Reddit Posts
What is the best way to invest 300k without significant risks?
What should I do with the money I have and what are the next steps in my financial journey?
What should I do with the money I have and what are the next steps in my financial journey?
Experience with Private Alternative Funds and P2P?
Assuming interest rates will come down in the 2024/2025 time frame
How do I convince my wife that she is keeping too much in HYSA?
HYSA Or REIT not sure which one is the better option. Please see description below.
I have an infant and two year old and want to take the family on some sort of awesome vacation when they are old enough to appreciate it, say 7 and 9. Would creating a brokerage account for a specific ~6 year goal make sense?
What to do with $300,000 just sitting in my checking account?
I feel like I’m leaving so much money on the table. Talk some sense into me.
Choosing between a CD or HYSA to allocate 15% of investments..
Thoughts on 31yo investment portfolio - big pay raise next year and questions
Is it worth holding money or paying off an auto loan?
Short term investment/ saving options to financially support parents
Maxed Roth IRA 2024.... invest or save money held for 2025 Roth IRA?
What "asset class" has the lowest IQ investors?
Where to invest 10k leveraged from CC cash advance (5% fee)?
400K investing advice with keeping it safe as only condition
Any HYSAs that are still offering 4.5-5.5% APY other than Marcus?
I have 60K sitting in my bank account and my salary is 60K. HYSA vs ETF vs ??
Reinvesting $30k in HYSA - are T-Bills my best option?
Reinvesting $30k from HYSA - are T-Bills the best low-risk option?
Looking into CDs, but I need an explanation on if I am understanding this correctly
Can a non-guardian set up a savings/brokerage/HYSA account for minor?
Possible opportunity of a lifetime that I'd like an opinion on.
42M - Seeking Insight on My Investment Strategy
British expat living in the US. Thoughts on my investing and saving strategy
Is my retirement outlook reasonable or is this out of sight?
Starting first "real" job after graduation soon and plan on maxing my Roth IRA Contributions and enough to get my employer's 401k match yearly. I'm looking at possibly buying a house around next spring and am contemplating whether to do something safer like a HYSA or throw it in index funds/etfs.
I am afraid to stop contributing towards my investments to build 6 month emergency fund because of my portfolio manager
British expat in the UK, want to run my logic past some 3rd party people
Where should invest $125,000 as a 25 year old in 2024?
Back in 12/31/1999, I was short YHOO.......then this happened
Back in 12/31/1999, I was short YHOO.......then this happened
Where to park money for a down payment for about 1-1.5 years?
SPAXX (MMF) vs Marcus by Goldman Sachs (HYSA) Which one should I use?
Investing When Young is Always Suggested, But How Do We Know Market Will Be Strong in The Future?
Dump in large amount or slowly add into holdings?
What are your views on moving out of cash investments and into bonds, etc. at this point in time?
Investing advice for moving around 100k into ETFs
Schwab vs E-Trade vs SoFi vs Robinhood for Trading Stock
Is maxing out my Roth IRA towards the end of this year worth it?
One Year Rolling “Escrow” Investment Strategy Feedback
Max out 401k, pay off debts or keep in HYSA for down payment on a house?
How to DCA a large sum of cash? How long is too long to space it out?
If you were gifted $50,000, how would you divide it up between S&P500 and HYSA?
If you were gifted $50,000, how would you divide it up between S&P500 and HYSA?
SGOV a good place to hold cash for liquidity?
Mentions
Are you needing to use the money for something after 3 years? If so, do not do any of these. Do a money market fund, T-Bills, HYSA, or CDs.
For 3 years I wouldn't frame it as gold vs dividend stocks. One is a non-cashflow hedge and the other is still equity risk wearing an income label. If this money matters on a 3-year clock, short Treasuries/HYSA probably fit better than either.
Dividend yield does not equal return. CD/bond/HYSA does assuming you hold to maturity
Any money that you don't need in less than 5 years should be in HYSA.
I am curious, what's the interest rate in your HYSA?
Most people should just put their money in a HYSA honestly
I could have made more money just leaving my investment account in a HYSA
If you need money short term that's what treasuries and just HYSA, CDs are for guaranteed returns risk free
No one pays attention. 2025 ended up being a +15% year for me. Everyone cheered. I told everyone that it's a wash, devaluation erased those gains. They still didn't get it. But that's because they have a HYSA with 3%. I might have taken a bath, but these people got clobbered and they had no idea.
