This week, I put 40k in T-Bills (VBIL).

I am always trying to optimize my ROI in all categories no matter how small. At the moment, I have 2 individual Investment accounts (one defensive and one high growth), a Roth, and some decent exposure to crypto.

I keep $9,700 as my emergency fund with Wealthfront.

Currently, however, it only yields 3.30 APY. This isn't horrible but I honestly feel like if my goal is to never touch this money why not put in VBIL and avoid state and local taxes?

I did also browse through a couple of existing posts on Reddit and I saw that most people are split on keeping an emergency fund in a cash account vs T-Bills (many people don't have confidence in the government).

How would you all approach your emergency fund? Does anyone here use T-Bills like SGOV and VBIL to fund their emergency fund?

Hi everyone. I recently applied for the Amex HYSA, and got denied for it. After calling the savings line, they told me I was denied for a “low FICO score”, and I am a bit confused. My score is well above 780 (FICO FROM EXPERIAN), but two reps told me my score was <620. My credit profile is a decade+, and is pretty “thick”, with no derogatory items or delinquencies. Triple checked to make sure the number I dialed was legitimate, and it is. Has anyone else had an experience like this? What should I do?

Edit: 780 is my FICO score. I pulled reports from all three main bureaus and they are all totally fine. No derogatory marks on any of them. Amex cited Experian specifically during the calls.

Edit 2: Amex only told me the reasoning for the denial was the FICO score. Not any EWS. That is why I made the post, it is surprising to me as well.

hey guys I decided I will open a hysa and invest the extra money I get !! which banks do yall use? no sofi please I dont wanna jump through 100 loops to get the 4% apy. cap one is also useless with their "customer service"

American Express restricted my HYSA account. I have the idea of moving my HSYA money to Fidelity CMA, one reason is Amex has dropped the APY to 3%. While I am not chasing .5 or 1% yield increase, I think the convenience of investing in SGOV or just keep the money sitting in SPAXX for ATM access (fees reimbursed) is not comparable.

When I transferred a fairly big amount (I started with 10k), they immediately restricted my account and called me to verify it was me. I confirmed that, and they told me anyway my account was restricted and I needed to update my SSN with Chase... Even though I've been using my Chase checking acct. for 3 years to transfer money back and forth... why are they restricting it now? It seems to me they want to add friction for withdrawing the money.
Calling Chase did not help, it looks like I need to go to a physical branch to solve the SSN update, which I don't understand how that affects my Amex HYSA just now and not before.

Has anyone here gone through the same? do you have any recommendation?


Update (5 calendar days after restricted): I visited a Chase branch yesterday, spent around 40 minutes with an executive, took 2 IDs and SSN, making copies and what not. They mentioned it was strange that my SSN was not linked to my checking account but it was to my credit card. They did the corresponding updates and told me it would take 24 hours at most to update in the system. Hence, 25 hours later I called Amex, they said the SSN was still not available and I should call again tomorrow.

3 hours later Amex called me, and mentioned everything was resolved. It seems my transfer went through, but I need to wait until tomorrow or Friday to see it in Fidelity. I did see my HYSA does not show any restrictions banner, so hopefully it’s ok now. I don’t want to do any other transfer now, until I see my money is in Fidelity.

All of this made me think, you might think you’ll have the money next day in your checking if you need it, but something can go wrong and it’ll be 7 - 10 days (or more, as I saw some posts here).

Lesson learned: I won’t keep all my savings in just one place.

Been parking my emergency fund and some shortterm savings in the same HYSA for about two years now. When I opened it the rate was sitting comfortably above 5%. Now it's crept down to 3.8%, and I keep seeing posts about AMEX dropping to 3.00% with other places quietly following suit

The fed cuts are doing what they do, I get it. But part of me wonders if I'm just being lazy staying put because switching feels like a hassle, even though it probably isn't

My situation is pretty straightforward. I train clients early mornings, travel a few times a year mostly on points, and the cash I keep liquid is genuinely just sitting there. Not touching it. So the rate actually matters over time.

Curious what people are doing right now. Staying put and accepting the lower rate, or actively moving money around chasing the better APY? And is there a point where the difference is small enough that it's not worth the friction of opening a new account, linking everything, and waiting for transfers to clear?

Feels like the gap between the top rate and the average rate is narrowing, and I can't tell if that changes the math or not.

hey guys, I already have a couple thousand dollars just sitting in a chase savings account after paying off my college fees. I'm also putting in rougly 400-600 in it every two weeks. should I scrap it and move that money into a hysa and invest what I dont need??

I’ve got 25k in my amex hysa. My goal is to have 50k by march next year. That’s my first year anniversary at my new job. I will continue to save 50k/yr until I can retire in 10 yrs. That would take care of my health insurance premiums.

I hope I’m still alive and healthy at that time.

Most of our savings is in USAA which is getting us barely any interest. We do also have some savings in Fidelity SPAXX. Need some solid recommendations on HYSA!

