BOA Savings Account

[enviroian]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

[Pops1860]

This thread has been moved to the "Personal Finance (Not Investing)” forum. Moderator Pops1860

[psteinx]

BoA pays pretty awful interest across all their accounts.

If you have a brokerage account somewhere, consider moving most of the cash to a government money market account at that brokerage. If you don't have a brokerage account, consider opening one.

Here's a chart of T-Bill rates. A good money market, in safe government assets, should earn *close* to the current rate shown here.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DTB4WK

[JS-Elcano]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

My savings account was earning 0.05%. So, a month ago or so I transferred my savings account balance (nowhere near your 300k) to my Vanguard Brokerage where it is sitting in the settlement fund VMFXX (money market) earning 4.57%.

[Fpdesignco]

If you want to keep it in BOA you also can open a Merril account and have it sit in a federal money market fund 3.5>4%

[anon_investor]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Open a Merrill Edge account (which is owned by Bank of America so money transferred between the 2 instantly) and you can buy competitive money market funds, all paying over 4%:

https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... eSheet.pdf

Personally I keep money at Merrill Edge in TTTXX a treasury money market fund yielding over 4.4%.

[StayTheCourse60]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Open a Merrill Edge account (which is owned by Bank of America so money transferred between the 2 instantly) and you can buy competitive money market funds, all paying over 4%:

https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... eSheet.pdf

Personally I keep money at Merrill Edge in TTTXX a treasury money market fund yielding over 4.4%.

Is this FDIC insured? Do you know if this MM account has a minimum deposit required? A family FA told me this fund, or say, TTTXX required a 100k minimum at ML.

[anon_investor]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Open a Merrill Edge account (which is owned by Bank of America so money transferred between the 2 instantly) and you can buy competitive money market funds, all paying over 4%:

https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... eSheet.pdf

Personally I keep money at Merrill Edge in TTTXX a treasury money market fund yielding over 4.4%.

Is this FDIC insured? Do you know if this MM account has a minimum deposit required? A family FA told me this fund, or say, TTTXX required a 100k minimum at ML.

Not FDIC insured, but it only invests in US treasuries. At Merrill Edge, the no cost self directed brokerage, there is only a $1k minimim. You can also do at Merrill Edge the preferred deposit which is FDIC insured up to $250k ($100k minimim) and has a current interest rate of 4.24%.

[enviroian]

Thanks all. Good tips and will contact BOA today regarding a Merrill account.

[02nz]

Lots of banks offering close to 4% now on "high-yield savings accounts," favorites here include Ally and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. FDIC insured. Ally also has a no-penalty CD at 4.75%.

[02nz]

Thanks all. Good tips and will contact BOA today regarding a Merrill account.

If you're still banking by going into the branch or calling the 800 number, you're doing it wrong. You can set up a Merrill Edge account (the Edge part is key, you're going to get fleeced otherwise with Merrill Lynch) in less time than it takes to wade through their phone menus.

[bling]

OP, make sure you mention the signup bonus. merrill edge has a $600 one right now which applies to you (>200k deposit).

[dukeblue219]

Thanks all. Good tips and will contact BOA today regarding a Merrill account.

Sign up for a Merrill Edge account. It's a plain old no cost brokerage. Don't let them sign you up for Merrill Lynch or any advisor led program.

Doing it online is the safest bet.

[dukeblue219]

OP, make sure you mention the signup bonus. merrill edge has a $600 one right now which applies to you (>200k deposit).

Will that apply to funds transferred from BoA?

[White Coat Investor]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Step 1: Move it to somewhere that will pay you interest. Best choice today is probably the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund. You can link it to your BOA checking account and move money back and forth easily by putting in buy/sell orders on the Vanguard website. Allow 1-3 business days to move money back and forth.

Step 2: Figure out what you actually want to do with this money. If a portion of it is for retirement, invest that portion into your selected asset allocation of stocks, bonds, real estate etc. according to your written investing plan.

[enviroian]

OP, make sure you mention the signup bonus. merrill edge has a $600 one right now which applies to you (>200k deposit).

