I Know I Should…So Why Don’t I?

As last month came to a close and I completed my ritual of updating my net worth spreadsheet, I sat there wondering why I still have my emergency savings sitting in my ING Direct account. I’ve had my funds at ING Direct since back when they were actually a market leader with the rates they were offering.

Rather than stay with ING Direct, I could move my funds over to one of a few alternative banks that are offering more competitive rates on their savings accounts. The two that I would primarily consider are HSBCdirect and EmigrantDirect. The last time that I checked their rates, they were both at 5.05% APY compared to the 4.50% APY at ING Direct.

Clearly I am leaving money on the table by sticking with ING Direct, so why haven’t I made the change yet? To be quite honest, the biggest reason is due to laziness and being content with the services of ING Direct. Their web interface is very nicely designed and convenient to use, better than both HSBCdirect and EmigrantDirect from things I have read. In addition, my savings are on auto-pilot with weekly transfers from my linked checking account.

But is that enough to warrant leaving money on the table every month? Not really. So why is that even though I know that I should transfer my money to one of the more competitive accounts, I am still sitting here with my funds parked at ING Direct. I don’t really have an answer but as I consider my goal to increase my net worth by 35% in 2007, I will have to give serious consideration to switching accounts.

Take a moment and let me know where you have parked your emergency savings. Maybe I just need to be convinced that change can be good and my concerns about HSBCdirect and EmigrantDirect are not worth leaving money on the table.