Check your bank statements or call your bank and ask but if your money is in Bank of America, Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, or even most credit unions, you’re earning a couple of pennies in interest instead of dollars every month. Standard banks don’t pay in interest like online banks because they’re more obsolete. They maintain thousands of branches that have building costs, bills, excessive expenses, and most people don’t even go into the bank anymore. There are ATMs everywhere these days and you can transfer money in a click or deposit at ATMs or other cash locations. Online banks offer these too in person at ATMs and authorized locations and they also put way more into services and products for their customers so they get better returns like an HYSA and investment tools.

1. High Yield Savings Accounts are savings accounts with online banks that pay WAY MORE than standard banks in interest and many have no or less fees compared to the standard branches most Americans use. I use SoFi, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, and Captial One because their services and apps are awesome and I can build wealth so easily through them with rarely a cost. I have a free account bonus through SoFi as well that I’ll link below. APRs go up and down with the Fed Rate but they never crash down to the slap-in-the-face rates your regular bank is paying. Currently they’re almost 5% in HYSAs while most other banks never pay you more than .02% no matter the economy or rates. That’s almost as good as your mattress or piggy bank. You can do better and it doesn’t cost you anything to switch or move your direct deposit. In fact, they might pay YOU to do it in those online banks. There are dozens of banks that can do this but you know my favorites by now.

2. The second place is a Roth IRA if you don’t have one. Mine is also now with SoFi and it’s linked to my bank accounts for automatic deposits but on the SoFi app I can also manage it instantly and add more money in seconds or change the investments within the Roth. Remember that your money in a Roth IRA is put towards investments so it can grow your tax free retirement while you sleep for years to come. I invest mine in ETFs that have so little risk like VOO, SPY, VTI, VUG, QQQ, and others. Those all constain top stocks like Amazon, Google, Disney, Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, and others. Since the money you put in here is through your bank and paycheck it’s a post tax contribution. You’ve already been taxed on this money and now you’ve gotten paid so you’re putting it into your Roth IRA so it doesn’t get taxed again when you pull it out when you’re 70-or anytime after 59 1/2 without penalty or other fees and taxes. It’s a tax free retirement this way so you aren’t taxed on this money again in your golden years like some retirement funds. Remember that Roth IRAs contain investments like stocks and ETFs that you invest your funds in, within the account. You can buy shares through many investment sources.

You can also buy those in fractional shares of any amount you want on platforms like ETrade and SoFi. I use both apps and in my SoFi I have automatic deposits into my individual brokerage account that I can then use to buy whatever portions of stocks I want. I can buy whatever I like in any of those but also ETFs as mentioned above in small increments because it adds up to real stock value over time and you still get paid dividends on those fractional shares which can be free money to keep investing. That’s what I do! I don’t pay fees or anything either and it literally takes a few seconds to do. Since I’m putting my money in a Roth IRA, it’s not getting taxed anymore and I won’t in my older years. It’s not income yet but it’s earning income from what I deposit AND it’s going to work when I do too so the money never stops growing.

3. The third and final place are ETFs because they’re average return year over year is 10-12% for ETFs that track the S & P 500, like those I mentioned above. They’re by far the most popular because of the stocks they contain, the success they’ve had for decades now, and how little they cost to acquire. Get yourself started with a VOO ETF which is by Vanguard, a very well known and respected finance company, and put it into your Roth IRA right away, whethere it’s a whole or fractional share. Get started with any amount you can and grow it by any amount whenever you can. Then get SPY, VTI, VUG, and QQQ. There are many others but start with these at least. They’re far smarter than trying to play the individual stock game and don’t come with the crazy risks of buying stocks and daytrading in what you don’t fully understand. You’ll make money doing nothing and it just builds for years or decades as you go on with your life. Any income can do this. I do it in my SoFi app and every payday. I started with $15 per check and I worked my way up 10 times that weekly ($150 per week) and it just keeps growing. I made dividends off some ETFs when I only owned maybe a third of a share and that money was put right back into the shares to buy me more, for free! I never lose money and these are long term stocks so a bad month or year won’t affect me at all.

These are just a starting point but if you want a successful financial future and you don’t have the education or career path where you’re going to be making good money anytime soon, you’re going to need to do this. If you read my other blogs, I have so many ways to help anyone at any income tuck money away and make a successful retirement and future without bills and with little money. Whether you have ten bucks or a thousand, I can help! Check out other articles or email jenniferlarsonent@yahoo.com and put SAVINGS in the subject line so I see it and respond. All of my services are free and I have free referral links for money credits if you open a SoFi account as well. I use them more than ETrade now because ETFs especially are not always traded on ETrade and while they allow fractional shares, SoFi allows them on every ETF I’ve bought so far and it’s automatically deposited every paycheck so my accounts are all automated and earning money the second I get paid!

Roth IRAs do have a few rules like annual limits to how much you can deposit. For 2024, the limit is $7,000 a month for anyone under 59 1/2 and there are some income limits (in the six figures) every year for couples or single folks so make sure you know those for the current year. If you do make a higher income, ask your financial advisor about a Back Door Roth IRA strategy and also put money in your IRA towards all the ETFs we mentioned. You can also have a traditional IRA and 401k accounts too. I’m not as well-versed in accounts for those making much higher incomes and at the age of 60 because there are so many other variables at that age for retirement accounts. The investment strategies are very similiar but not everything so I recommend a financial advisor through Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, and others. I have accounts with all of these companies and I get so much help just calling my assigned advisor and working with them. Most only get paid through returns and programs so I don’t pay anything just for advice.

For anyone under 60, it’s a more basic approach and also focusing on the long game while you’re not a legal retirement age to cash out these accounts. Keep up with watching your money and remember that quiet wealth is real wealth. Don’t focus on “keeping up” with the Jones’ or what everyone is buying on IG. Stanley Cups are stupid and just cups. They leak and they’re nothing innovative.Most influencers got them for free or make money to promote them and the same goes for all of that Studio McGee crap and any other brand. If they’re sharing it, they have an affiliate link and probably a promotional contract with the company otherwise they don’t even tell you about what they’re buying. Many of them get paid too or return the stuff a couple weeks later. The rest are just in massive credit card debt and have no savings. Don’t buy into this ploy. Unfollow people that make you want to buy stuff and put that money to better use. I have recent articles on this subject too and how I got myself out of this bad trap. Check out any of my blog posts before this one and there’s some great information to get out of debt, into a little bit of money, and stop this cycle of feeling less than. Don’t play the game, beat the game.

Here’s my SoFi link 🔗 to get a free sign up bonus!

Hi! 👋 Join me to start earning more money with SoFi Checking and Savings. You’ll earn up to 4.60% APY and pay no account fees. Use my link to sign up and you’ll get a $25 bonus and up to $300 when you set up direct deposit. https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=ae5e4b53-7a4a-4c2e-b9c4-de9b1f78b843&isAliasGcp=false