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It looks kind of like some weird bug, huh?
It is less complicated than it used to be, now that I set up my IRA and rent money to go directly where they are supposed to be. (I’m allowed to direct deposit into multiple accounts, which is way handy.) Most shuffling of money still goes through the checking account, though it now rarely houses more than $500. (I usually pay my credit cards down to zero each pay day. For no good reason, I just like to.)
I think, if you stare at it for a minute, you can actually see my paycheck dollars flooding out through the little arrow that says “Rent”. I can! Complete with a “woooooosh” sound!
I’ve gotten so used to my system and overly-detailed spending tracking, budgeting, and various savings funds for each goals. I’m not exactly sure how well it will all will mesh. T has one big fund (I told him it must be a “Misc” fund then), but he did say he’d be ok with saving his receipts if I felt the need to keep tracking. We don’t live together, so our joint purchases have been limited to a tent, some DVDs, and food/alcohol. We split those roughly evenly. 
This was inspired by a post on Dog Ate My Finances, which linked to an older post on Make Love, Not Debt. Isn’t it so much simpler when it is just one person’s accounts to keep track of?
I’m allowed to direct deposit into several accounts, so I implemented a new set-up to simplify my cash flow this year.
First, I put half my rent into my money-market mutual fund each paycheck. This means the rent money never gets mixed up in spending money, plus it earns some (pathetic) interest through the month. I have check writing on this account, so I can pay my rent on the first.
Next, I put $200 per a paycheck direct deposited into my Roth IRA. This will come out to $5200 for 26 paychecks, so I have to cancel this for one paycheck. This will be deposited into a cash fund within my IRA, then I can automate a monthly transfer to an investment mutual fund. Or do it manually.
Next, I put $600/mo into my high yield savings account. I’ll adjust this part each month and allocate it to my numerous savings subcategories (though I really only have a couple savings accounts). Some months, I’ll save more. Other months, I’ll be pulling from my short term savings (insurance, gifts, travel) and I’ll have to put it into my checking account to spend.
The balance goes into my checking, which will be used for cash withdrawals and paying my credit cards (where I do most my spending).
Everything seems so organized, which makes me happy. Let’s hope it works as smoothly as planned!
I’ve been wanting to move my Roth IRA from Fidelity to Vanguard all year. But with all the market volatility, I’m nervous. When I did a 401k rollover, they had to mail me a check (made out to Vanguard), and I had to mail it on to Vanguard. It took over a week. I’ve seen charts about what happens if you miss the best days in the market (or what happens if you miss the worst), and I’m just nervous. Though it would have been sweet to miss out on a couple weeks of October.
My other thought was to just start up 2009 and only contribute to Vanguard, and transfer later. I’d have to dump in $3k right away rather than dollar cost averaging through the whole year, which is possible, but not preferable. I don’t think now is the time to throw DCA out the window, and that counters my goal of upping my cash reserves..
Why do I want to do this? The expense ration is .2 rather than .8, and it would also eliminate Fidelity from my financial life.
Hmmm…. What do you think?
I’m considering moving some of my money from Vanguard’s Prime Money Market account to a high yield savings account (ING, HSBC, etc.). The rate is a little better, but it isn’t about that. It is about the FDIC insurance. I’m nervous that my money isn’t as safe in a money market account
Is this reasonable, or is this fear talking? I can’t tell. What do you think?
I checked out my bank information this morning, as usual, and couldn’t get into my Chase Freedom Visa. Assuming it was a technical error, I sent off a short email to customer service stating the problem. They replied and told me to call a security phone number to fix the problem.
After a myriad of security questions, I was asked if a $3838 charge made today on my credit card was valid. Um, no it was not! This suspicious charge flagged their system and my account was placed on hold. The fraudster did not have the correct expiration date, so the charge never went through, and even if it had, I would not be responsible for the charge. I think she said the charge was to dollardays.com, but I can’t remember for sure. Looking at the site, I can’t imagine who would want almost four grand worth of stuff from there!
