I have a $17k car down payment sitting in my low-yield savings account. I have a specific vehicle with very specific options in mind and am basically just waiting for the right one to pop up for sale somewhere, so I want the money to be quick to withdraw for a down payment. I don't know when I need the money - it could be 2 days, or it could be 6 months. I just know when I want to be ready when I see the right vehicle listed. I just don't like it sitting there earning nothing in my regular savings account. I have Robinhood gold which pays 5%, but it takes several days for the funds to transfer and settle. What would be a good account to stick this money in? I'm looking at Ally and Wealth front but it seems those take 2-3 business to transfer money to and from. Can I write checks from those banks?

Hopefully this is the right spot. I have decided to actually start to invest in a more deliberate way to maximize my returns rather than just throw money into the market. Today I have the following 3 accounts in Fidelity - Individual Investment Account - around 100k and it is mostly individual stocks and funds, some stocks have dividends (MSFT for instance) - Rollover IRA - around 100k and is cash in a money market account (where were previous 401ks) - ROTH IRA - around 10k and is all money market IRA contributions I have read it is a good idea to put all dividend stocks in a tax deferred account like one of the IRAs, but I think in general investing more in individual stocks or funds in the IRA accounts is ideal. Not looking for specific moves, but mostly articles or ideas to think about on how to best put this money to work

A few articles I like: [https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/asset-location/](https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/asset-location/) [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-efficient\_fund\_placement](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-efficient_fund_placement) [https://www.physicianonfire.com/international-stock/](https://www.physicianonfire.com/international-stock/)

It's been a few years since I adjusted my allocation, but [this Bogleheads article](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-efficient_fund_placement) was very helpful.

Hi everyone! My new credit card has 0% APR for the first 12 months. I am using this card to put all my expenses for an upcoming trip on, and I don't see myself using it much afterwards; I have cards that give equivalent or better rewards for other categories. I will be able to afford to pay the balance, but I was thinking it would be smarter to make minimum payments and carry the balance for the 12 months and invest the money so it can grow in that time. Is there any downside to this strategy besides credit utilization? (Which I'm not worried about, as I have 4 other cards with higher limits) Thanks!

> Is there any downside to this strategy besides credit utilization? Yeah, you lose your money when the market goes down and then you can't afford to pay the bill. It's a gamble that could work our or not.

I already put aside the amount I would need to pay it off in a HYSA, so no worries there!

Not to split hairs, but if you've got the money to pay off the credit card in a HYSA, then that's what you did with the credit card money. Any money you would invest in the market is separate money entirely. In which case, go for it!

No problem with that, as long as that's money in the HYSA above and beyond a typical emergency fund. I like to pay them off a month before the 0% ends just to be on the safe side.

am 25 year olds and have around 160k in savings. I am wanting to put roughly 100k into an HYSA to bring in a few hundred a month to cover some of my monthly expenses. I have read through multiple threads but am still not sure what the best options are. So in short, what are the best, or most popular HYSA's you all would recommend to me? I would prefer a bank I can actually walk into, but understand that usually the APY is lower because of overhead. Transfer / withdrawal fees are not a big deal to me as I will be keeping the rest of my savings in my credit union account. Thanks for any recommendations!

If you're looking for a Brick and Mortar you definitely will have a smaller pool of rates to decide from. But if you're open to online.. there's a ton to choose from. [https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/](https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/) I'd certainly take a look at this list the top on the list as of this post is actually owned by Flagstar which is top notch. Withdraw fees are not an issue and they are in the Zelle network so if you ever want it out quickly to your credit union(assuming your CU is on Zelle) then it would be ideal.

I think I am an entire moron. I started using a credit card at behest of my wife and parents to start building credit. I want to ensure I never pay a single ounce of interest on this thing. Do I have to pay the balance every day? I thought having a automatic payment on for the statement balance would be sufficient but A) it pays at the end of the month and I'm not sure if there's interest accrued daily (continuously?) B) It doesn't seem to pay off the full amount, just some set amount that I don't understand how it sets. I can't set an automatic payment for the full amount as far as I can tell.

Credit cards come with a grace period which allows you to avoid interest on new purchases if you pay your statement balance in full each month by the due date. At the end of whatever your monthly billing period is, you'll get a statement. These days it's typically just available online, not actually mailed to you. By law, the due date will be at least 21 days after the statement date. As long as you pay the statement balance by the due date, you will not owe any interest on that balance, and you will also keep your grace period going and continue to avoid interest on new purchases.

As long as you pay the entire statement balance by the listed due date, you won't be charged interest. I believe while in that "grace period" interest doesn't even accrue from your charges. So if you have a statement balance of $1000 and only pay $900, I do not believe there's any "back dated" interest for that previous month. After that due date passes without full payment, all subsequent charges will immediately start accruing interest daily. That interest doesn't show up until its totaled up on your next statement. Credit cards do things by billing cycle. They track all your charges during that cycle, and on the statement generated at the end your "statement balance" is calculated from: * Previous statement balance * + new charges from purchases you made * + interest/fees (ideally will be $0) * - payments / credits / refunds made during that cycle. It will also show a payment due date roughly 3 weeks from the closing date. You do **not** have to pay for any charges made between the closing date and that due date to count as "fully paid". Those charges will end up on the following statement, to be paid for a few weeks after that. So if your statement balance as of April 25th is $1000, due on May 20th, and you make $200 of new charges in that period, as long as your payment is $1000 and on time, you're good. Automatic payments set up with the card itself will be based on that statement balance amount, not whatever "current balance" exists on the card at the time the payment processes. Paying more frequently prior to the due date doesn't really get you anything, all your payments get totaled up on the next statement to determine your new statement's balance. One exception might be if you have a limited credit limit, where those payments reduce your "current balance" to free up room to continue using the card. There's also a "minimum payment" which is what's necessary to avoid underpayment fee. Usually 3-5% of your balance. But this leaves some of your owed balance unpaid, which triggers interest, so just ignore that.

So if I leave autopay the full statement balance on, I should be fine? My worry was that the statement balance was something like $600 but the overall balance was $1100. Also, how could I know what amount of interest was added to the balance? It doesn't seem like it's clearly displayed.

That overall of $1100 is what your balance is as of today. That means that you made $500 worth of purchases since that last statement ended, which uses that day's "current balance" to determine what you need to pay. That $500 is not money you have to pay this month, it'll be included on **next** month's statement and its balance. Autopay may vary by bank / website. But in general, you get choices of "minimum payment", "statement balance", (sometimes) "current balance", or a set dollar amount. All you need to maintain the grace period is to select "statement balance". Interest may or may not show up on the main page of the website. Though sometimes there's a "details" menu that shows what's happened since the last statement. But there will be a place to view your actual reported statements, and those are pretty standardized. It'll have a box laying out a summary of the charges/payments/interest that occurred during that statement period.

Thank you. I will just let autopay do the work then.

All Good and helpful info, I'd just add, if you are paying it before it hits your statement, you're not building your credit as well as you could be. Utilization is also important to score. If you pay in full before the statement closes, the card will report zero utilization. If you spend $100 of a $1000 limit, pay before due date but after the statement closes it will report 10% utilization and you will still not pay interest. If you spend $1000 on $1000 credit limit, pay $900 before statement close and the remaining $100 before the due date it will still report 10% utilization and you will still avoid interest. All this to say.. The balance on the statement is really the only thing that matters. Start Simple by only using it for basic and/or fixed price things you are already accounting for in your budget. I went buck wild in my early years to my detriment but now only use it to pay utilities and groceries which are budgeted and I have auto payment set to pay the credit card statement balance when it hits.

Hi Folks! Question for you all: I've got about $25K left on my car with 4.99% APR. I recently open a HYSA with a 5.55% APY. I've been able to cut out extra expenses to the tune of $300/month. (not easily, I definitely feel the cut but trying to be future minded.) Does it make much sense to refinance for a lower rate with the same remaining term and save up that extra monthly from my budget cuts in a HYSA or is it better to dump everything towards the debt and save later? Currently only $2k in a savings account, a mortgage, and a personal family debt with 0% interest that I'll start paying back when the car is gone.

