Saving Money Make Easy

No matter how young or old, saving money is a good idea. Encourage your children to save. Ask grandparents to contribute to an education savings account instead of buying a toy. Wa-Mu makes it easy to save with a full selection of accounts. I have outlined their savings and CD accounts below.

Comparison of Wa-Mu Savings Accounts

Wa-Mu has three different Savings Accounts that you may open.

• Statement Savings may be opened by telephone or at a local branch. You may access your account via ATM or branch office. The minimum deposit is $4. You will receive the same interest rate no matter the amount of your balance.
• Online Savings account takes less than ten minutes, an Internet connection and $1 to open, and you can access your money through an ATM.
• Savings for Success pays you 5 percent for one year on your account. You may set up automatic transfers from any WaMu checking account. After one year, you must choose another savings account.

Another Way to Save with WaMu: CDs

If you wish to earn more interest, then you may want to look at Certificates of Deposit (CD). CDs are similar to savings accounts, except that you must commit to leave the money on deposit for a set amount of time. The longer the term, the higher the interest rate earned. You incur penalties when you withdraw

• Open a Traditional CD with $1,000 or more by phone or at any WaMu Financial Center. WaMu has a Bump Rate®, which--if the standard rate of interest increases during the initial term--allows you to request that your interest rate be adjusted upwards.
  
  
• Open a Liquid CD with $5,000 or more by phone or at any WaMu Financial Center. This CD allows deposits and withdrawals as long as you have not made a withdrawal in the past week and your balance does not drop below $5,000.
  
  
• Open an Online CD over the Internet in less than 10 minutes with $1,000.

Deposits are accepted by Washington Mutual Bank (WMB) and Washington Mutual Bank, FSB and are insured by FDIC.

Tags: wamu, save money, savings accounts, certificates of deposit