The Ultimate Savings & Investing Method

I would like to personally share my method of making sure I am saving and investing enough. This is not financial advice, it is simply educational content. Let’s begin :)

The products I will be talking about are listed below

• Checking

• Savings

• Money Market

• Roth IRA

• 401K

• Health Savings (HSA)

• Personal Brokerage

I go over what each are, how I use each account, and the purpose behind them all. Let’s start with the simplest, yet most used one.

Checking Account

• Intended to be the central hub of where all comes into and out of. Used for direct deposits, credit card/other debt payments, and transfers to the other 6 listed accounts.

Savings Account

• Used to let your money grow risk free and cover emergencies that inevitably will come up in life.

Money Market Account

• An investment account, similar to your savings account, but this is technically invested in mutual funds. Ideal to use to save for large purchases like a home.

Roth IRA Account

• A tax-advantaged retirement account where all earnings can be withdrawn tax-free at age 59 1/2, which is earliest time you can “retire” and take tax and fee-free distributions.

  • Individual Annual Contribution Limit

    • 2025: $7,000

    • 2026: $7,500

      • If you’re 50 years old or older, you may contribute up to $1,000 extra as a “catch-up” incentive.

401k Account

• Intended for those who have jobs that offer 401k plans. Many jobs offer a “401k match” where they will “match”, meaning add on to your contribution, up to a certain percentage of your annual salary. This is basically free money.

  • Traditional 401k

    • Invest pre-tax money, withdraw money and pay taxes on earnings (once retired)

  • Roth 401K

    • Invest post-taxed money, withdraw money tax-free (once retired

• If your wondering which account makes more sense, traditional or Roth, basically the rule of thumb is…

  • If you think you will be in a high tax bracket when you retire, many people go with a Roth 401k as opposed to a traditional 401k to avoid paying a high income tax rate on distributions (withdrawals) from the account.

  • There is no right or wrong answer, it really comes down to your preference. The benefit of a traditional 401k is that more money is being invested each paycheck that will allow for faster growth (compound interest), but the disadvantage is you have to pay tax on all that growth once you withdraw it.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

• Allows you to invest money either pre-tax or post-tax and take withdrawals based on medical expenses you accumulate while having an open account.

• You are able to withdrawal money from this account tax-free as a “refund” for medical expenses, but are not required to use the funds for the medical expense.

• You can directly use funds in the account for medical expenses.

• People with high deductible health insurance accounts typically qualify for an HSA.

• Many companies offer a match on your contributions, similar to how a 401K works.

• Individual HSA Contribution Limit

  • 2025: $4,300

  • 2026: $4,400

• It is a good idea to diligently keep track of all of your qualifying medical expenses.

• You can wait as long as you would like to take a distribution from your HSA account for medical expenses. This means, if you are enrolled in an HSA account, have a medical expense this year and pay your share of the bill after insurance out of pocket, you can wait as long as you want to withdraw your money, taking a tripple-tax advantage and letting that money grow!

Personal Brokerage Account

• Used for excess funds you would like to invest in the stock market.

• Many people who have maxed out their Roth IRA, 401K, and HSA will invest funds in a personal brokerage to catch up for retirement.

• This account does not have any of the tax advantages that the other listed retirement accounts have.

If you would like to know more on any of these accounts, click the links below to go to a more detailed description of each!