spinoff: how many accounts?

[weary]

ha...i'm spinning off of my own thread ("what's in your wallet?").

how many accounts do you have? in talking with friends i'm always amazed at how many people seem to have...but then again i remember a time when i did too. i still think i have a good amount, but i nixed all CC's and try to only keep "good" credit now. seems like a job in and of itself though...just to keep track of personal finances! ugh! :googly:

[pisces2473]

Credit card accts or regular bank accts?

[Winter Storm]

5 credit card accounts

4 banking accounts

[weary]

guess i should've answered, since i'm asking and all...

BANKING: 5 - 3 savings, 2 checking

RETIREMENT: 2 - 1 old 401(k) i need to roll over, 1 current 401(k)

REAL ESTATE: 1 mortgage

EDUCATION: 1 student loan (consolidated)

CREDIT: 1 car loan

[WorkInProgress]

one cc
one checking/debit
one savings
one mutual fund
one 401(k)
two Roth IRAs

...and I think that's it.

oh, and loans too?

one car loan
one student loan (consolidated)

[wordsmith]

two bank accounts - one checking, one passbook savings.

one credit card account, but no card, I cut it up years ago.

Oh, and one student loan, since weary put that.

[Winter Storm]

Add a student loan onto my answer.

[pisces2473]

BANKING: 2 checking, 1 savings, 1 money market, 1 CD

RETIREMENT: Roth IRA

REAL ESTATE: haha, riiiiiiight

EDUCATION: none, thank god

CREDIT: 1 Visa, 1 Master Card, 1 Kohls card. I only have a little bit on the Visa and MC. I think I have a Victoria's Secret and an Old Navy card but I haven't used 'em in forever, so they are probably inactive.

[Empressallie]

Banking: 1 checking 2 savings (small amount in regular bank, larger amount in ING)

Retirement: 1 401K

Education: 2 loans, consolidated into 1

Real Estate: dont think will happen anytime soon...

Credit: 1 visa with zero balance that i never use, 1 Mastercard i pay off each month

[blueyes]

3 cc (one which I haven't touched in two years and it was to purchase furniture)
2 bank accounts (one's a credit union)
1 401(k)
1 Roth

...and stocks. Which I have no idea how to classify.

[weary]

3 cc (one which I haven't touched in two years and it was to purchase furniture)
2 bank accounts (one's a credit union)
1 401(k)
1 Roth

...and stocks. Which I have no idea how to classify.

"investment" or "risk/play $", depending on how/where you've put it. :razz:

[SmilesSoSweet]

Let's see, I mainly only bank with one credit union, but within that I have multiple accounts:

3 different savings accounts (money market, regular savings, and a custom club)

1 checking account

2 savings accounts ("house" fund and "rainy day" fund) with ING Direct

1 Roth IRA with my credit union

1 Traditional IRA with my old company's 401k investment company

1 401k with current company

1 studen loan (consolidated) now all with my credit union

Two major credit card accounts (one visa and one master card) with my credit union

Two store cards that I don't really use too often

[EmberMae]

Banking: 1 checking, 1 savings/money market, 1 cd

Retirement: umm..?

Education: I have none. Fiance has two student loans, 1 federal 1 private, total debt $20,000

Real Estate: haha no

Credit: 1 Discover, pay off each month, 1 Mastercard, almost never use & no balance, 1 Ann Taylor card, almost never use & no balance, 1 Rooms to Go card, used to get furniture, will never use again & will pay off before they start charging interest. I used to have a Victoria's Secret and an Express card but I closed them. Fiance also has a Kohls card and a different mastercard.

Car loan: 14 more payments baby! I think I owe, less than $3,000. Of course the good deal I got is overshadowed by the fact that we still have nearly 4 years to pay on my fiance's car, which was USED. Don't even get me started on that. :googly:

I'm starting to get concerned that I have too many accounts, especially since I learned on here that they count against your credit score even if they are closed and paid off...WTF? It's just too hard to resist the huge discounts you can get by signing up for some store's cards. But I'm totally responsible with my credit and I pay all my cards off each month.

