HYSA

hipsterasshipster

Put $25k in HYSA as your emergency fund and the rest in index funds. Build up a normal savings, grow emergency fund, keep contributing to index funds.

PTTCollin

Money market will have better returns than HYSA.

iloveartichokes

3-6 months in a HYSA

tcxny

Be a boglehead. Options aren’t for you right now until you get more educated. Don’t chase what you lost, build it back up responsibly. Keep your money in an HYSA and invest in broad funds

LurkingInTheDoorway

I would have cashed at like +50k and put it all in a HYSA and never bet again.

cjorgensen

I keep an emergency fund as well. I have mine in a bon ETF in my taxable brokerage. I used to have it in a HYSA, but psychologically that feels like money I can spend. So I lock my funds up, but I can still get to them in an emergency. I also have a margin enabled account, so I can transfer money into my checking, then sell bonds without having to wait for transactions to clear. I haven't ever really had an emergency, so I end up cash flowing anything that would normally draw on those funds. I'm lucky in that I haven't had anything major in years.

OnlyKey5675

The last 20 years I've contributed to my roth and I've bought the s$p 500. Held money in CD, HYSA. I don't think I've ever sold.

financiallythriving

Put it in HYSA or Money market. Anything but cash bro

Successful-Tea-5733

Holding cash isn't just about timing the market or just about an emergency fund. It's also about other opportunities outside the equity market. I have been holding $100k in HYSA looking at vacation investment properties. Sure, I could have invested it and it would have done better than 3%, but I didn't know that at the time. And if we had a 20% dip I would have either had less money, or would have sold at a loss. Now with that, I haven't found anything so I bought an extra $10,000 on the recent dip. I wans't chasing a dip, just the vacation real estate market has been flat so there's no urgency to buy anything and I haven't found anything I like. TLDR sometimes holding cash is about your overall financial goals.

quuxquxbazbarfoo

Imagine gaining 3.75% in HYSA this year when you could just buy ASTS right now and sell at 10am tomorrow for double the gains.

Lokoto123

Just found out my HYSA interest is also taxed as income, they can’t let even let me have my 3 dollars huh?

DrGrabAss

It sounds like you're almost thinking like Warren Buffett. Almost. He sat on tons of cash (technically bonds and cash equivalents) many times. What he's said in the past is what you just said: things feel expensive. But for him, he doesn't "feel" anything. He does analytical analysis and studies fundamentals of companies. He determines through data analysis what company shares are actually selling at a discount, and then he buys. So when he sits on cash, it means he doesn't see anything worth buying or hedging against a worsening economy. Long story short, stop looking at the market as a whole and start looking at fundamentals. If your cash is sitting in \~4% MMF, HYSA, or some bond fund, your fine. You're not losing money (yet). And yes, I DCA no matter what. I adhere to old school long-term buy and hold strategies. And I also keep about 10% in cash, partly as an emergency fund and partly if there is something on "sale." I never time the market. I just fire and forget. i have lived through three market crashes I didn't even know happened, I just kept buying, and it's turned out well. That FOMO is a result of looking at the broad market and freaking out. Stop that!

RagnarokWolves

Does he have his own separate emergency fund for emergencies? Stocks are likely to grow in the long-term but in the short-term, anything can happen. You could throw the money in and tomorrow there could be an epic 30% crash. He needs to be able to wait around for the recovery if a crash happens. HYSA if this is part their emergency fund. If they can let it sit there for 10+ years, VOO or VT.

BugHistorical1614

At 75/78, adequate Income, we don't need to invest. Moving some HYSA cash to MYGA for yield. I figure why take Market risk if I can get +5% near risk free savings. I have some $ in CEF but yields will reggae rapidly.

HyperPunch

Yep, every Monday $100. IRA I lump sum $2000 every quarter. Just pull from my HYSA I add to monthly. Works great.

Applepyes

It’s fun. You get to “gamble” a bit and feel like you earn the money when you’re green (vs just sitting in HYSA)

Anik71

So I actually “take profit” on my LEAPS throughout the year because I do a strategy called PMCC when we experience a massive run up. By doing this I’m able to lock in gains while not needing to sell and it effectively makes my position “free” because my initial principle was recouped and then some via the selling of calls. Taking profit depends on what I’m holding and timeframe, for $GOOGL I’ll ultimately take profit in Jan so I can defer the tax money for another year and shove that in some bonds/CD’s/or a HYSA, to generate income while I wait to pay taxes the following year.

