If you want to access your money quickly, where do you put it? Where do you hide your emergency fund, in a cookie jar, a safe or in the bank? Knowing where to stash your cash is vitally important, and so here are some of the options that are available to you for this very purpose:

1 – Checking and Savings Accounts – Savings spend a lot of time simply sitting in checking accounts because this is often perceived to be the easiest available option. It is not really a good idea, though, if you think about it. Savings should be completely segregated from your normal day to day money for spending for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that it is much too easy to dip into your saving money if you keep it this easy to access. You will not earn any interest in a checking account either, in general, meaning that a non checking account is going to be the better option for you to pursue.

Savings accounts, just like checking accounts, are safe as long as the bank is insured by the FDIC and savings accounts tend to pay higher interest rates in comparison to checking accounts. This is a good place for you to park your savings but only as much as you might need in a short term emergency situation because savings account interest rates and inflation do not mingle well together and you could end up losing money if not careful.

2 – Money Market Accounts – These money market deposit accounts are offered by most banking institutions and they are also insured by the FDIC like checking and savings accounts are. They typically require that you deposit a minimum balance amount of $1,000 or more, but they tend to pay higher interest rates in comparison to traditional savings accounts.

3 – Certificates of Deposit – CDs or Certificates of Deposit are loans that you make to the bank based on agreed upon terms, and in return you will receive a guaranteed rate of interest on the principle that you loaned. Some of these CDs have adjustable rates that are tied to a specific index such as the Standard and Poor 500 stock index. Most Certificates of Deposit charge a penalty if you take your funds out before the date of the maturity of the investment. CDs have varying terms depending on the bank, and they range from a single month to five years or even longer if you want. The longer that the term is, the higher the interest rate is, but also there is a greater chance that your investment will be locked in at a lower rate even when interest rates go up, so this is an investment vehicle that you have to balance the risk and reward for.

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