Maximizing Cash: Strategies for High-Yield Savings and More

Maximizing cash reserves through high-yield accounts can significantly boost long-term financial growth.

### Maximizing Cash: Strategies for Higher Returns and Financial Growth
* 💰 "Cash doesn't have to sit idly; it can be a **viable part of your overall financial plan**."
* 📈 With the current interest rate landscape, there are numerous opportunities to **optimize cash for both wealth building and emergency reserves**.
* 🏦 High-yield savings accounts are a familiar option, offering **significant returns over time**, such as earning approximately **$2,100 on a $20,000 deposit** at a 5% yield after two years.
* 💡 It's essential to understand the differences between cash accounts, including **high-yield savings accounts** and **money market accounts**, as they have unique benefits and liquidity levels.
* 🔒 While high-yield savings accounts offer **easy access to funds**, money market accounts can serve as both a savings and checking account, providing **flexibility**.
* 📊 Certificates of deposit (CDs) can be useful for **locking in rates**, but they may not be ideal for **emergency funds** due to their **commitment periods**.
* 📉 As interest rates fluctuate, it's important to **stay informed about the best options for your cash**, considering factors like **liquidity** and **potential penalties for early withdrawal**.
* 💪 Ultimately, maintaining an appropriate cash reserve is **crucial for financial stability**, allowing you to **seize investment opportunities** even in uncertain market conditions.

let's maximize how much you're making off your cash. You're going to want to hear this. I am so excited because people often think, Okay, I've got to have cash, I've got to have an emergency fund, and something has to sit out there. But man, those dollars just aren't out there working for me, and that does not have to be the case. It can actually be a very viable part of your overall financial plan. Well, we went through decades where cash was trash. It was one of those things they kept interest rates super, super low. You weren't making anything off of it. They were pushing you out to take more and more risk. That is not where we are right now. We want to make sure because there's a lot of things going on out there in the interest rate world. There's a lot of things going on with how you should know how to use your cash, both as a wealth builder as well as for your emergency reserves. We want to give you all the details, but with some of the inflation concerns, and we've

heard hints that maybe rates might be falling. Maybe the time to take advantage of opportunities is changing. So, there are some things we want to make you aware of as we move forward that you ought to know about. What different types of accounts you can have, how they work, what are the benefits, what are the pros and cons to each. Because again, it can have an impact on your overall financial life. You know what another opportunity is? You have the opportunity to subscribe right now. We know that about 60% of you guys are just renting your seat. Just get in there, subscribe, let us know you're out there. All right, so let's dive right in. Let's talk about the first type of account. These are high-yield savings accounts, and most people have heard of them. But you may be out there saying, Man, okay, is this significant? Does this even matter? I mean, so what if I'm making money on my cash? And while it may not seem significant in the short term, when you actually stretch out your timeline, it can be pretty significant if

you think about an emergency fund that has $22,000 in there. If you can get that $220,000 parked in a high-yield account with a 5% yield, paying you 5% for holding that. After about one month, that $20,000 will have made about $83. Okay, let's, that's fine, that's not, that's like a nice dinner out, maybe a tank of gas, but it's not life-changing, so it doesn't get you too excited. But when you expand your timeline, you think about after that money's been sitting there for two years. That $20,000, it was just going to sit there anyways, has made you almost $2,100. Yeah, this is one of those things you guys hear me say it all the time. Big results come from small decisions. You know, always ask when, whether it's the books and other things. We always say, what small decision are you making today to build your Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow? Guys, this is a perfect example of something that looks like it is a

teeny tiny decision of just getting a little bit extra on your cash reserves, but I'm telling you, this is the type of mindset that is going to set you apart and turn you into a financial mutant. All right, Brian, so let's talk about the different types of cash accounts, 'cause not all cash accounts are created equal. They behave differently, they have different benefits. We want you to know which one makes the most sense for where you are and what problems you're looking to solve. Now, we've already mentioned the first one: high-yield savings accounts. This is the one that I think most people are most familiar with, and most people will be able to relate to in the most ready manner. Well, this is the easiest because it's just your banks, it's your credit unions. Now, just to kind of bring everybody up to speed, if you're looking at who's going to pay you the most money, I think the traditional banks, the what we call the brick-and-mortar, meaning the banks that are right down

