CircuitGuy

Is the issue that you have given the govt electronic access to a particular account? You could revoke their access. If you're really paranoid, you could change it to a different account in the same institution. I know there's a lot of insanity in Washington, but I don't see a scenario where it leads to errors where they wrongly take money from an account that you gave them access to for tax payment purposes.

I think a HYSA is the way to go. You could put some of it in stocks, but certainly be prepared for that portion of your car fund to go down. The stock market has done great in recent years, not something you can count on continuing.

I have heard this all my life, going back to the 80s. There are always high-interest loans that unsophisticated and desperate people take out. I don't think there's some unique new problem.

Your income is >> 4 * rent, so you should be fine. Is it in the US? USD$500 rent sounds very cheap, unless you're renting just a small room.

Are the cards the problem? If you used other methods of payment, e.g. paper checks and cash, would you have the same problem. If so, find the root cause of the problem. If the cards are the problem, I would stop using them and forgo the bonus points. Maybe that costs you hundreds of dollars a year, but think of forgoing them as a bank "fee" that you pay in exchange for simplicity.

All of these groups, academia, the wealthy, attorneys, union members, leadership at public companies are all just people. You can't look at the actions of members of those groups and dismiss everyone in them. It's not a question of those groups or people. There are just people who have to have to support liberal democracy.

So far the political instability has not affected personal finance, but it will if we (everyone without regard to group membership) don't respect basic rights and the law.