I’ve made a lot of mistakes with money in my life!
In kindergarten I stole all my sister’s savings from her piggy bank and donated it in a school charity event to win a pizza party.
In middle school someone in an online gaming forum was giving out 10 bitcoin to anyone who wanted it; I either got frustrated setting up a wallet and never claimed it, or I claimed it and lost the hard drive. That bitcoin was worth ~$4 then, and $1.2 million at its peak in 2025.
In college I tried picking stocks with my Robinhood account and buying crypto on Coinbase. Some did decent, most did not.
One year after graduating college I found r/bogleheads and have not looked back since! This community has informed my investing philosophy, my banking philosophy, and my emotions in the market. I give a lot of my friends advice on this stuff, so I figured I could just write it down.
This is mostly applicable to W2 employees who are relatively young, but even within that bucket there is a lot of variance depending on what your goals are and where you live!
My Goals
- Secure financial safety for my future. Money can go as fast as it can come. I’m not sure where life will go. The more I can save now, the less I need to worry in the future.
- Keep money management low maintenance. I should be able to go weeks without checking my bank/brokerage account and know I’m okay.
- Eventually own a larger apartment. I live alone now and my current apartment is great for that! I expect that to change one day and I’d like to be ready for that.
Banking Philosophy
”Checking” Account
I wanted a banking solution that was simple and low cost. I have settled on Fidelity One Stop Shop for most of my financial needs. Luckily my employers have always used Fidelity for our HSA and 401(k) plans, so it plays very nicely with my setup. The basic idea behind this is, “What if your brokerage could be your bank too?” and it works in 95% of cases!
I opened a Cash Management Account that essentially functions as a checking account with a higher interest rate. You could alternatively think of it as a savings account with no withdrawal limits. I have a debit card connected to this account and Fidelity reimburses ATM fees on almost every ATM domestic and abroad. I can use it for wires and ACH transfers like a normal checking account as well. You can get your paycheck direct deposited right into it.
However, there are a few limitations:
- It’s technically not a bank account. You get a statement every month but it does say the account is a brokerage account. This has been adequate for all instances except for one time when Capital One needed to verify my income with a bank account for a new credit card and they didn’t accept it.
- No Zelle. A lot of street cart vendors in my neighborhood charge more for credit card purchases and less for cash/Zelle so this does matter to me.
- No certified checks. This was a huge issue when I was purchasing an apartment. Fidelity can send a letter ensuring that an account has at least a certain amount of funds in it but this is not foolproof.
For these three reasons, and wanting to derisk my access to finances in case there’s an issue with Fidelity, I keep a small amount of money in a free checking account. I tried a credit union and smaller local banks but either the transfer limits were too low or the limited capabilities of their mobile app made them inadequate for my use cases.
I settled on a Capital One 360 Checking Account because of this. It’s free, has high transfer limits, has Zelle, and I like the support you can get at their Capital One cafes when I have complicated needs like a certified check. I direct deposit my paycheck into my Capital One account in case I need to show proof of income via a bank account and I have a fortnightly transfer into my Fidelity Cash Management Account so everything else runs out of that.
Investing Philosophy
Just like my banking philosophy, I like to keep my investments simple and low cost. Most of the thought I put into my investments is where I am going to put my money rather than what I’m going to invest in.
Where do I keep my money?
Emergency funds
I start by making sure that I have 3-4 months worth of expenses in my Fidelity Cash Management Account. This is a good enough buffer where if I lost my job at any moment, I still have financial stability until I can find a new one.
No high interest debt
I never never never miss a credit card payment. The interest rates on credit cards are predatory and should be capped by legislation in my opinion. I set up auto pay on the statement balance for every new credit card as soon as I get it. Any debt over 7% is worth paying off. Any debt under 7% is worth keeping since you can probably beat it in the market.
Maxed out matched 401(k) contributions
A 401(k) match from your employer is a guaranteed 100% return on your money. There is no better investment than that.
Max out Roth IRA via Backdoor Roth
I like putting money in a Roth IRA instead of Traditional because I expect to earn more later in my career, I expect tax rates to increase in the future, and I expect strong growth in the stock market over my lifetime. All these points can be validly debated.
Max out 401(k) contributions
My employer offers the mega backdoor Roth 401(k) option. Because my top goal is to “secure financial safety for my future,” I am prioritizing my retirement account over my brokerage account or current access to cash.
Brokerage account
Any remaining money gets dumped into my Fidelity brokerage account.
What do I invest in?
I subscribe to a modified version of the three-fund portfolio. I keep ~80% of my money in US equities, and ~20% of my money in international equities. I do not keep bonds. My horizon for investments I’m making now are decades long. In that time horizon, I expect equities to vastly outperform bonds and in the near future I don’t need the financial stability that bonds offer. For US equities I buy VTI and for international equities I buy VXUS. Both of these are low cost Vanguard ETFs, but there are other good options too.
When do I take action on my investments?
Only when necessary! I definitely do not buy and sell based on market conditions. This behavior would feed into “timing the market” and being an active investor. I sell based on need, and I try to make sure I never need to by adjusting my spend instead.
Budgeting
I’ve previously used spreadsheets, Notion, Monarch, and Copilot Money for budgeting. Right now I’m on Origin Financial. This is so far the best option because I can track my private Notion equity in this as well. The connections are easy to maintain, the UI is nice, and they are constantly adding new features that users ask them for. The developers are active on the Origin subreddit, which is a really good sign to me!