So far, 145 banks and thrifts have been closed by regulators since the start of the credit crisis in 2008. One hundred a forty five. Every Friday, when the FDIC usually announces closures, for the last two years, we’ve expected at least one bank to fail… sometimes two. Last week, five banks failed, bringing the 2009 total to 120.

Scary huh?

So you might be surprised to learn that not a single one of those failures was an online bank. In fact, the last time an online bank failed was back in 2007 when NetBank of Alpharetta, GA was closed. It was acquired by another online bank, ING Direct. Many people would have you think that your money is safer earning 0% at your local bank than 2% at an online bank.

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In my ongoing quest to simplify our personal finances, I started cleaning up some of the connections in my Financial Network Map. The target today was my ING Direct account, which played host to both my CD ladder and my bank account firewall, two financial constructs that have proved invaluable in my financial planning and protection schemes.

What I didn’t disclose to you all earlier, when talking about the bank account firewall, was that I created a firewall account for each individual external account. Creating ING Direct subaccounts is and was so easy, I created one for each external connection. I had one for Paypal, one for E*Trade, one for … the list went on to the tune of about half a dozen accounts. Along the way, I also created a checking account to take advantage of a free money promotional offer that has since expired. Between the CD ladder, the five external accounts, the checking account, and the main online savings account, I knew I had to pare it down.

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We put our emergency fund into a CD ladder and every month one of those certificates of deposit matures and is automatically renewed. As an added bonus, ING Direct, where our CDs live, gives us a CD rollover bonus whenever we renew (currently the bonus is 0.15% on CDs of at least 12-months long). For us, the decision is simple. It’s a CD ladder and you simply renew the CD each month for the 12 month term.

What if you’re money isn’t in a CD because it’s part of a CD ladder, what should you do?

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(Updated 11/17) Welcome to the self-service $25 ING Direct signup promotion center at Bargaineering. I’ve written on numerous occasions about how ING Direct will give you a $25 bonus for opening either a checking or savings account through a referral and depositing $250, so I’ve set up this page to allow readers to help themselves to the referrals (I get $10 for each referral). In the past I asked for you to contact me, then I emailed out the referrals… no more, this is far easier!

Below, you will see a series of links to ING Direct and each one is an account referral link good for one $25 bonus per new customer only. Each link will only work for one new account so if you click the link and it says “We’re sorry, but the referral link within the email you received has expired and is no longer valid. We recommend that you contact the sender and ask them to re-send the referral email. Or click ‘Continue’ to proceed with the application process without the account opening bonus.” then please move onto the next one. As links are used, I’ll clean up the page such that only the good links are left.

If you use an expired link, you will not get the bonus. Clear the cookies from your browser before you try any of the links or they may appear to have “expired” but still be valid.

If you do not deposit $250, you will not get the bonus. If you still want an account, please use this link.

ING Direct Savings Accounts

1. ING Direct $25 Savings New Account Opening Bonus
2. ING Direct $25 Savings New Account Opening Bonus
3. ING Direct $25 Savings New Account Opening Bonus
4. ING Direct $25 Savings New Account Opening Bonus
5. ING Direct $25 Savings New Account Opening Bonus

If you want to get in the queue to have your link posted, you can peruse the Bargaineering Bucks Store.

Yesterday, ING Direct announced a clever new take on CDs – it’s the Added Value CD. The idea is very simple, you can get a 12 month CD with a rate of 2.25% if you open it and fund it with “new money” from a non ING Direct account. According to their terms and conditions, the new money must increase your total deposit balance as of yesterday, October 7th, 2009. Withdrawing money and then contributing it again will not work.

The 2.25% APY rate is a 0.15% premium on ING Direct’s current CD rates and it beats the best CD rates in that maturity range. With inflation at a scant 0.19%, getting 2.25% looks pretty good.

The Added Value CD [ING Direct]

If you are looking for a high yield savings account to earn more money, you have come to the right place. This page will give you three of my choices for the best online bank along with their rates, a list of comparable banks, and between the two you will find a savings account that will beat your current one.

High yield savings accounts are the rage these days, with people pouring billions of dollars into banks and certificates of deposit. A few years ago, the only online bank with a high yield savings account was ING Direct. At first I was a little apprehensive – an entirely online bank with no physical branches I could visit? But they were FDIC insured and it’s turned out well. Since then, dozens have popped up to offer high yields because they run leaner than traditional brick and mortar banks. No branches, no tellers, no managers, no paper statements – all result in higher yields.

