Hunting Happiness

HSBC upped their interest rate to 3.5% and guaranteed it for several months recently. In response (and probably what they were hoping for), we moved $60K cash into our HSBC account. Previously it had been earning around 2% in our local credit union money market, which was close to HSBC’s rate. The old account allowed us to move it easily and instantly in an out of other accounts, including our primary checking account. But a rate difference of 1.5% or more made it an easy decision.

Hopefully the rate stays at 3.5% or more. Remember that anything less than about 3% is losing money in real terms due to inflation.