Hey Everyone, it’s that time again when I recommend some crap that you probably don’t want to read about, but it makes me happy and passes a lazy Sunday morning.
This week I want to recommend something really exciting…wait for it…a bank! But not just any bank, a social media bank. Wow I feel douchy just typing that I can’t imagine saying it out loud, but hear me out. The bank I am talking about is actually an automatic savings plan backed by a real bank. They are called SmartyPig and I guess you could call it a piggy bank for adults.
I started using SmartyPig last year when the wife and I were saving for our honeymoon and her laptop. The basic premise is that you set a savings goal which is an amount you want to save and a date you want to target. Then you link your account to your normal bank account and SmartyPig figures out how much you will need to transfer every month to hit your target by the date you want. That’s it, now every month you have an automatic savings transfer.
The concept is simple, but the reason I’m recommending it is two-fold. First, you get 2.00% APY on the account which is better than pretty much any other savings account out there right now. They used to be higher (as high as 4.5% as I recall), but everyone’s rates have fallen I’m hopeful that it will go up again someday. The second bonus is that when you cash out, you can opt to have your money cashed out into a gift card and get an additional boost. This isn’t great for all savings goals, but if you were going to buy camping gear from REI anyway, why not get the boost? Of course, you can also ACH your money back to your regular bank account for free. In case you worry about such things, your money is actually held at West Bank and is FDIC insured just like a regular bank account.
Like I said, I’ve used SmartyPig for big and small goals and they have been really great all around. It looks like they have addressed one of their biggest complaints too. Now when you transfer money it clears very quickly. It used to take 3-5 business days, but I transferred money and it was added to my goal within a day! Finally, you may want to follow them on twitter at @SmartyPig they do a monthly contest where you can win a $100 gift card. Oh man, I forgot, family and friends can also contribute to your savings goal by buying you a savings gift card. Allright, I’ve said enough. If you want to save up for something, check out the site, I’m not getting anything out of this, I just think it’s a cool concept and well executed.
