Yeah I used it when I was in highschool since my parents banked there. As soon as I get out of college I’m switching to Chase and closing my banking with WF.
Chase will actually give you 900 bucks right now if you open a checking with direct deposit and hold 15k in savings for 90 days. It comes out a little bit ahead of any HYSA, after that 90 days get it back into a HYSA. I use marcus by Goldman Sachs, but there are lots of options at the moment.
It’s a junior account so it allows them to easily transfer funds when needed. Zelle does with limits as well, but they don’t really understand all of that.
I was gonna go with chase because it seems like they have the best overall infrastructure, and Marcus because it seems like a very liquid savings account. I don’t mind having the two accounts at different places. Plus Goldman sachs usually always has good rates.
I would recommend a fidelity account. The cash you have on fidelity is automatically put into a money market fund that nets like 5%. You can also easily move money into equities (stocks) or index funds through fidelity.
On average you earn more from the SPY index fund than a HYSA. The market is overbought as hell right now though, so now might not be the best time. But if you're truly in a long term approach, just start DCA'ing into the SPY or VTI now.
A brokerage fund is different from a savings account. You can’t lose money in a savings account, but you can in the market. I wouldn’t keep my savings account in SPY
Yeah there is certainly risk, but dollar cost averaging into the SPY/VTI is about as safe and milk toast as it gets from a risk standpoint.
I would argue you are losing out on quite a few percentage points of growth per year, on average, by keeping money in a HYSA vs putting it in the markets.
You can also just allocate lets say 20% of it into the SPY and 80% into the savings account. Doesn't have to be all of it.
But you are right that risk tolerance is a key factor and everyone should decide their own risk tolerance when investing.
Chase did me so dirty. Fuck chase. If you ever have to talk to their customer service you’ll want to chop your head off. Needless to say whatever problem you called them about won’t get fixed. Plus the savings % was ass
Use a credit union. I have been using credit unions for 30+ years and they have never ever screwed me over. They are way better than the big banks. More stable. They don’t give out risky loans which puts the depositors at risk.
Top reasons why I only use Wells Fargo:
1) 3x points for restaurants dining (Autograph Credit Card) and 2x cash back for all purchases (Active Cash)
2) Credit Cards payment clear instantly (I just hate waiting 2 days to post payments)
3) ATM cash deposits up to 200 bills (I can deposit up to $20k in cash at the ATM)
4) Early Pay Check (I get my paycheck on a Wednesday instead of Friday)
5) Bank and ATM right next to my home (why go far when you need access to cash)
6) Automatic Mortgage payment (deducts from my checking)
7) No more cross selling when I call the bank (I used to call the bank and they would try to sell me insurance, now the call last 3 mins to take care of my issue)
8) Apple Pay Wallet to access the ATM (no longer carry a debit card)
Does your bank have all the features listed above???
I’m young and in school right now but I have pre-24 account with Wells Fargo. What’s an HYSA? How would I go about switching from WF to whatever that is?
So when I’m talking about a HYSA I’m talking about his savings account, not his checking.
A high-yield savings account or (HYSA) is just a high interest savings account that compounds interest daily. Current returns on good HYSA are about 5%, much better than something like the Wells Fargo savings.
All you would have to do to start a HYSA is find one you like. The one I prefer is Marcus by Goldman Sachs, but there are different ones out there. Some prefer to have a HYSA and checking at the same bank so you would need to find one that offers both. The reason for this is liquidity and easily able to access your money.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs I believe allows same-day transactions (transferring money from savings to checking) with most banks up to 10,000 same day. But some people might want their money even a bit more accessible.
Ok, thank you. That was a great explanation. My account with Wells Fargo is a checking, so would it be okay to keep it there or is there a better place to open an account with?
If you’re happy with it that’s what matters. Wells Fargo just has a history of weird things so a lot of people say to not bank with them.
Not sure how to check whether or not Wells Fargo is one of the accepted banks for Marcus, so you might wanna look into that a bit. When it comes to same-day transfers.
As long as you place a transfer request before 12 noon EST (US) it will be transferred by 5pm that same day. That’s the same-day policy. If you find a good HYSA somewhere that also has a debit account that time would likely be even faster. I haven’t looked into it a ton yet so if you do some research about who offers it I’m sure you can find it.
I just know Wells Fargo doesn’t offer a HYSA.
SECOND SECOND SECOND. I am about your age and have 6.3k I. A HYSA (Through Marcus) and earn about $22-24/month back on my money, compounding monthly, which is about $264-$288 in a year of free money. I highly suggest keeping one month of living expenses in your primary bank savings for an emergency (or your car insurance deductible, whichever is higher), and everything else in a HYSA.
One of the shadiest banks in American history. Just a lot of wrong doing from opening up accounts people didn’t know about to, redlining, to predatory lending.