the street from you. They are not usually on the cutting edge of paying you the most. If you want to maximize the high-yield savings account, more than likely you're going to have to look at that credit union or even that online bank. Another thing that you want to know is that when you have a high-yield savings account offered by a bank or credit union, they are protected by federal programs, either the FDIC or the NCUA for credit unions, that will ensure your deposits up to certain limits. So you can rest assured that that money that you're putting there in an emergency will actually be there for you up to certain limits because there are federal protections in place to make sure that those entities stay solvent. Yeah, we what we like about high-yield savings accounts. If you talk about cash and reserves, this is supposed to be money you can get to easily. It has a high liquidity, so if this is the case, there's not going to be anything any easier. Now realize you should pay

attention when you set these accounts up. Even though I don't want you pulling money in and out of these too much, you do need to ask yourself how many transactions are they going to allow me before they start charging me fees for this high-yield savings account. Or even if you're moving money back and forth between accounts, there may be a 1 to 3-day hold moving it from a high-yield savings account to your checking account. So, you just want to know that going into there. Obviously, if they're the same institution, it may be a little bit quicker. But if there is a lag time, if there's a delay, you want to make sure that you're aware of that. Another thing that's interesting about high-yield savings accounts is how quickly the rates adjust. Because we know that all of these cash-paying accounts have a stated rate that they're going to pay you, but that rate often is not locked in time. So, you want to know that as interest rates change, as federal policy changes, how does that affect the money

that you're earning on your cash when it comes to high-yield savings accounts. Their rate adjustment speed, we would rate as moderate. Yeah, and well, this is why this is important. I think about, remember how I told you guys that we went through decades where interest rates just dragged in the cellar. If you look at, we have a chart that we created where you can see the FED funds rate was pretty much as close to zero as you can get. About the only way you could make money is if you were using a high-yield savings account. Because if you look at, we use it as an example, we used Ally. I was able to go pull all my own account statements to get some rates. You can see all the way up until really April or May of 2022, the only game in town if you were just trying to maximize your yield was to go to one of these high-yield savings accounts. Now, as the FED has raised rates and treasury, you know, T-bills and other things have gone up, these have gone up as

well, but they have kind of capped them out. It's not always the best game in town anymore. So, you can see that they do move with rates, but it's not necessarily a perfectly tied movement, and it's not incredibly rapid. We would say that it's modern now. The other big benefit to high-yield savings accounts is when it comes to setting them up. Like, how do I go open one? How do I navigate that? They are very, very easy to set up, and if you're using the online version of a high-yield account, many of those can be opened up in five or 10 minutes. And you can actually link them to your checking account, so there should not be a big barrier to entry. So, if you literally have your savings account just sitting at a brick-and-mortar institution, and you're not getting top-tier rates, that's kind of on you because it should not be difficult for you to access and be able to use a high-yield savings account. So, let's talk about the perks and the pitfalls of these high-yield savings accounts, and I

think to kind of kick off the perk is that I mean I do love that these. If you choose the right institution, you get a great rate of return. So, I want to echo what you just said, is make sure you're proactive. If you have a brick-and-mortar and they're not paying you a good return, pay attention, and hopefully, you can learn something on today's show to change that and actually start making the most out of your cash. Yeah, so when we think about the perks, you know, one of the perks is that high-yield savings accounts, depending on the one they use, they might have unique savings buckets. So, even when it comes to your personal budgeting process, you may be a have a hold for the next carard down payment or HVAC replacement or vacation budget. You can actually chunk them into different buckets that will help you with your mental accounting, all the while all of those dollars are still earning that same high rate of interest. I also like when you set up some of these accounts. I want you to go do a little research into

are there any incentives or bonuses you might qualify for for setting up an account. I think about I already covered Alla. They've offered. They've paid me $500 for making contributions and other things. Capital One's another one. Now I put an asterisk next to Capital One because it is a perk that they offer this but also I don't mind sharing that they fall under the pitfall category as well. I'll come back to that and the fact that here's the pitfall for high yield savings accounts. Currently they are not the best. As we shared with you that for before 2022 this was the only game in town but his interest rates have gone up as the federal policy and the central banks have pushed rates up. They pay good rates but it's not the best rate. So that's kind of a pitfall but that doesn't mean it will always stay that way. The other pitfall is exactly what I was talking about. I call it the bait and switch game. You've fallen prey to this. I

