SoFi Blog

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!

There are lots of good reasons to become a doctor. Being a physician means you can help people in one of the most direct ways possible: By doing your best to restore their health. An added bonus is you can eventually make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing it; Medscape’s 2016 physician compensation report found that the lowest-earning doctors (pediatricians and endocrinologists) bring in around $200,000 a year, while the highest earners (orthopedists and cardiologists) make over $400,000.

Having a child is one of the biggest decisions a couple can make. The second largest decision? Choosing which child care is right for their family. With all the options out there, settling on just one can be a challenge, as every family’s situation and needs are different.

On top of that, in my 10 years of helping new parents financially plan their families, child care also tends to be the second largest monthly expense, after housing. And contrary to what you might think, it’s not an expense that some parents can choose not to budget for. Even if you have one stay-at-home parent, you’ll still need to pay for some babysitting and child care, as it’s wan important part of maintaining a healthy relationship with a partner—not to mention provides a necessary mental break for both.

Starting a family, or even starting to think about it, is an incredible stage in life. But it can also be overwhelming. You might be thinking about the hard questions: What will your life be like with a newborn? What will you and your partner be like as parents? Should you move closer to family?

Having lived her entire life in Greensboro, North Carolina, Katie Shank, 26, was ready for a change. After graduating with a bachelor’s in history from University of North Carolina Greensboro, Katie was working an office job at a large clothing corporation, as a liaison between departments. It was paying the bills, but not exactly her dream job.

So when her boyfriend, Jordan, asked if she wanted to quit her job and buy an RV to travel the U.S., Katie jumped at the chance. With the help of a mysterious Craigslist ad and a $9,000 SoFi personal loan, Katie and Jordan now have a mobile home from which they can search for their ideal city. Soon they will be headed west to make a new life for themselves, all within the comfort of their tiny home on wheels.