HYSA

FlounderKind8267

I'm thinking of just going the easy route and doing ETFs for the first 2 years and transitioning at beneficial times to shorter term stuff like T bills. I'm not looking for some crazy high return. Just outpacing inflation and trying to do better than HYSA

TheBioethicist87

If you’re going to need the money in under 5 years, I’d say HYSA or treasuries. Tossing it in a money market account would be a good fit, but I wouldn’t put it in the market for this timeframe.

wgiarrusso22

I currently also have money in a HYSA as my emergency fund

Randomshiii4

Noobie question as well, Investing in my Roth IRA I'm doing 80% fzrox and 20% fzilx through fidelity. However my question is I have a brokerage through Robinhood that I had before my Roth and had some money in it would it be a good option to put some in VTI? The expense ratio is 0.03% so it'll get taxed in the brokerage and was just wondering if it'll be a good investment or just stick doing my Roth for now? Put some aside in a HYSA account as well for emergencies but just getting into them at 24m so still learning?

chrisstring

There is a caveat that your emergency fund should not be in the market, so stick it in an HYSA that’s yielding 3-5%. If the market tanks, you don’t want your emergency fund to evaporate too! Any extra after maxing your 401k then IRAs can go into your taxable brokerage, but buying and selling in that account can incur taxes.  Check out r/personalfinance as well they have a great wiki there with how to flow your money efficiently

NotHolyMello

No point paying off 2.75% when money market accounts/HYSA are paying 3.4%+

NotHolyMello

No point in paying off 2.75% when the money market accounts or even a HYSA are earning 3.4%+

D74248

Save it and subsequent money in a HYSA. When you have enough then go to school to get an education so that you don't have to spend your life juggling so many income sources.

GaylrdFocker

Then you should keep the money in HYSA so you can pay for your college with it.

Thin-Rub-7173

I am lucky enough to have around 280k in a Sofi HYSA right now (3.5% interest there), and then I have around 121k in Fidelity, 70k ish in an individual account I have been working on learning how to invest, the rest in roth ira, roth self-employed 401k and self employed 401k. I lost my job last year and now earn about 6k a month freelancing. That's a lot less than I used to earn. I have about 28k in my regular savings account just in case. I am very aware this is all the money I may have like ever in my life for retirement etc. I don't know if I will ever earn more. I don't own any property. I have another 200k or so coming my way this year in the summer probably. I am wondering if I am on the right track here, wondering about buying a house - when I pay less than 2k a month for a 2 bed apartment rent controlled...just really checking over my choices so far.

No-Improvement3164

Thank goodness there’s no rate cuts this year. I’m going to really need that HYSA this year

ajunioroutdoorsman

This close to expiration I personally would sell. I usually set aside expected tax liability into a HYSA and then take 40% of the remaining profit and put it into my general non-options investing accounts. The remaining 60% I reinvest into my options account.

Firme89

Where to best park $100k+? Hi everyone! Im horrible in financial literacy, so please go easy on me. For the first time in my life, I have $100k saved. It’s in a 4% APY HYSA. I don’t necessarily need immediate access. But I also wouldn’t want to wait too long in case I do need it for something. Im already maxing out my 401k with 50% employer match. Have another $22k or so in vested stocks through employer. And another $10k in emergency savings. So I feel pretty comfortable. I can save on average about $8k-$9k per month after all expenses are paid. How can I best invest my current HYSA funds? It’s only going to keep growing. I feel like Im maybe losing out on better investments. I just want to maximize my earnings. Im 37yo. In the US. I earn about $170k/yr after taxes. My objective is to park it somewhere and let it grow safely. I don’t really want to risk it too much. I don’t have any debt. TIA! Much appreciated.

quuxquxbazbarfoo

That's fine to not know it all yet, that's why the suggestion to get it invested into an S&P500 index (largest 500 publicly traded companies in the USA) while you learn more is a reasonable suggestion in my opinion. S&P500 is the benchmark that most other things are compared against to determine if they were "successful", i.e. did they beat the S&P500? When you hear about people saying so and so "beat the market", they're almost always talking about them outperforming the S&P500 specifically. So if you invest into an S&P500 index fund like VOO, FXAIX, SPY (separate S&P500 index funds managed by Vanguard, Fidelity, and Spyder repsectively) you will be matching the "market rate". Whether that is a gain or a loss is another story. Order of importance of what accounts to put money into is generally described on this sub as: 1.) 6 months of expenses in HYSA (i.e. money market fund, highly liquid) as "emergency fund" 2.) 401k contributions to meet full employer match 3.) Max an IRA 4.) Max out the 401k contribution 5.) Taxable brokerage As far as what investments to make, if you're young something like 50% S&P500 index or US total market index (like VT), 50% Global index this sub might recommend. But it depends on your risk tolerance. There are other funds that have a good chance to outperform those, but you might see -50% on a down year where S&P500 might just be down -20%. Personally I like to research companies and pick stocks, but I'm also not a professional, so I like to hedge my picking by allocating around 50% of my entire account portfolio to S&P500, then pick riskier index funds or individual stocks with the rest. I also spend all day every day focusing on it, which not everyone wants to do, so the general recommendation on this sub (this sub slants to low-risk consistent gain over time) is to stick to index funds.

