[akgoel]

We have a joint checking account. I automatically draw our investments to our joint Fidelity account.

I try to keep a balance of $50k in our checking account (it's a minimum that our bank sets to give us perks and a free safety deposit box). At the end of the month, if we over that, my partner knows that we can splurge on dining, vacations, or other stuff. If we are under that, we tighten our spending for a bit until we are back over it.

I tried all sorts of budgeting and tracking ideas, but most just weren't worth the effort.

[apwheele]

I imagine you have gotten this advice before, but IMO a high yield savings probably makes sense. Say keep 10k in checking for bills, and then the other 40k in high yield. It will more than easily pay for the safe deposit box!

For myself we have joint everything, and then purchases over a certain threshold we need each others permission.

[mywittyname]

How can you know if a HYSA makes sense if you don't know what the perks are for OP's bank beyond a safety deposit box? Premium checking accounts are niche products, but their perks can add up for the right person. OP might be getting a big discount on their mortgage interest and double the credit car points by maintaining that balance, which could greatly overshadow the (taxable) interest paid on a HYSA.

[pizzafeelsright]

Let's say it's a whooping 2%

That's a full $1,000 a year of taxable income.

Anything less than five figures isn't worth a few hours of hassle.

$50k liquid is better than 3 days to clear bank money.

[apwheele]

High yields are 5% now -- I get who cares about 2k now, personally I wish I did the high yield earlier. I did somewhat similar to OP for maybe 10 years and lost out on low 5 figures when I go back and calculate interest lost.

I am familiar with the perks for BoA and they are not worth losing out on high yield interest at this range. If the reason is for safe deposit though (as the OP said) it is very much not worth it. (I can't find on google Fidelity perks easily, mortgage is the only one that could plausibly make sense, but I am skeptical of that.)

So my high yield is liquid, I can do large purchases on credit card and pay it off with high yield. It did only take a few hours to create the account for what it is worth, so again IMO worth it over parking a large sum of money in a checking.