The latest ING Direct television ad makes its pitch by appealing to viewers insecurity regarding the money (or lack thereof) they have tucked away for a rainy day and starts something like this:
Experts say that you should save three months worth of living expenses, just in case you find yourself out of work, but most of us never do. Why is that?
At this point I’m thinking “Okay, you’ve got my attention. Tell me more.” Now they cut to man-in-the-street interview snippets:
— it’s just so hard to save….
— banks don’t pay enough interest these days….
— etc…
Yes! That’s it exactly! I don’t have three months living expenses in the bank, because the banks don’t pay enough interest, not because I’m inept at saving money! Help me, ING Direct! You’re my only hope!
At ING Direct we pay the highest interest rate of any bank, yatta, yatta, yatta…. For example, if you open an ING Direct account and deposit $25 a week for one year and let the interest grow, at the end of that year you will have $1343.
Thirteen hundred and forty three dollars?! Wow. That’s pretty good, I’m thinking. People should really take advantage of that. And then I think to do the math…. Let’s see:
$25/week X 52 weeks/year = $1300/year
$1343 – $1300 = $43 interest
Wait! But that’s not all! From a regular bank let’s say I’d only get $10 interest in a year, so the additional money I make from ING Direct is really $43 – $10 = $33.
So, I think what I’m meant to take away from this commercial is that this extra $33/year is what’s going to push me from the ‘unfortunate-sods-who’re-going-to-be-in-trouble-when-they-lose-their-jobs’ group over into the ‘take-control-smart-people-who-are-safe-and-secure’ group. Am I missing something here? Will $33 per year really make that difference for me? If that’s the case I think I’ll spare myself the hassle of switching to ING Direct and instead make a point of skipping one charity contribution per year. Now I’ll have all the money I could possibly need. Things are looking up.