HYSA

ohhisnark

agree with those saying sell some and reinvest into an etf (you can do majority vti, but wouldn't hurt to add an etf that tracks the international market in there). Just think hard about how much you'd sell so you don't trigger high taxes. Another thing: keep some of it in cash in an HYSA for your emergency fund. not too much. just 3-6months.

juveyjords

I had over $750k sitting in HYSA during Covid years

SolWizard

Why would you use HYSA as the standard as if anyone has that much money in a savings account

4dolarmeme

You're not rich until you can live at a middle class standard of living from just interest on a HYSA imo. Multimillions are needed

Far-Guava6006

If that chart is any indication of things to come, leave the casino and put your money in a HYSA.

Acceptable-Fox-7103

I would save your $160 in a HYSA. Slowly and incrementally build your way back up. Once you have a couple thousand in the HSYA, start slowly investing in index funds. It’s not fast and not sexy but you’re more likely to have steady growth and not lose all of your money this way. Looking for aggressive growth via gambling on 1-2 individual stocks is a high risk high reward game. Yes, you might become rich quickly, but you are just as likely (perhaps more likely) to lose your initial investment.

Various_Couple_764

Must be friday All the anti dividend /Passive income people have spammed this post. yes safe bonds and HYSA don't pay much in yields. But there are dividend funds that pay much higher yields. QQQI (A covered call fund) for example has a 13% yield. Not the highest yield available from cover d call funds but It doesn't have any of the problems the higher yield funds have. 4.5 invested in this fund will produce $585 a year not much. But is you deposit 500 a month for 10 years you will have 125K and the yearly dividend of 16k a year. A little over 1K a month. And you pay less taxes on the dividends so it is a tax efficient fund. The key to high dividend income is to consistently depositing money every month to build up a large portfolio. Not covered call funds are not the only choices In addition to QQQI I have ARDC 9% yield, PBDC 9%, EMO 9%, CLOZ 8%, UTF 7%, UTG 6.4% and JAAA 5.5% I have these in my roth and they are currently pumping about 5K a month into my roth. I also have some in a taxable brokerage account so I can access the cash now.

h33b

Others here are telling you that you shouldn't, but nobody's really telling you why, so let's throw some numbers around. You want growth over time, and steady returns. The most steady thing you can do is put money in a high yield savings account or bonds. Those are no-risk options. Currently, you can find these types of accounts paying out around 3-3.5% per year on the balance. We'll pretend those rates don't change for sake of argument, and we'll split the difference and call it 3.3% (common HYSA rate). 3.3% on $4,500 is $12.19 per month. That's just shy of $150/yr of "passive income". In real terms, it would take you a year to basically earn a single "fun night out." You'll need a large balance to have meaningful passive anything. At this stage in your life, the $4,500 is probably better spent furthering your education and pursuing a well-paying career, so that you can grow your money pool so that your earnings are more meaningful. Sure, you can invest in the stock market (I do!) but there's risk there. There's no guarantee there will be a return or that your shares will hold their value. Something like a vending machine isn't really "passive" either. You still have to stock and maintain the unit; that's work. Sure it might earn you a little money, but the first time some dipshit drug addict kicks the window in, you're now operating at a loss. Not only do you have to fix the machine but you've lost product that would have otherwise been earning potential. It's important when asking these questions to really do the math to understand what reality is. I am curious though, you said: > I’ve been researching different options But you failed to mention any of those options. What were you considering, and why?

take_care_a_ya_shooz

Thanks, I got lucky (stage 1 testicular) and am currently in remission (awaiting MRI results though for my first scan). That said, treatment/surveillance adds about $8k to my bills annually now, even more if I need to do chemo. My emergency fund is doing exactly what it needs to do, and years of contributing to an HSA even more so. I'm 37 and in tech. Been laid off 3 times, the most recent with zero warning or anticipation. I built up my emergency fund over the years in case of another layoff so that I had \*at least\* a year of runway. You're younger so your expenses are likely lower, but it is a HUGE peace of mind knowing that you can pay your bills when not working. It's not as sexy as investments, sure, but a good HYSA can give you a steady return and sense of security. Lots of rules of thumb out there, but IMO give yourself a year for an emergency fund and then take chunks out to invest as you feel comfortable. Who knows? Maybe you use that emergency fund for a house, or a business, or something like that.

