23 April 2009
Are you a smartypig?
I ran across a very interesting new site the other day. It’s called SmartyPig and it’s a savings site.
The first thing that comes to your mind might be “Do I really want to give my money to a pink and green website with cartoon pigs on it?” Well, let me assure you that this site is actually just a front for West Bank which is FDIC insured, if that means anything to you.
In reality, this site is mainly the conduit for a free savings account. The interest rates are currently higher than any other I’ve seen (3.05%). The catch is that they have found a way to get you to keep your money in the account longer and save on a regular basis so they can offer higher rates. Basically you start by setting up a goal. In my instance, I set up an emergency fund goal. This is an account that I eventually hope to contain 6 months of living expenses. Also, you set a date that you’d like to reach your goal. At this point, the pig recommends how much that you’ll need to save each month to reach your goal. If it’s too much for you, then just extend the goal date until you can afford the monthly payments. You are able to set up a link to another bank account and SmartyPig will automatically deposit the montly amount into the account for your goal. The interest earned is automatically added to that account as well.
To help you stay motivated, they have a bar chart that will show you how you’ve done from month-to month and how your account balance is growing. Also, they have a status indicator that you can add to your website that will show you and the rest of the world how you’re doing. How is that for accontability? You can choose to show a dollar amount or percentage. You can see mine below. If you do sign up, let me know. We can be piggy friends on the website.
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2 Comments currently posted.
Chris Sumpter says:
Jennifer @ Money Saver 101 says:
Smartypig. I never heard of it. Thanks for the info. I’ll have to tell my readers about this one as well.
I have my emergency fund with Wesleyan Investment Fund. It isn’t insured, but I agree with their investment strategy and it pays 3.5% on deposits over $5000.