The fck is this shit. Should have put my money in HYSA
I'd dump it all in the 500 and forget it exists. But if you're afraid of the US losing dominance as a world superpower, maybe invest in the total global market. You could put 10k into the 500 and 10k into global market. Or 10k into 500, 5k into global market, 5k into a money market account or HYSA that returning *at least* 4%.
The only thing keeping me afloat is the huge cash I dumped into CDs and HYSA. Can't even look at 401k dumping 20k per day
I did not sell any investments. However my focus at the moment shifted from 'buying ETFs and stocks' to 'fattening up my HYSA'. I know everyone here always says to buy the dip. But I was around in 2008 and remember how it really was. Buying the dip wasn't possible because nobody had extra money to buy the dip. I know people that lost everything. I made it through ok, but I work in a construction/maintenance environment for places like steel mills, power plants, oil refineries, that kind of thing. I took jobs during that time frame that I'd never dream of accepting during normal times because there was no place else to go to work. Worst one of the bunch was when I drove from Ohio to Texas to take a 3 week long job at a power plant. At that time I'd been laid off for about 3 months and was ready to take anything that came up. Got that call and started driving. Also took a 6 day job in a steel mill in Gary Indiana. It sucked, and I didn't make much after considering the hotel bills I had to pay, but it was either that or find a new temporary job until the economy picked back up and there wasn't much work available.
Totally fair. With a 2–5 year “might need it” window, I’d treat this as capital preservation + optionality, not a perfect stagflation hedge. I’d bucket it: • 0–24 months: HYSA / T bills / SGOV (keep it boring) • 2–5 years: mostly short duration, with a small slice inflation sensitive only if you can tolerate volatility. Key is sizing what must be definitely available for a recast vs “nice to have.” Quick question: do you have a target amount you’d want accessible for a recast, and is that 2–5 year capital mainly for housing flexibility or investing opportunities?
Our household has good long-term investments and sometime this year we will be debt-free with a very conservative emergency fund. But it’s possible I’ll need some additional capital available in the next 5 years for alternative investments. A recast or refinance would be one of those alternatives, although it’s a 50/50 if we will be in the same house with the same jobs even 2-3 years from now. I don’t really trust the stock market within that time frame, but that’s also a long time to sit on cash, especially if changes to monetary policy affect HYSA/SGOV rates. You’re right that good diversification and rebalancing is key, but I’m not confident I will know what that looks like when the time comes.
I recommend Ally Bank. It's often recommended on /r/personalfinance. I used it for a few years and it was fine, but I didn't know much about finance back then. Now I use my brokerage account. Most of these HYSA are online only. And you need to understand that the rates will change, but it will usually match inflation.
Good feedback, thank you. I may represent another demo. Last fall I pulled a large amount of investments and paid off dept anticipating this current situation coming sooner. Paying off low interest debt, like car loans, and putting that cash previous used for debt payments into HYSA and MMA makes more sense to me until things settle down.
Hi. 30F USA. I'm looking into more short-term savings, like 3-5 years, I want to put in $100 monthly. My friend recommended me Betterment, my sister suggested a HYSA. If I'm reading this community correctly, HYSA is the safer option for shorter-term investment. I don't need crazy growth, which sounds dumb because I know more money is best. But I really just need it to keep up with inflation. The original idea I floated was pulling money each month and keeping it in my home safe (I will touch money in my bank's savings account, I won't touch money I keep locked away). My friend correctly told me that the money would lose value over time. So I'm really just needing it to *at least* keep value. I want an account I can put money in and not put any thought into. I don't want to manage this thing. I just want it to sit there until I'm ready to pull it out. The two big names I've gotten from here is Fidelity and Capitol One. It sounds like Fidelity has multiple different account types, which all flies above my head. Capitol One has a credit card with it? Which is not something I need, if that's it's big perk.
I'll be upfront with you, I've been rethinking VTIP after the latest ppi numbers don't match cpi. Had it in there because it beat the HYSA but I'm moving to VGSH/VBIL (VBIL Is close enough to SGOV with lower expense ratio because i'm in vanguard in a taxable for this) after the next dividend payout, so 2 weeks-ish. husband's in tech so his job isn't guaranteed and kid is 3 years out from college with an okay-but-not-great 529 (i didn't want to park everything in the 529 in case they didn't go to college) so job loss and college expenses could be major factors in the road ahead, and I have planned accordingly. You need to look at your 5 years ahead and see what bond fund could make sense for you or if it makes sense to have anything at all aside from an efund, for most folks it might not, aside from maybe a house fund, and then be willing to shift as factors shift :) stagflation is going to be about riding the waves, and by asking these questions and keeping your ears open, you'll be okay.