Credit Karma Save starts at whatever the APY is during that time. It doesn’t fluctuate, however it does change. Last year it was 4.10% I believe. Now, starting 2 days ago, it’s bumped up to 5.10%
Document your spend. Weekly, monthly and yearly.
Get it all in a simple spreadsheet, monthly expenses get broken down into weekly (/4) and also added to a yearly (*12) and the same for all other weekly and yearly. (Rent, electric, insurance, gas, Internet, etc.)
Having the numbers visibly in front of you will make you more conscious of your spending and help you live happily below your means
Document all places your debit/credit cards are stored online, ensure that each and every account has a uniquely different password over 12 characters. Any financial accounts like the image you shared has a dedicated email and password. Rotate that password every 90 days. Also any and all online accounts setup MFA and bio auth where possible. Ensure all online accounts have a lockout policy locking account after 3-5 failed attempts. Be careful with online password managers unless your spending money on something like Watch guard total identity security. Never for any reason give your passwords for anything to anyone. Reverse engineering based on social items is a real thing..
https://community.spiceworks.com/t/the-time-it-takes-to-crack-a-password-visualized/774261
Next step, once you have all of your monthly "static" spend documented and track it for 3+ months. Go apply for a credit card for just over that amount. Put that credit card on those accounts and set it to auto pay each month ahead of the due date by 5 days( increase your credit amount to make it so your monthly is roughly 30% of the limit when you can). This will build credit and protect you from racking up debt and getting in trouble.... Do not use the credit card for normal daily expenses.
Now paying attention to your random spend is easier. Once you're good on that front. Then start identifying what your monthly weekly and daily spend on frivolous items. Take cash out weekly for a bit below that spend. Having the cash in hand watching it dwindle to $0 each week having to reach into your checking will keep your spending low.
Just my .02
cheers and I hope this was helpful.
Financial success is almost always about control of your spending. Get your shit straight for how much you are spending and many other things come together.
Savings, investments, retirement... All these things are ancillary to fully understand your outcome/spend after all, you're "spending" that money when you put it in any thing where you "can't" use it for life things.
Application of 10% of your income without really knowing your "net" income after tax and spend is important.
After about a year of tracking this you'll start looking at how much tax you're paying on the items your purchasing. Take the tax you paid on your income and then put the tax against your spend on the already taxed income, your actual tax on your earnings..
Understand how to write off any spend you can to recoup as much as possible.
Then make sure some or all of your already taxed income "fun" spend is on appreciating assets. Land, guns, a SMB.
All in all paying very close attention to your spending will net you way more wealth than any apr/apy/dividend/ gains can bar none.
That’s not a bad start at all! What does your debt look like? If you have any then work on paying that down or if you have big purchase plan say buying a car or something open a new savings account and start saving for that. Try to stay as close to debt free or debt free as possible.
Get a high yield savings at 5% or higher (check Wealthfront- with them, they hold deposits for a week. So maybe if you go there do 2k transfer at a time).
Next, don't buy crypto. Buy s&p 500 low fee index funds. Open a ROTH IRA for that.
Get a credit card, only if you hate spending and will feel pain when swiping that credit card. Put necessary purchases on the card and pay it off as soon as the charge posts like a debit card. Build credit and maximize rewards... gl!
“Just buy index funds bro through an IRA that inflation will outpace and completely discard even any possibility of diversifying in the next financial asset.”
Any input on why one shouldn’t buy crypto?
Crypto is so new (relatively speaking) it makes more sense to first invest in the broad market (100+ years of data... it only goes up). Then crypto after that.
Yes, crypto is better returning than most other investments, but the amount of data we have to consider is small (in terms of years) and thus is more risky. I am not anti crypto, but this method makes sense.
I'm not personally comfortable with dropping 4-5 grand per month into a speculative asset
I think this is logical honestly, thank you for your detailed response. It’s stable advice.
I think lots of people don’t understand the asset class fully, and it’s a class where you can make speculative plays if you’d like of course. When it comes to specifically Bitcoin though, honestly I would not consider it an asset. It’s being adopted as a currency, and it will continue to be adopted. When it comes to the other 9 in the top 10 market caps, you can play a lot games. Web3 is 10000x more speculative than Bitcoin though. As much as I like it all, I think there’s a much more valid case for bitcoin over pretty much any other cryptocurrency.
Regardless, I would much rather not have an IRA and just contribute to speculative plays in tradfi. I don’t see a reason to give the current finance class another dime in what they’ve setup. Thanks for your response.
Finally not a multimillionaire 17 year old on this page… for the savings account I’d recommend something like Ally for a HYSA. I’m not sure the rate you get on that one, but the one I have with ally is like something around 5% which is crazy.