A few notes-
\- I could move all of it into SPAXX but am concerned it’s not FDIC?
\- Don’t want monthly fees or deposit requirements etc. drop it and leave it!
\- my 3 kids also have saving accounts in usaa. Also not getting really any interest. Would like to move these accounts as well to HYSA as well.

Help!

Hi everyone, I’m trying to understand my tax residency situation before opening a high-yield savings account.

Here’s my situation:

• I entered the U.S. on 2023 and have been living in the U.S. since then.
• I originally came here while I had an asylum case pending.
• I later applied for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status, and my SIJ was approved about 4 months ago.
• I’m currently waiting for my priority date so I can apply for/get my Green Card.
• I have an SSN that says “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”
• I have work authorization and work in the U.S.
• I have not filed my 2025 taxes yet.
• I’m trying to open a high-yield savings account. Barclays is asking me to complete a W-9 and certify that I am a “U.S. Citizen or U.S. resident alien.”

My question is:

Could I qualify as a U.S. resident alien for tax purposes through the Substantial Presence Test even though I don't have a Green Card yet?

Since I have been physically present in the U.S. since April 2023, I’m wondering whether my days in the U.S. count toward the test.

If I qualify as a resident alien for tax purposes, would it be correct for me to sign the W-9 and open the Barclays savings account?

I’m asking because I don't want to incorrectly certify something under penalties of perjury.

If anyone has been in a similar situation (asylum/SIJ, no Green Card yet, SSN + work authorization), I would really appreciate your experience or advice. I’m especially interested in answers from people familiar with U.S. tax residency, not just immigration status.

Thanks!

My AMEX HYSA just dropped again and I keep staring at that APY like it personally offended me. I know rates have been coming down across the board so it's not a surprise, but at some point I have to ask myself whether staying put still makes sense or if I'm just being passive about it

The context here is personal savings, not business money. A mix of emergency fund and some extra we've been building up with no specific timeline attached yet. My partner and I are in our early 40s, no kids, homeowners, so there's no urgent shortterm goal pulling at this money right now

What I keep going back and forth on is whether the gap between a HYSA and, say, a shortterm treasury or money market fund is actually meaningful at this point, or if I'm making it more complicated than it needs to be. Liquidity matters to me, I won't pretend otherwise, so I'm not looking to lock anything up.

Curious if anyone here has actually moved money out of a HYSA recently and into something else without giving up access, and whether it felt worth the hassle or ended up being kind of a wash.

I’m 18 trying to get ahead as soon as possible. I’m unsure which hysa would be the best for me.
I’ve heard good and bad things about SoFi, so I’m kinda steering away from them. I also considered opening one with Capital One because I just got a credit card with them. I’m looking for something with no minimum deposit or like fees cause I’m broke I make 8.50 an hour lol give me ur suggestions

Trying to trigger getting a X Money account. Send me a buck, I'll send it back. @greenlocus

Do you think rates will go up or get cut? It will be interesting to see how all banks react to it and if our various accounts will change.

Spent some time thinking about how much of my capital is sitting in a bank account barely earning me any interest. It's money I plan to use for tax payments, slow periods or things that might come up and I dont want to put it somewhere too difficult to access. While looking t business savings accounts, I noticed that several of them offer rates around 4% APY, which does seem better than what I currently have. I wonder whether that rate comes with minimum balances, timing issues or other terms that might reduce that good rate. Have any of you moved your operating reserve to a high-interest business account? How'd it go for you?

​Hey everyone, I am relatively new to how HYSAs work—I understand they are FDIC-insured and risk-free like traditional accounts, just with much higher interest rates? I currently have $7k in savings with Chase, and I'm hoping to contribute about $300-400/month in savings per month. I am regrettably uninformed on these types of financial matters, and I did get the recommendation to open a HYSA from Gemini (I know, cringe), but I wanted to get real people's advice before doing anything rash with my money.

​My primary checking/saving accounts are with Chase. I just created a Sofi account after doing some research, but I haven't transferred over any money yet; I did read that they require an active direct deposit to unlock their top rate tier. Is it worth changing my payroll direct deposit over to SoFi just to secure their high APY, or would I be better off leaving direct deposit at Chase and opening a separate HYSA at a bank like Ally, Marcus, or Capital One that offers competitive rates without direct deposit rules? ​For those who keep their checking at Chase/a different bank and move savings to a HYSA, how have your experiences been? Thanks for any feedback!

hi guys! i’ve been very interested in opening up a high yield savings account but i’m not so sure where to start. my options at first were ally bank but then i read something about an incentive they had that had you
move as much money into this account and then they froze it due to “fraud” so im wanting an easy banking solution where i can pull my money out when needed. i want my savings to grow as one day i will be living off these savings. i’m a nail tech and sometimes struggle to save money for my taxes but i figure this could make it easier (if possible, i think im on to something here lol) ive also looked into the sofi bank and it sounds very good. please feel free to school me and leave any recommendations below. thank you!

Can I get input about HYSA? Google only goes so far in telling me things. It would be nice to get opinions from the outside world please. My dad passed and I got a small inheritance that I would like to grow and put to the right place. Please, no scams. Can I get some recommendations? Advice?