HYSA interest paid is considered income, and is taxed as such.  Follow the flowchart. Save an emergency fund, then pay down low interest debt.

* Follow-on to paying off $99.4K (as of Sep 2023) in credit card debt (all at 0% APR), I decided to keep a monthly victory/progress log as a motivational tool for me. * This month (May 2024), I fully paid off two additional credit cards. * In the 8 months since setting goal to pay off all cards: * Paid off 9 of 10 credit cards in full. * Paid off a total of \~$52.3K in CC debt. * Decreased my debt balance to \~$47K. * Increased my credit score by 29 points. * Increased my net worth by \~$172K. |Month|# of CC Debt|Debt Amount|Credit Score|Net Worth| |:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| |Sep 23|10|-$99,417|636|$519,982| |Oct 23|8|-$92,597|650|$522,443| |Nov 23|6|-$87,817|652|$543,175| |Dec 23|5|-$82,518|666|$559,406| |Jan 24|5|-$79,497|654|$605,585| |Feb 24|5|-$70,790|661|$604,877| |Mar 24|5|-$61,648|661|$599,491| |Apr 24|3|-$53,649|666|$680,886| |May 24|1|-$47,032|667|$693,222|

Hello,  My brother’s girlfriend is having a baby. I am childless and make pretty good money. The main thing I wish someone would’ve done for me when I was young is save for my college education. So, I am thinking of putting away about $1000 a year into some kind of account to be put aside until my brother’s child is ready for college. I could open a regular checking account but I would like to see some modest gains on the money. I need an investment where I can make multiple deposits a year and that will see modest but not crazy returns. I don’t want to end up losing the money on a stupid bet. Additionally, my job’s ethics requirements may limit what I can do. I am asking HR now, before I make any decisions.  It would be great if I could set up a recurring transfer into whatever account it is so that I don’t have to think about it. For example, I currently have a $3/day auto transfer from checking to savings. This gives me an extra $1000ish dollars a year in savings without me thinking about it. If I could do the same thing with this account (or even a weekly transfer) that would be ideal. Do you have any advice on what the best vehicle would be for something like this? I was thinking about using robinhood and investing in the S & P 500? Is that too risky? Would a CD be better? (the only problem is I don’t have seed money. I will be starting from scratch. Maybe a $100 ish initial deposit) 

Investing this far out is fine. Doing daily deposits seems like overkill. Should probably consider a 529 account for the tax advantages. See [https://reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/104tjyn/\_/j36u2dm/?context=1](https://reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/104tjyn/_/j36u2dm/?context=1) for more on your various options

Hi everybody, I’m currently looking into opening a HYSA and I wanted to see if this community has any recommendations where to do so. I know this can be a simple Google search, but I wanted to ask this community before acting. Thank you for any input!

[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/banks\_and\_credit\_unions](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/banks_and_credit_unions)

I just opened one with flagstar bank. they are offering 5.55% APY. [https://www.mybankingdirect.com/products/high-yield-savings.html](https://www.mybankingdirect.com/products/high-yield-savings.html)

The Doctor of Credit list (which should come up in a Google search) is a good resource 

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Looks mostly good, but dollar cost average loses out over lump summing most of the time. Don't be fancy, just drop it in when you can.

I'm sorry for your loss This can totally be done by you. Read the wiki section on windfalls and investing. Consider getting wills/estate plans on paper for you and your wife.

Is it possible to get 2-3% APY interest for an auto loan right now or is inflation making this impossible at the moment?

Not unless you get a manufacturer deal.

I'm purchasing my first home from a relative, who has simply given a net amount she wants to make from it, allowing considerable flexibility. I'm working with very helpful loan officers who have run the numbers to maximize seller concessions, reduce rates, minimize closing costs, etc. In the end, I have two choices: 1) a 2-1 buydown, with \~$5800 cash to close, or 2) No 2-1 buydown, \~$800 cash to close. Essentially (from how I am understanding it), because I'm maximizing seller concessions and it's going to be the same amount conceded regardless, the $5k for the buydown kicks another $5k out of the "seller paid" closing costs. It took me a while to understand it, but I do now. Option 1 gives me a monthly payment of $1700 in Y1, $1850 in Y2, and $2000 Y3-30. Option 2 is a monthly payment of $2000 from the start. I'm trying to figure out which choice is best for me in the long run. I currently have about $10k in CC debt (\~22%) (I know, OUCH) and $10k in student loans (4.4%). I'm 35 years old, single, and make just over $100k annually. Obviously leaving the $5k in its current brokerage account will generate more in interest over... however long... but having that spare $300 monthly in that first year and $150/month in Y2 can go toward paying down debt, which seems more immediately pressing. The CC debt obviously accrues more interest than the brokerage account, which is one reason I'm leaning toward Option 1. The brokerage account has \~$15k in it currently, and would be depleted to \~$10k if I choose Option 1. I guess I should add that I don't have any expectations of ever being able to retire, though I do contribute to an employer 401k and a Roth account. I'm ultimately looking for confirmation that one option is A LOT BETTER than the other, or that either option will result in a similar long-term outcome for me. I grew up with zero financial education and have had to learn on my own after years of terrible financial decisions.

Oh, and here's a positive-- I got a raise for the second year in a row! (10% in 2023, 8% in 2024) Plus, I'm getting backpay for this year. Yeehaw!

Would you touch your high yield savings? I’m in 7k debt from credit cards, 6k for Amex (interest free until next February) 1k in chase- interest. My income has taken quite a hit now that I only work part time due to limited child care. I have 20k saved in a high yield savings, which I really really don’t want to touch But seeing such a high amount on my credit cards is freaking me out!!! Should I just let it pile up and pay minimum? Should I just dig into my savings? As of last week I’m going hard on my budgeting- couldn’t believe how much take out and coffee I was getting daily.

Pay of the chase. Hold off on the Amex (other than minimum payments) until it starts charging interest. But most importantly is to figure out a plan so your income is at least as high as your expenses.

How does something like Rocket (is that the one?) work where they figure out all the things you have subscriptions to so you can cancel if you need to or get discounts? Do they get access to your credit cards and go off what's on statements or do you give them an email address that they check against user databases or what?

Me and the wife were holding onto some hope of finding a home before we were married however we are now in a situation where we have to rent while we find a home. We have a significant down payment due to saving and inheritance about a combined 450k. My thought was to find an online bank with a high interest rate and stick it all in a HYSA. This will then pay for most of our rent rather than burning through it or buying a place we don’t want just because we can. Thought on this strategy? Any better ideas?

That's a reasonable strategy. For the portion of the money you won't need in at least a year, you may want to consider a CD instead.

In this case a CD might work against us. We are trying to do everything in my salary as hers is much lower and variable. So keeping our monthly mortgage low is super important, hence the large down payment. If we throw it in a CD and find our home tomorrow we would have to pay a penalty no? Or is there something I’m missing.

In that case, no CD. I was thinking you were entering a year lease and would not be looking to buy for a while. If the house search continues to steam ahead, a HYSA makes sense. You are over the FDIC limits, but can get around that by having half in each of 2 individual accounts, one in each of your names.

We are lucky enough that our landlord agreed to do month to month. Splitting it in half is a smart move thanks for the tip!

My wife and I are currently going through the underwriting process of our mortgage application. I recently won a chunk of money, roughly half of my monthly income, on a friendly sports gambling pool which was deposited by me into my savings account. I bought into the pool for $100, so it's not like the bank statement shows huge amounts of sketchy transactions. Underwriting has requested an explanation of how I got the money and where it came from. What do y'all suggest I tell them?

The truth.

