Gen Z Guide to FI

High Yield Savings Accounts (HYSA) can give you up to 5% APY (e.g if you put in $10,000, you get free $400 by the end of the year) on the money you put into it. I love HYSAs as short – medium term cash storage for two reasons. One, because of the high interest rates compared to traditional savings accounts (0.01% APY). Two, because HYSAs are significantly lower risk than stocks and more accessible than some bonds & CDs. I currently use Ally bank which has a 4.25% APY (as of September 2023). I think it is the perfect place to store some of my grad school saving funds without the risk of losing money.

Now, a lot of HYSAs are online savings banks which means that there are no physical locations but IDK why people feel safer with physical locations of banks. Over the phone customer service always gets me what I need in regards to Ally bank at least.

Another reason why I am a fan of these accounts is because unlike traditional banks (BoA, Chase), there are no bank/maintenance fees. Like BoA requires you to have a min of $500 in your savings while having the audacity to give 0.01% interest (which is 5 cents/year). WTF.

I had a BoA savings account a few years and the second my account fell below $500, I was slapped with a $12 fee.I closed my account that day and moved to Ally. That was 2019 and I haven’t looked back since.

If you have any other online savings bank recommendations, feel free to message my instagram @genzfirebaby or email hashtagfirebaby@gmail.com.