Where is the best place to put my money?

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu][

54 months is an awfully long time for a 2.65% rate imho.[/quote]

I don’t disagree. But it’s only tied up if I’m unwilling to forfeit interest. In other words – its as liquid as I need it to be – in case something else comes along.

As I said – this is my “emergency fund” money… needs to be available if I need it. Needs to have principal protected. And the savings account rates and money market rates are WAAAY more suckful. I had it in a 4.5% cd that expired. I was sad when that expired.[/quote]

Ah…I see. I just think it’s a sad state of affairs when cash back from your Costco Amex earns more than how much your CD returns…

Maybe that’s the plan…The more we charge, the more we earn!!!!

LOL…Meanwhile, CC companies still charge like 18-25% APR????Go figure….

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu]For me, personally, short term, I’d like to keep a percentage liquid…With CD rates like 1-1.5%, I gave up tieing any significant amount of money up for 1 year+ in a CD. 1-1.5% interest ends up being closer to 0.75-1% after taxes anyway…If rates happen to go up while you’re stilled tied down, you’re pretty screwed….[/quote]

That’s why I looked into the penalties for early withdrawal… it was precisely because I want to be able to move the money to higher rate cd if the rates go up. I explicitly asked the question at SDCCU… I can pull the money and reinvest it in a higher rate if the rates go up… No principal lost, the only thing at risk is the most recent 6 months worth of interest.

You’re only screwed out of 6 months of interest.

This is not the case on cd’s purchased through my brokerage account (Schwab)… My F.A wouldn’t let me cash those out early. Fortunately, the CD money I have there is at a higher rate so I’m not as worried about it. FWIW – my boss is the one who tipped me to the SDCCU policy… He’s done it several times – pulled out of lower rate cd’s and into higher rates if the rates popped up.[/quote]

I see (2x)…. 🙂 Thanks for educating me….I’m typically a Schwab person, so I just assumed there were fees up the ying yang for early withdraws everywhere else….Hmmm…Maybe I should move stuff from Ally into SDCCU 🙂

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu]For me, personally, short term, I’d like to keep a percentage liquid…With CD rates like 1-1.5%, I gave up tieing any significant amount of money up for 1 year+ in a CD. 1-1.5% interest ends up being closer to 0.75-1% after taxes anyway…If rates happen to go up while you’re stilled tied down, you’re pretty screwed….[/quote]

That’s why I looked into the penalties for early withdrawal… it was precisely because I want to be able to move the money to higher rate cd if the rates go up. I explicitly asked the question at SDCCU… I can pull the money and reinvest it in a higher rate if the rates go up… No principal lost, the only thing at risk is the most recent 6 months worth of interest.

You’re only screwed out of 6 months of interest.

This is not the case on cd’s purchased through my brokerage account (Schwab)… My F.A wouldn’t let me cash those out early. Fortunately, the CD money I have there is at a higher rate so I’m not as worried about it. FWIW – my boss is the one who tipped me to the SDCCU policy… He’s done it several times – pulled out of lower rate cd’s and into higher rates if the rates popped up.[/quote]

I see (2x)…. 🙂 Thanks for educating me….I’m typically a Schwab person, so I just assumed there were fees up the ying yang for early withdraws everywhere else….Hmmm…Maybe I should move stuff from Ally into SDCCU 🙂

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu]For me, personally, short term, I’d like to keep a percentage liquid…With CD rates like 1-1.5%, I gave up tieing any significant amount of money up for 1 year+ in a CD. 1-1.5% interest ends up being closer to 0.75-1% after taxes anyway…If rates happen to go up while you’re stilled tied down, you’re pretty screwed….[/quote]

That’s why I looked into the penalties for early withdrawal… it was precisely because I want to be able to move the money to higher rate cd if the rates go up. I explicitly asked the question at SDCCU… I can pull the money and reinvest it in a higher rate if the rates go up… No principal lost, the only thing at risk is the most recent 6 months worth of interest.

You’re only screwed out of 6 months of interest.

This is not the case on cd’s purchased through my brokerage account (Schwab)… My F.A wouldn’t let me cash those out early. Fortunately, the CD money I have there is at a higher rate so I’m not as worried about it. FWIW – my boss is the one who tipped me to the SDCCU policy… He’s done it several times – pulled out of lower rate cd’s and into higher rates if the rates popped up.[/quote]

I see (2x)…. 🙂 Thanks for educating me….I’m typically a Schwab person, so I just assumed there were fees up the ying yang for early withdraws everywhere else….Hmmm…Maybe I should move stuff from Ally into SDCCU 🙂

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu]For me, personally, short term, I’d like to keep a percentage liquid…With CD rates like 1-1.5%, I gave up tieing any significant amount of money up for 1 year+ in a CD. 1-1.5% interest ends up being closer to 0.75-1% after taxes anyway…If rates happen to go up while you’re stilled tied down, you’re pretty screwed….[/quote]

That’s why I looked into the penalties for early withdrawal… it was precisely because I want to be able to move the money to higher rate cd if the rates go up. I explicitly asked the question at SDCCU… I can pull the money and reinvest it in a higher rate if the rates go up… No principal lost, the only thing at risk is the most recent 6 months worth of interest.