The 1970s had a higher OFFICIAL inflation than that 7% HYSA last I checked: double-digit peaks in 1974 (over 12%) and 1979–1980 (reaching 13.5%–14.5%). But not the worst suggestion as a hedge, one would assume buying long-term bonds at certain years i nthe 1970s and fixing that high interest rate was also a good choice, despite inflation being cryptonite to bonds in general.
No gold bugs ask loaded questions where “buy gold” is the “answer”. Where an HYSA actually protects from inflation, if that’s what they really wanted. > Just look at what did well in 70s And look how hard it dumped in the 80s.
Well the gold sell-off has started, so not that. You buy index funds and hold long term. Or sit in an HYSA. This isn’t rocket science.
Wow, an asset manager that underperforms the average HYSA. Sign me up!
just put it in SGOV don't both with HYSA
I think the ingredients for this stagflation vs the past really matter. We see that our allies are alienated by trump's actions and are working around us, so we know trade is going to continue around and outside the US. I feel safe enough continuing to DCA into VXUS and other broad international index funds for moderate growth. If real stagflation hits, raising rates is the only thing that is going to control it, so we're going to see better returns on CDs and HYSAs than before, which some people will move back into; CDs were huge back in early 80s stagflation years. I'm not so sure about real estate, it really depends on where and when, because high prices have been the game for so long. VTIP is where i'm parking any extra money outside the emergency fund that I'm not investing, but will need short term. It beats my HYSA for now. And then there's gold ETFs, or maybe just straight up gold if you want to take that risk in your own hands (I don't), materials ETFs, etc that might be a good buy. I have a very, very low percent of funds in gold, like literally less than 1%. I got in when it was $3000 last year.
Most cash I’ve ever had in my life Heavy on HYSA/CD’s/SGOV
This is why I hate this sub sometimes. It wrecklessly suggests strategies as if they are gospel here are some decently conservative takes. If you don't need the money for a long period of time (like 7+ years), lump sum should edge out HYSA. If you need the money then it was probably better off in a HYSA. If you don't know if you need the money soon, weekly DCA with a set amount.
Shoulda taken you’re own advice pal. Truly regarded. “You’re all better off putting your money in a HYSA than gambling it away in this psycho market but ya don’t want to hear that lol”
I thought the basic rule of thumb was NEVER EVER put all your eggs into one basket, so you cut off one thumb) and NEVER EVER do lump sums So you basically cut off both your thumbs. Take the loss and pull it back into a HYSA and do it the right way.
Just stop and breath dude. Zoom out as they say. What you're thinking about doing is very stupid and how people lose money. You're going to panic sell and buy a HYSA, maybe next week you'll see SPY have a huge week, what will you do? You'll sell your HYSA and dump it into VOO again. Rinse and repeat. Honestly that advice was pretty weird and shitty to begin with. Sell your tangible assets and dump it into the frothiest and most inflated market we've ever seen, with a fucking lunatic steering the ship, oh and a fresh new war to boot. If you don't need this money for the next 5 to 10yrs, chill out. If you'll need it in the next year, sell and go HYSA for your mental health.
Mostly selling and shoving it all into a HYSA until this shit with Iran settles down I guess
Speak for yourself. I made 0.009589% in my HYSA.
Ive been using CIT for years. Never had an issue with them. I started using them because of their HYSA. The only downside is that they are online banking only.
At 650, I'm backing up the truck. Right now, my HYSA interest is outperforming.
And yet Amex cut my rate on my HYSA today
AMEX "adjusting" the APY on my HYSA today is hilarious
A bit of context: I am an 18 yr old college student who landed my first paid internship this summer in Seattle. I will be making 9k pre-tax per month for 3 months. I know after taxes my income really becomes around like 7k. (let me know if this is wrong). I've been doing some research on how to effectively set up my income for the future but am still unsure If I am doing things correctly and would like any advice on what to change / how I should continue for the future! My first priority with my income is maxing out my Roth IRA, I made a Roth IRA with Fidelity and I believe the max contribution amount for 2026 is 7500. For three months, I decided that when I get my paycheck every month that 2500 will immediately go into my Roth IRA first and foremost. That leaves me about 4500/mo. My next priority was to start a HYSA with Wealthfront (with 3.95% APY) and for every month put $1000 into my HYSA for emergency fund / savings. However, I'm not sure if this is the best option or if there are better HYSA other than Wealthfront that would be better for me. After my Roth IRA and my HYSA, I would be left with 3500/mo. This is the part where I really am not too sure how to allocate my funds effectively. I would like to invest most of it in my Fidelity Brokerage account, into an ETF, but I know I will need money for food and general living expenses (excluding rent because I received a housing stipend for my internship). I was thinking leaving 1500/mo in my checking account as a spending buffer (or maybe descreasing this?), and then other 2k/mo into my Fidelity Brokerage account to invest, but I'm not sure if there are any hidden fees or any other better ways I can use my money. Please let me know any advice you have for me! I really appreciate your time and responses! I would also like recommmendations for what I should invest in for my Roth IRA and my Brokerage account. I know ETFs are recommended but some people say QQQ is better than SPY and vice versa and I'm not sure if in my brokerage what individual stocks I should buy. Please give me any advice you have!
