I've had a Capital One card since college. No reason to close it really.
I almost never use it since we put everything on an Amazon card now. Only time I've used it is on foreign trips because it has a 0% exchange fee.
I agree. I have a few cards I hardly ever use. As long as there's no annual fee it's only helping your 'average age' and 'utilization'. Plus, if something does come up you have a card to use.
I've had a Capital One card since college. No reason to close it really.
I almost never use it since we put everything on an Amazon card now. Only time I've used it is on foreign trips because it has a 0% exchange fee.
I agree. I have a few cards I hardly ever use. As long as there's no annual fee it's only helping your 'average age' and 'utilization'. Plus, if something does come up you have a card to use.
That said, if you you don't use it, they will close it out from under you - CapitalOne closed a card on me after 3 years of inactivity.
Are there any benefits and/or consequences to having your various accounts spread between different companies? Like, my work's EPP is with UBS and 401k is with Fidelity so I'd put my Roth with Fidelity as a matter of inertia, but now I'm looking at opening a different account and I wasn't sure whether it's easier to consolidate with a single company or if it's better to shop around for different types of accounts.
If you're talking about another investment account, then Fidelity is fine. They have cheap index funds.
For general banking, I don't think any of the brokerages have particularly good rates or products.
Yeah, I'm a bit weird in that I went to Roth before Traditional IRA. Neither my wife nor I have Trad IRA, so we're looking at opening those before filing taxes for this year so we can still contribute for 2017.
Yeah, then Fidelity is fine. If you were at Edward Jones then I'd tell you to run away, but the big 3 (Schwab/Fidelity/Vanguard) are all just fine for passive long-term investors so there isn't much reason to not keep the accounts consolidated.
I've had a Capital One card since college. No reason to close it really.
I almost never use it since we put everything on an Amazon card now. Only time I've used it is on foreign trips because it has a 0% exchange fee.
I agree. I have a few cards I hardly ever use. As long as there's no annual fee it's only helping your 'average age' and 'utilization'. Plus, if something does come up you have a card to use.
That said, if you you don't use it, they will close it out from under you - CapitalOne closed a card on me after 3 years of inactivity.
Eh, I haven't used my Discover card in over a decade and it still works.
So I'm looking at switching to using an online bank account, any experiences or suggestions? I have been looking Ally as an option.
Depends on your needs I guess. If you're talking savings, CIT has pretty good rates, and the site is easy to use. For free checking, Schwab is great, primarily because they reimburse ATM fees, so you can take your pick when you need cash. You might have to open a brokerage account to use their banking side, but you can just leave that empty if you're so inclined.
So I'm looking at switching to using an online bank account, any experiences or suggestions? I have been looking Ally as an option.
Depends on your needs I guess. If you're talking savings, CIT has pretty good rates, and the site is easy to use. For free checking, Schwab is great, primarily because they reimburse ATM fees, so you can take your pick when you need cash. You might have to open a brokerage account to use their banking side, but you can just leave that empty if you're so inclined.
Thanks, I'll take a look at those. I should mention, I am not exclusive to online banks, national banks would be fine also. It is just that the bank I currently use is regional, which sometimes makes it a bit difficult.
What's your region? Depending on the area, there could be a credit union that has good rates and is in a deal with a national chain.
I can actually give a referral code for a bay area CU that does 2% interest on checking, and is part of moneypass, so any USBank ATM would work.
If you’re so much as just related to someone that works for the Department of Defense you can join Navy Federal Credit Union. They’re the largest in the country with branches everywhere and good online services.
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ChanusHarbinger of the Spicy Rooster ApocalypseThe Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered Userregular
So does anyone have any opinions on investing or tiering with their emergency fund? Before I get the inevitable "THAT'S NOT WHAT EMERGENCY FUNDS ARE FOR, DUMMY!" please read the full post.
I've got about a eight months of living expenses saved up at my current standard of living, and probably a 12-14 months if I tighten the belt to more essential spending, so it's definitely more than the standard 6 month emergency fund. Beyond that, I have a pretty decent amount of credit that I could use for immediate costs (and pay off once I cash out anything in an account).
