Is the issue that you have given the govt electronic access to a particular account? You could revoke their access. If you’re really paranoid, you could change it to a different account in the same institution. I know there’s a lot of insanity in Washington, but I don’t see a scenario where it leads to errors where they wrongly take money from an account that you gave them access to for tax payment purposes.

I think a HYSA is the way to go. You could put some of it in stocks, but certainly be prepared for that portion of your car fund to go down. The stock market has done great in recent years, not something you can count on continuing.

I have heard this all my life, going back to the 80s. There are always high-interest loans that unsophisticated and desperate people take out. I don’t think there’s some unique new problem.

Your income is >> 4 * rent, so you should be fine. Is it in the US? USD$500 rent sounds very cheap, unless you’re renting just a small room.

Are the cards the problem? If you used other methods of payment, e.g. paper checks and cash, would you have the same problem. If so, find the root cause of the problem. If the cards are the problem, I would stop using them and forgo the bonus points. Maybe that costs you hundreds of dollars a year, but think of forgoing them as a bank “fee” that you pay in exchange for simplicity.

All of these groups, academia, the wealthy, attorneys, union members, leadership at public companies are all just people. You can’t look at the actions of members of those groups and dismiss everyone in them. It’s not a question of those groups or people. There are just people who have to have to support liberal democracy.

So far the political instability has not affected personal finance, but it will if we (everyone without regard to group membership) don’t respect basic rights and the law.

I would be concerned about a period of higher than normal inflation like the 70s. The Fed does a good job keeping inflation around 2%. Recently it spiked briefly to around 8% but immediately came down to just above 3%. It seems possible we could see a period of inflation near 8% for several years in a row.

I am unclear what to take away from this. It says nominal consumer debt is at and all-time high, but it’s not if you consider real (inflation-adjusted) numbers. It says the ratio of debt payments to disposable income is low compared to recent decades.

So it seems, contrary to the article’s title, that there hasn’t been a furious pace of change in consumer debt.

ask for proof of ownership from the debt collectors.

I agree with this. If it turns out you really do owe the money and you have a little money offer to settle if they’ll give you something saying the amount settles the debt in full. If they don’t have proof you owe the money, I would ignore them.

Credit cards pay out rewards using money they charge merchants on the transaction. The cards discourage merchants from offering a discount for people who pay in less expensive ways, but if you ask you can often get a discount for cash. Typically the cards charge merchants 3% and give you back 2%. Cards are worth it to a merchants such as gas stations but usually not worth it for companies accepting rent. If you rent from an individual, you might get a discount for giving them cash or check, but a company with hundreds of units probably prefers paying the small ACH fees to avoid dealing with physical payments.

I think it is safe. It invests mostly in US gov’t debt, which is considered the safest investment in the world. If the US gov’t defaulted, it would be a disaster for the whole banking system. That hasn’t ever happened, going back to the when the government was founded.

A third of it is in repurchase agreements, which became illiquid during the 08-09 financial crisis. MMFs like this one were in danger of “breaking the buck,” falling in price to some value less than $1 a share. To prevent people from withdrawing their money, worsening the crisis, the government stepped in and insured these funds similar to FDIC-insured bank accounts. The yields dropped to be the same as FDIC-insured bank accounts. I am not sure if they would do that in a similar crisis in the future. So FDIC-insured bank accounts are slightly safer, but they’re both very safe.

If you’re really trying to protect yourself against catastrophe, which I think is much less likely than the risk a healthy person dies of a sudden health problem or an accident, you could keep some gold or silver coins. They have stayed at the same value since antiquity, at least to the extent you can compare modern goods and services to ancient ones.

I have had good results with Fidelity. I’m sort of like @oscb@oscb@lemm.ee in that I opened the account because my employer’s 401(k) was through Fidelity. I eventually moved my main brokerage, HSA, IRAs, and checking to Fidelity.

I was unclear from the article how the lending happened? Did customers physically travel to Native American lab, transfer money electronically, or is it partnered with retailers who arrange the financing for consumers?

Regarding the FDIC limits, I think the bank can help you open two or three different types of accounts, e.g. money market, savings, interest-bearing checking, that are materially similar but considered as individually insured to $250k by the FDIC. If your bank cannot help you, you could open an account at a large the bank that’s unlikely to fail. If there is difficulty opening the account, arrange a meeting with someone. They are generally interested in meeting with people with $1M net worth and are interested in putting $250k in a deposit account.

The risk of a banking crisis or the USD tanking during the next 24 is very remote. USD is the reserve currency for the world. I think this is like planning for a meteor devastating the planet. It has happened; it will happen again, but the risk of it happening in the next 24 months is too low to consider. You are more likely to have an accident that puts you into a coma or something, so it’s more important to have a financial and medical power of attorney set up. These are all remote risks that I would not worry about.

If you want to invest the money but want to avoid businesses with practices you disagree with, just invest in individual stocks, or invest in local real estate or a local business you understand and approve of. If you’re going to use most of the money for your primary residence within 24 months, forget about investing, and just put it in a good bank. Focus on getting the property you want for a fair price and on engineering, and don’t worry much about very unlikely perils.