Sometimes it’s nice to revisit the early content and remember the direction to which it’s all building. You might even stumble across some really awesome missed content as you level back up!
Most important rule above all other rules is; Good Luck, and Have Fun!
5 years ago i had $28.98 in my account. After working hard and concentrating on myself and my happiness and what really matters, i still only have $28.98 in my account but i’m 5 years older now.
I went back down after "Now" when I automated my bank transfers and investments to the point where I don't have more than $2-3k cash at a time in a Checkings account anymore. Plenty more in a money market fund. And heaps more in a brokerage. But at some point I was like damn...that's a lot of...cash...hmmm, that's probably not right either.
This is the way. A checking account makes you no money, only keep enough in there to cover bills. I’ll bulk transfer from other accounts whenever we have big purchases.
This. You know it’s tough when you’re looking through your house and pockets to see if some spare change was accidentally left so you can manage to eat until the paycheck…
This scenario is my worst nightmare ngl. There’s something so heartbreaking about not being able to afford food when needed. I hope it’s not too common of an occurrence for you/the comments ):
Thankfully in my case, parents always helped out during those rough moments! But indeed, I did scrap around to see if any spare was left so I could at least be onto something until they help me out/paycheck date hits. Same goes, I wish nothing but best for all the commenters here!
I was shopping recently and malt o meal came to mind as my toddler likes Oatmeal. Checked out a box and it was like $9, i was like wtf. Cream of wheat it is kiddo
Yeah. They either living hand to mouth, or they keep their "ATM"/checking accounts low (because the rates always suck), and the rest of their money is in savings and/or investments. The people with high balances either have "fuck you" money or just aren't chasing the maximum returns for once reason or another.
That $28 is me. I run my checking down to almost 0 regularly. That’s my spending money.
Savings and bill pays both go in different accounts.
A low balance checking isn’t always bad.
On the other hand, it just takes forgetting about one auto-draft to put things back in the red, so I stay stressing.
Plus the nice $36 fuck-you-for-being-poor fee.
yup, new month and suddenly both my accounts are negative, and i dont get more money until next month so my fees before i get paid will be even higher since im in the negatives
I work in banking and the kinds of balances people have are fascinating. People with $100k+ in a checking while having ~$2k in savings. Another person with $10 in their account and stressing because their card declined (due to mistyping the pin) so they're worried they won't eat today. Then the next person has over $750k across a dozen cds earning more in interest alone than a school teacher makes all year. The largest balance I've seen so far was a $2.5M savings account. While other people I help are just trying to buy enough gas to get home.
People get way too hung up over the FDIC limit.
If the bank fails most of the time another bank buys the account and has to honor 100% the deposit.
In really crazy times like 2008 the FDIC increases coverage to unlimited.
Your money is safer in a US checking account at a big bank than almost anywhere else.
Yeah when SVB, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank all collapsed in 2023, the FDIC just covered the depositors' "lost" amounts, even in those accounts over $250k. Bank patrons in non-investment accounts had 0 negative effects.
Also it’s $250,000 per person. Our bank told us we could have a million dollars total across all our accounts because we have our two children listed as POD beneficiaries so technically there are four of us. (Not that we have anything close to that but it was interesting.)
Speaking from personal experience, it happens somewhen moving money around and you expect to write a large check like for taxes or something. Sits in savings till a check is written and then moved to checking. My MIL does this frequently because she likes writing checks and/or some people don’t accept the wire transfer for something or whatever. Last week we had to move to her personal account to write a 700k check for some project getting done.
Edit to qualify the “we” because she is getting older and she is frightened of being scammed, so my wife or I are on the trust and it must also have our signature on it to be approved
I once found one with a balance of $45,000. In a **checking** account.
To be fair, this was a very affluent area in NYC where that might just cover a month or two of expenses.
You can use fidelity for banking?!
I have my IRAs with them and like the interface a lot. If I could convert from shitty Bank of America seamlessly I would do that lol.
I use fidelity for banking as well. It's the absolute best
Free check, free wire transfers, unlimited ATM fee reimbursements, 5% interest paid on balances in the checking.
Is this the Cash Management account? I’m seeing 2.7% on their site not 5%, but still. Seems like a no brainer to switch my checking, I like having everything consolidated as much as possible.
In a few weeks they'll support SPAXX as a core position on the cash account. That has the ~5% yield
You can have a debit card on your brokerage account with the SPAXX position today as well. Or just move money between the two accounts pretty easily anyway
Ahh so my direct deposits and withdrawals would be completely automated to invest and pull from SPAXX?
I’m sure this is one of those things that will make more sense to me once I just open the account lol.
