How do I deal with my cash?

I get a lot of questions asking me what accounts I use for my money. I tend to look for accounts that have the features I want over the interest rate, but have been able to find accounts that offer both. I have posted about many of these accounts since they are what I use everyday, so please refer to the posts for more detail. Here is a quick breakdown of how I handle my money:

Checking Accounts:
My main checking account is the Fidelity mySmart Cash High Yield Checking Account. (See Post) The current yield I am receiving there is 4.82%. This account has free ATM rebates, free checks and free billpay, so it pretty much has everything I want with a high interest rate. Plus it is integrated with my IRA’s and 401k, so it is nice to have everything in one place finally! Since this is a decent enough interest rate, all my savings sits here as well, no need for another account!

Since Fidelity doesn’t have any branches near me, I have a National City Account Free Checking Account that I use for deposits of cash and checks. There is a branch just down the street from me, so this is convenient to make deposits. I then use Fidelity Moneyline to move those deposits from the National City account to my Fidelity account. Very easy and hasslefree.

Brokerage:
I use Tradeking (See Post for Bonus) Brokerage. They are very easy to use and the commissions are low, $4.95 for equity and option trades. They also have an ACH feature where I can pull money out of my Fidelity account easily. Since the market has been so volatile lately I haven’t don’t much trading here, so the cash is just sitting in Tradeking’s money market at 4.25%.

In addition to Tradeking, I also use Sharebuilder. (See Post for Bonus). I mainly use Sharebuilder for a long term investing account. I buy partial shares of 10 ETF’s four times a week. My goal with this account it to dollar cost average while the market is correcting itself. I just set this and forget it. I consider this nest egg fund to use later, possible for kid’s college education.

Credit Cards:
I only use 2 credit cards for purchasing. My main card is the American Express Blue Cash Card (see post). I use this for everything from groceries, gas, utilities, and insurance payments. I never pay anything using a check or debit card if they accept AMEX. This is obviously to maximize my cash back.
If a place doesn’t take AMEX, my backup card is the Fidelity Rewards Visa. This card pays back 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Combined, I usually get back about 1.8% of my purchases every year, sure that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it adds up!

So that is pretty much a snap shot of how I handle my finances. I try to keep it simple but at the same time make sure that I am maximizing the return on my money If I can make decent interest on my money that is just sitting in an account, I will take it!

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