DoesntUnderstandJoke

6% barely outpacing a HYSA

Background-Scene-359

I was given bonds when I was a child and they matured when I was around 20, a decade and some change to go from 50-100. Compared to a HYSA where if you put enough in you can definitely make more than that. Or if actually investing not focusing on the bonds or savings account and instead using that money to actually invest and doing your research can make much more than 50$ in 15 years. However the percentage on it can be nice but when looked at what you could’ve done with that money in the same amount of time its an easy choice

TonyzTone

I just buy stuff every single week. Additionally, I’m sitting on cash reserves in a HYSA as part of my emergency fund, but also with buckets dedicated to larger “goals.” Well, if the market collapses, that cash is going to be bargain shopping for some companies instead of savings for a trip to the Maldives or whatever. I was too young for 2008. I was too unprepared for the COVID crash. I’ll be ready for the next one (while still buying every day).

svmmerkid

I invested some money in personal brokerage when I was in college. Individual stocks that did quite well- $35k in NVDA up 800%, MSFT/AAPL/GOOGL $10k each up 115%. I plan on selling $20k in NVDA to help fund a down payment on a condo, the rest coming from HYSA (will still have 6 months emergency leftover). Does it make sense to sell even more shares (probably a mixture of what I own) so that I can max a Roth IRA in 2026, which my budget otherwise wouldn't fit?

CherryRoutine9397

If you already have a true emergency fund, then SPY makes more sense long term than parking excess cash in a HYSA. A HYSA is great for liquidity and peace of mind, but over decades it almost always loses to equities after inflation. What I would personally do is keep a fixed amount in HYSA that actually matches your risk and job security, maybe 6 to 12 months of expenses, and invest anything above that into SPY or a broad index. That way you are not forced to sell in a downturn, but you are also not letting long term money sit in cash. Trying to time a crash usually hurts more than it helps. If you are worried, spreading entries over time can help psychologically, but staying invested is usually the winning move. Just my perspective, not advice.

zonk84

I check daily, but I only make moves once a month -- I make a monthly transfer into my investment account on the 15th and then distribute the transfer to stocks on my watchlist. I rebalance my 401k quarterly. I rarely sell - though, Q4 every year (usually Nov/Dec) I do undertake an assessment of my existing holdings and cut my weeds. I have a separate spreadsheet I keep listing every buy - my reasoning, my expectations, some spitball guesses. Yes, checking every day is overkill.... but it's just a habit of mine -- 30 minutes over coffee every morning, I review *all* my financials (banks/CCs/HYSA for suspicious activity; investment accounts to check earnings calendars and news).

anon10751075

I'm dealing with this currently. I was doing well trading options in my main account (well being up 45%+). I took most of that profit and purchased some ETF positions, transfered 50% of it to HYSA and then put 500 into a new "options" only account. As of today my small options account "win" percentage is 66.7% (defined as a trade that ends in the green). However my account PnL is negative because I was dumb and doubled down on two positions and had oversized losses (think 50% plus). Because of that my average win PnL % is 11.89% but my average loss is over 45%. My struggle, I feel like, is knowing proper SL and profit taking ranges to have set. I try to be liberal with my SL because I've had instances where a position may have been down 20%+ but the charts was telling me overall trend was correct and I ended up profiting 20%+ on the position. Mentally, outside of the two regarded losses, there was more room to run on my winners and definitely positions I could have closed earlier for reduced losses. However I sometimes let my emotions override my brain.

Commercial_Seat_3704

AMZN continues to underperform my HYSA

Ok_Willingness2174

Quick glance at it maybe 3 times a week. Every quarter, I take stock of net worth and track all account balances in a spreadsheet. Mainly to check on checking and savings accounts and HYSA. All my investments are either buy and hold until I die / retire / or 5 years minimum.

