5 ms·

>I am somewhat surprised nobody offers an abstracted savings account, that handles 401k, IRA, HSA, paying rent and bills, and access to credit. I think it'd be

>I am somewhat surprised nobody offers an abstracted savings account, that handles 401k, IRA, HSA, paying rent and bills, and access to credit. I think it'd be complicated to regulate from a risk perspective. Checking and savings accounts get insured by the FDIC, how do you insure a large pile of money invested practically everywhere in varying risky scenarios? You'd need to at least create a boundary between "FDIC-insured low interest funds" and "your results may vary but will probably be fine" funds.

basch 7y ago
that would still exist, you just wouldnt see it from the UI/dashboard that you interact with day to day. There would be risk parameters, not dissimilar to the "find your risk tolerance" type wizards today. the important part being to eliminate too many choices. the more choices people have, the more chances they choose a suboptimal one or panic and choose nothing. (paradox of choice.)
fossuser 7y ago
Haven Money was an attempt at this (startup a friend/former coworker started to tackle this), but they recently sold to credit karma. https://havenmoney.com/ https://havenmoney.com/ It was a cool idea - basically they'd auto invest some portion into a total market index, pick the best rates for things in your 401k, etc.
- celticninja 7y ago
  And credit karma was itself acquired recently.
hakfoo 7y ago
I think there's a related product out there. Think of the traditional baby boomer era story-- "Dad brings home the paycheque, Mom does the budget." Give me Mom as a service. Don't let me touch my full salary, just what's left after a responsible adult has done with it. Let me plug in every account I have, and set up rules like * Pay the rent on the first cheque of the month and the electric company on the second * Pay credit cards in full up to a total of $1200/month; if beyond that pay towards the highest rates first while still covering minimum balances * If there's a break in of cash flow, draw down from savings to $500 to retain the current pay rates, then drop payments on all accounts to minimum. * Leave $150 per week from cash flow where I can withdraw it for petty cash. * Anything unspoken for is sent to an automatic purchase of (broad index fund|treasury debt|Pokemon cards) on a weekly basis After a few years of using the account with $150 per week on it, you check the statement and see that the money that Mom-as-a-service has withheld from you is enough to buy the entirety of Alberta.
- basch 7y ago
  Exactly. That is exactly what I am describing. What I would add is a built in line of credit that allows rent to be paid, bills to be paid, without a paycheck being deposited, and without needing to withdraw money from investments, money market etc. This would basically eliminate the need to keep cash in a checking account. Once per period, whatever that period is, money would move from savings to the line of credit. This line of credit would be accessible as a bank account, and as a credit card, to pay bills. What needs to be displayed to you is some equivalent to cash flow or net income combined with a budget. Knowing you spend x on rent and y on food a month, are you on track to keep cash flow positive?

basch 7y ago

that would still exist, you just wouldnt see it from the UI/dashboard that you interact with day to day. There would be risk parameters, not dissimilar to the "find your risk tolerance" type wizards today. the important part being to eliminate too many choices. the more choices people have, the more chances they choose a suboptimal one or panic and choose nothing. (paradox of choice.)

fossuser 7y ago

Haven Money was an attempt at this (startup a friend/former coworker started to tackle this), but they recently sold to credit karma. https://havenmoney.com/ https://havenmoney.com/ It was a cool idea - basically they'd auto invest some portion into a total market index, pick the best rates for things in your 401k, etc.

celticninja 7y ago
And credit karma was itself acquired recently.

hakfoo 7y ago

I think there's a related product out there. Think of the traditional baby boomer era story-- "Dad brings home the paycheque, Mom does the budget." Give me Mom as a service. Don't let me touch my full salary, just what's left after a responsible adult has done with it. Let me plug in every account I have, and set up rules like * Pay the rent on the first cheque of the month and the electric company on the second * Pay credit cards in full up to a total of $1200/month; if beyond that pay towards the highest rates first while still covering minimum balances * If there's a break in of cash flow, draw down from savings to $500 to retain the current pay rates, then drop payments on all accounts to minimum. * Leave $150 per week from cash flow where I can withdraw it for petty cash. * Anything unspoken for is sent to an automatic purchase of (broad index fund|treasury debt|Pokemon cards) on a weekly basis After a few years of using the account with $150 per week on it, you check the statement and see that the money that Mom-as-a-service has withheld from you is enough to buy the entirety of Alberta.

basch 7y ago
Exactly. That is exactly what I am describing. What I would add is a built in line of credit that allows rent to be paid, bills to be paid, without a paycheck being deposited, and without needing to withdraw money from investments, money market etc. This would basically eliminate the need to keep cash in a checking account. Once per period, whatever that period is, money would move from savings to the line of credit. This line of credit would be accessible as a bank account, and as a credit card, to pay bills. What needs to be displayed to you is some equivalent to cash flow or net income combined with a budget. Knowing you spend x on rent and y on food a month, are you on track to keep cash flow positive?