Yes I'm on the edge page now. It's offering a $1000 sign up bonus (!). Is Individual Cash Management Account the way to go here?


Select Account Type:

Individual Cash Management Account
An investment account designed for a single owner that allows trading while providing features such as checking

Joint Cash Management Account
An investment account that can be opened with up to four owners that allows trading while providing features such as checking

SEP IRA
A retirement plan specifically designed for self-employed individuals and small business owners

Roth IRA
A retirement account where contributions are made after-tax, and earnings have the opportunity to grow tax free for those who qualify

Traditional IRA
A retirement account that combines tax deferral with the potential for tax deductible contributions

Rolling over assets?

Select the choice above that's best for you.
Cancel

[vaylie]

OP, if you go for the bonus, you need to make sure you fund it from an external source that's not your BoA account. I think there's a few posts in the main BoA/Merrill thread about how long after you transfer funds out of BoA where that stops counting against you.

As for account type, you'll want the CMA for taxable investing.

[patrick]

UFB now pays 5.02% on savings account.

[anon_investor]

OP, make sure you mention the signup bonus. merrill edge has a $600 one right now which applies to you (>200k deposit).

Yes I'm on the edge page now. It's offering a $1000 sign up bonus (!). Is Individual Cash Management Account the way to go here?


Select Account Type:

Individual Cash Management Account
An investment account designed for a single owner that allows trading while providing features such as checking

Joint Cash Management Account
An investment account that can be opened with up to four owners that allows trading while providing features such as checking

SEP IRA
A retirement plan specifically designed for self-employed individuals and small business owners

Roth IRA
A retirement account where contributions are made after-tax, and earnings have the opportunity to grow tax free for those who qualify

Traditional IRA
A retirement account that combines tax deferral with the potential for tax deductible contributions

Rolling over assets?

Select the choice above that's best for you.
Cancel

Individual Cash Management Account is what you are looking for, that is what ME calls their brokerage account.

[Hyperchicken]

Are you married and do you have BofA credit card(s)?

If you are married and if you have BofA credit cards and if you care about your Preferred Rewards status (so that you can have more cash back on your credit cards), then...

Open a joint account with your spouse from the get go. Otherwise, it is a major effort to add your spouse later.

Why? Because the balance of a joint account is counted toward both your spouse's and your Preferred Rewards balance. Otherwise it would only count toward your balance.

[anon_investor]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Step 1: Move it to somewhere that will pay you interest. Best choice today is probably the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund. You can link it to your BOA checking account and move money back and forth easily by putting in buy/sell orders on the Vanguard website. Allow 1-3 business days to move money back and forth.

Step 2: Figure out what you actually want to do with this money. If a portion of it is for retirement, invest that portion into your selected asset allocation of stocks, bonds, real estate etc. according to your written investing plan.

Merrill Edge has instant transfers between a BoA checking account and offers institutional class money market funds with only a $1k minimum that are comparable in yields to Vanguard's. So for someone with a BoA checking, this may be more desirable since there is no lag waiting for money to transfer.

[stocknoob4111]

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me?

if you understand what your future cashflows look like then you can build a t-bill ladder - I am guessing you don't need the entire $300k at once so it makes sense to choose longer maturities for the money you know you don't need at the moment. You just missed the boat on the 5% rates as they dipped quit substantially in the last few days due to the banking crisis but it's still decent... around 4.3ish%.

Have you bought I-Bonds? you have until Apr 30 to pickup $10K x 2 (if you're married) for 6.48% rate for at least 6 months, then perhaps around 5% (estimated - but we'll know by next month for sure), even with the 3 mo. early redemption penalty it works out over 5%.

[enviroian]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

[Fpdesignco]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

Merril counts into your BOA status. I keep almost nothing with BOA and eveything in Merril to keep my rewards tier.

[Nummerkins]

Preferred Deposit. FDIC insured. You should be able to use it yourself online once it’s set up.

https://www.ml.com/solutions/preferred-deposit.html

See rates here.

https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content ... eSheet.pdf

[anon_investor]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

Merril counts into your BOA status. I keep almost nothing with BOA and eveything in Merril to keep my rewards tier.

