response 1 of 19:

Nov 5 20:02 UTC 1999

<cough>  I'm a returning member.  IT's just been a long time. ;-)

response 3 of 19:

Nov 6 06:00 UTC 1999

(Didn't I renew/extend my membership in October?)

response 5 of 19:

Nov 13 02:25 UTC 1999

I e-mailed Bank of Ann Arbor to ask whether grex was entitled to an
interest-bearing savings account there.  Persons (as opposed to 
businesses) can get about 4% interest on savings, and do free telephone
transfers to a non-interest-bearing checking account, and there are a couple
of other options that pay 1-2% interest with limited withdrawals and
minimum balances.  (I presume the $5000 in the bank is not getting interest
and it has been too much trouble to transfer some of it to a money market
fund.)  4% on $5000 is about $200/year.  Equivalent to cutting a phone line.

response 7 of 19:

Nov 14 22:46 UTC 1999

        I recall Mark doing a long search for the current bank to save
Grex $3 to $6 a month in fees, that is a membership a month.

response 9 of 19:

Nov 15 19:30 UTC 1999

(I think this has been mentioned before...) resp:5
If the current bank offers money market accounts (and if grex can get one),
transferring money to one would probably be no big deal.  I have one along
with a regular checking account at my bank, and transferring funds between
to two is a piece-o-cake using their automated phone system thingy.  Remember,
a "money market" account is simply a checking account with a few extra
restrictions (in my case I'm limited to 6 withdrawals per month, but since
I use it as a savings-type account that limit has never been a problem.) 
Personally, I think it would be good for grex to do this.  As was mentioned
in resp:5, that's about $200 a year, equal to three memberships.  Yeah,
it'd be better to get three new real members, but it doesn't hurt to have the
money on hand working for you.

Now "mutual funds", as others have mentioned, are an entirely different beast
and something that many have agreed (myself included) grex should stay way
from.

response 11 of 19:

Nov 17 19:32 UTC 1999

Last I checked PAX was paying about 4% on its money market mutual fund.  I
just got a prompt reply from Bank of Ann Arbor (who will look into why its
rates are not linked online) that nonprofits can open two types of money
market account.  Money market checking pays 1.6% on sums of $1000-10,000 and
allows, I think, 6 withdrawals a month (rent, insurance, phone bill, and ?),
and money market savings pays 2.3%on $5000 or more.  (The personal accounts
paid 1.7% and I think 4% a week ago but this may have changed).
4% is double 2% and PAX does not require $5000 minimum, which grex would not
have if $1000 of it had to be kept in checking.  So unless grex got $1000
richer, it would only get 1.6% at BOAA (versuse 0% at GLB, 4% at PAX).
Assuming only a 2% difference, 2% on $5000 is about $100/year, which I hope
would offset the possibly extra work for a treasurer in having to write an
occasional check to transfer funds instead of a free telephone call.
        Bank of America had no wait for opening new accounts, using the safe
deposit box, or the cashiers.  They are trying hard to do a good job, and also
thanked me for spotting a typo on the website (premire for premier).
And they give out free lollipops and filtered water.

response 13 of 19:

Nov 19 02:22 UTC 1999

A better way to live with the 6-withdrawal limit might be to keep a regular
checking account for actually paying bills, and use *1* withdrawal per month
to transfer money to that.  I don't think I'd want to see Grex locked in to
*never* needing to pay more than 6 bills in one month.

response 15 of 19:

Nov 19 21:06 UTC 1999

I called PAX.  For some reason they had told Mark he needed to open a
corporate account with $100,000 minimum.  The woman I talked to assured me
that they would let anyone, person or business or nonprofit, open a $250
minimum money market account.  You can write checks on this account, in the
amount of $250 or more, at no charge, to transfer money to your bank, or to
pay phone bills and the like, and they should clear within 5 days.  You can
also do overnight wiring with a simple phone call, at a $15 charge, if you
need to transfer money in a big hurry.  Mark favors keeping $1000 in the
checking account at the bank so an emergency transfer would probably not be
needed.  PAX money market accounts are paying 4.86%, or about $195 on $4000.
The correct number for customer service is 1-800-372-7827.  I offered to help
fill out the forms for Mark or the next treasurer.  Mark has done way more
than any treasurer should be expected to do already (phone company stuff,
tax-free forms).   
        There is no maximum on the number of $250/checks you can write using
the PAX money market account, just keep the balance at least $250.

response 17 of 19:

Nov 6 19:08 UTC 2000

Yes

response 19 of 19:

Nov 7 18:50 UTC 2000

Jan is correct.