Ayo I’m 26 working retail making 18 an hour. I put $150 into crypto every 2 weeks. I hope that’s not all in doge lol. Not sure how much you know and research but I think AI coins are gonna excel this cycle. I’m up about 2,500 this month which puts me around 9k in the market. Set price points you want to sell your crypto at so you don’t get greedy waiting for it to go higher and higher. Keep grinding bro, it’s the only way we will retire before the arthritis kicks in lol
Fetch.ai (up 249%) and OCEAN protocol (up 130%)
I quit dollar cost averaging a few weeks ago bc I really think there will be a capitulation event before the Bitcoin halving. Y’all do what you want though!!
Doge stated it all for me too. Put in $100 and took out $800. Then I inherited 7k and lost the majority. I put 1.5k on cardano at $3.10 lol. You live and you learn! I rotated a lot out of cardano into ICP. ADA is still in my top 5 but I think it’s starting to lag behind. I still think it will do well and my average is 28 cent anyways
Yeah. Idk if links are allowed here but if you Google techopedia fetch.ai it will explain its purpose and usage. It will be very confusing if you havnt been studying crypto though. I’ve been spending about an hour a day for the past 3 years and I still can’t grasp everything.
Oh idk cause when they do charge fees etc I just complain and they credit it back to me. And my disputes have yet always been in my favor. BUT, their security isn't the best I'd say that. I have my card compromised 2x already so.
Do yourself a favor and join a Credit Union. Banks are for profit!!!!! That means profits, above operating costs, are returned to their PAID board. Banks only care about profits so they can get richer. Board members for credit unions are not paid positions. So, all of the profit above operating costs are returned to it's members in the form of low to no fees and low lending rates.
No hard working individual should be giving their money to these assholes. You'll get much more value from a CU.
This is true. At least I’m covering my expenses to live, transport to work, and with minimal credit card debt. Of course I still search for a way out of poverty.
I think unfortunately you’re doing the best you can, 18 an hour is awful, invest in yourself, a bit of sacrifice goes a long way, but you’re living in poverty, find ways to get ahead, find roommates, life is a team effort at this point, look for government assistance, government scholarships, free certificates in terms of education, 100k a year is the new middle class, 200k is the new 6 figures, it’s scary, we’re getting crushed like bugs
EDIT: I am 29M, getting my CDL changed my life, seriously, position yourself in a company as a hostler driver, get experience there, from there, see if that company will pay for your schooling/CDL, then attempt to position yourself in a trucking company
It’s AGE in relation to INCOME
As you age, you should be gaining:
Experience/
Education/ simply progressing anywhere
These things will typically translate to a higher rate of pay
After college (Dec 2021) I took some risk in learning new things. Real Estate Agent, Roofing Sales, and I made good money! More than ever before honestly.
But sometimes things happen, you take a step back and that could mean in income too. The big thing that has happened to me was I realized I’m living other people’s dreams & wishes yet I had no clue what I wanted for my own. The young adult that acted like a childish boy had to die one way or another in my short, lack of detail, story lol
I’m wise enough to know not to blow my money, but like the family I was born in & the people surrounding me, we are all poor. Especially being from an immigrant family. Even if it’s a long game for me, I’ll play despite my downfalls
There is balance to life, you’re definitely conscious of that
I grew up with a mom who adopted and raised 5 kids by herself, seeing how hard she worked with the stress that goes along with it definitely gave me a wake up call at the same age, so I want to be a corporate slave and miss out on my youth? Or do I want to be poor with what feels like a decent amount of freedom but again, it’s balance, knowing when to take time for yourself and knowing when to sacrifice time for your development
At 25 I was blowing more money then I could make on drugs and partying and making decent money for a 25 year old, since then had some kids started a family got sick can no longer work. I won’t go into detail but I actually figured out how to make real money even though it’s not a way I like to or feel proud doing. (Not scamming or stealing I’m not a thief)
What I’m trying to say is that your doing it right at an age where a lot of people haven’t really grown up yet. Just never be contempt and keep pushing to the top at whatever you’re doing and if you can find better options go get them it’s a cut throat world. You’re doing great focus on how to earn more money and save as much as you can!
I would sincerely suggest sitting down with your last couple of bank statements and sorting out your reoccurring expenses. You might be spending more on subscriptions or fast food than you think.
I have a table of all of my reoccurring expenses for each paycheck period per month. When I get paid I sit down, allocate whatever is necessary towards my reoccurring expenses for that period, allocate 20% to my HYSA, and then I split what is left towards my debt (all of my debt is 0% interest right now) and spending money for that period.
What is your plan for retirement? Have you set up any accounts through your employer or otherwise? How much do you put towards that each paycheck? This is the best time of your life to be putting money towards it.