Weird my Amex HYSA rate just got lowered 🤔
A stablecoin is just a digital dollar. Cuz it's backed by US treasuries. Somewhere, someone is holding some treasuries to back your instantly-transferrable value. Call it stabledoggytoken, USDC, etc. All the same. Now when clarity act gets passed we might be able to get returns for the lending of the deposits (treasuries) which could outpace a HYSA. Because banks are greedy, and the new coming digitally native entrants are willing to share more of their banking profits in order to attract more deposits. The banks hate this, because they are forced to compete after a thousand years of monopoly. What's wild is that the supreme leader of the US is on the side of crypto. I'd love 7% risk free return. Would be dope.
Hi All, I'm a 27M in NYC, earning ~$70k with no debt and keeping expenses relatively low. I bought ~$6k in Series I Bonds in Oct 2022 (current value ~$6.9k). I’d forfeit 3 months of interest if I redeem them now and would owe federal taxes. I’m trying to decide: Is it worth redeeming I Bonds now given current rates (especially if it is comparable to high interest savings account rates)? If I do redeem, how would you allocate between cash (HYSA) vs investing? Context: Savings: $16k 401k: $43k (target date fund) Roth IRA: $8.5k Taxable brokerage: $6.5k I Bonds: $6.9k No debt I may need ~$2k this year for an education-related expense, and I’m unsure whether I’ll need larger funds (school, housing, etc.) in the next 5–10 years. How would you think about balancing liquidity vs long-term investing here?
Interesting just got notified interest on my HYSA is dropping 10 basis points. What do they know?
Lulu tanking is a recession indicator 🦅🦅🦅🦅 SELL IT ALL AND PUT IT IN A HYSA
I know a guy who has like 3k in a HYSA with them. Other than that nada
The fed also ain’t cutting anytime soon with this war/inflation/high energy prices, which means lower gold. No need to hold an asset that yields 0% when a simple HYSA is 4%.
You'd rather have 100k sitting in a checking account to get 4% back with Smartly where you earn about $5/year on it? If opportunity costs matter to you, the idle 100k required for Smartly should be a major issue since you're missing out on about $3-5k/year if you sat that in a HYSA or SGOV. I'm also hard pressed to think of cards that allow 3rd party payments without a 'convenience fee' that eliminate the money back and it's better to pay without a card. I know Bilt exists for rent, but that's about it. Most people (me) are lazy and want a daily driver card, which is where the RH card is perfect.
imagine buying stocks and losing $200/day when you could put it in HYSA and make a guaranteed $200/month
Yup. I'm right there. I'll buy on dips... or crashes if that occurs. I'll use slightly more care and I don't get into speculative stuff like I did even 4 years ago. But equities are still going to do better than a HYSA over any reasonable time frame. There's ALWAYS a crisis, and if there isn't a war, wait a tick and there will be another come along. There will be dumps and neck breaking recoveries. Most of what's on this thread is just noise and parrot narration.
This might be the simplest way I've ever heard why time in the market beats timing the market. My strategy is trying to do both and I'm curious what you think. I have a regular monthly DCA that builds my portfolio across 4 etfs /domestic, international, bonds and gold. I keep my emergency savings in sgov and HYSA with my checking account a max of 2 months of expenses, minimum is 1.5 months of expenses. When I see things dip to a low, I'll first sell my losers or take the time to reallocate my portfolio and buy what is at a low. If I want to buy more, I'll pull from my emergency savings and replenish with my checking accounts savings. A good example is last year is this time last year, voo, VTI, VT, and a few others were at lows so I sold smaller funds or stocks and moved into these.
Yes MMFs are functionally similar to a HYSA. One pro is that if you already have a brokerage account, you don't need to open another HYSA. The main con is that your principal isn't liquid. You need to buy MMF shares and hold them to receive interests (in the form of dividends), and sell your shares when you need your principal back, it takes time for the cash to settle.. But as far as I know most Fidelity brokerage accounts have cash sweep feature, your uninvested cash gets swept into SPAXX to earn interests, so you can just leave your money there like in a HYSA.