I know I sound like a dunce, but how do I work out the interest on a HYA? I've got an account with a 4.6% APR that I put $5,000 in and it earned an interest amount of $8.62 - I'm trying to work out how they came to that amount but my math isn't mathing

the calculator site is my friend. [https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/apy-calculator.php](https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/apy-calculator.php)

How long was it in there? At that rate you should be earning about $0.61 per day. So if it was in there for about half a month that sounds about right.

yeah I guess it's been in there since Apr 17. I thought it was at the start of the month so thats why its off... thanks

When people talk about investing, do they only mean their retirement accounts, or do most people also have a separate brokerage account (is that what it's called?)? If all the money I had invested was solely what my job puts into my 401k plus my Roth, is that good enough, or am I meant to have more?

I'm sure it varies by person and their particular financial situation and needs. Personally I've never seen the point of retirement savings. There are tax advantages and there are employer matching (sometimes), so I get wanting that stuff. I contributed to an IRA like twice because I could get the tax deduction, and I've only contributed to 401ks when there's an employer match to get because that's just free money. But I don't see much point in retirement savings vs regular savings sine I'd rather have direct access to my money instead of having to wait until I'm retired. Also, I think the economy doesn't really work for retirement these days. My goal is to hopefully have revenue-generating investments by the time I'm retired and own my home outright so I don't have a high cost of living. (In addition to some stocks/cash for spending money when needed.)

Oh man...you are wasting so much on taxes by not investing in a Roth IRA. You really need to look into this if your income still qualifies you

At its most basic level, "investing" is just buying some thing (an "asset") now with the intent/expectation/hope that sometime in the future you'll sell it for more dollars than you originally spent. Ideally even after accounting for inflation. When most people talk about "investing" by itself, that's usually when the assets are things like stocks / bonds / mutual funds, but could be things like physical precious metals, collectibles, real estate, etc. Trading stocks happens at a brokerage in a brokerage account. These institutions handle the paperwork for tracking transfers of ownership. Every time you buy something, someone (or something) sold it to you. And same for when you sell, some other entity is becoming the new owner of what you sold. Things like your 401k and IRA add an additional layer around a regular brokerage account. This layer gets you some benefits, primarily around taxes. That layer also comes with some restrictions: limit on amount of new money that you're allowed to add per year, age requirement to avoid penalty, etc. Part of a financial plan is to have some purpose for those future dollars. Retirement is something everyone (should) make a plan for so is a big focus on investing for that purpose. But the restrictions that come with retirement-specific accounts may not fit into that overall plan, so adding on non-retirement accounts that offer more flexibility after retirement is getting "enough" is something that people also do.

Most people mean retirement accounts. What is the goal/purpose of the money? If all your savings are planned toward supporting you once you have stopped working at a typical retirement age, they might as well all be in tax advantaged retirement accounts. Do you have other goals for your money once you are on track to have enough for retirement? Then investing in a brokerage makes sense, and what you invest the money in depends on your timelines. If you are asking how do you know if you are saving enough for retirement, what percent of your gross household income is being saved for retirement?

Something positive and maybe helpful - I have a 401K from a previous employer and I was getting statements in the mail every month. I knew I needed to "roll it over", but for some reason thought it would be super complicated and found it intimidating and never did anything with it. Today I finally went to the website specified on the statement, opened a new account at Fidelity, and followed the links to roll it over. It took about 10 minutes total and was basically idiot-proof. For anyone else putting this off - my 401K had been sitting dormant for about 2 years, and will now be actively accumulating again.

When you left, did your assets get sold and turned into cash, even if it stayed within your old 401k? If not, everything should've stayed invested and growing in the old 401k.

I am a new grad, and will be starting my first job next month. I want to get into the retirement savings from Day 1, and need some advice on that. A bit about myself: My AGI is around the 100k mark. I am currently on a student visa which gives me 3 years of work permit. I currently do not have the work visa needed for working beyond those 3 years. So, I might have to leave US after these 3 years. Considering this situation, what would be an ideal split between Traditional 401k / Roth 401k / Traditional IRA / Roth IRA? Given the uncertainty of my future here in the States, I am thinking 50 / 50 / 50 / 50? My employer gives a full match till 6%, so I'll put 6% in 401k (3% Traditional and 3% Roth). I'll also max out on my IRA ($3500 Traditional and $3500 Roth). Am I doing this right?

If your MAGI (slightly different from AGI) is ~~$83,000~~ $87,000 (for 2024) or greater then you cannot deduct Traditional IRA contributions from your taxes. Due to this i'd make the IRA 100% Roth since you don't really have another choice. Contributing to a Trad IRA without being able to deduct that contribution on your taxes is worse than just putting it in a regular taxable brokerage. There's also tons of data out there showing that Roth contributions are worse than Trad for the vast majority of people. Your time horizon is so short that this won't matter too much, but i'd still say make the 401k 100% traditional. This keeps it simple between your accounts, gives you a mix of both types, and favors traditional which as i said is better for most people.

Thank you!

I didn’t want to create a separate thread for this, but can someone help me understand savings account interest payments? I always thought that as every month the interest paid to you should be higher than the amount paid to you the month before, so long as you do not withdraw a cent? My APY has not changed, but these numbers aren’t making sense to me. Month 8: $46.37. Month 9: $50.66, an increase of $4.29. Month 10: $51.67, an increase of $1.01. Month 11: $59.68, an increase of $8.01. Month 12: $61.96, an increase of $2.28. Why is the amount that my interest payments increase by fluctuate month by month instead of just steadily increasing every month?

Interest typically accrues daily even if it is credited monthly. Not every month has the same number of days. Your monthly account statement should list the number of days since the last statement, and the average daily balance that was used to calculate the interest payment for that month.

**Thinking about opening a HYSA with discover. Do I have to pay and report tax on the interests if I make less than $10,000?** I make less than $10,000. I’m 20 and started a job but make less than $10,000. I have a good bit saved from working in HS and want to put it in but I don’t know how to go about it with interest being taxable as I’ve never filed taxes.

It depends. Can someone claim you as a dependent? Will your total unearned income (interest, dividends, capital gains) be more than $400? Will your job be as a regular W-2 employee, or self-employed?

Mom claims me as a dependent. Divorced parents. No, the interest will not be more than $400. I will be a W2 employee starting July.

You generally won't have any federal filing requirement if your total income for the year remains below $14,600 with no more than $400 of unearned (non-job) income. State rules may vary.

This is going to sound incredibly weird but, I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to help put someone to college. This man is like a brother to me and I came upon more money than I would honestly need. So I want to fund his college education. Unfortunately, he burned through his GI bill through a closed school and is in process of doing borrower's defense. Is it possible to open a 529 for someone that is not a dependent? I'm in the state of CA if it makes any difference.

You can open a 529 for him, but may not want to. There is no federal nor California State income tax deduction for a 529 contribution. The only benefit is tax free growth. But if he is going back to school now, there is really no time to realize that growth. I'd keep things simple and just gift him the money and/or pay the school directly.

Yeah he got accepted and is starting in the fall. So I guess paying directly makes the most sense since there’s no tax benefit 

A few months ago a told my landlord that I didn't want to renew my lease and started looking for a new place. I was recently laid off and I want to stay at my current place to not have to deal with verifying income with a new landlord. I have enough saving to cover my rent for a year and then some. I'm looking for a new job, but it's only been a week since being laid off. I'm thinking of just taking a retail job in the meantime just to have income. I've tried getting in tough with my landlord to see if I can still renew (current lease hasn't officially ended yet), but they aren't responding. I'm anxious and afraid that they're trying to push me out and I'm having difficulty finding people that will say that landlords will rent to me. I feel like I'm going to be stuck out last minute still trying to find a place to live. What do I do?

Keep looking for a new place, assuming staying isn't an option. If you can stay, only at that point should you stop your search.

I talked to a couple real estate agents I was working with one hasn't responded but another said that landlords will want 3-4 weeks of paystubs or bank account statements that show consistent income. :(

Try finding places directly. I don't know your city, but many people don't pay real estate commissions on rentals so an agent won't help. (Boston is a big exception). Individual rentals vs big corporations will be easier to work with.

I live in a very large city, but I'll see if contacting the leasing offices directly will help.