What I had thought about doing a tiered EFund. Essentially I'd keep about 2-3 months in pure cash, and putting the rest in a taxable Vanguard account and put it all into a tax-exempt municipal bond fund like Vanguard's VWITX. Gains on this would be exempt from Federal tax, though unfortunately, I would have to pay state tax as a resident of IL. The plan in case of emergency would be to use the 2-3 months as the cash buffer for immediate cash-only emergency costs (rent etc), with credit to fill the 2-3 day gap that selling off an amount of the bond fund would require and use that to immediately pay off the credit expenses at the end of the month. VWITX is a bit more volatile than standard treasuries or other EFund vehicles, but has much better rate of return (averaging ~5.4% over the last 41 years) as compared to even the best of FDIC accounts of around 1.0% at Ally or Barclay's or similar. Looking at the potential for loss due to volatility doesn't look all that bad, with typically no more than a 1.5-2% downturn, with a max of ~10% during the crash of 2008.
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
It's not something I'd personally do, but it comes down to what you consider acceptable risk I guess. Looking at the YTD it's down 1.33% which, like you say, isn't a huge swing, but it's still a swing. Then again I spend more time hunting small savings rate increases than most would consider reasonable.
I guess if I were to do something like that, I'd keep the cash reserves of up to 6 months. 2-3 would worry me, but I'm a bit risk adverse I guess.
Sidenote - store specific cards (Home Depot, Kohls, etc) don't typically get cancelled, right?
Typically, no. Though iirc the HD card is a HD branded Visa/MC and not a store card like, say, Macy's.
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
If anyone else is looking to chase that sweet, sweet high APY dragon, CIT is offering 1.75% on money market accounts. Highest I can find on bankrate that isn't some maybe-sketchy no name bank.
If anyone else is looking to chase that sweet, sweet high APY dragon, CIT is offering 1.75% on money market accounts. Highest I can find on bankrate that isn't some maybe-sketchy no name bank.
So I've been looking at putting some money into them while also keeping a bit in my local bank and primarily use the checking account there. I see that I can do six digital withdrawals or transfers per statement, this means that if I needed to transfer $X money from CIT to my local bank's checking, I would not incur any fee? Any potential downsides to this? I plan on keeping enough money in my checking where if I have an emergency I should be fine, and I keep a close eye on it.
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
If anyone else is looking to chase that sweet, sweet high APY dragon, CIT is offering 1.75% on money market accounts. Highest I can find on bankrate that isn't some maybe-sketchy no name bank.
So I've been looking at putting some money into them while also keeping a bit in my local bank and primarily use the checking account there. I see that I can do six digital withdrawals or transfers per statement, this means that if I needed to transfer $X money from CIT to my local bank's checking, I would not incur any fee? Any potential downsides to this? I plan on keeping enough money in my checking where if I have an emergency I should be fine, and I keep a close eye on it.
Yeah as far as I know you won't get hit with any fees if you stay under six per statement period. I just looked up the fee schedule; it's ten bucks a pop if you go over six, but that's capped at $50. I don't see why one would even hit that limit, but who knows.
If anyone else is looking to chase that sweet, sweet high APY dragon, CIT is offering 1.75% on money market accounts. Highest I can find on bankrate that isn't some maybe-sketchy no name bank.
You can usually find similar or higher values at credit unions. But they all come with restrictions. Usually the high APY is capped at a small(ish) dollar amount, like $15k. So up to 15k you get your 1-3% but above 15k it's back to the regular 0.1 or 0.05%. And they usually also have things like direct deposit requirements, or a certain number of debit/credit transactions per month.
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
If anyone else is looking to chase that sweet, sweet high APY dragon, CIT is offering 1.75% on money market accounts. Highest I can find on bankrate that isn't some maybe-sketchy no name bank.
You can usually find similar or higher values at credit unions. But they all come with restrictions. Usually the high APY is capped at a small(ish) dollar amount, like $15k. So up to 15k you get your 1-3% but above 15k it's back to the regular 0.1 or 0.05%. And they usually also have things like direct deposit requirements, or a certain number of debit/credit transactions per month.
Oh for sure, but those balance caps are, in my mind, way way way too low to justify jumping through those hoops.
