As a bonus—while you are not using that money—other members of your credit union can use this savings in a form of a loan, to buy a home, start a business, etc.
The idea of my retirement being at the will of some hedgefund manager is not appealing next to the idea of my retirement being used temporary to help my neighbors buying a house or start a business.
With interest rates as low as they are, savings accounts have a negative real return. The $1000 you save today would have substantially less purchasing power by the time you'd retire.
> As a bonus—while you are not using that money—other members of your credit union can use this savings in a form of a loan, to buy a home, start a business, etc.
Well, yes and no. Banks don't really directly lend out the money deposited in savings accounts, due to fractional reserve requirements.
> The idea of my retirement being at the will of some hedgefund manager is not appealing next to the idea of my retirement being used temporary to help my neighbors buying a house or start a business.
I don't get this. With an IRA or a personal taxed brokerage account, you aren't at the mercy of anyone: you can choose which companies & funds to invest in. Hedge funds are not the be-all-and-end-all of the stock market, most funds are mutual funds who invest conservatively. If you just mean that hedge funds can cause black swan events like what we're seeing with GME, then sure, that's a concern, but only for the short term. Long-term, the stock market tends to appreciate and substantially beat inflation. We can add regulations to prevent hedge funds from fucking things up, without tearing the entire system down.
You must be joking. My credit union is offering .1% on savings, and it’s not like they’re some extreme outlier, rates are incredibly low across the board. You are actively harming your future by doing this, you aren’t even keeping up with inflation!