[jls]

I'm starting to get concerned that I have too many accounts, especially since I learned on here that they count against your credit score even if they are closed and paid off...WTF? It's just too hard to resist the huge discounts you can get by signing up for some store's cards. But I'm totally responsible with my credit and I pay all my cards off each month.

Don't get too concerned. Having credit cards open at a $0 balance or closed and paid off accounts do not hurt your credit. Just holding high balances on credit cards, etc.

1 checking
1 savings
2 credit cards
debit card
1 index fund
1 401k with fidelity

While I was reading these I started to feel that I am not as financially secure as I should be for my age....plus I am having a bit of melt down because my 24th birthday is Sat. EEEK.

[capella]

3 checking- one local, one not local (long story), and one that my husband had when we got married.
2 savings- one regular bank and one ING
2 mortgages - one 80% and one 10%
3 student loans- 2 for me, 1 for the hubby
1 car loan
4 CC's- 2 mine, 2 are my husband's
1 retirement account... I haven't done that yet.

It's a lot to keep up with... Blech.

[steph78]

Checking: 1
Savings: 1 (ING direct online account)
Investments: 1 mutual fund which will probably be used next year for the downpayment on a house
Retirement: 1 401k at work
Credit cards: 3 visas that we pay the full balance on each month (I know that's a lot, but we have this crazy strategy for maxing out our cash-back rewards that actually earns us hundreds of dollars a year) and 2 store credit cards which I generally use only when they offer an extra 15% off specifically for using the store card...and then I pay it off in full that month.
Loans - no debt right now, but we're looking at a mortgage soon if we buy a house next year.

Edit: Oh yeah, I REALLY need to look into starting a 529 college savings plan for our child since college is going to cost a bajillion dollars by the time she's 18...anyone have any genius suggestions as to the best approach to getting a good one set up?

[pisces2473]

Credit cards: 3 visas that we pay the full balance on each month (I know that's a lot, but we have this crazy strategy for maxing out our cash-back rewards that actually earns us hundreds of dollars a year).
Do you charge everything, like groceries and utilities and stuff? I would find it hard to make the max amount each month...

[MollyMe]

Bank: 3 - Checking account, two money markets
Retirement: 2 - Work and IRA
No credit cards, loans, etc

[steph78]

Do you charge everything, like groceries and utilities and stuff? I would find it hard to make the max amount each month...
Yes, we charge everything we can - I rarely use cash. We've had this convo before - I don't know how to explain how we budget everything so that we can easily charge EVERYTHING and then pay it off each month so we never encounter interest or fees...but we just do it. My husband and I just have very similar spending habits so we don't really get any surprises on our credit card bills - they typically don't vary much from month to month at all. If we go on vaca or make a big purchase we look at how much is available in checking ahead of time just to be sure, and move some over from savings if needed.

We have three cards - one gives us 5% cash back on groceries, gas, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else, but the annual rewards limit is only $350 which we'd hit pretty quickly if we used this card for all purchases. So we have another card from the same company that is just straight up 1% cash back on all purchases, but the limit on that is $600/year. So we use the 5% card on ONLY groceries, gas, and my husband's myriad of diabetes prescriptions (and we've already maxed out the rewards for this calendar year already so we've put this card away until January), and we use the 1% card for everything else. Then on top of that we found another Visa that gives you 2% cash back on travel expenses (airfare, restaurants, hotels, etc.) so we added that into the mix. That one is great for when we have to travel for work and get reimbursed for our expenses - we are not actually spending our own money since we get reimbursed for it but we DO get to keep the cash back rewards. We're such schemers... ;)

[Spinney]

Bank accounts: 3 at the same bank. Chequing and 2 high interest savings accounts. One is only for balances over $1000, so I only keep 1 cent in the other one unless my total balance drops below 1000. (so I effectively have 2 accounts :razz: )

Credit cards: 2 mastercards - one has a high limit with 1% cashback, other is 1.5% back in grocery points and a much smaller limit (so far)

Retirement: 1 RRSP from my previous job. When I start a new one with better funds in it I'll probably roll it over.

