HYSA
BondBloxx USD High Yield Bond Sector Rotation ETF
stock NYSE ETF

They aren't that much better than HYSA, but every percent helps.

Hhahahha I appreciate the doubt. Honestly, it’s probably the biggest compliment. Anyways, I can explain that if you’ll believe me :)
Here are the deets!
I got a job as a server in a restaurant when I turned 18 that started paying around $4k+ a month a few months in. Started to put all this money in a HYSA since it was for college and a small amount of it for a Roth.
Soon, I realized that I had a lot of money coming in, and I should invest it because I’m going to have enough for college. I maxed out the Roth when I realized time in the market is #1. Later on, I realized, hey, my Roth is maxed. My money is beating inflation, but I could earn more. That’s when I put some into a Fidelity individual brokerage account. Not soon after, I put even more into it leaving just enough for an emergency fund since I knew I’d earn more. This is the 20k boost you’re talking abt.
Lastly, I realized SPAXX returns more than most HYSA’s, and since I already had Fidelity, I transferred the rest of my money into a Fidelity CMA since it can act as a bank account and returns more than an HYSA.

Open Fidelity brokerage and Roth accounts, move HYSA to brokerage and buy 50% SGOV and 50% PAAA. Max out Roth IRA for this year and every following year. After maxing out Roth account(s) (another Roth account if you're married and they have a job too), put the rest in your brokerage account. The other investments for your brokerage and Roth(s) should be something like 40% VOO, 20% SCHG, 20% SPMO, 20% AVDE.

Hello! Fed cutting rates lowers short term rates on ultra safe government debt which theoretically will impact every other debt investment and even stocks. For instance riskier debt and companies with high dividends should perform better since their yield is more attractive now (why get a company with a 5% yield when you can get 4.5% in a HYSA?) but not 5% looks better. Gold and other non yielding assets will also perform better for the same reason. Additionally lower rates means more liquidity in the system especially as the fed ends QT (quantitative tightening)

I have just started building a cash pile in a 3.75% HYSA.

Dude, you are 18. Do you need the money now or something?
What you propose looks like you are planning to retire in 5 years. Unless you need this to pay for school (in which case there are still better options) you should probably be looking at growth.
Not all of the following will apply to you at this stage of your life, but:
https://moneyguy.com/guide/foo/
- Invest enough there to capture the match in your 401k 403b and/or 457 plan
- Build a month or two of expenses in your local bank.
- Build another 6 months (or more depending on your risk tolerance, which should consider your job security, family income vs. bills, dependants counting on you, etc) for emergencies.
Many will say in a high yield savings account. I would recommend opening a brokerage account (Fidelity or similar is fine) and dumping it into VUSXX once you have the $3000 initial investment amount. It keeps a $1 price tag and pays a little better than a HYSA, and you can move money just as easily.
- Open a ROTH IRA at the same brokerage. Invest the max allowed.
- Follow the rest of the plan.
Recommended reading:
- The magic of thinking big
- The millionaire next door
- Wall Street Journal Guide to money and investing
-The Bogelheads guide to investing
There are so many more good books and resources, but these are easy to digest and will put you on a good footing.

This is too much work. If you don’t need the money for retirement, etc., just put it in HYSA and every month you get interest paid out just treat yourself to ice cream or video games, etc

If he plans on using the money in the next 5 years it should remain liquid in a HYSA or CD. If he opens a Roth then the money isn't useable until retirement (yes, he can withdraw the amount he puts in without penalty,). He's young so it depends on his goals. Opening a Roth now is great as long as he knows he shouldn't touch the money.

Yep, then that means you cannot contribute to a Roth IRA. So stick with a HYSA.

My wife has been working in a higher income job for the last year. We got in a good rythym saving and paying off debt during covid / in the year after. Once we killed that, we just got in a habit of dumping excess money in a hysa for the last 2-2.5 years. We were in a HYSA but as everyone knows the yields have been dropping. So now I opened a taxable brokerage account with vanguard and have been just dumping into the settlement fund getting the safe ~4% less ER. I am concerned about market timing on investing the full 200k up front lump sum (especially with the AI pressure which certainly feels like a bubblem. Should I slide 15k into vti bi-weekly for the next 6 months? We have no debt other than mortgage which is less than the brokerage (covid mortgage so no reason to pay off). Mid 30's. No real investing goal besides accumulation (we are really blessed and upper middle class and live below our means) for maybe near retirement niceties (lake house etc). Could see us maybe changing houses in the next 3-5 years... maybe "retire" early if we want to. So its not like I can give a goal for the money, just excess income.
Basically - looking for advice about investing a large lump sum in regards to market timing risk. What would you do?