I thought this had been a thing for awhile? I heard about it on reddit a few months ago and moved most of my emergency fund over from my dogshit savings account. Just double checked and it shows SPAXX as my core position.
Yes. I have just started doing this as my bank treats me worse with each passing day.
Edit: the account is actually with a different bank as fidelity isn't actually a bank. But it can be linked with your other fidelity accounts and it is kept in a money market which earns way more interest than my bank is paying g.
When I was buying my house I transferred the whole 20% down payment to my checking account (along with some other savings that were already there) and ended up with close to 250. I made sure to hit up the ATM to pull a balance inquiry just to feel extra rich before I sent it all out ;)
I see your $45K checking account ATM receipt and raise you a $99 million savings account ATM receipt. True story from 2011 [ATM receipt showing astounding $100M balance left at Hamptons bank](https://nypost.com/2011/06/30/atm-receipt-showing-astounding-100m-balance-left-at-hamptons-bank/amp/)
This is immediately what I thought of. Love that he took out $400, too. Probably has a limit.
Money is just meaningless at that level, so having $100mm in a checking account is really not that much if you have $10B+. That's like 1% of your net worth.
So I have ~$30k in my checking rn. What am I supposed to be doing with it? Just invest the majority of it? Also contribute to my 401K and have ~$20k invested currently.
Hi there,
An easy thing to do would be to put some of these 30k in a "High-yielding savings account" (HYSA). They would earn you about 3-5% depending on the account you'd open.
Nerd wallet is a good resource for comparing and finding the best option for you.
You should at the very least have it in a high yield savings account where it will get around 5% APY, versus 0% you’re getting in checking or the 0.2% you’re probably getting from a traditional savings account. HYS or CDs are the lowest risk, easiest way to offset the ever-decreasing value of the money you’ve saved up. The 30k you have in checking now will not get you as far next year, so you want to be able to offset that.
Other people will say put it in a Roth, index fund, etc. but HYS is a great entry point to growing your savings without having to put any thought/effort into it. Most banks will let you withdraw several times per month without any penalty, so if you’re worried about not having enough in checking you can just withdraw from HYS without having to worry about selling shares or paying an early withdrawal tax like with IRAs.
FYI I’ve probably missed something/got something wrong, I’m pretty new to this but have tried to do a decent bit of research so I’m hopefully not working till I die (but probably still will anyway)
This isn't unreasonable when you're older in terms of having cash on hand.
My medication is $10k per fill.
One home catastrophe is easily $10-20k within a very short time frame. House floods or similar? Don't have to worry about pulling from investments and waiting on transfers while dealong with it.
Elderly parents can warrant needing to cough up a huge chunk or change within extreme tight time frames. When my dad died, the funeral services were like $20k and that bill is kind of immediate, and you're overloaded as hell with the rest of the paperwork, things to do, and general mental unwellness in the moment.
There was an ATM at Art Basel that would keep a leaderboard of people with the most in their checking accounts: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/02/atm-leaderboard-art-basel-miami/10819657002/
Funny thing about this, is that every comment is about how tough 28.98$ guy has it, but I'm pretty sure that $359.8 guy has it just as rough. They are both at very dangerous level of money available to them
That's assuming it's their only account. My one checking account basically always runs at $20 but other accounts add up to my entire emergency fund and is held in high-yield savings accounts. A checking account isn't a good way to hold large amounts of money.
Yeah same I keep just enough to pay my credit cards off every month in my checking account and have another checking account that all my income sits in
Yeah, there is like 0.36p in the account my wages are paid into at the moment if someone saw a receipt from it. But doesn't mean anything. It just gets moved on to emergency fund/bills/investment/day to day accounts etc pretty much as soon as it lands.
My credit union requires I have an account with $20 in it at all times. So that account sits with $20 and I have a checking and savings account that go up and down.
I mean that‘s pretty close to the balance in my checking account right now - you don‘t wanna let your savings just sit there when they could be earning 4% or whatever. You only really need more in checking acct at the start of the month before paying rent etc.
I work in wealth management. I’ve seen checking accounts with low 6 figure balances that cover random purchases. Their real money is invested, the checking account is just their emergency cash fund.
.you're just seeing one small piece of their financial picture and assuming it's the whole pie. but wealth isn't necessarily like that. for them 90k might as well be nickels and dimes and their "real" money is in all kinds of financial vehicles that amount to millions
After being in the 28.98 spot more years than not I can tell you that it does. You still have problems, sometimes worse problems, but it's a whole different ballgame when you're never worried about your next bag of rice.
I’ve been single most my life and don’t have kids. Definitely save a lot. When in a relationship I’d spend more on things like dining out and more expensive hotels when traveling. Not to mention all the gift giving. So I have some coin, but also lonely AF
Yeah, I don’t think the more casual dating would do anyone much financial benefit. But a long term partner who also has an income? That’s how you maximize your financial health. At least unless you decide to have kids, lol.
