What to Do About Money "Stuffed Under Mattress"

[Anonymous]

Go the credit union and open up an account for each of your children and put it in there. Since they are still minors, you will also be on the accounts. Open up a separate savings account for your money.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure it's really "extra money"?

Do you have any debt? What type and at what %
Are you maxing retirement savings?
Are you regularly contributing (monthly, etc) to 529 for kids?
Do you have a car, is it paid off, and when will you have to replace it?
Do you have 6 months of emergency living expenses?

If you have extra after all of the above, put it in a savings or money market account at 1% interest, that you can access in a few days time but is not automatically linked to your checking account, if you have trouble with that. Capital One 360 cash account is a good suggestion.

Definitely not in the house--if the house burns down or you get robbed, it is gone. You are FDIC insured up to 100k with a bank.

[Anonymous]

So take all my kids' bday and Christmas paper cash to bank , and pay off my debt (house) and into my retirement account?

[Anonymous]

If you'd rather treat it like found money, you could buy them something big like a Ping-Pong table or take them to a major show or sports event.

[Anonymous]

Having that much cash at home is insane. A guy in Chantilly lost some $20k several years ago when his gas line leaked and his home went up in flame IIRC. Perhaps open a Vanguard account?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure it's really "extra money"?

Do you have any debt? What type and at what %
Are you maxing retirement savings?
Are you regularly contributing (monthly, etc) to 529 for kids?
Do you have a car, is it paid off, and when will you have to replace it?
Do you have 6 months of emergency living expenses?

If you have extra after all of the above, put it in a savings or money market account at 1% interest, that you can access in a few days time but is not automatically linked to your checking account, if you have trouble with that. Capital One 360 cash account is a good suggestion.

Definitely not in the house--if the house burns down or you get robbed, it is gone. You are FDIC insured up to 100k with a bank.

All good questions! Side note: FDIC insures up to $250K now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So take all my kids' bday and Christmas paper cash to bank , and pay off my debt (house) and into my retirement account?

There are a lot more suggestions in this thread than just that, OP. Maybe a 529 for each of them with their share of the money might be more appropriate. As for your portion, did you ever answer the question as to whether you have an emergency savings account?

[Anonymous]

OP you can take cash to the bank as long as it's under 10K (something gets triggered at 10K).

But you can do it in two deposits over two days and be fine. I know this because my mom insists on sending me $ in the mail and it's been accumulating for YEARS now and I had this very issue.

[Anonymous]

Pp, you can deposit as much as you want. Over $10k the bank has to file a report. As long as you can explain the aource of the money you have no issue. Depositing more than $10k over twomdays may get you in trouble for trying to avoid the reporting requirement. It is called structuring. Do not do this! https://www.money-education.com/resources/financial-planning-news-and-blogs/blog/129-structuring-cash-transactions-under-10-000-is-criminal

[Anonymous]

Like 18:04 I had relatives who gave us cash, and in some cases I just cashed the checks setting it aside not wanting to comingle it with my savings. People wanted me to spend on turnings I wouldn't otherwise buy myself or my kids. It became a habit. My husband and I are pretty good savers, but he sees all money as fungible. Meaning: if I put it into savings and we needed to replace an appliance, the money would be used for that. I don't like it, because I do earmark money, and won't "splurge" on any thing unless it it over the earmarked value. Our HHI is mid 100k. We have retirement savings and emergency fund account. Our financial advisor said we could afford to spend a little more, but I'm paranoid about not having money if "something bad" happened.

Ugh. Reading this thread I'm feeling like I might look like a criminal for hoarding this money that trickled in over 20 years. I want to cry. I'm so pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like 18:04 I had relatives who gave us cash, and in some cases I just cashed the checks setting it aside not wanting to comingle it with my savings. People wanted me to spend on turnings I wouldn't otherwise buy myself or my kids. It became a habit. My husband and I are pretty good savers, but he sees all money as fungible. Meaning: if I put it into savings and we needed to replace an appliance, the money would be used for that. I don't like it, because I do earmark money, and won't "splurge" on any thing unless it it over the earmarked value. Our HHI is mid 100k. We have retirement savings and emergency fund account. Our financial advisor said we could afford to spend a little more, but I'm paranoid about not having money if "something bad" happened.

Ugh. Reading this thread I'm feeling like I might look like a criminal for hoarding this money that trickled in over 20 years. I want to cry. I'm so pathetic.

You're not pathetic. You may have anxiety, though.

[Anonymous]

When i realized how much I had on hand, I didn't feel like it was safe having so much at home where it could get stolen or destroyed. And that i guess is anxiety causing, along with people looking at me like a freak having so much cash on hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When i realized how much I had on hand, I didn't feel like it was safe having so much at home where it could get stolen or destroyed. And that i guess is anxiety causing, along with people looking at me like a freak having so much cash on hand.

Who looks at you this way? That's weird.

My husband is from Jersey and we have a beach house up there now. Everyone up there uses cash (I know, insert mafia joke here.) If you're now nervous about having so much cash in the house, and you don't have one particular big splurge item you want to save it for, just take a hundred or so out from under the mattress every week and use it at the grocery store, restaurants, whatever. Not weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, you can deposit as much as you want. Over $10k the bank has to file a report. As long as you can explain the aource of the money you have no issue. Depositing more than $10k over twomdays may get you in trouble for trying to avoid the reporting requirement. It is called structuring. Do not do this! https://www.money-education.com/resources/financial-planning-news-and-blogs/blog/129-structuring-cash-transactions-under-10-000-is-criminal

oh for heaven's sake. Fine. Then just put 5K in on Month 1 and 5K in on Month 2.

[Anonymous]

Don't keep cash. Open a separate account and don't link it to the others, but for goodness sake paper money can burn if something bad happens! Or get stolen. At least put it in a heavy fire safe box.