Online Savings Bonuses

[Sigmapolis]

You are of course correct. However, my response to that is usually-

"Sure, keep making 2% while inflation is 3%. Every year you will have more money which will buy even less, and it's 100% guaranteed."

Sadly, my folks invest this way. Luckily dad has IPERS...

Something of a personal horror story here --

My wife's step-grandfather died last year. And before I speak ill of the dead, he was a super cool and nice guy. He spent much of the 1940s (including the first half of the decade) in a submarine in the Pacific, which is impossibly BA.

Came home to Milwaukee, got a job driving a truck for a food distributor, slowly worked his way up through the company his entire career, retired as a manager, married once and had a bunch of kids, then after she died, married again to a widow with her own family (my grandmother-in-law). Pretty much the quintessential man of that generation.

When he died, my father-in-law and me took over Grandma's finances. She's in her 80s and healthy, but there is a lot of memory loss there, so she probably should not be handling that. I got drafted to do it as the quant nerd in the family.

He had $600,000 in their checking account.

Evidently he "did not trust the market," even though he had a sizable union pension and his wife had a sizable 401(k) and other equity assets from her own career, and he thought the checking account was the "best, safest" way to hold it.

Me and my father-in-law still have not told the rest of the family. He probably gave away hundreds of thousands, if not millions in the long-term, by doing that.

I can understand having some liquid money for rainy days if you need it, even a few tens of thousands, but just having enough money lying around to buy a very nice house for... reasons... well, I am still just flabbergasted. But I guess that was how that generation thought of things. Rainy days were always coming and the market is not to be trusted. We might think differently if our formative years were the 1930s and the 1940s, too.

 

[BCClone]

Something of a personal horror story here --

My wife's step-grandfather died last year. And before I speak ill of the dead, he was a super cool and nice guy. He spent much of the 1940s (including the first half of the decade) in a submarine in the Pacific, which is impossibly BA.

Came home to Milwaukee, got a job driving a truck for a food distributor, slowly worked his way up through the company his entire career, retired as a manager, married once and had a bunch of kids, then after she died, married again to a widow with her own family (my grandmother-in-law). Pretty much the quintessential man of that generation.

When he died, my father-in-law and me took over Grandma's finances. She's in her 80s and healthy, but there is a lot of memory loss there, so she probably should not be handling that. I got drafted to do it as the quant nerd in the family.

He had $600,000 in their checking account.

Evidently he "did not trust the market," even though he had a sizable union pension and his wife had a sizable 401(k) and other equity assets from her own career, and he thought the checking account was the "best, safest" way to hold it.

Me and my father-in-law still have not told the rest of the family. He probably gave away hundreds of thousands, if not millions in the long-term, by doing that.

I can understand having some liquid money for rainy days if you need it, even a few tens of thousands, but just having enough money lying around to buy a very nice house for... reasons... well, I am still just flabbergasted. But I guess that was how that generation thought of things. Rainy days were always coming and the market is not to be trusted. We might think differently if our formative years were the 1930s and the 1940s, too.

That era did not trust outsiders with their money or security. My parents were from that era. Even bank CDs were slightly risky if they were old enough to grow up during the depression before FDIC insurance. The stories my mom told me are down right scary and sad. These people were able to survive with grit and will and surviving is all you could call it at times

 

[Pat]

Something of a personal horror story here --

My wife's step-grandfather died last year. And before I speak ill of the dead, he was a super cool and nice guy. He spent much of the 1940s (including the first half of the decade) in a submarine in the Pacific, which is impossibly BA.

Came home to Milwaukee, got a job driving a truck for a food distributor, slowly worked his way up through the company his entire career, retired as a manager, married once and had a bunch of kids, then after she died, married again to a widow with her own family (my grandmother-in-law). Pretty much the quintessential man of that generation.

When he died, my father-in-law and me took over Grandma's finances. She's in her 80s and healthy, but there is a lot of memory loss there, so she probably should not be handling that. I got drafted to do it as the quant nerd in the family.

He had $600,000 in their checking account.

Evidently he "did not trust the market," even though he had a sizable union pension and his wife had a sizable 401(k) and other equity assets from her own career, and he thought the checking account was the "best, safest" way to hold it.

Me and my father-in-law still have not told the rest of the family. He probably gave away hundreds of thousands, if not millions in the long-term, by doing that.

I can understand having some liquid money for rainy days if you need it, even a few tens of thousands, but just having enough money lying around to buy a very nice house for... reasons... well, I am still just flabbergasted. But I guess that was how that generation thought of things. Rainy days were always coming and the market is not to be trusted. We might think differently if our formative years were the 1930s and the 1940s, too.

I get the Great Depression mentality. But if you’re going to that, at least stuff cash in the mattress. It’s not like banks were honoring withdrawal requests.

 

[SpokaneCY]

Something of a personal horror story here --

My wife's step-grandfather died last year. And before I speak ill of the dead, he was a super cool and nice guy. He spent much of the 1940s (including the first half of the decade) in a submarine in the Pacific, which is impossibly BA.

Came home to Milwaukee, got a job driving a truck for a food distributor, slowly worked his way up through the company his entire career, retired as a manager, married once and had a bunch of kids, then after she died, married again to a widow with her own family (my grandmother-in-law). Pretty much the quintessential man of that generation.

When he died, my father-in-law and me took over Grandma's finances. She's in her 80s and healthy, but there is a lot of memory loss there, so she probably should not be handling that. I got drafted to do it as the quant nerd in the family.

He had $600,000 in their checking account.

Evidently he "did not trust the market," even though he had a sizable union pension and his wife had a sizable 401(k) and other equity assets from her own career, and he thought the checking account was the "best, safest" way to hold it.

Me and my father-in-law still have not told the rest of the family. He probably gave away hundreds of thousands, if not millions in the long-term, by doing that.

I can understand having some liquid money for rainy days if you need it, even a few tens of thousands, but just having enough money lying around to buy a very nice house for... reasons... well, I am still just flabbergasted. But I guess that was how that generation thought of things. Rainy days were always coming and the market is not to be trusted. We might think differently if our formative years were the 1930s and the 1940s, too.

Not a horror story at all. He died and left a sizable estate. The horror stories are the people who die penniless and destitute eating cat food because they had nothing. Everyone had a different risk tolerance and his was on the spectrum.

 

[BCClone]

Not a horror story at all. He died and left a sizable estate. The horror stories are the people who die penniless and destitute eating cat food because they had nothing. Everyone had a different risk tolerance and his was on the spectrum.

Agree, I know that I would like to expand the business so I am starting to build some cash, but the prices right now aren’t favorable. I just tell people that my kids would not complain if they inherited a boatload of cash instead of more real estate.