My bank gives me 1.1% in the savings account but it's hardly worth bothering to transfer the money around when I do hold cash. $10k would net me under $10 a month
I have a credit union checking account with 2% interest, but I never keep enough money in my checking account to really take advantage of it. *shrug*
That's probably where you should be storing your emergency fund then. My emergency fund is in a savings account earning just over 1% and I'd really like to be getting more than that.
I have a credit union checking account with 2% interest, but I never keep enough money in my checking account to really take advantage of it. *shrug*
That's probably where you should be storing your emergency fund then. My emergency fund is in a savings account earning just over 1% and I'd really like to be getting more than that.
For liability, isn't it a bad idea to have too much in your checking versus a savings account? I thought you are more on the hook if something happens.
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
I have a credit union checking account with 2% interest, but I never keep enough money in my checking account to really take advantage of it. *shrug*
That's probably where you should be storing your emergency fund then. My emergency fund is in a savings account earning just over 1% and I'd really like to be getting more than that.
For liability, isn't it a bad idea to have too much in your checking versus a savings account? I thought you are more on the hook if something happens.
I think it depends on your financial institution. Schwab's banking side, for example, has a security guarantee that covers 100% of any losses stemming from unauthorized activity. Checking accounts are also covered under FDIC up to the usual $250k.
That said, still wouldn't ever suggest anyone use a debt card for a transaction when they could use a credit card.
We are getting money back from both, but my wife had a small business in 2017. I think our tax situation should settle down a bit this current tax year.
Also I closed my Betterment account because the tax forms were 34 pages of fractional share transactions. My CPA's heart skipped a few beats.
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Also, the year-to-date statement for my TSP for 2017 ended up at 19.5%; which is the highest increase in a single year since 2009 or 2010.
We are getting money back from both, but my wife had a small business in 2017. I think our tax situation should settle down a bit this current tax year.
Also I closed my Betterment account because the tax forms were 34 pages of fractional share transactions. My CPA's heart skipped a few beats.
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Also, the year-to-date statement for my TSP for 2017 ended up at 19.5%; which is the highest increase in a single year since 2009 or 2010.
My just lists all brokerage transaction in 1 line. Something like "betterment... various... 500 gain, or whatever"
Yeah, it was....odd. I'm assuming that had more to do with the fact that I closed the account (and therefore had to sell shares) than just log any changes. So, there could have been short term capital gains implications.
I had previously stashed my emergency fund there and thought the better of it, back in 2016, but had left a token amount behind (which I fully liquidated in 2017)
Thanks @firewaterword for the heads up on the CIT account. When I was posting about the tax exempt muni bonds, I had still been thinking that 1.0% accounts were the best you could find. 1.75% of FDIC insured is definitely better than chasing 2.5% in a volatile equity.
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Thanks firewaterword for the heads up on the CIT account. When I was posting about the tax exempt muni bonds, I had still been thinking that 1.0% accounts were the best you could find. 1.75% of FDIC insured is definitely better than chasing 2.5% in a volatile equity.
Posts
I agree. I have a few cards I hardly ever use. As long as there's no annual fee it's only helping your 'average age' and 'utilization'. Plus, if something does come up you have a card to use.
That said, if you you don't use it, they will close it out from under you - CapitalOne closed a card on me after 3 years of inactivity.
For general banking, I don't think any of the brokerages have particularly good rates or products.
Yeah, I'm a bit weird in that I went to Roth before Traditional IRA. Neither my wife nor I have Trad IRA, so we're looking at opening those before filing taxes for this year so we can still contribute for 2017.
Eh, I haven't used my Discover card in over a decade and it still works.
Depends on your needs I guess. If you're talking savings, CIT has pretty good rates, and the site is easy to use. For free checking, Schwab is great, primarily because they reimburse ATM fees, so you can take your pick when you need cash. You might have to open a brokerage account to use their banking side, but you can just leave that empty if you're so inclined.
Thanks, I'll take a look at those. I should mention, I am not exclusive to online banks, national banks would be fine also. It is just that the bank I currently use is regional, which sometimes makes it a bit difficult.
I can actually give a referral code for a bay area CU that does 2% interest on checking, and is part of moneypass, so any USBank ATM would work.