Investments: 1 company stock purchase plan. Currently at massive balance of $140 lol.

Loans: 2 student loans, 1 car loan


I was really surprised to realize how many accounts I actually have. In my day to day business it doesn't seem like much. Sometime in the next year or so I may be adding some mutual funds to that list too. I do the same thing where I charge everything I can to my mastercards and pay it off before the grace period is over. I just keep my budget in mind when I'm out spending money and usually end up spending less in a month than I planned for.

[EmberMae]

We have three cards - one gives us 5% cash back on groceries, gas, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else, but the annual rewards limit is only $350 which we'd hit pretty quickly if we used this card for all purchases. So we have another card from the same company that is just straight up 1% cash back on all purchases, but the limit on that is $600/year. So we use the 5% card on ONLY groceries, gas, and my husband's myriad of diabetes prescriptions (and we've already maxed out the rewards for this calendar year already so we've put this card away until January), and we use the 1% card for everything else. Then on top of that we found another Visa that gives you 2% cash back on travel expenses (airfare, restaurants, hotels, etc.) so we added that into the mix. That one is great for when we have to travel for work and get reimbursed for our expenses - we are not actually spending our own money since we get reimbursed for it but we DO get to keep the cash back rewards. We're such schemers... ;)
What companies are these cards from? I started using Discover because at the time they were the only company doing a cashback bonus, but now lots of companies are doing it so I think i can get a better deal. We do the exact same thing you do but with the Discover card. They don't have a rewards limit but the first 1000 you spend you only get .25% cashback, 2nd 1000 .5, 3rd 1000 .75 and after that 1% on everything, but they occasionally have 5% cashback special stuff. Right now it's books, music and movies, which is pretty good. My parents have a Costco Amex that is 3% at restaurants, 2% for travel, and 1% everywhere else. We don't eat out or travel much so that won't be much benefit but it would be nice to get 1% on everything and not just after we've spent $3k already.

[jrwilheim]

1 checking
1 bank savings (keep a bare minimum in it, just $150 in case I somehow bounce a check)
1 high-yield, online MMA (Capital One)
3 credit cards--2 secured (1 Visa and 1 MasterCard) and 1 unsecured Mastercard
3 Traditional IRAs--one with Janus, one with Royce Funds, one with T. Rowe Price
1 Roth IRA

[coll214]

Geez, I have more CCs than most I guess... but I have a ton of CC's and was told I had excellent credit when I got my mortgage, but here's me:
1 checking
1 savings
1 mutual fund- at least i hope i still have it :googly:
1 403k for retirement
1 mortgage- split with sister

2 Mastercards, 1 Visa, 1 Discover, 1 Amex, a Gap, Lerner, Victorias Secret, and Express card... all opened for the specials. And while i do carry balances on the main CCs, they're all virtually at 0% balances for now and always pay off the store cards right away.

[AG_47]

One Checking account
One Savings account with a $25 balance
One car loan - $17,000 or $400/month
One perkins student loan - $1700 or $50/month
One consolidated student loan - $16,000 or $150/month
One visa card - maxed out at $2500 (used it to pay for books in college)

I think that's about it for my accounts. I make close to $1000/month so I can't pay all my bills which causes some of these accounts grow each month.

[ebruening]

Banking:
1 checking,
1 savings,
1 CD

Retirement -
1 401a plan through work,
1 Roth IRA

Credit -
1 CapitalOne card (I pay it off in full each month),
1 Visa card through my bank (I cut it up and haven't used it in years),
1 Kohls card (I pay it off in full each month that I have a charge)

Loans -
1 car loan (I have two payments left. Woo hoo!)

[pisces2473]

Yes, we charge everything we can - I rarely use cash. We've had this convo before - I don't know how to explain how we budget everything so that we can easily charge EVERYTHING and then pay it off each month so we never encounter interest or fees...but we just do it. My husband and I just have very similar spending habits so we don't really get any surprises on our credit card bills - they typically don't vary much from month to month at all. If we go on vaca or make a big purchase we look at how much is available in checking ahead of time just to be sure, and move some over from savings if needed.
Yeah, I remember us talking about this before! When I said that comment about the max, I meant, I would find it hard to have enough things to charge to get up to that max (of $ returned)!