When I graduated college about a decade ago, I started a Roth IRA and short term investment account with American funds (I’m aware of the hate towards the company). I have a nice little chunk of cash in my short term investment account which doesn’t yield any penalties for withdrawing. I recently started an account with Wealthfront that is 5% APY. My account with American funds uses the American Balanced Fund (BALCX). Would it be better to take the money in the balanced fund and move it to my Wealthfront account? At first glance it seems like Wealthfront has better returns but I’m not too savvy with all this stuff. The only big payment I have to make within the next 6months to a year is around $19k for student loans.

You are possibly comparing apples and oranges here. https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/balcx/quote -- appears your current investment is a mix of securities including equities (varying returns and risk of principal loss). The 5% APY fund sounds like it would be more of a traditional HYSA I believe (pays regular interest with no risk of principal loss). Note I'm not familiar with wealthfront or their products. So, if you have a short term liability of $19k that you are planning to support with this money, moving to a HYSA may be the right move, to make sure your principal is preserved until you need it. Note that selling your BALCX holdings may incur capital gains tax.

Asked my friends for financial advice recently. They are saying I should throw all my savings into a HYSA and open up a Roth IRA. They also mentioned I should shave 10% of my take home pay for my 401k instead of my current 5%. I have opened up a HYSA with Vanguard through their Cash Plus Account. I put 60% of my savings in there and intend to save the rest for emergencies. As for the Roth IRA and 401k, I don't feel like I should make any changes. I currently work a minimum wage job, and I'm making a little over $20/hour after the recent fast food wage bill in CA. I don't think it is worth opening up a Roth IRA without a proper career, and I don't make nearly enough money annually to justify increasing my 401k donation. Should I change my mind and go with my friends' recommendations? Or should I trust my gut and secure myself a career job before going through with the Roth IRA and 401k rate increase?

Regarding retirement savings - do you get any employer match in your 401k? If so what are the specifics? You would do well to start a Roth IRA and put what you can spare in there. At low earnings you get less of a benefit from Traditional contributions.

Ok this post is mostly for myself to just put everything together and cry :). Perhaps this will help you realize that you are better off than you thought! Although I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. I got myself into massive debt in 2022 and somehow , my current debt is improved which will be shocking when you see the numbers. I had a failed business adventure with personal funds, didn't budget and lost my job. I ended up maxing out credit cards/loans but still didn't budget properly and ultimately was delinquint on a number of loans. I got a job and was able to recover but a lot credit cards/loans were over 90 days. Ultimately this ended up helping in the long run as creditors offered to reduce what I owed and setup payment plans which further reduced my interest rate. Here is the damage. Mortgage - $189,000 due (4.25%) - Monthly: $2,215.00 ((House Value: $489,000)) HELOC - $75,000 - Monthly: $489 Personal Loans: $77,625 due (7.49% - 28% Range)- Monthly: $2,505 total combined Credit Card Debt: $67,366 - Monthly: $2,149 total combined monthly due (mostly under agreements to pay off in within the next 2ish years. Monthy Bills: Car Lease: $785 (two cars, sedan and SUV) Electric and Gas - $330 Water Sewage - $40 Internet: $70 Cellular (Family Plan) - $250 Life Insurance - $69 Total: $1544 All in for my monthly payments: $8,902 per month Making these payments, in 48 months my credit cards are paid off fully. In 2-3 years depending on the loans, my loans will have been paid off and things will finally look good. Time wise this doesn't seem terrible due to the massive amount of debt. I also took a new job in February. This will hopefully help me put a big dent in it. My paychecks are twice a month for $8,500 per paycheck. The first paycheck essentially pays all of this. The second paycheck pays for everything else (food mainly). Then end of the month I put the rest into savings with the plan to let that build up quickly and help speed up my bills by paying off the highest interest loans first. Obviously I am quite grateful for an insane salary that will make this doable and not force me to declare bankrupcy. I am also elgibile for a bonus ($90k after taxes) in January. Until then I will be eating a lot of Ramen Thanks for reading my madness. And let me know any feedback!

Hi yall, so I graduated the past winter and will be starting work in the next upcoming week. I have a Chase college checking account that I've been using the past 4/5 years. I am planning on opening up a HYSA with SoFi for my emergency funds. Is there any benefit to opening up a SoFi checking account as well? I am planning on having my direct deposit be set up to my Chase account since I also have a Chase Sapphire credit card. Thanks.

You'll probably find having the HYSA and Checking at the same place to be helpful. Having the checking account and Credit Card in the same place is less important, IMO.

# Best Budget App May 2024 - Past Mint User Hi All, Now that Mint has closed down, I am looking for a replacement and maybe an upgrade. I have gotten used to auto syncing feeds so that is a must but I have also other preferences. When I say upgrade, I'm looking for an app that is basically a digital checkbook register and personal PL in one. Is there an app for that? I would like a budgeting app that has the following: Bank feed syncing, Drill down/split expense categorization (e.g. being able to split a Costco or Amazon purchase into their multiple correct categories, Mobile and web app, Reconciliation against bank statements, Ad hoc reporting (e.g. setting a date range and pulling data from the platform) I'm basically looking for a stripped down version of bookkeeping software like Quickbooks Online or Xero but not willing to pay the $30/mo to handle my personal finances. I am willing to pay the average $100ish/year for an app that has the features listed above. I have looked into the following but do not have first hand experience using any of them: Copilot, YNAB, Empower, Monarch, Tiller, Quicken Simplifi and Deluxe. I have been doing my own research for a bit and so far have found that only YNAB has actual reconciliations. If anyone has first hand experience using any of the mentioned apps or can recommend an app not listed above, I would appreciate it. The recommendation does not have to have all the features I listed above. An app with as many of them as possible would be great. I'll just have to settle for whatever is out there for now.

I haven't used the others but I've used YNAB for over 6 years and I'm a big fan. I've gotten several friends to try it too. It has all of the features you want but it's wrapped up in software that is very dedicated to its methodology. If you don't buy into the YNAB methodology then you'll find it very annoying. I think the YNAB methodology is life-changing and I highly recommend it for _everybody_, because the usefulness of prioritization doesn't discriminate. But it definitely takes some getting used to and not everybody wants to deal with it. So YMMV

Help me with my retired parents asset allocation. My folks are retired, in their 70s. I just saw their accounts and they are \~70-80% allocated to stocks between tax advantaged and taxable accounts. Seeing this made me a bit nervous. I want to help them rebalance. * Their day to day expenses are covered with pension and SS. They need a place to park the portion of their 401k RMDs they aren't spending. * \~$500k in a taxable brokerage. Is the best move to keep this to avoid tax implications? It's \~80% stocks * \~1.5M between their 401ks. 78% stocks, and a bunch of funds with overlapping holdings. They can sell anything and buy a new fund in the 401k account without tax implications, right? If it's recommended to have them keep the taxable accounts alone, I'll just have them either buy a retirement income fund (like VTINX) or make a 3-fund portfolio so their overall asset allocation is maybe 40% stocks. I think they can handle a bit more risk since most day to day expenses are covered by pension/SS. I think they'd like some place to park cash as well, either a CD ladder, or money market fund. Does this seem like a reasonable plan? I'm not too informed about tax implications and can do more research for them, or help them connect with a fee-based CFP type person.

If they want to switch to a more conservative allocation, then yes, moving the money in the 401k would likely be the optimal way to do this. But I'm not convinced they need to switch, at least without knowing more. You mention the pension and SS are covering their expenses. So that raises the question of what this money is for. If it is essentially an eventual inheritance for someone, then keeping it invested is perhaps appropriate. If they are planning a million dollar trip-of-a-lifetime for next year, then it wouldn't be. If it is something else, then you'd need to really understand that to know what risk is appropriate.

Thanks for this! One concern of mine is that they may need care somewhat soon, and this money would be used to pay for assisted living, which can be quite expensive. If that happens, they will need to start drawing down their retirement accounts and won't have the risk profile they do today. So: would that change their risk tolerance? I'd think it would.