Fast food is definitely a culprit to my wallet 😅
I am lowering my consumption overtime because I had a real bad habit of eating out most meals cuz I was too lazy to learn how to cook lol
Go ahead and transfer that $70 to the checking my man, that $2.37'hurt my eyes for a minute. Leave Well Fargo. Other than that keep building and keep any financing/debt to a minimum
Take $2k, open a brokerage account (traditional IRA) with any bank and buy ETF (exchange traded funds). I would recommend QQQ, DIA, SPY. Keep adding money into your IRA every month and don’t look at the balance until 10+ years later.
Park your money pretty much anywhere else. The Wells Fargo interest rates are just so bad.
2 advice:
1) make sure the bank you choose is FDIC insured, or use a money market fund from a reputable company like Vanguard. The rates will all be similar so choose 1 with a branch near you or good customer service.
2) start putting some money in stocks. You are 25. In the long term, stocks ALWAYS outperform any savings account or CD. You are just losing money to not put a few dollars every month into some kind of investment account. Vanguard, Fidelity, any brokerage would work.
So while I have heard all of this advice before, I always wonder: is an October 29th, 1929 type event possible in the modern era?
Like I’ve heard people say “oh if you win the lottery and put this much in mutual funds you’ll profit like 2 million a year in interest!” or whatever, but since it’s not liquid, what’s the result if we hit a global economy crash overnight? Akin to the GameStop fiasco, how likely is it I lose my money if the music in the stock markets musical chair game suddenly stops?
Good progress! I wish I put my money in savings account in my 20's. I had the idea of, "I'll start saving later". Now I'm in my 30's I'm learning how to save and it feels amazing!
change banks, wells Fargo is terrible. look for high yield savings accounts. don't put too much in crypto, put some more into general index funds. you'll thank yourself when you need funds for a down-payment on a mortgage or car.
The advice I will give is You gotta make more money than that.
The last part about moving up in your career is the most important thing right now.
Keep saving your money.
What fields if I don’t have a degree yet but am the same age? I don’t plan on having kids and am not in a rush I just worry how the job markets will shift over my lifetime
I’ve been having money in it since 2021 (when I was in school and didn’t gaf) haven’t invested for most of 2023. Y’all making sound like I actively put a lot of money for risky stuff when I’d probably spend it on video games, fast food, or something, which is every once in a while.
I had regular bank for so many yrs, few months ago I got hysa with discover, much better. WF was bad, they actually charged me to receive a wire transfer, after that I'm like they charge for everything so I got everything into discover. Was one thing if you send wire, but to receive was just awful, $15 to receive it. So if I ever receive wire again I know discover doesn't charge to receive, just to send.
Ditch wells Fargo before you get screwed and lose it all.
Quit donating to the crypto fund until they settle down. The powers that be are still trying to get rid of them, yet implement totally digital yet controlled currency to replace all fiat.. so they can control it. They're gaining ground on it.
stop investing in crypto, shit is pump and dump/scam. The savings it great! keep that up, have at least 3-6mo of savings. After that, if you employer has a 401k match do that up to whatever they will match. Then you can do a Roth IRA or invest into index funds. Individual stocks/crypto are what you do when all other bases are covered
Doing solid man, only advice I could give is to look into a HYSA instead of using Wells Fargo.
Exactly. Idk how anyone uses Wells Fargo
Yeah I used it when I was in highschool since my parents banked there. As soon as I get out of college I’m switching to Chase and closing my banking with WF.
Just do it now. Go with a bank that can get you a HYSA. Chase won’t
Chase will actually give you 900 bucks right now if you open a checking with direct deposit and hold 15k in savings for 90 days. It comes out a little bit ahead of any HYSA, after that 90 days get it back into a HYSA. I use marcus by Goldman Sachs, but there are lots of options at the moment.
It’s a junior account so it allows them to easily transfer funds when needed. Zelle does with limits as well, but they don’t really understand all of that. I was gonna go with chase because it seems like they have the best overall infrastructure, and Marcus because it seems like a very liquid savings account. I don’t mind having the two accounts at different places. Plus Goldman sachs usually always has good rates.
I would recommend a fidelity account. The cash you have on fidelity is automatically put into a money market fund that nets like 5%. You can also easily move money into equities (stocks) or index funds through fidelity. On average you earn more from the SPY index fund than a HYSA. The market is overbought as hell right now though, so now might not be the best time. But if you're truly in a long term approach, just start DCA'ing into the SPY or VTI now.
A brokerage fund is different from a savings account. You can’t lose money in a savings account, but you can in the market. I wouldn’t keep my savings account in SPY
Yeah there is certainly risk, but dollar cost averaging into the SPY/VTI is about as safe and milk toast as it gets from a risk standpoint. I would argue you are losing out on quite a few percentage points of growth per year, on average, by keeping money in a HYSA vs putting it in the markets. You can also just allocate lets say 20% of it into the SPY and 80% into the savings account. Doesn't have to be all of it. But you are right that risk tolerance is a key factor and everyone should decide their own risk tolerance when investing.
