Strategy for maximizing my income?

I'm looking for strategies for maximizing my income. My paycheck is direct deposited into my local bank's checking account. Some of my bills accept check only (mortgage, water, sewer, electricity, gym, natural gas), and other bills I can pay with a credit card (telephone/internet, auto insurance). I also have a paypal debit card (1% CashBack, which I use for everything other then gas and groceries) and a Chase Mastercard Cash Plus Rewards (5% on gas and groceries).

So what I was thinking is when my paycheck is direct deposited, transfer it to my paypal account (which has the money market fund (currently 4.73%)) to it, and my local bank's checking account has no minimum amount requirements. Then as my bills that only take checks come up, transfer money back to my checking account and write the checks. Continue to use my paypal and chase cards as usual and pay the chase off in the grace period to avoid interest.

Then at the end of the month, which whatever money I have left over, transfer it back to my checking account and then into HSBC online savings (4.8%).

I know people have hesitations about putting money into paypal, but I've never had a problem with them, and I don't buy stuff on eBay.

Why not just have the money direct deposited into a money market checking account with a bank and save all the paypal hassles (and there are many).

What you're saying makes sense and plenty of people bank that way, however I think you're going to find it a pain to be checking all the time to see if your money from your transfers cleared. You didn't say how much money you're talking about in your paycheck, but for example, lets say it is $5000. Even if that money would be in the high interest account for the whole month you're only talking $20 interest less tax. So you need to decide if that is worth it.

I don't have an HSBC checking account, but i'm assuming that transfers between that and their online savings account is fast. If that is the case then opening a checking account there would be a better option for what you want to do. You can always transfer some extra money to your local account for ATM withdrawals, etc.

paypal bank transfers in and out take 2-3 days (make a transfer on Monday, see the money on Wednesday or Thursday).


presidential checking plus might be good for you:

4.50% APY on balances up to $25,000
minimum to open $1500, minimum balance to avoid monthly fees $1000
account requires an electronic monthly deposit of $200 or more from payroll, annuity, pension, or a business account

The concern you should have is the tranfer time. I'm hesitant about opening an ING account for this very reason.

This is what I went with the Citibank e-Savings and Citibank checking account. The eSavings account is pretty competitive in terms of interest rate. In addition, I can transfer funds between the two accounts instantaneously.

i see what you're saying.

so you basically want an account with a high interest rate, no opening and no minimum balance reqs, unlimited withdrawals, and fast transfers in and out to other accounts free.

hmmm...

i don't think this account exists yet.

sensia said: Use citibank ez-checking and ez-savings account. Direct deposit to your Citi savings account and pour money as needed to your checking account. You will get .05% less interest compared to HSBC, but a lot less hassel IMO.

Citi's online savings has the same problem as HSBC...limited to 6 withdrawals a month. so putting it into the savings and transferring to checking as needed wouldn't work.

opmnxtc said: i see what you're saying.

so you basically want an account with a high interest rate, no opening and no minimum balance reqs, unlimited withdrawals, and ability to transfer in and out to other accounts free.

hmmm...

i don't think this account exists yet.

and i'd also like them to have a local branch office. everybody can dream, right?

zoop76 said: Squeezer99 said:
If you do your transfers from a Citibank ATM, there is no limit.

Citibank has no ATM's here. One of the problems living in Jackson, Mississippi is that there are no big banks here, only local and regional bank offices and ATMs.

Squeezer99 said:
For the person recommending the 4.5% checking account, I don't like that you have to keep a minimum balance and they have a large opening requirement.

Presidential checking Plus
Min. to open $1500.
Min. to avoid Service charge $1000.


I'd be more worried about building up a bit of savings than $20 in interest/year.

If the number of withdrawals from the account is a concern, figure out how you can combine your bills into just a few dates where you will be able to combine the transfers into one amount. Also call the companies to see if you can change your billing date.

I am going to do it like this, which I admit isnt optimal, but I might adjust once I get the hang of it. I received an offer frim Ing to open an account with 4.25% with a $25 bonus. I dont think there are any fees or minimums to worry about. I also have MBNA billpay, as well as a checking account through my credit union.

Direct Deposit to Ing
Billpay everything I can with my MBNA card
Transfer money from Ing to checking for things I cant pay with MBNA
Pay my MBNA Card from Ing
Balance transfer (I still have 0% offers I can use) if/when I need to for parts of MBNA card.
My HELOC is there (empty now) if/when I need it.

To improve this I think Presidential checking and/or a higher interest account than Ing some day.

cameron2003 said:

Pay my MBNA Card from Ing



You cannot do that. ING will complain and MBNA will freeze your card until you call them. MBNA will tell you to use a checking account as the funding source.

cameron2003 said: mhesidence said: cameron2003 said:

Pay my MBNA Card from Ing



You cannot do that. ING will complain and MBNA will freeze your card until you call them. MBNA will tell you to use a checking account as the funding source.

Than why does it have a drop down box for money market as funding source?

He's right. ING doesn't allow this. They ONLY allow push/pull to a checking. I belive some people have had sucess when they opened their ING with another MM/Savings but obviously you can't do that with a credit card.