Specialist_Pay_1510

Does toro understand the intention is to go up!? Pretty much you lost cause you didn't make any money from your money, and could have by just keeping it in a HYSA and gotten back more!? It's like Ricky Bobby used to say, "If you're not first, you're last"

CoralieMist

i think you’re doing everything right tbh. if you’ve got a true emergency fund already, you could ease a chunk of that 40k into SPY and just DCA it over time. that way you’re still earning from your HYSA while slowly investing. i use BankTruth to make sure i’m not missing out on better HYSA rates.

rtd131

I'm not a financial advisor. But if I were you I'd take 3 months of expenses and keep that in an HYSA (So like $2k) and invest the rest into VOO, FXAIX (if using Fidelity) or similar. If you can continue to invest $1000 a month in that account, in 20 years it should theoretically be worth about $500k.

audrikr

I mean this very genuinely: if you need to ask that you should not be investing and should just put your cash in a HYSA. The answer is always index funds. 

rtd131

I understand that $10k is in a checking account and $40k is in a HYSA generating interest. Sounds like they are keeping the $10k available in case they need the money today and can't wait for a 3 day transfer. Which seems like a bad idea because they could at least be generating a tiny bit of interest from the $10k, and if it's a real "oh shit" that you need that money instantly, just use a Credit Card and immediately pay it off from the HYSA.

Various_Couple_764

For retirment accounts you cannot withdrawal money until age 60. So between now and when you retire they cannot help you with day to day expenses. You taxable brokerage account can be used to invest in dividend ETF for passive income that you can use to help cover day to day bills and expenses. Most HYSA today earn about 3.5% and the interest rate is expected to drop as the government reduces interest rates. But A fund like CLOZ has a 8% yield and is very safe reliable dividend payer. IT will take years to build up the dividend but eventually the income from this fund could be enough to cover half of your living expenses. This would provide you with reliable income even if you loose your job or for medical reasons cannot work. . But if you don't need the income you can use the income to cover the 7000 a year roth deposit or simply reinvest the money. Investing for dividend could eventually allow you to retire before age 60.

brianborchers

It depends on your HYSA but SGOV should be competitive.

thethrifter

SPAXX and FDLXX are money market funds. They act like a HYSA except they are SIPC insured instead of FDIC insured. (Both up to 250k) The 75k principle is not affected unless there is a "breaking of the buck" event. From AI search... ​In the 50+ year history of money market funds, "breaking the buck" has only happened three times across the entire industry and Fidelity has never had a money market fund break the buck. ​1978: A small fund fell to $0.94 due to rising interest rates. ​1994: A fund fell to $0.96 because it used risky derivatives (which are now largely banned for these funds). ​2008: The Reserve Primary Fund fell to $0.97 because it held debt from Lehman Brothers when the bank collapsed. Although SPAXX is invested on US treasuries, the value does not fluctuate like TLT or other bond funds and is pegged to $1usd. SPAXX is considered the safest money market by most standards.

BagPristine4040

Will SGOV give you the same amount (percentage) of money that HYSA is offering?

nicolas_06

If serious **What are you supposed to do** Well I'd say for most people, you want the only free lunch in investing that is diversification. So you want world stocks, most likely an index because most of us are not are as not beating the market anyway over the long run. You are likely supposed to have some bonds, some real estate and maybe a tiny bit of alternative like cryptos, managed futures, gold and precious metals. For example: 60% world stocks (or 40% US, 20% Intl), 25% bonds, 5% cryptos, 5% managed futures, 5% gold. Of course you adapt to your liking. You could reduce maybe also include 10%, max 20% of stock picking or playing with options/future, whatever if you want to play. You could nuance depending if things are expensive or cheap. Like more stock in the middle of crash, less when thing are going well and are already expensive And of course you can nuance depending of your time horizon if you have 40 years, maybe you target more 80% stocks, if you have only 10 years, you take 50%... And you take all these factors into account. **When you are young investment is not maybe that critical and whatever you do it will not change things that much whatever they say.** So you are 23, you maybe saved 50K. You are just starting. So you do 100% stocks instead of 80%. So you expect 10% instead of 5% on that 20% of your portfolio you didn't invest in bond like it's important. And so if all goes to plan, you get an extra 500$ a year. An extra percent of perf. But because you don't have 1 million, it's pocket money. 500$ change nothing. And all that is if you have already 50K. Most would have more like 1K or 10K and all should be kept on an HYSA for an emergency anyway. Next you need a decent car, some furniture in your home, get that downpayment. So sure you put 10% of your pay maybe on your 401K and forget about it. And this isn't that much. Maybe it's 5K a year or 10K if lucky. But you could get a raise of 5K at your job, that 10X more than the extra 500$. If you do some over time that might also be 5K extra. If you move to another region, your rent might be 500$ cheaper. Per month. Another 6K saved. Even if you are some winner with 300K salary at Google and you already have 200K saved, it's the same story. Later you'll make 1 million per year and would have 5 million saved. Whatever the 200K is making is irrelevant. This is still the same, your career, your life priorities, all that matter much more. Think big, invest in yourself, make more, do not waste money and live your life. These are the big game changer especially when you are just starting to invest. You don't become rich by investing 10K over 40 years and having to sell after 10 years because you had an emergency anyway and when you finally have something you are old and die 10 years later. You do not care to have 80% or 100% stocks. you don't care if there a crash except if that may mean you lose your job.