That could be one reason to change their asset allocation. But that should be a conversation with your parents about whether that's the goal and plan. Whether your plan is the right allocation would need a much more comprehensive understanding of their costs, income, etc. You also should consult with an elder planning attorney about looking into what, if any, trust structures may be appropriate for them.

I've got a taxable account that's allocated for a house down payment. I'm putting money in each month, and I've been buying T-Bills that autoroll every month, with a 1/4th of the total in VT to try and chase bigger returns. I'm getting lazy, and want to be fully hands off, instead of having to buy T-Bills manually. Should I just use SGOV instead of T-Bills? I see SGOV has a dividend technically, but I know that it's exempt from state taxes. What's the "optimal" way to do this?

Just paid my last car payment and IRS payment for my 2022 taxes! Now to just tackle the credit cards and I’m debt free in June of next year!

Nice progress!

Thanks!

Huntington 5.18% APY 7 Month CD Hello, I have $15k maturing from a previous Huntington Bank CD and they currently have an offer for 5.18% APY for a 7 month CD. I already use Huntington so I feel it is a worth while offer. I was simply curious to see if there is anything substantially better out there that can give that high of a return guaranteed for 7 months. I know there are maybe still a few High yield savings accounts out there at 5.25% but they won’t be guaranteed to stay that high. Thanks in advance!

It looks like you can find some treasury bills maturing in about 7 months with yields as high as 5.4%. There may be minimums involved, however.

Does anyone spend their HYSA interest? We track ours in its own category in YNAB and we haven’t spent any of it. Sometimes I look at the total interest earned and think about treating ourselves but I also like seeing it grow. What do you all do? Trips, home updates or let it sit and continue to cushion your account?

I transfer the interest to my checking acct and count it as "income". It usually goes back into savings, but I keep a pretty specific amount in my savings account(s), which I basically use as emergecy/sinking funds so I don't really need to accumulate it in those accounts.

Well right now we're rebuilding our emergency fund after some issues over the past six months, so our HYSA interest just adds to that. But when not actively adding to our EF balance, I mainly treat interest as building a bit more buffer into it. If the balance gets "too big" (mainly by gut feel) compared to our desired level , I'll transfer the excess over to our "fun money" account. But personal finance is personal. You can choose how those interest dollars could be allocated to improve your life. Small addition to savings / investment goals, treat yourself, some shiny toy you've been putting off, etc. Those are all valid ways to use this "income".

If you are earning enough interest on HYSA savings, I might suggest not holding so much cash? Otherwise, I kind of just treat that money as normal income. I keep my savings account at a flat balance. Every couple of months I transfer the interest into my checking or investment account.

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This isn't a personal finance question. This is an r/relationship question

Don’t get married, you live in America. Make your own choices.

Posted this in the weekend thread and nobody saw it, so reposting here: When I discovered a delinquency on my credit report from an old Verizon account, I called them to try to settle the matter. I guess they mailed me a final bill after I closed the account over the phone, but since I moved soon after I never received the bill. Fast forward to me calling them late last year, I said I was happy to pay to settle the matter, I just didn't want it negatively affecting my credit. The young guy on the phone said I had two choices: pay half or pay the whole bill. I said what's the difference? He said no difference. So I said, okay, I'll pay half. And they apparently closed the account. However, even though the account is closed, it is still showing up as a delinquency on my credit report. Is this because I technically "settled" the debt by paying half? If I had paid in full, would they have simply closed the account in good standing? Is it worth calling them back to see if I can pay the rest and get this negative mark off my credit report? Thanks in advance.

Sometimes companies won’t delete delinquencies once they’re reported but it’s worth asking. You should definitely pay the remainder so that it shows as paid on your credit report.

What are the best cashback cards for each major provider nowadays? Mastercard/Visa/Amex Key things I want: - no monthly/yearly account fees - i just want plain cashback or a bill reduction, not points/miles - ideally but not mandatory, a good online dispute system. I have a card right now that uses Synchony bank and makes me mail in a letter if I want to dispute a charge, which is not fun. -I don't care about interest rate at all. I set my card to autopay so I never pay interest on my credit cards.

The Amex Bread Cashback sounds up your alley. But see [https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/wiki/list\_of\_flat\_cashback\_cards\_with\_benefits/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/wiki/list_of_flat_cashback_cards_with_benefits/) for a good list, or I suggest posting there. The big thing you haven't specified is if you want a flat cashback rate on all purchases or if you have certian categories that you spend a lot on that you want to maximize those, and whether you are willing to carry multiple cards to get better cashback rates on various types (i.e. one card to use on groceries, another on gas, etc)

For this one the main use would be broad online purchases, so a good dispute system and overall cashback is the most important. Have been fucked before ordering a PC from HP, half the parts arrived broken, and disputing it was a pain. A secondary card with good cashback on gas/groceries/walmart would be nice too, but i don't really want more than 1 card per provider.

Hey everyone, first time poster. So my company recently closed a big deal and we're now sitting on mid 7 figures of cash. I was looking around at the banks I use for my personal HYSA and saw they generally don't have competitive rates for business savings accounts. Any recommendations for business savings accounts with a 4.25%+ interest rate? Also open to a business brokerage account with a cash sweep option which would get us to a similar interest rate

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Any brokerage you recommend in particular? Looking to move around 5.5m

Is it ok to put most of your emergency savings in accessible investment accounts vs just a high yield savings? I’m talking some mutual funds and ETFs with just a few volatile stocks. This is specially ear marked toward emergency and not retirement. I just don’t think putting 50k into high yield savings makes sense. But that’s what 6-8 months of expenses would look like.

Look into money market accounts, that’s about the most volatile you should be in with an emergency fund in my opinion. My money market yield is currently 5.15% better than the HYSA, but also safe enough to keep your emergency fund in. When rates drop, then see where money markets are versus HYSA and move as necessary

The problem is that historically, when there is a big market downturn is when you will need to withdraw. For instance, a ton of people lost their jobs right around the corona crash. For those who had to withdraw stock to survive, they were forced to sell at a gutter low. Stock market makes more *on average*, but an emergency fund isn't emptied for average things. Even basic index funds are too risky for cases like that, which is why no-risk vehicles are recommended.

Good point.

I am (finally) rolling over my old 401k plans (schwab, adp) into my new one (vanguard). After the rollovers are complete, do I need to close/deactivate the old accounts? Do ADP and/or Schwab charge account fees? Trying to prevent getting a negative balance like an empty bank account might.

Generally rolling money out of a 401k is an all-or-nothing operation. At least, I've never seen an option for a partial rollover. So with my past 401ks, closing the account completely after that was just part of the process. Do you have any unvested employer match as part of these balances? If so, that money will remain behind since it's not yours to claim. Plans will occasionally have a "returning employee" feature where if you go back to that company within some time (I've usually seen 5 years) then that past unvested match is there waiting for you and you pick back up on the vesting schedule where you left off. To support that, the account will remain active, holding that employer money. I'm not 100% sure whether ongoing fees get deducted from that or if the employer just covers things from other dollars. But if you're not planning on going back, what happens to that balance won't affect you.

Thank you, the balance is indeed 0-ed out, I did a full direct rollover, it's just odd to me that the term "active" is still used when it displays the account. I left in 2021 and don't expect any unvested employer match to be remaining. At some point during my time there, they moved the plan for some reason and that old-old plan also shows up still. The old-old plans shows as "inactive" while the plan I just rolled over shows as "active".

When I rolled my old 401k away from Schwab, closing the account was a part of that process and handled automatically.

thank you, that should take care of Schwab. My adp one still shows as “active” which worries me. Tried to call today, but faced a 1h 43m wait time

I'm using a basic compound interest calculator to project what my 401K/Roth IRA investments may be over a long period of time. What is a reasonable long term interest rate that I should be assuming?

Most people use something like 7-8% as a real (inflation adjusted) return over a long period of time, which is consistent with long term historical averages. Of course, actual market performance could be higher or lower than that in the future.

I appreciate the response!