Wah_Day

I was thinking, at least for the first few years, drop the monthly contribution to $1-1.2k, and put $3-500 into a HYSA for the down payment.

Icy_Relief_3911

I’m 30 years old (USA) and planning to start investing for long term. I already do around $1000 in 401K (company matches around $600), have 6 months emergency fund in HYSA, 30k in Robinhood in stocks, options and some etfs. I wish BUILD something for my long term (10 plus years outlook) - planning to start with $2000 per month in ETFs. How do this look : VOO - 30% QQQ - 25% SCHD - 20%

sea4miles_

I didn't know exactly when I was going to buy a house, but as soon as my emergency fund was established and I knew I wanted to I kept everything in an HYSA. I might have benefited slightly from having the money in a brokerage, but I wouldn't have been able to deal with the uncertainty.

therealjerseytom

There's a wide, wide range of investment blends between HYSA and being 100% equities. A brokerage doesn't have to be all stocks. It's a question of growth *potential* versus downside protection. With that said, for short time frames, like only a few years, your contribution rate is going to dominate your investment size. Like a great +10% year in stocks pales in comparison to just making the same savings contribution two years in a row, which is +100% on portfolio size. If nothing else I'd at least consider the possibility of a mix of equities, fixed interest, and maybe even alternatives as a diversifier. There are portfolio back-testing tools out there where you can play out some hypothetical scenarios of investment mixes and savings rate to see how they might fare and what sweet spot is worth it for you. In fairness being transparent, I was all stocks when I started saving/investing for a house... but that was also right around the bottom of the 2008 financial crisis and it was just a home run to swing at.

IAMG222

I’m 32, based in Oregon, and work in a family insurance business. I’m about to go back to school for consumer affairs and sociology. I’m financially stable but at a clear turning point. I earn about $30k in salary plus commissions. Last year I made around $60k total, and for 2026 I’m on track for about $80k, with upside if I keep growing the business. I’m about to receive a $45k commission check, and due to our current tax structure, I won’t owe much on it. I already have about $24k allocated to required expenses, including debts, repairs, planned purchases, a more fuel-efficient vehicle, and a monthly stipend I’ll pay myself. After that, I’ll have roughly $15k left to invest. My goal is to structure my money into three pools: an emergency fund, retirement savings, and a medium-term investment I can grow for 5–7 years and eventually use as a house down payment. I’m comfortable with moderate risk but not speculation. My current plan is to keep $7–8k in an HYSA for liquidity, then put the remainder either into my Roth IRA which is currently a money market, or into a CD ladder if I’m confident I won’t need to touch it. My Roth has about 3.5k in it right now but I havent contributed to it for about a year since I quit the job I started it at

MenuHungry3451

Ah ok! So why do ppl do HYSA? Like is there any downside to this?

theoctagonguy

Some HYSA do have more restrictions but in general yeah that is correct. Kind of a bad habit but I like moving my money around way too often lol

BarefootMarauder

I agree, and use SGOV for most of my short-term "savings". The earnings from SGOV are exempt from state & local tax because they are derived from U.S. Treasury securities. Dividends from other sources are subject to state & local income taxes, as is interest from all HYSA's.

charleswj

Everyone should be contributing to their Roth IRA every year if they have literally any cash. Literally, as in use your emergency fund if you have to. You can invest in the equivalent of an HYSA, you can withdraw anytime, and you can get your money in 2 or less days. If you make too much, you can backdoor. Contribute to a traditional IRA, immediately convert to Roth. Simple as that. Seriously. Only gotcha is if you have an existing traditional IRA with pre-tax dollars, such as from a previous employer. If so, you need to get rid of it. You can convert it and pay taxes, but that's usually stupid. You can roll it into your current employer plan if they accept rollovers. Or worst case, deliver a door dash, congrats, you're self-employed! Now open a Solo 401k, and roll it in there. There are a couple very uncommon situations where a backdoor Roth isn't ideal, but they're edge cases on edge cases.

