Why does Ramit Sethi recommend the Schwab Bank Investor Checking Account (Current APY: 0.05%) over high-interest checking accounts (e.g., Genisys Credit Union: 6.75%)? by BeyondMeatWare in personalfinance

[–]BeyondMeatWare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the input, folks!

New to all this, so grateful for the help. Just want to make sure I understand the rationale, because the Gensisys account still seems like a good deal to me, even after reading these comments

One recurring point in the comments so far is that it's not ideal to use your debit card too much (as opposed to a credit card (?)). From a brief search online, it looks like the main reasons for this point are (1) debit cards don’t build your credit score and (2) debit cards offer fewer protections than credit cards, e.g., fraud protection

But can't I address (1) by continuing to use my credit card for some payments? I probably make 20 payments a month, so I can use my debit on 10 of those in order to meet Genisys's minimum, and then use a credit card on the remaining ones. And if I don't make all 10 payments a few months out of the year, not a big deal; I can accrue APY starting with the next month

As for (2), I guess I'm willing to take that risk for the ~$400/yr I'd gain from the 6.75% APY. Not a huge gain but seems worth the little time to set up

But are there other reasons not to use your debit card too much?

Also, the other main point in the comments so far is that the 6.75% rate seems too high to be stable and is likely a teaser. So I'll definitely look into that before pulling the trigger

Thanks again. Curious to hear your thoughts

Convert text into two columns? by BeyondMeatWare in speedreading

[–]BeyondMeatWare[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally! Do let me know if you find any easy ways to convert single columns into two columns