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Does anyone put money into CDs anymore?
Fidelity, who asked for this?
SCARED MONEY DONT MAKE MONEY. BUY NOK 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
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Rising Star
Here we go again.
If you have cash that you want to invest. Please consider Treasury Series I Savings Bond (Electronic). Interest is 7.12% right now. While it's not guaranteed that the 7.12% will remain until next year, it's still a good deal.
My SO and I just invested 20k (10k max per person even married).
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/products/prod_ibonds_glance.htm
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Chief
Yes
Normally, the phrase “living paycheck to paycheck” connotates that the person has no other choice. They need to spend all they have to meet the basic standards of living for themselves and their families. To me, folks that have the funds to meet a comfortable standard of living and have the option to save, but choose not to, are not truly living “paycheck to paycheck”. They are spending irresponsibly.
Absolutely not. Framing it like this would be insulting to people who actually live paycheck to paycheck (…I know you’re just asking the question, so I’m not criticizing you). If you max 401K + HSA, you are saving $24K a year…that’s like half of what an average household takes home in a year.
Yeah it also refers imo to blowing all your money and not saving, so OP isn’t living pay check to paycheck but it’s also not insulting as the term refers to both people in lower income levels AND people who do not budget properly, depending on the context
No
No. Those aren’t fixed expenses they’re elective savings. That’s like saying if I make 10k and spend 7k and put the remainder in savings am I maxed out on expenses? You can use the surplus however you want. In this case for retirement savings
Yup, if you are close to 0 after all expenses, then you’re literally waiting for your next paycheck; which by definition is paycheck to paycheck
this is a funny argument... my perspective is you are both right.
but, I think that if you can reasonably stop the savings allocations (never mind that you have savings for the moment), you're not living "paycheck to paycheck" in the normal sense
as a former software engineer, I think it's OK to broaden your perspective slightly
As someone mentioned, maxing out 401k and hsa is 24k a year in savings. That’s a pretty decent savings amount if you’re single. I would suggest scaling back even by a couple of hundred a month to allocate some savings into an emergency fund if you don’t have that built up already.
Yes - u should have 6 months of expenses in cash at all times
No I don’t see it as that. You can always lower your retirement. I consider than zero based budgeting like others mentioned.
No. Everyone should have excess earnings allocated to different savings and investment vehicles. That doesn’t mean you’re living paycheck to paycheck
If you have a liquid emergency find definitely not. If you do not have an emergency fund it could go either way.
No. You are saving significant amounts of money. You are not living paycheck to paycheck.
Not at all. Pay yourself first which I believe you are doing with the investing and figure out the rest. I think you are doing just fine! If anything you have created yourself motivation to get extra income streams if hungry for more
Do you have funds that you can access in case of an emergency? If not, I would say you are living paycheck to paycheck. Nonetheless, congrats on making the sacrifice to invest that much - it will definitely pay off.
No - in our shoes we both retired from the military senior enlisted and work (albeit just to do something so far below skill sets but the no stress part is awesome) I run a tight budget but 100% of current earnings goes into savings, either IRAs, emergency, paying off mortgage faster. Every dollar has a purpose in our plan so the register says $0 at the end of the month but we're Def not living paycheck to paycheck. We could flex the dollars in a different direction if needed as we have a lot of flexibility that most don't. I really wanted to get in financial management when I was younger but it wasn't in the cards apparently. Did end up getting an accounting degree and even though I don't use it for work it had paid for itself.
If that were the standard of measurement, the percentage of people living paycheck-to-paycheck would skyrocket to something like 98%. I, an attorney with brothers who are attorneys, doctors, and MBA holders, don't know a single person that has maxed out both 401K and HSA contributions prior to turning about 35. And even then - I only know one.
No.. max out 401k and HSA probably like 24k. If one is making 100k to 200k, I don’t think they should be living pay check to pay check. Even in a city like nyc. To live pay check to pay check, it means way over spending.
I always have plans for my money. If my income 10x, I will still have a plan for every cent. Does that mean that I’m living paycheck to paycheck now and will be living paycheck to paycheck when my income 10x? If yes, then what do people who don’t have plans for their money do with it?
What exactly do your “expenses” include?
By definition, check to check means if you missed a paycheck then your bills wouldn’t be paid. This qualifies and doesn’t qualify at the same time. Technically you could pay your bills with 401k but ur not supposed to.
Chief
OP didn’t say anything about that, you’re just assuming it. OP is about cash flow. And reducing your 401(k) would take effect in the next paycheck, so if you knew you needed another $300 to make rent, you could reduce your contribution by $300, and you’d be able to make the payment. You’re still not in a great position long-term, but you’re not going to lose your home or starve next week, which is the point of the term.