I have about $40K in my local credit union savings account that I'm looking to move into a high yield savings account. I was looking at Fidelity as I've seen it recommended and that's who handles my employer's 401K program. When I search for Fidelity HYSA, I see that the have a Government Money Market Fund currently at 3.29%. I know very little about finance, would this be essentially the same as a HYSA? Are there any pros or cons of this MMF vs a typical HYSA?
It’s never advisable you invest your emergency funds. That’s no touch money other than HYSA or shorter term bonds. Not sure where you are or your financials but an advisor might suggest aiming for a minimum 1 year of savings fairly liquid. We have a few years along with our long term investments.
No I actually do.. it's just that I keep my emergency fund in SGOV instead of HYSA. Right now I have about $25k which is like enough for 1 year of expenses here... Unsure if I should pull out some more from the market and put it into sgov
Keep in mind SPY is not so diversified anymore it’s heavily weighted toward the large tech companies. I’m not saying it’s a bad investment at all but the other responders statement isn’t as accurate as it once was. SPY is the benchmark for the market and remains a solid choice. However if there is a big drawdown in tech SPY will get wrecked just not as bad as nasdaq. OP like others have said, depends on when you need the money, how aggressive you want to be, and can you stomach a downturn for say 2-3 years probably a worst case scenario. Think someone said SPY 50% then hold 50% in HYSA or Bond fund if you’re gonna need the money in 3-5 years. That’s probably a bit too conservative if you don’t need the money right away. Just going to throw out an alternative you can look at target date funds. They will diversify you better based on your target retirement age, so set it and forget it. These are low cost. All things considered these are fairly conservative as well. The pro is if there is a pull back you won’t be hit as hard to the downside. If you have other investments and this is “just cash” sitting look into a money market or HYSA. That’s where I store my cash. I think you can get about 3.75% on the low end and it’s safe from any draw down.
Cash is the king, go for HYSA or short term 3 month treasury.
You should not invest money you can't afford to lose. That should be in HYSA, treasuries or CDs.
Should’ve just parked it in a HYSA if you can’t stomach the market.
Pull that money out, and put it in a HYSA immediately. Don't listen to anyone telling you to put it in SPY or some ETF. Money that you may need within 24 months should not be invested in the stock market. Also, if you can't stomach some volatility, don't get anywhere near financial assets. No shame in it.
Tbh bro, if you just kept that 14 grand in an HYSA over those 5 years or better yet in SPY, you’d be up a pretty penny. Why not end this misery and just become disciplined and invest in some shares? In next 20 years you’ll recuperate those losses. You have to be really lucky to get back that 14k in the coming years, and before you know it you’ll be trying to dig yourself out of a deeper hole. Just ease the stress and make the smarter more secure choices. “Still never giving up” “come too far and learned too much” are indicators that you’re not thinking about things realistically. Learn to take your losses because you have no idea how “far” things can get.
I have $200K in HYSA/CD, $400K in retirement, $100K in home equity, $0 credit card debt, car loan has $5K left, $200K in company stock options, and $312 in my checking account that I can spend for the next 2 weeks. Not that much fun having $ locked up in the cloud. Maybe I should buy some gold bars for fun. No crapto tho.