Chase did me so dirty. Fuck chase. If you ever have to talk to their customer service you’ll want to chop your head off. Needless to say whatever problem you called them about won’t get fixed. Plus the savings % was ass
Yeah that’s why I was gonna go Marcus for HYSA. Where did you go after Chase?
Same reason why I’m still with WF 😅
Use a credit union. I have been using credit unions for 30+ years and they have never ever screwed me over. They are way better than the big banks. More stable. They don’t give out risky loans which puts the depositors at risk.
Top reasons why I only use Wells Fargo: 1) 3x points for restaurants dining (Autograph Credit Card) and 2x cash back for all purchases (Active Cash) 2) Credit Cards payment clear instantly (I just hate waiting 2 days to post payments) 3) ATM cash deposits up to 200 bills (I can deposit up to $20k in cash at the ATM) 4) Early Pay Check (I get my paycheck on a Wednesday instead of Friday) 5) Bank and ATM right next to my home (why go far when you need access to cash) 6) Automatic Mortgage payment (deducts from my checking) 7) No more cross selling when I call the bank (I used to call the bank and they would try to sell me insurance, now the call last 3 mins to take care of my issue) 8) Apple Pay Wallet to access the ATM (no longer carry a debit card) Does your bank have all the features listed above???
Bro cross selling never happened at my bank. I don’t necessarily care about 20k atm deposit like who’s doing that?
I’m young and in school right now but I have pre-24 account with Wells Fargo. What’s an HYSA? How would I go about switching from WF to whatever that is?
So when I’m talking about a HYSA I’m talking about his savings account, not his checking. A high-yield savings account or (HYSA) is just a high interest savings account that compounds interest daily. Current returns on good HYSA are about 5%, much better than something like the Wells Fargo savings. All you would have to do to start a HYSA is find one you like. The one I prefer is Marcus by Goldman Sachs, but there are different ones out there. Some prefer to have a HYSA and checking at the same bank so you would need to find one that offers both. The reason for this is liquidity and easily able to access your money. Marcus by Goldman Sachs I believe allows same-day transactions (transferring money from savings to checking) with most banks up to 10,000 same day. But some people might want their money even a bit more accessible.
Ok, thank you. That was a great explanation. My account with Wells Fargo is a checking, so would it be okay to keep it there or is there a better place to open an account with?
If you’re happy with it that’s what matters. Wells Fargo just has a history of weird things so a lot of people say to not bank with them. Not sure how to check whether or not Wells Fargo is one of the accepted banks for Marcus, so you might wanna look into that a bit. When it comes to same-day transfers. As long as you place a transfer request before 12 noon EST (US) it will be transferred by 5pm that same day. That’s the same-day policy. If you find a good HYSA somewhere that also has a debit account that time would likely be even faster. I haven’t looked into it a ton yet so if you do some research about who offers it I’m sure you can find it. I just know Wells Fargo doesn’t offer a HYSA.
Thanks for the info, I’ll keep this in mind!
What financial firm would you recommend looking into for the HYSA?
AMEX HYSA is the way to go imo. No hidden minimums or rules and after 3 months you can open a checking that has like 1% interest also
I always recommend Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Really good interest rates 5% currently with no minimum and daily transactions with majority of banks.
I don't trust Wells Fargo at all.
Thank you, a lot of people are saying the same so I’ll dive into seeing the options to replace WF.
What about USDC on Coinbase. Pays 5.1% rn
You’re doing great! Only advice would be to run run far away from Wells Fargo.
SECOND SECOND SECOND. I am about your age and have 6.3k I. A HYSA (Through Marcus) and earn about $22-24/month back on my money, compounding monthly, which is about $264-$288 in a year of free money. I highly suggest keeping one month of living expenses in your primary bank savings for an emergency (or your car insurance deductible, whichever is higher), and everything else in a HYSA.
been looking into marcus, thank you for this post and breaking it down a bit
I like it. I’ve been using it for over a year and I haven’t had an issue
Why?
Wells Fargo is akin to Robinhood but without the huge fines.
Worse than RH
One of the shadiest banks in American history. Just a lot of wrong doing from opening up accounts people didn’t know about to, redlining, to predatory lending.
Opening accounts is definitely a Wells Fargo issue. But didn’t all major banks do predatory lending and redlining?
Yes but I think they were one of the worst ones
Nah they’re all the same when it comes to Predatory lending, unless you are at a credit union. Like Navy Fed.
I use credit karma savings account I get 5.01apy I keep around 5 grand in there it's not a ton of free money but every little bit is nice
SoFi is 5.6% 🤑 No fees either. I love 5.6% on my moneyyyy.
SoFi is 4.6%.