You’re only screwed out of 6 months of interest.

This is not the case on cd’s purchased through my brokerage account (Schwab)… My F.A wouldn’t let me cash those out early. Fortunately, the CD money I have there is at a higher rate so I’m not as worried about it. FWIW – my boss is the one who tipped me to the SDCCU policy… He’s done it several times – pulled out of lower rate cd’s and into higher rates if the rates popped up.[/quote]

I see (2x)…. 🙂 Thanks for educating me….I’m typically a Schwab person, so I just assumed there were fees up the ying yang for early withdraws everywhere else….Hmmm…Maybe I should move stuff from Ally into SDCCU 🙂

[Coronita]

[quote=UCGal][quote=flu]For me, personally, short term, I’d like to keep a percentage liquid…With CD rates like 1-1.5%, I gave up tieing any significant amount of money up for 1 year+ in a CD. 1-1.5% interest ends up being closer to 0.75-1% after taxes anyway…If rates happen to go up while you’re stilled tied down, you’re pretty screwed….[/quote]

That’s why I looked into the penalties for early withdrawal… it was precisely because I want to be able to move the money to higher rate cd if the rates go up. I explicitly asked the question at SDCCU… I can pull the money and reinvest it in a higher rate if the rates go up… No principal lost, the only thing at risk is the most recent 6 months worth of interest.

You’re only screwed out of 6 months of interest.

This is not the case on cd’s purchased through my brokerage account (Schwab)… My F.A wouldn’t let me cash those out early. Fortunately, the CD money I have there is at a higher rate so I’m not as worried about it. FWIW – my boss is the one who tipped me to the SDCCU policy… He’s done it several times – pulled out of lower rate cd’s and into higher rates if the rates popped up.[/quote]

I see (2x)…. 🙂 Thanks for educating me….I’m typically a Schwab person, so I just assumed there were fees up the ying yang for early withdraws everywhere else….Hmmm…Maybe I should move stuff from Ally into SDCCU 🙂

[UCGal]

We cross posted… I didn’t see your first “I see” till after I’d posted. Sorry.

And I totally agree about the costco amex being one of the better paybacks… 3% on gas that I’d be buying anyway… I’ll take it.

It works as long as you pay off the bill every month. If you have credit debt your best rate of return is to pay it down.

[UCGal]

We cross posted… I didn’t see your first “I see” till after I’d posted. Sorry.

And I totally agree about the costco amex being one of the better paybacks… 3% on gas that I’d be buying anyway… I’ll take it.

It works as long as you pay off the bill every month. If you have credit debt your best rate of return is to pay it down.

[UCGal]

We cross posted… I didn’t see your first “I see” till after I’d posted. Sorry.

And I totally agree about the costco amex being one of the better paybacks… 3% on gas that I’d be buying anyway… I’ll take it.

It works as long as you pay off the bill every month. If you have credit debt your best rate of return is to pay it down.

[UCGal]

We cross posted… I didn’t see your first “I see” till after I’d posted. Sorry.

And I totally agree about the costco amex being one of the better paybacks… 3% on gas that I’d be buying anyway… I’ll take it.

It works as long as you pay off the bill every month. If you have credit debt your best rate of return is to pay it down.

[UCGal]

We cross posted… I didn’t see your first “I see” till after I’d posted. Sorry.

And I totally agree about the costco amex being one of the better paybacks… 3% on gas that I’d be buying anyway… I’ll take it.

It works as long as you pay off the bill every month. If you have credit debt your best rate of return is to pay it down.

[sobmaz]

I find it interesting how so many people think we have more of a deflation problem than an inflation problem.

First, housing and stocks have nothing to do with the CPI. The government did not take housing and stocks into account when things were rising so it is reasonable to accept the fact that they don’t when these asset prices are falling.

Think about the things you NEED and things you may not need. Medicine, energy, utilities, insurance co pays, haircuts, movies. It seems to me everything is rising, except those things you buy at the big box stores.

Now, lets talk about that fan I bought from Target. That fan cost 50.00 30 years ago and today it costs 25.00 plus it has all these neat features the fan from 30 years ago did not have.

You can bet those neat features were captured as a reduction in price via a method called “hedonics”. So according to the CPI the fan fell in price due to improvements and due to the price itself.

The CPI does not capture the fact that the fan that cost 50.00 30 years ago lasted 20 years, nor does it capture the fact that the fan for 25.00 only lasts about a year.

You can apply this example to just about all consumer items, you get crap that does not last.

The CPI does not capture “fees”, fees that did not use to exist. Fees like overweight luggage or fees for having a pillow on the air plane.