Hello everyone, first post here! I recently got rid of my financial planners after finding out their expense ratios and doing a little bit more of my own research the last couple of months. I’m trying to optimize asset location between a Traditional IRA and Roth account and wanted to sanity check my thinking. Background - Early career healthcare worker - 30+ year investing horizon - Growth focused - Comfortable with volatility - No bonds currently Income - Currently in a mid federal tax bracket ($250,000 individual, $300,000 with my wife’s income) - Income likely to increase over time - Contributing 4–5% of each paycheck into a Roth 403(b) through my employer Accounts HYSA Roughly 60k (obvious rainy day fund) Traditional IRA - $125k invested (Currently in 2055 retirement fund) with $100k of it being in the limited account 403b with the listed funds below. The other $25k I can choose any funds from what fidelity offers in traditional IRA. - No future contributions planned - Investment options are Vanguard index funds (see below) Available funds include: - S&P 500 index - Mid-cap index - Small-cap index - Developed international - Emerging markets Roth (Roth 403b / Roth IRA contributions) - Ongoing contributions every paycheck - Longest time horizon -Same asset choices as traditional, currently with $10k as I just started with it. My question is really about asset location. Curious how others here would structure the assets if you had: - ~$125k already in a Traditional IRA 403 - ongoing Roth contributions - 30+ year horizon -Planned pension at retirement After this we can talk about the roughly $30k in a taxable brokerage. Options for the $100k 403b traditional and Roth **Large Cap • American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund R6 • Vanguard Growth Index Institutional • Vanguard Institutional Index Mid Cap • JPMorgan Mid Cap Growth R6 • MFS Mid Cap Value R6 • Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Institutional Small Cap • Allspring (AS) Small Company Value Institutional • DFA Small Cap Growth Institutional • Vanguard Small-Cap Index Institutional International • Harbor International Core Fund Retirement Specialty • Principal Real Estate Securities Institutional Blended • American Funds Balanced R6 Bonds / Stable Value • MetLife Stable Value • BlackRock High Yield Institutional • Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Admiral • Vanguard Intermediate Bond Institutional • Vanguard Total International Bond Index Admiral**
very boring having my money in HYSA rn i shoulda had it in metals at least or something
She getting in shape for HYSA chad
Start by saving it in a HYSA. When you have 20k+ in there, then you can start investing.
There is everything wrong with being cash. You are losing to inflation every day you hold cash. Not even a HYSA can save you.
Core PCE is 3% 5 years later. PPI is 3.6%. Inflation has arrived and already here. My personal thesis has always been continuous 3-4% inflation not hyperinflation. Most Americans are in checking accounts and are getting crushed there. After taxes and inflation competitive HYSA at 3.3% is actively getting poorer. 30Y is barely moving forward in 30 years if at all. IMO debt and cash when the printing press is on is a gamble on a truly catastrophic black swan. Not a serious investment.
Yep doing the same tomorrow, got fucked by earnings. When will I learn. Oh well, back to small DCA and a HYSA for me
Don't roll the whole CD back into another one. Rates are likely heading lower. Split it: keep 3-6 months of expenses in a HYSA or short-term treasuries, invest the rest into your brokerage gradually if you're nervous about timing. At 56 you still have a 10+ year runway. That money needs to grow, not just sit. Keep maxing the Roth too.
Dude😅 congrats. Please take 95% of it to a HYSA. Try to flip $500 into another couple stacks as some have said. I'd wait a week or two to see where the iran war goes before investing in any indexes as we are seeing way too much volatility. Good luck!!!!!
you're not as late as you think. \~$321K at 56 with 10+ years left is a solid foundation. On that $103K CD: Emergency fund first: Keep 6-12 months expenses in HYSA (4-5%). If that's $30-40K, do it. Peace of mind matters. CD ladder $20-25K: Split across 6-18 month CDs. Rates are still decent and you'll maintain liquidity. Invest the rest (\~$40-50K): Max your 2026 Roth IRA ($8K with catch-up) in a balanced fund. Put $20-30K in brokerage (VTI/VXUS, nothing fancy). Consider upping 403b contributions if you get a match. Delaying Social Security to 70 gives you an 8% guaranteed return per year. That's your best inflation hedge. You're not behind. You're just getting started. Good luck.
We dont really know what the fed will do to interest rates but they may lower the rates. Buying a CD would be good if the rates do fall soon (depends on when your CD matures). On the flip side the fed might just keep the rates as is in which case putting in a decent HYSA would probably be just as good. I'd probably split most of that into relatively short tbills and HYSA(or money market) until we see what the rates are doing because I don't like having my cash tied up in CDs for a long time. But that's just me everyone is different.
Seems slightly more complicated than necessary, but we all do things differently. I keep transactional cash in FDLXX at Fidelity (to avoid state tax). Cash reserve on top of that is in USFR, slightly higher yield but not as liquid, also state tax-exempt). Full disclosure, there's a few $k in a Capital One HYSA as well, just for flexibility and physical cash transactions. Current yield is 3.3%. CDs are taxable at the state level and typically have liquidity restrictions, so they are not appealing to me.
If it were me, I’d probably split it rather than make one big move. Having some of it in a HYSA or short CD for peace of mind and emergencies, and slowly moving the rest into the market over time. At 56 the balance between growth and sleep at night matters a lot. Also worth thinking about how much cash you actually want sitting safe vs invested long term. A lot of people underestimate how helpful it is mentally to know you’ve got a solid cash buffer.
splitting it, some into a HYSA for peace of mind and the rest into a low cost index fund, is honestly the move most people your age wish they'd done sooner.