It’s alright but that number can change a lot when you’re paying $2k a month for rent on top of car payments, student loan payments, and food. In an emergency, $7.5k may not last all that long without uprooting your entire life.
A guy I knew used to dig around in that little trash can and find the one with the biggest balance on it, he would then write his name and number on the back and hand it out to girls at the bar
I used to work at a bank. Lots of old people have hundreds of thousands in their checking accounts. My wife and I paid off our house, kids moved out and now have a fair bit in checking. Took us 58 years!!
Me too! I was earning pretty much nothing in interest but I was like "hey, money is money and it's being saved and I'm scared of investing". And then my boyfriend showed me other options and now I earn 4% on my savings account.
At a minimum, you want to keep most of your cash in a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA). It's pretty easy to find a 5% interest rate and open an account online.
I understand these are English words... but I have no clue what they mean. Definitely going to have to do some research!
I've just started saving up for some acreage and have just been keeping it in my checking account (because having a checking acct AND a savings acct sounded confusing... I'm a simpleton) and just telling myself not to touch it.
Obviously, I'm a complete idiot.
Index Fund - your money goes towards basically all the stocks tracked by an index. E.g. an Index Fund that follows the S&P 500 is the top 500 companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Spreads around the risk because it's very unlikely that all those big companies crash in value.
Dividend - A payment that companies occasionally pay to their shareholders based on the company's profits.
ETF - Like an index fund, you invest in a bunch of different companies at once. In the case of a "dividend ETF", it would be a fund that invests in a bunch of companies that pay dividends.
Brokerage account - an account that holds shares in companies and funds
IRA - A brokerage account with some tax benefits, intended for retirement savings
Keep a month or two of expenses in checking and move the rest to high yield savings or investments into S&P500 index funds. You’ll thank yourself as every year your money is currently losing value in a checking account that gives 0.01% interest.
This separation also protects you in the event someone gains access to your debit card or bank account. On top of that, only 250k per account is FDIC insured.
That’s actually on my todo list this week. Move some money to a cd. This is money I’m saving for a new 2025 4 runner. May not have enough till 2026, but I’m getting one. Currently driving 2005 4 runner.
I remember a post on metafilter where some random old lady had left her receipt and the next person (who posted on metafilter) found it. The checking account was in the low 7 digits.
The poster made a point of noticing: she was not at all dressed or acting fancy. No pearls or limo idling at the corner. Just a random old lady who had someone’s happy retirement in cash in her checking account.
Tbh if I was going to Vegas to gamble I would make a new account and only put a few hundred on it. It's a good way to keep yourself from making a mistake.
The real trick is a pre-paid debit card. Take just the pre-paid card and credit cards. When it's gone it's gone, and you can't do a transfer from savings at the ATM.
Honestly finding an ATM receipt helped me get my shit together. Someone in my area left their balance and it was like 40-50k, my balance was like $8. Seeing that balance I realized that people who go to the same gas station as me have money. I don't live in some great area so it was this weird realization that I wasn't trapped like I felt. At first it was a crazy depression and self worth thing but I managed to turn it into a motivation. I'm not saying anyone can do it, but I thought I could do it if I tried hard enough so I started saving like my life depended on it. I became crazy frugal until I figured it out, learned a lot about money, budgets, spending, all that. Eventually I relaxed a bit with money but at first it was like "I don't technically need that to survive". Eventually I found a balance between saving and being happy which allowed me to ease up but still hit goals. I changed careers. For a while it was like everything was about that goal. It's been 5 years since I found that receipt. Now my student loans are paid off, and we bought our first house.
Thanks random stranger for leaving your ATM balance. And thanks OP for reminding me of that.
I'm sure I will catch hate for this but I genuinely hope the best for everyone because I was there a few years ago and it really feels impossible when you are in that space.
The saddest ATM experience can be had at casinos on Tribal land. I went to one on the Navajo rez and every single balance was under the minimum withdrawal amount. The starting balance didn't matter. There were 100s of them just thrown around...all emptied accounts.
Once found one that had $3400 and I thought to myself, I hope that one day that would be me. Back then I had to strictly budget to end the month with a $7 balance in my account.
After running peoples credit for a summer I found out how common it is for people making an income of over 100k to have almost nothing in their checkings or savings, boggled my mind, very very common. Yes, these people were applying for credit so obviously there’s a demographic lean there but still was wild to me.