have fallen prey to this. Banks, like I will, I'll just go ahead and say it because I've been a customer. I've even told them on their 1-800 number that they're making a mistake. Here is that they will, and they don't even change the name of the bank, but Capital One will keep renaming their high-yield savings accounts. And if you're a new account holder, you get the best rate. But if you have an existing account, you might all of a sudden slowly start not paying you the best rate. That's less than ideal because you shouldn't have to go change to their better product to get the best rate of return or the best yield. And Bo, you've fallen trapped to this with, by savings direct was the one that I felt prey to. I think it's a branch of immigrant direct. And I only did it 'cause I wanted to beat you. I only went and chose the savings account because I think it was like 10 basis points, 20 basis points.

more than you were getting. I signed up for the account, moved on my cash over, and literally three months later they slashed rates. And all I had done was just moved money for no real reason. So when you go to bankrate.com and you go to look, see who the best high-yield savings accounts are being paid for, do a little additional research to make sure that they consistently are the highest yielding, not just a brand that is using you to attract new capital and then slowly going to downplay those rates of returns and actually hurt you and make you move your money. Now there is another type of account that is very similar to a high-yield savings account that perhaps you've heard of, and it's called a money market account. These are offered by banking institutions, and they're almost identical to high-yield savings accounts in the way that they operate and what they do, but the access is a little bit different. When you have a high-yield savings account, most often it's going to be a savings account that you link to a

checking account so for your daily inflows and outflows, writing checks, making deposits, doing withdrawals, that's likely going to come out of a checking account. That's separate than your high-yield savings account. With a money market account, it can operate as both of those. So you have money in there, and it serves as your main checking or main transaction account. So they're a little bit different in terms of the way they operate, but that's not the only difference. Yeah, I mean, we look, this is something that even when we were doing the show content, having the content meeting, I was like, why are we covering this? Because I want to get to the money market mutual funds, but there's a lot of confusion in the industry between money market accounts and money market mutual funds. So that's why we did want to put this in there because, and we even created a slide that kind of compared and contrasted, and you can quickly see that money market mutual funds are typically offered by your banks and credit unions. It's the money market mutual funds that

are offered by the broker brokerage accounts and we'll more details will follow on these money market funds but you should know the difference between these but I'll let you kind of go through the nuances but it is kind of a name game out there yeah when you have a money market account he already said this it's it's housed at a banking institution or a money market fund is an investment that you own inside of a brokerage account well when it comes to the protection money market accounts are FDIC or NCUA insured depending on if it's a bank or a credit union money market funds are covered under a different kind of insurance they're not covered by the FDIC they're covered by the SIPC the Securities Investor Protection Corporation that is similar but it's different that's the type of protection that covers investment type vehicles not actual cash vehicles so you want to understand that the protections in place and the guarantees in place are not the same when it comes to liquidity level money market accounts are very liquid we

would argue that money market funds are highly liquid but not very highly liquid because with a money market fund oftentimes there is a purchase or a sell that must take place. So, if you have $10,000 in a money market mutual fund and you want to make a withdrawal to your checking account, you'll need to sell that money market mutual fund, then send the cash. So, there's a slight barrier there that you need to be aware of. Now, this is where I think things are a little bit different when it comes to rate adjustments. Money market accounts are sort of moderate in terms of how they adjust. Money market mutual funds, because they are the highest payers and they are the most attractive right now, they tend to adjust with rates in a pretty rapid manner. Yeah, and this was kind of fun to actually create a slide once again from my own savings accounts. We were able to go pull, you know, we had the FED funds rate and then we had also where money market mutual funds, like if we use Fidelity reserves.