We have three cards - one gives us 5% cash back on groceries, gas, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else, but the annual rewards limit is only $350 which we'd hit pretty quickly if we used this card for all purchases. So we have another card from the same company that is just straight up 1% cash back on all purchases, but the limit on that is $600/year. So we use the 5% card on ONLY groceries, gas, and my husband's myriad of diabetes prescriptions (and we've already maxed out the rewards for this calendar year already so we've put this card away until January), and we use the 1% card for everything else. Then on top of that we found another Visa that gives you 2% cash back on travel expenses (airfare, restaurants, hotels, etc.) so we added that into the mix. That one is great for when we have to travel for work and get reimbursed for our expenses - we are not actually spending our own money since we get reimbursed for it but we DO get to keep the cash back rewards. We're such schemers... ;)
How long did it take you to figure all of this out!? LOL

[pisces2473]

2 Mastercards, 1 Visa, 1 Discover, 1 Amex, a Gap, Lerner, Victorias Secret, and Express card... all opened for the specials. And while i do carry balances on the main CCs, they're all virtually at 0% balances for now and always pay off the store cards right away.
What? No Old Navy? No Joann? LOL

And why DO you have so many main CC's, anyway?

[spokes]

* mortgage
* chequing and line of credit thru my bank
* visa
* two amex cards (one personal credit card, and one corproate charge card)
* credit card for future shop (had to get it to score a one year no payments on the big TV)
* one department store card

and one card for the pornography superstore - what can i say i guy has got to stay busy :shrug:

[wordsmith]

What kinda card do you have for a porn shop? A designated credit card? A membership card? A "so many punches and you get a free buttplug" card? I mean, we have porn shops here, too, but I don't know how common it is to have an account with one.

[spokes]

What kinda card do you have for a porn shop? A designated credit card? A membership card? A "so many punches and you get a free buttplug" card? I mean, we have porn shops here, too, but I don't know how common it is to have an account with one.

i was only kidding about the porn shop card - although if you know of a shop with a free butt plug offer i could always use a new toy.

as an aside i am sure you recently mentioned the lack of fast food joints in your town - if my memory is correct i am wondering if your town really supports more than one porn shop but only one fast food place - if my understanding is correct i think it is a funny dynamic.

reminds me of visiting regina saskatchewan years ago - they had a local law that prohibited open liquour and strippers being in the same place - so the only strip clubs in town would charge a $20 or more cover charge and serve pop but there were seemingly porn shops on every block downtown.

[steph78]

What companies are these cards from? I started using Discover because at the time they were the only company doing a cashback bonus, but now lots of companies are doing it so I think i can get a better deal. We do the exact same thing you do but with the Discover card. They don't have a rewards limit but the first 1000 you spend you only get .25% cashback, 2nd 1000 .5, 3rd 1000 .75 and after that 1% on everything, but they occasionally have 5% cashback special stuff. Right now it's books, music and movies, which is pretty good. My parents have a Costco Amex that is 3% at restaurants, 2% for travel, and 1% everywhere else. We don't eat out or travel much so that won't be much benefit but it would be nice to get 1% on everything and not just after we've spent $3k already.
Our Visa cards are from Chase (used to be Bank One, was absorbed by Chase a couple years ago, I believe). I think Citibank offers the exact same cards, too. One thing to look out for is that interest rates on these cash back cards are pretty freakin high, so you wouldn't want to carry a balance on these cards - just use them for stuff that you know you'll pay off the same month. It IS nice that the rewards don't ramp up - they are in full effect with your very first purchase.

[steph78]

How long did it take you to figure all of this out!? LOL
This is what happens when two engineers marry each other...we figure this sort of stuff out for fun in our spare time. :rolleyes: We're such big dorks.

[mishl982]

1 visa
1 amex
1 savings
1 checking
1 401K
1 car loan
1 student loan

I primarily use my Amex to pay for things (except for bills). Since I have rewards, it, well, rewards me more to pay for everything so that I can get cash back or a gift card somewhere. I don't use my visa anymore - no benefits - and I'm not the type to spread my debt across multiple cards. Even using my amex is pretty extreme for me. I was usually just a check card girl.

