HYSA
BondBloxx High Yield Income ETF
stockNYSEETF

That’s awesome. You’re well on your way to financial security just simply because you are asking the tight questions, show evidence of saving, and are early in your wealth building journey. I’d say then figuring out where, what, and when for housing will define well what to do with your money over the next several years. Ben Felix also goes into a lot about renting vs buying. But if buying a house, think about things like down payment and maximizing credit score for mortgage. If house timeline is within 3-5 years, many people park cash in short term treasuries/instruments like SGOV. HYSA is also ok but likely slightly lower returns. If timeline is longer in the 5-10 year range, many would consider investing in equities or, at current rates, bonds/long treasuries depending on your risk profile.

Great. Now put $101,105.61 in a HYSA and repeat with the next $700. Don't be a degen and give it all back.

Thanks, this is a really helpful way to look at it. My expenses are pretty low and I have income coming in, so $35k is probably more than I need as an emergency fund. I'll keep enough in the HYSA for emergencies and a possible house down payment after graduation, and invest the rest gradually since I won't need it for 10+ years. Appreciate you breaking it down!

Your HYSA is here for several reasons. One reason is as an emergency fund. What if you get severely ill and stay in the hospital a few months ? What if you get laid off and take 6 months to find a new job ? What if you car get totaled ? What if you have a big problem with your roof and need to change it ? Another reason is any project/need you project in the short/medium term (say less than 5 years). Like a down for house or home improvement (a new kitchen, a new HVAC) or a new car. Your kid going to university next year. You wanting to create a business in 2 years. The next vacations. This kind of stuff. So assuming you are comfortable here, you can put in the stock market the money you won't need before 10-20 years (and should reduce exposure when you'll start needing in less than 5-10 years). So depending of your situation, your life style, and your path in life maybe 35K is a lot for an emergency fund because you only spend say 3K a month, and 6 months of expenses + 5K for a down for a new car is only 23K. Or maybe your family spend more like 10K a months and you have an expensive home that need regular maintenance and honestly you would need more like 80K in that HYSA...

That’s a fair point. I don’t have any high-interest debt, and thankfully I barely have any bills thanks to my parents. I’m also currently in college, so my expenses are relatively low. I already have a separate stock portfolio and retirement investments. I’m mainly trying to figure out whether keeping the entire $35k in a HYSA is too conservative or whether I should gradually move some of that cash into the market while keeping a solid emergency fund.

I will be okay with drops since I will be treating this brokerage account as another means of long term investing. I actually have a decent amount of cash in my HYSA to cover for a potential car in the near future.

First find out your monthly expenses for a year. Divide it in half and save that amount to a HYSA. I use Ally but you can choose anything. If you’re working contribute to a 401k upto company match. Open a ROTH IRA and try to contribute monthly with the goal of maxing it out every year. If you still have money left go back and contribute to 401k. Open a health savings account and invest that money also. If doing all that and you still have extra money open a regular brokerage account and contribute. I will recommend setting your investing on automatic in a low cost index fund such as VTI or VOO.

Kids 529, get a new roof, put some away in HYSA, put rest into the market. Pretty mundane for me

If you are going to spend the money within the next four years it shouldn't be invested in a stock market index fund. You should use a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) or a money market fund or short term US Treasury ETF for safety and liquidity. S&P 500 index funds dropped -18% in 2022. You wouldn't want to invest in an index fund and then have that happen the year before you wanted to spend the money.

A good habit to get into when investing "extra" cash is to ask yourself if you will be okay if that $20k drops to $10k over the next 1-2 years. No growth, just losses. Could you still afford the needed vehicle, pay your bills, etc.? If so, you're probably in good shape to invest and forget. If the $20k is actually required for the new car, I'd recommend just keeping it in HYSA, SGOV, etc. There's no need to squeeze every nickel out of short-term cash.

I get what you’re saying, usually disciplined investors will allocate a percentage to a certain position, I myself hold a nice position in SCHD and selling a percentage after a huge run feels fine to me. I have seen the AI trade loose steam for some time now, sold and made money on the likes of Intel and Lam research, still holding tech though and not selling. For me any extra cash is going to CDs and HYSA not SCHD. Every investor has different goals, I’m retired so probably I have a different mindset.

Hello everyone! I wanted some advice on my investments for my ROTH, brokerage and my HYSA. Currently I am on the Fidelity platform for my ROTH and brokerage. My ROTH is 65% VXUS, 20% VTI and 15% QQQM. And my brokerage is 60% VXUS and 40% VTI. I plan on removing the QQQM investments going forward and to put it back into the main investments. I also am considering FZROX and FZILX instead of VTI and VXUS. But for my brokerage I plan to continue VTI and VXUS. Let me know about any advice to consider for these two. My HYSA is with Citizens but I want to change it for one with a better APY, and would love suggestions! Thank you any and all advice is appreciated!