Fidelity cash reserves fund, and you can quickly see the correlation. I mean, when cash but meaning the FED funds rate was pretty much close to zero, these money market mutual funds were close to zero. But as soon as the federal government started raising rates, these things shot up, and they went beyond what you saw from your high-yield savings accounts. And that's what it's nice seeing the overlay here because, once again, giving you the history pre-2, you know, April or May of 2022, you wanted to be in a high-yield savings account because it was at least paying you like half a percent. Everything else was close to zero, and then you were at least making half a percent. But as soon as the FED started raising rates, everything went up. But the ones that went up the fastest were those money market mutual funds. And the reason is because these are portfolios just filled full of treasuries. And if you think about the best returning thing is like a, you know, on cash or represents where the federal government is with interest.

rates currently are those safe treasury bills, so it makes complete sense. But how do you plan for this? Is that this will change too? That's the thing about money; it doesn't ever stay the same. That's why we can't give you blanket information saying, Hey, go maximize your cash by getting the money market mutual fund; that is the answer right now. But who's to say 6 months, a year from now, it's going to be completely different. And that's why it makes sense; you need to know about these different types of accounts so that you can structure your financial situation based on what solution that you need. Now, when it comes to ease of setting up, money market accounts are very easy. Again, they're often with your bank or credit union. It's as easy as just opening up an account there. To actually have your dollars invested in a money market mutual fund, you have to open a brokerage account, which is a unique thing. And then, once the money's in there, you often have to purchase that money market mutual fund. So, it's not difficult, but it's not as

easy as a money market account. So, you want to make sure you understand before you pursue this. Do I have the wherewithal? Do I understand how this process works to make sure that I can get my money working for me? So, let's give a quick summary of the perks and pitfalls of the money market mutual fund. Sure, this is currently the highest year for the minimal hassle. That is a true statement. Pitfall-wise, and I've already kind of alluded to this, as soon as the Federal Reserve starts dropping rates, you will need to be mindful and keep track of what the 7-Day yield that your money market mutual fund is showing up when you go look at it every day compared to what all the high-yield savings accounts are offering. Because there will probably be a crossover point in the not-too-distant future. All right, BR, so everything we've talked about right now has been pretty readily available liquid cash. We've had high-yield savings accounts. We've talked

about money market accounts. We've talked about money market mutual funds, but there are other types of cash solutions that act a little bit more like a fixed income type investment, meaning there is a commitment period. You put your money away, and you get a rate of return for that. And one of the most popular ones that you've heard about are certificates of deposit, or CDs. These are great if you know that there's going to be a time for which you do not need your money. However, if this is what you're using for your emergency fund, I don't know that it's perfect because you want your emergency fund dollars to be there when you need them. Well, when you buy a CD, you oftentimes have to lock it up for three months, six months, twelve, twenty-four months. So, CDs may not be the absolute best solution for emergency funds. And when it comes to CDs, not all certificates of deposit have created equal. There are actually two different types that you need to know about. Yeah, we wanted to show this. I loved giving this example when we were

doing the content meeting traditional is like what my granddad used to do. I've shared with you guys my parents didn't understand what investing was, so their idea of investment was a CD. You just go down to the local bank and you tell them, Hey, I won't need this money for a year. I won't need this money for 18 months. What's the best you're paying on your Certificate of Deposits? And that's what's your idea of investing. My granddad took it to a whole another level 'cause he would ride around every bank in the community. And when he passed away, it was a lot of work for us to track down where all he had money. He was probably trying to get the best rate, trying to get the best rate, and he was, you know, doing his own strategies there. Well, the good news is, fortunately, with technology, with modernization, you don't have to drive all over town to maximize this. You can do what's called a brokered CD, meaning that if you go to

like you look at Schwab, has them. Fidelity has them. You can actually shop all these different banks right there from the comfort of your home, have it in one account so your beneficiaries don't have to track it down or something should ever happen to you. It's all right there, and it still gives you all those benefits that my granddad was trying to maximize by getting the best yield. It's also the fact that you get to mix it out, and I love the fact that brokerage CDs still offer the benefit not only of the SIPC of the investment type of protection, but a lot of them can also provide you the FDIC as well. Yeah, they're very, very similar to the way the traditional CDs work now in terms of liquidity. Traditional banks are moderately low in terms of liquidity. Broker CDs are actually a little bit better because you can trade them, you can sell them the same way that you sell other investments. The rate adjustment speed is actually the rates on newly issued CDs will adjust, but on CDs that