+1. I have Platinum Honors tier Preferred Rewards status and usually have no more than ~$10 in checking and all the rest in my Merrill Edge account ($100k+ in ETFs and TTTXX).

[enviroian]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

Merril counts into your BOA status. I keep almost nothing with BOA and eveything in Merril to keep my rewards tier.

+1. I have Platinum Honors tier Preferred Rewards status and usually have no more than ~$10 in checking and all the rest in my Merrill Edge account ($100k+ in ETFs and TTTXX).

Can one make ACH deposits into this account? Can this be used as a form of checking account?

[anon_investor]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

Merril counts into your BOA status. I keep almost nothing with BOA and eveything in Merril to keep my rewards tier.

+1. I have Platinum Honors tier Preferred Rewards status and usually have no more than ~$10 in checking and all the rest in my Merrill Edge account ($100k+ in ETFs and TTTXX).

Can one make ACH deposits into this account? Can this be used as a form of checking account?

I think you can but I don't see the need to since transfers between your Merrill Edge cash management account and BoA checking are instant. I make deposits or ACH transfers from my BoA checking. The money market funds are not sweep funds, so you have to manually sell them to get access to the cash. Depending on the money market fund, but this does work for TTTXX, if you sell before the trade cut off time for the fund (same day 1:45pm ET for TTTXX), you can get access to those funds. I have sold TTTXX on a weekday morning then imstantly transferred those funds to my BoA checking (I don't have a magin account), and been able to withdraw those funds.

[JenniferW]

I moved my savings to Vanguard Brokerage account. The default settlement account is the Federal Money Market and it's current yield is 4.53%. It only takes 1-3 business days to ACH transfer the cash from Vanguard brokerage back to my bank. I can even have limit buy orders setup to trigger and purchase VTI -- with a portion of my savings -- if there is a sudden big drop in the market. (e.g. $1000 of VTI at $175, another order for $1000 of VTI at $170, etc..) But if the buy orders don't get triggered it's still earning 4.53%.

Btw BofA charges $3 per ACH push to another financial institution. So I do ACH pulls instead for BofA.

[anon_investor]

Btw BofA charges $3 per ACH push to another financial institution. So I do ACH pulls instead for BofA.

For the benefit of the OP who has a BoA checking account, there is no fee to transfer either direction between BoA checking and Merrill Edge.

[riverant]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Step 1: Move it to somewhere that will pay you interest. Best choice today is probably the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund. You can link it to your BOA checking account and move money back and forth easily by putting in buy/sell orders on the Vanguard website. Allow 1-3 business days to move money back and forth.

Step 2: Figure out what you actually want to do with this money. If a portion of it is for retirement, invest that portion into your selected asset allocation of stocks, bonds, real estate etc. according to your written investing plan.

Merrill Edge has instant transfers between a BoA checking account and offers institutional class money market funds with only a $1k minimum that are comparable in yields to Vanguard's. So for someone with a BoA checking, this may be more desirable since there is no lag waiting for money to transfer.

Will BOA automatically pull from a ME money market to cover charges in BOA checking. Long shot but wondering if they essentially replicate a Fidelity CMA account

[dukeblue219]

I'm divorced, no kids. I only have a BOA debit card. I hold a BOA checking acct (payroll ACH into it) and general savings account.

I'm concerned if I transfer a few hundred grand to a newly opened Merrill account I'll lose my preferred status with BOA (I can't remember the balance minimum tiers).

Merril counts into your BOA status. I keep almost nothing with BOA and eveything in Merril to keep my rewards tier.

And quite frankly, this is the only compelling reason to ever use Merrill Edge - it's not a bad service but it's not nearly as user friendly as Fidelity or E-Trade or Schwab.

[anon_investor]

Hello, brand new here so please go easy

I have over $300K sitting in a BOA savings account earning just piddly interest. What would you recommend I do to have my money work better for me? Does BOA have other accounts I should look at? I'd also like the account to be somewhat liquid as I deposit and withdraw frequently.

Thanks

Step 1: Move it to somewhere that will pay you interest. Best choice today is probably the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund. You can link it to your BOA checking account and move money back and forth easily by putting in buy/sell orders on the Vanguard website. Allow 1-3 business days to move money back and forth.