Yeah OP needs to put as much as he can afford into a 401k and then let his wife control the rest of it in a HYSA and a checking account.
You might want to look into SGOV etf which has a slightly higher yield and you don’t have to pay state taxes on the return. A lot of people use it instead of an HYSA. The only issue is that you can only get your money out when the market is open.
I think a lot of people don't realize if they hold cash but Fed keeps printing and pushing new dollars into circulation, but oil goes up, price of everything keeps rising, that just means they got relatively speaking poorer. It's more severe for cash in checking accounts near 0% yield but even in a competitive HYSA like 3.3% with taxes it's going to be true.
If you look back at every dip of 10% or more, there is generally a dip of 2-5% right before it, with a rebound within 72 hours and then a the massive dip hits. This is often the reactionary trend of retail investors "buying the dip". So, in my opinion this bounce back could just be that effect in play and we might see more sell offs from the big brokerage houses in the coming week or two if geopolitical issues remain unresolved. It's all speculative though. Personally, I liquidated about 45% of my portfolio when markets were at all time highs and am just holding it as cash in my HYSA at 4%. I'm fine with the 4% for now with the volitility where it is in the market. If I miss a few basis points I'm not going to sweat it, but I don't see the market making any big headway in the near future. I see things as flattening out at best. I'd rather be sitting on the huge cash pile to make a move if the markets trend the way I expect them to in the coming months.
12 months is pretty agressive! Frankly I have about 60 days of float between checking/savings max at any given time, everything else is invested on some level, several buckets and well diversified. job status and other investments certainly factor in, but keeping 12 months in cash or HYSA is likely overkill by a factor of 3.
Good point about just leaving it alone, that's key. I've found setting up auto-investments \*out\* of my HYSA helps me not touch it, psychologically. Do you find the same?
FDRXXX is a fidelity money market fund. They are basically the same as HYSA in a bank. Similar yields and FDIC insured. Most brokerages have at least one to choose from Fidelity has 3. Whenever you makeacash deposit into the brokerage account the money goes into the money market account. And when you sell stock or receive a dividend the money goes into the money market account. Realistically you want about 6 months of living expenses saved up in the money market account. Anything more than 6 months of living expense should be invested in either grwoth index fund or dividend fund. Since this is likely a taxable account I would recomend you use a dividend ETF for any money in excess of 6 months of case. QQQI is a good choice much higher yield than money market funds, and aid is tax efficient. unlike the money market never withdrawal money from QQQI. Every month QQQI pays a 13% cash dividend which you can reinvest in QQQI or have it do into the money market account. You can use the cash from QQQI dividend to: Rebuild the cash account after a withdrawal. Use the dividend to cover your yearly Roth deposits. Ore us the dividends for regal monthly bills. In essence you are using QQQI as a money generator and the money market account as a battery The generator keeps the battery full. you can build up the funds in QQQI over time and eventually get 2K a month or more of income from it. Eventually it could allow you to retire before age 60 when when most retirment accounts become available for withdrawals.
FDRXX and a HYSA are both solid for an emergency fund, the main differences come down to yield and FDIC coverage. FDRXX is a government money market fund so it holds treasuries and agency debt, no FDIC but very low credit risk. A good HYSA gives you FDIC up to $250k and sometimes a comparable rate depending on the bank. For most people the practical choice is whichever one you'll actually leave alone. If it's already at Fidelity and you use Fidelity for everything else, FDRXX being one click away is genuinely convenient. If you're the type to accidentally sweep it into something, a separate HYSA adds a bit of friction that can work in your favor.
the most important questions to ask your advisor at a year-end review: 1) what is my all-in cost including management fees, fund expense ratios, and any transaction costs. most people only know the headline fee and miss another 0.3-0.5% in embedded costs. 2) what was my actual return versus my benchmark after fees. if they are underperforming a simple 3-fund portfolio by more than their fee, they need to justify why. 3) what is my current tax-loss harvesting strategy and did we capture any losses this year. 4) what changes are you recommending for next year and why. if the answer is "stay the course" thats often the right answer but make sure they can explain their reasoning. 5) are there any better options for my cash allocation given current HYSA and T-bill rates.
Hmm. If the SHFT for real, the high yield corporate bonds won't actually be cash equivalent and won't actually hedge for shit. Is it just me, or is increasing the HYSA starting to look good for the short term?
