Current Savings and Checking Account Setup

Yesterday I blogged about the organization and how I keep track of my personal finances. Now I’ll try to shed a little light on my current savings and checking accounts, as well as what I may do in the future. Currently, I have one checking account, which is a local (Midwest area) brick and mortar bank. I also only have one savings account, which is a money market rewards account through Capital One. In the future, I plan on opening several online savings accounts for separate savings goals, while most likely maintaining my brick and mortar checking account.

Checking Account

My checking account is convenient as there are locations near my work, my condo and my parent’s house. Also, there are ATMs throughout the major city near me and the surrounding suburbs. I have had a relationship with this bank since I was in grade school. I opened a savings account in grade school and opened a checking account shortly before I left for college. I closed my savings account as the interest rate was basically non-existent, but I still use my checking account to deposit personal and self-employed checks, write checks and my pay stub is deposited directly into this account.

Since this checking account is convenient for ATMs and depositing checks, and there is no minimum account balance, I will most likely keep this checking account around if for no other reason than to act as a base to transfer funds to other savings accounts.

Savings Account

My savings account is a money market rewards fund through Capital One that is linked with my Capital One Visa no hassle rewards card. I opened this savings account when I started seriously saving for my condo down payment. I was looking for a savings account with a competitive interest rate. I stumbled upon the this savings account when it was offering an interest rate of 3.5% with rewards points that combine with my credit card points. I take my average account balance for the month and divide it by 20 to determine the number of miles I earned every month. I have already used my rewards miles for a $300 ticket to Boston.

Future Checking and Savings Accounts

I previously mentioned that I have no reason not to keep my current checking account. I was thinking about opening a WaMu checking/saving account for the brick and mortar presence in my area, free checking, 4% interest, quick transfers between checking to savings accounts and monthly credit score updates. Unfortunately, WaMu failed recently and is no longer an option. I will look into other local brick and mortar banks to see if there are any checking accounts that are more advantageous than my current bank.

Since my Capital One rewards money market account has lowered it’s interest rate to 2.47% and I am using my Capital One credit card less with my new TrueEarnings Costco AMEX card, I will be looking into the standard online savings accounts such as ING, HSBC and FNBO Direct. I am planning on opening multiple savings accounts as soon as I finalize my condo purchase. I would like to have a savings account for each of my savings goals such as: traveling, condo purchases, extra principal payments, emergency fund and retirement accounts.

I hope this has made things a little more transparent as to how my cash is handled. In the near future I plan on making many changes to my current setup. Throughout this process of change I will be writing reviews about my experiences.