SoFi Blog

Good Data, Bad Geopolitics, and Exchange Rates
Asset prices remained relatively flat over the past month, caught between the push of positive economic data on equities and the pull of geopolitical tensions. While North Korea’s nuclear threats sent equities and interest rates down, we see these events subsiding without major implications for global markets. In determining where the markets will go over the next few months, it’s important to take a look at the interaction between economic data, central bank policy, exchange rates, and equity prices.

In recent posts, we’ve talked about the difficult situation currently facing central bankers. Their mandates essentially require them to begin raising interest rates just when the market’s starting to take off in order to curb inflation. It’s like the host taking away the punch bowl just when the party’s really getting started.

Good news, America. After nearly a decade, credit scores have hit record highs, according to new data from Fair, Isaac, as reported in the Wall Street Journal (paywall). The average score in the U.S. hit 700 this past April, and haven’t been at that level since 2005.

A duchess once said: “You can never be too thin or too rich.” Many people would disagree with the first part, but very few would argue with the second. However, while you can’t have too much money, you might have too much cash.

How much cash should you have?

Who says you can’t have avocado toast if you want to buy a home? Oh, right—an Australian real estate developer who made the comment heard ’round the world about how it’s preventing millennials from becoming homeowners.

You probably already know that you should have an emergency fund—three to six months of expenses saved in a place you can access it quickly and easily if needed, like a checking or savings account.

But what you might not know is that, beyond your emergency fund, a savings account is one of the worst places to keep—and grow—your money. The average savings account interest rate of the five largest U.S. banks this year was 0.08%—less than one-tenth of one percent!