Tools for Investing

I know this site is more about saving than investing, but Ask the Advisor has a nice "toolset" article listing 57 web resources for investing. The sections are:

• Learning Tools - check out Morningstar classroom, with nearly 200 courses.
  
• Investment Blogs
• Fantasy Investment Sites
• Investment News Sites
• Research Tools
• Investment Brokers
• Investment Message Boards
• Free Trading Sites - check out Zecco, which gives you 10 free stock trades per day, and Bank of America, which gives you up to 30 free trades per month.
• Free Advice
• Everything Else - just a round up of some sites that don't fit the above categories.
   

The article doesn't mention many web2.0 applications, but the Advisor archives has a number of other articles worth checking out, including a list of 25 web2.0 apps for money, finance and investment. There are a couple of applications in that list that look great for money management. One of the standouts is Wesabe, which not only let's you managing your finances but you can actually pay bills online by attaching bank accounts.

What'd be really nice to see is similar tools from some of the financial institutions that offer online savings accounts. Obviously, people like convenience. I'd really like to have a single website access point for my bank accounts, mutual funds, online savings accounts, bill payments, and investing. Or maybe that's a security risk?

Zions Bank High Yield Accounts

Zions Bank has at least two Internet-only, high-yield bank accounts. One is the High Yield Checking account, the other is their Money Market account.

High Yield Checking Account
This account, at the time of writing, has three balance ranges. A balance of $2,500 - 19,999.99 pays 3.05% APY; $20,000 - $99,999.99 pays 3.77% APY; $100,000 and up pays 4.18% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $100, and there are a fair number of features: unlimited check-writing, free Check Card, ATM deposits and withdrawal (as well as online account access), overdraft protection (with credit approval), free Internet Bill Pay Service, free Internet Banking.

Virtual Bank Virtual Savings + eMoney Market Accounts

Virtual Bank has quite a few options for online accounts. Their Virtual Savings account only pays 1.35%APY and requires a minimum $1000 to open. It's recommended on their web page as being a "good starter account for cihldren." In fact, for children, there's no minimum balance or monthly service charge, and it's FDIC insured as per all savings accounts. There's not much other info, unless you scour through the disclosures (PDF format).

Two other accounts of interest are the Premium Money Market, which ranges from 3.25% APY to 3.50% APY (min'm $5000 to open), and the eMoney Market. The latter ranges from 4.60% to 5.13% APY, depending on your balance. The minimum to open is only $100. Balances under $10,000 pay 4.60% APY. While there are several balance brackets, at the time of writing, they all paid 4.60% below $50,000. From $50K to under 100K, it's 4.86%APY. The bracket where your balance is $100K and above pays 5.13%APY. However, there's a note underneath saying "Balance limited to $100,000 per client." I assume that this refers to the maximum FDIC insured amount.

Capital One Direct Banking

Capital One has a series of savings accounts that they call "money market" accounts - not to be confused with money market mutual funds. They have two accounts, High Yield Money Market and Money Market, both currently at 5.00% APY (4.88% per annum). These are both categorized as "direct banking". Essentially, these are the same as "online savings accounts", although they also group their Certificates of Deposit (CDs) in there as well, which I'm ignoring in this review.

Amex OneCard Online Savings Account

American Express has come up with a unique way to save with a credit card. It's called the Amex One Card, and it has a "high-yield savings account" attached to it. (At 4.25% APY, at the time of writing.) Whether it's worthwhile for you and/or your family depends on your spending habits and current credit card rates.

The way it works is that once you apply for and receive the Amex One Card credit card, American Express sets up an online savings account for you at American Express Bank. You use the card in normal transactions to pay for purchases. For qualifying purchases, they place 1% of your expenditures into the savings account. (Qualifying purchases exclude Travelers and Gift Cheques, finance charges, fees, returned goods or services, etc.) So you are basically saving 1% off their interest rate, which gets compounded.

Countrywide Bank Savingslink Online Savings Account

Countrywide Bank's Savingslink account offers one of the highest rates for online savings accounts (5.25% APY at the time of this writing, and subject to change). However, to get that rate, you need a $50,000 balance. They do have a tiered structure for rates, dependent on your balance. Though to get any interest at all, you must have at least $1,000. Oddly enough, if you go over $2,499,999, they drop their rate to less than 2%. This is probably in hopes of encouraging longer-term investments in their CDs (Certificates of Deposit) or other options.

Deposits are FDIC insured, as per usual, up to $100,000 for an individual account. Access is 24-7, and money can be transferred to the account one-time or on a repeating schedule. You are only allowed six withdrawals in a month. Interest is actually compounded daily, unlike a lot of other online savings accounts.

Citibank Direct e-Savings Account

Citibank is currently offering 5% APY, as of July 7, 2006, on their Citibank Direct e-Savings Account. On the spectrum of interest offered for online savings accounts, this is near the very top, and rose from 4.75% from just four days ago.

The account requires no minimum balance, allows free online bill payment, online fraud protection, free wireless alerts, and 24 hour access to money. (Of course, fraud protection and 24 hour acccess should be something every online savings account offers.) The e-Savings account also offers free Citibank EZ Checking and the ability to view statements online.

Heritage Bank Online Savings Account

Heritage Bank North America has an online savings account whose interest rate is 4.88% APY as of July 3, 2006. This is one of the highest rates available, but they require a minimum deposit of $1,000. They also charge a monthly fee of $10 if your balance drops below $1,000 on any given day during a month.

Like many online savings accounts, you can only open an account through their website. You can link the Heritage Bank online savings account to your regular bank account, regardless of which bank the account is at (either a chequing or savings account). The account cannot be a money market account, and you can only link one account.

Financial Freedom On $5 A Day?

About a decade ago, when the investing bug first struck me, a nice little book called Financial Freedom On $5 A Day (Chuck Chakrapani, M.Sc., Ph.D., C.I.M., Self-Counsel Press) was fed to  my voracious investment-reading appetite. The book is aimed at "small investors" and shows people how can achieve financial freedom through investing, but can start small by saving just $5 a day. While the book was originally published in 1983, my copy was dated 1996. Still, I think that the wisdom presented therein are still relevant today. In fact, a quick Googling shows that the book seems to have been revised since.

ING Direct Orange Savings Review

The ING Direct Orange Savings account is one of the most recognizable names in online savings. ING Direct was one of the first banks to offer a high interest rate on online savings account (most banks offer a measly half a percent or so). This high interest rate coupled with with a good reputation makes ING Direct Orange an attractive option for anyone who needs to stash some money away, earn interest, and stay liquid.

HSBC Direct Review

The HSBCdirect Online Savings Account is a popular choice among consumers. HSBC was one of the first "big name" banks to offer a high interest rate on online savings account (most banks offer a measly half a percent or so). This high interest rate, coupled with with a blue chip reputation, makes HSBCdirect an attractive option for anyone who needs to stash some money away, earn interest, and stay liquid.

Emigrant Direct Review

This review was last updated on 8/16/2006.

The Emigrant Direct American Dream savings account is one of the most popular online savings accounts. Along with ING Direct, Emigrant was one of the first banks to offer a high interest rate (most banks offer a measly half a percent or so). This high interest rate coupled with with a good reputation makes Emigrant Direct an attractive option for anyone who needs to stash some money away, earn interest, and stay liquid.