The new iBond rate and other money thoughts

 So I randomly looked up the iBond rate for May to October. Yay, it's greater than 4%. I think all the other estimates I'd found were dismally low. So I was concerned about the low return on my imprisoned bonds. Greater than 4% suits me just fine! 

I was concerned to even buy them at the beginning of the year because I was unsure how much lower the rates would fall. So, I'm glad this was not that bad. It's safe and away from my regular eyes and the rate is decent. FIRE Cash is safe! That being said, I wonder if I'll buy more next year? Well luckily by next January, I'll have new data to decide. So that can be left alone for the rest of the year. Yay! 

But I was reading some blog and someone mentioned Betterment's Cash Reserve interest was up to above 4%, so I perused it.

I think most of my regular savings accounts hover around 3-4%. I am aware of accounts out there at 5% but for right now, I'm choosing simplicity and just sticking with the institutions I have. Plus, I've been pretty intentional about keeping a low amount of cash in my regular circulation. Well sort of, there is somehow some Bonus Money hanging around, but I'll probably keep it for now while I prepare to embark on my new adventure! But the goal is to only have about $10k of cash in circulation 5k for regular savings and checking combined. And $5k as an everyday emergency Fund. Now that I think about it, I think that Bonus Money is for my Lifestyle Expenses this year.

Anyway...then it occurred to me...where am I going to keep my proceeds from the sale of my house? Brokerage - brokered CD? Regular CD? HYSA? 

The current plan is to keep it pretty accessible, so investing it isn't on the list for that reason. I was thinking originally anything that can get me at least 5% in this current market. Right now brokered CDs are at about 5% so that seems like the easiest choice. The only small aside is that when I look at my budget app it will show up as Cash, and I'm wanting to be able to easily visualize how much real cash I have vs FIRE Cash, or in this case Home Bridging Cash.

Also, that's another thing - how long to keep the house proceeds accessible?  I think I'll definitely keep it in some sort of high yield savings vehicle for a year. But I forgot, was I keeping it accessible for 5 years. I guess at least that. But after FIRE, do I still need it in a separate fund. Oh, I guess no! Well it depends, if I can reach 1 million, then it's a resounding no. But anytime before then, I'll probably want to keep it around to offset any housing costs. 

That's all for now.

So let's celebrate a couple things:

- Yay for buying iBonds at the beginning of the year and getting those gains plus the next 6 months! Woot, glad that after some light hemming and hawing, I went with what was known at the time.

- Also, can we celebrate the housing market. I bought a house to save on my housing costs. It turned out to be as troublesome as I feared. And didn't lower my housing costs in a significant way over 3 years. But, the appreciation in value was a nice surprise! But I'm hearing about surprise transactional costs, so I'm wondering how much of the estimated net proceeds I will actually see. I hope all of it!