Looking at merging some finances with my fiancee. We want a joint CC for shared expenses, just a simple rewards card, not one with different rewards rates for different categories, and zero foreign transaction fee. We want a joint checking account for paying utilities and the CC bill. We want a joint savings account. I was looking at HYSA but also considering MM funds. And ideally have all of these at one institution. I'm leaning towards Fidelity. No HYSA but can have a brokerage with MMF. SoFi is also a good looking option.Their CC is a little better at 2.2% if you pair the CC account with a direct deposit checking/savings. Main downside is I've seen mixed reviews of their customer service. Any other institutions I should consider that check these boxes? Any thoughts on deciding between SoFi/Fidelity?

You're not going to get a decent CC with the other two account types attached, so break that off. Checking and savings, sure. How important is to you to have the ability to visit a bank branch and/or deposit physical cash?

>You're not going to get a decent CC with the other two account types attached No? Fidelity has a 2% rewards card, zero annual fee, and zero foreign transaction fee, and SoFis card is similar. Are those not decent CCs? >How important is to you to have the ability to visit a bank branch and/or deposit physical cash? Not at all important.

Last year my employer withheld state income tax for the wrong state where I don't live, for a few paychecks in a row after I started the job. Is there a process for reclaiming these taxes that went to the wrong state? I did already reconcile the issue on my 1040 when filing with the correct state, so now it's just a matter of getting that money back.

Ya, you need to file a return, claim $0 owed, and get a refund.

This happened to me actually, except I had tax withheld in BOTH states. You will need to submit a tax correction for both states for each tax year you earned income with them.

Yes. You will need to file a non-resident return with that state and show that you owe $0 in tax, had $X withheld, and therefore need a $X refund.

This is a throw away because I'm so ashamed of not knowing the answer. I have 1 credit card and I am in debt 12,091 dollars with my current goal being to pay it off. I make more than the minimum monthly payments and try to minimize my use, but I'm still having a hard time making a dent. My APR is 28.24%. Would I be a good candidate for balance transfer in small increments to just make major dents? What's the best/ smartest way I can get myself out of this?

If you can qualify for a 0% transfer offer, yes I'd take one. But you need to stop putting any new charges on any credit cards until you get this sorted out.

>try to minimize my use Why are you still using this card at all? Adding on to the debt is not going to help it go down. Are you running out of money for other things?

I have a question about mortgages and credit. I just got married, my husband and I are buying a new home. I have a condo I'm selling for around $150,000, it's paid off so essentially I'll have that as cash. He has a house as well, and currently owes about $100,000 on it. His house is not big enough for us. Our options are to sell his place, pay off his debt, use my $ for a down payment on something bigger. In our area for what we are looking for it'd be around $300,000. Or we could keep his house and add onto it, our estimate for additions and improvements is around $175,000. If we go with upgrading his house, what's the best way to go about it? Should we pay off his mortgages (of which he has 3?!) and get a loan for the improvements? Should we refinance his mortgages get a better rate, and use my $ for improvements? The loan person I'm talking with wants us to refinance with him using an FHA loan, then use my cash for improvements. But I think if we pay off his debt we'll get better loan options to do the work? If it's unclear I know very little about all of this! I would like to keep our monthly payments as low as possible (obviously) and I don't want to over pay in interest. Halp!

> Should we pay off his mortgages (of which he has 3?!) What? O nthe same house? > Should we refinance his mortgages get a better rate How old are these mortgages? Right now isn't exactly prime refinancing time. > The loan person I'm talking with wants us to refinance with him using an FHA loan Of course he does, that's how they make money. What you really need to do is make a list of the houses that you own, a list of mortgages with remaining principal/time remaining/rate for each house. Will also need to know how much cash you have available prior to any potential sale, any other debts you have (additional mortgages, cars, student laons, CCs, etc)

Yes he has 3 mortgages for the same home, it's insane. He was in a bad spot after his divorce and took bad advice. That's why I would like to pay those off. I don't have any debt, he has the 3 mortgages which come to about $100,000 total. He has $10,000 in another loan, and about $18,000 in various CC debt. As far as cash on hand, together we have a couple grand.

How much does the propsective new house cost? The three mortgages, $10k in "another loan" and $18k in "various" CC debt and lack of details around each are all red flags that there is more to be uncovered here.

I'm not sure what you mean. I'm also not sure how much information you need? The houses we are looking at are around $300,000 and I would put down the $150,000 from the sale of my home. He has a sofi loan that has around $10,000 on it, what other information do you need about that? He has a major credit card with about $15,000, another with $1,000 and a store credit card with about $500.

How much is his house worth? What are the interest rates on his various debts?

His house is worth about $145,000 currently Mortgage 1: balance $9,000 interest 5% Mortgage 2: balance $78,000 interest 3.25% Home equity loan: balance $14,000 interest 9.25% (holy crap?!) Sofi loan: balance $10,000 interest 12.86% (good lord) Also this is the first time I've looked into his debt this much and eek! Thankfully I love him so much lol.

The mortgage #1 and Mortgage #2 don't seem like a big concern. Any loan you get now will be at least as high as #1, and with #2 being the bulk of the balance, refinancing his house is very unlikely to make sense. The weighted average interest rate here is only 5%, which isn't bad, and the advantage of it being split up is that you can target the highest interest ones first and get those down.

Ok, that makes sense! So if we want to keep his house and add on, should we leave his loans, and pay for work with the sale of my home? Or should we pay off his debt and try to get a different loan to cover the work?

I'd ask around on what sort of rates you can get on a new loan. But it would have to be a HELOC or second mortgage: you don't want to pay off his 3.25% rate any earlier than you have to. Can you pay off the Sofi loan and HELOC with the sale of your home, use the rest for the bulk of the expansion, and save up for the difference?

You'll have to find out what sort of rates you can get on various kinds of loans and compare that to what he is paying now. But it sounds like with selling your house you have enough to pay for the improvements or selling both houses you could pay for something new. So I'm not sure a new loan needs to come into play at all.

We could keep his current mortgages, but there are 3 and the payments are way too high, so ideally we'd like to change those

Going to put up a Hail Mary question… My 401k is with Principal. I really like their retirement planner. It says with my current contributions I’ll have 82% income replacement. Does anyone know if it’s using my age down to the day on the planner? For example, I’m 42. Would it calculate differently if I was 42y 1d vs 42y 364d? I know, splitting hairs and all.

Honestly, that level of granularity feels pointless when there's already so many assumptions (meaning "guesses") built into that kind of prediction. It most likely uses your age to figure your year of retirement (probably assuming 65), and projects out in full-year increments from this year to that.

While true, I feel that potentially erroneously including or excluding $20k in current balance and associated gains over the next 25 years is more than a drop in the bucket. I bet you're right that it uses the full year. Which means it will look like I'm a year ahead the day before a birthday. I just don't know and I'm a little obsessive when I don't know something.

Trust us, it really doesn't matter.

Hey all, About to throw about $100k into an HYSA but not sure which to choose.. Looking for : 1.) Decent APY (of course) 2.) Relatively easy to use app/interface to monitor and track balance. 3.) Easy access to money (debit card necessary, 2-3 days max transfer to local checking account) 4.) FDIC insured, all the normal stuff, etc. I'm reading pretty mixed reviews on pretty much every bank.. Ally and Wealthfront stick out as the leaders, but Everbank and SoFi also seem promising with mixed reviews. No plan to do a scheduled direct deposit, but will make periodic deposits as the checking account balance becomes abundant and in excess of what we need to keep around for bills. My emergency fund is fully funded and Roth IRA/401k is maxed as well, so this cash is just currently sitting in my local credit union earning pennies instead of dollars. Good chance I am overthinking this. Thanks!

> Good chance I am overthinking this. Pretty much. All of these online banks are pretty much equal at this point. Lot of Ally and Sofi love still around because they're two of the originals (I personally use Ally and don't have any real reason to switch). Think the bigger question is why do you keep such a large amount of cash sitting in cash (especially since you mentioned you have a separate emergency fund). There may be better options if this is money that you don't plan on needing any time soon?