Quietabandon

I would say if you have parents that are willing to back you and have a sufficiently secure financial position and are willing to bail you out, then I think you can have a smaller fund, like 3 mo vs 6 mo in a HYSA.  Also remember your parents money comes with your parents control. So are your ready to move back in with them if that is the condition?   Your parents may back you unconditionally. They may not. 

DaemonTargaryen2024

>Is an emergency fund really that necessary? 27 years old Of course? What if you lose your job? >I can quickly access \~$40K in highly liquid investments if it really comes to it What investments, specifically? What if they were to lose 30, 40, 50%? Or more if it's non-diversified. >and I am fortunate enough that my parents would have my back if needed in an actual emergency. Of course I'd pay them back in time but they would want to help me protect my investments. Respectfully: grow up. I'm not saying never use a social safety net that's available to you, but you shouldn't throw caution to the wind on the assumption that you can fall back to your parents if it fails. You need to act like an adult and learn how to make responsible decisions, manage your money appropriately, etc. Also, what if your parents *can't* take you in? What if there's another 2008 and they lose their job, house, and/or a big portion of their retirement savings, and have to downsize into a small apartment? What then? >Being pretty young still I just see it as being worth the gamble that I can pump any extra dollar I have into an investment than sitting around doing nothing or at best be in a hysa. Mathematically, obviously. But I see this as stunting your emotional maturity. That's the point of a HYSA: to do nothing, i.e. *not* lose 40% when the stock market crashes, so you can use it to survive a job loss, recession, etc. >Anyone else have any insight beyond just the generic everyone needs an emergency fund or don't count on your parents? Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

take_care_a_ya_shooz

Been laid off for a year and had to deal with cancer during that time, with a kid and a mortgage. Expensive. If my emergency fund was $40k I’d be broke by now. HYSA with proper planning saved my ass.

Lucky_Platypus341

Yes, but in some sense you already have an EF — your liquid investments and parents. But…think about it this way… If the market suddenly dropped in reaction and your liquid investments were now worth 20k, would you want to sell them if you needed to. Or, if your car needs new tires and you have NO EF, would you want to run to mommy and daddy for $1k? Would you want them to have to liquidate assets in a downturn so you don’t have to? Don’t get me wrong — it’s GREAT having parents that have your back in a REAL emergency and investments (that may be liquid but are higher risk for the higher reward, meaning should be held long term). Same way havin a higher credit limit on a CC is great for instant payment to buy time to access emergency funds. IMO parents should be more “break in case of emergency” not an for smaller “emergencies”. ;) And that’s kinda the point, too. “Emergencies” can mean any unexpected expense you hadn’t budgeted for or it can mean unemployment or something catastrophic. Some people budget for maintenance and repairs (tires, car breaking down, new roof) while others just increase their EF to cover those expenses. Honestly that’s more a bookkeeping issue since both are keeping funds in a HYSA or other safe & liquid account. IMO you want to have enough SAFE LIQUID funds in an EF to cover anything between something-you-can-put-on-your-CC-and-pay-off-in-full-by-the-time-its-due and moving-into-your-parents’-basement type emergency. Maybe that’s a lot lower amount, say 2mo expenses, than someone who doesn’t have the backup.

MainRemote

Do you have a high limit credit card (20k+) to bridge the timing gap of selling investments? Can you take the utilization hit on your credit score (knowing that new jobs/housing will check it). Do you want the risk of a market downturn to affect your emergency fund? Even bonds NAV can go down, all investments come with some risk of loss.  Do you want to have to borrow from your family? Do you want to show up to Sunday dinner feeling like your parents have something over you? Ho long would they or can they support you? What if they don’t have the same ideas of how their money should be spent as you.  I personally just have enough to cover living expenses for 6 months in a HYSA. That way I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. 

CopeHarderDweller2

You have the right idea but the only flaw is if you need money now and the market is down you will have to sell positions at a loss to get that cash. Find out what your max emergency would be and keep that accessible in a HYSA. At your age and if you don’t own anything expect a car you can get away with a 5000 emergency fund and invest the rest.

Heyhayheigh

Nooo. Not in Roth. Real, growth oriented investing is meant for Roth. VOO QQQM VUG, even mag 7 that you hold personal convictions in. SGOV is what you use instead of HYSA or CD’s. For emergency funds or large known expenses (think dental work or roof repair or large known vacation). You spend from there.

