Of (only a little) interest to some... a bit of a vent

Now that Katherine's last semester of school is paid for, we may actually have a few dollars to start putting away. So yesterday, I took a few minutes to investigate term deposits. Boy was I disappointed with my bank (caisse) -- If I have less than $5000 to give them, then for a term of one year less a day, they will give me the gift of 0.5% interest. They are a bit more generous if I give them over $5000 at 1.3% interest. Taking into account all the other miscellaneous fees I'm sure they charge, I would be much better off keeping the money under my pillow! I looked at some of the major banks, and they're dismal also. So, what should I do? Keep the money under my pillow?

No.

I was just on the ING Direct website, and their regular savings account has an interest rate of 2.5%. In comparison, my current savings account interest rate is 0.15% -- If I had over $25,000 in the account, that would jump to a whopping 0.9%. What a rip-off.

For those wondering, yes, I did look at PC Bank, and their savings rate is 2.3%. PC Bank, for those of you who are not from Ontario is a bank run by a major grocery chain in Ontario, Loblaws (sounds weird, but it's true). They often have very competitive rates, and offer free groceries in lieu of interest with some accounts (like air miles for your stomach).

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I am going to get to work.