ING is stricter than others, Emmigrant and Presidential have no problems.

No offense to the original post, but it seems like s/he is being penny wise, pound foolish. I mean if the differential in interest between 4.73% and 4.50% for $1,000 ($2.3/year) is a major sorce of angst for them, they are not using their time properly. I don't even think the difference is that big because of all the time they are going to spend transfering between Paypal and back with no interest. For the sake of your sanity I don't see how keeping the majority in your income at 4.80% and the amount you need for paying bills at 4.50% is going to be worse than losing 2~3 days of interest transfering between paypal and back at 0% interest.

Turn your AC to turn on at 1 degree higher
Check the tire pressure on your tires
Don't eat out 1 time
Drop comprehensive coverage on your insurance (if it makes sense for your situation, YMMV)
Put as much as possible into an IRA

Doing these things could all have a larger impact per year than elaborate transfer strategies you are proposing. My goodness if $2.73 is a huge deal for you than I would cancel the internet connection you are typing this on for a month and save 10 times that amount!!!

asdf83 said: cameron2003 said: mhesidence said: cameron2003 said:

Pay my MBNA Card from Ing



You cannot do that. ING will complain and MBNA will freeze your card until you call them. MBNA will tell you to use a checking account as the funding source.

Than why does it have a drop down box for money market as funding source?

He's right. ING doesn't allow this. They ONLY allow push/pull to a checking. I belive some people have had sucess when they opened their ING with another MM/Savings but obviously you can't do that with a credit card.

ING is stricter than others, Emmigrant and Presidential have no problems.

Thanks I send off an email to Ing to confirm this. I also noted this:

"...funds that have been on deposit for more than five business days may be withdrawn and additional deposits may be withdrawn after five business days."

5 days seems like a pretty long time to wait before I can get at the funds. What if I have a bill to pay (like mortgage). I am used to having immediate access or next day at least.

cameron2003 said:
Than why does it have a drop down box for money market as funding source?

FYI ING is a savings account not a money market.

mhesidence said: cameron2003 said:
Than why does it have a drop down box for money market as funding source?

FYI ING is a savings account not a money market.

thanks again, Ing confirmed what you said about paying directly to credit cards too. So I guess I can either transfer to checking, then credit; or try something other than Ing (which is what I am thinking now, either Emigrant or Presidential).

If I transferred to checking to pay I would have to wait 5 days for Ing, then a few more on top of that I suppose before I could even get to it.

asdf83 said: cameron2003 said: mhesidence said: cameron2003 said:
Than why does it have a drop down box for money market as funding source?

FYI ING is a savings account not a money market.

thanks again, Ing confirmed what you said about paying directly to credit cards too. So I guess I can either transfer to checking, then credit; or try something other than Ing (which is what I am thinking now, either Emigrant or Presidential).

If I transferred to checking to pay I would have to wait 5 days for Ing, then a few more on top of that I suppose before I could even get to it.

Once you put in a transfer from ING (ACH push) it takes usually 2-3 days before its in your checking account. Your checking account should make it available immediatly.

ING isn't the fastest out there. Emmigrant seems to be a day quicker. All my emmigrant to presidential transfers happened overnight.

I havn't used ING in a while. Isn't the 5 day wait only the initial transfer into a new account?

Initially its 10 days. Here is exactly what they said:

"The initial deposit made into your ING DIRECT account is held for ten (10) business days. Additional deposits to your ING DIRECT Account are held for five (5) business days. This is very similar to other traditional banks.

For example if you contact us on Monday to make a deposit, we send a request to a Clearing House that will communicate with your bank no later than the next business day. Your bank then receives the request from the Clearing House and has up to five (5) business days to respond to the request. Your bank has two available responses, either the funds are available and they send the funds or the funds are not available and deny our request. Once they respond the Clearing House will then notify us of the response. In most cases this process will take up to five (5) business days. You can see the exact date the funds are available for withdrawal by looking directly under the transaction description on your account. When your deposits are on hold, the funds do begin to accrue interest two (2) business days after being processed.

When requesting a withdrawal from your ING DIRECT Account, the funds are usually deposited into your external checking account within two to three business days from your initial request date.

Keep in mind that when any referral or opening bonus is applied to an account, it is not available for withdrawal for 30 days"

opmnxtc said: i see what you're saying.

so you basically want an account with a high interest rate, no opening and no minimum balance reqs, unlimited withdrawals, and fast transfers in and out to other accounts free.


How about a brokerage account with Fidelity? Money can sit in money markets earning 4+%, you have checkwriting (admittedly I haven't used the checks yet) and free ACH, no transaction limitations. The Bad News, the nearest physical branch is in Memphis.

You could accomplish similar with a Charles Schwab brokerage and bank account. Free billpay and they offer refunds on all ATM fees, no transaction limitations on either account. They even have an office in Jackson. However, the brokerage has a $2500 minimum balance.

Neither place would be a good place to walk in with rolls of nickels and make a deposit.

Squeezer99, look here