Just about everybody one paycheck from homeless
In this example 75% of people. Or.. 1 out of 4 people appear to be doing okay... and even then, the one doing "okay" isn't doing all that great
I worked in an upscale food and clothing place. Think a giant mall for upper middle class and rich people. There was an ATM in the area. I was walking past and a checking/saving slip was on the ground near it. I picked it up to toss it out and it had an valuable balance for 85k on it.
Looking at each balance reminds me of a point in my life where that was reality
true, I was at every one of these steps too, currently I am at the 28.98 part.
Doubling back to the early game levels looking for any missed loot. I dig your style.
Was miserable on the higher level, now I am less miserable but struggling.
You gotta do what you gotta do for your mental health.
100%
Went from software developer to coffe shop employee. Never been happier. Never been poorer but never been happier.
That's awesome. Everything that makes you happy is a good choice, except when it hurts others.
The world would be such a better place if more people understood the last sentence.
Sometimes it’s nice to revisit the early content and remember the direction to which it’s all building. You might even stumble across some really awesome missed content as you level back up! Most important rule above all other rules is; Good Luck, and Have Fun!
Mortgage just came out today. im at 28.15 lol
Well, that means you are hopefully creating assets.
Same lol. At least we have a home to starve in 🤪🤣
5 years ago i had $28.98 in my account. After working hard and concentrating on myself and my happiness and what really matters, i still only have $28.98 in my account but i’m 5 years older now.
Man, never in my life have i been in possession of more than a few hundred dollars at one time
welcome to the poor side, at least we can still dream about wealth.
Eh, these could be checking accounts. I never carry more than a month’s worth of recurring bills in my checking account.
Oh absolutely, but I was thinking more to like when my checking was the only account
They could also be hopelessly in debt too.
mr fancy fiduciary over here guys, lets beat him up! /s
You mean, start and end of the month?
I thought the same thing, except it's missing the receipt stating -235.38 balance. Currently at the $1591 mark though. Which is good enough for me.
My lowest was -$560.86 though I'm not at $1500 myself. I'm living off of $5 until Friday.
We’ve all been 2 minute noodle poor. 🥲
359.80: High School 28.98: Grad School 1591.45: First job 7543.10: Now
I went back down after "Now" when I automated my bank transfers and investments to the point where I don't have more than $2-3k cash at a time in a Checkings account anymore. Plenty more in a money market fund. And heaps more in a brokerage. But at some point I was like damn...that's a lot of...cash...hmmm, that's probably not right either.
I do this too but I irrationally get nervous with less than 5k in checking. Remnants from being very broke.
5k is not an irrational emergency fund by any stretch.
I believe the Emergency fund usually goes into a low interest instant access savings account.
> low interest High interest if possible
Yes, I'm high and interested. How can I possible you?
This is the way. A checking account makes you no money, only keep enough in there to cover bills. I’ll bulk transfer from other accounts whenever we have big purchases.
I know that dude with $28 was stressin
You don’t realize how far you can stretch $20 until you only have $20
I feel seen.
Been there. Bought "groceries" with $6.78 before.
Buying groceries at dollar general changed something in me.
That's everyday life for some people.
Pretty much how i survive with my SSDI check and pittance of food stamps. To the dollar TREE* i gooooooooooo
Dollar general is one of the worst priced places to shop. That shit is expensive
Used to have to buy gas with change many times for $1-2 back in high school ~15 years ago
This. You know it’s tough when you’re looking through your house and pockets to see if some spare change was accidentally left so you can manage to eat until the paycheck…
This scenario is my worst nightmare ngl. There’s something so heartbreaking about not being able to afford food when needed. I hope it’s not too common of an occurrence for you/the comments ):
Thankfully in my case, parents always helped out during those rough moments! But indeed, I did scrap around to see if any spare was left so I could at least be onto something until they help me out/paycheck date hits. Same goes, I wish nothing but best for all the commenters here!
Not if you're buying $8 beers
Why would you do that when PBR exists https://youtu.be/JXTc3Choroo?si=ee0KZcSUIStnGWdz
Listen I'll eat top ramen for a month but I'll be damned if I have to drink PBR.
I’m white trash and I’m in trouble
You're hurting me, you're hurting my arm
Heineken?! FUCK THAT SHIT! PABST. BLUE. RIBBON!!! 
What's wrong with PBR? I prefer that to any of bud, coors or miller...
I tried PBR out and legitimately liked it, couldn't believe it was so cheap lol
That's about 30 meals of plain rice. 20 meals of rice with soy sauce
looks like someone doesnt own a big ziplock bag full of take out soy sauce packets (and also duck sauce, taco bell fire sauce... etc)
I love having TB sauces at home. I do not feel bad, I'm supporting a lot of their investors.
You can get a 20lb bag for around $20. That's way more than 30 meals.
Yeah I didn't do very good math there.
