Coming into some money soon, what are my options for maximizing interest?

Conservative options: 12-18 mth. CD

12 mth:

https://www.dcu.org/prodserv/r_ce...index.html

18 mth:

http://www.alliantcreditunion.org...tificates/

pay off any debt you have

dont put it in the bank

Too vague.

Quote from cavan : pay off any debt you have dont put it in the bank

And why shouldn't he put it into the bank? Interest is good.

Quote from prozac4312 : So in the next week or two, I will be coming into some money (more than $15k but less than $25k). I don't have any accounts at any banks at present, so that said, I'm looking for some options as far as depositing the money and gaining as much interest as possible on it. This is an inheritance, and as such, not an amount that I was expecting...that said, I don't have any immediate need to spend any of this money, not sure if that matters. Can anyone tell me what my options are and how much I might expect to make on it in year to 18 months?

since you seem to be looking for liquid cash,
i would suggest viewpointbank. they have checking acct which gives now 3.0 ( down from 3.93) for amount upto 25,000. this is like the high yield checking that capital bank offers except this is 3 v/s capitals' 1.0.
catches - 15 debit card transactions every month to get that interest rate. bank located in plano, so using atm to get money would be a no-no.
other catches - online statements etc.. are easy.
advantage- this is any other checking account, u can do online pay, online deposits, 1st cheques for free.

http://www.ally.com/bank/high-yie...tabs=rates shows 1.89% APY for a 5 year CD

http://www.discoverbank.com/cd.html shows 5 year at 2.00% APY for a CD

Thanks for the help everyone. I don't know what other details I can give to be "less vague". I don't have any real debt, and like I said, have no immediate need to spend the money as I wasn't expecting it anyway...that said, I'm not looking to have it tied up for 5 years...I'd like to be able to access it in a year to 18 months if I needed to.

First, I'm sorry about your loss.

How are you doing saving for your retirement?

Quote from Brian1 : First, I'm sorry about your loss. How are you doing saving for your retirement?

I appreciate that.

To be honest--I haven't even started. I'm 24 and have a decent job--been there for 5+ years...I make about $30k annually. My wife is a teacher, and she's been paying into her retirement for a couple years now...but I haven't at all. My job does offer a 401(k) plan, I've just never looked into it.

Quote from prozac4312 : I appreciate that. To be honest--I haven't even started. I'm 24 and have a decent job--been there for 5+ years...I make about $30k annually. My wife is a teacher, and she's been paying into her retirement for a couple years now...but I haven't at all. My job does offer a 401(k) plan, I've just never looked into it.

You need to set up your 401K and got to contribute at least the amount your company is matching. else sounds like that you were giving up free money.
even if your company is not matching, it is still good to set your 401 k.

Quote from prozac4312 : I appreciate that. To be honest--I haven't even started. I'm 24 and have a decent job--been there for 5+ years...I make about $30k annually. My wife is a teacher, and she's been paying into her retirement for a couple years now...but I haven't at all. My job does offer a 401(k) plan, I've just never looked into it.

if your company offers a 401k match, you're leaving money on the table... say they offer 1:1 match up to 5%, you are basically losing out on 1500/year with huge potential for compounding until retirement

you'd want to
1) contribute enough to get 401k match
2) save some cash for a rainy day fund, pay off debt
3) contribute to Roth IRA

in that order!

Quote from macb : if your company offers a 401k match, you're leaving money on the table... say they offer 1:1 match up to 5%, you are basically losing out on 1500/year with huge potential for compounding until retirement you'd want to 1) contribute enough to get 401k match 2) save some cash for a rainy day fund, pay off debt 3) contribute to Roth IRA in that order!

not bad, I'd switch the first and second, but good advice

Check the local credit unions in your area. Mine offers 2% back on their checking account, provided I have a direct deposit and 12 debit transactions. Regardless, it's nice to get $50 from them every month.

Next option is a CD but if you needed the cash you would take a penalty for removing it.

Of course, you should be using your companies 401k to the max for a match.

Do you own a home? Maybe pay down the home loan? If not, now is a great time to buy, possibly a down payment?

Interest in checking accounts is going to be fairly low (3% on the top end) and will have requirements. Even high-yield savings accounts aren't really worth while (around 1.3% I believe?)

Regardless, it's always good to have an emergency fund even if it doesn't collect interest.