Let talk $$$

[pkrfctr]

Lets talk about money. What does everyone prefer to do with their liquid and semi-liquid funds? high yield savings, CD's, which banks do you like? Anyone using Ally, Aspiration, etc.... Where are you seeing the best saving rates?
While we're at it we might as well talk long term non-liquid funds too.

 

[Homefryy]

I am currently saving for a house down payment and have been putting all that money in an Ally savings account that has a 2% interest rate which is pretty nice. I have heard their customer service is good although I have never had to use it (the best customer service is the one you never need). I like how easy it is to open multiple savings accounts if you want to easily separate money that is set aside for different purposes.

I am young and have lots of student loans to pay between my wife and I so the only non-liquid funds are just what I have in my 401k.

 

[Noahfecks]

Please tell me what you define as short and long term?

Do you want 100% security or are you willing to take risk?

 

[pkrfctr]

Please tell me what you define as short and long term?

Do you want 100% security or are you willing to take risk?

Didn't really mention short vs long term as much as liquid vs non-liquid. Although it isn't a stretch to say liquid = short term. For me I'd say short term is probably 12 months or so.
As far as risk, I'm a business owner with almost everything I have sunk into my current venture so I'm not exactly risk adverse . However for this discussion I was more thinking low risk, easy access savings/emergency type funds.

 

[Gawynz]

I've set aside an emergency fund in the form of a online savings account with MySavingsDirect.com, my experience with them has been great. APY tends to fluctuate throughout the years but it by far outperforms my Wells Fargo accounts. Currently My Savings Direct APY = 2.4%.

 

[JL Rockies]

I invest in people

 

[Cody]

I invest in myself

 

[jeeper]

I really like money. A lot. It makes me happy. I don't make a lot of it, but with careful management I live an decent life.
I am also self employed, so money and jobs are not consistent.
We keep it pretty simple.
For short term, keep a stash in a credit union account for emergencies, car trouble, groceries in time of income shortage, etc.
For long term, find a trusted investment adviser and give them my money to do their magic. Being a professional in a field is something to give value to, and is worth paying for at times. The amount of time and effort it takes to study, lean about, check up on, manage, and change between investments is well outside of my ability.

 

[spaggyroe]

For me, liquid funds = monthly living expenses, as well as emergency funds. Living expenses are in a normal checking account earning hardly anything. Emergency funds are in a money market account earning barely more than that, but it is pretty accessible if needed (which is the point). For years now, I haven't really seen any great options to park short term investments, so I keep those buckets to a minimum. I've paid down debt which I feel has been a better option. I chuckle a little at the term "high yield savings", as really only the very best savings account options that are currently available meet or beat the inflation rate.

For long term investments, I'm an index fund guy (at least at this point in my life).

 

[bryson]

I invest in people

How many do you currently own?

 

[glockman]

I have my emergency fund in an Ally savings account. I think I'm earning 2.5% right now. Not great but way better than >1% in a CU or standard savings account. I can transfer it to my credit union checking account in under a week so it's pretty liquid.

I like this account because it is easy for me to hide money from myself there.

 

[Caleb]

I'm similar to @glockman and use Ally too. Great rates and very easy access to my money when needed. You can get a debit card through them too so if you need immediate access to your money for some reason, you can transfer from the high interest savings account to checking immediately. Or, as mentioned, very easily (and all online) transfer to your local bank/cu.

 

[Noahfecks]

Brokered CD's will pay higher interest but in the current interest rate environment you could take a bath if you needed liquidity before the maturity. Unlike traditional bank CD's, brokered CD's have a risk of loss. if you have to sell one of these off before maturity you are going to get what someone is willing to pay you for it in a commodities market, meaning if interest rates have risen since you bought in you are going to sell at a discount to your cost basis. of course the inverse is true if interest rates fall, you could sell for a profit. i repeat, you could take a major loss if you have to sell ahead of a maturity.
I would buy different maturities at the beginning setting yourself up so that a good portion of yours funds are maturing every 3 months so you are never too far out from a liquidity event.

 

[pkrfctr]

Brokered CD's will pay higher interest but in the current interest rate environment you could take a bath if you needed liquidity before the maturity. Unlike traditional bank CD's, brokered CD's have a risk of loss. if you have to sell one of these off before maturity you are going to get what someone is willing to pay you for it in a commodities market, meaning if interest rates have risen since you bought in you are going to sell at a discount to your cost basis. of course the inverse is true if interest rates fall, you could sell for a profit. i repeat, you could take a major loss if you have to sell ahead of a maturity.
I would buy different maturities at the beginning setting yourself up so that a good portion of yours funds are maturing every 3 months so you are never too far out from a liquidity event.

All the CD's I've seen are doing about the same as the higher savings accounts at 2.5%ish. Are brokered higher than that?

 

[Noahfecks]

All the CD's I've seen are doing about the same as the higher savings accounts at 2.5%ish. Are brokered higher than that?

Yes, typically by 100 BPS or more

 

[Greg]

Speaking of money, can we talk about retirement funding? Are you guys putting a certain percentage towards retirement?

