Anyone have a favorite? I used to be a big fan of Aspiration and it’s solid 1% APY, but they’ve changed things requiring you to move assets from their Spend and Save account, which is a PITA, so now I’m considering going with Capital One 360 checking, since I like the app UX and the 0 fee ATM debit card, even when used internationally. I’m also considering Charles Schwab’s High Yield Checking since it offers a higher APY than 360 (not by much though) and has the advantage that I can consolidate investment services with banking needs. Memory Bank offers 1.6% APY but for whatever reason they declined my app, and after the Aspiration migration I went through I don’t trust these smaller banking institutions. I had high hopes for Robinhood’s 3% APY checking account, which then became their “cash management” service and then proceeded to disappear. Any update there Robinhood peeps? Ps. I don’t use savings accounts. I invest everything I’ve got and keep $15-20k cash in my checking account, as an emergency fund.
Whichever has the most $$$ in it.
Why do you keep $15-20k in your checking account? That emergency fund should be liquid but not necessary checkings account liquid. You could put it in a savings account, get slightly higher returns, and slightly less liquid, but still very accessible.
The extra $100-200 I would make a year, doesn’t warrant the nuisance of transferring funds between accounts. I have several rental properties and make recurring ACH transfers from and to the account, so I want to keep things simple by having one account. Also some checking accounts offer rates that are on par with savings accounts
The Schwab Checking account you’ve mentioned is the only one that both has No Foreign Transaction Fees & Unlimited International ATM Fee Reimbursements, if that matters to you at all. I’ve used Capital One, and while I agree, I did like the look & feel of their app at first, there were too many times that either functionality would be broken or they’d have an outtage (for deployment...?). I’ve since moved on to another bank (however, Capital One is one of the only one’s without fees (minus the ATM reimbursements), that has a place to deposit money (Cafes in major cities, etc.).
Why checking acct? Put everything in savings account
Savings accounts are limited to 6 external ACH transfers a month, so they’re not useable as a primary account. I only want 1 account for sake of simplicity
I don't keep huge amount of money in checking. When needed you can always transfer from savings account
You aren't making any sense. If it's 15K-20K for an emergency fund, you don't need access to it monthly. So 6 ACH transfer should be easy more than you need. Either it is an emergency fund or it isn't. Which is it?
Maybe you’re right. I’m just enamored with the idea of having 1 single account, and now that checking accounts can be opened with similar interest rates to savings accounts, it kinda puts the idea of having a savings account into question. Admittedly I haven’t found an ideal solution yet, but I’m always looking :)
You can use ally and turn on auto overdraft protection so it automatically withdraws money from savings to checking a if you overdraft. I have 5k in checking and 25k in savings.
T-Mobile checking 4.00% APY https://www.t-mobilemoney.com/en/home.html
on balances up to $3,000. There are lots of checking accounts with severe limitations
Ally has savings accounts with 2.2% APY.
Where do you invest?
Schwab
I like Capital One 360, no fees its free, app is great, with a lock feature to protect your debit card. Great customer service.
SoFi money doesn't seem too bad! I personally have a Fidelity cash management account for checking and Ally for savings
Nice! Looking into SoFi now. Is it one single account with %2.25 or do you have to jungle your funds between 2 accounts like with Aspiration?
The only cause for concern with the SoFi account I’ve found is around how they’ve implemented FDIC protection — below is a quote from someone online: “‘FDIC Insurance is not provided until the funds arrive at partner bank.’ That implies that money transferred to the account may be uninsured for part of its journey. Understanding this is important for depositors, although many/most will see the words FDIC insured and ignore the important details. In the worst case, if I transfer $1.5 million to my account on the day that SOFI Money files for bankruptcy, my money may become subject to general creditors and not be backed by any insurance. Hopefully, they have designed the account to eliminate this risk for depositors.” More: https://www.reddit.com/r/sofi/comments/bawkvv/fdic_protection/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app