Welcome, visitors from The Dallas Morning News! This is the next installment in a series at Consumerism Commentary about taking control of your finances. Please consider subscribing to the Consumerism Commentary RSS feed for updates.

If you’re on your way to spending less than you earn, then you’re going to need a good place to put your excess income. Even before setting savings goals and before establishing an emergency fund, it’s best to let your cash earn as much interest as possible while staying somewhat accessible. High-yield savings accounts are the best options.

Typical savings accounts at most banks pay an interest rate well below 1%. With conservative estimates of inflation running 3% to 4%, you’re losing purchasing power quickly by leaving your money in these accounts. In the last several years, internet banks paved the way for higher interest rates. Theoretically, these banks without branches could afford to pay higher rates because the companies lacked the expenses associated with owning a network of branches on street corners or in strip malls. More recently, traditional brick-and-mortar banks added more accessible high-yield savings accounts to compete with these offerings.

Interest rates have fluctuated over the past few years and we’re currently at one of the low points. Great interest rates are harder to find, but there are a few quality savings accounts offering 4% or close to it. While you may barely beat inflation at this rate, the purpose of a savings account is not long-term investment. You want to cash available to you within a day or two. All it takes to withdraw your cash is perhaps an online transfer and a visit to an ATM.

You shouldn’t just chose the savings account with the highest interest rate. Banks offer high interest rates because they want to compete for your deposits. If any particular bank is in the midst of a capital crisis—if they don’t have enough cash on hand to pay their expenses and liabilities—they will raise rates to attract more customers. For example, earlier this year, Washington Mutual raised rates several times and was frequently at the top of the list of interest rates. The purpose of this plan was to receive more cash. In the end, Washington Mutual failed and was bought by JP Morgan Chase.

Despite turmoil through bank failures, mergers, and acquisitions, there is very little risk in savings accounts. The FDIC insures these deposits on behalf of the banking industry. As long as you stay within the coverage limits, you should be able to access your money even in the event of your bank going out of business or being taken over by another bank. There may be a delay in your ability to access the money, but that is not typical

I have two recommendations for high-yield savings accounts. I am a new customer and new fan of FNBO Direct, the online division of the First National Bank of Omaha. I’m not the only fan of this account. Recently, Kiplinger Magazine honored FNBO Direct as the “best online savings account.” As of today, the online savings account offers a 3.25% APY. Since opening my FNBO Direct account in September, my experience with FNBO Direct has been smooth.

My other recommendation is ING Direct. With the Orange Savings Account’s 2.75% APY, this is not the highest rate you can find. ING Direct was one of the first banks to popularize the idea of branchless banking, and they have historically offered great interest rates. All reports indicate that customer service is fantastic and they have one of the best websites for navigating your accounts. It’s also very easy to organize your money at ING Direct into different labeled subaccounts. With ING Direct you can earn up to $525 in bonus interest my participating fully in their referral program.

Last Friday, I wrote about newcomers to the high-yield party, including Venture Bank Direct, ShoreBank, and DollarSavingsDirect. I also maintain an index of the popular high-yield savings accounts, organized by interest yield on the first $1 of deposit. The list was updated last night to include the rate changes from the past few weeks, and there have been several.

The high-yield savings account is an important piece of healthy finances and it will come into play as someone further develops money management acumen. Here are six tips for optimizing your savings:

1. Open the high-yield account. It will take only minutes to be approved, but funding your account electronically may take several days.
2. Keep your change. Use a jar to collect your excess coins every day and take the jar to the bank.
3. Automate your savings. Set up Direct Deposit for your paycheck so you’re saving first, withdrawing for expense later.
4. Divert small, unnecessary daily expenses to savings. If you spend $10 on two gourmet coffee drinks each morning, switch to one $2 Dunkin’ Donuts regular coffee and deposit the $40 you save each week into your savings account.
5. Hide your savings from yourself. Try to forget that you have money stashed away earning interest and survive without it.
6. Make your raise invisible. If you receive a 3% increase in your salary, increase the amount you leave in savings each month.

If you do things right, the money in your high-yield savings account should grow each month. It feels good to be in control of savings.

Image credit: Redvers

Only yesterday, HSBC Direct lowered the interest rate offered on the bank’s online savings account from 3.25% to 3.0% APY. Today, following suit, FNBO Direct lowered its rate from 3.5% to 3.25%. These drops are now expected with the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates and the London interbank offered rate (Libor) decreasing.

It’s increasingly hard to find good outlets for short-term cash. The tax-exempt money market fund I invested in three weeks ago, VNJXX, has seen its annual yield drop 2.5 percentage points from 4.83% to 2.36% in that same time.

I warned yesterday that more banks were likely to follow Chase’s lead in lowering interest rates for savings account customers. A few minutes ago, I received an email from ING Direct to inform me that the interest rate offered on the Orange Savings Account has been reduced to yield 2.75%.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been moving more savings out of ING Direct and into other liquid accounts like the FNBO Direct savings account, currently at 3.5% APY, and the Vanguard New Jersey Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VNJXX), currently with a 7-day yield of 3.69%.

While I’m generally happy with my ING Direct account for a good portion of my savings, I’m looking to spread the money around to take advantage of some higher interest rates. One of the banks I’ve targeted is FNBO Direct, the online arm of First National Bank of Omaha, currently offering 3.50% interest yield.

FNBO Direct is a member of FDIC, so deposits at the bank are insured. As long as balances stay below the limits set by the FDIC, I won’t have to worry about the safety of my money.

Opening My Account at FNBO Direct

Opening a savings account at any bank takes several days from start to finish, and FNBO Direct is not an exception. I started the process this past Sunday.

Step 1: Visit FNBO Direct and fill out an application. Read the rest of this article »

This morning, online bank HSBC Direct ended the extended promotion in which customers were offered a savings account earning interest of 3.50% annual percentage yield. This was planned; when the promotion was extended back in July, the company warned that after September 15, the interest rate would return to normal, which it has.

The interest rate is still competitive, at 3.25%. I don’t suggest chasing the highest rate at all times when the difference is only a few basis points, but if you’re opening a new account, it helps to weigh the interest rate with your need for excellent customer support.

With recent events, you may even want to forego high interest rates when the stability of the bank is in question. With FDIC insurance, it’s unlikely you’ll lose your money, but it helps to consider a bank’s stability to avoid any hassles or delays.

For example, Washington Mutual is currently offering 3.75%, one of the highest interest rates for a liquid savings or money market account you can find. But according to news reports, the bank is in trouble. Rates are high to attract capital, something WaMu needs at this point. If WaMu is acquired by another bank, a withdrawal during a conversion period may not be processed as quickly as you might expect. As long as you stay under the FDIC limits, your money will be there, but perhaps not at the precise minute it is needed.

FNBO Direct also offers a relatively high interest rate of 3.50% APY. The bank behind the online savings account, First National Bank of Omaha, has four stars out of five from BankRate and a Safe & Sound CAEL Rating of 2 (with 1 being the best).

I still have most of my cash at ING Direct, though I’ve begun spreading it around to other banks to take advantage of higher rates. ING Direct don’t offer the most interest but they are consistently not far from the top. Their website is simple and I’ve never had any problems with accessing my money. I hear their customer service is usually top-notch, but I’ve never had to use them.

If you have $250 to deposit, you can earn a $25 bonus by opening a new account at ING Direct.