With my job, I put 12% into railroad retirement... and I recently started putting another 4% into a 401k. I want to get to the point where I'm putting a total of 20% towards retirement. At this point, I'm not worried about how much I'll be making when I retire, but I feel like the more I put in now, the better off we will be.

I've recently started listening to Tony Robbins book, MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.

He shares some pretty surprising and eye-opening facts about costs that take away from your overall payout, it's very interesting to hear as I will gladly admit, I'm not well versed in money market accounts, etc.

 

[Caleb]

I put away a lot, between 50%-60% in to various accounts (max out retirement accounts and then various investments). I love reading/observing what others are doing for retirement savings. I'll get that book for sure. I also lurk in the /r/financialindependence reddit. They mostly push real estate investments (going as far as leveraging yourself to the max just to get more real estate holdings...I hate debt, have none, and even if it meant I could already be retired, I couldn't bring myself to do it). They also tend to push renting over buying homes. So a lot of other opinions to sift through but you can get some gems from there as well.

 

[Noahfecks]

My goal is to have no debt when I retire, without a mortgage or car payments I should be able to live very comfortably on the money I set aside now

My employer matches up to 6% of my salary so I take full advantage of that match in my 401K. That mean I put away 12% of my salary into a tax differed investment, remember you will pay taxes on this money as regular income when you retire.

I also put the maximum amount allowed, $5500, into a Roth IRA outside my employer account. The advantage of the Roth is that I pay taxes now but no taxes when I use it in retirement. The idea here is I can take a decent income from my 401K that keeps me in a low tax bracket and fund more luxury items like vacations and cars from the non-taxable Roth.

My wife is a teacher with a state funded retirement plan (defined benefit plan), once she completes her years of service she is guaranteed 80% of her highest 3 yr average until death (assuming the pension plan doesn't fold), she does not contribute any of her own money to the plan (this is why government employees make less). We contribute the maximum amount allowed into her Roth.

1) No debt
2) Contribute max match amount to 401K
3) Tax free reserves in the Roth

 

[spaggyroe]

I put away a lot, between 50%-60% in to various accounts (max out retirement accounts and then various investments). I love reading/observing what others are doing for retirement savings. I'll get that book for sure. I also lurk in the /r/financialindependence reddit. They mostly push real estate investments (going as far as leveraging yourself to the max just to get more real estate holdings...I hate debt, have none, and even if it meant I could already be retired, I couldn't bring myself to do it). They also tend to push renting over buying homes. So a lot of other opinions to sift through but you can get some gems from there as well.

This. Exactly this.

My strategy is to avoid debt at all costs, and invest first, then live off the remainder. Always take advantage of employer matches, and keep squeezing your budget until you max your retirement plan out, then look into IRA or Roth, then brokerage account. One book that changed the way I invest is The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.

 

[Greg]

I put away a lot, between 50%-60% in to various accounts (max out retirement accounts and then various investments). I love reading/observing what others are doing for retirement savings. I'll get that book for sure. I also lurk in the /r/financialindependence reddit. They mostly push real estate investments (going as far as leveraging yourself to the max just to get more real estate holdings...I hate debt, have none, and even if it meant I could already be retired, I couldn't bring myself to do it). They also tend to push renting over buying homes. So a lot of other opinions to sift through but you can get some gems from there as well.

Wow, that's impressive! I hope that we'll have our home paid off in 10 years, then I can crank up my retirement funding to around 40-50%! I'm over real estate after renting our Fruita home out for several years, we bought low and sold high and made money, but it was a headache dealing with mechanical breakdowns, renters personal issues, late or no rent, evicting someone and cleaning their mess. Yeah, I'll pass.

We have little debt, my Jeep is almost paid off... all other vehicles are paid for.

My goal is to have no debt when I retire, without a mortgage or car payments I should be able to live very comfortably on the money I set aside now

My employer matches up to 6% of my salary so I take full advantage of that match in my 401K. That mean I put away 12% of my salary into a tax differed investment, remember you will pay taxes on this money as regular income when you retire.

I also put the maximum amount allowed, $5500, into a Roth IRA outside my employer account. The advantage of the Roth is that I pay taxes now but no taxes when I use it in retirement. The idea here is I can take a decent income from my 401K that keeps me in a low tax bracket and fund more luxury items like vacations and cars from the non-taxable Roth.

My wife is a teacher with a state funded retirement plan (defined benefit plan), once she completes her years of service she is guaranteed 80% of her highest 3 yr average until death (assuming the pension plan doesn't fold), she does not contribute any of her own money to the plan (this is why government employees make less). We contribute the maximum amount allowed into her Roth.

1) No debt
2) Contribute max match amount to 401K
3) Tax free reserves in the Roth

I like the idea of the Roth IRA, I know Catherine has one that she started years ago. She's also a teacher paying into PERA and actually needs only one more year of teaching in California to be vested, so she could draw there, too. With my RR retirement, she will also draw 50% of what I'm taking home at retirement. Unfortunately, UP doesn't offer to match or do anything else with 401k's, which sucks.... but this is on top of my RR retirement. I've been paying in for almost 15 years now, need another 15 and then 60 yrs old to draw.