you currently own the beauty of a CD. Is when you buy it at that rate, you are locked in for the term of the CD. So, if you buy a certificate of deposit today and then rates fall tomorrow, your rate does not fall. You get that rate locked in. Now, when that CD matures or when those coupon payments, those interest payments are paid out, you may not be able to reinvest at that same rate, but depending on your term, you get to control how often or when your rate adjusts. So, it's a great tool for folks who think rates might be falling, and you know you want to lock your money up for a while. It's a great tool to be able to use to get a return on your investment. Yeah, so we know now. Look, I've been shocked at how fast the rate market has already adjusted. I looked this morning, and a week ago, two weeks ago, it was so easy to get well over 5% on pretty much any CD out there. Now, we're right at our 5% or the high

fours. It is one of those things where I would encourage you to go look at this, and here's the perk: is that you can lock in rates if you think the Federal Reserve is going to be dropping rates, and there are all indications what they're kind of hinting at is that at the upcoming meeting in September, they are potentially dropping rates around a half a percent. Nobody knows for sure, but that is what the street is kind of reading the tea leaves to be. Well, you can imagine that is going to directly impact. You have the opportunity right now. If you don't need money for 6 months, if you don't need money for a year, you could lock in that higher rate, and even if the Federal Reserve lowers rates, you would still be locked in at that higher rate. But the counter to that is also true. There are some pitfalls. One, if you need to access money in a CD before the end of that term, there are often penalties or your foregoing interest for that early access. You want to understand

what are the rules around the certificates of deposit that you're buying? And if you buy a CD and then rates go up, you don't get a rate adjustment upward. You are still stuck at that lower rate. So, you want to make sure this is one of the reasons why for the last five or six years CDs have not been an incredibly attractive investment, because they weren't actually paying you more than a high-yield savings account. And if you're not getting a premium for that lack of liquidity, it may not make sense for you to put your dollars into that type of investment. So, before you buy a CD, you just want to understand what do I think is going to happen with rates, and will I be happy if rates go up or if rates go down continuing to hold this financial instrument. So, Bo, you're the fancy guy with the CFA, okay? So, you'll be able to add a little depth to this. I'm always amazed because one of the things is that people who predict what's going to happen to

interest rates now. I will say this is a little better because we actually had Chairman Powell come on air and basically said, Yeah, I think that we've gotten to the time where interest rates need to come back down because of, you know, this, this, this, and talking about inflation and so forth. So, they're pretty much showing their hand that they think they're going to lower rates, but there's been a lot of time that it is dangerous or iffy territory to be a predictor of interest rates. Yeah, it's very, very, it's a futile effort, it seems, you know. We can look back, this is anticipated rate drops since February of 2024, since the beginning of this year. They're walking through what they thought the gravity of rates would look like, the gravity of drops, and you can see that at the beginning of the year, oh, thought rate drops were going to happen for sure, it's going to be around 1%, and then as we got towards May and there was poor inflation data, all of a

sudden. Oh, maybe we're not going to drop at 1%. Maybe it's only going to be 25 basis points. And then, as we recovered from that, now it has now increased and ticked back up. So, you want to be very careful in terms of listening to someone else's estimation of what's going to happen. We would much rather you make your decisions based on what is perfect for your financial situation. Now, it does seem likely, though, rates are going to fall. I think most people would agree that rates are more likely to go down from this current posture than up. So, does that mean that we shouldn't hold cash anymore? If rates are going to fall and it's not going to be as attractive, I'm not going to make as much money. Should I be doing that? Should I be getting away from cash? Absolutely not. Even with lower rates, even when rates and cash was trash, not paying a whole lot, there are reasons why we want to make sure that we continue to hold cash, even if rates fall, even if the

environment is not as attractive as it is right now today. This is a great discussion because a lot of people I know, since we're about to come through this new threshold where interest rates are coming down, will fire up the Machinery of telling you once again cash is trash, and people will push you further and further out on the risk Spectrum to try to maximize every dollar. And I get it, you're a financial mutant, you too want to maximize every dollar in your army of dollar bills, but please use me as a case example of how there can be too much of a good thing. Um, I thought I was so smart that instead of having an emergency Reserve, I had access to a home equity line where I had six figures worth of equity on my house. Guys, it was Fool's Gold. We all know how the rest of the story played out, is that we had the Great Recession. I all of a sudden got a letter from Wells Fargo letting me know that that home equity

