How a high-yield savings account with 'savings buckets​' could supercharge your progress

Yahoo

6 hours ago

Are you saving money for a vacation? A wedding? Car repairs? Chances are, you're working toward more than one savings goal right now, but you're lumping all of your spare money into one place: a traditional savings account.
There's certainly nothing wrong with having just one regular savings account, but going that route makes it challenging to know how much you've really saved for each goal. If you're not careful, you could easily mix up your emergency fund with your savings for a down payment, for example.
One way to avoid that problem is to open multiple savings accounts, each one dedicated to a different goal. However, to save a lot of time and effort — plus, grow your balance faster — you could open a single high-yield savings account that has "savings buckets" instead.
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Savings buckets, which are sometimes called sub-savings accounts, let you set up categories for each of your unique savings goals within one account.
This free account feature, which comes with a handful of savings accounts, is like a set of digital envelopes you can use to build up and track your separate financial goals.
For example, you can label one bucket as "House Down Payment," another as "Emergencies," and a third as "Holiday Gifts." When you make a deposit to your savings account, you get to choose if you want to keep the money in your general savings or move it to one of your buckets.
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For accounts with this feature, the bank may offer anywhere from 20 savings buckets to an unlimited number, all of which earn the same interest rate as your general savings. These accounts also tend to have other savings-friendly features, like the option to round up your debit purchases and deposit the difference into a bucket.
Eliminates the need for multiple savings accounts
Can incentivize you to save more money
Makes it easier to organize and track multiple savings goals
Instantly transfer money between buckets
Some accounts let you set goals and track your progress for each bucket
Higher collective deposits can help you avoid bank fees and qualify for higher interest rates
Mid- to long-term deposits usually earn more when invested in other types of accounts, such as certificates of deposit (CDs), 529 plans, or retirement accounts
Interest rates are variable; savings account rates can change at any time
Deposit amounts over $250,000 may not be federally insured
Unfortunately, savings buckets aren't a common feature for savings accounts. But we've saved you the trouble of having to scour the internet to find a good option. Here are a few accounts that come with savings buckets and offer high interest rates — some up to 4% APY — to supercharge your savings progress.
With Ally's online savings account, you can create up to 30 buckets. Ally also offers a competitive 3.6% APY with no monthly maintenance fees.
To make things more convenient, Ally's "Boosters" let you schedule automatic deposits to the buckets of your choice. You can also opt to round up your debit purchases and transfer the money to savings once you've accrued at least $5.
Read our full review of Ally.
If you want the highest interest rates on an account with savings buckets, check out Betterment. All deposits earn 4% APY with Betterment's Cash Reserve account.
Betterment doesn't use buckets per se, but you can input multiple savings goals and set up recurring deposits of your desired amount for each goal.
Just note that Betterment is not a bank; it's a robo-advisory firm. So, its accounts have some unique requirements and features. For example, you have to open a Betterment Securities brokerage account before you can open a Cash Reserve account. Further, this account is a cash management account, not a regular savings account.
With SoFi's online bank account, you can have up to 20 'Savings Vaults' at a time. Plus, your deposits earn up to 3.8% APY, depending on the total balance. SoFi also lets you input goals for each bucket and track your progress.
Similar to Ally, you can opt to round up your debit purchases to the next dollar and have the difference deposited into the vault of your choice.
Read our full review of SoFi.
Wealthfront offers "categories," which serve the same function as savings buckets. With Wealthfront's Cash Account, another cash management account, you can set up an unlimited number of customizable categories within your account. And your balance earns 4% APY.
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For savings accounts that have savings buckets, there is not typically a minimum amount you have to deposit into each bucket.
Yes. Regardless of whether you move your savings into a bucket or sub-account, it will usually earn the same interest rate.
The number of savings buckets you can set up for your deposit account depends on the financial institution's policies. For example, Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) gives you 12 buckets while Wealthfront offers an unlimited number.