I had ING, but switched to Emigrant a few months back due to the higher
interest. One good thing about Emigrant is that if you wanted to
transfer money into your checking it takes only 1 day, whereas ING
took at least 2-3 days.

"jen" <jennysue172[at]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:j2g0j1tuldrl1evp7ga1kmt2oqluq0dhh7[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

I use ING but not much and I will get rid of that account unless their rate
goes up very soon. I also have EmigrantDirect which works the same way and
now pays 4%.

But, depending on your state tax bracket, you might make more in treasury
bills purchased with no commission thru TreasuryDirect. Using the investor
yield (not to be confused with discount yield) for the 6-month t-bill issued
yesterday, you would get an effective 4.26% apy if you were in the 9.3%
state tax bracket. And yesterday's 3-month bill would pay around 4% in that
bracket.



JB

I love ING; they are very savvy. I have several accounts with them in
several countries outside the US (legal, so long as under US$10k you
don't have to report) and their electronic banking network is first
rate. I think they are the best bank out there for customer service.
Highly recommended.

Also, for tax-deferred very long term yields, check out "I-Bonds" at
TreasuryDirect if you are a US citizen.

RL

Don S wrote:
- quote -

That would make it "indirect access" or access via a third party (your
bank). This is more than semantics. Savings accounts (including MMAs)
are restricted by Regulation D to no more than six third party payments
per month. That means that your access to funds in this ING account is
limited, which would not be the case if you were accessing the account
directly.

There are banks that offer similar savings accounts but allow you
unlimited transfers (via ATM or in person) to your checking account at
the same bank, as well as unlimited withdrawals at the bank or via ATM -
real direct access. See, e.g.
http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/i...story=20050725

- quote -

An ACH transfer can take 2-3 days to clear - another downside to the ING
model. In contrast, many mutual funds allow you to write checks against
them, providing direct, immediate access. Almost all funds that don't
allow you to write checks do let you make "immediate" (end of day)
transfers to MMFs in the same family; no ACH transfer required, and no
delay.

(Fidelity Cash Reserves' current effective yield is 3.35%, so ING is
nothing special these days.)

Savings only accounts like ING aren't bad - they give good interest
rates, and the limitations are not IMHO onerous (especially given the
subject of this thread - short term investing). But that's not to say
they don't have substantial limitations.
--
Mark Freeland
nNeEwTs[at]sonic.net

In article <1127246242.842070.37900[at]o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> , peebot001[at]excite.com wrote:
- quote -

Depends on your definition of "direct access". Like many mutual fund
companies, they can do a direct withdrawal/deposit with your bank. No wire
transfer is required.

I haven't used ingdirect or emigrantdirect or HSBC bank but have been
watching newsgroups for discussion of them. Lots seem to go to them and I
haven't yet seen a complaint.

These money market accounts will always give some competition to short term
bond funds and a ladder of short-term CDs. It's a toss-up as which
ultimately will pay the best.

www.bankrate.com tracks money market and CD rates.

"jen" <jennysue172[at]gmail.com> wrote
- quote -

Hi Jen,
3.30 is a really good rate of return for short-term savings
account...much more that other similar accounts and even better than
some 3 month CDs out there.

The only problem with ING is that you don't have direct access to your
money. You need to have them wire the money into another bank account
if you want to retreive your funds.

Just some thoughts....



jen wrote:
- quote -

i came across ingdirect.com they offer 3.30% APY. that seem to give
better return than money market and short term bond funds. what are
your thought on this?