It’s a question everybody likely wonders, from the billionaire to the person living paycheck to paycheck: How much money should I keep in my checking account?
从亿万富翁到生活薪水到薪水的人：我应该在支票帐户中保留多少钱？
Of course, if you’re a billionaire, deciding what to keep in your checking account is more of a “fun” academic exercise. If you’re constantly struggling with cash flow, it’s a far more important and non-frivolous question.
当然，如果您是亿万富翁，决定要在支票帐户中保留的内容更像是一个“有趣”的学术练习。如果您不断地在现金流中挣扎，那将是一个更重要且非理想的问题。
According to the Federal Reserve Board's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (released in October 2023) the median household’s checking account balance was $2,800. That said, there is no hard and fast rule on how much money you should keep in your checking account, and so if you’re trying to decide on a dollar amount, don’t pay attention to what other households are doing. Instead, pay attention to your pile of monthly bills.
根据美联储2022年对消费者财务的调查（2023年10月发布），中位数家庭的支票帐户余额为2,800美元。也就是说，您应该在支票帐户中保留多少钱，因此，如果您想决定一美元，请不要关注其他家庭正在做什么。相反，请注意您的每月账单。
How much money should you keep in your checking account, and why?
您应该在支票帐户中保留多少钱，为什么？
Most experts suggest keeping one to two months’ worth of expenses in your checking account at all times.
大多数专家建议始终在支票帐户中保留一到两个月的费用。
For example, say you have $5,000 in bills every month. That means you’d want to consistently keep $5,000 to $10,000 in your checking account.
例如，假设您每月有5,000美元的账单。这意味着您希望在支票帐户中始终保留5,000至10,000美元。
Why? It’s a good idea to maintain a buffer of money in your checking account to prevent accidental overdrafts. If you have a lot of bills paid through automatic withdrawal, for instance, you don’t want to wake up one morning and discover your checking account is in the negative, and you now owe a handful of overdraft fees.
为什么？最好在支票帐户中维护资金缓冲以防止意外透支。例如，如果您通过自动提款支付了很多账单，例如，您不想在一个早晨醒来，发现您的支票帐户为负，现在您欠了少数透支费用。
At the same time, you may also use your debit card to make purchases at the supermarket, clothing store, movie theater, etc. As long as your checking account has more than enough money in it to cover your monthly expenses, you can pay bills and live your life without worrying about your balance. Of course, that isn’t always possible, but it should be the goal.
同时，您还可以使用借记卡在超市，服装店，电影院等进行购买。只要您的支票帐户中的钱有足够的钱来支付每月的费用，就可以支付账单并过上账单并过上生活，而不必担心余额。当然，这并非总是可能的，但这应该是目标。
To track your inflows and outflows and keep tabs on how much buffer you have, a money management tool like Quicken's Simplifi app can automate that task.
为了跟踪您的流入和流出，并保留有关您拥有多少缓冲区的标签，诸如Quicken的简化应用程序之类的货币管理工具可以自动化该任务。
Hot tip: Yahoo Finance readers can try Simplifi free for 90 days. Act now!
热门提示：雅虎财务读者可以免费尝试简化90天。立即行动！
Best places to put your extra cash
最好的现金的最佳地点
While it’s good to maintain a healthy cash buffer, it’s also possible to keep too much money in your checking account. In most cases, checking accounts don’t pay high interest rates. So your extra cash would not only be sitting at the bank without growing — you’d actually be losing money over time due to inflation.
虽然可以保持健康的现金缓冲区，但也可以在支票帐户中保留太多钱。在大多数情况下，支票帐户不会支付高利率。因此，您的额外现金不仅会不成长而坐在银行里 - 由于通货膨胀，您实际上会随着时间的流逝而亏损。
If you’re lucky enough to have more money than you need for your checking account, you’ll want to consider putting extra funds in the following places:
如果您幸运地拥有比支票帐户所需的更多的钱，则需要考虑在以下位置投入额外的资金：
High-yield savings account (HYSA)
高收益储蓄帐户（HYSA）
If your checking account consistently has enough to pay your bills and your living expenses, that’s fantastic. But would you be in good shape if you suddenly needed new tires? Or a new car? Or if you had to pay to have your daughter’s wisdom teeth removed? What if your pet gets sick? What if you lose your job?
如果您的支票帐户始终有足够的费用来支付您的账单和生活费用，那就太好了。但是，如果突然需要新轮胎，您会身体状况良好吗？还是新车？或者，如果您必须付费才能去除女儿的智慧？如果您的宠物生病了怎么办？如果您失业了怎么办？
You get the idea. A savings account gives you a place to regularly park extra money for those times when you need it. However, the average savings account interest rate is just 0.38%, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
你明白了。一个储蓄帐户为您提供了一个定期在需要时停放额外钱的地方。但是，根据联邦存款保险公司（FDIC）的数据，平均储蓄账户利率仅为0.38％。
The good news: There are a lot of financial institutions — especially online banks — that provide high-yield savings accounts with rates that are 10 times the national average. These accounts allow you to save for life’s unknowns while earning a generous rate and helping your savings grow.