Crazy-Cat-Lad

Like I get it but just for my education.... say you make $100 in Dividends (or Interest) for the year and, just guessing, have to pay $20 on it. Aren't you up $80? I googled that phrase too. Basically I try to live by, make more money than I spend. And if I have extra money laying around, I want it to be earning me something. It seems like there are a lot of 'correct answers' on how the money should be earning you something though - stocks, HYSA, Roth, CD, bonds etc...

Heyhayheigh

You should google “dividends are not free money”. You will have slower growth in dividend plays and you will pay needless taxes in taxable account. Instead of HYSA do an auto buy for SGOV in brokerage account. Being a sole provider is more reason to invest correctly. You’re sacrificing wealth building for “feeling rewarding”, you just don’t realize it. Best of luck either way.

Crazy-Cat-Lad

Ehh its kinda rewarding and I like the idea of it (like APY on my HYSA). I am biased towards funds that provide dividends though and do have VOO on my UTMA account I set up for my son. That and VXUS I believe. Haven't bought into QQQ(M) yet but have researched a bit. Between my auto-investing deposits, including weekly into HYSA, I'm up to like $125/week. I'm more or less the sole provider for my family in expensive CT so don't want to overreach.

SubstantiallyC

I keep $20k in Fidelity Cash Management so I can just set up automatic credit card payments and automatic brokerage account investments without having to check my balance to make sure it has enough money in it before withdrawals are processed. It's worth getting a slightly lower interest rate vs the highest available HYSA for the simplicity and stress free banking a Fidelity CMA provides. I keep like $500 in a Chase checking account in case I ever need a physical bank location for some reason. I go 1-2 times a year.

imrickjamesbioch

Save $7,051.86, withdrawal $15,593.99 and deposit it into IRA or HYSA! Then wait…

Slade_Riprock

Similar situation but within 20 yrs of retirement. Have a vested pension I'm plan to work out to retirement. A small vested pension that will pay me 300 a month at retirement. 401k 6% match plus 1% free (13%) it has 125k in it. Making 100k a year. According to the planners as long as I don't get fired before retirement I'm set well there status quo. I have 125k in cash doing zero (dumb). I want to break that up into a 60k emergency fund for incase of job loss. 30k for a emergency house/car/human/cat repair fund Then 15-25k for first forey into general investing Then depending on my risk aversion the remaining 10-20k in everyday spending, bills, etc. Was thinking HYSA for each of the 60, 30. Then a Fidelity for the 15k investment with something like an Market ETF or whatever that earns a better return than savings. Thoughts all around.

Hismadnessty

Do yourself a favor and set aside those cap gains taxes now. Put them in a HYSA or $SGOV until next year. Congrats on the win 🤜💥🤛

iammowgoud

34 ETFs: Europe 27.8% North America 58.9% Asia 10.4% Emerging Markets 2.6% Other 0.4% All of that is only 1/3 of my net worth The other two thirds are 1/3 HYSA and 1/3 single stock (employer RSU)

lesteroyster

Just retired. I have 3 years expenses in an HYSA/MM - about 12% of retirement portfolio. Going to bed, good night.

Anal_Bleeds_25

I'm 41. I have ~$162k in a military TSP L2050 fund, ~$20k in a Roth IRA at Morgan Stanley, ~$318k in a Morgan Stanley 4% HYSA, and ~$86k in a 4.25% credit union CD.

Fuehnix

Depends on the interest rate you get. We got our car with 0.9% interest rate because of a sales event they had. So we just hold onto the money we would have used to buy it, keep it in a HYSA that doubles as an emergency fund, and make payments from the HYSA.

TheMallard1

My HYSA is performing better than SPY

TheoryInttro

Three months expenses in a HYSA, 3 more in a money market fund - slightly better yields than a HYSA, a little bit illiquid and not as safe as the HYSA so don't put the full emergency fund into it. If the 50k is already in index funds just add to that with the rest.