_galaga_

Hah, I hear ya, but don't let the lingo discourage you. Things will click into place as you read and get used to things. For what it's worth, it's worth it in $$$ to learn the basics so you can put yourself in the best position possible down the road. It'll be TMI at first but the sub has a FAQ linked from the sidebar with some basic links and a link to https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/faq/ that has a lot of information in it (not all of it is required for you now by any stretch of the imagination). Then there are external links like this one from Fidelity: https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/investing-for-beginners Even something like Investing For Dummies could help with defining terms and getting less lingo-infused explanations. I saw you were wary of Schwab and I don't know what they offered you but I've been with Schwab for nearly 30 years now and they've done nothing shady with me in that time. Their support has been great, actually, but firms like Schwab and Fidelity aren't hands on advisors. They help you do what you want to do but you have to know a lil' bit first, if that makes sense. For your investment future I'd start with basic references that'll have terms and definitions. Investing for Dummies type of stuff or the FAQ type material I'm linking. There's a lot of it around. Once you know what a stock is vs bonds vs a mutual fund vs an ETF then you can start to learn about strategies which is essentially how much of each type of thing to invest in. It varies for everybody, how old they are, when they want to retire, etc. I'd also add that when you get a handle on stocks vs bonds vs mutual funds vs ETFs (which are exchange traded funds, another type of fund, forgot to define earlier) then I'd make sure to look up the Three Fund Portfolio. It's a famous strategy in part because of it's simplicity and there are tons of references online about it. For people that are just getting into investing it's a great first stop after the basics. On the r/personalfinance sub one of the big mantras is build up your emergency fund first (6-12 months of expenses depending on how quick you can get a new job) and once you have that start investing the rest. You may have that already but you'll want to maximize the interest you're getting on that money so check if it's in a high yield savings account (HYSA) or consider moving it to a brokerage account at Schwab where you can put it in their Money Market Fund (which gives you about the same interest rate as a HYSA). From there you focus on setting up the IRAs (for example like a Three Fund Portfolio with the appropriate mix of ETFs for your age and risk tolerance). Crypto I'm less educated on except if you're sitting on that much crypto you want to be sure of the tax consequences if you sell and want to use the money elsewhere. It's the "good problem to have" when you have a big gain but when it comes time to sell you want to be sure you can pay the tax bill and not get a big surprise. Generally, though, I'd imagine you can leave the crypto as your last priority for now until you get your emergency fund and IRA strategies worked out.

NateDizzles

I’m looking for advice on how to allocate my pay.I am 19 years old I currently make about $2,600/month after taxes, though recently it’s been closer to $2,900–$3,000/month depending on hours, and my expenses are extremely low at around $300/month. I already have about $32.5k in a HYSA, no debt, and my college is fully covered through scholarships, grants, and financial aid, so I don’t need to save for tuition. I’m contributing enough to my 401k to get the match, but my Roth IRA isn’t maxed yet. Given my low expenses and solid cash position, does it make sense to max out the Roth IRA as quickly as possible and then put most of the rest into a taxable brokerage (broad index funds), or is there a reason to pace contributions differently or keep adding to HYSA? Curious if anyone sees flaws in this approach or has suggestions.

HlpM3Plz

Glad it's worked out well so far! You might consider moving some percentage of the gains into total market ETFs. That way it's still growing at a decent rate (vs bonds or HYSA) and will provide some stability if your riskier investments go the other direction at some point.

Green-Survey9189

Roth can’t be used as part of the car fund. Likewise, if you cash out on a brokerage investment you have to pay capital gains taxes on that money before you even pay the sales taxes on the new car. In other words- if you want to save for a car put money into a CD or HYSA. Roth and brokerage are for retirement.

Icy-Butterscotch-206

Zero useful information in these comments. People spam tickers they’re in. People who also own the stock say “XXX” is a great pick. And OP, there’s no such thing as a “99% sure” investment. You’re taking on substantial risk with any equity investment. Lower risk options are bonds and HYSA

Quietabandon

Rainy rain day funds need to be very liquid so at least some amount is best in a HYSA. 

Elegant-Magician7322

The HYSA at my brokerage yield 3.5%. That’s where my 3-6 months savings for expenses go. I only park money at my regular bank account to pay monthly bills and expenses. Money I don’t invest, because I’m waiting for buying opportunities, go into SGOV.

thonda27

Ever heard of HYSA or MMA at a brokerage like Fidelity or Vanguard. I’m sure you have by now.

Veeg-Tard

I have a Fidelity Brokerage Account that I treat as my savings account. I can't access by ATM (as far as I know), but I can transfer funds from Fidelity to my Wells Fargo checking account and access the next day. My cash in the brokerage account automatically goes into SPAXX, but I chose to hold it in the VBIL short term treasury fund, which currently pays 3.67%. Mainly I like the convenience of having my cash immediately available to invest in the market. I used to jump around between various HYSAs, yield chasing for that extra .1%, but now I rest easy knowing that my Fidelity yield is competitive with HYSA market rates.

Far_Lifeguard_5027

I have my semi-emergency fund in SGOV. It's a treasury ETF that is yielding about 4%. Treasury funds are the safest place to put your money, and the interest rate should beat inflation. Also treasuries are mostly exempt form state taxes. If you're worrying about your savings account loosing money to inflation, you basically have two options: a money market fund at a brokerage (like the SPAXX/FDLXX money market fund offered through Fidelity), or an online high yield savings account, which will not be tax exempt. I think the money market fund is a safer choice than a HYSA. A bank can lower their interest rates at any time, but treasuries are tied to the federal interest rate.

house9

Wealth front cash account  HYSA

PTsox

yes, but even if I need to pull ~$5k from the HYSA, I would still (absent a major market catastrophe) be coming out ahead financially overall.  but a good point about the potential advantage of more time in the market by investing $25k in a brokerage account now, vs. $7k per year into a Roth; thank you. 

