Where do you keep your small money?

Geezer3d

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Kubota LX2610SU
Apr 22, 2021
180
161
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Heart of the Catskills
My small money is stored in my basement 'beer' refrigerator in 12 oz. servings. ;)

On a more serious note, I was not aware of I bonds and will look closely at them. When I was a child I used to receive a US savings bond as a birthday gift every year rom one of my uncles. I liked that and would like to do the same for my grandchildren. The I bond may the right answer for that.
 
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Tropical Jack

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Kubota L3301 w/ FEL & BH, tilt and trim, chipper, box blade, grading blade
My wife and I are taking advantage of the I-Bonds. You can invest up to an additional $5,000 each by applying any refund due to you from your federal tax return.

Jack
 

rc51stierhoff

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I seem to have more luck buying equipment, using it for 5-10 years, then selling it for more than I paid for it. At least my money maintains it's inflationary value that way. In the bank I have to be content with no interest, excessive service fees, poor service, and a declining bank balance while the bank posts yearly record profits after using my money.
Agreed but I meant I bury stuff.
 

Henro

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My wife and I are taking advantage of the I-Bonds. You can invest up to an additional $5,000 each by applying any refund due to you from your federal tax return.

Jack
Another "trick" is, if one is married (or has someone they REALLY trust), a person can buy a GIFT I bond to be given to another person the next year.

The advantage is that the gift starts paying interest at the beginning of the month it was purchased. Of course, the gift amount will reduce the amount of i bonds that the gifted person can buy during the year the gift is received. But if done now it locks in the current 9.62 percent rate for six months...and those funds also become available for withdrawal 12 months from the effective purchase date, which is the month of gift purchase.

So if a couple so desired, they could lock in the current rate and double the amount they could purchase this year, but the net effect would be they would not be able to purchase more next year, unless they delayed giving the gift until a later year... Gifts are held in what is called the "gift box". While in the gift box, nobody can cash them in. So it is necessary to remember they are there and gift them before they are forgotten...
 

D2Cat

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Investing is a great option for investing money and getting a good income without much effort. This way, you don't have to look for where to invest your money, and you can just invest it profitably. You need to understand what you should invest your money in so that you can profit and not lose anything.
You used a lot of words to say nothing! ;)

For your first post ask a question about tractors!
 
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bird dogger

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My small money gets lost in that tiny little pocket above the right hand blue jeans pocket. And it always goes missing after wash day!!
 

mike0000

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Sep 15, 2021
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Discover online bank CD rates are up to 2.3% x 12 months, nothing too great, but at least they are starting to rise.

Mike
 

lugbolt

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I wouldn't worry about investing until you can afford to.

Pay off your debts. Save for a emergency fund. Pay the house off. Then think about investing.

one of my challenges was that I have a tendency to invest before paying debts, or going into debt to invest. Neither works, trust me.
 
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Biker1mike

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I wouldn't worry about investing until you can afford to.

Pay off your debts. Save for a emergency fund. Pay the house off. Then think about investing.

one of my challenges was that I have a tendency to invest before paying debts, or going into debt to invest. Neither works, trust me.
I agree.
But add: putting savings into a 401K or other retirement plan should also be constant effort before playing the market. Let the pro do this investment for you.
 

RBsingl

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The optimal life plan is to control and then quickly pay off debts early in life while simultaneously putting as much as possible into investments. The practical problem is this isn't much fun so most people don't AND it is virtually impossible in many cases with the gap between what many fields pay and an even marginal quality of life given cost of living.

I can't remember who it was but one of the old scam televangelists used to tell his followers to give until it hurts and that is what we need to do early in life, avoid spending on stuff you don't have to own while simultaneously investing money until it hurts a lot. Before today's gig economy, there were already a fair number of people working a second part time job to pay off student loan and other debts and that is a case where a very few years of extra work early in life will make a huge financial different later in life. Those little investments early on compound and grow very rapidly, it is very difficult to play catch up on investing late in the game and in today's world where there is little company/employee loyalty few companies are highly involved in their worker's future retirement.

We still have a system built around the days when a defined benefit pension was the biggest leg of the pension/investment/social security retirement stool but that leg is entirely missing for the majority of workers now and the education about the need to compensate for this missing leg isn't being taught in middle and high school which is a huge negative. Combined with a consumption oriented society and compensation that hasn't kept up with actual cost of living means that the majority of people are going to have a rough retirement IF they can afford to retire.