Atlantis_Island

You should be getting monthly interest payments on the money you've put in. You can see it under history in your account. The reason you don't see "unrealized" gains is because all the interest payments are realized gains that you will pay taxes on in the year you get them. There are no unrealized gains in MMFs, just like you don't have unrealized gains in a HYSA.

atoice

I wish I kept less than I do. While I have plenty in brokerages, with any of them 30-50% cash. Keep $20k min in checking and even more in HYSA. Should move into brokerage for investing 🙄

Messup7654

Only enough for fixed expenses and a buffer for fun stuff the rest goes into HYSA then investments and some spending is done with credit cards

Sick0h

HYSA is smoking my port

ryoon21

Same, my checking is extremely minimal and applies to all the things that won’t take my Amex. $500 buffer is my rule of thumb. I use Amex savings to auto-pay my Amex card on the last day it’s due to maximize interest from HYSA.

Ok-Barracuda39

How? $1,000,000 sitting in a HYSA alone nets you that 40k... Be better, king.

ski_town

1-2 months worth in checking account, 6 months in HYSA, invest remaining

__redruM

Even “holding cash” doesn’t really mean you’re in cash. SGOV or HYSA is the minimum. But yes 2.4%, 2022 and 2023 were 6-7% for the full two years. That’s still with us, and people feel inflation is worse than it really is because of that 6-7%.

Hot_Soft_5626

Compare the rate of return of the S&P over the last year which is approximately 11%. Compare that to the rate of return on a HYSA over a similar period. You’re lucky if you get 4.5%. 11% is more than double that of 4.5% and the 11% doesn’t include DRIP.

pastusodoug

Cash in HYSA feels great tbh. All these people talking about speculative commodities like it’ll matter.

whosthatguy123

Wait so you have 3-6 months of your EF in HYSA but then also have more EF in sgov?

whosthatguy123

There are long winded answers that you can find on this. But generally your 3-6 months savings isnt ever in your checking account. Its in a HYSA so that the interest can help against loss of money value from inflation. After you have your emergency fund and debt paid off (any debt with interest >5%) you can invest the rest. Very oversimplified but thats the idea for your emergency fund

Disastrous-Wonder153

I'm not who you replied to, but I use a Fidelity brokerage account like a checking account. So it's earning interest in a money market fund similar to an HYSA.

maisondemimi

2 months of bills. everything else in HYSA, invested, or in SPAXX.

Wowmuchrya

You make 5% in 2y. That's not infinite money that's worse than a HYSA.

Various_Couple_764

Many people invest for growth in index funds and then establish a 6 month emergency cash savings. After that? Some people start saving cash in HYSA, CD or just an ordinary back account and theyjus keep adding to it and occationally I see people online with between 100K and 300K in cash. and at that point they don't know or just continue to save. People have various reasons to hold cash The ammount really doesn't mater. Why maters more. For invests some want cash to jump in after a market crash some fear a long downturn and hold much more cash. But in reality if you have 100K you shouldn't be holding any more cash. Because you would be better off investing it. Some buy grwoth index funds in a taxable acount with the plan to sell that off if needed in. But in my opinion a better option is investing it ins taxable account for dividend income . 100K invested in a dividend fund can generate between 4K a year (at 4% yield. to 10K a year at 10% yield. There are a lot of good investments from 4% to 10%. You can use dividend income to slowly replace your emergency fund .You could get enough dividends per month to cover all of your living expenses which would make work optional and retiring early possible. I discovered this possibility late but was able to retire at 55 with 5K a month of income. And I hav more than enough growths in retirment accounts.

orangeyougladiator

It’s not so bad, basically just have to put half of everything you withdraw in to a HYSA and wait until tax time

Imkitoto

Between $3,500-$5,500 My HYSA is with a different bank (AMEX) than my regular checkings (Wells Fargo) and I’m too lazy to always transfer. Because it takes about two days to hit the account from the other. So I transfer once a month. One in the beginning to transfer the “left over” balance after investments, bills, etc have been taken out and all ccs paid, If I have over $4k I transfer the overage to the HYSA and then start over again.

Inevitable_Pride1925

checking at 1% Interest: 1 months expenses. HYSA: attached to checking 3 months expenses. Anything over that I move to a higher yield money market that takes 4-7 days to complete a transfer to. My plan is keep an additional 3 months in this account for a total of about 7 months expenses set aside. But I’m in the process of remodeling my house, buying furniture, and paying for some oral surgery so I keep spending faster than I can accumulate money into my money market. Once the money market is full any extra goes into a taxable brokerage. I fully fund my Roth IRA and traditional 403b before I transfer to the money market as well.