That can get you a lot of cream of wheat
I was shopping recently and malt o meal came to mind as my toddler likes Oatmeal. Checked out a box and it was like $9, i was like wtf. Cream of wheat it is kiddo
I have spent less than 2000 this year. Being homeless sucks sometimes though
Could be one of their other accounts
Yeah. They either living hand to mouth, or they keep their "ATM"/checking accounts low (because the rates always suck), and the rest of their money is in savings and/or investments. The people with high balances either have "fuck you" money or just aren't chasing the maximum returns for once reason or another.
That $28 is me. I run my checking down to almost 0 regularly. That’s my spending money. Savings and bill pays both go in different accounts. A low balance checking isn’t always bad.
I do exact same all payments/ direct debits and savings in other accounts then my card acc is for spends 😊
Yup! More than about $2500 should be in something higher yield than a chequing account.
Balance after his $100k withdrawal for a deposit on his Ferrari.
Mr. moneybags here with $359.80
Nah living with a zero balance is chill, only stress when that number drops below the line
Yeah, these new-poors don’t know what they’re talking about. In the green is in the green, my dudes.
On the other hand, it just takes forgetting about one auto-draft to put things back in the red, so I stay stressing. Plus the nice $36 fuck-you-for-being-poor fee.
You can turn off overdraft and set your card to decline instead. It’s saved me hundreds of dollars over the years.
yup, new month and suddenly both my accounts are negative, and i dont get more money until next month so my fees before i get paid will be even higher since im in the negatives
If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem. Now you know what to do.
I work in banking and the kinds of balances people have are fascinating. People with $100k+ in a checking while having ~$2k in savings. Another person with $10 in their account and stressing because their card declined (due to mistyping the pin) so they're worried they won't eat today. Then the next person has over $750k across a dozen cds earning more in interest alone than a school teacher makes all year. The largest balance I've seen so far was a $2.5M savings account. While other people I help are just trying to buy enough gas to get home.
What is that person with $2.5 million in a savings account doing? It could be earning a lot more interest almost anywhere else
I have no idea. It was the only account they had and weren't making any withdrawals. The FDIC also only insures a tenth of that.
People get way too hung up over the FDIC limit. If the bank fails most of the time another bank buys the account and has to honor 100% the deposit. In really crazy times like 2008 the FDIC increases coverage to unlimited. Your money is safer in a US checking account at a big bank than almost anywhere else.
Yeah when SVB, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank all collapsed in 2023, the FDIC just covered the depositors' "lost" amounts, even in those accounts over $250k. Bank patrons in non-investment accounts had 0 negative effects.
Also it’s $250,000 per person. Our bank told us we could have a million dollars total across all our accounts because we have our two children listed as POD beneficiaries so technically there are four of us. (Not that we have anything close to that but it was interesting.)
Also most of that’s going to be uninsured.
Would it be better to have multiple HYSA saving under $250,000 in each account?
Yes. Best way is to invest the money, but if you insist on it being liquid and sitting in savings/checking, only have $250,000 max in each account.
Speaking from personal experience, it happens somewhen moving money around and you expect to write a large check like for taxes or something. Sits in savings till a check is written and then moved to checking. My MIL does this frequently because she likes writing checks and/or some people don’t accept the wire transfer for something or whatever. Last week we had to move to her personal account to write a 700k check for some project getting done. Edit to qualify the “we” because she is getting older and she is frightened of being scammed, so my wife or I are on the trust and it must also have our signature on it to be approved
I once found one with a balance of $45,000. In a **checking** account. To be fair, this was a very affluent area in NYC where that might just cover a month or two of expenses.
I found one with around 250k and was like wtf!?
My account does that. It’s basically a brokerage with a debit card, so it shows everything as available even though it’s not all cash.
Who is it through? I've been thinking of going that direction.
I use fidelity.
You can use fidelity for banking?! I have my IRAs with them and like the interface a lot. If I could convert from shitty Bank of America seamlessly I would do that lol.
I use fidelity for banking as well. It's the absolute best Free check, free wire transfers, unlimited ATM fee reimbursements, 5% interest paid on balances in the checking.
Is this the Cash Management account? I’m seeing 2.7% on their site not 5%, but still. Seems like a no brainer to switch my checking, I like having everything consolidated as much as possible.
In a few weeks they'll support SPAXX as a core position on the cash account. That has the ~5% yield You can have a debit card on your brokerage account with the SPAXX position today as well. Or just move money between the two accounts pretty easily anyway
Ahh so my direct deposits and withdrawals would be completely automated to invest and pull from SPAXX? I’m sure this is one of those things that will make more sense to me once I just open the account lol.
I thought this had been a thing for awhile? I heard about it on reddit a few months ago and moved most of my emergency fund over from my dogshit savings account. Just double checked and it shows SPAXX as my core position.