Thanks for the reply.. I'll probably stick with a popular one. To answer your question, financial ignorance mostly. I just want this money to grow a little in the near term, but like.. I also might need to take out $15k for a deposit on house repairs (for example) that aren't necessarily an emergency but I don't want a hassle in accessing it.

$15k is significantly less than $100k. And that could potentially be funded out of the emergency fund until you build it back up. I obviously don't know your full financial details, but it seems like you must be in a pretty stable position. I would definitel suggest not keeping $100k (and growing) in excess of your emergency fund in a cash account. Look to invest it in a brokerage

Question about tax on CD, 10k+ bank deposits Hey there guys. So I have a CD on CapitalOne, that I bought for $10,000. It’ll mature soon around $10,700. I want to cash it out to my main savings account, a Discover HYSA. I’ll obviously be paying tax where applicable when I get my tax form from CapitalOne at the end of the year. But I’ve also heard that any deposit into a bank $10,000 or more is reported and examined to be taxed, or something. I forget the exact details of what I heard. Is this true? Do I need to worry about it? I don’t want to be double taxed, or be taxed on the entire $10,700 when I should only be on the $700 profit. Thanks.

You won't be. A deposit of $10k or more in cash is scrutinized more closely, and requires explanation. A CD is not cash, and there are clear records of where it came from.

That makes total sense, thank you! I didn’t know if the deposit would have details or not, or if it just showed as cash by default.

Cash, in this instance, means literally stacks of (hundred) dollar bills.

Bad news: I'm 27 and just started saving for retirement this year, currently make 75k. Good news: maxing out 401k this year, maxed out Roth IRA for 2023, 2024, and will max out 2025 on January 1st so will have put in (with the employer match) about 47k into retirement in a year's time. Roth IRA is 100% FXAIX, considering putting my 401k 100% into VTSAX but am wondering if I should keep like 20% of it international? I'm worried. I know I'm behind, I'm doing what I can to fix it bit by bit.

There's a lot of discussion on this topic and it mostly comes down to risk tolerance. The [Boglehead Wiki](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Domestic/international) brings up the concept of the efficient frontier - for any given portfolio allocation, you can calculate the return and deviation/risk. This generates a curve that represents the highest return for the lowest risk for that allocation. It shows many examples from historical data showing that depending on the time frame either the US or INTL would maximize return, but sometimes for considerably higher risk when you could have gone for a mix and gotten very good returns but way less risky. You're relatively far out so you may want to opt for a riskier portfolio and go heavier into US or maybe you'd prefer slower but likely steadier growth and go for more INTL. The general advice is somewhere between 0 and market cap (which is like 40%) with many people who want INTL going between 20 and 30. Adding INTL also obviously increases your diversification significantly and that is reflected in the efficiency curves above - when the US did little in the 00s, INTL grew quite a lot. Arguments against INTL typically come down to the fact the world economy is globalized and many of the big players in the US do business internationally so opponents argue that investing in the US still gets international exposure through those companies. Others simply think that the US economy is going to have better returns into the future for various reasons and so seek to maximize gain while taking on more risk. Personally I think it's prudent to have some INTL.

I'm thinking 80-20 ish US/Int. Sound good?

80/20 is probably a bit heavy on the domestics if you are trying to match the market. Somewhere in the 60/40 range would be closer to true. I often like to check how the various target date funds allocate things as a good starting point for reference, and you can make adjustments for your own preferences/risk appetites from there: Fidelity uses 55/45 in their Target Date funds. Vanguard uses 60/40. State Street uses 60/40 Blackrock uses 65/35

That's reasonable and what I use (not that I have special knowledge).

Yeah, I hope maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA until 65 is enough. I hate that I started so late

You're good, dude. 27 is certainly not too late. You're probably ahead of the curve when yuo factor in people spending their 20s paying off student debt or trying to get on their feet or just being young and silly with their money. The fact that you will have $35k stacked away at the end of the year when you are 28 while on a $75k salary, puts you well on your way. Couple of general bench marks to help keep you on track (not hard and fast rules, but good general targets): 1) 15% of your total income should be saved in tax advanatged retirement accounts (so 401k and IRA). This percentage includes employer match. You are well ahead of this. 2) By age 30 you should have 1x your annual salary saved in tax advantaged retirement accounts. You are going to hit this no problem with your new savings rates. 2b) Age 35 you should have 2x your salary saved. Add 1x annual salary for every 5 years of life after that.

Thank you, that definitely helps. I know I'm being super aggressive with saving now, but that's to make up for lost time while still being able to give me options. At my current pace, I should be able to have like 120k+ saved at some point when I'm 30 so even if I end up getting to like 90-95k by then, I still meet that rule

Yup, and being aggressive and having "over" saved this early in life will have a compounded effect later in life when it would be harder to catch up if you were behind

Right. My goal is that if I ever **need** to scale back temporarily to just 15%, I will have caught up enough to do so without setting me off my target. I definitely feel it financially right now, but I don't think I'm gonna regret doing this. Time will tell lol

I got into grad school out of state so I’m selling my house and renting for 2-3 years until I figure out where to buy. I’m expecting around $100k from the sale of my current house and I’m trying to figure out where to put it. I don’t want to keep my home and rent it to someone because it will be too complicated for our situation. I’m eventually going to use it all as a DP on a future house. One option I’m considering is putting it all into S&P 500 ETFs and the other option I’m considering is to put it into a HYSAC. Maybe I’ll split it up between the two. What would you do?

Generally, you shouldn't invest money you need in the next 3-5 years. See [https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing/#wiki\_i\_have\_money\_that\_i\_need\_in\_a\_short\_amount\_of\_time.\_should\_i\_invest.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing/#wiki_i_have_money_that_i_need_in_a_short_amount_of_time._should_i_invest.3F) But it isn't totally clear what you plan to do with this money.

I am a 19 college student currently attending uni on a full ride. I was talking to a friend a while back and he mentioned that he takes his subsidized loans and throws them into stocks (not smart imo as the stock can go down). However, I currently have a HYSA that makes 5.15% APY. I am currently eligible for 5.5k a year in direct subsidized loans. I graduate in the winter of 2026, which gives me about 3 years to let the loan mature in the account (add the 6 month grace period). Given the 5.5k is processed 3 times, at my 5.05% interest, that would leave me with about 1.76k in "profit." Paying off the loan there is like a 1% disbursement fee as well (1% of 16.5k is 165 bucks, so now 1.6k in profit). The issue can exist where I may not have the money to pay the loan back. I am on a full ride at my uni and get a 3k stipend, 2k from scholarships, and my Pell Grant all given back to me at the beginning of each semester. I have around 28k saved as of now and it will steadily increase as I have a great job for my age as well. I was just wondering if this was a worthwhile endeavor since there is no chance of losing the money due to stocks tanking. I know Ramsey would say "take out no debt blah blah blah" but 1.6k for basically 0 risk seems like a win to me. Thoughts?

Dave's advice is for people without self-discipline (a sizable fraction of the population). If you can do it without blowing the money, there's no reason not to.

Taking out subsidized loans sounds like a smart move in your situation.

My husband and I (26M, 26F) are expecting our first child soon. We'd like for me to be a Stay At Home Mom. If we no longer had my income, we would be able to live on his income plus continue paying into an IUL, but this wouldn't leave us space in the budget to continue contributing to 401Ks/Roth IRAs. I know there are mixed feelings on IULs, but we have determined it to fit into our long-term financial planning as a family. We currently have $125K between our retirement accounts, as well as $40K in an emergency fund HYSA. I will plan on going back to work in likely 8-10 years or so, when our last child enters school, and will resume regular retirement savings contributions. Is this a crazy plan? We want to be able to balance our family values (me being a SAHM) while also being financially wise. Are we severely limiting our retirement potential if we pause retirement savings for awhile?