BigTexAbama

If you need a local brick and mortar, PNC has a 3+% HYSA. I keep a small amount there since I bank there but I keep larger amounts in digital banks. There some still at 4+. I’ve used CIT, UFB Direct, Vio, Cap One in the past, currently with OneBank and OnPath FCU.

JC_Hysteria

Both are relatively liquid. HYSA rates are similar to federal money market rates right now, but state taxes could make it so HYSA yields less right now.

Trill_Knight

Checkout Raisin for the best HYSA

CornerOne238

Capital One is offering a decent yield HYSA afaik. I prefer Fidelity CMA, but it's an option.

RumpOldSteelSkin

lol what? An HYSA is a basic bank account

Party_Shoe104

No Golden window as stocks can sell off and "crater" or spike up and "moon" at any time during the day. Many times, my order does not fill. If a stock is in a down (or up) trending channel and the order does not fill today, I may actually get a better premium 1 or 2 days later for the same expiration. Sometimes, I wait a week and end up with a great premium. I have zero problems in waiting for a better premium. Imagine a current premium yielding 5% APR and then 2-3days later yields 8% APR for the same strike & expiration. Is it worth it to wait if the technicals reveal the possibility of a better entry point? For me it is. Sometimes, I miss out due to greediness and I may end up taking a lower a premium, such as: day 1, premium is 5%. day 3, premium hits 8.5%, Day 7, premium hits 12%, and day 9 it hits 7%. I enter at 7% APR and missed several opportunities to get a better price than what I ended up with when I entered. My minimum goal is to always beat what a HYSA or what a CD would yield on an APR/APY basis. My money does not have to be tied up in some trade 24/7. So, I wait a few days and pick the spots I think are winners and will deliver that APR I am satisfied with. In 2025, I made 92 trades (86 were selling calls or puts and 5 bought calls). In selling Puts, the largest APR I made was on TEM. I sold the $43. strike (stock was at $43.72) on 1/21/25 with an expiration of 2/21/25 and collected $5.53 in premium off of $3747 of collateral. Two days later, I closed it out and kept $307. Your jaw would drop when you calculate the APR of return on that. About 40 of my trades are between 10% APR and 100% APR and about 30 are between 100% and 1000% APR. I took 1 loss on a sold call where I collected $760 in premium off of $2364 of collateral (on PLTR) with an expiration that was 66 days out. I had to pay $1448 to close it out early as I did not want to sell my shares. Since then, I've learned how to roll calls up & out if needed. I do not like to do that because you reduce your APR as you roll if the stock "takes off!"

buenotc

If you're going to recommend HYSA, you need to add the caveats for people in income tax states( which is most of the US).

DingDangandChill

Chimes gives 3.5% if you’re a +Member, and provides rotating 1.5% cashback on purchases. Robinhood pays out monthly on a 3.25% for gold members. I stopped using my big branch account. I still have it with a minimum amount. but what they wanted me to put in for a HYSA was crazy and it was only 3.6% at the time.

Engi-near

Look up a HYSA

GregorSamsanite

HYSA are giving 3-4%, and those are more directly comparable to what an online banking platform will be competing with. Brick and mortar banks can be convenient to have a nearby ATM with no fees and a physical place that you can go for less common situations, but with modern interest rates they're not a place that you want to park a lot of money.

Panthollow

Money markets, HYSA, bonds exist if I'm looking for some decent liquidity but still a small yield. I keep some money in the bank but try to run it low enough that a higher yield really wouldn't move the needle much. 

Tayler_Ayers

Fuck ass post. I hear you brother but invest in this stuff and look the other way because you’re up 25-40% YTD or go through every 10k, prospectus, trace the funding and lose a years worth of gains then blame the system because you couldn’t choose a side of two horrid options. You can always park everything in a HYSA or invest in esg companies and slightly beat a HYSA that way. Godspeed.

bank_truth

You’re already way ahead at 24 with $60k saved. That’s probably too much just sitting in cash though. When do you actually need this money? Med school soon? Keep it in the HYSA because the market could tank right when you need to pull it out. If med school is 4+ years away, then you’re losing to inflation. Standard advice is 6 months of expenses for emergencies. For you, that’s probably $10 to $15k. Figure out what you’ll need for school and when. Whatever’s left can go into the market. You’re already doing $500 per month into ETFs. You could bump that up without taking on crazy risk. Stop comparing yourself to TikTok. Most of those ""$120k at 22"" videos are fake or trust fund kids. If ur going for a HYSA, our website has comparison tools so you can see updated rates across different banks and get the best return on whatever stays in savings.