line with six figures of access that they conveniently gave me the checkbook and the debit card on was completely closed off, and I was not going to have any additional access to it. And here I am looking at my financial life and realizing I was missing the key component of emergency reserves while we were facing a volatile market, while we were facing strong unemployment, while we were facing the stock market losing 20%. I want you to hear me: no matter what happens with interest rates, even if interest rates go down, you have to keep your cash reserves. That's step one: highest deductible covered, and step four: emergency reserves of the financial order of operations in liquid cash-type equivalent investments. And it's not just that; even if rates go down, you may want to keep cash because you're planning for a home down payment, or you're planning to buy a new automobile, or maybe there's a big trip or a big expense like a wedding, or maybe you just recognize, Hey, there's some future opportunity I might want to capitalize on. Maybe I want to

invest in a business, or I want to buy a rental property. I want to buy a commercial building. Whatever that thing may be, cash is your friend. So, even if rates drop, it does not mean that you should not continue to hold cash. You should hold cash so long as the goals that you have align with having cash on the sidelines that's readily available for you to use. Now, just because we say that doesn't mean that you can't be sophisticated about it, that you can't think through it. Because if rates do go down, there likely are going to be some impacts that you want to know about. What will likely happen is money market mutual funds, the highest payers right now, will likely drop their yields faster than high-yield savings accounts. And while both will go down, the speed at which they go down may not be the same. So, if you are someone who's hearing this for the first time, and you have a really good high-yield savings account, and you heard this, you're like, Oh man, now I'm

going to go. I'm going to go open my brokerage account. I'm going to immediately jump into a money market mutual fund. Well, if rates do fall in September and the rates on the money market mutual funds drop precipitously, you may have been better off staying in the high-yield savings account. On the converse, if we do see rates fall and all of a sudden money market mutual funds aren't that attractive anymore, you may want to consider opening up a high-yield savings account at one of the online institutions, just like you mentioned, because that might be a better way to get a better yield on cash. You won't know until after the drops happen, but you need to be aware of what's available in the marketplace to you. Yeah, this is one of those things. I did this with my own money, and the fact that I think about pre-2022, I was heavy on the high-yield savings account when the FED started raising rates and treasury rates started going up dramatically. Um, now the

majority of my cash is in those money market mutual funds, so you're going to see that we will have an intersection point once again as rates start to drop. Another thing, another likely impact that will take place is that new CDs being issued will also drop pretty quickly. Again, any CDs that you currently have will not drop, but new CD issues will drop. Now, this is important. Your account value will not go down. The value of the CDs that you own will not go down. It's just the rate at which newly deposited money will earn. That's what's going to slow down. If I was getting 5% on my CD, I may now, when I get a new, when I go buy a new CD, it may only be 4.5%. So you need to understand that. And when you think about your terms, do I want a 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, 12-month, 24-month CD? Or there are even strategies that you can deploy, and I bet your grandfather was doing this. You can even use CDs where

you don't have to get it 100% right or 100% wrong. There are strategies you can build to make sure that you're taking advantage of The Best of Both Worlds. Yeah, you hear it, but nobody ever explains what does it mean when somebody says they want to create a CD ladder strategy. And now we used an example of just a non-mon CD ladder strategy, but to set it up initially, you're going, let's just assume you have $155,000 to set it up. We did one 3-month, we did one 6-month, and we did one 9-month CD. But then ongoing, if you want to keep rolling this ladder forward, is that 3-month CD kind of came to maturity and now reset itself at whatever the interest rates are. Is that 3? It's 3. 3-month CD came mature, we'd buy another 9-month. And then when that 6-month CD came mature, whatever the interest rate is now 6 months in the future, we'd buy another 9-month. And you see

how this process keeps rotating. Now I will tell you, when you do a ladder strategy, we might get to a point where interest rates are so low that you don't have to stay on this train of keep rolling the ladder forward. You can every time be taking a temperature read on where interest rates are. What this does allow you to do, though, is if you want to lock in interest rates for an extended period of time and still give you options to have access to the capital, a ladder strategy is not a bad idea. Yeah, there's some big benefits to doing this. One is you'll have funds available penalty-free every month or every quarter, every six months, depending on the timeline of your ladder. It's a great way to make sure that you have liquidity coming. So, it's not uncommon for folks that are very conservative and more risk-averse. They might say, Hey, I'm going to build a five-year CD ladder so that at every year, I'm going to have liquidity come my way. And that's what's

