I'll be happy with 3-4% right now (bond, broker, mutual fund)

[dfour]

We have a little bit of money that is just sitting in a regular saving account getting a measly .80 percent. Which is even less after taxes.

Can anyone give me some recommendations that we can look into to get 3-4 %.
It is some money that we will not need for at least a few years.

[evilnewbie]

You could lend it to me... I actually have my relatives lending it to me at 3% interest since I rather give it to people than to banks... I pay off my bank debts by switching it to people debt which helps them and also helps me... It seems like some people use Prosper.com but I am a bit hesitant to lend people with bad credit, my credit score is around 800... hehehe... its not like I am doing it for anyone's benefit, I am paying less in terms of what interest rates banks are charging me... there are plenty of people out there like me... perhaps you could turn to family members or friends that you can trust...

[joey2000]

If you're confident you won't need to touch it for awhile, CDs. Might be able to get 3%+ for some. Certainly better than .8 anyway. Or money markets...lately you're lucky to even get 2%, but still beats .8.

[Oildog]

Thats why I move most of my spare cash into stocks. Yes its riskier, but I like getting 4% or more in dividends. SO, KMP, COP

[pghquest]

Payoff debt if you have any... That immediately returns the amount equal to the interest rate you are paying..

[Ellise]

An investment grade bond mutual fund, such as Vanguard's Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX) is yielding 3 or 4 % these days.

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by DFOR

We have a little bit of money that is just sitting in a regular saving account getting a measly .80 percent. Which is even less after taxes.

Can anyone give me some recommendations that we can look into to get 3-4 %.
It is some money that we will not need for at least a few years.

you would have to pay taxes on that so we really need inflation!!!!

[long101]

Originally Posted by Oildog

Thats why I move most of my spare cash into stocks. Yes its riskier, but I like getting 4% or more in dividends. SO, KMP, COP

dang 8% dividend on KMP? Right now its kicking around its all time high, but very appealing

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Ellise

An investment grade bond mutual fund, such as Vanguard's Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX) is yielding 3 or 4 % these days.

... that the managers that run that fund (and others like it) have GOAL that is based on keeping the mix of the bonds so that there are very small risks of decline in return as well as low volatility. You will NOT see that sort of a fund have much run up and when the bonds in the portfolio need to be sold (to respond to market conditions) the managers do so in predictable way.

It is boring and you won't really have good growth of assets, but to get a modest yield that might the way to go...

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

You could lend it to me... I actually have my relatives lending it to me at 3% interest since I rather give it to people than to banks... I pay off my bank debts by switching it to people debt which helps them and also helps me... It seems like some people use Prosper.com but I am a bit hesitant to lend people with bad credit, my credit score is around 800... hehehe... its not like I am doing it for anyone's benefit, I am paying less in terms of what interest rates banks are charging me... there are plenty of people out there like me... perhaps you could turn to family members or friends that you can trust...

omigod ! ! !

Real People helping and working with Real People?

With no corporation in between to broker and profit from the deal?

That is So Crazy it might just work.