[wordsmith]

as an aside i am sure you recently mentioned the lack of fast food joints in your town - if my memory is correct i am wondering if your town really supports more than one porn shop but only one fast food place - if my understanding is correct i think it is a funny dynamic.

Welcome to rural America. If you can support a truck stop, you can support a porn shop. They're generally located along interstates here in flyover country.

reminds me of visiting regina saskatchewan years ago - they had a local law that prohibited open liquour and strippers being in the same place - so the only strip clubs in town would charge a $20 or more cover charge and serve pop but there were seemingly porn shops on every block downtown.

Our strip club lost its liquor license by serving underagers and getting busted in a sting, so now it's BYOB. They also got busted for trafficking bales (BALES!) of marijuana. I wonder if it's BYO weed, now, too.

[weary]

Welcome to rural America. If you can support a truck stop, you can support a porn shop. They're generally located along interstates here in flyover country.

Our strip club lost its liquor license by serving underagers and getting busted in a sting, so now it's BYOB. They also got busted for trafficking bales (BALES!) of marijuana. I wonder if it's BYO weed, now, too.
LMFAO!

there are some strip clubs in cali that do not serve/allow alcohol. of course they are on streets chock full of bars so the patrons just go from bar to strip joint to bar... :rolleyes:

[coll214]

What? No Old Navy? No Joann? LOL

And why DO you have so many main CC's, anyway?
LOL, i know surpising isn't it? :huge:

It started for the 0% offers for balances and mutated from there...

[pisces2473]

LOL, i know surpising isn't it? :huge:

It started for the 0% offers for balances and mutated from there...
Just b/c something is free, doesn't mean you HAVE to take it! LOL

[ExestentialHaze]

How in the world do you all keep track of everything going on? I'd go mad!!

I used to just have a checking and a savings

It got canceled cause I owe the bank $400 from an internet scam that happened to me, not my fault either. :(

So now I just have one type of savings....a piggy bank that hides away...I dump my change into it every day from getting change from gas or groceries.

~Haze

[pisces2473]

How do you pay for things if you don't have a checking account?

[BlueEyedFunOne]

1 Credit Card (paid off)
1 checking
2 savings
1 401K
1 Student Loan

I like to keep things simple and easy to track.

[SpaceMonkey]

My spread is also pretty simple:

1 checking (Bank of America)
1 savings (ING Direct)
1 credit card (Visa)
1 Roth IRA (Vanguard)
1 403(b) (TIAA-CREF)

[EmberMae]

Our Visa cards are from Chase (used to be Bank One, was absorbed by Chase a couple years ago, I believe). I think Citibank offers the exact same cards, too. One thing to look out for is that interest rates on these cash back cards are pretty freakin high, so you wouldn't want to carry a balance on these cards - just use them for stuff that you know you'll pay off the same month. It IS nice that the rewards don't ramp up - they are in full effect with your very first purchase.
Yeah, my Discover card has like 21% APR. I've NEVER carried a balance on it. My fiance has a 5% interest visa card thru his credit card that we keep filed away for emergencies.

[vxmike]

Banking -- checking/savings with two banks plus EmigrantDirect high-yield savings

Loans -- none, I have no debt

Real Estate -- none, happily renting

Investment -- regular TDAmeritrade account plus Roth IRA

Credit Cards -- I have 9 regular credit cards of the Visa/Mastercard/Discover variety. I pay them all off each month. Reason for having so many is the various rewards I earn whether it be the Shell gas card (5% off Shell gas) to the airline miles cards. I just got a new Citi Drivers Edge card which gives me 6% off all grocery purchases for the next 12 months. Right now Discover has a 5% off restaurants promotion through the end of the year. I recover a decent amount of rewards through careful spending on the proper card -- I analyze each purchase and choose the card which will offer the best reward. Almost all my monthly spending is on credit cards with the exception of rent, and for that I buy a money order with my Citibank debit card that gives ThankYou points for debit card purchases. There is another more clandestine reason I have so many cards, but I won't get into it here.