Mine just did too! I guess five years is too long to not use it. Oh well.
If you’re so much as just related to someone that works for the Department of Defense you can join Navy Federal Credit Union. They’re the largest in the country with branches everywhere and good online services.
i've got my old ones set up to autopay a small monthly or annual bill so they stay active and aren't all that much of a hassle to stay on top of
Sidenote - store specific cards (Home Depot, Kohls, etc) don't typically get cancelled, right?
I've got about a eight months of living expenses saved up at my current standard of living, and probably a 12-14 months if I tighten the belt to more essential spending, so it's definitely more than the standard 6 month emergency fund. Beyond that, I have a pretty decent amount of credit that I could use for immediate costs (and pay off once I cash out anything in an account).
What I had thought about doing a tiered EFund. Essentially I'd keep about 2-3 months in pure cash, and putting the rest in a taxable Vanguard account and put it all into a tax-exempt municipal bond fund like Vanguard's VWITX. Gains on this would be exempt from Federal tax, though unfortunately, I would have to pay state tax as a resident of IL. The plan in case of emergency would be to use the 2-3 months as the cash buffer for immediate cash-only emergency costs (rent etc), with credit to fill the 2-3 day gap that selling off an amount of the bond fund would require and use that to immediately pay off the credit expenses at the end of the month. VWITX is a bit more volatile than standard treasuries or other EFund vehicles, but has much better rate of return (averaging ~5.4% over the last 41 years) as compared to even the best of FDIC accounts of around 1.0% at Ally or Barclay's or similar. Looking at the potential for loss due to volatility doesn't look all that bad, with typically no more than a 1.5-2% downturn, with a max of ~10% during the crash of 2008.
I guess if I were to do something like that, I'd keep the cash reserves of up to 6 months. 2-3 would worry me, but I'm a bit risk adverse I guess.
Typically, no. Though iirc the HD card is a HD branded Visa/MC and not a store card like, say, Macy's.
So I've been looking at putting some money into them while also keeping a bit in my local bank and primarily use the checking account there. I see that I can do six digital withdrawals or transfers per statement, this means that if I needed to transfer $X money from CIT to my local bank's checking, I would not incur any fee? Any potential downsides to this? I plan on keeping enough money in my checking where if I have an emergency I should be fine, and I keep a close eye on it.
Yeah as far as I know you won't get hit with any fees if you stay under six per statement period. I just looked up the fee schedule; it's ten bucks a pop if you go over six, but that's capped at $50. I don't see why one would even hit that limit, but who knows.
You can usually find similar or higher values at credit unions. But they all come with restrictions. Usually the high APY is capped at a small(ish) dollar amount, like $15k. So up to 15k you get your 1-3% but above 15k it's back to the regular 0.1 or 0.05%. And they usually also have things like direct deposit requirements, or a certain number of debit/credit transactions per month.
Oh for sure, but those balance caps are, in my mind, way way way too low to justify jumping through those hoops.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
That's probably where you should be storing your emergency fund then. My emergency fund is in a savings account earning just over 1% and I'd really like to be getting more than that.
For liability, isn't it a bad idea to have too much in your checking versus a savings account? I thought you are more on the hook if something happens.
I think it depends on your financial institution. Schwab's banking side, for example, has a security guarantee that covers 100% of any losses stemming from unauthorized activity. Checking accounts are also covered under FDIC up to the usual $250k.
That said, still wouldn't ever suggest anyone use a debt card for a transaction when they could use a credit card.
Got back state, owed federal. Amount owed was more than I'd like, but it's kinda hard to thread the needle better than that.
Also I closed my Betterment account because the tax forms were 34 pages of fractional share transactions. My CPA's heart skipped a few beats.
====
Also, the year-to-date statement for my TSP for 2017 ended up at 19.5%; which is the highest increase in a single year since 2009 or 2010.
My just lists all brokerage transaction in 1 line. Something like "betterment... various... 500 gain, or whatever"
I had previously stashed my emergency fund there and thought the better of it, back in 2016, but had left a token amount behind (which I fully liquidated in 2017)
No worries, glad you can make use of it!
(twitch)
You are no longer a safe investment to sell interest bearing loans to.