HYSA or something else to help save for my time during Master's program?
Hi y'all. I'm currently on track to (hopefully) enter into a Master's of Social Work program in Fall of 2027. The program requires around 20 hrs/week of unpaid practicum placement, on top of in-class coursework, and I'm trying to avoid having to work…
Hi y'all. I'm currently on track to (hopefully) enter into a Master's of Social Work program in Fall of 2027. The program requires around 20 hrs/week of unpaid practicum placement, on top of in-class coursework, and I'm trying to avoid having to work full-time on top of that to pay my bills and fill my fridge. Fortunately, I have a great freelance job at the moment, and I've been able to save a fair amount and will continue to be able to save over the course of the next year. I'm looking into a HYSA to maximize my short-term savings, but am wondering if this is the most effective plan for the greatest return within such a short period of time. Would like to understand any other potential options to securely stash away a chunk of change I can use to live off of for the next two years or so.
Collected discussion
Risk and reward go together. Money you can't afford to lose should be in hysa or short treasuries or bank cd
HYSA or a MMF (i.e., SPAXX) is the appropriate place.
Yes, a HYSA is what's recommended for short term savings.
A Treasury ETF. The interest is tax protected from state & city taxes. The only downside is you can't access the money on weekends, so you will need a credit card or wait until the work week. Popular Treasury ETFs are: SGOV with 3.57% interest currently. VBIL with 3.59% interest currently.
A HYSA is basically the right call here, though you could ladder T-bills to mature around each semester for a little more yield and no state tax on the interest.