Comments on: Michael Wants A Ph.D.: A Deeper Look At Intermediate-Term Investing

By: Zachary

Zachary — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:18:56 +0000

Skip the Ph.D. Trust me on this one.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:52:57 +0000

mvp, it sounds like a function of laziness rather than confusion. you don’t have to do anything except note the maturity dates of your cd’s. you can opt to automatically rollover or not. one action over 6 months or 1 year cannot be too difficult. of course, i have heard people who forget about the cd maturity date and it automatically rolls over. again, whatever works for you.

By: MVP

MVP — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:27:17 +0000

Tim, good point. But I prefer to keep my finances as simple as possible. In my opinion, laddering CDs could get pretty confusing pretty quickly. Requires too much organization for me.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:01:33 +0000

mvp, you are correct if you want liquidity in your money. cd’s are semi-liquid, but you can mitigate things by laddering the cd’s. maturity intervals will depend on when and how frequently you will need the money. i wouldn’t be quick to dismiss the $325 difference, which is considerable considering that it buys a lot of books, perhaps one month’s rent, perhaps one class, or several meals…etc.

Ryan, the same thing. if it isn’t for a couple of years, and you do not need the cash to be liquid, i’d opt for a the highest APY I could get. on the whole currently, cd’s will beat out high yield savings accounts.

By: MVP

MVP — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:18:14 +0000

I like the idea of the savings acct better than a CD. For the difference of roughly $325, the money is completely liquid in the savings acct – you can take it out anytime you need it, where you’d have penalties for withdrawing from the CD early. I guess this wouldn’t be good for some folks, as they may be tempted to use the money for other things along the way. But for me, I’d rather have access to the $ if needed.

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 02:59:05 +0000

Tim has an excellent point. Investigate 529 plans, as you could get those earnings tax free (the calculations above ignore the effect of taxes).

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 01:44:55 +0000

You just read my mind. I was trying to figure out what to do some money I plan to use for a down payment on a house in a few years. Although an index fund sounds tempting, into a CD it went. 5% isn’t bad for the short term, and you can’t beat risk-free.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:14:28 +0000

well, i’d be looking at 529 plan. if going cd route, try collegesure cd.

By: esteban

esteban — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:38:40 +0000

great post. i like online savings accounts. how about a post compraring the top 10??? i currently have ing, hsbc, and citi. im consiering a few others….

By: !wanda

!wanda — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:36:30 +0000

What field will be PhD be in? In many fields, including the natural sciences, CS, math, and clinical psych, any program worth getting a PhD from will fully fund you, by paying your tuition and giving you a small stipend (enough to live on but maybe not much more). It’s worth investigating PhD programs now if you’re worried about the money situation.

By: Danny at Money Socket

Danny at Money Socket — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:49:10 +0000

I totally agree. If there is any type of time line CD is the very best. You can time it and calculate the return to the cent. If you hit a bad year or even a bad month with stocks you’ll have no choice but to withdraw and settle for a weaker return even if you’ve been seeing steady growth for 4 years. CD is good enough for this situation.