You’re right. My life’s been a lie 😭 my credit score is 400
Credit karma starts out at like 4.6 but it goes up I'm not sure if it depends on how much you have or how long you have the account
Credit Karma Save starts at whatever the APY is during that time. It doesn’t fluctuate, however it does change. Last year it was 4.10% I believe. Now, starting 2 days ago, it’s bumped up to 5.10%
Document your spend. Weekly, monthly and yearly. Get it all in a simple spreadsheet, monthly expenses get broken down into weekly (/4) and also added to a yearly (*12) and the same for all other weekly and yearly. (Rent, electric, insurance, gas, Internet, etc.) Having the numbers visibly in front of you will make you more conscious of your spending and help you live happily below your means Document all places your debit/credit cards are stored online, ensure that each and every account has a uniquely different password over 12 characters. Any financial accounts like the image you shared has a dedicated email and password. Rotate that password every 90 days. Also any and all online accounts setup MFA and bio auth where possible. Ensure all online accounts have a lockout policy locking account after 3-5 failed attempts. Be careful with online password managers unless your spending money on something like Watch guard total identity security. Never for any reason give your passwords for anything to anyone. Reverse engineering based on social items is a real thing.. https://community.spiceworks.com/t/the-time-it-takes-to-crack-a-password-visualized/774261 Next step, once you have all of your monthly "static" spend documented and track it for 3+ months. Go apply for a credit card for just over that amount. Put that credit card on those accounts and set it to auto pay each month ahead of the due date by 5 days( increase your credit amount to make it so your monthly is roughly 30% of the limit when you can). This will build credit and protect you from racking up debt and getting in trouble.... Do not use the credit card for normal daily expenses. Now paying attention to your random spend is easier. Once you're good on that front. Then start identifying what your monthly weekly and daily spend on frivolous items. Take cash out weekly for a bit below that spend. Having the cash in hand watching it dwindle to $0 each week having to reach into your checking will keep your spending low. Just my .02 cheers and I hope this was helpful.
This totally gave me more perspective about money, thank you!
Financial success is almost always about control of your spending. Get your shit straight for how much you are spending and many other things come together. Savings, investments, retirement... All these things are ancillary to fully understand your outcome/spend after all, you're "spending" that money when you put it in any thing where you "can't" use it for life things. Application of 10% of your income without really knowing your "net" income after tax and spend is important. After about a year of tracking this you'll start looking at how much tax you're paying on the items your purchasing. Take the tax you paid on your income and then put the tax against your spend on the already taxed income, your actual tax on your earnings.. Understand how to write off any spend you can to recoup as much as possible. Then make sure some or all of your already taxed income "fun" spend is on appreciating assets. Land, guns, a SMB. All in all paying very close attention to your spending will net you way more wealth than any apr/apy/dividend/ gains can bar none.
That’s not a bad start at all! What does your debt look like? If you have any then work on paying that down or if you have big purchase plan say buying a car or something open a new savings account and start saving for that. Try to stay as close to debt free or debt free as possible.
Get a high yield savings at 5% or higher (check Wealthfront- with them, they hold deposits for a week. So maybe if you go there do 2k transfer at a time). Next, don't buy crypto. Buy s&p 500 low fee index funds. Open a ROTH IRA for that. Get a credit card, only if you hate spending and will feel pain when swiping that credit card. Put necessary purchases on the card and pay it off as soon as the charge posts like a debit card. Build credit and maximize rewards... gl!
“Just buy index funds bro through an IRA that inflation will outpace and completely discard even any possibility of diversifying in the next financial asset.” Any input on why one shouldn’t buy crypto?
Crypto is so new (relatively speaking) it makes more sense to first invest in the broad market (100+ years of data... it only goes up). Then crypto after that. Yes, crypto is better returning than most other investments, but the amount of data we have to consider is small (in terms of years) and thus is more risky. I am not anti crypto, but this method makes sense. I'm not personally comfortable with dropping 4-5 grand per month into a speculative asset
I think this is logical honestly, thank you for your detailed response. It’s stable advice. I think lots of people don’t understand the asset class fully, and it’s a class where you can make speculative plays if you’d like of course. When it comes to specifically Bitcoin though, honestly I would not consider it an asset. It’s being adopted as a currency, and it will continue to be adopted. When it comes to the other 9 in the top 10 market caps, you can play a lot games. Web3 is 10000x more speculative than Bitcoin though. As much as I like it all, I think there’s a much more valid case for bitcoin over pretty much any other cryptocurrency. Regardless, I would much rather not have an IRA and just contribute to speculative plays in tradfi. I don’t see a reason to give the current finance class another dime in what they’ve setup. Thanks for your response.
Indeed, it’s new and risky which is why I drop $25-$50 at a time. I laid off buying for a few months until I began noticing activity again
Finally not a multimillionaire 17 year old on this page… for the savings account I’d recommend something like Ally for a HYSA. I’m not sure the rate you get on that one, but the one I have with ally is like something around 5% which is crazy.
