Wouldn’t it be nice to have a place to park your cash at an annual interest rate of 5%-6% that is easily accessible without penalties for early withdraw? Well there is such a place and it’s as easy as establishing a free checking account. Well you might say “I’ve heard of high interest checking accounts such as the one that ING is offering with a whopping .025% APY but that’s an insult.” Well you are right! Large banks such as Wachovia, Bank of America, RBC, BB&T, etc are not offering a great yield on your cash. It is the smaller community banks and credit unions that want your money and offer a much greater return.

Earning 5%-6% does come with some minor drawbacks. But before I discuss the drawbacks let me point out the advantages of small banking.