Store Cards -- also have four store cards none of which I've used in years. I probably should make some small purchases to keep the accounts active since they're old cards, and having longer account histories is good for the credit score.

[meatwad]

2 savings accounts. (one to open a credit card and one I keep my poker bankroll in)
1 Money Market account (My actual savings.
1 Checking account (My Debit card)
1 Credit Card ($500 limit)
1 401k (retirement)
1 Roth IRA (retirement)

[Skyblade]

2 credit cards (a regular ole bank one, and a Best Buy credit card)
1 savings account
1 checking account

I also have a car loan, a student loan, and a 401k/Roth 401k.

I also have this mutual fund account thing from Charles Schwab, but I don't really know whats in there since my mom kind of controls it (which is weird now that I think about it).

[AshleyJordan]

3 savings accounts. (one from childhood, one for my downpayment, one high-interest)
1 checking account, with a debit card that use for most of my expenses
2 credit cards (one with a $2.5K limit, another with a $700 limit)
2 403 (b)s (retirement)
1 big student loan (consolidated)

[Kitty]

Banking: 3 accounts
Credit cards: 8 accounts
Loans: 2 accounts
Retirement: 2 accounts

[SunDevil]

2 Credit Cards
1 Savings
1 Checking
1 Stock Investment
1 401(k)
1 CD
2 HSA/HRA
0 Loans

[Cole]

checking account
savings account
Master Card
1 car loan
2 federal student loans
1 private student loan

and then I have cards at Best Buy, Victoria's Secret, and Kohl's, but I don't use them.

[Bman120]

2 checking accounts
2 Savings, one regular and another one is an internet high interest thing.
1 credit card
1 401K plan at work

[spiritedaway]

Hmmm, I have

- 1 checking (from high school)
- 2 savings (1 regular from high school, 1 for high yields account for downpayment)
- 1 401K
- 1 car loan - it's paid off now
- Many credit card accounts (non store-specific). I cancelled a few of them recently. I think I still have 6-8 out there. I carry two cards (1 Visa, 1 high credit limit Mastercard - it's in the 5 digits), but I only use one - a miles earning card (first year annual fee is waived). Pay off my my balance monthly.

[CityGal]

CC:
1 AMEX

Banking:
1 Checking, 1 HYMM, 1 eSavings (all through the same bank)
1 reg. savings (at another bank)

Retirement:
1 401k

Student Loans:
None. Financial aid babe.

Mortgage:
none but I do have a very high rent.

Looking to open up a roth for the 2007 year. I noticed that a few of you have CDs. Are they worth it?

[labrat2111]

I have:

2 savings accounts
1 checking account

1 car loan
1 consolidated student loan

1 old 401(k) and one new 401(k)
1 regular stock trading account
1 Roth IRA coming very soon

3 credit cards -- I largely use one because it is a gas rebate card and pay all in full each month

[lostbanker]

As a banker, I have every bank product imaginable (except for a CD - explanation to follow).

Checking 3- primary, mortgage, vacation
Savings 1- Rate is worthless, just use it to keep a few $$ backup
Mortgage 1st and 2nd - 5 yr ARM
CC 4- 1 I use, the others were balance transfers (delicate game)
No Student Loans - Worked the whole time, took 7 yrs
Own my car - Fan of used, but probably buying new next, never lease
Most Importantly!!! - Retirement - 401K, T-IRA, Roth IRA, and Non-Qual Mutual Funds - I contribute as much as I can to all of them

Tips -
Credit Cards - Don't go over half of your limit on CCs (bad for credit). Having long time-frame (1yr+) cards is good, but don't go for every offer out there. Eventually you will hurt your credit if you have too much available- aka cant buy a home due to too much credit issued. Keep balances down.

Mortgage - I bought a home on 100% finance due to what the market was doing (Values up, Rates up). If I had taken an extra year or two to save, I would pay more and have higher interest than what I got. Also did an ARM to take advantage of purchasing power (I'm hoping the value continues to climb, then sell). Could burn me in the end, though.