Sad-Debt789

Yup, was looking for this answer and the one about this being personal finance. SGOV is around 3.85% right now? Plus, no state tax on dividends for most states. HYSA still gets taxed on on gains. Dude knows not to time the marjet but still tries to time the market lolol.

SirGlass

As long as the company has value there will always be someone there to buy it Like imagine a company , the company is simply one million dollars sitting in a HYSA . Right now that savings account has exactly 1 million dollars in it It pays no dividends and also has no revenue or expenses IF the company has 1 million shares, well each share will be worth around $1 , even though the company is rather useless If the share price falls to like $0.95 someone would just buy the entire company for 950k then get 1 million in return making a quick 50k As long as the company has real value , meaning it has assets , land, buildings, cash , it also has future cash flows, it will have value There will always be a buyer , as in my example if someone sees a company and value it at 1 billion but its trading at 900 million valuation they will just step in and buy the entire company

thethrifter

I would park your full 50k "emergency" fund in a fidelity brokerage account, as it will earn slightly more APY with SPAXX or FDLXX than your current HYSA (FDLXX can save on state taxes too) Your 50k will earn $145-$150 per month in dividends. Use those dividends to buy $150 of SPY each month. That's the only way I can think of diversifying without risking any of your existing $50k.

brianborchers

Do you live in a state with income tax? If so, you might consider moving your long term emergency fund from a HYSA to a short term treasury fund like SGOV. This should get about the same interest rate without the state income tax.

rabbonat

Robinhood cash interest rate is now below Local Main Street Bank HYSA, how the mighty have fallen.

Inevitable_Ad6868

HYSA yields less than SPAXX?

reaper527

For the long term, spy is definitely the right answer (and adding to it regularly). There will be bad years at some point, but the gains from the good years will vastly outpace the losses from the bad ones when you zoom out and look at the big picture. HYSA is for money that you will need soon and need it to be risk free. You just need to decide if a 10k emergency fund is big enough (or alternatively, if you’re willing to pull from your SPY at an inopportune time if the 10k emergency fund isn’t enough when you need it and you need to tap into your SPY). The long term gains with SPY aren’t the question, the short term value at a given time point is.

foulpudding

It’s like this: HYSA is basically your money, with the same buying power as it has today, but in the future. Your $100 buying power that nets you 4 large Pizzas today will still only buy you four large pizzas in the future, they will just be more expensive. S&P is your starting investment but also with growth into the future. The growth will be sporadic and rocky, but it will almost always outpace a HYSA, and certainly outpace it over a long enough period of time.

AwkwardClassroom

So this is more of a personal finance topic, but.. You have to think about your “rainy day” fund as insurance. It’s not there to get 10%+ returns, it’s meant to maintain its value in the case you actually need it. You don’t want your rainy day money to sustain a drop in value (if the market does not perform well) at the same time you need the funds. Now, your post is unclear. You first say 10k is your oh shit fund and then $40k is your “in case I get laid off” fund. To me, those are both emergencies. If you’ve determined you need $50k saved for emergencies, then that’s it. You keep all $50k in a HYSA like you’re already doing. You also haven’t provided any other metrics for us to go off of you (your salary, your expenses, your debt, your net worth, etc.) but based off of your post, it sounds like you’ve saved what you needed, so from Here on out start investing your additional funds.

