Saving for a Down Payment

[William Perry]

I'm interested in seeing if anybody has any suggestions on where I could look to put my money for the next 3+ years. I'm in grad school (piano performance) with one more year left. After grad school, I'm planning on taking a few years playing piano on cruise ships (main goal is to save a little more money for a couple of years). 

Over the last 2 years of playing, teaching, and being a student I've managed to save $10,052.00 which is sitting in a GE Online Savings account generating .95% interest. Before I had this amount (and before I knew I would take those extra years on a cruise ship) I tried calling around to Vanguard and USAA to see if they had any plans that would generate more interest than .95% (with moderste safety) but with the short time frame they had no suggestions for me. I'm wondering if anybody out there has any good suggestions for me. Should I try to get higher interest or should I just keep my money where it is?

I'll end by saying my first real estate goal is to buy a multi-family and live in one unit to start myself off. 

Thanks!

[Michael Seeker]

Hey @William Perry - it sounds like you're on the right track, and the 0.95% you're earning is quite good for a general savings/checking account with the ability to withdraw at any time.  I'd recommend continuing the course.  With your goal of buying a multi, a good pool of money for a down payment (and reserves/repairs if needed) will go a long way.  Trying to get an extra few percentage points of return is either going to lock up your money (long term loan, CD or similar) or open you up to a real risk of losing your principle (stock market or mutual funds).