going to cover my living expenses or that's what's going to cover a fixed portion of my living expenses. That's great. Another thing is you can take advantage with a higher or a higher rate longer CD. So in our example, even though our goal was for 3 months of liquidity through the ladder, you'll notice the actual CD we were buying was 9 months. Every time we were just replacing with a 9-month. You can do the same thing with 12-month or 24-month CDs depending on the ladder that you're building. What's great is you will be buying higher and higher CDs if rates go up. However, if rates go down, your reinvestment rate risk is present. You will be buying at lower and lower levels. So you need to understand, okay, just because I was getting 5% and I implemented a CD ladder, does not mean that 5% will be locked in. And this is just an honorable mention. You don't just have to do this with CDs. This can also be done with T-bills too. So you can

actually use treasury securities to implement the same type of strategy if you're someone that this makes sense for. Now, where we often see this, Brian, this is less likely to be accumulators, less likely to be people in the beginning stage of their financial journey. This is probably folks that are in the financial independence or retirement stage that are holding more cash than normal. They're not just 3 to 6 months of living expenses; they're 18, 24, 36 months of living expenses. CD ladders might be a great solution for those folks. CD lad, but then even I'll talk about the T-bills. I mean, we've seen situations where people sell a big chunk of land or real estate, or they sell a business, and they know they have this big tax bill that's due. It's not uncommon that you buy a T-bill, or you could use a CD, but you could go ahead and lock in that return, but then know that it's going to be available when you actually need to pay the taxes or whatever it is. So, there are

things Beyond. I think forever when people hear about cash, they hear about FDIC limits and things like that. And I mean, they're like, well, what do wealthy people do who have millions of dollars that they have to pay? That's why there are options of like treasuries and other things still considered very safe, you know, and stable for the long term. But it allows you to go in much larger increments than when people think about the 250,000, 500,000, all these limits that you have for these protections. There is another level for you to consider when you get into those bigger numbers. All right, BR, so we've laid out a ton of options, a ton of different ways that you can manage your cash and maximize your cash. But let's answer a question that people really want to know. What are you doing? What does the Money Guy team, how do we think about managing our cash? What is our current strategy? Well, I mean, look, you guys know I use cash. It really is all three steps of the financial order of operations. I'm using

as step one highest deductible covered. I'm using a step four for my emergency reserves, and I told you guys we have a lot of people counting on us. In the fact that we run payroll, we have businesses, we have this real estate that we're managing, so I'm also keeping extra cash in my emergency reserves for that. But then I'm also keeping cash for that step eight abundance goals just in case, just like Warren Buffett does it. You know, a lot of people don't talk about the unique opportunity of cash, is that when everybody else is without cash, it creates some tremendous value propositions where you can buy stuff that other people just don't have resources, even though there's now been a disconnect from what the value of an asset is versus what people are having to sell it because it's a fire sale in the economy right now. If you have cash when no one else does, it is a super wealth-building super strategy that a lot of people just don't take advantage of. That's why you see Warren Buffett, you

see, I laid it all out in the millionaire mission on how I've seen this work for my clients, for myself, and others. You too can take advantage of this. So, I'm I'll go ahead and tell you I've already spilled the beans a little bit. I'm currently still all about the money market mutual funds because they're maximizing and paying the best. But I know without a doubt, and that's why I didn't close any of my high-yield savings accounts. I just took them down to some Bare Bones levels. There will come that crossover point where the high-yield savings accounts will start paying more, and I'm going to move the funds that I have in the brokerage account from the high, the money market mutual funds, over to the high-yield savings accounts. I would encourage you just to pay attention to the rates, be proactive, and Max maximize that wealth-building opportunity with your cash. Now here's what we're not doing. We're not changing our plan e even if high yield

