ING's Savings Calculator

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ING Direct for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Study, get a job, work, then get the money. Most of the journeys in our life is booked on making money, and I would like to think that we live to make money. It's true at some point as money can be translated, exchanged into anything and can be the ultimate source of power in a man or in an entire country. Indeed, it is one of the most significant and important inventions of man.

Monetary crisis hits every corner of the world, and the rich people and superpower nations not spared. Countries resorted to austerity measures, cutting spendings, shutting up jobs, and lowering the bank's interest rates. And individuals too, needs to tighten up their belts and share the burden of the crisis, to get through.

As the Bank of England's base rate is pegged at 0.5 percent, the interest rate in savings is at it's lowest as well. As banks become competitive with each other on times like this, it is a good practice to look at the interest rates and compare them as necessary as it varies from different banks. It is not enough, however, for savers to just look for higher interest figures but also to read the smaller prints where the bigger surprises are written, like money tied up for long years without being able to withdraw, high minimum maintaining balance, and not easy to access accounts. Thanks to the advances in technology and the internet, we can compare the market without the bank's representative who can give us a biased analysis. With a few click of the mouse, we can decide where to put our money safely and more productively, that is tailored to our needs and circumstances.

Checking, for example http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/, Would put the top banks that offer the top interest rates. But beware and and be sure to  understand the smaller prints, written with the conditions. See screen shot below 

If I were going to choose, I would choose the later, it has a lesser interest rate but more flexible in terms of the amount of deposit and withdrawal terms as well.

 Interestingly, there's a widget at it's site that can help you determine the amount of savings you can set aside comfortably  in a year in a given area and locality. This can help savers which kind of savings and investment is the right one. This will eliminate over investment or under investment to maximize the interest rate tied to a certain product.   which                              

Basing for example the screenshot below, I know that I can take any of the savings offers above, the only sensible thing to do is to choose which one is fit to my circumstances.

You can try the widget which I have embedded below, if your finances qualifies you to a savings investment or other investments that can give you higher yields.

Find out more about ING Direct Savings

Savings Accounts