Step 2: Figure out what you actually want to do with this money. If a portion of it is for retirement, invest that portion into your selected asset allocation of stocks, bonds, real estate etc. according to your written investing plan.

Merrill Edge has instant transfers between a BoA checking account and offers institutional class money market funds with only a $1k minimum that are comparable in yields to Vanguard's. So for someone with a BoA checking, this may be more desirable since there is no lag waiting for money to transfer.

Will BOA automatically pull from a ME money market to cover charges in BOA checking. Long shot but wondering if they essentially replicate a Fidelity CMA account

Nope. Only Fidelity does that so seemlessly.

[atdharris]

TTTXX is paying 4.49% right now. You can buy it through Merrill Edge. I'd definitely move the cash out of BoA's savings account.

[enviroian]

well opening up the account was seamless and I transferred over 100K for starters. I like how all accounts are on my merrill app (for some reason however I can't see all three nor link the Merrill account on the BOA app).

Thanks for the advice all.

[Fpdesignco]

well opening up the account was seamless and I transferred over 100K for starters. I like how all accounts are on my merrill app (for some reason however I can't see all three nor link the Merrill account on the BOA app).

Thanks for the advice all.

Call them, a bunch of weird linking problems I also had

[evelynmanley]

These recent threads describe the pros and cons of Merrill Edge. Since you've already signed up, these might be the best places for you to ask questions re: your new account:

Would you Use Merril Edge if it was not for BOA rewards?
viewtopic.php?p=7175414#p7175414


Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
viewtopic.php?t=150033&hilit=Merrill+Lynch

[enviroian]

I see nowhere on the Merrill app what the name of my investment product nor what the interest rate is. Is there something I’m missing? It just says “total portfolio value $100,000 and underneath it says “$0.00 0.00%”.

[anon_investor]

I see nowhere on the Merrill app what the name of my investment product nor what the interest rate is. Is there something I’m missing? It just says “total portfolio value $100,000 and underneath it says “$0.00 0.00%”.

Is the $100k just sitting in your settlement fund?

[dukeblue219]

I see nowhere on the Merrill app what the name of my investment product nor what the interest rate is. Is there something I’m missing? It just says “total portfolio value $100,000 and underneath it says “$0.00 0.00%”.

Did you actually buy anything yet? The account is just an account like any other brokerage. You need to buy an ETF, mutual fund, money market fund, and so forth to have anything other than a pile of cash.

[enviroian]

I bought an individual cash management account. I thought that was the product that was paying 4% or more interest. I thought that was a money market account. If I was wrong I’ll just close out that account and transfer my cash back to the BOA savings account.

[vaylie]

You opened a cash management account but have not bought anything yet.

Take a look at the options here. You can call in and ask for the Preferred Deposit option for 100k+ if you don't want to mess with the trading interface.

Or you can buy one of the money market funds on the second-third pages. I personally use TTTXX. You will need to buy them using the Trade -> Mutual Funds menu, and then enter TTTXX and the amount you want to buy. I've never tried trading MMFs on a weekend, but on weekdays, as long as I get my order in before 1:45 PM, the money will go into Pending Activity and then show as TTTXX the next day.

During trading hours (M-F), you can also check out fixed income options like treasuries.

[enviroian]

Okay thanks. I’ll call them tomorrow

[Hyperchicken]

I bought an individual cash management account. I thought that was the product that was paying 4% or more interest. I thought that was a money market account. If I was wrong I’ll just close out that account and transfer my cash back to the BOA savings account.

You opened an individual cash management account in which you can now buy assets - this works just like any other brokerage.

[Lyrrad]

Merrill Edge has instant transfers between a BoA checking account and offers institutional class money market funds with only a $1k minimum that are comparable in yields to Vanguard's. So for someone with a BoA checking, this may be more desirable since there is no lag waiting for money to transfer.

My understanding is that if you sell TTTXX before 1:45PM ET on a trading day you can transfer it instantly to the checking account. Otherwise you'd have to wait until the next day. I get an error whenever I've tried to place an order when the market was closed.

