Question - can I open up this account as my first account, then open up a standard BOA checking account later? Or should you open the checking account first?

I've never banked with BOA, so am trying to figure how to best migrate my existing "headquarters" to BOA with this deal (checking/savings basic at Bank1 and doing online transfers to/from online banks)...

dolmar said:Ajulius at $10K + tho you getting 25 basis points higher than MONEY FUND REPORT average and with $50K you getting 50 basis points over the average. I dont think there even is 50 basis points spread between MONEY FUND REPORT average and the highest yeilding account in that report but please fell free to correct me if I am wrong and please show me 1 fund in the average paying 50 basis points higher that is included in the MONEY FUND REPORT.

1 last thing Ajulius only reason people did not like the MBNA accounts before was MBNA did not support any online access. I used other online savings account to push the money into this account and if I did not have free ACH push from other online accounts I would have been forced to mail in deposits. I think this was main reason people did not like the MBNA MMA.

Now that they are full BOA account with full access at the branch level etc. Making deposits and withdrawls are super easy. No more having to send it from local bank to online bank which supported ACH pushing to MBNA or mailing them checks. Now you just walk into BOA and you can make deposits or withdraw directly from this account. I think that is a big plus over how the old MBNA accounts worked.

Ajulius said "But also this would be dependent upon tax considerations as well" So are you telling us keeping in 2 different accounts has some tax benfits now? Otherwise I dont see the points in sayings "But also this would be dependent upon tax considerations as well" then going on say keeping you money in HSBC/AMTrust Direct is better for you as the tax considerations are identical for all taxable accounts. The rate any taxable account pays is irrelevent and keeping your money in 1 bank vs 2 banks is also irrelevent.

The tax equivalent yield matters for those people in high tax states. For instance: Tax-equivalent yield = Tax-free yield / (1 - your federal tax bracket)

When evaluating taxable fund returns vs. tax-free fund returns, you have to compare the numbers on common ground. The tax-equivalent yield formula can help you decide if a tax-free money fund will give you a better yield than a taxable fund. The formula states the tax-free yield in terms of what you'd need to earn on a taxable fund to have the same return after taxes.

For the 50 basis point funds, the highest performing funds are along the likes of TIAA-CREF in all probability for the MFR which is as of this week a 7-Day Yield: 5.23%.

If one has from 50k-100k to deposit and they cant find a better investment with a higher tax-equivalent yield then for this grade of product, and wanted linked account with checking the MBNA deal could be ideal.

If one has 100k and up I would recommend something called Institutional Deposits Corp, which has a slightly higher yield with a 100k minimum, last I looked it was 5.38%, but you need to call to check current rates. But it ALSO provides you with FDIC insurance from multiple banks so there is NO risk. You'll get a higher return (5.38 vs 5.36) and can put in lets say 500k in the account and there will be FULL FDIC insurance on the entire funding.

As per Institutional Deposits Corp, it allows you to combine "multiple money market deposits with fully FDIC insured status into a single money market custody account, structured and managed in a way that allows you to receive the highest money market rate available for large deposits, and complete security of your funds.

Having a linked checking account comes in handy as a value added feature for high end funds, but MBNA fills a gap for some at the 50-100k level. At over 100k, you can risk default since FDIC limits are 100k with BoA and this is NOT a good way to go.

No, No, please No, We don't need the dolmar vs Ajulius argument on a 3rd thread. You two should start your own thread on this and keep it there

Online savings accounts are NOT toast. BoA right now is filling the gap for 50-100k customers who can't get a higher taxable equivalent yield elsewhere. (I did not shop on this point, but i would say its 50/50 if I can get a better deal elsewhere for higher taxable yield equivalent).

For $1 to 49,999 the highest rate online accounts do better. NOW if you must have a local account (it only financially works out for 50k to 100k unless you make heavy ATM Cash withdrawls), then BoA will fit the bill at the 10k+ levels as being the highest.

At $1 to $9,999 levels IF a LOCAL 5%+ bank exists, that will be your best choice. HOWEVER if you live in an area without ANY OTHER high rate banks and MUST have a high rate local banks then BoA COULD be the best option.

My posts were NOT arguments. My posts are relevant to whether or not BoA fits your needs as an account choice and I posted when it is relevant to shop elsewhere and what situations this account will not be suitable for and the like.

We don't want people depositing their funds at BoA thinking its the highest rate on all circumstances. It all depends on the amount of cash someone withdrawls from the ATMs and what size deposit for this account to be worthwhile.

ajulius said:http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TIRXX

TIAA CREF INSTITUTIONAL MONEY M (Nasdaq:TIRXX) Delayed quote data Edit
7-Day Yield: 5.23%
Time: Sep 22
Assets: 119.90M
Avg Maturity (days): 35

is what I used. I used the words "probably" and this was meant to give a rough estimate even if the rate was slightly lower or higher. If they have a regular fund with a lower rate, its really irrelevant. These are NOT FDIC insured products and the highest online savings rates are higher.

Institutionals usually require investments on the order of millions to tens of millions of dollars - unlike retail funds. I'm not sure about the TIAA-CREF specifics.

I'm not sure FDIC insurance will really help you though if we have a huge depression again. I mean, its all the same money backing our money. It works for saving individual banks, but not entire economys.