Preaching personal responsibility is fine, the talking heads on radio do that, but teaching it is the critical part and that is what needs to be done both by parents AND the school system from the very start. A problem is this is something a couple of generations of parents largely didn't learn in the rapidly changing U.S. financial environment so many of them can't provide this financial literacy to their children and the schools don't so the problem just grows bigger.

I was doubly fortunate to have a father who was a child during the Great Depression who passed along his experiences along with mechanical, electrical, and carpentry skills AND to be in a career that paid well while providing consulting opportunities and a good retirement. I starting putting the maximum into a tax deferred annuity when I was 30 and was fortunate to land some nice consulting work during the dot com boom and that went into a separate 401K. I had planned to continue working longer but I realized that there were many things I wanted to do in life including spending more time with my daughter so I retired at 55, something I was able to comfortably do because of a combination of behavior, decisions, and good old fashioned luck.

I think I made a lot of pretty wise decisions in life and I am adept at repairing cars and appliances so that saves a lot of money in repair and replacement costs, a belated thanks dad! I bought plenty of toys but I avoided spending stupid amounts of money on stuff that doesn't last. A lot of people who are financially secure pass it off as all being due to skill and wisdom but luck and being in the right place at the right time is behind pretty much every story of financial success.

These are the same lessons I am passing along to my daughter who is going to go further than I did in life. She has already published some of her math modeling research while still in high school and will be starting her undergrad at an expensive private university which will be very inexpensive because she received their presidential scholarship for her accomplishments as a high school student. She originally was planning to pursue a PhD in math but did the research and found the job market was of limited demand and even more limited income potential so she will be following in my footsteps and getting her doctorate in business.

And just like my father taught me, she has been helping with electrical and mechanical work since she was a young child. She helped with the first oil change on the Cadillac ATS she now drives when she was 10 and just after graduating from high school we changed a seized magnetic selective ride shock absorber on her car, $315 for the shock online from a big GM parts distributor and under 30 minutes of work total versus $1,700 quoted by the dealer for the job. She was disappointed because the shock mounting bolts came loose easily so she didn't get to use my recently acquired Milwaukee electric impact :)

Even if she doesn't do as much of her own mechanical work as I do, she will know enough not to be taken advantage of by service providers. I started a small account for her at a credit union when she was a child and she now has several thousand in it because she has been depositing money she received for some research projects she led into that account.
And one final lesson I learned from my parents and grandparents that I passed along to her, give back for what you have received. I do a lot of volunteer work in retirement and most of it is really fun. I do volunteer sports photography for her former high school and I can't wait to be on the sidelines for fall football again in a few weeks :)

Rodger
 

D2Cat

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Mar 27, 2014
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The optimal life plan is to control and then quickly pay off debts early in life while simultaneously putting as much as possible into investments. The practical problem is this isn't much fun so most people don't AND it is virtually impossible in many cases with the gap between what many fields pay and an even marginal quality of life given cost of living.

I can't remember who it was but one of the old scam televangelists used to tell his followers to give until it hurts and that is what we need to do early in life, avoid spending on stuff you don't have to own while simultaneously investing money until it hurts a lot. Before today's gig economy, there were already a fair number of people working a second part time job to pay off student loan and other debts and that is a case where a very few years of extra work early in life will make a huge financial different later in life. Those little investments early on compound and grow very rapidly, it is very difficult to play catch up on investing late in the game and in today's world where there is little company/employee loyalty few companies are highly involved in their worker's future retirement.

We still have a system built around the days when a defined benefit pension was the biggest leg of the pension/investment/social security retirement stool but that leg is entirely missing for the majority of workers now and the education about the need to compensate for this missing leg isn't being taught in middle and high school which is a huge negative. Combined with a consumption oriented society and compensation that hasn't kept up with actual cost of living means that the majority of people are going to have a rough retirement IF they can afford to retire.

Preaching personal responsibility is fine, the talking heads on radio do that, but teaching it is the critical part and that is what needs to be done both by parents AND the school system from the very start. A problem is this is something a couple of generations of parents largely didn't learn in the rapidly changing U.S. financial environment so many of them can't provide this financial literacy to their children and the schools don't so the problem just grows bigger.

