Saving Money: Fidelity Savings Account

In the current economic climate it’s hard to save money. When I was growing up, my father taught me the “pay yourself first” theory. Take 10% off the top of every paycheck that comes in, and put it in savings. I know you may be saying “but I can’t afford to save 10%! I’m barely making it!” Pay yourself first anyway. The bills will always be there.

Whether you earn $10k a year or $10million, human nature is to spend as much as (or more than) we earn. I’ve noticed that as my salary went up over the years, the amount of money I have “left over” after paying bills remains about the same. It has often been zero. If you pay yourself first, you will always have a little bit in savings for an emergency (those new hot shoes? NOT an emergency. Unexpected vet bill? Emergency!) It’s hard to get into the habit of doing this, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature, and is quite easy. In addition to paying ourselves first, we are in the habit of taking any money “left over” when the next check comes, and putting it into savings. Also any unexpected money goes directly to savings. This includes rebates, overtime pay, gifts, or extra money earned through selling items we no longer use.

For saving money I HIGHLY recommend Fidelity. I’ve had my 401k and my stock options managed through them for a few years now, ever since my workplace switched to them. Their customer service is truly stellar. A few years ago I wanted to exercise some stock options and I had what I felt were really stupid questions, as I didn’t know a thing about investing. I went into their office location in downtown Seattle, and asked for help. I confessed to the broker that I was ignorant about investing and portfolios and such. He treated me just as kindly over my $500 beginner’s portfolio as he would a multimillionaire. He also took care to explain things from the ground-up, and not once did he make me feel stupid for not already knowing. At the end of the visit, he asked where I’d parked, and I told him on the street. He gave me free overnight shipping (worth $25 or so) on the check from my stock sale to reimburse me for my parking, and told me how to get into their free lot the next time.

A few months ago we began really saving in earnest. We had a regular savings account with Wells Fargo, but it was attached to our checking account and it’s way too easy to use it to to buy things we really didn’t need but wanted in the moment (“but we have the money in savings! It’s only $50 – we’ll put it back…”) We needed an account that wasn’t tied to our other accounts but that would allow us instant access to the money when needed, so we opened a SmartCash savings account online through Fidelity. The bonus is the interest rate is significantly higher than Wells Fargo’s. It’s nice to see those few extra dollars deposited to the account each month.

The Fidelity SmartCash Savings Account has a great number of features:
.6% current interest rate, no account fees, no minimum balance, FDIC insured, ATM/Debit Card with reimbursement of fees if you use another bank’s ATM, free online bill pay, free unlimited checkwriting, free automated money transfers, electronic funds transfers, direct deposit, Fidelity Credit Card with 1.5% rewards program ($5k in purchases = $75 cash reward deposit back to the savings account)

If you’re looking for a new account for savings, definitely check out Fidelity.