DiegoMilan

Investing is quite personal, so at the end of the day you know your risk tolerance and have an overall investment philosophy. The biggest thing is to make decisions that help you sleep at night. A couple of concerns you’ve raised in this post: 1) You’re in tech and have the thought of being potentially laid off in the future (though that’s a risk for all of us in tech) 2) You have concerns about the US economy in the near future 3) You like having money in the bank for oh shit moments. Based on this, I’d personally keep money in my HYSA, enough to cover 6 months if possible, and take out maybe 1-2k and put it in an index fund like SPY and start slowly contributing to it every couple of weeks. That would give you the best of both worlds - you’re in the market and contributing + you aren’t risking the farm if the economy goes to shit (or if you’re ever laid off.) This is a long-term game as you know and no need to put yourself unnecessarily at risk since having a HYSA is always a safe option.

TheoryInttro

Good thing I'm not using the majority of my port for the gambling, am barely beating the HYSA with the emergency funds for returns.

kadam_ss

Do you anticipate you will need a lot of cash in the next 2-3 years? Like buying a home? If yes, take that out of the market and hold it in bonds/HYSA. Let the rest ride and don’t look at it every day. It’s nearly impossible to time the market. But if there is a crash, remember there is a generational opportunity on the other side.

CoralieMist

you’re doing awesome! i’d just keep it simple same broad index funds across all accounts is perfectly normal. the only difference i’d make is maybe keeping bonds or more stable stuff in tax-advantaged accounts. also check your HYSA’s rate, i switched after seeing better ones on BankTruth.

Dry_Shoulder_8405

Inflation going up could be good for calls too though. What i'm really trying to say though is that low inflation is good for bond, HYSA holders, and consumers, but does not always translate into a predictable bull market.

rocketplayer2025

Please share what HYSA is paying you 4% as maybe 2 are since the last teo fed rate cuts?

snack-ninja

Roth: 28% Total investment not counting HYSA: 18%

AllenSmithee59

In January I opened four self-directed brokerage accounts to earn bonuses the brokerages were offering ($150-$300 each), intending to park the money in SGOV for the 90 days that the brokerages required. Eventually I had $40,000 to $60,000 invested at any one time. That quickly got boring. The money was earning slightly less than it was in a HYSA, so I decided to speculate with some of it to see if I could beat the rate of the HYSA. I poked around the web and on X for information about what stocks to buy, settling on AppLovin (APP), Nvidia (NVDA), Aris Water (ARIS), Robinhood (HOOD), Iren (IREN), Hims & Hers (HIMS) and possibly some others. Since then I've bought and sold all of those stocks many times over, along with dozens of others. I was guided by the following: * Lots of reading about undervalued/underweight stocks. * Focusingon quick-profit/quick turnaround possibilities. (The bulk of my investments is in date-timed IRAs, so I'm well covered with set-and-forget long investments.) * One rule: If the stock lost me 7% or more, I sold it all. If it made 20% or more, I took the profits, usually by selling off stocks that were performing less well. (Looking at you, Amazon.) Today, just about a year later, I'm up $73,755. I intend to keep every penny of it, so I'll probably cash out the self-directed accounts at the end of this year. I'm retired and have other things I'd rather do that don't have me sitting in front of a computer all day.

cjorgensen

Emergency fund and budgeted items are in a HYSA. I don't chase percentages.

greytoc

Yes - that's a good reason to use a brokerage account instead of a HYSA. Also - if you have state taxes - interest from treasuries - interest from funds like USFR are generally state and local tax exempt - whereas interest from a HYSA is generally not state tax exempt. And depending on your tax status - even muni money market funds may generate a higher yield on a post-tax basis.

scruffy-hugger

I Don’t see any significant value /connection with my HYSA. I have an account at a brick and mortar bank also , enough to cover recurring bills and a buffer. No big purchase planned. $ is just parked in a safe account earning some interest. My thought is that USFR or GSST would provide a slight bump and also make it easy to invest if I see an investment opportunity.

greytoc

This is one of those common questions that come up every week. It really depends on your own relationship with the bank and whether you get any additional value from keeping your cash in a bank. For me - I don't get any value from a HYSA and I have never used one. It's a lot simpler and more flexible for me to use a brokerage account.

vcpowerlaw

Your $50k HYSA emergency fund covers ~8 months expenses, which is plenty, so invest the other $80k in low-cost index funds or ETFs for growth (expect ~7% long-term). Skip mortgage prepay now, since rates are low and investments beat that return.

grosvenor22

Yes I have 6 months saved in a HYSA. Sadly my job doesn’t offer coverage after I retire

Engi-near

Serious advice: either return the money or put it into a HYSA and do nothing with it. Do not spend it. Legally the money is still theirs. If they ask for it back and you don’t take action to repay them you can get into a lot of trouble.

