Hello, people ;)

I have a PayPal account and recently I saw their new feature - PayPal Money Market Fund.

Some details here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_upgrade-interest-marcom&outside=1
BTW, dunno why PayPal insists on https even for info pages... No good reason for that.

But OK, they state a more than 3% weekly return. This seems very 'tasty' even while this is risky.

PayPal cooperates with two companies: Principal Funds (https://www.principalfunds.com/investor/index.shtm) and Barclays Global Investors (http://www.barclaysglobal.com)
Both companies seem reliable and having a good success stories.

Well, I'm investigating further on :D
Has anyone here worked with PayPal Money Market?
Share your experience!
Has anyone had a deal with Principal Funds or (and) Barclays Global Investors?
Share your experience!!!

Come on, guys, willing to hear from you, paypallers :)

It is interesting.. but as always with these things, there are more losers than there are winners; especially on such high-yield schemes.

there are more losers than there are winners; especially on such high-yield schemes.I don't agree here.

When it comes to Forex, your daily yield may be 1500% and more. Forex losers are generally noobs, those who don't want to dedicate some time learning things.
In fact, Forex is a gold mine for smart people.
Another thing - stocks and bonds. People get high ROI, but in this case they have to invest much.

I'm pretty sure that this cute PayPal feature relies on either Forex or stocks (or even both).
If PayPal + Principal Funds + Barclays Global Investors hired good Forex players or trained them - they can get a 100% weekly ROI and give a small share of 3%-4% to investors (paypallers).

I'm almost a noob to Forex trading, but I made 100% ROI in 15 days ;) Maybe I'm still a lucky noob there :)

interesting info.
I'm gonna check this out :)

Thanks.

I don't agree here.

When it comes to Forex, your daily yield may be 1500% and more. Forex losers are generally noobs, those who don't want to dedicate some time learning things.
In fact, Forex is a gold mine for smart people.
Another thing - stocks and bonds. People get high ROI, but in this case they have to invest much.

I'm pretty sure that this cute PayPal feature relies on either Forex or stocks (or even both).
If PayPal + Principal Funds + Barclays Global Investors hired good Forex players or trained them - they can get a 100% weekly ROI and give a small share of 3%-4% to investors (paypallers).

I'm almost a noob to Forex trading, but I made 100% ROI in 15 days ;) Maybe I'm still a lucky noob there :)

You must be kidding. No one makes that much in FX. Even 100% in one month is very rare and at that level of risk you were much more likely to lose your entire account balance than make that kind of return.

Show me one licensed broker who can accurately report a return of anything close to that. Even FXCM only makes 15% on a good month (and of course loses that much or more on a bad month).

Realistic returns for an aggressive FX fund are in the realm of 20 - 60% annually with an extremely high degree of risk.

But OK, they state a more than 3% weekly return. This seems very 'tasty' even while this is risky.

No, they do not. They state a ~3% annual return based on the last seven days of data from the fund. The risk level is quite low.

No, they do not. They state a ~3% annual return based on the last seven days of data from the fund. The risk level is quite low.

Really? I don't think so.

3.13% -- 7-Day Average Yield as of 3/20/2008

This means, that on the 20-th March 2008 the average value of 7-days (not annual) yield is 3.13%

Or do I understand this wrong? A 3% annual return is close to nothing :)

Show me one licensed broker who can accurately report a return of anything close to that.

I don't know any single licensed broker in person :(
My uncle has ~$1000 on FX balance. He makes about $30 daily (average value), that is 3%...

Really? I don't think so.

3.13% -- 7-Day Average Yield as of 3/20/2008

This means, that on the 20-th March 2008 the average value of 7-days (not annual) yield is 3.13%

Or do I understand this wrong? A 3% annual return is close to nothing :)


You understand incorrectly. A 7-Day Average Yield is an estimate of an annual return. Read the prospectus if you're confused.

3% daily on FX is possible, but not every day. Even an excellent FX trader will have winning and losing days. Losses in FX tend to be larger than gains so this means you need a lot of 3% days to make up for that one day where you lose 30%, for example.