saves accounts pay more than money market mutual funds. We will change how we're implementing the plan, but it's not going to cause us to hold more or less cash. We're going to hold an appropriate amount of cash based on the goals that we have, and we're not trying to time the market. We're not trying to say, Oh, okay, rates are going down, now I'm going to throw my money in equities. Oh, I think rates are going to go up, I'm going to pull my money out of equities, and I'm going to put it in cash. We're going to make main asset allocations that make sense for where we are in our financial journey, that make sense for our unique time horizon, risk tolerance, risk capacity, and we are going to maximize and optimize the asset class of cash, but we're not going to affect the overall plan that we're implementing for our financial situation. And I love that you put on there, Don't try to time the market. I mean, this is not taking away from always be buying. I mean, I will tell

you when you're investing 25% for the future. That's just automatic for the people, guys. That's just happening without a doubt every month. That's part of your automated wealth-building strategy. What we're talking about is don't mess up the timing of that. We're talking about how you use extra cash and optimize all opportunities that come your way. If part of the plan is to hold cash, we want to make sure that you're doing it in the best manner possible. So, if you have not revisited how you're navigating, how you're managing your cash, we would encourage you to do so because those little decisions today can have huge impacts over the long term. And I love that this pays respect that without a doubt, your money should have the opportunity to work harder than you can with your back, your brain, or your hands. And this is a great way to start. I'm your host, Brian Preston, Mr. Bo Hansen, Money Guy Team out.

How To Maximize Your Cash (Don't Miss Out!)

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Maximizing Your Cash: The Power of High-Yield Savings Accounts

High-yield savings accounts can significantly boost your cash reserves, with a 5% yield potentially earning you over $2,100 in two years on a $20,000 balance.

These accounts are typically offered by credit unions and online banks, providing federal protections for your deposits.

With high liquidity, they offer easy access to your money, making them an ideal option for emergency funds and wealth building.

High-yield savings accounts may charge fees for excessive transactions and can have a 1 to 3-day hold when moving money.

The rates on these accounts adjust moderately with changes in interest rates and federal policy.

Setting up a high-yield savings account is quick and easy, often taking just 5 to 10 minutes online, and they can offer unique savings buckets for personal budgeting.

Understanding High-Yield Savings and Money Market Accounts

High-yield savings accounts often offer the best rates to new customers, but existing account holders may see their rates decrease over time.

Money market accounts are similar to high-yield savings accounts but can also serve as a main checking or transaction account.

It's important to understand the differences in insurance coverage, liquidity, and rate adjustments between money market accounts and money market mutual funds.

Understanding Money Market Mutual Funds and Certificates of Deposit

Money market mutual funds have seen significant growth in returns following the Federal Reserve's rate hikes, often outperforming high-yield savings accounts.

These funds are filled with treasuries, making them a strong option for cash management.

However, their setup is slightly more complex than money market accounts, and it's important to monitor their yields as interest rates change.

Certificates of Deposit (CDs) offer a fixed return for locking in money for a set period, but they may not be ideal for emergency funds due to their commitment requirements.

Brokered CDs provide a modern solution for maximizing returns without the need to visit multiple banks.

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Brokerage CDs

Brokerage CDs offer the convenience of shopping from multiple banks in one account, providing both SIPC and FDIC protection.

They have better liquidity than traditional CDs, allowing for trading and selling.

While they lock in rates for the term of the CD, they can also pose risks if you need early access to your money or if rates increase after you buy.

The Importance of Holding Cash Despite Falling Interest Rates

Even with the likelihood of falling interest rates, it is crucial to maintain cash reserves for financial stability.

Cash is essential for emergency funds, future expenses, and investment opportunities.

The impact of falling rates on money market mutual funds and high-yield savings accounts may vary, so it's important to stay informed and make strategic decisions.

The Impact of Falling Rates on CDs and Money Market Funds

Falling interest rates will lead to a decrease in new CD issuances, while the value of existing CDs will remain unchanged.

A CD ladder strategy can be employed to take advantage of varying interest rates and provide liquidity.

This strategy is particularly beneficial for individuals in the financial independence or retirement stage, offering a way to lock in returns and access capital when needed.

Wealthy individuals often use options like treasuries to manage large sums of money, bypassing common FDIC limits.

The Money Guy team emphasizes the importance of cash for various financial goals, including emergency reserves and abundance goals.

They advocate for a proactive approach in maximizing cash's wealth-building potential, while also stressing the importance of maintaining a consistent financial plan and not trying to time the market.