Enter in a new class of deposit account – the high yield savings account. It follows all the rules of a regular savings account except the bank running it is cutting costs wherever it can and passing it along to you, the customer, in higher interest rates. So which online banks offer the best high yield savings accounts?

Best High Yield Savings Accounts

Everbank’s 2.51% Bonus Rate

If you’re looking for the best rate you can get from an a high yield savings account, Everbank is the one for you. Right now you get an interest rate of 2.51% for three months, which is certainly among the highest, and the initial deposit requirement is only $1,500. You only earn the bonus rate on the first $50,000 you deposit, anything over earns 1.50%. EverBank, along with every bank on this site, is FDIC insured since 1998 (FDIC Cert. #34775) up to $250,000.

In terms of accolades, they have collected several in their years in the business. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance once named them the “Best Checking Account” because their yields were often 10X that of industry averages while Money Magazine named them a “Best of the Breed.” For five years in a row, Forbes.com named them the “Best of the Web.” This isn’t a bank that will pull a bait and switch, they’ve been here for a while and their reputation speaks for itself.

Ally Bank

A relatively new entrant into the online savings account world is Ally Bank. Ally Bank is an online bank that’s been FDIC insured since August 2nd, 2004 under FDIC Certificate 57803. They are a unit of GMAC Financial Services and was once known as GMAC Bank before changing their name in May of 2009. The reason I like Ally Bank is because they have no minimums on any of their deposit accounts, they offer plenty of options from an online savings account to no penalty certificates of deposit; all of which are at market competitive rates. They are certainly worth a look.

Click to apply for an Ally Bank account today!

Best High Yield Savings Accounts Rates

I’ve compiled a list of the best of the best FDIC insured (now up to $250,000 through December 2013) banks below.

* Everbank offers 2.51% promotional rate for the first 3 months, then 1.77% thereafter.

Are these online banks safe? Yes, they are FDIC insured and you can confirm that with the FDIC’s Bank Find tool. In fact, with all the bank failures lately, you might be surprised to learn that not a single one was an online bank.

For the last ten minutes I’ve been trying to access ING Direct, to no avail (it’s now available, but it was slow for about half an hour). While I’m certain my funds are safe and nothing is wrong, it certain solidifies the notion that you should be diversifying your bank accounts.

Websites go down. In fact, websites go down pretty often and usually it’s not a big deal. However, if the website is your only interface with a bank, then it becomes a very big deal. That’s why I always recommend that you diversify your online savings accounts in the event something like this happens. I’m not a good example, because I recently told you about how I had a dozen savings accounts, but if all of your savings are in one bank, you might want to spread it out a little. (here are some high yield savings options)

If you don’t feel like dealing with more than one bank, here’s another suggestion. Make sure that you can withdraw funds from your online savings account through your main checking account. If you remember my financial network map, my main checking account has no awareness of my savings accounts.

I can’t go to my checking account and try to transfer funds from my ING Direct. That’s bad. If I could, then INGDirect.com going down wouldn’t bother me as much. Try to have that in place if you can.

Remember that nothing happens in real time with online savings accounts, so being down for an hour doesn’t really hurt anything. However, hours have a funny way of stretching into days whenever you least desire it.

Just a thought!

We have twelve bank accounts.

You read that correctly, we have twelve accounts.

Ally Bank, FNBO Direct, ING Direct, HSBC Direct, Bank of America, M&T Bank, … the list goes on.

We also have a dozen credit cards. Citi, Discover, Capital One, … again, the list goes on.

We have so many accounts because we’ve slowly acquired them over the course of the last ten years. Our financial network map is an intricated mess despite our best efforts to simplify our personal finances.

That’s why we need to hit the reset button on our financial life.

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How much money do you have sitting in a savings account? $500? $1,000?

Do you have plans for that money? If not, it should be in a certificate of deposit at your bank. If your bank doesn’t offer good CD rates, then you should open a CD with an online bank and take advantage of their better interest rates. If you don’t think you have enough money, you’re wrong. You can open a CD at an online bank with a single dollar.

One dollar.

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A few weeks ago I asked for your opinion of the best high yield savings account and the one thing I learned something very interesting. With interest rates as low as they are, with many banks offering less than 2%, it’s the other services and amenities that dictate which bank you’ll work with.

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