NT: Official Personal Finances Thread

[capital sb]

Yes put your emergency fund in a high yields savings account and be done with it. CD rates aren't very good, I wouldn't put my EF money in their either. You want to be able to access the money at any time.

Takes 3 days for the ACH transfer from a high yield account , makes it easy to access but also keeps you from pulling out money for non emergencies.

 

[illmaticsoulchild]

Yes put your emergency fund in a high yields savings account and be done with it. CD rates aren't very good, I wouldn't put my EF money in their either. You want to be able to access the money at any time.

Takes 3 days for the ACH transfer from a high yield account , makes it easy to access but also keeps you from pulling out money for non emergencies.

Other than APY, are there any other factors in considering one bank over the other? I'm currently looking at an AMEX personal savings account. Also, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[capital sb]

Other than APY, are there any other factors in considering one bank over the other? I'm currently looking at an AMEX personal savings account. Also, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would just factor in website security, the AMEX account is lower than other high yield accounts. I'd just go with whichever one you would prefer, Barclays and Ally have the highest rates.

 

[timelessflight]

Paying off my car this week. Now to get rid of this $7k credit card balance

 

[crcballer55]

 

Not best to keep emergency funds in a Roth because to my knowledge you can't access the funds in your Roth until you reach 59.5 years old without penalty.

You want emergency funds in something you can access easily

You can access all your contributions in a roth. I read a few articles about just investing the roth in a CD since its less risky. If I leave my emergency fund in a roth I can always have access to it while it has the opportunity for compounding interest.

Both investing your e-fund in a Roth and holding it in a CD are terrible ideas. First, like @SuperAntigen said, what happens if an emergency comes up and you need the money (which is the whole point of the e-fund. You never know WHEN you'll need it. With a Roth, you're exposed to market volatility. If you put it in a CD, you'll likely pay a 3 month penalty to withdraw the money.

Don't think of your emergency fund as an investment. It's insurance so you don't have to take out a high interest loan to pay for the necessities.

 

[hot route]

Other than APY, are there any other factors in considering one bank over the other? I'm currently looking at an AMEX personal savings account. Also, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

read!!

look at fees, balances requirement n etc. i think the point is convenience and a habit to save. no trynna chase petty yeild differences.

 

[HankHill]

Don't think of your emergency fund as an investment. It's insurance so you don't have to take out a high interest loan to pay for the necessities.

This. Keep it in a shoe box. If you don't have enough self control for that put it in a savings. I use Barclay as mentioned before.

 

[capital sb]

read!!

look at fees, balances requirement n etc. i think the point is convenience and a habit to save. no trynna chase petty yeild differences.

Truth, definitely forgot about the fees and balance requirements. Barclays has zero fees and zero balance requirements, slipped my mind.

 

[HankHill]

Anyone work for companies that didn't offer matching until a certain time after employment?

 

[antidope]

Anyone work for companies that didn't offer matching until a certain time after employment?

I do right now. My employer doesn't match until a year of employment. Not really too concerned about it, it would be nice but I plan on being here more than a year.


My last job matched from day one though.

 

[HankHill]

Anyone work for companies that didn't offer matching until a certain time after employment?

I do right now. My employer doesn't match until a year of employment. Not really too concerned about it, it would be nice but I plan on being here more than a year.


My last job matched from day one though.

Yeah my current job is from day one. How long were until you were fully vested?

 

[capital sb]

My company offers 3%(4% at 5 years) matching and 100% vested from day 1. After year 1 additional 2.5% is given by my employer with no contribution required by me, this isn't fully vested until year 4.

 

[antidope]

Anyone work for companies that didn't offer matching until a certain time after employment?

I do right now. My employer doesn't match until a year of employment. Not really too concerned about it, it would be nice but I plan on being here more than a year.


My last job matched from day one though.

Yeah my current job is from day one. How long were until you were fully vested?

Three years until full vesting and they were giving a 6% Match. I actually quit that job in the same month I got fully vested it was a wonderful coincidence.

 

[HankHill]

Yeah my gripe is that if I become fully vested. I still missed out on a years worth of company matching compared to another position.

 

[capital sb]

Yeah my gripe is that if I become fully vested. I still missed out on a years worth of company matching compared to another position.

Yeah, I honestly don't see myself taking a position that doesn't offer day one matching and vesting .

 

[antidope]

Yeah but what can you really do about that. Just gotta take it for what it is. I put 12% into my 401k as it is so company matching was really something that while awesome, I know was a secondary funding option for what I'm doing myself.

Is day one matching really that serious? It'd not like it's gonna come up during the interview, I didn't see the retirement package for my current job until I got my offer packet after providing my verbal acceptance. At that point are you really going to turn away a job you wanted bad enough to accept over 4% for a year?

 

[HankHill]

Its more than a year though.

 

[capital sb]

Personal preference man, retirement questions/benefit packets are something I look over before accepting a position.

You are accepting jobs before knowing your benefits? To me that is very risky, especially with dwindling benefits

in the government contractor world. I am also not giving a verbal acceptance before knowing what my offer entails,

again very risky in my world.

I have a good amount of options, trust me what one company won't give me another one will and then some. Positions that I really want are at great companies with great benefits, so it isn't even something I would worry about.

 

[antidope]

Oh don't get me wrong, 401k and benefits are all a part of your comp, but something like that isn't a deal breaker to me.

More than a year before matching seems crazy though.

 

[HankHill]

They do it where they start on a either Jan or July after 1 year. Since Jan past already, it would be July (about 1.5 years before they start matching). That's a lot of contribution being missed.

 

[hot route]

You dont have to kill yourself over the year thing. As with any and most jobs, it takes about a year before things kick in.

 

[capital sb]

Just depends on the company. Every company I received an offer from had day 1 matching and vesting.

 

[antidope]

Day one vesting too? That's interesting to know.

 

[capital sb]

Day one vesting too? That's interesting to know.

Yeah day one vesting. I didn't know this wasn't common learn something new every day.

 

[HankHill]

Yeah that's definitely not common.