How much do you keep in your checking account?

[Anonymous]

This article surprised me. It actually quoted much higher amounts than I would have expected.

https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/banking/article/average-checking-account-balance-203316294.html

"In 2022, families had an average transaction account balance of $62,410, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Meanwhile, the median balance was $8,000."

We keep an average checking balance of around $30k, but our HHI is seven figures; high above the norm so I figured our cash balance would be too. We systematically defer a good amount of our income into retirement and nonqualified investment accounts, but don't like to keep a big checking balance.

[Anonymous]

I leave maybe an $1000 buffer. We already have a savings account with emergency cash so I don’t have any reason to leave cash in checking. If it’s not going to be used to pay bills, it goes to brokerage.

[Anonymous]

$50k

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is $180k. We keep below $10k in checking. This is more than our month to month needs. If the account jumps higher and stays there we move to high interest bearing accounts or to partially pay down any loans.

[Anonymous]

On average 13k. It’s just what I’ve found works best over time

[Anonymous]

I'm $20,000.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why you would keep that much in checking, that's what, at least $100/month if you moved about 50k into a standard savings account at the same bank. And it's not particularly hard to access funds in bank savings.

[Anonymous]

We keep whatever we need to cover our bills & monthly living expenses. That adds up to about 15k a month

[Anonymous]

Wow those numbers seem so high to me! I leave anywhere between $500-$2k in checking. Almost everything gets transferred to savings. I rarely use my debit card (Costco only) so I don’t need much there. It’s really only the account my pay gets deposited and that’s it.

[Anonymous]

Ours fluctuates between $25,000 to $2000 depending on when we get paid and what is going out for the month. HHI around $500,000

[Anonymous]

I keep about $30k. We have very large credit card bills due to work travel, so need to keep a big buffer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article surprised me. It actually quoted much higher amounts than I would have expected.

https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/banking/article/average-checking-account-balance-203316294.html

"In 2022, families had an average transaction account balance of $62,410, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Meanwhile, the median balance was $8,000."

We keep an average checking balance of around $30k, but our HHI is seven figures; high above the norm so I figured our cash balance would be too. We systematically defer a good amount of our income into retirement and nonqualified investment accounts, but don't like to keep a big checking balance.

The article references more than just checking accounts in that number:

In 2022, families had an average transaction account balance (which includes checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, call accounts, and prepaid debit cards) of $62,410, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Meanwhile, the median balance was $8,000.

We keep a month or two worth of expenses in checking. The rest in HYSA and MMF.

[Anonymous]

We keep about $10k in checking.

[Anonymous]

$1-3k depending on what time of the month it is and what bills have been paid

[Anonymous]

$30k. I have no idea why.