I think Preferred Deposit allows for same day purchases and sales online on trading days before 5PM with instant transfers available to a BoA checking account, but I am unsure on the details since I do not have the product. I believe you have to make the initial purchase by phone and future trades can be done online.

While Preferred Deposit is FDIC insured only up to $250K, you may be able to increase the insured amount by opening additional account(s) under additional ownership categories.

I personally view Bank of America as effectively being backed by the government since it is a Global Systemically Important Bank, and I would personally be comfortable going above the FDIC limit in such a bank.

[anon_investor]

Merrill Edge has instant transfers between a BoA checking account and offers institutional class money market funds with only a $1k minimum that are comparable in yields to Vanguard's. So for someone with a BoA checking, this may be more desirable since there is no lag waiting for money to transfer.

My understanding is that if you sell TTTXX before 1:45PM ET on a trading day you can transfer it instantly to the checking account. Otherwise you'd have to wait until the next day. I get an error whenever I've tried to place an order when the market was closed.

I think Preferred Deposit allows for same day purchases and sales online on trading days before 5PM with instant transfers available to a BoA checking account, but I am unsure on the details since I do not have the product. I believe you have to make the initial purchase by phone and future trades can be done online.

While Preferred Deposit is FDIC insured only up to $250K, you may be able to increase the insured amount by opening additional account(s) under additional ownership categories.

I personally view Bank of America as effectively being backed by the government since it is a Global Systemically Important Bank, and I would personally be comfortable going above the FDIC limit in such a bank.

Yes if you sell before 1:45pm ET on a day the market is open ME will make the funds instantly available for withdrawal. You can place orders before and after the market is open, but not super late or on the weekend. I am able to place the orders on mornings beofre the market is open.

I don't have Preferred Deposit. Not sure how it works.

[NYCaviator]

You can also do at Merrill Edge the preferred deposit which is FDIC insured up to $250k ($100k minimim) and has a current interest rate of 4.24%.

How do you do the preferred deposit through ME? In a “cash management solutions” PDF linked by another poster in another thread, it mentions the preferred deposit program, but says you have to contact your representative. I assumed this was only available to ML advisory clients who have an assigned FA. Can you just call the 877 number for ME and have them move money into that account? And it sounds like you only need to invest 100k initially, but can drop below that amount as long as your deposits/withdrawals are at least 1k each?

[anon_investor]

You can also do at Merrill Edge the preferred deposit which is FDIC insured up to $250k ($100k minimim) and has a current interest rate of 4.24%.

How do you do the preferred deposit through ME? In a “cash management solutions” PDF linked by another poster in another thread, it mentions the preferred deposit program, but says you have to contact your representative. I assumed this was only available to ML advisory clients who have an assigned FA. Can you just call the 877 number for ME and have them move money into that account? And it sounds like you only need to invest 100k initially, but can drop below that amount as long as your deposits/withdrawals are at least 1k each?

I don't have Preferred Deposit, but I believe you call the 877 number to initially set it up but then can manage it from your online account after that.

[fourwheelcycle]

TTTXX is paying 4.49% right now. You can buy it through Merrill Edge. I'd definitely move the cash out of BoA's savings account.

Sounds great to me, but my wife thinks we would be crazy to do this now, since the US may default on its treasuries in few months, causing us to lose our non FDIC-insured money in TTTXX.

What do others think?

[OrangeKiwi]

Not FDIC insured, but it only invests in US treasuries. At Merrill Edge, the no cost self directed brokerage, there is only a $1k minimim. You can also do at Merrill Edge the preferred deposit which is FDIC insured up to $250k ($100k minimim) and has a current interest rate of 4.24%.

To clarify, preferred deposit is only $100k minimum for the initial deposit, and a phone call is required for that initial deposit. After that, you can easily reduce all the way down to $1 or increase via the online interface.

Sounds great to me, but my wife thinks we would be crazy to do this now, since the US may default on its treasuries in few months, causing us to lose our non FDIC-insured money in TTTXX.

What do others think?

Stick in Preferred Deposit and you get to avoid spending time on this conversation at the cost of 25 basis points.