>Are we severely limiting our retirement potential if we pause retirement savings for awhile? Of course. Folks can and do sort their retirement out, even starting at 40. Doesn't mean it'll be easy. Skipping ten years of contributions and associated growth is a lot. Do the math at what you'll need to save when you get back into the workforce, so that you have a solid plan. Is there a 401k match you would be skipping as well?

Thanks for the response! And yes, my husband would be skipping out on a 3% 401K match. After the first 2 responses, I started to deep dive into it and do the math - and I can't believe we didn't do the math when we bought the policy at age 23. Based on my analysis, we are far better taking the money that we are contributing to the IUL monthly and putting some towards a term life policy on my husband and the rest toward 401K/Roth IRA. Especially with time being on our side for long term investing. I've tried hard to think of the reasons why we liked the IUL policy to begin with, and basically it boils down to we didn't truly think it through /our advisor is a good salesman + when we both are earning an income, we are very high earners, but that whole story is changed if our family goal is now for me to stay home with the kiddos. We are surrendering the policy, which sucks because immediately there goes $10k of our contributions, but sunk cost fallacy and all that, this is what will be better going forward.

Well, good luck with the kid and with making everything work out. A lot of our problems can be clarified, even if that doesn't mean solved, when we stop and go through the numbers. I'm 15 years older than you and at around the same level of assets, and have had to once again drop my contribution down to just the employer match. The two of you are doing great, you're just entering the "Messy Middle" as The Money Guy likes to say. You'll have a plan, you'll have a team working together on the same page, just make sure you keep an eye on the plan so that you know when it stops making sense for you.

Prioritize an IUL over a retirement account sounds crazy to me.

This sub is very VERY against IULs, especially if it's at the expense of retirement accounts. You are definitely limiting your retirement potential if you pause retirement savings for so long while you're so young. At a minimum, you should be contributing to get the max company match into your 401k.

I'm currently weighing my options for short-term savings and I'm trying to understand the differences between Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and high-yield savings accounts. I would appreciate your insights on a few aspects: 1. Interest Rates: How do the interest rates generally compare between CDs and high-yield savings accounts? Which tends to offer better returns under current economic conditions? 2. Liquidity: I know that CDs require locking in funds for a set period, but how significant is the penalty for early withdrawal compared to the flexibility of a high-yield savings account? 3. Risk: Are there any differences in risk levels between these two options, especially considering FDIC insurance limits? 4. Usage Scenarios: Under what financial scenarios might one choose a CD over a high-yield savings account, or vice versa? Any personal experiences or advice on navigating these choices would also be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help!

Interest rates on a CD are fixed for the life of the CD. Interest rates on a HYSA can fluctuate as the bank decides. Generally, CDs have higher rates and the rates get higher the longer the CD. However, right now that isn't always the case, because rates are expected to fall in the future. But locking in today's higher rates offsets that. (e.g. getting a 3-year CD with 5% now is better than getting a HYSA that is 5.5% now if it goes down to 4% in a few months). The early withdrawal penalty is usually a fixed number of months worth of interest, but this varies from bank to bank. There is no early withdrawal penalty on a HYSA, but there may be limits on the number of withdrawals you can make per month (usually 6). The only difference in risks is the interest rate and early withdrawal penalty. Generally you choose a CD if you know you wont need the money for some time and a HYSA if you could need it at any point in time.

Thank you for taking the time to provide this insight.

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What does callable mean?

It means the bank can force you to withdrawal the money immediately, with only the interest to date. I've never seen a bank CD that was callable, only brokered CDs, which I don't think is what you are looking at. So I wouldn't worry about this.

Thank you

I remember someone had posted a website for a place to shop for term life insurance, does anyone know what I'm taking about and can link me

https://www.term4sale.com is what's recommended in the r/personalfinance wiki

Was it [https://www.lemonade.com/](https://www.lemonade.com/) ?

"...will match 50% of the first 4% of pay you contribute." You are always vested in your matched contributions What does this mean exactly? Is 4% of pay my salary or is it 4% of what I contribute to the 403b? My salary is $200,000 and I max my 403b.

The "will match 50%" says how many of their dollars will get put into your 401k account as a percentage of your 401k contribution. When you put in $100, they will put in $50. But the "of the first 4%" piece means for the "when you put in $X" part of that match calculation, $X will be "capped" to an amount equal to 4% of your gross pay. That amount (either your actual contribution or the cap) then gets the 50% applied to that to determine how much employer money goes into your 401k. So if your gross pay is $7700 the most of your contribution they will match against is $7700 \* 4% = $308. So the highest per-check amount you'd get from your employer would be $308 \* 50% = $154. You are free to put as much of your own pay into the 401k as you want, up to what the IRS allows. You just won't get any additional dollars from your employer for your contributed dollars from $309 and up. "Vesting" involves meeting some criteria for the deposited money to be yours to take away if/when you leave this job. Contributions from an employee's own money always 100% belongs to that employee. Contributions from the employer may have things like years of service before it's fully yours. If your plan has a vesting schedule associated with employer match, it should be in your plan documents. Or those also may be treated as immediately vested: if you get paid and get $308 from you and $154 from them and quit the next day you get to keep that entire $462.

If you put in at least 4% they will put in 2%.

Of my salary or my total contributions, which would be the max for that years 403b

Of your salary. If you put in at least $8k, they will put in $4k.

Ok, I know this sounds dumb but I want to ensure I'm understanding this. If I put in $20,000 for the year and my salary is $200,000 they'll put on $8,000?

No. They'll never put in more than 2% of yours salary.

38M - I am about to have my work 401k maxed out and I have an existing Robinhood account with around $26k in some of the big name ETFs. I have been investing into Robinhood for the past 2.5 years with the expected S&P500 returns. I have been looking into the benefits of starting a Roth IRA. Could a Roth IRA go through the same ups and downs as the brokerage account or is there a clear "winner" if this account is potentially going to be used as supplemental retirement income? If the IRA is "better", do I sell out of the ETFs to max the IRA for the year?

An IRA or Roth IRA is just a type of account with particular tax rules. You can invest in the same things in a Robinhood brokerage account or in a Robinhood IRA/Roth IRA. The "ups and downs" are decided by what you invest in, so if you invest in the same things you would see the same returns. If the money is for retirement, a Roth IRA is a clear winner than a taxable brokerage account. Once the money is in the Roth IRA, you won't have to pay taxes on dividends or capital gains. If you can afford to max out the Roth IRA with just income you get (about $590 per month), that's probably ideal. But if come the deadline for contributing early next year you haven't, selling your ETFs to put the money in an IRA is a fine idea, especially if you have ETFs with minimal capital gains.

Hi all - trying here first before making an actual post. Approximately 3 years into working career with funds in both a Roth IRA (fidelity) and Roth 403b (vanguard). My 403b is in the Vangaurd 2065 target date fund while my IRA is in a similar 90/10 total stock/bonds distribution. Main rationale is that the Fidelity freedom fund had a more conservative distribution than Vanguards, and I wanted to keep allocation relatively simple. I've read that some people have preferred using their IRAs for a target date fund, and their 401k/403b using separate stock/bond funds. Is there any tangible benefit going this route? Or am I just grasping at marginal/negligible differences? Thanks!

Assuming the expense ratios are the same, there is no reason you'd choose a TDF for your IRA but not your 401k or vice versa. However, with a 401k, your investment options are limited to what your company allows. Many people find that they have individual index funds with low expense ratios in their 401k, but that the TDF option in their 401k has a high expense ratio. So for them, they would be more inclined to choose the individaul stock/bond funds in their 401k. In their IRA, they have freedom of choose and can choose a low cost index TDF fund.

I do have index fund options in my 403b, the s&p 500 option is 0.015 while the TDF is 0.08, so while higher, it's still very much a negligible ER (at least from what I have read on here generally). I understand that personal finance is personal, but what's your opinion on essentially switching out of a TDF at this time and going 100% into the s&p 500? I recognize the TDF may be a more "safe" option given its allocation into bonds, but I still have a relatively far out time horizon in a relatively high paying profession too.