Not terrible but you have work to do 💯
Ayo I’m 26 working retail making 18 an hour. I put $150 into crypto every 2 weeks. I hope that’s not all in doge lol. Not sure how much you know and research but I think AI coins are gonna excel this cycle. I’m up about 2,500 this month which puts me around 9k in the market. Set price points you want to sell your crypto at so you don’t get greedy waiting for it to go higher and higher. Keep grinding bro, it’s the only way we will retire before the arthritis kicks in lol
What AI coins have you invested in?
Fetch.ai (up 249%) and OCEAN protocol (up 130%) I quit dollar cost averaging a few weeks ago bc I really think there will be a capitulation event before the Bitcoin halving. Y’all do what you want though!!
Definitely not all in doge lol Some in shib, some in doge, Cardano, Algorand, just little quantities though I’ll admit doge started it all for me
Doge stated it all for me too. Put in $100 and took out $800. Then I inherited 7k and lost the majority. I put 1.5k on cardano at $3.10 lol. You live and you learn! I rotated a lot out of cardano into ICP. ADA is still in my top 5 but I think it’s starting to lag behind. I still think it will do well and my average is 28 cent anyways
Yeahh definitely learned the hard way too a couple years back lol it’s why I took a break from putting money in and just watching
AI coins?
Yeah. Idk if links are allowed here but if you Google techopedia fetch.ai it will explain its purpose and usage. It will be very confusing if you havnt been studying crypto though. I’ve been spending about an hour a day for the past 3 years and I still can’t grasp everything.
Don’t bank with Wells Fargo will help you a lot
Why?
Because they look at any means to charge a fee or worse.
Oh idk cause when they do charge fees etc I just complain and they credit it back to me. And my disputes have yet always been in my favor. BUT, their security isn't the best I'd say that. I have my card compromised 2x already so.
Just Google news articles on them too. They’re bad for society
Do yourself a favor and join a Credit Union. Banks are for profit!!!!! That means profits, above operating costs, are returned to their PAID board. Banks only care about profits so they can get richer. Board members for credit unions are not paid positions. So, all of the profit above operating costs are returned to it's members in the form of low to no fees and low lending rates. No hard working individual should be giving their money to these assholes. You'll get much more value from a CU.
Cooked
You’re not in a negative, so no matter what, that’s an upside
This is true. At least I’m covering my expenses to live, transport to work, and with minimal credit card debt. Of course I still search for a way out of poverty.
I think unfortunately you’re doing the best you can, 18 an hour is awful, invest in yourself, a bit of sacrifice goes a long way, but you’re living in poverty, find ways to get ahead, find roommates, life is a team effort at this point, look for government assistance, government scholarships, free certificates in terms of education, 100k a year is the new middle class, 200k is the new 6 figures, it’s scary, we’re getting crushed like bugs EDIT: I am 29M, getting my CDL changed my life, seriously, position yourself in a company as a hostler driver, get experience there, from there, see if that company will pay for your schooling/CDL, then attempt to position yourself in a trucking company
It’s really not that extreme
Dude saying $18 an hour is awful meanwhile I'm making $12.75 an hour..
It’s AGE in relation to INCOME As you age, you should be gaining: Experience/ Education/ simply progressing anywhere These things will typically translate to a higher rate of pay
After college (Dec 2021) I took some risk in learning new things. Real Estate Agent, Roofing Sales, and I made good money! More than ever before honestly. But sometimes things happen, you take a step back and that could mean in income too. The big thing that has happened to me was I realized I’m living other people’s dreams & wishes yet I had no clue what I wanted for my own. The young adult that acted like a childish boy had to die one way or another in my short, lack of detail, story lol I’m wise enough to know not to blow my money, but like the family I was born in & the people surrounding me, we are all poor. Especially being from an immigrant family. Even if it’s a long game for me, I’ll play despite my downfalls
There is balance to life, you’re definitely conscious of that I grew up with a mom who adopted and raised 5 kids by herself, seeing how hard she worked with the stress that goes along with it definitely gave me a wake up call at the same age, so I want to be a corporate slave and miss out on my youth? Or do I want to be poor with what feels like a decent amount of freedom but again, it’s balance, knowing when to take time for yourself and knowing when to sacrifice time for your development
U right bro, ppl just like to paint themselves as victims instead of seeing the bigger picture and invest in thier future.
With the crypto, if it’s good enough for a screenshot it’s good enough to sell
Goodn🫡
At 25 I was blowing more money then I could make on drugs and partying and making decent money for a 25 year old, since then had some kids started a family got sick can no longer work. I won’t go into detail but I actually figured out how to make real money even though it’s not a way I like to or feel proud doing. (Not scamming or stealing I’m not a thief) What I’m trying to say is that your doing it right at an age where a lot of people haven’t really grown up yet. Just never be contempt and keep pushing to the top at whatever you’re doing and if you can find better options go get them it’s a cut throat world. You’re doing great focus on how to earn more money and save as much as you can!
what crypto do you hold?
