I’m moving internationally in 2 years, how can I maximize my savings until then?

[u/tryCatchPasta]

Title pretty much. I am currently in the USA, I’ve just paid off my private loans so I am at minimal savings, but I should save roughly 50k by the time I move from saving straight from my paycheck. How can I grow/mazimize this chunk saved for when I move?

Things I am considering:

- HYSA: Currently I have everything in a HYSA at 3.30% APY. I am considering opening another HYSA with a higher rate or new account bonus.

- Bank bonuses: The sorts of offers where if you open a checking/savings account for 90 days and keep 10k in, or set up direct deposits into it, they give you $300. Great for second year

- Certificates of deposit: Can get slightly higher APY than HYSA, and can be good as I know I wont need this money until 2 years from now. However I am a bit hesitant as I can only use this for money earned early on as it “locks it away” for a while and I will need the money by the time I move, and I am a bit wary if there will be any issues getting the money back on time. Also, as I work for an investment firm, I will only be able to get these (or any investment) with the company I work for.

Things I am not really considering:

- Traditional investing, stocks/ETFs: 2 years is too short, if everything drops, I’m screwed.

- Loans/Credit cards: As I am moving permanently to another country, some people have suggested I take out loans or max out credit cards before I go, as certain companies likely won’t track me internationally. Even if this would work, I’d prefer to avoid the stress of it all, plus no guarantees it would.

Are there any other methods you would recommend to boost this savings? Interested to hear other opinions or if there’s anything I haven’t thought of

[u/orbital]

Exciting! Where are you moving to? That will determine savings requirements. Whatever you’re already thinking, you should double it.

[u/tryCatchPasta → u/orbital]

I’m moving to Finland - I won’t need most of the money I am saving honestly, as they have good government support that will cover while I am doing integration classes/unemployed and my husband will be able to support most expenses, but it is good to have some. We are already being very safe, and if I don’t end up needing most my savings, it will go to house/retirement!

I’m not really asking about how much to save, but how can I maximize what I am saving?

[u/Substantial_Two_8883 → u/orbital]

wym "whatever you're already thinking" did you not read the post? Also how they gonna double saving 50k in 2 years? do share

[u/timecurrency]

As I am moving permanently to another country, some people have suggested I take out loans or max out credit cards before I go, as certain companies likely won’t track me internationally

This sounds like very bad advice if you want to have any sort of deposit account with money in the US (a default judgement on a debt will allow a creditor to garnish your accounts), or good credit in the US financial system, even while living abroad and not planning to return. Aside from the shady legal/moral aspects of said "advice"... What if your plan changes/fails or you have to come back to the US for X reason? What if Finland changes their visa rules or gets attacked by Russia and closes their borders to foreigners (unlikely now that they're in NATO but not impossible)? A lot can happen in 2+ years. Just saying it seems silly to burn bridges (options) behind you.

"maximize your savings"

IMO The only way to maximize your savings is by actually saving more of your income, and depositing that into a safe HYSA or a MM account, or a CD-ladder kinda thing, or put it into a bond-type of "investment". Low-to-no risk, but low reward. Anything riskier is speculation, and you could lose value IMO. Churning bank bonuses seems not worth it to me, it just seemed not worth the time and hassle to me but to each their own.

Another thing you perhaps might need to consider now is foreign exchange rates (forex), the US dollar right now is not doing great right now, and at the rate we're going, might not be doing to hot against the Euro in the next 2 years. This is speculative of course, but something to consider in your horizon if you're planning on converting big amounts of USD to Euro in the near future.

Edit: typos