Why I Love My ING Savings Account
I don’t know what took me so long to open up an ING Direct online savings account. I had read dozens of posts from various personal finance bloggers recommending ING savings accounts and I certainly wasn’t happy with the pathetic interest rate I was earning from my brick and mortar bank. But laziness kept me from diving in and opening up an online savings account. And that laziness cost me hundreds of dollars in interest!
So a few months ago I finally decided to open up an Orange Savings Account with ING Direct…and I haven’t looked back since. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but something tells me this is going to be a long-term relationship. Here are just a few of the reasons I have fallen so hard for ING Direct…
1. Some of the best interest rates on savings you’ll find anywhere. With interest rates at historic lows you can’t expect to make a killing with a simple savings account. My brick and mortar bank was only paying a measly 0.1% (they really forced themselves!) but my ING savings rate is 1%. That may not seem like much but it is 10 times higher than most traditional banks are offering!
2. Sub-accounts make saving for different purposes a breeze. I don’t know about you but I find it a lot easier to save money when I have a specific goal to focus on. I also like to keep my savings in different “buckets” so my emergency fund doesn’t get mixed in with my vacation fund. ING Direct makes this super-easy. Once you set up your initial account you can quickly set up sub-accounts to help you save for specific purposes. Plus you can give each sub-account a nickname to keep them organized and separate. We have multiple ING savings accounts that we use for our emergency fund, vacation fund, house fund, and tax fund (since more of my income is coming online these days). I love being able to log in and instantly see a breakdown of our various accounts and balances.
3. Automatic transfers make saving money easy. I’m a big believer in paying yourself first, because if you wait until after you pay all your bills to put money in savings…what do you do if there is nothing left to save? ING Direct allows you to set up automatic transfers into your savings accounts so you can pay yourself first before the money even has a chance to be spent.
4. Integration with Sharebuilder. Putting aside money in high yield savings accounts is obviously a great way to secure our future. But we’re looking to take the next step and start building some serious wealth building. ING owns Sharebuilder, an online brokerage that allow you to invest in stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. Their automatic investing program lets me buy stocks dirt cheap, and the money comes out of my account automatically each month so I can be sure I’m paying myself first again. Plus they allow you to buy fractional shares and reinvest dividends automatically.
ING Direct isn’t the only online bank that offers superior interest rates, but so far I’ve been really happy with them. My ING savings and investment accounts to continue to grow and I recommend them to all my friends who are looking for a way to get more bang for their buck.
Do you have an ING Direct account? What do you think of them?
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Once we move to a rural area, we will probably do online banking with ING. I’ve heard great things about their interest rates, too.
Emily´s last [type] ..Are You Free To Live Your Dreams?
I like your review. I’ll let you know how they compare to Ally’s interest rates soon.
Brilliant Finances´s last [type] ..Personal Finance: How to Retire Rich on Latte’s
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