DickFitzwel

Like others said, throw $115k in a HYSA or maybe SGOV in the retirement account and then try to do it again with $5k. That way you can answer the question of it being a fluke or not and you arent risking it all. Worst case you lose the $5k and have your answer.

Heyhayheigh

Perfect. Open a self directed Fidelity account also. And put your cash in SGOV. You shouldn’t need HYSA or CD’s. I’m surprised your advisor didn’t tell you this. Fidelity is great. Not sure why you would use some unknown when you already have a proper broker.

Seen4ever

Store 80% in HYSA and then you can gamble with the rest to scratch that itch. BUT.. the 80% you’ve stored is UNTOUCHABLE. EMERGENCY ONLY.

Ramen_cat2024

I’m open to it but I had always thought there would be limits based on income for conversions for higher income? So haven’t really investigated and just put extra in HYSA for now.

steve_b

This exactly going to be my plan as well (retiring within 5 years). My whole life I've been very heavy on growth, and have weathered the big downturns in the last 30 years without blinking, so I'm not a panic selling person. The 4 or 5 year supply of cash in a HYSA that I keep topped off during the day years will do nicely. Like you point out, even with a 2008 style crash or worse, t years gives you a long time to see things return to normal. The money you lose during such a period will more than be offset by growth. The very few times this has turned bad historically result in only a small hit overall in the long run compared against the standard conservative bond strategy.

Heyhayheigh

So ally is great. I used to use them a long time ago. Money markets were weird to use. ETF’s used to be T+3 (yes I’m old), and there were trade commissions. Now with SGOV being T+1, tbill etf so no state tax on interest (you pay that in hysa depending on your state). It’s just a good habit. Ironic you use Ally, that’s who I used to use. Lol. Other banks will offer promotions for rates. So you hop from one to another. All the banks are rolling tbills, so SGOV will always just beat them long term when you factor in the bait and switches and time transferring from one bank to another. SGOV is just a better habit. And it gives you a historical performance compared to benchmark, so you know what having so much cash has actually cost you (banks don’t do this, they just let you get eaten up by inflation, oblivious). It’s fine to use HYSA it’s not that big of deal. You doing great. Fidelity taxable is easier. Fractional everything. Stocks and ETFs. Best of luck!!

TonyzTone

I meant reasoning as to why SGOV is better than HYSA. As far as ease, one isn't any easier than the other for me. I can (and do) drop money into my Ally HYSA every week. I do the same for my Fidelity IRA and Roth, where I could set up auto-buys for anything. Or, I can use my taxable Scwhab acct to do the same. So, I was really asking why it's better. I'm currently using my HYSA as a place to park for emergency funds, and small buckets of savings (vacations, etc.). I wouldn't be opposed to shifting that cash into something with better returns, but didn't consider SGOV to be better until your comment.

Heyhayheigh

Reasoning? About what part? SGOV, it’s better than HYSA. Especially if a state that taxes 1099INT Investing auto and weekly? It’s just easier. Use a place like Fidelity, that does fractionals. If your budget is 1k a month, set to $250/week. Then work to increase that weekly. That’s all investing is. Spend less than you earn, invest auto, don’t panic sell. Panic sell = selling without having an urgent expense to pay for. As long as you only sell to pay for an urgent bill. You good. After a while of doing this you realize money is super easy. Best of luck!!

Prestigious_Key2365

Thanks! For the record. Which I should have included. I put about 500 into my emergency fund in a HYSA and I leverage company match and my contribution totaling 15% towards retirement account as well.

Federal-Hearing-7270

-11%, shares, on the streaming global leader. Do yourself a favor, sell and stick to VOO or a HYSA. Pussy.

gkrulez

You could make that argument about any stock, stick to a HYSA if you think about that often.

mister____mime

I genuinely think you should take maybe 10% of that and spend time practicing with smaller plays. Stick the other 90% with the rest of your funds. Put that all in a HYSA or find a solid wealth management company.

kiseki1107

VOO and VTI overlap with VTI holding 3000+ US companies and VOO holding only 500+ companies. If you want foreign exposure outside US, then VXUS is a good one. A dividend-focused one would be like SCHD. VGIT, BND, SGOV are all like investing in fixed income/bonds/HYSA so I would put a few percentage there for a safety net. Overall, if your goals are aggressive, I’d put like 50% in either just VOO or VTI. Split the remaining 50% among foreign exposure like VXUS, dividend exposure like SCHD, and fixed-income exposure like VGIT.

