Financial Set-up
Follow the Personal Finance Prime Directive.
That said ... paycheck gets direct deposited into 1 of 3 banks.
Wings Financial Savings Account
AMEX HYSA (High-Yield Savings Account)
Chase Checking Account
There being about $11,000 of debt on a 0% credit card with Wings.
The HYSA is just the best place to get the best interest rate for liquid cash.
The Chase Account was opened because they had a $225 sign-up bonus; plus I want to pad my experience with them before I apply for their credit card.
Speaking of credit cards; I currently have four:
Wings Signature Platinum
Wings Cash Back
Wells Fargo BILT
AMEX Everyday Blue Cash
The Wings cards were used to pay off a $5k debt at the University of Minnesota. I've since used the cards to purchase basic necessities for a new apartment/live in the US.
Things like a mattress, a couch, a blender, etc.
The BILT card gets me points when I pay rent ... long story short.
I can use points to buy airline tickets; I also get 3x points when dining out.
The AMEX card is for groceries (6% cash back) and gas (3% cash back).
That said, the first step is to build a budget and live within it!
So the money is direct deposited ...
Do you have an Emergency Fund ?!
Really that's what the HYSA should be ... have six months of expenses accessible immediately.
Do you have a Roth IRA ?!?
Seriously, get one ... if you have any aspirations of buying material comfort near retirement ... get one!
Because we're going investing folks!!!
Index funds ... that's it ... that's your best bet ... yes, if you max out your Roth IRA, and any other tax-advantaged accounts you have access to ... then you can look beyond index funds ... but trying to pick stocks ...
I'll eventually write posts about it ... yes, I bought some individual stocks ... dividend stocks ... Aristocats ... I'll be updating the portfolio monthly.
Because the other part of the portfolio is fixed income investments, i.e. bonds and CD's.
My personal idea being to have a four-pillar investments strategy ...
- HYSA for fast-cash.
- Index-Funds for retirement.
- Fixed-income for rotating semi-fast-cash.
- Dividend Stocks for Market Intro.
The first two instruments are automatically added to every paycheck.
The second two are reviewed monthly; and added to quarterly.