You're going to get a lot of different funds advised to you here and in other subreddits. I'm not going to mention any specific funds because I think it takes away from the most important points. That said, here is what I would be thinking about:
In our modern economy, labor alone is not an effective means of making money. The most basic, menial tasks also pay the least because they generate the least value. Value is primarily generated through capital: both human capital (skills and experience) as well as physical capital (tools and equipment). The more capital you have, the more wealth you will generate (literally, capitalism).
Your son right now has the ability to acquire some capital. That's what that cash is, the ability to acquire capital. What capital he acquires depends on his goals. For someone as young as him, the #1 source of capital for building wealth is going to be his own human capital, and the best way to build that is education. What that education actually means is up to him - whether it's a specific trade school, the military, or higher education - but the point is that he should spend at least some of that money on building his skills and experience. That will generate more marginal value in the long run than even equities.
Now, depending on the cost of said education, your son may still have money left over - definitely certain trades can be very cheap to get started with. If he does, then he'll need to consider his risk appetite for that money. Think about all the expected expenses he has in the next 3-5 years. Equities can be a very risky endeavor, and he may need to buy a car, pay a down payment or security deposit, or even purchase a wedding ring or something similar. He will likely also want to maintain a small cash buffer in case of emergency - at his age, $2-3k is probably enough because his monthly expenses are likely extremely low. By the time he's living on his own he will want at least $10k cash on hand at all times (depending on COL I would usually recommend even more). You don't have to keep this in a checking account, I would recommend either a high-yield savings account (HYSA), money market fund (MMF), or certificates of deposit (CDs), which are all very safe and very liquid investment vehicles that will beat inflation, but won't offer that much long-term growth.
Let's say after all that, he still has some left over (or earns more, which is the more likely scenario). Now that he has a cash emergency fund, has invested in himself, and has enough cash on hand for known expenses in the next couple years, he may want to start thinking about the long term. To make it short and sweet, for long-term investing you will want to do two things: use tax advantaged vehicles as much as you can (if he's employed, he can open a Roth IRA today - 401(k) and HSA are other examples); and invest in low-cost index funds, primarily equities. There are a million great index funds out there. A Boglehead three-fund portfolio (Google has more) is kind of the gold standard. Many investors recently have done well with portfolios more heavily weighted to large-cap U.S. stocks (simply due to the nature of the last 13 years or so). Over the very long term you can afford to take on quite a bit of risk, provided you just keep on holding for 30-40+ years.

I think the only acceptable answer is that you found a better opportunity to deploy that cash. If not, why did you sell?
I say this as someone who has a decent cash position, but I’m looking to potentially diversify into real estate in the short term.
I think of myself as a bear by nature, so to counteract that, I try not to sell anything in my Roth IRA regardless if I think it is currently overvalued cause you don’t need that money right now.
I think if it’s in a brokerage account there’s more of an argument for selling and moving it into a better opportunity if you see one.
Sitting on cash doesn’t do much in the current term cause HYSA are equal to inflation so you’re really not making anything in REAL terms.

Open a Roth IRA account. Keep investing two years of contributions till April 2026. Rest can be saved in a HYSA as an emergency fund and if that’s already covered then he can get a taxable account and start investing in a mixed portfolio of growth and dividends ETFs.

Got 6 months ER
Mid 30s with toddler
Total HHI 200k living in LA
We save about 2k a month after mortgage, preschool, grocery bills etc
Thinking what to do with 2k each month since no reason to be sitting in HYSA.
Where do you invest?
If you put all that into like SPY QQQ VTI etc, how do you actually invest into like FAANG when they dip and its good time to buy?
Or out of 2k, would you invest like 1k into SPY etc and keep the rest 1k in HYSA to be able to buy stocks like FAANG when the time comes?

Where are all of you getting 3 account types?
I see 2 accounts. 1 retirement, 1 brokerage. The HYSA (high yield savings account) is a cash holding/MMF in the brokerage account, not a separate account.

HYSA is a savings account, albeit a high yield one.

Speaking for myself, I like my credit union because they aren’t milking people for fees (including ATM), have good rates (got a great refi rate on our mortgage with low loan fees even a reputable online service couldn’t beat), have local customer service (including phone), and I’m supporting local (not a big corporation), non-profit, and member-owned. No monthly maintenance fees that require a minimum balance to avoid.
For people who travel a lot, they may have a desire for a large bank with branches all over. I’ve never felt held by my CU, and their app, website, and tele services work well.
That said, I use CU for billing, cash, routine use, and safe deposit box; online HYSA for holding some EF; and brokerage for investing.

What is the mortgage interest rate, and how many years left on the loan? Is the 7 years a certainty, and a specific goal? I think the purpose of the savings is important before deciding. That 5-10 year we timeline is a tricky place.
Are you using savings to pay or overpay the mortgage? If you’re overpaying, that doesn’t sound like a 7 year plan to grow your savings. If perhaps you’re selling in 7 years, why pay more principal? Could you have that money work for you? If you’re staying, could you refinance to free up money to invest monthly for retirement? Just some things to think about.
Having an emergency fund of 3-6 versus 6-12 months expenses in HYSA is an individual choice based on where you live and how easy it is to get a new job is you lose yours. If your wages cover your monthly budget, including mortgage, and you’re investing appropriately into retirement accounts, and you have extra money each month, then you decide where the “extra” money goes based on goals. If you won’t need it for ten years, investing at least some of it in S&P index makes sense. If you cannot risk capital loss in 7 years, then no equities.

No reason to 170k in cash laying around. You are basically returning 0% if you factor in inflation even if it is in a HYSA.
\- 6 months expenses as an emergency fund in the HYSA
\- invest 15% of your paycheck for retirement
\- throw the rest at the mortgage

I always have a brick and mortar bank (doesn’t matter which one, just whichever is convenient) that I use for expenses and some not so immediate expenses. I also have SoFi HYSA and checking. It’s where I park EF (partly in SGOV with Fidelity) or other long-term goal we’re saving for.
I mean, what happens if SoFi freezes your account for one reason or other? Could be a fraudulent incident and they freeze your account while they investigate. What are you going to use for expenses or pay your bills?