I heard this is the best savings devices at the moment with 2.15%
I would like to know what you think about it?
Early Retirement Extreme Forums » Money Questions
Smarty Pig
(7 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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Isn't this the one where everything's public?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Smartypig seems to be legit with full FDIC coverage. The 2.15% is only good for the first $50k, but it's 2% more than I'm getting anywhere else, so about a month ago I started depositing money there.
There are limitations. You create "goals" and you cannot remove money from a goal without closing the goal. So while it's fairly liquid, it's not as liquid as a straight savings account.
However, there isn't anything preventing you from creating 10 $5,000 goals rather than a single $50,000 one. So if you need to temporarily withdraw some money, you just close out one of the goals and when you're ready to put it back, just create another one.
It's only as "public" as you want it to be. One of the features is that you can create a goal that friends and relatives can contribute to. However, you don't have to share the goal with anyone else.
Another limitation is that you cannot have a joint account. However, there is a survivorship option that will allow your spouse to retrieve the money in the event of your death. You can also make sure your spouse has the password so they can remove the money if they need to.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I don't know why it never occurred to me to just make up goals. Doh!
I've felt like I can't do it for most of my actual goals (like home repair fund) but have been doing it for car insurance and flood insurance and also planned to use it for property taxes and homeowner insurance when I pay off my mortgage.
Another possible advantage is that instead of taking your cash out when you close a goal, you can get a gift card with a bonus. Obviously if you don't shop at any of the places offering these gift cards, this isn't an advantage.
I haven't finished any goals yet. Something's about to happen, though, when my 6-month car-insurance goal is officially met. I don't actually have a car at the moment, so I won't be using it for that.
Now I'm thinking maybe a goal ladder would be good, where each month you close a goal and start a new one-year goal such that your total amount never exceeds the 50K limit.
(There is more flexibility than I'm implying--you can close goals early for example. Also, you may have heard rumors in the past about various fees, but most or all of those fees are no longer charged.)
Posted 2 years ago # -
The goals seem gimmicky... what good are they, you can get a discounted rate on a gift card?
That can be had from many different places online. The rate is attractive compared to the competition, however.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The Smarty Pig blog says: On Tuesday September 7, the interest rate is dropping from 2.15% to 1.75%.
Posted 2 years ago # -
They must have heard that we all thought about opening accounts :).
Posted 2 years ago #
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