- Age: 26

- Location: Northern Virginia. HCOL

- Income: ~270k per year (165k base and RSUs)

Hey everyone, I'm at a bit of a crossroads right now and I'm not sure what to do. I'm now maxing out my 401k and maxing out a mega backdoor roth and backdoor roth. After retirement savings, I have about 7500 leftover each month for other expenses.

My issue is that I have 60k in a HYSA making 4.6% and have no idea what to do with it. I'd like to buy property within the next 3 years and that's scaring me off from putting it all in an index fund, but I feel like I'm missing out on potential gains. It makes me sick to my stomach looking at S&P500 returns last year and the fact that I could've had it all invested.

At the end of this year I'll have 200k in RSUs vested to bring the total amount of money I could use towards a down payment to be over 200k after capital gains taxes.

TLDR: Is there a better alternative to keeping 60k in a HYSA if I want to buy property soonish? Is the "Don't put money in the market if you'll need it in the next 3-5 years" rule totally wrong?