Only a fool would believe the CPI.

Hedonics allow for the following. A computer costs 1000.00 today. Next year that computer remains at 1000.00 yet the computing capacity increases by 100%. Via the wonderful world of hedonics that computer , according to the CPI, shows a 50% reduction in price.

These hedonic calculations offset the increases that we are all aware of and like magic the CPI is tame yet you wonder why it gets harder and harder to make ends meet.

[sobmaz]

I find it interesting how so many people think we have more of a deflation problem than an inflation problem.

First, housing and stocks have nothing to do with the CPI. The government did not take housing and stocks into account when things were rising so it is reasonable to accept the fact that they don’t when these asset prices are falling.

Think about the things you NEED and things you may not need. Medicine, energy, utilities, insurance co pays, haircuts, movies. It seems to me everything is rising, except those things you buy at the big box stores.

Now, lets talk about that fan I bought from Target. That fan cost 50.00 30 years ago and today it costs 25.00 plus it has all these neat features the fan from 30 years ago did not have.

You can bet those neat features were captured as a reduction in price via a method called “hedonics”. So according to the CPI the fan fell in price due to improvements and due to the price itself.

The CPI does not capture the fact that the fan that cost 50.00 30 years ago lasted 20 years, nor does it capture the fact that the fan for 25.00 only lasts about a year.

You can apply this example to just about all consumer items, you get crap that does not last.

The CPI does not capture “fees”, fees that did not use to exist. Fees like overweight luggage or fees for having a pillow on the air plane.

Only a fool would believe the CPI.

Hedonics allow for the following. A computer costs 1000.00 today. Next year that computer remains at 1000.00 yet the computing capacity increases by 100%. Via the wonderful world of hedonics that computer , according to the CPI, shows a 50% reduction in price.

These hedonic calculations offset the increases that we are all aware of and like magic the CPI is tame yet you wonder why it gets harder and harder to make ends meet.

[sobmaz]

I find it interesting how so many people think we have more of a deflation problem than an inflation problem.

First, housing and stocks have nothing to do with the CPI. The government did not take housing and stocks into account when things were rising so it is reasonable to accept the fact that they don’t when these asset prices are falling.

Think about the things you NEED and things you may not need. Medicine, energy, utilities, insurance co pays, haircuts, movies. It seems to me everything is rising, except those things you buy at the big box stores.

Now, lets talk about that fan I bought from Target. That fan cost 50.00 30 years ago and today it costs 25.00 plus it has all these neat features the fan from 30 years ago did not have.

You can bet those neat features were captured as a reduction in price via a method called “hedonics”. So according to the CPI the fan fell in price due to improvements and due to the price itself.

The CPI does not capture the fact that the fan that cost 50.00 30 years ago lasted 20 years, nor does it capture the fact that the fan for 25.00 only lasts about a year.

You can apply this example to just about all consumer items, you get crap that does not last.

The CPI does not capture “fees”, fees that did not use to exist. Fees like overweight luggage or fees for having a pillow on the air plane.

Only a fool would believe the CPI.

Hedonics allow for the following. A computer costs 1000.00 today. Next year that computer remains at 1000.00 yet the computing capacity increases by 100%. Via the wonderful world of hedonics that computer , according to the CPI, shows a 50% reduction in price.

These hedonic calculations offset the increases that we are all aware of and like magic the CPI is tame yet you wonder why it gets harder and harder to make ends meet.

[sobmaz]

I find it interesting how so many people think we have more of a deflation problem than an inflation problem.

First, housing and stocks have nothing to do with the CPI. The government did not take housing and stocks into account when things were rising so it is reasonable to accept the fact that they don’t when these asset prices are falling.

Think about the things you NEED and things you may not need. Medicine, energy, utilities, insurance co pays, haircuts, movies. It seems to me everything is rising, except those things you buy at the big box stores.

Now, lets talk about that fan I bought from Target. That fan cost 50.00 30 years ago and today it costs 25.00 plus it has all these neat features the fan from 30 years ago did not have.

You can bet those neat features were captured as a reduction in price via a method called “hedonics”. So according to the CPI the fan fell in price due to improvements and due to the price itself.

The CPI does not capture the fact that the fan that cost 50.00 30 years ago lasted 20 years, nor does it capture the fact that the fan for 25.00 only lasts about a year.

You can apply this example to just about all consumer items, you get crap that does not last.

The CPI does not capture “fees”, fees that did not use to exist. Fees like overweight luggage or fees for having a pillow on the air plane.

Only a fool would believe the CPI.

Hedonics allow for the following. A computer costs 1000.00 today. Next year that computer remains at 1000.00 yet the computing capacity increases by 100%. Via the wonderful world of hedonics that computer , according to the CPI, shows a 50% reduction in price.

These hedonic calculations offset the increases that we are all aware of and like magic the CPI is tame yet you wonder why it gets harder and harder to make ends meet.

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