Good Money Blog

• Net Worth
  Our net worth was up 2.2% (+$3,682) as we spent within our budget and didn’t travel during the Independence Day weekend. We, however, enjoyed the free fireworks display in town.
• Cash Savings
  I understand that I should only put money I won’t need in 5 years in the stock market. As I’m pondering about my short-term goals (possible relocation/new baby/bigger house), I’m keeping my cash at a very high level. The majority of the cash is now sitting at high-yield savings accounts such as HSBC Direct (3.50% APY) and E*Trade Bank (3.30% APY). We also have $10K worth of I-Bonds bought at the end of April with a guaranteed interest rate of 4.28% until September.
• House
  That’s not a Zillow estimate but the price we paid two years ago. Zestimate for our house is currently 8% higher than our purchase price. For the sake of simplicity, I will continue to use the purchase price unless Zestimate goes significantly below it.
• Retirement Funds and Taxable Accounts
  I redeemed my 9-month CD from Countrywide Bank and immediately paid off the total balance ($22K) of my lone 0% APR credit card balance transfer offer. My credit score should be expected to jump back to the 780-800 range soon. We have a total of $76K in 401(k) and Roth IRAs. In July, our retirement portfolios went positive (+2.1%) as the market rebounded (S&P 500: -0.7%). To construct a fun portfolio, I opened a new taxable account at Zecco (10 free trades every month) with an initial amount of $5,000. I anticipate holding 5 to 10 ETFs/stocks at a time.
• Credit Card Debt
  $0.9K is basically my regular expenses paid with my favorite cash rebate credit cards, Chase Freedom (3% cash back in top 9 categories) and Chase Business Cash Rewards (3% cash back at gas stations,  restaurants, and home improvement stores). The total balance is to be paid off at the end of the billing cycle.
• Mortgage
  The only loan we have is the mortgage for our primary residence.

• Household
  We finally spent a portion of our $1,200 stimulus payment at Lowe’s. The garden now looks more lively with the new plants.