Retirement - In light of a thread last week, you may all be aware that maxing out retirment plans is the smartest thing you can do. I would rather max out my IRA, 401K than pay off CC debt. The more you put in at a young age, the faster and larger it grows. Our age group 25 - 35 will need $2 -$3 million for 30 yrs of comfortable retirement. My debt can be tackled with a simple refi of 2nd mortgage, but all CC rates are fixed low for now. Those of you with high student loan debt are a different story however, leverage that degree to get you a better job and pay that off, don't stick with the same crappy job you first got out of college. You now have work experience and deserve better.

Finally CDs - Waste of money. Best rate you can get is 6%, after inflation and taxes, you make about 1%. Market (Stock, Mutual Fund) has returned 12% this year, and you can use IRAs to avoid taxes. Also, if you have an emergency, you will lose all of your interest to take the CD out early.

Open to criticism...

[lostbanker]

As a banker, I have every bank product imaginable (except for a CD - explanation to follow).

Checking 3- primary, mortgage, vacation
Savings 1- Rate is worthless, just use it to keep a few $$ backup
Mortgage 1st and 2nd - 5 yr ARM
CC 4- 1 I use, the others were balance transfers (delicate game)
No Student Loans - Worked the whole time, took 7 yrs
Own my car - Fan of used, but probably buying new next, never lease
Most Importantly!!! - Retirement - 401K, T-IRA, Roth IRA, and Non-Qual Mutual Funds - I contribute as much as I can to all of them

Tips -
Credit Cards - Don't go over half of your limit on CCs (bad for credit). Having long time-frame (1yr+) cards is good, but don't go for every offer out there. Eventually you will hurt your credit if you have too much available- aka cant buy a home due to too much credit issued. Keep balances down.

Mortgage - I bought a home on 100% finance due to what the market was doing (Values up, Rates up). If I had taken an extra year or two to save, I would pay more and have higher interest than what I got. Also did an ARM to take advantage of purchasing power (I'm hoping the value continues to climb, then sell). Could burn me in the end, though.

Retirement - In light of a thread last week, you may all be aware that maxing out retirment plans is the smartest thing you can do. I would rather max out my IRA, 401K than pay off CC debt. The more you put in at a young age, the faster and larger it grows. Our age group 25 - 35 will need $2 -$3 million for 30 yrs of comfortable retirement. My debt can be tackled with a simple refi of 2nd mortgage, but all CC rates are fixed low for now. Those of you with high student loan debt are a different story however, leverage that degree to get you a better job and pay that off, don't stick with the same crappy job you first got out of college. You now have work experience and deserve better.

Finally CDs - Waste of money. Best rate you can get is 6%, after inflation and taxes, you make about 1%. Market (Stock, Mutual Fund) has returned 12% this year, and you can use IRAs to avoid taxes. Also, if you have an emergency, you will lose all of your interest to take the CD out early.

Open to criticism...

PS - My first post, I like many of the ideas on this site.

[SpaceMonkey]

Finally CDs - Waste of money. Best rate you can get is 6%, after inflation and taxes, you make about 1%. Market (Stock, Mutual Fund) has returned 12% this year, and you can use IRAs to avoid taxes. Also, if you have an emergency, you will lose all of your interest to take the CD out early.


Unless you are dropping serious money into CDs (which I agree would be crazy), taxes shouldn't be an issue. And a net positive 1% is great compared to a net negative 3% in most guaranteed savings vehicles, even if you are just using CD ladders to offset inflation in your emergency savings.

[pisces2473]

Yeah, you can lose mad $$$ in the stock market....at least with a CD, you know you'll get SOMETHING.

[lostbanker]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. CDs can be used as short term invesment vehicles. If you have 10+ years to retirement, the market WILL result in a positive performance. Sure if you bought in 99' and sold in 02', you most likely lost money, but if you held that as opposed to selling, you would be back on top with about 15% avg return since 99'. If you are 60 yrs old and retired, go for a CD because you can't afford the market's down periods, but if you want to build a nest egg using CDs, you better start with $1M.

