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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   29373 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 19, 2024

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Nope - at these salary levels, you should have a checking account with at least $10k, probably $20k. Your retirement should be maxed out, etc.

Financing a new HVAC unit at 9% interest is pathetic when you're making $175k a year.

Okay, "liquid investment account(s) from which cash can be withdrawn on a few days' notice".

Uhh, would you accept cash equivalents? No point in keeping the money in low-interest checking when I can throw it into treasuries.

I typically keep it in a HYSA, which is maybe a quarter point off of a money market? There are 4-5 different providers I can think of paying 5% out right now, and you can do 30 withdrawals a month, so it's a decent way to keep things sufficiently padded but earning interest.

My cash in/outflows range between $8-20k a month depending on when insurance is due, if I'm paying for vacation or holiday gifts, or replacing an HVAC system in a rental.

So it's a bit of a personal SWAG here, but the bottom line is: No 40-year-old man making $100k a year should be asking their employer for a pay advance, which I've seen before.

I do have a HYSA, but it's just a backstop to a T-bill ladder (4 sets of 4 week). My checking account is thus pretty small; paycheck goes in, bills go out, and if I get ahead (usually tax refund time; RSUs make taxes hard to predict) I add some T-bills. Chance of needing the cash in less than the time it would take to allow T-bills to mature is low, since so many things can go on credit cards (with a grace period of course). The T-bills are running around 5.25% and are state tax free, which is important in a high-tax state.

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