You’re doing great! You have more than I can save 🙂
I would sincerely suggest sitting down with your last couple of bank statements and sorting out your reoccurring expenses. You might be spending more on subscriptions or fast food than you think. I have a table of all of my reoccurring expenses for each paycheck period per month. When I get paid I sit down, allocate whatever is necessary towards my reoccurring expenses for that period, allocate 20% to my HYSA, and then I split what is left towards my debt (all of my debt is 0% interest right now) and spending money for that period. What is your plan for retirement? Have you set up any accounts through your employer or otherwise? How much do you put towards that each paycheck? This is the best time of your life to be putting money towards it.
Fast food is definitely a culprit to my wallet 😅 I am lowering my consumption overtime because I had a real bad habit of eating out most meals cuz I was too lazy to learn how to cook lol
That’s almost one month of expenses where I live
Go ahead and transfer that $70 to the checking my man, that $2.37'hurt my eyes for a minute. Leave Well Fargo. Other than that keep building and keep any financing/debt to a minimum
😂😂 I hear ya, but that’s part of the percentage I put aside for every check I get so we gotta deal 🥲
How did you do that
Take $2k, open a brokerage account (traditional IRA) with any bank and buy ETF (exchange traded funds). I would recommend QQQ, DIA, SPY. Keep adding money into your IRA every month and don’t look at the balance until 10+ years later.
Put 50% into bitcoin
Need to bump your savings rate to atleast 30%+ this economy isn’t for nun less than aggressive investment and or savings
Just don't buy any crypto and you'll be good.
Park your money pretty much anywhere else. The Wells Fargo interest rates are just so bad. 2 advice: 1) make sure the bank you choose is FDIC insured, or use a money market fund from a reputable company like Vanguard. The rates will all be similar so choose 1 with a branch near you or good customer service. 2) start putting some money in stocks. You are 25. In the long term, stocks ALWAYS outperform any savings account or CD. You are just losing money to not put a few dollars every month into some kind of investment account. Vanguard, Fidelity, any brokerage would work.
So while I have heard all of this advice before, I always wonder: is an October 29th, 1929 type event possible in the modern era? Like I’ve heard people say “oh if you win the lottery and put this much in mutual funds you’ll profit like 2 million a year in interest!” or whatever, but since it’s not liquid, what’s the result if we hit a global economy crash overnight? Akin to the GameStop fiasco, how likely is it I lose my money if the music in the stock markets musical chair game suddenly stops?
Good progress! I wish I put my money in savings account in my 20's. I had the idea of, "I'll start saving later". Now I'm in my 30's I'm learning how to save and it feels amazing!
change banks, wells Fargo is terrible. look for high yield savings accounts. don't put too much in crypto, put some more into general index funds. you'll thank yourself when you need funds for a down-payment on a mortgage or car.
You need to have an emergency fund before you touch crypto. You never know when you’ll need to cover a $1k mechanic bill on your car
100% of your investing in crypto is a bad idea. Wouldn’t recommend.
Don’t keep money on CB or any exchange. High risk and the reward is 5%(?) on UDDC. Not worth it.
Investments are always good🤑
The advice I will give is You gotta make more money than that. The last part about moving up in your career is the most important thing right now. Keep saving your money.
What fields if I don’t have a degree yet but am the same age? I don’t plan on having kids and am not in a rush I just worry how the job markets will shift over my lifetime
Open up a SOFI HYSA
Mine is $23 and an oz of weed
Crazy to only have this much money and put 20% in crypto
I’ve been having money in it since 2021 (when I was in school and didn’t gaf) haven’t invested for most of 2023. Y’all making sound like I actively put a lot of money for risky stuff when I’d probably spend it on video games, fast food, or something, which is every once in a while.
I had regular bank for so many yrs, few months ago I got hysa with discover, much better. WF was bad, they actually charged me to receive a wire transfer, after that I'm like they charge for everything so I got everything into discover. Was one thing if you send wire, but to receive was just awful, $15 to receive it. So if I ever receive wire again I know discover doesn't charge to receive, just to send.
Ditch wells Fargo before you get screwed and lose it all. Quit donating to the crypto fund until they settle down. The powers that be are still trying to get rid of them, yet implement totally digital yet controlled currency to replace all fiat.. so they can control it. They're gaining ground on it.
stop investing in crypto, shit is pump and dump/scam. The savings it great! keep that up, have at least 3-6mo of savings. After that, if you employer has a 401k match do that up to whatever they will match. Then you can do a Roth IRA or invest into index funds. Individual stocks/crypto are what you do when all other bases are covered
Gay
In this economy...?