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25 Dollars for Your Child

Wed, 2008-10-08 13:06 — Mike

Just in case you haven't noticed, the world is in the beginning stages of an economic disaster. A lot of people are looking for some place safe and /or stable to put their child's (or their own) money. I've been looking for some time now and and what I have found is

ING Direct. I created an account with them a few months ago to put some money aside for the down payment on a new car. Back then, they had a really cool deal where they would give you $25.00 for just opening an account. That program no longer exist but their new program is almost as good. If you go through this link to ING Direct, open an Orange Savings Account and put in an initial deposit of $250.00, they will give you $25.00. ING Direct will also give Jessica (my daughter) $10.00 (yea!).

Now, why did I choose ING?

  • First and foremost, they are FDIC insured. As crazy as the financial markets are right now, I wouldn't think of going with anyone that wasn't. I was shocked to find out that some places are not so regardless for where you finally go, make sure they are insured.
  • They have good interest rates. As of this writing (2008-10-08) the rates on the Orange Savings Account is 3.0%. It's not the best that's out there but it is quite good.
  • Their online system is very good. I know a thing or two about online web applications and ING Direct has a very good one. The user interface is clean and easy to understand, all for your accounts are accessible from a single user account, adding joint users is very easy. My only real complaint about their system is the flash advertisement in the upper right hand corner but compared to some sites, it is very minor.
  • They have a good reputation.I've been hearing about them ING direct for years and the positive has far and above outweighed the negative. This is probably one of the biggest measurement tools that I use in evaluating anything for my family. I look at what other people are saying about a product or service. It's the very reason that I started this blog; to let others know a little bit of what I have learned.
  • Easy. Everything that I have done at ING so far as been easy. It was easy to set up my first account, it was easy to set up a CD and it was easy to set up Jessica's account. The user experience has been better with ING than with any other bank I can remember.
  • CD(s) with good rates and no minimums. That's right. As of this writing (2008-10-08) they have a 12 month CD at 4.25% that you can open with one dollar. For a child's account that is awesome! Quite frankly, that was the one that closed the deal for me. Jessica doesn't have $5000.00 in her account but with ING, she'll be on her way.

I know by now you probably think that I'm a shill for ING but no. I have no relationship with ING except that I'm a customer. The only thing I'll ever get out of this article is if you open an account using my link to ING. I just want people to know that there are places to put money with decent rates. There are others but I like ING.