Don't know why the mods deleted your reply OP, but ... Oh yeah. The money I moved into investing had gained about $10,600 (on paper of course). If I'd have kept it in cash in my HYSA, maybe it would have earned $4,000 in interest. And I'm just getting started.

you're still making 6% a year from HYSA and money market? which banks? or did I misunderstand you

I live in the EU, I'm 33 years old, and I have managed to save around 22K Euros. At the moment, this amount is sitting in my Revolut Savings account, earning 1,25% interest, which is not perfect. I just opened a Trading212 account, and I have the following questions: 1. I plan to invest mainly in the long term. I found the following options: 100% VWCE, 100% WEBN, and 3) 90% WEBN/ 10% AVWS. Which one is the best? I find the last option a good one, but I don't know if there is a better one. 2. The plan is to buy a house in the next 5 years with my wife. Are there any short-term bonds I can put this money into, or should I just leave it in a HYSA? 3. Trading212 offers a 2.5% interest rate. Is it safe to move my emergency fund there? 4. Out of the 22K I have saved, how much should I invest? I will keep, of course, approximately 7-8K as an emergency fund, and I want to invest the rest and keep it for the house. Thanks in advance for your help.

Just to share experience, I keep portions of our EF in a HYSA, bank branch near our home, and some cash in hand.

Appreciate it I’m ahead of it that moneys getting parked in my HYSA I used the 800 to buy some longs and called it good for the year I’ll keep putting money in the buy and hold

That’s exactly what I have About half is HYSA/money market. Earns about $125/week. Thought I was an idiot until last week

How about a diversified portfolio? 7%-10% avg growth over 30 years is a guaranteed retirement. People are obsessed with chasing alpha and most of them end up worse off for it. They lose big, they develop loss aversion tendencies and they keep their money in a HYSA or CDs and then wonder why they don’t have enough to retire on. Value stocks are good, growth stocks are good. Putting all your eggs in one basket is a nightmare if you got the wrong basket or can’t stomach the volatility. Good luck champ.

Yes. It's good. It's basically everything you could want in an online HYSA.

Nothing wrong with Robinhood or Having multiple brokers. Put every dime you can into your 401k (or whatever equivalent your country has). Keep saving in low cost index funds. Have some emergency funds in an HYSA or short term treasury bills. No I bonds yet. You need growth and shorter term mix now not long term bonds.

First of all, One America doesn't offer IUL (Indexed Universal Life) policies. If you got either Whole Life or Variable Universal Life (VUL), which they offer, it might not be entirely bad considering your age and the premium you are paying. You most likely got approved Preferred and since you are young, that saved you some money. Over the long run, the cash value should exceed total premiums paid. However, that can't be compared to what stock market can generate. If you compare with bonds or HYSA, it might be comparable. You already have good 401k setup at 6% with match, you are saving 12% of your salary for retirement starting this age so compounded you should be golden at retirement if you keep that up. I would recommend you starting a Roth IRA or convert part of your 401k to Roth 401k if your company allows it. I don't know what kind of policy your friend sold you. If it is cash value heavy then it's not a bad policy to start with. On contrary to lot of folks in this thread, I would like to tell you that this policy might do you more good than bad on the long run. Yes, he made nice commission on this policy, so would anyone else. People have no idea, all insurance agents: auto, home, health make shit ton of commission on our premium payments. In conclusion, if you signed up for 20-year pay insurance, you did good. You will pay for 20 years but you will be covered for as long as you live. Think about trying to get term life insurance at 50 with health conditions, you would pay more than what you pay now on just 15-year term at that age. I know everyone tells you if you invest the same amount of money in S&P 500, you would make gazillion dollars by retirement but I can tell you this; most of us don't do that. We spend it on niceties or upgrading our lifestyle. You have set aside money in two buckets: 401k and Cash Value life insurance. At some point if you haven't already will start another investment account. You would have done better than most of us in the United States. My two cents.

Hi everyone, I’m 21 and recently started taking my retirement and long-term finances more seriously. Here’s where I stand: * **HYSA:** I’ve built up a solid cash balance. * **Roth IRA (Fidelity):** Maxed out for the year at $7.5k, invested 80% VTI / 20% FZILX. * **Employment:** Currently unemployed, so no 401(k) yet. I know I should prioritize one once I have access to it. **My question:** I have extra cash laying around. The easy option is to keep adding to the HYSA, but I think investing it in a regular taxable brokerage account makes more sense. Since my Roth IRA already holds VTI and FZILX, I was thinking of a 80% VTI + 20% VXUS split in the taxable account. Does this plan make sense? Any advice or things I’m overlooking would be appreciated.

Can you take the money out of your HYSA and put it in your checking account? Change the method and stop fighting it.

Nope, not interested in a CFA nor qualified. What I've been doing is working well for me so far. It is not anything I would recommend to others though. I'd have to default to something very conservative and responsible, like "put it all in an appropriate TDF and a good portion in a HYSA". Incidentally, I do just that with most of my net worth. I'm only actively trading with \~220K, so I've already got the boring, safe stuff covered. Truth be told, I'm making wayyy more on my trading account though - again, said with a strongly emphasized "so far". I don't have any delusions, and the winds of fortune can turn against you at any time, sometimes violently.