Brick-to-click banks: experience with online banks?
 

Hey Guys..... I'm back!! :)

So, my wife and I are considering moving a lot of our "liquid" money into a higher interest paying online bank, such as ING Direct. We met with our financial advisor last night and he's a big fan. For instance, we're now earning a measly .5% interest in our "brick and mortor" bank. ING Direct is offering 4.5%. That's a huge difference. (BTW, I was a bank teller in the late 80's. The same "Brick and mortor" bank then offered 6% interest on no-minimum checking accounts!!)

Anyone have any good/bad experiences with these internet banks?

Oh, did you go somewhere?

Jes kiddin'
 

Welcome back, Stefano. How you be?

No experience. Jst ask if its FDIC insured, then make your decision.

AFAIK ING Direct is FDIC insured, excellent bank.

Some Internet banks are Internet sites on which customers of bricks-and-mortar depository institutions can access transaction services. Other Internet banks operate only through the Internet (Internet-only).

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) monitors both types of institutions. Internet banks that qualify as thrift institutions may be regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Those that are considered national banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The FDIC's Institution Directory lists which federal agency is the primary regulator for specific banks, including Internet banks.

http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/index.asp

The devil is in the details. Many "net banking" operations charge some hefty fees for any transactions with a human being.

Doing quite well, thanks. :)
Yeah, we're in the tedious process of combining all of our assets and determining where to put some of our investment monies. We do plan to buy a house (the condo's not really big enough at 1250sq ft.) in two years, so that's why we're looking into higher interest rates for our savings that are also safe and liquid.

Internet banks: FDIC insured doesn't mean much -- if you have to go through the process of recovering assets lost under this procedure, you will spend way more than the difference in interest. I have investigated internet banks and don't see the point of checking accounts with them because I keep liquid surplus cash (such as pre saved tuition for private school) in CDs. I want faster access to my spendy cash so I have no use for them. All I have got on the subject, although I am investigating a few claims against a particular bank for making a person jump through so many hoops to get his money out and account closed, that he missed out on a business deal and suffered damages as a result.

Comingling of assets: My .02 is that it is waaaaaay too early to do this as given your ages you probably each have substantial seperate estates and your marriage is new. You should each seek independant legal advise on this decision, in my not so humble opinion not to be taken as legal advise.;)

We're looking into setting up a savings account. We'll keep a regular checking account at our current bank which we'll transfer money from the internet account into on a regular basis. At least that's the plan for now. :)

That was MY thought, too, JD, but didn't want to sound lke a wet blanket. I guess by now wverybody here knows I'm somewhat of a curmudgen when it comes to things like "marriage.":rolleyes:

If you plan to buy a house in two years, then I would recommend putting your money into CD's.

You can ladder your money into CD's, with all of them maturing at the end of two years.

Put a portion of your money into the CD's at 3 month intervals, with all of them coming due no later than 2 years.

This way you are not only getting a higher return on your money, but it is still FDIC insured, and you are not tying up all of your money with the same maturity. And every 3 months, a portion of your money comes due, so you can either reinvest it for a short term (3 mos., 6 mos., 1 year, etc.), or keep it stashed in a money market fund.

Charles Schwab Bank has been excellent.

And six months before you decide to get serious about finding a house, you should talk to a good mortgage broker. Have them check your credit and see if their are any issues that would prevent you from getting a mortgage, they can also give you an idea of what you can afford.

Notice good is underlined.