High Interest Savings Accounts

It seems like all of the major banks in Canada are offering a High Interest Savings Account.

This service is definitely valuable to anyone that wants to put money into a savings account and watch their money grow at a very low risk.

By "low risk" I mean the percentage of money lost over long-term growth. If you factor in the current fluctuation in the market today verses the steady growth of a savings account at 3.0% to 4.0% you can see some generous growth.

Be keep in mind that a high interesting savings accounts are by no means a substitute for an RRSP. High interesting savings account do offer growth (and in some cases anniversary bonuses) but you still have to pay taxes on the interested earned by yours savings (thank you tax man). RRSPs offer a "tax shelter" until you decide to cash them out (thanks again tax man). But that a completely different topic.

As a side note, high interest savings accounts are just one piece of your financial portfolio. If you really interesting in having your money work for you I would encourage looking into mutual founds, GICs, bonds, RRSP, and events stocks.

Back to the topic at hand...

I've been comparing high interest savings accounts between a few different banks and I have found two picks that have some good benefits.

PC Financial - Interest Plus™ savings account (3.35%*)

and

ING Direct Canada - Investment Savings Account (3.30%*)

You can take a look at the pros and cons of both but I found this article at RedFlagDeals.com that breaks down all of the savings accounts across each bank within Canada. It is worth the read if you interesting in saving some cash and making a little bit extra

Canadian High Interest Savings Accounts go head to head

Enjoy.

*Rates are subject to change and may also require an initial investment of $1,000+. These rates are current as of 2008-04-07.