Various_Couple_764

The down side is: * Your investment can loose a lot of money in a bear market. * Some pear markes last for years. * These are mostly growth funds. They produce tiny dividends. * The only way to get income from these funds is to sell shares. IF the market drops when you sell you could loose money. The first goal off a young investor to to develop: * a retirment fund (401K, IRA , Roth) and maxyout the contributions you are allowed to depoist every year. * Build a HYSA or money maker account of 6 months of cash living expenses (the money you tyicpally spending 6 months. Not your earnings. * And max your any other tax deferred investment opportunity you have such as HSA. Now typically fund like VOO and VTI are excellent choice for a retirment fund. For HSA a dividend fund may be a good choice. After that you should develops a taxable brokerage account: * You can invest more than 6 months of money in growth index funds like VOO and VTI. to supplement your cash emergancy fund. Growth index funds grow very fast potentially giving you sever years of living expenses. But you have to sell these fund income. preferably you want o only well when you can make a profit on the sail. You do not want to sell at a loss. * IFyou have a Roth IRA you have $7500 per year expense for the yearly deposit. Sao start investing hi high dividend fund for income preferably one with a low tax on the dividends you recieve.. A good choice is QQQI with a 13% yield. and you pay no tax for about 6 years on the dividends you recieve. You can build this up to cover the Roth IRA deposits. * After the roth expenses are covered start buildin up a different dividend fund to press other monthly expenses such as utility bills, insurance bills, and possibly enough to cover the monthly mortgage cost. Try to limit each dividned fund to about 50K invested. And try to make sure each fund invests your money differently. Keep this up until all regular monthly expenses are covered by passive income from dividends. Dividneds are cash profit chaser payments made directly into your brokerage account from the funds you invest in. now it will take time to build up enough dividend income to cover monthly bills but once you have it the loss of income for any reason from work would not result ins bankruptcy and loosing your home. And once your dividend income exceeds your monthly expenses you can consider retiring or reducing the number of hours you work each week.

Ill_Looking_Pot

100k into a HYSA. The rest split between 20% QQQ, 25% VTI, 15% XAR, 15% VXUS, 15% VB, 10% VAW. With this you can catch gains from materials, defense, and small caps all benefiting from the US grand strategy. Protection from downside risk with the large caps while catching their AI rise. Then you have the dry powder with the HYSA to add onto anything having a run like more commodities.

VanceIX

IMO 100K HYSA, 200K SPY, 200K QQQM and let it ride, assuming OP is young.

RealSoil3d

Stay the hell away from options, you have $500k freaking dollars, you don’t need that. If you want to chill, just put some into SPY or VOO and some into QQQ, and another huge sum into a HYSA so you can really chill

GABE_EDD

250K HYSA, 250K SPY Would probably perform better that most people are willing to admit

Historical_Low4458

Same. That's why I keep a year's salary as my emergency fund. However, it is diversified between my Roth IRA, I-Bonds, taxable brokerage, and a HYSA.

Pondlurker1978

I feel your pain, I loaded up when stock price was around $54. Yield on cost is down to 4.5%ish but still better than HYSA or Treasury. In contrast, just today the stock shot up almost 2.5% but that may also have to do with tomorrow's ex date.

poorat8686

HYSA is fucking stupid, I give them my money? So they can invest it into shitcos? And make 20% a year? And they give me a fucking tenth of that? Suck my dong. What stocks do I use as a hysa instead? Googles lookin great right now.

Nice_Scratch5525

Dude you're sitting on a fat $115k cash pile at 26 after just 4 years working? That's baller status already. With $100k in HYSA you're earning decent interest but tbh that's like 40% of your net worth in cash heavy af when you've got stocks, 401k, crypto, AND property equity. Emergency fund? 3-6 months expenses is the reddit gospel (figure your burn rate, Taguig solo probs 30-50k PHP/mo so $6-10k USD max). You're way overkill there which is smart for RE (vacancies/repairs eat cash quick). But past that? Deploy some into index funds or more property deals cash is trash long-term with inflation. I'd trim to 6 months + $20-30k opportunity fund, invest the rest. What's your monthly spend tho? Calc that first.

deadhead9mmsig

You got it right. I'm 52 now and just retired, doing what you explained. I would take a percentage, say ten percent and throw it on something you like, researched, and don't mind if it's a loser. For my funny money, I threw it in United rentals, Google, waste management. I still consider myself a rookie investor lol. But it worked for me and I don't have a boss or alarm clock to wake up to. Mortgage paid off, three 2025 trucks paid off cash. Emergency account. The emergency is in HYSA. Good luck

hellohi3

I wonder is Goldman Sachs will do the same with their Marcus HYSA.

i-love-freesias

I would buy I-bonds for two years (the max per year is $10,000) on treasurydirect.gov.  They are tied to inflation, you can’t touch them for one year, then you can redeem them and just lose 3 months interest until they are 5 years old, then there’s no penalty. You could use the difference to buy t-notes or t-bills, and/or HYSA.