My posts were NOT arguments. My posts are relevant to whether or not BoA fits your needs as an account choice and I posted when it is relevant to shop elsewhere and what situations this account will not be suitable for and the like.

We don't want people depositing their funds at BoA thinking its the highest rate on all circumstances. It all depends on the amount of cash someone withdrawls from the ATMs and what size deposit for this account to be worthwhile.
Understood. The tax thing is a good point, and I would hope anyone investing on the order of $50k+ wouldn't do it without a full understanding of the tax implications of the investment, but I guess there are some pretty stupid people in the world, and $50k isn't that large of a sum of money in the grand scheme of things.

Xeon852 said:For the 50 basis point funds, the highest performing funds are along the likes of TIAA-CREF in all probability for the MFR which is as of this week a 7-Day Yield5.23%.
I'm confused as to where you got this number. iMoneyNet shows the TIAA-CREF retail MMF 5.11% yield for the past 7 days as of Sept. 19th. Do they have a tierd structure as well?

Xeon 5.23% yeild is TIAA-CREF institutional MMF which requires minimum initial investment $1M. He went to Imoneynet and looked at institutional MMF picked a fund for thier as it would make his arguement look better. Just like him having to mention they are tax considerations with this BOA account but when talking about HSBC or Amtrust there are none.

Dont you know Ajulius would come on here and say something negitive or stupid about BOA even if BOA paid 10% with a no balance requirement.

If the bank is not HSBC then he will tell you it a bad deal, you can get a better deal else were or make stupid assumptions like when comparing HSBC VS Citibank you cant walk into branch and talk to teller because if you do you will die or you can only withdraw cash at 3am. Or make assumptions that because HSBC has 1 branch in a whole country they have good coverage because when he goes on vaction that is only place he goes where HSBC has a branch. Most normal people dont plan there vactions around there banks ATM access.

For 10k to 50k and the local bank side depends on your regional market as well as how much cash you use for ATM usage.

The highest rate for 10k-49,999 is coming from the likes of UFBDirect and AMTrustDirect and I chose Amtrust even at the lower rate because of the reputation and quality of the bank as well as the chance for a higher overall yield curve. These are ONLINE ONLY BANKS.

The point here is whether or not you are better off with a 5.26% linked account elsewhere to your local highest rate bank OR a straight high rate 5.10% at BoA and this all depends on your cash flow needs AS well as the rate of the highest local banks in the area.

So if you are keeping most of the cash in the account for more than a month or 2 lets say, then the linked account elsewhere is favorable.

What I do myself (Don't follow what I am doing as you have to adjust and correlate for your own situation which may/may not be the same) is use a local high rate bank at 5.05% and link to a high rate 5.26%. I could keep everything at 5.10% thereby losing interest in my case because my cash flow remains positive for 2 months so my situation for me is favorable.

dolmar said:Xeon852 said:For the 50 basis point funds, the highest performing funds are along the likes of TIAA-CREF in all probability for the MFR which is as of this week a 7-Day Yield5.23%.
I'm confused as to where you got this number. iMoneyNet shows the TIAA-CREF retail MMF 5.11% yield for the past 7 days as of Sept. 19th. Do they have a tierd structure as well?

Xeon 5.23% yeild is TIAA-CREF institutional MMF which requires minimum initial investment $1M. He went to Imoneynet and looked at institutional MMF picked a fund for thier as it would make his arguement look better. Just like him having to mention they are tax considerations with this BOA account but when talking about HSBC or Amtrust there are none.

Dont you know Ajulius would come on here and say something negitive or stupid about BOA even if BOA paid 10% with a no balance requirement.

If the bank is not HSBC then he will tell you it a bad deal, you can get a better deal else were or make stupid assumptions like when comparing HSBC VS Citibank you cant walk into branch and talk to teller because if you do you will die or you can only withdraw cash at 3am. Or make assumptions that because HSBC has 1 branch in a whole country they have good coverage because when he goes on vaction that is only place he goes where HSBC has a branch. Most normal people dont plan there vactions around there banks ATM access.

dolmar's comments here are not productive to determining whether or not a user should choose an account nor does he read my comments which I stated. They are PERSONAL ATTACKS and do not aid the user in his decisionmaking process. I quote exactly why I picked the fund I did:

"is what I used. I used the words "probably" and this was meant to give a rough estimate even if the rate was slightly lower or higher. If they have a regular fund with a lower rate, its really irrelevant. These are NOT FDIC insured products and the highest online savings rates are higher. The institutional fund which is one of the higher ranking funds generally is less than the best online savings rates."

As you can clearly see EVEN THE BEST INSTITUTIONAL FUNDs are not kicking those 5.26%+ rates and are NOT FDIC insured. I could have picked a regular Money market at 5%. The same principle ramains, because its still not 5.26%.

Personal attacks and assumptions do NOT contribute to a positive discussion.

scott1961 said:Xeon852 said:NyGiantFan said:I got hard.
Same here:
09/24/2006
Date of Inquiry:
Business Name: BK OF AMER
Transunion.
Did you guys already have accounts with BOA? No pull showing yet for me but I filled my application after signing on to my account. Will really blow if we do get pulls only to find we cant get that high rate account anyway's, The letter calls it just a "Money Market Savings" and not the "Cash Maximizer Savings accounts"

I have a credit card account with them.