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Savings accounts are not a popular way to save.

by danjoc 9y ago

matte_black 9y ago
Do they really only mean bank savings accounts? I have exactly $0 in savings but tons of money in mutual funds and stocks and bonds.
- gruez 9y ago
  >survey posed the question, “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?”
  - matte_black 9y ago
    Well, then clearly it was either designed with an agenda in mind or the person who wrote it doesn’t really understand how people save.
    - 5555624 9y ago
      I think a lot of people may save that way. My mother's side of the family is generations of family farms. A savings account, checking account, and the value of the farm -- no stocks, bonds, etc. I know a lot of blue collar workers who a in similar positions (minus the value of a farm). As has been pointed out, in the past here on HN, maybe high schools should teach a class on personal finance. Maybe a lot of these people never think of anything outside of checking and savings accounts and think other sorts of investments ar eonly for the rich.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  You might want to consider having some money in a more liquid account than a brokerage account. Generally it takes days to sell/settle/withdraw from a brokerage account. Is that OK if you're experiencing an emergency which requires cashing out from there?
  - matte_black 9y ago
    I keep about 10-20k in checking for those purposes. And that’s really only if a credit card is not acceptable. I have over $120k credit available between all my cards.
gruez 9y ago
bingo. the most popular savings vehicle for americans is probably the equity in their home
- MBCook 9y ago
  That’s not liquid though. I would assume that they meant some sort of liquid asset that you could use, if they didn’t actually mean a literal savings account. So you could include spare money sitting in their checking account or a few other things… But not equity in their home.
  - white-flame 9y ago
    Home equity loans and lines of credit turn that liquid.
    - craftyguy 9y ago
      Not really. They still require several days to shop/negotiate/sign, at least as far as I've seen. True, it's 'more liquid' than raw equity, but it's still slow as shit in an emergency.

Savings accounts are not a popular way to save.

by danjoc 9y ago

Savings accounts are not a popular way to save.

Do they really only mean bank savings accounts? I have exactly $0 in savings but tons of money in mutual funds and stocks and bonds.

gruez 9y ago
>survey posed the question, “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?”
- matte_black 9y ago
  Well, then clearly it was either designed with an agenda in mind or the person who wrote it doesn’t really understand how people save.
  - 5555624 9y ago
    I think a lot of people may save that way. My mother's side of the family is generations of family farms. A savings account, checking account, and the value of the farm -- no stocks, bonds, etc. I know a lot of blue collar workers who a in similar positions (minus the value of a farm). As has been pointed out, in the past here on HN, maybe high schools should teach a class on personal finance. Maybe a lot of these people never think of anything outside of checking and savings accounts and think other sorts of investments ar eonly for the rich.
craftyguy 9y ago
You might want to consider having some money in a more liquid account than a brokerage account. Generally it takes days to sell/settle/withdraw from a brokerage account. Is that OK if you're experiencing an emergency which requires cashing out from there?
- matte_black 9y ago
  I keep about 10-20k in checking for those purposes. And that’s really only if a credit card is not acceptable. I have over $120k credit available between all my cards.

gruez 9y ago

bingo. the most popular savings vehicle for americans is probably the equity in their home

MBCook 9y ago
That’s not liquid though. I would assume that they meant some sort of liquid asset that you could use, if they didn’t actually mean a literal savings account. So you could include spare money sitting in their checking account or a few other things… But not equity in their home.
- white-flame 9y ago
  Home equity loans and lines of credit turn that liquid.
  - craftyguy 9y ago
    Not really. They still require several days to shop/negotiate/sign, at least as far as I've seen. True, it's 'more liquid' than raw equity, but it's still slow as shit in an emergency.