1. Emergency funds – High yield savings account with rates from 2.5% to 4.5% (or more depending on your balance!) Use a high yield to keep your “uh-oh” money in. This will be the first place you look if you lost your job, if you need a down payment to replace your car; it’ll also be the first place you’ll start to fill back up when you do need to dip into it.

I think we all know by know 6 months (take home) salary should be in here, but keep in mind you might also be paying a higher premium for your health insurance during the loss of a job*, so a little over is good to.

Own a house? The experts say you should be putting away 3% of the cost of the house every year for repairs.

• As you can see, when you being to grow your nest egg, you can change accounts if you believe you can keep a higher minimum.

2. Long term savings –

a. With a kid:

1. Look into your state’s benefits (and others – we went out of state for ours) for a 529 educational finance fund.
2. Because the 529 funds education expenses, consider opening an investment account in their name – this way if they want to go on a road trip gap year, they can use these funds – or – if they need something right out of high school that the 529 won’t cover.
3. And then when they are old enough consider a custodial IRA – **read about my side hustle that’s been earning my kid money since she was born!!**

b. Without (or in addition to):

1. Fill your own 401k or 457b – especially if you have an employer match!
2. Open an IRA on the side and contribute as much as you can up to the max every year.
3. Invest in dividend stocks – this will pay you money in the long run!