What interest rate can you get on savings?

[Franzl]

Since we're doing threads like this....

Interest rates have turned pretty terrible in Germany.

1.0 - 1.75% maybe on accounts you can regularly access the money.
2.0 - 3.0% maybe on money you can't access for 1-4 years.

[© tweed]

less than inflation

[Tender Branson]

Since we're doing threads like this....

Interest rates have turned pretty terrible in Germany.

1.0 - 1.75% maybe on accounts you can regularly access the money.
2.0 - 3.0% maybe on money you can't access for 1-4 years.

Same here in AUT at the moment.

I remember when I went to the bank during 2004 and 2008 and regularly had 3-4% in interest rates for daily accessible money.

[bgwah]

Hah. At most banks and credit unions in the U.S., a savings account's interest rate will be very close to zero, probably in the 0.10-0.25% range.

You can get a little higher with an online bank, and certain banks/CUs will have various promotional offers up to a certain dollar amount (a local credit union in WA offers 6.17% up to $1,000, but then it drops to 0.10%).

[Tender Branson]

Is there still a special offer somewhere that if I buy an assault weapon at a bank, that I get 1% or 2% in interest for my savings ?

[angus]

1.0 - 1.75% maybe on accounts you can regularly access the money.

They're low here as well.  The best savings account rate I can find in any bank in a ten-mile radius is 0.8%.  The best 12-month CD rate I can find is 1.2%.

I remember getting around 5% for a 12-month CD about six years ago.  Not like that anymore.  Bear in mind that many banks are paying around 0.25% or less.  That 1.2% is a good deal by modern US standards. 

(Tender:  I think you misunderstood, or the movie was misinterpreted.  It was all about getting a free gun if you open a bank account, not about buying a gun at a bank.  Keep your stereotypes straight.)

[Beet]

This is why all the capital that I seek a return on is in some sort of active investment (stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, et cetera, both the long and short positions), only the portion that I want risk-free and zero return are in money markets, and only the liquidity that I need to get through my days, more or less, are in the bank.

But as for you, if you are a long-suffering German, forced to work for low pay so others can consume, and then bail them out at that-- you should not be saving. You should be spending! Or at least, demand that your employer raise your wages

[dead0man]

"Savings" I'm not sure what that is....is it a German word you picked up Franzl?

[Franzl]

"Savings" I'm not sure what that is....is it a German word you picked up Franzl?

Hmmm...how do I put that in American terms? Credit cards are American! Think of it as a reverse credit card, when the bank pays you for your money. Has that description helped you understand?

[dead0man]

I'm not sure.....so if I somehow had a little extra money, I could loan it to the bank...and they pay me a bit for the privilege?  Where does one get this extra money?  And why don't they spend it on crap they don't need as soon as they get it?  Also, banks seem a bit shady to me and have large, extravagant buildings to pay for, whats to stop them from "losing" my money?

[Tender Branson]

I'm not sure.....so if I somehow had a little extra money, I could loan it to the bank...and they pay me a bit for the privilege?  Where does one get this extra money?  And why don't they spend it on crap they don't need as soon as they get it?  Also, banks seem a bit shady to me and have large, extravagant buildings to pay for, whats to stop them from "losing" my money?

Yes, about 6-7 years ago, I got about 3-4% interest each year from my bank, of which 25% were taxed by the KEST (capital gains tax). Where do you get the money ? At the beginning of the year on your savings book.

These days you only get about 1% interest anymore for daily available money, maybe twice or 3-times that if you can't access your money for 1 year or longer.

Plus: Usually the government provides a Einlagensicherung, which means that the banks/government have to pay you at least 100.000€ even if they go bankrupt or the financial system collapses.

[Tender Branson]

Also, banks seem a bit shady to me and have large, extravagant buildings to pay for, whats to stop them from "losing" my money?

The Dodd-Frank bill now guarantees that you get at least 250.000$ of your savings back:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corporation#Historical_insurance_limits

[Platypus]

I have 3.5%, but can get 5.75% with another of the big 4 banks if I don't touch the account for 2 years, 5.6% with ING Direct, and 4% with my bank if I change to a different account type.

[Platypus]

(If anybody wants to put a shedload of money in my account, we can split the interest and I'll give you the money back in a few years... you can trust me, right?)

[angus]

Much is written about the CD rates in Australia being substantially higher than everybody else.  One thing to remember is that the AUD is a strange beast.  Exchange rates often occur in ways opposite to many other currencies, and since 1974 Australia has used a mechanism to keep it from being too affected by the US Dollar.  I have learned that foreign-denominated CDs can be purchased at some Australian banks, but I've never been entirely clear on whether the federal deposit insurance works the same with them.  There are also tax issues.  Australia would tax us on the dollars earned there, and Uncle Sam would tax us as US citizens earning investment income.  A tax treaty between US and Australia would ameliorate that somewhat, but I'm not sure it offsets the hassle factor vis-a-vis the reduced income.

Then again, we could always avoid that by taking your suggestion of letting it be in your name. 

[opebo]

I've never gotten interest worth noting on any savings account in my life, but I do believe from what I just researched online, you get 3% on most at the moment in Thailand (one or two were 2.65%).  However I'm having a difficult time determining if that is for a regular savings account or something else.

OOOps, I just checked - no you get like less than 1% for a regular savings account.  The 3% is for a one-year CD.