BTW, for the 529 question asked earlier - Most banks offer them at no cost, you can contribute as much or as little as you want, and the beneficialry gets all the money tax free as long as it is used for qualified education expenses (tuition, books, even misc expenses). Additionally, you can roll them over to the next child penalty free.

[lostbanker]

If you properly diversify, you can hegde against market loss, even in the worst of economic cycles. Individual stocks are risky. Go with about 10 mutual funds (depending on the balance) ranging from small caps to international bonds.

[buckeyebri15]

2 savings accounts
1 checking account

1 old 401(k) and 2 new 401(k)s
1 regular stock trading account
1 Roth IRA

5 credit cards -- gas rebate card is the main one and pay all in full each month. Some I just have so I can take advantage of the deals associated with that store (Macy's, Kohls)

[Chameleon]

Mortgage - I bought a home on 100% finance due to what the market was doing (Values up, Rates up). If I had taken an extra year or two to save, I would pay more and have higher interest than what I got. Also did an ARM to take advantage of purchasing power (I'm hoping the value continues to climb, then sell). Could burn me in the end, though.

Retirement - In light of a thread last week, you may all be aware that maxing out retirment plans is the smartest thing you can do. I would rather max out my IRA, 401K than pay off CC debt. The more you put in at a young age, the faster and larger it grows. Our age group 25 - 35 will need $2 -$3 million for 30 yrs of comfortable retirement. My debt can be tackled with a simple refi of 2nd mortgage, but all CC rates are fixed low for now.
It's kinda interesting to see a banker recommending getting an ARM (given that the real estate market is crashing in a lot of places and they are forcasting foreclosures at an unprecedented rate in the next couple of years when ARMs reset (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/19/ap/business/mainD8IBHTT00.shtml)) and taking a 2nd mortagage as a way to "eliminate" debt.

My accts:

2 checking, 1 savings
1 mortgage
1 visa, 1 amex, 1 mastercard w/ AA miles (the only one I use)
1 sears card (used to get 20% on a large appliance, hasn't been used since)
1 401K, 1 etrade acct w/ company stocks

[lostbanker]

Chameleon,

I was not making a recommendation. I have my own set goals in life and one of them has been to own a home. Based upon the market at that time, I made an aggressive move. I know I'm treading water (hence :"I could get burned in the end"). I WILL eventually sell or fix my rate depending on the market down the road, but for know I have extra money to allocate towards retirement. The question when making this decision is: Are you buying a home for long term, i.e. - start and raise a family; or are you looking for an investment - fix and flip, rental property. My answer was the latter.

[Millenial]

1 checking
2 savings (1 bare minimum)
2 credit cards (1 chase visa which i mostly use, just got a renewal card for my old mastercard which i barely use because the benefits are non existant and has a crappy apr, but the credit line is huge now)
2 student loans (1 consolidated federal, 1 private sallie mae (waiting to consolidate with someone else better)

[cynthiabduke]

1 checking
1 savings
1 money market
1 investment account (with a broker)
2 401(k)s (one mine and one husband's; both at old jobs)
1 Roth IRA (mine)
1 house note
1 car note (husband's)
4 credit cards (two mine, two husband's)
1 small trust fund (my mom has full control and I don't know if/when I'll get the money)

[jazz]

1 CAD chequing
2 CAD savings
1 USD savings
1 GBP savings
1 checking - joint with sister
1 savings - joint with sister
1 chequing - joint with sister, brother, father (long story...)
1 MasterCard (I can't believe how many CCs some people have... must be an american thing!)
1 RRSP (like a 401k?)
1 car loan
1 investment account

and they're all hooked up to my internet banking... otherwise they'd be impossible to keep track of.

[Deadend]

Assets:

1 Savings
1 Chequing

Liabilities:

Bank Line of Credit
Integrated Federal student loan
Visa
Ikea Card (when you move across country you need some basic furnature)
Future Shop Card

The plan is to kill all the accounts except for the Chequing, Visa, and Ikea card within the next year. furnature isn't much of a luxery when your apartment still looks like it was robbed (it wasn't robbed, we just don't own anything)