I was doubly fortunate to have a father who was a child during the Great Depression who passed along his experiences along with mechanical, electrical, and carpentry skills AND to be in a career that paid well while providing consulting opportunities and a good retirement. I starting putting the maximum into a tax deferred annuity when I was 30 and was fortunate to land some nice consulting work during the dot com boom and that went into a separate 401K. I had planned to continue working longer but I realized that there were many things I wanted to do in life including spending more time with my daughter so I retired at 55, something I was able to comfortably do because of a combination of behavior, decisions, and good old fashioned luck.

I think I made a lot of pretty wise decisions in life and I am adept at repairing cars and appliances so that saves a lot of money in repair and replacement costs, a belated thanks dad! I bought plenty of toys but I avoided spending stupid amounts of money on stuff that doesn't last. A lot of people who are financially secure pass it off as all being due to skill and wisdom but luck and being in the right place at the right time is behind pretty much every story of financial success.

These are the same lessons I am passing along to my daughter who is going to go further than I did in life. She has already published some of her math modeling research while still in high school and will be starting her undergrad at an expensive private university which will be very inexpensive because she received their presidential scholarship for her accomplishments as a high school student. She originally was planning to pursue a PhD in math but did the research and found the job market was of limited demand and even more limited income potential so she will be following in my footsteps and getting her doctorate in business.

And just like my father taught me, she has been helping with electrical and mechanical work since she was a young child. She helped with the first oil change on the Cadillac ATS she now drives when she was 10 and just after graduating from high school we changed a seized magnetic selective ride shock absorber on her car, $315 for the shock online from a big GM parts distributor and under 30 minutes of work total versus $1,700 quoted by the dealer for the job. She was disappointed because the shock mounting bolts came loose easily so she didn't get to use my recently acquired Milwaukee electric impact :)

Even if she doesn't do as much of her own mechanical work as I do, she will know enough not to be taken advantage of by service providers. I started a small account for her at a credit union when she was a child and she now has several thousand in it because she has been depositing money she received for some research projects she led into that account.
And one final lesson I learned from my parents and grandparents that I passed along to her, give back for what you have received. I do a lot of volunteer work in retirement and most of it is really fun. I do volunteer sports photography for her former high school and I can't wait to be on the sidelines for fall football again in a few weeks :)

Rodger
I agree with what you say except the definition of luck.

I define luck as when opportunity and preparedness meet. If one isn't prepared the opportunity isn't recognized when it shows up. Luck is developed by a series of choices.
 
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lugbolt

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ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
4,807
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Mid, South, USA
I agree.
But add: putting savings into a 401K or other retirement plan should also be constant effort before playing the market. Let the pro do this investment for you.
I'm not on good terms right now with the 401K. Big loss and I'm sure about everyone else can say about the same thing. That is one downside to the 401K retirement plan, being stock market based--sometimes the market does things that YOU (the 401K owner) has no control over. My friend has to take distribution by Oct of this year and is seeing a $204,000 loss compared to Aug 2020. That, my friends, is substantiai in anyone's book.
 

lugbolt

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Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
4,807
1,575
113
Mid, South, USA
Something else that has been on my mind lately is how people find out about investments.

I never had anyone ever tell me how/when/where. Never! Basically had to figure it out on my own.

And when I say "investments", many think of real estate. That can be a good investment. Or it can eat your lunch. And that market is not for everyone.

There's lots of ways--and for that I'll thank the USA for giving us the opportunities to do so.

Your greatest wealth-building tool is your income. Investing in real estate may not be for you if your income cannot support investing in real estate. I have friends who invest in gold, it's a daily deal--they buy, sit on it, and resell. They make money, well most of the time they do.

And the biggest misconception about investing is that you're going to get rich immediately. Sometimes it happens but it is quite rare. Most investors that were successful had to spread "it" out for decades. Case in point my other friend who is a racer much the same as I, but he had an investor backing him where I did not. Anyway he won some big money races and bought a property in SW Florida on the coast for $330,000 in 1983. That was a lot of money back then. But today? It's appraised value is somewhere north of $15,000,000. Investment. He's at retirement age and may end up living in that rental property, or he might sell it. I haven't talked to him in a month or so. I bet he moves.