0raegano

Hello! I am new to investing and am looking for advice on growing my brokerage account. Context: * I just turned 26 * I have $45,000 in my 401k, and I contribute roughly $14,000 per year to this (this is including my employer match) * I started a Roth IRA last year and maxed it out. I also have 2026 maxed out already. I would like to build on my brokerage account for more accessible funds. I have $90,000 in a HYSA earning 4% APY. This is my down payment fund (70k for down payment and 20k for an emergency fund) I use Fidelity and my brokerage account has $10k in it. This is what I currently have: * FXAIX - $4,600 * FZROX - $2,500 * NVDA - $1,300 * IDMO - $1,000 * FZILX - $700 Like I said, I am new to investing but know some basics. I really don't want to have to monitor this daily, so I'm looking for more of a set-and-forget. Thank you :)

1burritoPOprn-hunger

Fidelity for retirement accounts, Wealthfront for taxable and HYSA, Robinhood for a small 5% chunk of my portfolio so I can lose money and remind myself why I buy index funds.

zonk84

Meh, setting aside *managed* options -- The key is that your brokerage platform should be a member in good standing of SIPC and FINRA. That guarantee nothing except reporting compliance of course. Personally, I have two different platforms: Fidelity and Wealthfront. The former because they service my 401k plan - so all things considered, I chose to use them for "taxable individual investment account". I like the platform generally and everybody is no fee nowadays on pure buys. I have Wealthfront because they're my HYSA - I also have a taxable robo-ETF and more recently, I use them for my Roth IRA. I like it a lot. Regardless though, it's more "type of account". WF recently started handling fractionals, FWIW. I see zero reason to have more than 2 -- and I think 1 (assuming SIPC/FINRA) is fine. I only have the two because I don't have a choice with my 401k and I just liked the robo options with WF more than Fidelity

carbsaredangerous

Investing is for long term. Investing short-term is gambling, you can just go to a nearby casino instead, if that is the case. Put this money in a CD and/or HYSA.

IlVeroStronzo

Can you recommend any good HYSA?

RealPennyMuncher

If you’re trying to save for a house use a HYSA me and my wife opened one up and are contributing similar amount. 3-4% and NO risk which is key for your house saving.

D74248

The stock market can -- and has -- given negative returns over long periods. For example the "lost decade" 2000 to 2010. 3 years? HYSA. CDs. US Treasuries.

FortyYearOldVirgin

Step 0 is to accept you cannot have it both ways. If you want a safe return that’s guaranteed, a high yield savings account or treasury bill is the way (and even that HYSA isn’t absolute - the APY can drop at any time). If you’re willing to take risk, you can invest in an SP500 index fund or a Total Stock Market fund (VOO or VTI). That _can_ mean loss of capital - you can wind up with less than you put in and if you’re only doing it for three years, there’s a greater than zero chance that will happen.

cashRb

If you want to guarantee that you have a good chunk of money in 3 years your best bet is a high yield savings account. No one knows what the state of the market will look like in 3 years. A rule of thumb is that if you're going to absolutely need the money in 3-5 years then a HYSA is your best bet.

yes999vt

Industry standard is that you keep your savings for a down payment on a home in a HYSA especially if the time horizon for the money is 3 year. If you want to take the risk then you can invest in a S&P 500 ETF. Being invested in a single stock is very high risk for your money even if it’s in a Mega Cap tech stock. You never know what will happen.

GamerHaste

Hi everyone. I have a stock vest coming up which will be around $40k before taxes in MA. I'm 25 and single with no dependents and pay rent. I have a car with a 6.1% interest loan on it that has $20k left on it. I'm wondering if I should immediately take the proceeds from the stock vest and pay off the car? Is 6.1% APY high enough where it's worth it? I pay around $550 per month on it. I have a 6 month oh shit fund already in a HYSA and around $50k in the market (can be seen as a house down payment fund also) in SPY, URA, and gold. I'm really debating on these three options: 1. Sell all shares, pay off car loan, put the rest in SPY/URA/Gold. 2. Sell all shares, put all into SPY/URA/Gold 3. Hold company stock and hope it keeps going up (been doing good lately... up 5% on the week) Does anyone have any input? Looking for opinions I was leaning towards paying my car loan off and investing the rest and then setting up a $550 per month auto buy on SPY but I don't know if it's more worth to just put it all into the market. I'm not stressed about the loan so "peace of mind" doesn't really play a part (I have more in student (80k at 5.1%) loans already so it's not getting rid of debt for me)

Tayler_Ayers

Index and relax. This shit too long. Emergency fund in an HYSA. Have a good one

Odd_Helicopter_7545

Hard to say. 40k emergency fund in HYSA. About 10-20% in cash in my brokerage so I to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. If I find a stock I want to buy, I sell shares elsewhere to ensure I maintain cash on hand for any corrections.

