iGOBanking is now offering some pretty decent gifts along with their competetitive CD rates to open a CD. They have just launched a new website called giftsforbanking.com that showcases the gifts they provide. The type of gift you'll receive depends on the amount of money you deposit into the cd as well as its term.

I took a look at some of the gifts and they weren't bad. There are still many consumer electronic products, harkening back to the days when banks gave away toasters and televisions to get your money. But there are also some nice trips. If you deposit $100,000 for 5-years some of the gifts include a luxury trip to Hawaii, a getaway to Aruba, or an entertainment system with a 47" plasma screen and a Bose sound system. Lesser amounts and terms get smaller gifts but they're not bad. A $25,000 investment in a 2-year cd provides choices of 26" HDTV or a Trek mountain bike among other comparable options.

Their CD rates aren't bad either. Until last week, their 5-year CD was at the top of the BestCashCow rate tables. The rate has since dropped but it is still competitive. Other terms are also competitive. This is not a bank trying to compensate for bad rates by providing some gift packages. The rates stand on their own.

If you close the CD before the maturity, you will need to refund the bank the cost of the gift along with any relevant shipping charges.You'll also have to pay an early withdrawal penalty. The gift will be reported as income and you'll receive a 1099.

The gifts themselves are provided by a third-party. This is common but it will require that your name and mailing address be sent to the third party so that they can fulfill the offer.

Learn more about iGOBanking

Thanks to Ellen for letting us know about this offer.

Etrade sent an email today that notified its Complete Savings customers that their accounts were going to be converted to Discover Online savings accounts in March.

In many ways this is no suprise. Etrade took severe losses from its foray into banking and mortgages and now appears to be trying to get back to its founding purpose - serving as an online brokerage. In recent months, it has reduced its Compete Savings rate to .50% APY, which is uncompetitive in the online savings account space.

Discover Bank has long had competitive rates. It's online savings account is paying 1.35% APY, which is okay compared to the top savings rates. Tne online bank's Achilles heal has been its service and online banking functionality. There are a litancy of complaints on Discover's BestCashCow page about the service. The good news is that the bank seems to be listening and is getting ready to roll-out a totally redone online banking platform. I've received a sneak-peak and it will singificantly upgrade the experience and remove many existing frustrations.

For Etrade customers this is a win. They will reveive a better rate and hopefully a better online banking experience.

The refrain goes something like this:

“I’ve got $5 million in cash at Merrill Lynch. It is earning me zero. I don’t know what to do. We may just elect in the very near future a truly unprepared and unstable President and the stock market is at an all time high. I for one am not getting in now. And, interest rates are at an all time low, so I cannot buy bonds. My broker calls me and tries to sell me crap that neither he nor I understand. I have no way to earn anything.”

The answer to this refrain is pretty simple. At the moment, BestCashCow’s savings tables show that there are eight online savings accounts that currently pay at least 1% interest. Depending on where you live, you may also find as many as another four or five local banks and credit unions servicing your market that are paying over 1%. You’ll then find another eleven online banks - not including those banks you have already identified from the savings tables - that pay over 1% on 12-month certificates of deposit (CDs).

If you put $250,000 in each of 12 of so banks paying over 1% on savings accounts that are either online or in your market, you will put $3 million to work safely. By putting another $250,000 into eight other banks that will give you over 1% in a one-year CD, you will be safely stocking away another $2 million. Between now and next Labor Day, you will generate at least $50,000 that you would not otherwise make over the next year, albeit that money is fully taxable and the money in CDs cannot be accessed without paying an early withdrawal penalty.

There is a second Labor Day refrain in the Hamptons and it goes something like this:

“I cannot believe that I need to write another check for $45,000 to Horace Mann for my 12-year old’s tuition for next year.”

The answer to this refrain is also pretty simple. By opening these accounts, you will generate much of the money to cover those annual tuition payments, even after you pay your Federal and New York State and City taxes.