NDSU

The opportunity cost of putting that money into a HYSA is so painful. Might as well be setting money on fire

miraiyuni

Always have 3 accounts 1. ROTH/401K - long term (>40+ years investing) 2.HYSA - short term (Housing, expenses) 3. Third party brokerage like Tiger - for medium term investing

momijidream

i’ve used wealthfront for a while too and totally get the appeal the ui, automation, and all that. as a stock though, i’d be cautious. fintech’s great until the market decides to punish it for slowing growth lol. i’d prob let it stabilize a bit post-IPO before buying heavy. also yeah, their HYSA is nice but not always the best rate i check BankTruth for that.

Milad731

The money in HYSA is yours and isn’t taxed if you take it out. However, the interest you make on that money is taxable. At the end of the year your bank will send you a form that shows how much interest the paid you and you have to report it to the IRS. It doesn’t matter if this money was left in your HYSA or you took it out. In general, if you take money out of 401k early you get a 10% early withdrawal penalty AND then taxed on the original amount you took out. The amount of tax depends on your tax bracket. You can research it more on the IRS site or use an online calculator that shows you how much you’ll lose for early withdrawal. A less costly way to go would be to take a loan against your 401k, which would potentially have a much less severe impact on your savings (since loan interest is less than the penalty and tax for early withdrawal), but I personally wouldn’t recommend it. For brokerage accounts (regardless of ETF or stock or options), if you realize gains after 1 year you get taxed as “long-term capital gain.” If you sell your stocks and realize gains before 1 year, you get taxed at “short-term capital gain.” You can look these tax values up on the IRS website as well since they could depend on your tax bracket again. If you sell your shares at a loss there is no tax implications (obviously) and you can actually subtract the amount you lost from your taxes.

humplick

Interest (HYSA) and dividends (in brokerage account) are taxed as ordinary income. Rolls into your yearly income tax burden. Brokerage, sale of the asset triggers taxable event. The taxable base number is Sale price - Purchase price. % taxed of that base number is based on length of holding of the asset, short term or long term holding. Your state may take a cut as well. 401k penalties, a quick calculator showdd me that if i had 100k in income, filing married, and took out 10k, I would receive approx $6800. If I left that 10k in the account for 30 years, it would have grown (conservatively) to nearly 50k.

Wuphf_DotCom

Interest that the HYSA produces is taxed yearly when you file your taxes regardless of if you take it out of the account or not. It is taxed at your regular income percentage along with the money you make from your regular job. If you pull out any of the original funds that you put in yourself, that money is already yours so it is not taxed again (because it was already taxed when it was paid to you). You should never ever pull money out of your 401k until you can do so without penalty. That money is locked in until you hit 59.5. A 401k is NOT the place for saving up for a house payment, that’s what your HYSA is for. When you do hit 59.5 and begin taking money out to live off of, you pay regular income tax rates on the full amount withdrawn (both what you originally put in and any gains) because the money went in tax free at the beginning. This is why it is called a tax “deferred” account. You’re deferring those charges until you withdraw the money. In a regular brokerage account, you pay taxes at capital gains rates on any *profit* your stocks have produced. So if you buy a stock at $100 and sell it at $150, you pay capital gains tax on $50. Your original $100 is already yours and was taxed when it was paid to you, just like the money in your HYSA.

momijikaze

**i’ve used wealthfront for a while too and totally get the appeal the ui, automation, and all that. as a stock though, i’d be cautious. fintech’s great until the market decides to punish it for slowing growth lol. i’d prob let it stabilize a bit post-IPO before buying heavy. also yeah, their HYSA is nice but not always the best rate i check BankTruth for that.**

HMonster224

This is amazing and will give you a HUGE advantage down the road - you have the gift of time on your side. A lot depends on your overall situation - will you need any of it for near-term expenses like college? If not and the whole amount is really available to invest for the longer-term, I would personally take 1/3 to keep in a HYSA as an emergency fund, and invest the other two-thirds. But that's just a gut feeling on my part about how much I would want to keep in cash. Out of the investable dollars, I would put half into QQQ (but I'm biased towards tech - VOO or another index fund would also work) and then take your time to SLOWLY research and start picking up some individual stocks and maybe a bit of crypto that you want to keep for 5+ years. I generally don't put more than 5% of my portfolio into any one position. Don't feel like you have to invest it all at once. Put it into a ROTH IRA if you qualify for that, or see if there is some other tax-advantaged account you can use. And remember you have to hold a position for at least a year to avoid paying short-term capital gains tax on any profits. Keep doing your research before you take action, and good luck. I wish I had learned more about investing at your age!