chindef

You’re doing everything you need to do.  You can move your HYSA into a taxable brokerage account and buy a money market like SGOV. Slightly higher returns by 0.5% to 1% and depending on which state you live, likely does not have state income tax on it. Overall minor, but worth doing since you’ll probably always have an emergency fund just sitting there. Might as well increase returns.  Also, does your employer offer an HSA? If so, be sure to max that out and invest however much of it you can. Mine has quickly grown to $15k, plus I’ve gotten some medical things done that I otherwise wouldn’t have - which is a much better way to live. That $$ is designated for medical, so there’s no reason not to take advantage of it.  When you say IRA, are you contributing to a traditional IRA then backdooring it to Roth? If not, you should be doing this 

jimmothyhendrix

I wouldn't suggest an IRA for a young person. Cash savings in a HYSA are better.

cheddarben

When fear strikes, *that* is the time to look at your high conviction stocks. When people are gnashing their teeth and in the movie theater after someone screams fire, *that* is the time to be on the prowl. > And what if you need to withdraw money for an emergency during these conditions? For me, part of the magic of being able to take advantage of downturns is getting your shit in order when things are good. Make it easier to make moves. Good, solid, personal finance. For a young guy like you, you have time on your side. If you are DCAing in -- keep on keeping on. Consider upping your contributions a percent or two or whatever you can afford. There will be drops. You will see drops. It is very, very, very likely that you will see a lost decade in your lifetime. That is a super power for you. As to needing money for emergencies, yes, things always will come up. Anybody can get ruined any given Tuesday. You should have some liquid runway in the form of a HYSA or short term or whatever before you are looking at liquidating your regular stock investments. If you are investing in stocks before a 401k or ira or emergency fund or if you are running a balance on credit cards, you should reevaluate your personal finance basics. Re: timing the market. Rule says you will lose. I don't care what you do and I do occasionally time the market. Im an idiot, I guess. A lucky idiot maybe. Know what you are risking and live with the gambles you make. Otherwise, VTI and chill.

Deionize_Deionize

Bro you are at 75. Cash out and get an annuity, with some in hysa, Put an amount in the stock market you are comfortable with, like lets say you have 1 million now: 300k - > annuity pays around **$2,300 to $2,500+ per month** forever. Or maybe half it for a a good base line livable income. 500k -> treasury bonds/ HYSA/ liquid cash 50k. 200k -> stock market (this crashes to 100k, you are still good). 75 is too old to be worrying. Enjoy your next 20-30 years peacefully and forget about the stock market!

stupidber

HYSA up 0.01% ytd r/smolppinvesting

neo-7

Wealthfront $WLTH. I use it as my primary checking account, even tho it’s not actually a checking account. I got 30 bucks in interest last month. Used to get nothing using Chase. I don’t even need a HYSA. It’s an awesome product but I’m not familiar with their other features. They only recently started advertising too

wspnut

About a quarter of my safety net in a HYSA. The rest goes in the market.

lam-da-man

I have a part time job yeah that makes sense I think utilizing the HYSA would be a good option right now for stuff I'll need sooner I'm not gonna be touching the stuff I've already invested

SirGlass

There is nothing safe that will give you a meaningful return above a HYSA.

polychris

Get a HYSA

boringreddituserid

1. Have an emergency fund in a MM or HYSA 2. Are you buying individual stocks or index fund/ETF? The approach is different for each one. - Index fund: at your age think in terms of number of shares, not account value. If for example, we have a lost decade, similar to dot com crash, you will be buying shares for less money for 10 years and will only be 36yo. When the market recovers, and it eventually will, you will be better off than if the market had kept going up and you were buy expensive shares. - Individual stocks: you would need to evaluate each stock/company to determine if it is worth holding, selling (maybe have stop loss orders), or buying more shares. Or maybe other companies are more attractive now. But if you are buying individual stocks you should already know this, if not stick with index funds.

SirGlass

Well a CD or like a 1 year treasury would be the safest with no chance of losses Stocks probably would not meet your requirement as they could lose more then $1000 If you are ok with a little risk and maybe a 20% loss you could do something like A) corporate bond fund however I would keep it on the short term corporate bonds. However corporate bonds really do not yield much more then treasuries so IMHO the risk/reward B) just some split between some bond fund and broad index fund. Like 50% broad equities index fund and 50% short term bond fund Honestly though , for 1 year if you want to get higher returns then just saving it in a HYSA I would just buy a 1 year bond or some 9 month bond

Happy_Discussion_536

SOFI: We'll give you a great return on your HYSA. We bring banking back to the people.   ^^^^We ^^^^may ^^^^or ^^^^may ^^^^not ^^^^buy ^^^^the ^^^^shittiest ^^^^subprime ^^^^auto ^^^^loans ^^^^in ^^^^existence ^^^^with ^^^^it. ^^^^FDIC ^^^^only ^^^^covers ^^^^$250k, ^^^^beyond ^^^^that ^^^^you ^^^^are ^^^^probably ^^^^fucked.

Happy_Discussion_536

SOFI: We'll give you a decent return on your HYSA. We bring banking back to the people.   ^^^^(We may or may not buy the shittiest subprime auto loans in existence with it. FDIC only covers $250k, beyond that you are probably fucked.)