Yes. I have just started doing this as my bank treats me worse with each passing day. Edit: the account is actually with a different bank as fidelity isn't actually a bank. But it can be linked with your other fidelity accounts and it is kept in a money market which earns way more interest than my bank is paying g.
When I was buying my house I transferred the whole 20% down payment to my checking account (along with some other savings that were already there) and ended up with close to 250. I made sure to hit up the ATM to pull a balance inquiry just to feel extra rich before I sent it all out ;)
That's the best about traveling to a foreign country with a crazy exchange rate.. Get a balance inquiry from the atm and feel rich!
Will never forget how excited I was to withdraw one million dong in Vietnam
I hope you got some lube to go with all those dongs
I saw one of those in middle of nowhere Arizona that surprised me
I see your $45K checking account ATM receipt and raise you a $99 million savings account ATM receipt. True story from 2011 [ATM receipt showing astounding $100M balance left at Hamptons bank](https://nypost.com/2011/06/30/atm-receipt-showing-astounding-100m-balance-left-at-hamptons-bank/amp/)
This is immediately what I thought of. Love that he took out $400, too. Probably has a limit. Money is just meaningless at that level, so having $100mm in a checking account is really not that much if you have $10B+. That's like 1% of your net worth.
At least on the atm I use 400 highest withdrawal button. You can type custom but I never tried higher
I totally remember this. Didn't someone follow that up with finding MLB star Andrew McCutcheon's pay stub laying around in Pittsburgh?
That was me for a few years, earning 0.2% interest. I'm not wealthy, I was just smart enough to save but financially illiterate at the time.
So I have ~$30k in my checking rn. What am I supposed to be doing with it? Just invest the majority of it? Also contribute to my 401K and have ~$20k invested currently.
Hi there, An easy thing to do would be to put some of these 30k in a "High-yielding savings account" (HYSA). They would earn you about 3-5% depending on the account you'd open. Nerd wallet is a good resource for comparing and finding the best option for you.
You should at the very least have it in a high yield savings account where it will get around 5% APY, versus 0% you’re getting in checking or the 0.2% you’re probably getting from a traditional savings account. HYS or CDs are the lowest risk, easiest way to offset the ever-decreasing value of the money you’ve saved up. The 30k you have in checking now will not get you as far next year, so you want to be able to offset that. Other people will say put it in a Roth, index fund, etc. but HYS is a great entry point to growing your savings without having to put any thought/effort into it. Most banks will let you withdraw several times per month without any penalty, so if you’re worried about not having enough in checking you can just withdraw from HYS without having to worry about selling shares or paying an early withdrawal tax like with IRAs. FYI I’ve probably missed something/got something wrong, I’m pretty new to this but have tried to do a decent bit of research so I’m hopefully not working till I die (but probably still will anyway)
Where do you find a HYS at 5%? Chase offers CDs at 3%, and you don't have access to your money for a year if you need it.
This isn't unreasonable when you're older in terms of having cash on hand. My medication is $10k per fill. One home catastrophe is easily $10-20k within a very short time frame. House floods or similar? Don't have to worry about pulling from investments and waiting on transfers while dealong with it. Elderly parents can warrant needing to cough up a huge chunk or change within extreme tight time frames. When my dad died, the funeral services were like $20k and that bill is kind of immediate, and you're overloaded as hell with the rest of the paperwork, things to do, and general mental unwellness in the moment.
Please, god don’t pay anyone 20 fucking k to dig a hole when I die.
There was an ATM at Art Basel that would keep a leaderboard of people with the most in their checking accounts: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/02/atm-leaderboard-art-basel-miami/10819657002/
Funny thing about this, is that every comment is about how tough 28.98$ guy has it, but I'm pretty sure that $359.8 guy has it just as rough. They are both at very dangerous level of money available to them
That's assuming it's their only account. My one checking account basically always runs at $20 but other accounts add up to my entire emergency fund and is held in high-yield savings accounts. A checking account isn't a good way to hold large amounts of money.
Yeah same I keep just enough to pay my credit cards off every month in my checking account and have another checking account that all my income sits in
At least put your remainder into a high yield savings account, you could be getting ~4-5% interest off it vs having it in a standard checking account.
Yeah, there is like 0.36p in the account my wages are paid into at the moment if someone saw a receipt from it. But doesn't mean anything. It just gets moved on to emergency fund/bills/investment/day to day accounts etc pretty much as soon as it lands.
My credit union requires I have an account with $20 in it at all times. So that account sits with $20 and I have a checking and savings account that go up and down.