PTTCollin

It's not really the 10k checking so much as the "by default it goes into HYSA and the I invest some every month". That's like hundreds of thousands sitting in a HYSA for no reason. That said, having functionally 1 month's float in accessible cash is reasonable to me. But the way this person is describing things, I doubt they're spending 30k/month.

burn_bridges

15% in short term bonds (rotating through in 3 month cycles currently, as of Q4 25). Another 5-10% in my HYSA as emergency fund that could be deployed at premium opportunities (highly unlikely). The rest is all staying the course in VT.

Hot_Soft_5626

My investments are worth like 50% more than if I left my money in a HYSA

GailaMonster

We keep more (25k) but our HYSA gives 5% (and until recently more) so I don’t feel as bad keeping a bigger cushion. This represents 6 months of expenses, more if paired with unemployment. A layoff early in my career has me permanently skittish about having emergency money.

66NickS

$1.00 I pay everything directly from my HYSA. Which really is a couple automatic transactions and my two main credit cards.

Fubbalicious

For checking, I just keep a $1K balance as a buffer plus my monthly autodraft bill and then move money in and out from other higher yielding accounts (eg. HYSA, MMFs, brokerage) as needed. I rarely pay by check or debit and instead prefer using my credit card for better fraud protection and cashback/rewards. If I need more money in checking, I can easily move funds in and out via a mobile app. I intentionally keep a low balance as a way to maximize interest, but mainly to limit loss in case I'm a victim of fraud, such as my debit card getting swiped or a check writing scam. I also turn off overdraft protection so additional funds can't be pulled from my savings as well as leave my debit card disabled except when needed.

jiggeroni

1000 in my bills account, 500 in my daily debit account. Those are minimums. I leave enough to pay bills and spend for 2 weeks. Everything else straight to investing or HYSA.

steady_compounder

Yeah they are serving the same purpose basically. The main difference is SPAXX might give you slightly better returns than a typical HYSA right now, and SGOV has a small tax advantage since treasury interest is exempt from state tax. But functionally they are both just safe places to park cash. If your HYSA rate is competitive I would just pick whichever is simpler for you to manage and not overthink it.

p1ccard

+500 over my monthly expected cash flow, for a small buffer. The rest stays in a HYSA.

SheriffBartholomew

My checking account pays as much interest as a HYSA. There's no point in having emergency money if you can't get to it in an emergency.

guitarstitch

I keep a tiered financial system. From lowest to highest - -Checking & Cash on Hand -Immediate Savings -HYSA -ETFs

guitarstitch

Monthly bills + $50. Whatever doesn't get allocated to bills goes to investments or savings (HYSA).

Impressionist_Canary

I don’t use the balance of my checking as any relevant metric. It’s just a function of the amounts i have in to pay bills and certain small sinking funds. It could get down to $0 and that would be fine (more or less lol). The relevant long term balances are in a HYSA.

Fresh-Loan-1505

I have a separate checking account called “double bills” and it is a portion of my emergency fund that covers the mortgage, electricity, water, trash etc. Every month it gets a portion of my paycheck and replenishes it for the next month. Say you calculate it at $2k a month, it never goes below that, and at the beginning of the month it gets a $2k deposit putting it at $4k. Just gives peace of mind for me and is a small portion of my emergency fund while the rest of it sits in a HYSA. Further helps automation if the electric bill or whatever is higher one month. Works well for me 🤷‍♂️

couchisland_com

2k when single, 4k when dating/relationship mode. I have my HYSA with Ally if I need extra cash flow (car purchase/non HSA spendy stuff)

Ok-Wolverine-4223

Enough to last between paychecks in checking, then I usually have about $500 as a small cushion that is in a regular savings for quick needs. Then the rest of my cash goes into a HYSA. My goal is to have a year 6 months expenses there.

Street-Argument2090

2022 bear market would've destroyed that debt for you. I'd probably just do something like a combination of short term bonds + gold/equities/long term bonds. Minimize volatility and drawn downs. Earning better yields than a HYSA and worst case scenario during a crash or bear market I'd be down 10%-15% in 6 months.

sdbest

Curious, what would you do with 0% money? If you like, put in a HYSA for six months. Fear of what could go wrong, costs people large sums of money. The securities I purchase are all trading in North America's most profitable companies.