spicystreetmeat

A HYSA or federal money market fund will pay a dividend every month. At $75, you’d probably get about .22c per month

fd4e56bc1f2d5c01653c

> I just stuffed it into HYSA. So you lost money, just less and more slowly

diverareyouokay

​Idk man, i’m pretty sure that this is the life of a safe “investor”. I just stick all of my extra money in RH Gold, using it as a HYSA. You can see exactly where I messed around with options before realizing I should not be such a regard. Now it’s just slow and steady, until I grow big enough balls to put it in the stock market. Maybe after the current administration leaves and things are a little more stable… ​ https://preview.redd.it/os0mgczf118g1.jpeg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=821ec0fafb05011861971a06de2d02e699f69607

diverareyouokay

​Idk man, i’m pretty sure that this is the life of a safe “investor”. I just stick all of my extra money in RH Gold, using it as a HYSA. https://preview.redd.it/toonrfhx018g1.jpeg?width=1668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d45543c410a4d3e95935de7b10d101d62e38099c

WarmCan3034

Is this a HYSA?

Nuvuser2025

I sold a house in 2021, expecting I’d buy again within a year.  I waited too long, and the door slammed shut.  Instead of gambling that equity (which buying another house immediately in late 21 or early 22, on felt like gambling) I just stuffed it into HYSA. 5 years later now, almost, and it’s come in handy.

SnS2500

\> currently have about a 16-month emergency fund, which feels excessive given that my job feels very secure Ab emergency fund should be considered different than "cash". An emergency fund is for emergencies. Cash is a savings choice instead of making investments with risk. Set aside you emergency fund, then compare your cash to your invested assets. \> how much would you keep in cash (checking/HYSA) versus put into investments? Doesn't matter. I'm not you in your circumstances. The answer for everyone should be different.

siamonsez

>more liquidity outside of the market and always DCA your positions. So maintaining a chunk of money in cash equivalents like a HYSA or mmf which have short term bonds as their underlying assets? And when you say dca do you mean a consistent investment amount and rate or would you change based on market conditions? Having "liquidity outside of the market" is having a chunk of your portfolio in an uncorrelated asset class just like the other person's 10% bonds and 5% precious metals. The difference is the return you get on that portion and how you decide when to dump that liquidity into equities. If you're waiting for a dip you're relying on predicting the future, that you won't dump it all in at the very beginning of a downturn or hold back and miss the bottom. If you'd keep investments in equities consistent regardless of market conditions you're just maintaining that cash allocation that's whatever portion of your portfolio. It's delaying the timing of investments in equities with no predictable benefit but having a chunk in cash will obviously drag down your overall return. If you put it in term of a percentage of the total and rebalance regularly to maintain that percentage then you're taking a small amount of gains as equities outperform and safeguarding them in a low volatility asset and when equities underperform you're boosting your investments in equities and it's all proportional to the difference in performance between the asset classes so you're not relying on what you thing is going to happen. This has a negligible impact on average returns in absolute terms, but a significant difference in risk adjusted returns. Basically it flattens the peaks and valleys so you'd have a faster recovery in a downturn.

ItsJazzyMae

i’ve used wealthfront for a while too and totally get the appeal the ui, automation, and all that. as a stock though, i’d be cautious. fintech’s great until the market decides to punish it for slowing growth lol. i’d prob let it stabilize a bit post-IPO before buying heavy. also yeah, their HYSA is nice but not always the best rate i check BankTruth for that.

clingbat

I had a bit over $100k in HYSA and just shifted it over to Fidelity in a premium govt MMF (FZCXX) and then put 70% of that into VT and left the remaining 30% in the MMF for now (it's still earning more than HYSA was).

