How much is too much

[pikey412]

...to keep in your checking?


I keep:
...$5k in checking
...$12k in savings.
...another $12k in an emergency account.
...anything over goes to a Fidelity investment acct.

...have money I don't see going straight to my 403b.
...maxed out my Roth IRA.


Just wondering if I am overdoing it. Should I move more to the fidelity acct? I just get nervous for some reason if my checking drops below $3k.

[creditcardfree]

There truly isn't a right number. It's a personal decision. I know I don't have that much of a cushion in our account.

Check with your bank to see if they offer an overdraft service, so that if you would overdraw your checking account it would come from savings, eliminating the need for the cushion to sit in your checking account.

[PrincessPerky]

The cushion you have would depend on your own bills, and risk tolerance.

I see no need to reduce it to fit a standard number, though if you think you have too much try moving 500 out for a couple months and see if it works/freaks you out. Continue based on what happens (either move it back, or move 500 more out)

Also many overdraft protection accounts come with fees, sure they will take it out of your savings account, for a $10 fee, which is less than the overdrawn checking account fee (especially since you pay that not only from the bank, but from whomever you were trying to pay with your bounced check), but not really worth being that low in your account.

[MonkeyMama]

Too much = more than FDIC limit (currently $250k). Beyond that, it depends.

[jIM_Ohio]

...to keep in your checking?


I keep:
...$5k in checking
...$12k in savings.
...another $12k in an emergency account.
...anything over goes to a Fidelity investment acct.

...have money I don't see going straight to my 403b.
...maxed out my Roth IRA.


Just wondering if I am overdoing it. Should I move more to the fidelity acct? I just get nervous for some reason if my checking drops below $3k.

If your monthly expenses exceed 12k, you are underperforming

If your monthly expenses are about 4k, I think you are fundamentally sound
If your monthly expenses are 3k or less, you are conservative...
If your monthly expenses are 2k or less, you are really overdoing it (to some degree)

[jason_simpson]

Its better to keep an amount equal to your monthly expenses—plus about a $500 cushion—in checking and put the rest into savings. That way, you don’t have to be worried about overdrawing your checking account, but you will also not be stressed that you have too much money in checking that could be earning interest.

[jamesparker100]

Well really confusing question because for the person having monthly income like 100$ the "enough" will mean a little different as compared to the person that have 10,000 $ as monthly income. SO it all depends upon oneself.

[bjl584]

Depends on your monthly expenses. I know a gentleman that keeps upwards of $30K in a checking account, but he owns a small business and has a lot of transactions in and out of his account on a daily basis, some of them for large amounts.

[snshijuptr]

I agree that a 1 month cushion for expenses is a good minimum. My basic idea is that if our paychecks came late, we would still be able to pay all the bills for the month.

[jpg7n16]

D) Not enough information to tell.