<prompt> Human: So heres the situation... I currently have about 8k in savingschecking total. I do not currently have a Roth IRA but I hear you can withdraw what you put into it without paying any penalties cannot withdraw the gains thoSo Im wondering if thats the case should I just go ahead and put 5500 into a Roth IRA for 2017 before the deadline at the tradeoff of having a smaller emergency fund for now? Why or why not? Seems better than putting it in a saving account.For reference I already do put 12 into traditional 401k with 8 matched  <response>: Throw the 5500 in right now. Dont actually invest it in anything until youre comfortable youve got an emergency fund built back up. That way it still acts as your emergency fund in the meantime. 