好消息：有很多金融机构（尤其是在线银行）提供高收益储蓄帐户，其价格是全国平均水平的10倍。这些帐户使您可以为人生的未知数节省，同时赚取慷慨的利率并帮助您的储蓄增长。
Read more: 23 savings accounts with interest rates of 4% APY and higher
阅读更多：23个储蓄账户，利率为4％APY且更高
Certificate of deposit (CD)
存款证书（CD）
In many cases, you can earn just as much interest as a savings account offers (if not more) with a CD. These accounts are particularly useful for saving money for a large upcoming expense, such as a wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, or a payment toward your kid’s college tuition.
在许多情况下，您可以用CD获得的储蓄帐户提供的利息与储蓄帐户提供的同样多的利息。这些帐户对于为即将到来的大笔费用（例如婚礼，一次千载难逢的假期或向孩子的大学学费支付的费用）特别有用。
That’s because with CDs, you’re expected to keep your money on deposit for a certain time period in exchange for a higher interest rate. CD terms can range from a few months to several years. Once the CD matures (when the time period ends), you can have your money back, plus the earned interest.
这是因为使用CD，您希望您将在一定时间段内存入存款，以换取更高的利率。CD术语的范围从几个月到几年。CD成熟后（时间段结束时），您就可以拿回钱，再加上赚取的利息。
If you need the money before the account matures, you can have it, but you’ll pay an early withdrawal penalty. The exception is no-penalty CDs, which generally have lower interest rates than the best CDs on the market.
如果您需要在帐户成熟之前的钱，则可以拥有它，但是您将提前提取罚款。例外是无培养的CD，通常比市场上最好的CD低利率。
Money market account (MMA)
货币市场帐户（MMA）
A money market account (not to be confused with a money market fund) is like a hybrid savings account/checking account. That is, you deposit savings into a money market account (like you would for a savings account or CD), but you can also often write checks and pay for items using a debit card like you would with a checking account. The interest rate is often comparable to a high-yield savings account, too.
货币市场帐户（不要与货币市场基金混淆）就像混合储蓄帐户/支票帐户。也就是说，您将储蓄存入货币市场帐户（就像您的储蓄帐户或CD一样），但是您也可以经常写支票并使用借记卡付款，就像使用支票帐户一样。利率通常也与高收益储蓄帐户相媲美。
On the other hand, you may be required to maintain a high minimum balance to earn the highest advertised rate. And there may be limitations on how often you can make withdrawals.
另一方面，您可能需要维持高最低余额才能获得最高的广告费率。而且您可以撤离的频率可能存在限制。
You’re probably a good candidate for a money market account if you plan on maintaining a large balance and want to earn a competitive interest rate, but you also want that flexibility to write a check or pay bills with a debit card if you need to.
如果您打算维持较大的余额并希望获得竞争利率，那么您可能是货币市场帐户的好候选人，但是您还希望如果需要，您也希望使用借记卡写支票或支付账单。
Investments
投资
If you’re looking to grow your wealth and save for long-term goals like retirement, you’re probably better off putting extra cash into investments.
如果您想增加自己的财富并节省退休等长期目标，那么最好将额外的现金投入投资。
For instance, if your checking account and high-yield savings accounts are in good shape, then you really should be diverting any extra money into a tax-advantaged retirement plan such as a 401(k) or IRA. Your future self will thank you.
例如，如果您的支票帐户和高收益储蓄帐户状况良好，那么您确实应该将任何额外的钱转移到税收优惠的退休计划中，例如401（k）或IRA。您的未来自我会感谢您。
Another option is to invest through a 529 plan, which is an investment account used to pay for qualifying education expenses. If you have children and you hope they’ll go to college someday, this could be an excellent place to put some extra money.
另一种选择是通过529计划进行投资，该计划是用于支付合格教育费用的投资帐户。如果您有孩子，希望他们有一天能上大学，那么这可能是一个额外的钱的好地方。
While the above accounts offer tax benefits, they may limit the types of investments you can choose from and how much you can contribute each year. If you’re interested in investing extra money in stocks, commodities, crypto, real estate, etc., you can do so through a brokerage account.
尽管上述帐户提供税收优惠，但它们可能会限制您可以选择的投资类型以及每年可以贡献多少。如果您有兴趣将额外的钱投资于股票，商品，加密货币，房地产等，则可以通过经纪帐户进行。
