What to do with my 6k in a credit union savings account?

[dgcoupe]

should i just leave it there it gets liek .35% quarterly or do something with it? or put it in the safe in my room??

[kork13]

Pulling from your other posts, given that you're fresh out of college, this probably represents a significant portion (if not all) of your current savings? Two things you should do with it: first and foremost, KEEP IT. This $6k can be the beginnings of a solid emergency fund for yourself, so that you won't find yourself in a tough spot later on if something unexpected happens. Typically it's recommended to have at least 6 months' expenses in an EF, but you have to start somewhere, and can build up your EF over time.

Second (and this is up to you), you can look at finding a slightly better yield elsewhere. However, as your EF, you want to keep it in cash (savings account, Certificates of Deposit (CD's), or a money market account). Keeping it liquid is more important than getting a good rate, but a better rate is always nice. Now, are you getting .35% quarterly (thus 1.4% annually), or are you getting .35% per year? Normally, interest rates are expressed per year, as a % APY. If you're getting 1.4% per year, you probably can leave it where you have it, because you're not going to get much better right now. If you're getting .35%/year, you can look into an online savings account, most of which right now are offering between 1.0% - 1.5%. You can look at Ally, ING, or a number of other places. There's a list of other options here. Otherwise, just keep saving! The how is not nearly so important as the doing.

[dgcoupe]

wow u have helped me alot i donated to you just to let u know.. its almost 4 am so i will have to go to bed and thanks for the quick responses !!

[Joi]

Smarty Pig is good if you just want a better savings account. They're at 2.15% right now. I haven't seen anything higher.

[dgcoupe]

Oh interesting... 2.15% is the highest that people have told me. Is there a disadvantage to this? it seems really good to be true lol

[Joi]

Originally Posted by dgcoupe

Oh interesting... 2.15% is the highest that people have told me. Is there a disadvantage to this? it seems really good to be true lol

Smarty pig is great for putting money into savings that you don't plan on dipping into all the time to pay for things.

So with that said, the only catch is that in order to move money out of smarty pig you have to close one of your savings goals. Then all the money in that goal is transferred into your checking account. So if there is $1000 in that particular goal and you close it, $1000 is then transferred into your checking account. There is a work around for this if you only want to move a portion of that money out and not the entire amount. So if you plan to dip into your savings account a lot to pay for things, I would suggest keeping a portion of your savings in smarty pig and another portion in an online account that you can quickly and easily move any amount out and back into you checking account.

I love smarty pig because I can setup up multiple savings accounts with different goals, giving everything a place and a purpose. Also you can stop making monthly contributions to your savings goals and still accrue interest.

[goodboy123]

huh,I will invest in the stock market