How Much To Keep In A Bank?

all the more reason to build up your nest egg . there is never a good time to invest . there is always a vision in our heads and a what if . the hard part is not to let your brain sabotage your efforts . since i started as an investor back in 1987 there is not a year that went by that my brain didn't try to a hand me what if and tried to talk me out of investing for one reason or another .
 

Colleen said:
What REALLY scares us away from doing any kind of investments right now is the uncertainty of our Medicare and SS. Trump and his henchmen are going to do something to lower our "entitlements" but no one is saying for sure what that will be, soooo......we're sitting tight right now just in case we need to have a "cushion" for anything unforeseen. I am envious that we didn't get started sooner with a "plan" to invest while we worked and should have bought a home much sooner than 56/50 years of age.It sure would have helped to have that house payment we're making now to put away somewhere :( The trouble with parents then and now is they don't talk about or teach finances with their kids. Money is always such a private thing that it's never discussed and when you get out on your own, you're left to flounder.
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I understand perfectly Colleen. People should have enough in emergency funds to cover the unexpected before putting money into the market. How much of an emergency fund depends on an individual's (or a couple's) circumstances. You are not the only ones who are apprehensive about our SS & Medicare. Many of my networking friends feel the same because of the political environment we are in now. We all have our "shoulda, woulda, couldas". I wish I'd known how to start investing in my 20's instead of 30's. And I wish I had kept more in an emergency fund. It would have prevented the need to take a large distribution from a fund that has more than doubled since so I could buy a want.

I agree that children are done a disservice when parents don't discuss money matters with them and teach them how to manage money and about investing. I tried to teach my son, now years later he's finally understanding the need for handling his finances better and investing well. I've been teaching my oldest grandson and he caught on much sooner than his father. Have started to teach the younger ones, a teen & a "tween" about money management.
 
I appreciate your information but I would have NO idea where to start! We don't have a lot of money to play with (or lose!). I doubt an adviser would be interested in talking to us. We had one in the past that was only interested in what she would make from our investments, therefore, she didn't have much time for us as we were "small" potatoes to her. I never trusted her a lot anyway because she was so wishy-washy. Back then I had asked her what she thought of Spyders and she didn't even know what they were...said she never heard of them. I've tried to read articles about investing but, honestly, it's like trying to read Greek to me...LOL. I give up and just keep most of our $$$ in that Ally savings. I had thought about putting some in a CD with Ally because their rates went up but when I compared it to what we were making on the savings, it was lower with the CD.
 
Colleen said:
.....I give up and just keep most of our $$$ in that Ally savings. I had thought about putting some in a CD with Ally because their rates went up but when I compared it to what we were making on the savings, it was lower with the CD.
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Just be aware of the FDIC limits per bank, and DO NOT exceed them. Any excess is NOT covered.
 
HipGnosis said:
I dream of having such problems!!
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No dream. When my MIL sold her home, a check for $980K could either be mailed to her or deposited into her bank account. We had it deposited and it took almost two months to close down her accounts with said bank and transfer the funds to a new fiduciary institution, opening accounts with an independent CFP firm.

In hindsight, obviously, we should have opened the CFP firm accounts sooner. But she made the decision to sell at a time when it was clear (to us) that the RE market was beginning to falter. Getting her out of her home of 37 yrs was a big job and we had to get it done ASAP. So meeting new CFPs to interview and research had to take second place to the details of cleaning, staging, and moving. We got her out plus the home sale completed, even faster than we hoped - 2 months, 1 week start to finish.

But as a result, she had some staggeringly large bank statements for a couple of months!
 
Colleen said:
I appreciate your information but I would have NO idea where to start! We don't have a lot of money to play with (or lose!). I doubt an adviser would be interested in talking to us. We had one in the past that was only interested in what she would make from our investments, therefore, she didn't have much time for us as we were "small" potatoes to her. I never trusted her a lot anyway because she was so wishy-washy. Back then I had asked her what she thought of Spyders and she didn't even know what they were...said she never heard of them. I've tried to read articles about investing but, honestly, it's like trying to read Greek to me...LOL. I give up and just keep most of our $$$ in that Ally savings. I had thought about putting some in a CD with Ally because their rates went up but when I compared it to what we were making on the savings, it was lower with the CD.
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Lethe200 said:
No dream. When my MIL sold her home, a check for $980K could either be mailed to her or deposited into her bank account. We had it deposited and it took almost two months to close down her accounts with said bank and transfer the funds to a new fiduciary institution, opening accounts with an independent CFP firm.

In hindsight, obviously, we should have opened the CFP firm accounts sooner. But she made the decision to sell at a time when it was clear (to us) that the RE market was beginning to falter. Getting her out of her home of 37 yrs was a big job and we had to get it done ASAP. So meeting new CFPs to interview and research had to take second place to the details of cleaning, staging, and moving. We got her out plus the home sale completed, even faster than we hoped - 2 months, 1 week start to finish.

But as a result, she had some staggeringly large bank statements for a couple of months!
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Colleen, I'm surprised the CDs don't have better rates than regular bank accounts. Usually the longer the term, the more interest is paid. Layering them (time wise) is recommended if money will be needed before X amount of time.
Lethe200 I can imagine that was a big, stressful job! They must be crazy to even think of mailing an almost million dollar check! LOL In Prince's song Pop Life, he asks.."Did they put your million dollar check in somebody else's box?"

 

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