No-Improvement3164

At this rate HYSA will out preform

Acceptable-Rain4650

Keep it in an HYSA for your impending lay off

modder9

NVDA on track to underperform a HYSA

ItsJazzyMae

Love this plan honestly. A lot of parents overcomplicate it but just doing consistent S&P 500 investing will set him up so well. You could open a brokerage in your name and later gift it or add him as a beneficiary. And if you’re parking money short-term before investing, BankTruth is great for finding solid HYSA options.

BurbsConsole93

You gambled, not invested. Nothing can be done. You took a risk and it didn’t go your way. I would take what $$$ you have and put it in a HYSA or Money market account for now and research what real investing is and not gambling.

SammyDavidJuniorJr

It’s funny because SPY is up 16% YTD and a HYSA even beat them. But they learned something apparently.

Happy_Discussion_536

Have no idea what you're rambling about. I was just refuting this dumbass statement which is objectively false: >Because HYSA have outperformed BTC if they bought the 2021 ATH and held through today. It literally hasn't. But if you're trash at math I can't help you, I'm sorry. Unless you say something substantial and not nonsense, my last response to you. I'll gift you the last comment, best of luck.

stupidber

DCA into HYSA r/smolppinvesting

AllCapNoBrake

Because HYSA have outperformed BTC if they bought the 2021 ATH and held through today.

ParTeeAnimal3

Hey everyone! I started up a brokerage account recently (21M). Along with a Roth IRA and HYSA. I’m still very new to investing, and specifically what to invest in. My goal is to use these investments for the long term, to just build wealth to my name for years to come. Some people I know invest in higher risk holdings to hit some home runs, but I want to shoot for singles and doubles. I have kind of a rough draft allocation setup based on my ideas. I really like the zero fee Fidelity funds. I’m going to use that as my core. I know overlapping isn’t necessarily bad? But I don’t know too much about it, or the specifics on how it could hurt/harm a portfolio. I know SPYG and FNILX, but I think it should be okay? Any advice or tips on my allocation or holdings would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone! I’m thinking 55% FNILX 20% VXUS 15% SPYG 10% FSSNX

ItsJazzyMae

totally depends on your risk tolerance, but with a 1-year window I’d stick with something simple like a top HYSA or treasury ETF. BankTruth is great for comparing the latest savings and CD rates if you want to maximize yield without locking it all up. personally I’d skip the stock market one bad quarter could wipe out your gains before you’re ready to buy again.

RedParrot94

1 year is HYSA. If you want to bet it all on black, I'd go with SOXX, QTUM, or RGTI.

Shadowrunner138

Why work you life away for a house only to take a risk with the profit at all? SGOV or treasuries, higher yield than a HYSA, almost state tax free, about as low risk as it gets without just leaving it where it is.

nomadjackk

Absolutely a HYSA

maarifamoney

Upskilling is a big one. If you’re sitting on so much cash you can easily pour some into yourself. Learning a language, swimming, life skills etc. Another one is automatic savings(HYSA) and ETF investing. Doing it without thinking about it was such a hack for me

DocMicStuffeens

Yup… in this environment a HYSA or treasuries are the best option

AllCapNoBrake

Wonder if he thinks about how much he'd have today, if he had just put it into a HYSA? https://preview.redd.it/uyqkwlts5f7g1.jpeg?width=32&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7469d7a098314845f53f3df3cb226cc36b7e3f66

CherryRoutine9397

Honestly with a 1–1.5 year timeline, I wouldn’t try to get fancy at all. Even a moderate risk portfolio can easily be down 10–15% in a bad year, and that’s not a position you want to be in with house money. HYSA, money market, T-bill,s or a short CD ladder make way more sense. The return won’t be exciting, but the goal here is capital preservation, not growth.

timtam_z28

Moderate risk to me would be like 80-90% SGOV, 10-20% VOO. Maybe even a little BTC, because I personally wouldn't put all that equity into a new home, but depends on your plans in 1-2yrs. Low risk to me would be 100% SGOV. I wouldn't keep it all in HYSA, that sum is over the limit of FDIC protection and there's tax benefits to SGOV.

therealjerseytom

Alright so *low* risk not moderate. I mean realistically, just keep the $$ parked in a money market, HYSA, or lock in a CD for the next year or so.

Javeec

For a period of time so short, there is no better solution than HYSA, treasuries etc

IceCreamforLunch

With a 1-1.5 year horizon I'd go with a HYSA, money market, CDs, or whatever other zero risk option you can find with the highest interest right now.