I’m a little shocked and unsure how my card number could have gotten out there. Did the clerk at the grocery store skim it? Seems unlikely. I purchased a swimsuit on sale on Victoria’s Secret last night. Could a reputable company like them lack proper security on their site? Did I miss an important document with the number on it and throw it? Do full numbers even COME on anything you get in the mail? Was Yodlee MoneyCenter hacked? How about my computer itself? All these seem unlikely, so I naively want to think someone was simply trying to charge something to their credit card with a digit off from mine, and it was all a mistake. That is equally unlikely, but makes me feel the world is a nicer place.
Anyway, it is all taken care of. I will have to fill out some form to help them investigate, but they are issuing me a new card (will this have an effect on the age of my credit history?) and nothing more needs to be done. I will be able to get by just fine without this card for the next few days. Ironically, this only reaffirms my belief that credit cards are a safe way to do business. In the 8 years I had a card, this is my first fraudulent charge, and I’m liable for exactly zero dollars of it.
I recently left HSBC Direct due to interest rates that were nothing special and an ugly interface. My new choice, a money market fund at Vanguard, really isn’t all that different in terms of the rates I’m getting, but I like having my money there.
It seems what is hot this month in the pf blog world is Series I Savings Bonds. Xin Lu at Wisebread posted a great article about them yesterday . E.C. and Ms. MiniDucky recently talked about purchasing them, and the always informative Jonathan at MyMoneyBlog spelled out the details of them as well.
If I buy before the end of April (on the 30th, if possible), my one year yield will be roughly 4.04%. There is a mentions of 4.44% yield for those in high tax states (that’s me!) but it seems the exact rate depends on whether or not you itemize your state taxes (I don’t).
The only downside I see is I’d lose all liquidity. This means I won’t put my entire efund (almost 10k now!) in these bonds (which is the limit: 5k online and 5k paper), but it seems like a reasonable investment for a solid chunk of it. Is it too scary to lock away half of my cash reserves?
I tried to open a Treasury Direct account, just in case. They need me to mail in some sort of form to prove my identity, so perhaps I’ll go the old school route and just get them from my bank. I’m going to think about it for a few days, and if I decide it is a go, I’ll buy on April 30th.
What do you think? Is it even worth it? The difference in interest is currently only about 2% (so, on $5000, about $200 a year) and I lock away my money for a whole year.
… was super easy so far! I couldn’t complete the process 100% online (which is something I strive to do in every transaction of life), but it just took one easy phone call to Vanguard, who got Fidelity on the line, and the wheels are in motion!
Apparently Fidelity insists on sending a check (made out to Vanguard) to ME, and I forward it onto Vanguard. Seems weird, but I had done some Googling in advance and expected it. They said it will take 7-10 days, or I could pay $25 to get express mail. I’ll be waiting the 7-10 days.
The transaction was at the price of Wednesday’s closing markets, which i thought was great since we had over a 2% jump in all the major indices that day. That was pure luck of timing, something I forgot to even consider. A good portion of my money is out of the market for a total of about 2 weeks, so if the market is going to crash, I’d prefer it happens in that time period. I’d also appreciate any major rally’s to wait until my money gets back in (looking at how today is starting, I may be out of luck). I know “timing the market” is futile, but doesn’t it seem like it would be prudent to watch for these huge 2% jumps/drops when moving 60% of my retirement portfolio around? What if I miss a really great day because my money couldn’t be transfered online instantly? I don’t understand why the process is so manual, but what can I do?
If everything goes smoothly, I will add in my meager pension cash out money immediately after the 401k money is rolled over. I have to wait since the amount is below the 3k per fund minimum.
My last consideration is my Roth IRA. It is currently 100% invested in a fidelity target date fund, which is nothing to worry about. It would be nice to have it at Vanguard with my other money, but there is a $50 fee to transfer the account and I’m not entirely unhappy with the fund as is, so maybe I’ll just leave it. It just is harder to figure into an asset allocation plan, especially sine the Fidelity target date funds don’t have quite as straightforward holdings as the Vanguard ones.
Taking care of this has been on my “to do” list for months, so it feels nice to actually be doing it.
I was pretty excited because my economic stimulus check was to be direct deposited very early in the schedule. In fact, not to brag, but I was scheduled to be one of the first people in the country to get my share! I filed early and got my refund direct deposited, and managed to procure a SSN with the last 2 digits lower than most other people. I rule, I thought.