TheGoodBunny

Checking - like 2 months bills. Everything is on auto pay but that means for random high expenses I don't have to move money around. I check it once in a while and move surplus to HYSA. HYSA and money market has 18 months of living expenses. My industry (tech) people are going 1+ year to find new jobs so I keep a safety cushion.

nicolas_06

Yes I get it but the whole stuff about emergency fund in HYSA and not stocks in a brokerage is that when the emergency arise like you just lost your job during a crisis and the market is 50% down, it still hold its value and it still 6 months of expense and not 3. I agree that if your emergency fund is like 30K and you have 1 million invested, it's no big deal even if the 1 million become 500K to sell 30K to pay for your expenses while you are unemployed. You could as well just put it on margin and not sell anything. But it's not the same if you have just 100K invested, 80K in the 401K and 20K in the brokerage, there a crisis and the brokerage is suddenly only worth 10K.

i-amnot-a-robot-

As little as possible and my HYSA set to auto transfer

nicolas_06

I have overall an extra paycheck in checking. So if I make X per month, the amount in the checking account move between X/2 and X depending of the moment of the month. I also have 6 months of expenses (in my case 3 month of salary) in an HYSA. The remaining of my assets are in various investments account and in my old primary residence that I rent. I grow the amount of money in my HYSA to cover: * bigger emergency fund seeing current conditions and that my employer started to do layoffs 6 month ago * a down for a house. So the down itself, the cost of moving, the cost of getting a mortgage and some extra margin if the house need extra work or maintenance. So instead of putting most of my saving in investments this days, I end up putting half in investments and half to grow my down/emergency/maintenance funds.

wrstlrjpo

no checking. Keep ~5% of net worth in Cash Management account (basically HYSA)

SuitableExercise7096

Has to scroll down way to far to see this. ALWAYS keep the bulk of your funds in vehicles that make money on your money. An attached HYSA is where that is most liquid and easily transferable to the payables account (checking) Keeping the bulk in your checking is losing you money especially if you have more than a few thousand in it. 3-6 months of liquid in a HSYA, the rest in a SGOV or 4%+ APY accounts you can have access to in 2 biz days ( CD, Brokerage, EFT)

DistributionBroad173

too much. I want to take our excess cash and move to HYSA. Push back from the spouse. I then told my spouse I am using XYZ checking to pay property tax. Usually, i pay it out of my account, this time, I am paying it out of one of my spouse's.

redracer67

I keep about 2x my monthly bills in my checking (about $5k). Covers mortgage, cc bills, grocery, DCA investments etc. I keep a bit extra liquid in case I need it for something (like beefing up buying shares cause a specific etf dropped in price) or insurance renewals are coming up and I'm expecting a higher than normal CC statement. Otherwise, I keep 6 months emergency fund in my savings, HYSA which is around 4%. The rest in my brokerage account with dividends, etc auto invested.

junger128

Same. If I need to access cash it takes 2 seconds to transfer from my HYSA to checking.

junger128

$0, any cash I need is in a HYSA. I can transfer money to checking instantly, if needed.

AICHEngineer

Zero I get paid into my HYSA and I pay bills out of my HYSA at Sofi, and I keep primary emergency fund in short duration treasury ETFs in my brokerage account at Fidelity. Everything extra is invested for the long term.

SherbetOutside1850

Just enough to pay bills. Regular savings is for cash that I take out for groceries or going out and having fun. I have a money market to back up the checking. I also have a HYSA for emergencies, and then the rest in CDs for really big emergencies.

Abipolarbears

Yes. HYSA and MMF are "liquid."

albatross_the

In my business checking (self employed) I don’t go below $100k so I have liquidity for any unexpected stuff or to cover expenses while I wait to get paid I only keep about $500 in my personal checking I put the rest in investments, retirement, and then me and my wife also have like $350k cash in money market and HYSA because we’re looking to purchase a house

bobby1128

HYSA at 3.5% is solid for safety, especially if it's for a house down payment. Index funds like VOO can give higher returns but come with risk if you need the cash soon. Curious, are you leaning more toward keeping it safe for the house, or trying to grow it faster in the market?