While no two historical events are ever exactly the same, I think history provides the best answer to questions like this. As you know, the primary risk of holding risk-assets close to the time those assets are needed is a drop in their value. If forced to sell, the loss may be irrecoverable. Since 1945, following a market crash or bear market period, it has taken the U.S. stock market 2 to 7 years to recover from every crash. Hence, any investment period in U.S. stocks shorter than 7 carries some risk being forced to sell at a loss, and any investment period less than 2 years carries a high risk of a loss. Since the future is unknowable, it's a personal judgement call of how long to remain invested in U.S. stocks with an investment horizon less that 7 years. Depending on your risk tolerance, I would consider reallocating equity holdings into non-risk assets (e.g. CDs, U.S. Treasuries, investment-grade corporate and municipal bonds, precious metals, HYSA) as the need for each year of educational expenses falls within a 5-year to 7-year period. I would gradually reallocate from risk to non-risk assets based on the upcoming expenses for each year, in lieu of reallocating based on a percentage of the 529 assets.
2 years? Just keep it in a HYSA.
Why bonds over money market, CDs, or HYSA?
I'm 60 and have this mindset. The issue is that life has many twist and turns that knocks you down and half to adjust. Most businesses fail. No it is not popular thought but does happen. Many starting to invest do not know about [dot.com](http://dot.com) bust or 2008 financial disaster. Unfortunately, in each family someone has to worry about money. Why, because society is set up that way. Well I got over the stress by building a large emergency fund like $100,000 in a HYSA. This takes the edge off investing because you have a back drop. I gave up short term investing for medium to long term investing. Do I look at the market every day. Yes. but look at my charts at night a make trades long term in nature and not short term.
Probably max 401K and HSA first if reasonable. But personally I'd keep 2-3 months of salary in the hysa, and have the rest of my Emergency salary/house/car Funds to brokerage, maybe split into something like salary in Money Market, house in SGOV, and car in BNDS. As long as you have a few months salary that is easy to access, your credit cards, HELOC, et al can cover you for the ten days it might take to get to the rest of your emergency money out of brokerage. I wouldn't call it optimal, but it's a good intro to how taxes and everything are different in brokerage, and now you have a platform ready for after you've maxed all your tax-advantaged accounts. Taxable brokerage is where I tend to have "smaller" or more focused indexed ETFs, if that makes sense. If everything was available to all my accounts, I might have the most fund index like VT (with maybe some bonds) in 401k for simplicity, then in ROTH IRA would be VOO (with less/no bonds) since I want the most tax-free growth possible there, but then in brokerage, instead of VT I'll use smaller ETFs like VTI + VXUS (which together they are very similar to VT). That way i can benefit from the foreign tax credit in the brokerage, and I have more flexibility for re balancing as needed over all of my accounts. And bonds will go heavier into which ever account has a compelling tax reason. E.g. if I have a high state tax, some bonds might make more sense in brokerage, but otherwise I'll probably have more bonds in the 401K. Be careful of having the same funds (or funds that are practically identical) in brokerage that you have in other accounts. If you ever get to the point of tax-loss harvesting in your brokerage, you can't use that if you have the same or similar-enough funds in your tax-advantaged accounts. I'd lump sum from HYSA Have a plan for retirement, and then ignore dips until you are close to retirement (or have a plan that includes buying more during dips to benefit from the discount, but I'm not smart enough to time the market like that). Your plan should include the possibility of a crash during retirement. If you aren't actively spending money from your accounts as income-replacement, such as you would during retirement, then downturns mean little (unless we finally have The Downturn That Never Upturns Again, in which case, have extra ammo and water, since your accounts probably won't matter) You plan should cover all your accounts. If you want 10% bonds now and 50% bonds closer to retirement, that would apply to all your investments. Your accounts don't have to have the same distributions ides each one. Remember that only ROTH dollars are showing you your real invested dollars. E.g. a good portion of that money in your 401K belongs to the government, so subtract 22% if you want to know how much money you have in there (or subtract whatever your tax bracket will be in retirement, which we unfortunately can't know). For brokerage, it's more complicated.
From an investing standpoint no investment is guaranteed to grow 100% besides maybe a HYSA at 3.5%. As far as realistically from a history standpoint things like the s&p500 has historically shown to average 8-10% a year. It is not guaranteed but that is the average. It isn’t necessarily safe but also is way safer than investing in single stocks
Well as of right now a HYSA would have outperformed the S&P.
PNC has a dividend yield that is nearly as good as a HYSA
Thanks for the feedback. I think my love of gold comes from growing up in a family where my wealthy relatives treated gold like the ultimate safe haven. The amount of money I've made from my gold investments over the past 6 months has only reinforced that bias. Currently my cash is in a HYSA and some CDs, but I plan to distribute it more into the market over the coming months.