Where do you park your money? In replace of a savings account.

[Joel A.]

Ive been trying to figure out where I should keep my savings where I can maximize its growth and am really curious to hear where you think is the better place to do so.   

I want to keep the money as liquid as possible yet gain the maximum amount of growth available.   Im looking to be able to withdrawal at the drop of a dime with no penalties and no minimum balance requiresments.  Does this exist?

Ive considered online banks with slightly higher yields, money market accounts, certificates of deposit but the rates arent attractive at all.   

Looking to hear where you savvy financial people park your money.

Thanks

[Scott Trench]

Previously, I used to put all of my savings into the stock market via a vangaurd etf - and to use that as my "savings account."  I did this because I felt that on average, I was likely to see the historical ~11% returns that market indexes return.  My thoughts were that even if I lost money in the short term, I was unlikely to lose using the stock market as my savings account over the long term.

Now that I've committed fully to Real Estate, however, I see several problems with that mindset and run my life much more like a business.  I need to be sure that I have cash on hand to deal with problems as they come up, and the few points of return that I might miss out on in the short term are fairly immaterial.

Your question comes up quite frequently actually.  I believe that as far as savings go, anything in the ballpark of $10,000 - $15,000 or less is fairly immaterial to your long-term objectives. Who cares if you earn 1-2% more per year on that?  I'd focus instead of accumulating $10,000 - $15,000 more every few months, and achieving very high returns with that capital invested in long-term real estate assets.

Go with a bank or credit union that makes life easy for you - close by, no fees, low hassle, etc.  Don't worry about squeezing an extra 1% on your $10,000 - that's $100.  Not worth it.

Focus on the big stuff, not the chunk change.  That's my view at least.