I have been in the PayPal fund since they first offered it. It was as high as 5% at one time. The high was around mid 2007. I was quite surprised that it was paying almost as well as my CD accounts at my bank. Not a bad deal if you need to maintain a balance in your PayPal account for refunds or purchases.

I only keep a few dollars in my account but I have not lost a dime since inception. As a matter of fact it is paying better than my savings account but not as good as my CD's.

They've been offering this for quite awhile now.

--Tina

Hey everyone,

The 3% yield is an annual yield estimation. In other words, $1,000 would make approximately $30 in one year's time. That isn't a yield over 7 days. That interest rate will also be subject to change which is why they list the most "recent 7 day yield." (Believe me, I WISH that there was a nearly risk free option paying out 3% per week!)

This isn't anything special or anything different from the yields provided by regular banks which you can find at a site like www.bankrate.com - you can find yields at around the 4% or higher based upon the amount of money you wish to deposit and whether you invest in savings, money market or CD's. Plus, there are government bonds from other stable countries with even higher yields.

I activated this option in my paypal account a long time ago.

Why? Isn't it a risk?

Yes, it it. But I already consider everything in our paypal account to be "lost money" until it actually hits our bank account.

In other words, I don't trust PayPal any further then I can throw them, which is not far. We use them because we have to, since many customers have asked to pay with them, etc...

So I figured since it's all "lost money" anyway... why not make an extra %3/year on it. lol.

And to be honest, I don't think we've lost money as a result of this "extra". That's nice.

(We also don't keep more then a few thousand in the paypal account, since I don't trust them...)

In other words, I think the paypal "money market" scheme is decent... but I don't trust paypal itself as a company, so I would never recommend anyone keep more then a few thousand in their paypal account. It is NOT an investment account.

Hey everyone,

The 3% yield is an annual yield estimation. In other words, $1,000 would make approximately $30 in one year's time. That isn't a yield over 7 days. That interest rate will also be subject to change which is why they list the most "recent 7 day yield." (Believe me, I WISH that there was a nearly risk free option paying out 3% per week!)

This isn't anything special or anything different from the yields provided by regular banks which you can find at a site like www.bankrate.com - you can find yields at around the 4% or higher based upon the amount of money you wish to deposit and whether you invest in savings, money market or CD's. Plus, there are government bonds from other stable countries with even higher yields.

I'm pretty sure this is specifically what I just educated our friend on. :agree:

it's easy! You need a PayPal account to sign up. Log into your account, then click Money Market at the bottom of each page.
Don't see it. Another "Not for Japan" feature I guess?

Big thanks to IRCCo Jeff and cdgcommerce :agree:

What I must tell you, guys.
Our banks in Ukraine offer 12% per year in USD, about 18% per year in national currency (UAH) and something like 12%-14% in EURO :)
That's why 3% yearly made me think that this is too little ;)

I do not undesatnd about the ROI. If 3% weekly or monthly it is a normal basis for other fund in the world. But if 3% per year it is too little. User cannot wait for the long time to gain tha capital back. It is too little for me. Let me go to mutual fund. The percentage income per year is Bigger. Avarage up to 20% per year. That kind of fund that i like.

Chuckiesd, be careful in the funds and investments you do select because I can tell you that statistically - the average mutual fund most definitely does not make 20% per year. (I wish it did!)

On the flip side, people like Warren Buffett gained legendary status as investment icons because they DID do exactly that but it is not an everyday, "every fund" kind of scenario.

In fact, the vast majority of mutual funds in the world do not even beat the market indexes in most cases. There are many ways to approach investing but there aren't any "silver bullets" so make sure that the investments you select match your risk tolerance and investment goals.

In addition, don't ever invest capital that you can't afford to lose in an investment vehicle that carries the risk of market volatility.

BTW, I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't invest in mutual funds or other investments - stocks, bonds, options - etc. Just know what you are investing in and what both the potential upside and downside could be because nothing is ever a "guaranteed" thing with most paper assets. That's all. :)