GtaWelder9999

I had a feeling leaving surplus cash in checking wouldn’t be ideal. So I can move most of that to either HYSA or Fidelity after researching which I like more. At the worst I can use my credit cards for an immediate emergency, but I do good with those and keep them at $0 before statement closes. But yes, I do have debt from my car and owe 20k. I’ll need to focus on that before I save, gotcha. Currently reading Nick Maggiulli’s “Just Keep Buying” and paying off debt comes before saving. Will research FDLXX and SPAXX considering State tax. Very good, I’ll look into my options for the 401k and Roth. I agree and prefer to diversify but can’t complain with how well it’s been doing. Taxes taxes taxes. Makes perfect sense to avoid taxes as much as possible. Will adjust my monthly savings to max out tax advantaged accounts first. I definitely jumped the gun and started saving before paying off the car, so I’ll stop “saving” and pay that off first. If i mentioned my debt in the post I’m sure multiple comments would’ve recommended the same. Thank you for the comment. You gave me a lot to research and exactly where to look. Much appreciated, thanks 🙏 🙏

GtaWelder9999

That’s so cool to know about the Roth and 401k, very good I’ll leave them alone. So I guess I’m learning that my Fidelity and HYSA are basically the same thing. So now I’ll research which is better and transfer one to the other. Thanks for commenting 🙏

Emotional-Power-7242

Alright so actual cash in BofA can be whatever you're comfortable with. I keep one month expenses plus enough to pay off whatever I spent on credit cards last month. Whatever it needs to be so that there's no risk of you overdrafting and it doesn't get so low it makes you nervous. After that get any 401k match available to you are work, in full After that pay off all debt above like 5% interest except a mortgage. After that comes savings. You are correct that your HYSA and your Fidelity account are essentially the same thing. Keep whichever you like best. This account has an emergency fund. An emergency fund is typically 3-6 months expenses. This is so if you lose your job or get injured or whatever you have time to figure it out. This can also take care of a major appliance breaking or car repairs or whatever. It's so when the worst happens you are not forced to take on debt. If your position in life is riskier (you have kids, spouse who doesn't work, unstable job situation, etc) you may want to keep as much as a year expenses here or even more. That's personal. You can also keep money here for known upcoming expenses or purchases in the next 5 years such as cars, houses, repairs, weddings, etc. If you go with the Fidelity account SPAXX would be a good place to keep the emergency fund because it doesn't fluctuate and you can get the money immediately. SGOV is a good place to keep everything else. If you live in a state with higher income tax FDLXX is better than SPAXX because it's fully state tax exempt. After that retirement accounts. 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, etc. I do not know the specifics of your pension but will just assume it's interchangeable. Really it's ideal to max these out, and it doesn't make much sense to invest in a taxable account until these are maxed. So contribute what you can. At your age Traditional is probably more tax efficient than Roth. Invest everything in a low fee target retirement date fund, or if you don't want bonds a low fee global index fund such as VT or a VTI/VXUS combo. That T. Rowe retirement date fund has reletively high fees. If it is in an IRA where you can buy anything, find one with lower fees. You want fees around or below ~0.2% ideally. Your entire 401k is currently in a US value fund. It's not the worst thing but you want value and growth, US and international. Diversification. After that comes taxable investments. Currently you are not maxing retirement accounts so I would suggest not having taxable investments. When you invest in tax advantaged accounts you get free money. Probably 20-30% more money depending on your tax rate, for free. So why invest in taxable and take the 20-30% hit? As for what you have in these accounts, there's no need for so many funds. Just buy VT or VTI and VXUS. Retirement date funds are not great in taxable because they generate a lot of dividends.

penultimateinsight

I'm still doing way better on CS skins than my "house fund" in an HYSA. A hilarious fact. But when Valve suddenly rugged everyone with a trade up contract on gloves and knives I ended up suddenly bagholding some stuff down 50%-60%. Apparently they wiped out a couple billion in market cap of items and overall stuff is down 30% or so. Now people are afraid to buy because who knows what other nonsense they will pull like that again.

reality_hijacker

Doubling your wealth in a year is not normal. Also, you should always optimize your investments and savings based on the country you are living in. In the Netherlands, you have the option to realize your gains just before the start of the year to protect it from taxes (you cannot buy back in until after 3 months IIRC). Also, a certain portion of your investment should be high liquidity assets like bonds or HYSA.

poonjouster

$100k is excessive to hold in a HYSA imo. Buy that house ASAP or start putting more in your 401k. Gotta remember that HYSA is safe, but isn't growing relative to inflation. That money invested in VOO will likely double in 7 years. You also don't want to be paying a lot in that 22% tax bracket. That's an auto 10% hit on any income over $48k.