But for those of us who can't afford to buy a million dollar investment, we have to start smaller. I've invested in cars. And I've done ok with them. The problem there is the markets go up and they go down, they're up right now but investing right now isn't a great idea unless you KNOW the market and the particular vehicle(s) that you're investing in. I have some clue with a couple models and have done ok with 'em. There are other means as well; in 2013 I moved to a place of my own (first owned home) and the day I closed, I had I think $14 to my name and a $356/mo truck payment. I needed money quick. The next day after sleeping on the hard floor I found an ad online for a lawn mower for sale. Cheap; needed work. Deere. So I got it. Guy said just get it out of my yard. I put a used coil on it and had it going in 30 minutes, and sold it for $750 the next day. Repeated many times between Oct 2013 and Jan 2014 and did pretty well with it. Didn't get rich by any means but managed to save enough to cover a years' worth of expenses Then spent it on another car. Then another. and now sitting here with very little left and wondering what I'm gonna invest in next. I have an idea but will keep it to myself.

I put a little in an I bond earlier this year. Again nobody ever told me anything about any of it I just had to figure it out on my own. I'm nearing 50 so it's really a little late but better late than never. I'm working a 2nd job and that will help, so long as my body will let me do that.
 

Biker1mike

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B6200, Kubota 2030 Front Blade, King Cutter 60" finishing deck
Jan 11, 2022
1,164
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Gallatin, NY USA
I'm not on good terms right now with the 401K. Big loss and I'm sure about everyone else can say about the same thing. That is one downside to the 401K retirement plan, being stock market based--sometimes the market does things that YOU (the 401K owner) has no control over. My friend has to take distribution by Oct of this year and is seeing a $204,000 loss compared to Aug 2020. That, my friends, is substantiai in anyone's book.
My 401 is spread over bonds (majority), large company stock index, small company stock, international bonds, international large company stock and some fixed income buckets. A much lower risk than when I was younger. This is a marathon and not a sprint.
I agree 200K is a hefty loss depending on what the principle was. I am down a tad over 9 % for the year and it is slowly rising. I retired several years ago and this is the first time my balance is lower than the day I retired. For me the early investment and continued contributions has paid off.
 

RBsingl

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Equipment
Kubota F 2690 72" rear discharge deck, Deere 955
Jul 1, 2022
408
425
63
Central IL
I'm not on good terms right now with the 401K. Big loss and I'm sure about everyone else can say about the same thing. That is one downside to the 401K retirement plan, being stock market based--sometimes the market does things that YOU (the 401K owner) has no control over. My friend has to take distribution by Oct of this year and is seeing a $204,000 loss compared to Aug 2020. That, my friends, is substantiai in anyone's book.
If this is being taken out as a RMD based upon his age, hopefully the required amount is small enough that he won't suffer a big loss due to the recent market correction. If by chance his spouse is 10 years or more younger, he can reduce his RMD amount based upon factor her life expectancy into the calculation.

It will be a while before I am at the RMD age for 401K/403B and by then the market will have gone up and then probably down again...

For younger workers, the current market is more of a paper annoyance than real because it will be cycling in gains and losses throughout your lifespan. It doesn't mean you shouldn't carefully watch and adjust your investment distribution but "kicking off" from high blood pressure by obsessing over dynamic market changes doesn't make for a happy retirement either :) I adjusted investment strategy a few times over my career with the biggest move just prior to the great recession; once people starting treating their houses like an ATM and using it as loan collateral it was pretty clear we were in for crazy times and I went very conservative about 7 months earlier than needed. But then I switched back to grown stocks after the market went down which worked out well for me.

And avoid the stupid investments where the only people who are going to make money are those who took advantage of others. As the old saying goes, if you look around a group and don't recognize the "mark" then the mark is you.

Rodger
 

The Evil Twin

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L2501, LA526,
Jul 19, 2022
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2,198
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Virginia
After retirement funds....anything we don't need for bills and month to month fun-money goes into a high yield savings. Sure, it is still a money loser but there are no penalties to withdrawal at any time. We kind of use it as a slush fund for home improvements (just installed a generator) and vacation funds. The stash of "crap hit the fan" cash is next to the cordless hole punchers.
 

D2Cat

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If younger folks could/would understand if they scrounged a few years when they are young and put that money in a growth mutual fund they would be wealthy later in life. Time is the greatest tool anyone has, but you just get it once.
 
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dirtydeed

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You used a lot of words to say nothing! ;)

For your first post ask a question about tractors!
"Word Salad" is surprisingly common these days. 🤔
 

dirtydeed

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If younger folks could/would understand if they scrounged a few years when they are young and put that money in a growth mutual fund they would be wealthy later in life. Time is the greatest tool anyone has, but you just get it once.
Ditto.
Pay yourself FIRST.
 
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