pay off the bill before the due date, avoiding any interest charges.. And while moving funds to a new account at a new bank may seem like a hassle, opening an account with an online bank is painless in most cases.