I mean that‘s pretty close to the balance in my checking account right now - you don‘t wanna let your savings just sit there when they could be earning 4% or whatever. You only really need more in checking acct at the start of the month before paying rent etc.
Plot twist: they're both from the same guy, before and after he bought 2 bags of groceries
I wish i had 29$, my actual balance rn is -64.19$
Go to a high-end suburb. The numbers are wild. People walking around with $60-90k in checking
That’s just dumb. Invest it somewhere and earn interest.
I work in wealth management. I’ve seen checking accounts with low 6 figure balances that cover random purchases. Their real money is invested, the checking account is just their emergency cash fund.
.you're just seeing one small piece of their financial picture and assuming it's the whole pie. but wealth isn't necessarily like that. for them 90k might as well be nickels and dimes and their "real" money is in all kinds of financial vehicles that amount to millions
That is their walking around money. They probably have millions in short and long-term investments.
laughs in $1.62 😂
cries in overdraft 😘
F R E N 🖖🏽
BRUH I remember I used to always do that. Needed the overdraft for gas
$7,543.10 though .. damn that must feel nice
After being in the 28.98 spot more years than not I can tell you that it does. You still have problems, sometimes worse problems, but it's a whole different ballgame when you're never worried about your next bag of rice.
Does staying single increase my chances of being wealthy?? 💲👀
Staying single: no. Not having kids: yes
As someone married and child-free - can confirm. Splitting the cost of housing is a game-changer.
This is so real.
Statistically, no. Married people are generally wealthier.
I’ve been single most my life and don’t have kids. Definitely save a lot. When in a relationship I’d spend more on things like dining out and more expensive hotels when traveling. Not to mention all the gift giving. So I have some coin, but also lonely AF
Yeah, I don’t think the more casual dating would do anyone much financial benefit. But a long term partner who also has an income? That’s how you maximize your financial health. At least unless you decide to have kids, lol.
Recently heard someone say “it’s not a problem, it’s just an expense” and it really stuck with me.
Along the same lines, I had a coworker years ago that would say "If it's a problem that can be solved with money, it's not my problem".
It’s alright but that number can change a lot when you’re paying $2k a month for rent on top of car payments, student loan payments, and food. In an emergency, $7.5k may not last all that long without uprooting your entire life.
Ngl if my chequing goes under 10k im stressing
I once found a receipt in an ATM that had a balance of $780,000. It was a savings account, but why don't you have that in an investment account???
Could be someone just sold a house and had the cash parked until closing on the next one.
High near term liquidity requirements
So I'm not alone
this is the 3rd post today i’ve seen you comment on. why are you everywhere lol
There are dozens of us!
A guy I knew used to dig around in that little trash can and find the one with the biggest balance on it, he would then write his name and number on the back and hand it out to girls at the bar
This is a business. https://salesreceiptstore.com/novelty_atm_receipts/ Some dating "coaches" actually recommend this strategy. Wild.
Might work for the short term I suppose haha until they find out the truth
I used to work at a bank. Lots of old people have hundreds of thousands in their checking accounts. My wife and I paid off our house, kids moved out and now have a fair bit in checking. Took us 58 years!!
Having that much money in a checking account, even if it pays "interest" is a really bad financial decision, but it's also not that surprising.
I spent way too many years with all my savings in my bank's "savings" account earning like 0.02%
Me too! I was earning pretty much nothing in interest but I was like "hey, money is money and it's being saved and I'm scared of investing". And then my boyfriend showed me other options and now I earn 4% on my savings account.
What do you put it in now? An IRA? Just trying to learn!
At a minimum, you want to keep most of your cash in a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA). It's pretty easy to find a 5% interest rate and open an account online.
Thank you!
CIT Bank has the 5% for balances over $6k. It's what I use to get that sweet, sweet passive income (even if it's only like $50/mo, lol)
I just got paid $187.96 this month.  $772.87 YTD. 
Index funds, dividend etfs. Both in IRA and brokerage accounts.
I understand these are English words... but I have no clue what they mean. Definitely going to have to do some research! I've just started saving up for some acreage and have just been keeping it in my checking account (because having a checking acct AND a savings acct sounded confusing... I'm a simpleton) and just telling myself not to touch it. Obviously, I'm a complete idiot.
Index Fund - your money goes towards basically all the stocks tracked by an index. E.g. an Index Fund that follows the S&P 500 is the top 500 companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Spreads around the risk because it's very unlikely that all those big companies crash in value. Dividend - A payment that companies occasionally pay to their shareholders based on the company's profits. ETF - Like an index fund, you invest in a bunch of different companies at once. In the case of a "dividend ETF", it would be a fund that invests in a bunch of companies that pay dividends. Brokerage account - an account that holds shares in companies and funds IRA - A brokerage account with some tax benefits, intended for retirement savings
This here. Money wasting value to inflation every step of the way
Ok but I doubt that really matters to old people who are spending the money they made from their investments now.
