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Liquidating investments can come with penalties, not to mention that it takes time. What if your car breaks down and you need to get to work, are you going to have time to liquidate your investments? Its never a bad idea to have a store of cash. I have $10000 in a high a interest checking acount making 4%. What investment would you have that is steadier than that with has as much interest? T-bills, saving bonds....most steady investments which can be liquidated dont get that good of interest.
4%, do you have a link to the bank/credit union?
I know there was a bank in PA that my buddy used that had something like that, I've forgotten now.
I know there was a bank in PA that my buddy used that had something like that, I've forgotten now.
Bank of Dieterich, in Dieterich Illinois, but you have to live locally. Some small, local banks do this to get people to use their banks, they usually have conditions to meet otherwise they will cut your interest down to a regular checking account, which sucks. You should look at local banks in your area to see what you can find. Look up high interest checking accounts in your state.
Bank of Dieterich, in Dieterich Illinois, but you have to live locally. Some small, local banks do this to get people to use their banks, they usually have conditions to meet otherwise they will cut your interest down to a regular checking account, which sucks. You should look at local banks in your area to see what you can find. Look up high interest checking accounts in your state.
Yep the one in PA you had to use your debit card 10x a month or you got 0.25%.
OMG - that is so true. You summed it up, short and sweet.
Thanks. I wish it weren't true, but I believe it is. We've become addicted to spending for its own sake, and our economic 'growth' can't take place in the absence of growing debt. We need to break the addiction, but to do that we have to go through withdrawal, and we don't seem to have the stomach for that. At some point, we'll have no choice, and the longer we wait, the worse it will be.
The first time I bought a home the mortgage broker kept explaining to me that I would qualify for a home costing $150K more than what I indicated was the range I was targeting. She seemed to not understand that I was aware I could qualify for more and simply didn't want to spend that much so that I could have more discretionary income to save and invest. I'm sure a lot of that went on in those days. Hopefully less now, but I'm sure it does even now sometimes.
Yep the one in PA you had to use your debit card 10x a month or you got 0.25%.
Yeah, thats how mine is too. I just use it for 10 of the cheapest things i can find. I usually do redbox, since i rent those anyways, or buy a gas station coffee on the way to work. You have to have enough money in the account so that you will still come out ahead. I saved $10000 before getting that account. Use it 10x a month for a dollar purchase and thats only 2.8% interest as long as you only have $10000 in the account. 2.8% is still better than most.
The first time I bought a home the mortgage broker kept explaining to me that I would qualify for a home costing $150K more than what I indicated was the range I was targeting. She seemed to not understand that I was aware I could qualify for more and simply didn't want to spend that much so that I could have more discretionary income to save and invest. I'm sure a lot of that went on in those days. Hopefully less now, but I'm sure it does even now sometimes.
The same thing happened to me. When I told a broker what I wanted to spend, after going over the fundamentals of my finances, her response was "why so little?"
The mortgage broker said more or less the same thing -- that I could qualify for a loan that was much higher than I was taking. I didn't want a bigger loan. In retrospect, I don't even want a loan as big as I took. It's mostly paid off now, but I'd love to have it fully paid off.
The first time I bought a home the mortgage broker kept explaining to me that I would qualify for a home costing $150K more than what I indicated was the range I was targeting. She seemed to not understand that I was aware I could qualify for more and simply didn't want to spend that much so that I could have more discretionary income to save and invest. I'm sure a lot of that went on in those days. Hopefully less now, but I'm sure it does even now sometimes.
same thing happened to the ex and me when we bought our house in 1997 ..... we were driving somewhere when the broker called and said we were approved for our loan and then added how much we REALLY qualified for as opposed to what we were applying to borrow..... i burst out laughing at the absurdity of a loan THAT large hanging over our heads.......
I have a lot of friends who, having had boomer parents whose idea of "wealth" was credit and debt, rebel against those ideas, but being stuck in a vicious cycle of wanting stuff and not being able to control it. Not having the purchasing power of even the boomers doesn't help either.
For me, I see the mess my parents put themselves into, and it boils down to maturity.
I learned from my mom the importance of an education if the jobs you want warrant it, how to be thrifty with occasional splurges, and to be true to your heart. My siblings and I took a long time to get over the things our parents put us through. We don't complain about it, we just plough through it and make our own lives.
We learned from our dad on how not to be a parent. He's come around lately, and we always knew he loved us - he took on debt for college expenses, and monetarily he wanted us to not worry ... but there's more to life than money.
And, I think that fact is lost on too many people. They focus on material goods because they're fun and we don't care about long term planning anymore. We just want fun.
The rich have a saying, "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations." It basically means that a family who makes it rich usually has thrifty, intelligent, and hardworking first generation. The second, having grown up with material wealth, squander it and spend like crazy or don't sustain the business. The third, having had poor role models, take what's left and basically have to start over again since it's so diluted.
I have a feeling that the Depression parents were the first generation, the Boomers the second generation, and the third generation are the Gen X'ers and Y. The good news is, societies and life operates in cycles, and we'll likely see the children of Gen Y use technology and knowledge of their time to work hard again. Typically, though, such advances in the world are preceded by war. I hope we can break that cycle.
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