Then I came across this little tidbit of information on the (surprisingly helpful) IRS website:
I used Direct Deposit to split my refund betweeen several accounts when I filed my tax return. What will happen to my Stimulus Payment? Will it go to just one of the accounts?
A. If you elected to split your refund between several accounts, you will not receive your Stimulus Payment by Direct Deposit. Instead, you will receive a paper check.
Yes, it is true. I split my payment into two accounts to save myself having to transfer the appropriate portion to checking and savings. I am surprised that the government wouldn’t just put it in either account, but I suppose there is some logic to it. They aren’t sure where I want it, so they will send me a check and I can decide. Now I’m sad, I’ll have to wait an additional two weeks, and a few more days to get it into the appropriate accounts. I might as well have a SSN of 999-99-9999. I guess I don’t rule after all. (Also the three e’s in betweeen are copied from the website.)
In other financial news, my scarcely used Wells Fargo credit card (and by scarcely, I mean I might have used it once last year) tried to charge me $24 to be enrolled in their rewards program. I got the charge removed, but they warned me “all current rewards are forfeited”. I wasn’t too upset about that.
I have been using two online savings accounts for about a year, ING and HSBC. Both have been dropping rates like crazy, and neither are very competitive anymore. There simply are better options out there. I’m not going to stand for this anymore!
I did a little research, and decided to switch to the Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund to house the majority of my savings. It currently has a yield of 4.22%. While are HYSAs and CDs out there with better rates, they aren’t consistently higher. I’m not going to rate chase. This is a solid account that has continually been competitive to HYSA. I first did the analysis last summer, and the tax free money market account actually came out ahead of any savings account. Try out this awesome calculator to compare. These days, the taxable account is a better deal for me. I was wavering between EmigrantDirect (solid reviews, solid rates) and Vanguard, and honestly the final decision was sort of impulsive. I figure I’ll eventually roll over my 401k into an IRA there, and move my Roth from Fidelity… So it will simplify my finances in the long run.
I funded it with $4000 to start, about half of my HSBC balance. I already have a lot of stuff linked up with my HSBC account, so I’m waiting to completely pull the plug on it… But it will happen. I already set up my Vanguard account for direct deposit and will be sending my tax refund there as well.
What about ING? Well I’m not too impressed with them either, but they will be staying around. I’ll be using them for some shorter term savings (car insurance, travel fund) and for now, for my student loan payback account and new car fund. Why? I like the subaccounts. Yeah, I can do it in excel. Whatever, I don’t want to. For such small balances I’m not as concerned about getting the best rate.
Why else? The $10 referral bonuses and the sweepstakes I am entered in for using direct deposit. So it’s lame to trade interest rates for sweepstakes… but whatever, you’ll be jealous when I win $30,000!
I took $1000 out of my high yeild savings account and directed it into my Roth IRA for 2008.
I could have funded the whole year with savings, but I don’t feel that I have the approrpriate cushion in my savings, especially with a cross country move coming up. Besides that, with markets being so shaky, I’m not sure I want to throw dollar cost averaging out the window this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if the market recovers nicely, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it declines as well. I’m not an expert.
Since I’m leaving this job, I’m going to have the option of rolling my 401k (about 16k) into a regular IRA. Since my MAGI is less than $100k, I will also have the opportunity to convert it to a Roth IRA. I’ll have to look at whether or not I can take the tax hit in 2008, and the pro’s and cons of doing this.
Another thing I want to look at once I’m settled in Cali is moving a large chunk of my HYSA to a money market fund, specifically the tax exempt California one offered by Vanguard. My after tax return might be able to beat out my current high yeild savings accounts, especially since I’m not rate chasing. This article by The Finance Buff which suggests it may be so. It’ll make more of a difference if I itemize deductions (I usually take the standard), so I’ll have to do a little research on this. Or another option: TIPs? I have heard a lot about them, but my knowledge is limited. A high yield savings account is a great start, but I think I’m ready to see what else is out there and make sure I’m getting the best deal.
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