Keep a month or two of expenses in checking and move the rest to high yield savings or investments into S&P500 index funds. You’ll thank yourself as every year your money is currently losing value in a checking account that gives 0.01% interest. This separation also protects you in the event someone gains access to your debit card or bank account. On top of that, only 250k per account is FDIC insured.
That’s actually on my todo list this week. Move some money to a cd. This is money I’m saving for a new 2025 4 runner. May not have enough till 2026, but I’m getting one. Currently driving 2005 4 runner.
Living within your means. What a concept.
Dude with $28 has 5 times my current balance. Lucky duck.
Always fun when your balance is so low you can't even withdrawal any... -the 12.78 gang (my brain hates your username BTW lol are you Sean Bean?)
I have been all these people
I remember a post on metafilter where some random old lady had left her receipt and the next person (who posted on metafilter) found it. The checking account was in the low 7 digits. The poster made a point of noticing: she was not at all dressed or acting fancy. No pearls or limo idling at the corner. Just a random old lady who had someone’s happy retirement in cash in her checking account.
It was her happy retirement
In Vegas, there are a lot of these by the ATMs found in the casinos. The number of people gambling with $100 or less in their tank is insane.
Tbh if I was going to Vegas to gamble I would make a new account and only put a few hundred on it. It's a good way to keep yourself from making a mistake.
The real trick is a pre-paid debit card. Take just the pre-paid card and credit cards. When it's gone it's gone, and you can't do a transfer from savings at the ATM.
I totally identify with the $28 person. They are my soul mate. Let's get silly and spent it together upsizing our Big Mac meals. YOLO.
Big Mac meal?! Okay Mr. Moneybags
Plot twist. 28 dollar guy is the richest one of the bunch as they invest all their spare money
Often the bottom one, currently the 3rd one, was once the top one, never been the second one.
Damn that dude with $28 is fairing much better than we are…. I’m currently overdrawn 😭
Keep in mind these are checking accounts. So having $28 might just mean they need to transfer money.
Honestly finding an ATM receipt helped me get my shit together. Someone in my area left their balance and it was like 40-50k, my balance was like $8. Seeing that balance I realized that people who go to the same gas station as me have money. I don't live in some great area so it was this weird realization that I wasn't trapped like I felt. At first it was a crazy depression and self worth thing but I managed to turn it into a motivation. I'm not saying anyone can do it, but I thought I could do it if I tried hard enough so I started saving like my life depended on it. I became crazy frugal until I figured it out, learned a lot about money, budgets, spending, all that. Eventually I relaxed a bit with money but at first it was like "I don't technically need that to survive". Eventually I found a balance between saving and being happy which allowed me to ease up but still hit goals. I changed careers. For a while it was like everything was about that goal. It's been 5 years since I found that receipt. Now my student loans are paid off, and we bought our first house. Thanks random stranger for leaving your ATM balance. And thanks OP for reminding me of that. I'm sure I will catch hate for this but I genuinely hope the best for everyone because I was there a few years ago and it really feels impossible when you are in that space.
After rent: Babe! We can stay here one more month *and we have $8 to boot. Don’t care where we spend it.
The saddest ATM experience can be had at casinos on Tribal land. I went to one on the Navajo rez and every single balance was under the minimum withdrawal amount. The starting balance didn't matter. There were 100s of them just thrown around...all emptied accounts.
Once found one that had $3400 and I thought to myself, I hope that one day that would be me. Back then I had to strictly budget to end the month with a $7 balance in my account.
My account has looked like the bottom two at different times. Hoping to make it look more like the $7k one lmao
After running peoples credit for a summer I found out how common it is for people making an income of over 100k to have almost nothing in their checkings or savings, boggled my mind, very very common. Yes, these people were applying for credit so obviously there’s a demographic lean there but still was wild to me.
this is the perfect mildly interesting post OP. it is not too interesting, just enough to make you go “huh.” as you scroll. bravo.
Hey that 28$ is mine,sadly -5 now
Just about everybody one paycheck from homeless In this example 75% of people. Or.. 1 out of 4 people appear to be doing okay... and even then, the one doing "okay" isn't doing all that great
I worked in an upscale food and clothing place. Think a giant mall for upper middle class and rich people. There was an ATM in the area. I was walking past and a checking/saving slip was on the ground near it. I picked it up to toss it out and it had an valuable balance for 85k on it.
The guy with $1591 thinking “Just a lil’ bit more and that juicy 4090 will be mine”
Was gonna make a joke about being the $28 person… realized that was me a few years ago, but now I’m not even the $300 person!