Pizzapimento

Index funds are not nearly as safe as a HYSA, especially since you plan to use it to buy a house. A bear market will see your portfolio dip about 20% within a year, which can be undone if you keep holding, but only if you dont NEED that money anytime soon. Index funds have a place in long term investing but it's hard to justify if you want to protect that wealth

Heyhayheigh

Learn to use SGOV instead of HYSA. Keep a super small buffer in HYSA if you want. But SGOV is a great habit to get early. Hopefully you’re using a place like Fidelity that does fractionals. Just increase your auto weekly. Maybe find an honest pro to help you. I’m surprised you can even contribute to Roth, I assume your income is high. You’re doing great!! Volatility is a feature to the weekly investor. Sell only when you have something urgent to pay for!!

Ancient-Cookie-9402

Honestly, your positioning isn’t irrational it just reflects caution in a volatile environment The real question isn’t whether the market is volatile. It’s what role that $125k in HYSA is meant to play If it’s emergency liquidity or near-term spending, 4% risk-free isn’t a bad place to park it. Stability has value If it’s long-term capital, then sitting fully in cash because of volatility becomes a timing decision and timing based on discomfort tends to be expensive over decades You’re already consistently investing weekly, which is a strong behavioral advantage. The bigger decision is whether you want that HYSA money to remain a stability anchor, or gradually transition part of it into long-term compounding One approach I’ve seen work well is tiering: Core emergency reserve (untouched) Strategic cash (deploy gradually over time) Long-term equity allocation (already in motion) That way you’re not making an all-or-nothing call in a volatile market

OxRedOx

Check expense ratios and compare the returns on these assets over the last decade to SPY/VOO/VTI on one hand and BND on the other. I personally would be a bit risk averse because I feel like be markets are overvalued but you should invest it soon in diversified ETFs (not just in VOO but also things like VT, DIA, VGK, some bond ETFs, etc) and some portion in a HYSA so you can take money out and put it in while you’re in college.

Imallvol7

I thought about selling 5 an paying off the other 5 but then I still have upkeep and repairs and vacancies and roofs and AC units and all that stuff. It really eats into your returns.  I feel like I can get more literally by just investing in the stock market or even a HYSA. 

Anxious_Cheetah5589

haha will be fascinating to see how much tax is actually collected. If I'm Dutch, I'm moving to HYSA and other risk free investments. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

ajm5006

Keep as much as you plan to put down on a down payment in HYSA or SGOV. In a separate account begin to accumulate a emergency fund (3-6 months living expensez). Once both are funded, invest excess income/savings in an index fund (VT has a good mix of domestic and foreign investments). Consider increasing your 401k contributions above the match and up to the max to alleviate tax burden. Continue maxing out your Roth.

AnotherHavanesePlz

So sell your stock before the 50k realized gains and just put into HYSA to avoid paying 36% capital gains.

Big-Top5171

I would leave $10,000 in the HYSA for emergencies. 90% in VTI until I’m 45. Then add a few bonds.

Imallvol7

I honestly have no idea. I'm going to max out my 401k and hsa at work and max out my IRA then I'm going to keep a little in VT/VTI/VXUS and honestly put quite a bit into my HYSA. Getting a 4% return feels great when I have no idea what is going on. I also want a nice cash pile to get in on whatever the next big thing may be. Trumps policies have killed so many jobs. Hospitals are closing. Schools have less funding. Research is dissapearing. From what I'm seeing the is making so many smaller towns less viable overall which makes me want to avoid them for real estate (rents decreasing).  I'm paying attention to cities that I think will continue to thrive like NYC, chicago, San Fran, la, DC, etc for potential get in low opportunities.  I really just don't know. Everything feels so backwards right now. 

username_taken1776

> Because in my experience people spend easier out of their HYSA. I don't know, someone who's been able to save $100K in their HYSA doesn't appear to have a spending problem.

Rockatansky77

I'm not criticizing but personally I don't like bonds. My Credit Union offers 3.75% HYSA and term Bank Shares. My mother has lost $50k to bonds at 88 years old. I hold a capped percentage in individual stocks that I have trimmed down.

sigga_genesis

HSA's are all basically identical except for the HYSA rate, fees, and investments available. And considering how high deductibles are and how low the contribution limit is, they are pretty shit