Savvy, I currently have an online savings account with Wamu in addition to my checking account. Does that mean my current online savings has that 4 percent rate now, or is only offered to those who newly sign up?

Yours should have been increased to 4 percent also! It should say so when you log in to your account.

I dont' bank with Wamu but it wouldn't hurt to open an account. Who know? Despite of what's happening they might pull through.

wow - i'm all for a higher interest rate for my savings and knowin that i wouldn't go over the FDIC levels - i think that it might be worthwhile. i wonder if this is a ploy to get more people to deposit money so they can reduce the amount of capital that they are looking for from investors..

Why does this feel like a gimmick.

i'm with wamu and a bit scared. i'm obviously no where near 100,000 but is it possible that FDIC will run out of money to give back to the people if wamu goes under? i'm thinking about transferring my money to my BOA account instead but their interest rates are horrible.

It is more likely WaMu will be sold to another bank than collapse entirely.

I'm excited that my savings account went up. Unfortunately their website is down for maintenance so I can't check it.

I'm not a big fan of Wamu (even though I have an active credit card with them). I do believe it is smart for them to increase their rate as incentive for custy retention, and attract new ones.

Account redemption will run havoc on a bank's equity, as we have seen in the recent past with Bear Stearns, a few days before being forced to be acquired for $10 a share.

The trend run on the financials now is to close checking and savings accounts, due to fear that their holding bank will go under and take all their cash with it.

Another move that is popping up in local news is to withdraw their 401(k) because the stock market is going down, and to avoid an Enron situation. There is a huge tax implication here as one would have to report the withdrawn amount at taxable income, all in a single year.

Most people work good jobs outside of the stock market, and may or may not understand its fluctuations. During the past two bull runs, it has hurt to see people committing more at the top and withdrawing at the bottom.

Recently there was 60 year-old guy from the Marriott asking how he can re-coup his 401(k) loss as MAR went from $50 to $25. He's looking at retiring soon. I really couldn't come up with anything to tell him to comfort his worries. He should have gone safe with bonds and stuff a couple years ago, but of course there was no financial adviser available.

My mother's employer switched their 401(k) holding company from Lincoln Financial to someone else. The new company started hosting general 401(k) seminars are work every quarter.

So what we need: Credit Card Education (especially among the 18-24 crowd), 401(k) Retirement Education, and educating employees on the advantage of 401(k), 403(b), and IRA (especially among the 25-30 crowd).

Same as ING.

And now WaMu has gone under.

Savvy, you really should have mentioned in your post that WaMu is a PAID ADVERTISER of your site. It is irresponsible not to disclose this information, and encourage people to sign up for a savings account at a failing bank.