Saturday, January 28, 2006

Recap -where shall I move my account?

Back to the central impetus for this blog --What shall I do with my account at Banknorth? I made a grid the other day comparing several options:

staying at Banknorth;
moving my money to a socially responsible bank like Wainwright in Boston (not convenient, but still
curious)
moving my money to the local credit union;
seeing if there is a community development credit union nearby;
considering the future possibility of Common Good Bank, which I'll talk about later --a cool sounding bank-to- be.

I'm comparing these options according to:

convenience (things like ATM availability and fees);
the interest rate they offer on a year-long CD;
the organizational structure -including the way they decide how to invest their assets;
the ways they make their earnings --including the percent of the investments and loans that are "socially
responsible"

Here is what I am leaning towards now: opening a checking account at the local credit union. But I am reluctant to open a CD/savings account there (or even in Wainwright Bank) without knowing more about where they invest their assets. (Of course, even my checking account deposits may be invested by them...) So I could put my savings elsewhere: for instance, investing in a community development financial institution like ICE, described previously. That way I'd know that the money is being invested entirely in low income housing and land trust projects. The CDFI is not insured --am I willing to take that risk? Ooh, maybe I could open a savings account in the Santa Cruz CDFI CDCU...it would be insured! But I'm not a resident!

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