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Earn Better Returns On Your Money

Earn Better Returns On Your Money

Matt Viera
May 26, 2023

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.

The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to live the life you actually want to live.

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For most of my life, I was never good at saving money.

I was good at spending money.

To me, money was made to be spent.

Money was made to be spent to have fun, to travel, to live like there's no tomorrow.

For years, with every paycheck, I paid all my bills (I'll add that to this day, I've never been late paying any bill), and whatever money was left over was for spending.

I spent a lot of money on unnecessary things, stuff, and junk.

I was an impulse shopper, buyer, and spender.

I rarely saved anything.

If an unexpected expense came up, I put it on my credit card.

I paid the minimum payment and moved on.

Pro-tip: there are better ways to effectively manage money.

If I saved half the money I spent over the past 30 years, I could probably consider retiring today.

Well, you live and learn.

I remember about 10 years ago, I decided to start saving money.

My plan was to open an online savings account to funnel some money into and let it sit there.

However, with my spending habits, whenever I ran out of money, I logged in to this online account and transferred money back into my checking account to spend (and pay credit card debt).

In time, I became more serious about saving, and that online savings account grew.

But the one thing I never even considered was the interest rate on that account.

It was something absurd, like way below 1%.

A year or two ago, someone tipped me to the fact of savings accounts that offer better interest rates than what that online savings account offered:

A high-yield savings account (HYSA) that offers an interest rate in the neighborhood of 2% - 3%+.

So I took a few minutes, found and opened a HYSA, and transferred everything from that ridiculous online savings account into my new HYSA.

The current rate on my current HYSA is 3.90%.

Not too bad.

I use the account for two things and two things only:

My travel fund and my emergency fund.

Now with interest rates as high as they currently are, do you have a HYSA?

If not, why not?

A HYSA is a great place to build your emergency fund.

An emergency fund is essential for unexpected expenses,

And it provides quick access to money when the need arises.

So you don't have to rely on credit cards to pay these expenses.

What you should look for in a HYSA is one which offers:

No fees
No minimum balance
You can easily open online
An interest rate better than 3%

Keep in mind:

HYSA interest rates are variable and can change at any time.

I think the lowest interest rate my current account ever offered was maybe ~1.8%.

If it's a matter of convenience, I assure you that opening and transferring money into a HYSA will take you only a few minutes.

Plus, I did the research for you, so you don't have an excuse not to open one.

Here are 5 banks which offer a HYSA:

SoFi Checking and Savings

No fees
No minimum balance
Earn up to 4.20% APY

Discover Bank Online Savings

No fees
No minimum balance
Earn up to 3.75% APY

Barclays Online Savings Account

No fees
No minimum balance
Earn up to 4.00% APY

Capital One 360 Performance Savings (what I currently use)

No fees
No minimum balance
Earn up to 3.90% APY

Citizens High-Yield Online Savings Account

No fees
No hidden costs
Earn up to 4.50% APY
$0.01 min. balance for APY
Open online in under 5 minutes

My taxable brokerage account (M1) currently offers a HYSA with a 5% interest rate.

I am currently in the process of transferring my emergency fund into this account.

Remember: a HYSA is a great place to build your 3- to 6-month emergency fund (so you don't have to rely on credit cards for unexpected expenses).

Don’t miss out on better returns a HYSA offers.

Interesting finds:

This caught my eye as I always wanted to be a long-haul truck driver:

This 36-year-old mom of 2 brings in $144,000 a year as a professional truck driver

On that note, I’ve taken a few solo cross-country road trips from NYC to Wyoming, here’s why you should travel solo this summer.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Please feel free to reply to this email with suggestions, questions, or comments.

If you have a question about personal finance, send me an email and ask. I’ll discuss the answer in a future newsletter.