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EbilDustBunny

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Well, it IS a money market fund...But it has never gone down in the entire time I've had it (I'm not sure how long the program has been running off the top of my head). However, the interest rate has gone up and down, I believe it dipped to around 2.5% levels a while back. I cut-and-pasted some relevant info from my account:

 

Currently earning 4.58%*

 

*7 day average yield as of 5/3/2006. Yield varies over time. Money market funds are neither insured nor guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 USD per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. Distributed by Funds Distributor, Inc. Learn more about the Safety of your Money or about the Fund in the prospectus.

 

If you're looking for a way to make some interest, I highly suggest HSBC's online-only savings account, it takes a while to get set up (a week or two, depending) but it has a steady 4.5% interest rate, it is FDIC insured, has a 0-liability agreement (should something happen) and can be tied to your checking account. Transfers take a few days (3ish) and the interest rate for a savings is like whoa. I don't know the details about savings accounts, if they are guaranteed to go up in value, but the interest rate has been steadily high since its inception, and it has been going up! (The promotional rate of 4.8% just ended, and it is back to 4.5%. This is the only notable exception). Better yet, it's only a $1 minimum, no fees, multiple transfers, and it appears that you even get free BillPay from it...though I don't know.

 

http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal/savi...ings?code=mdtsp

 

There are others, too. Emigrant Direct, I believe, has pretty much the exact same deal.

 

If you want a place to save your money, I'd choose a traditional bank (HSBC) over Paypal, though that's totally opinion. Add to that the fact that the HSBC account has, effectively, no minimum ($1), it has a consistently high return and I have had nothing but good results in my personal experience, and it looks to be a great deal.

 

If you want your small stash of online eBay money to work for you until it burns a hole in your pocket, I'd suggest the Paypal money market. I sell stuff on eBay, let it sit around until I find a new shiny, then buy it...and I get to keep the accrued interest. It's in terms of dimes, maybe a buck or two, but that's money I didn't have, it fights inflation and offsets costs like shipping.

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(edited)

If the money was held by Paypal, which whilst essentially this is a Paypal account, the funds are actually traded by Barclays Global Investors. I've banked with Barclays for the last 12 years, the last 2 of which has been with Barclays Global (of which Investors is an arm) and can certainly say that I've never had any trouble with them.

 

I used to recruit for BGI, and if memory serves correctly, whilst they're no HSBC in scale they are the world's largest fund manager, with somewhere in the region of $1,000 billion under management.

 

So if you've got money just sat in the Paypal account I wouldn't worry too much, but I think to echo the above, if you're after savings, go direct to a bank, don't let an intermediary do it for you.

Edited by Leveller
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If the money was held by Paypal, which whilst essentially this is a Paypal account, the funds are actually traded by Barclays Global Investors. I've banked with Barclays for the last 12 years, the last 2 of which has been with Barclays Global (of which Investors is an arm) and can certainly say that I've never had any trouble with them.

 

I used to recruit for BGI, and if memory serves correctly, whilst they're no HSBC in scale they are the world's largest fund manager, with somewhere in the region of $1,000 billion under management.

 

So if you've got money just sat in the Paypal account I wouldn't worry too much, but I think to echo the above, if you're after savings, go direct to a bank, don't let an intermediary do it for you.

 

Slightly off topic, but I dislike Barclay's. I was trying to hook myself up with a student bank account with them primarily for the reason that my dad has been banking there for the last 30 years or something like that. I walked into the local branch with my passport, an acceptance printed off the internet, and my whole university welcome pack, specifically including a letter from the university saying congratulatons on being accepted to study here.

 

I tried to open an account, but apparantly I didn't have enough proof that I was a student :freak: I needed an official letter from UCAS (deal with unviersity applications) saying I had got in, which I had thrown away long ago. Not even a print off from the UCAS website or a whole start pack including my name was sufficient proof that I was a student for them.

 

I couldn't believe they were stupid enough to deny me a student account, that would probably lead to me banking with them for the rest of my life, a life time customers worth of business because they all of my documents that clearly proved that I was a student wasnt sufficient evidence.

 

So I walked across the road and went to natwest who signed me up straight away. But after their debit card took 2 months to come through, i got an account with a building society that I'm still using to this day.

 

err yes ermmm e-bay =gooooood

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I put all my money in PayPal one summer. I had over 1,000 in there and I was signed up for the money market account. You can lose moeny, but I have never seen it lose in the history of it. But when I had money in the account my rate of return was only 1%!!!!

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Nope, no fees. Fee-free, no matter what the balance. Even if you have zero in the account for six months at a time, they don't care. And Emily, that rate varies. It's 4.58% right now (or it was earlier this week, at least). Even at 1-2%, if it's just spending cash burning a hole in your pocket it's better than paper cash under the mattress. 1-2% may not be beating inflation but it's not being beaten as hard as money earning 0%. Though, I do agree, 1-2% for small amounts of money doesn't seem worthwhile...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Page 4 of the prospectus shows how it's performed:

 

https://www.paypal.com/en_US/pdf/PayPal_Prospectus.pdf

 

I just set my account up for this, not really for the extra interest, but as another link to my business website. Somehow, paypal requires you to participate for them to promote your site.

 

What I'm liking about paypal since I've used it for my business is that clients find it convenient. I've made an extra $1800 in my business the first month of accepting credit cards through them. Not too shabby.

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