Met Life Bank

[gavinmccallister]

I just recently opened up an account with Met Life Bank they will pay you $50 after having a Money Market account open for 90 days also their APY is 3%. I thought this was a good deal, minimum amount to get 3% yield is $5000.00

[VJW]

It is a good deal. I wouldn't bother chasing minor differences in rates. However, if this is not your liquid asset (since you are tying it up for 3 months), you should consider an I Bond. You're tied down for 12 months, but the yield is substantially higher at 4.80%. Check out:

TREASURY DIRECT

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[gavinmccallister]

I checked on the I Bond the one that I saw was for 10 yearsif you cash out the bond after 5 years you aren't penlized, but if you close it out before 5 years you lose 3 month's interest.

I am not sure if that would make a difference.

[VJW]

The minimum term of ownership is ONE YEAR, the maximum term of ownership is 30 YEARS. You lose the last three months interest if you cash out before five years, but with rising interest rates, it makes up for the difference in no time. The current rate is 4.80%, last year the rate was only about 3.80%.

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[gavinmccallister]

I read some more info alot of savings accounts compound interest daily and credit it to your account monthly, on I-Bonds interest is compounded semiannually so would that also affect how much you make which is better, I am really getting into saving and want to make sure I am making good choices.

[VJW]

I BONDS use the accrual method, with interest being added to the bond monthly. It’s the interest rates that are adjusted semi-annually. The fixed interest rate is set every six months and determines what the fixed rate of interest each bond will return that is purchased in that six month time frame. The inflation rate is adjusted every six months, which determines how much additional interest is added to the underlying fixed bond rate.

Further info here:

http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/sbirate2.htm

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[CRFSaver]

Hey VJF, did you read if they are moving those bonds to fixed rates? I thought I might have just read that.

[VJW]

Originally Posted by CRFSaver

Hey VJF, did you read if they are moving those bonds to fixed rates? I thought I might have just read that.

I BONDS already are “fixed rate” bonds.

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[CRFSaver]

Actually it was the series EE that I was thinking of. My bad...