<prompt> Human: If Im saving for a home, saving for a wedding, saving for a car or whatever other big spending event that may come along in a persons life, where exactly do you park the money? A savings account seems like a waste -- these hypothetical life events are a year or further away. However, the markets are a bit volatile and if you really want to be married in 18 months or to buy that house in 2-3 years, maybe things will suck at that time. Is the best approach a CD ladder? How do you even manage that? What options are better?  <response>: A CD ladder might be your best choice, but its fairly annoying for fairly low returns.Id do something like Ally or other high interest rate online banks, which are around 0.9-1.1. You can google high interest checking accounts too, which might go up to 3apr, but have restrictions like 15 transactionsmo and direct deposit. I would also consider parking some in an Roth IRA, if youre not already maxing that. You can withdraw your contribution without penalty if you do end up needing to spend it. And if you dont, you didnt pass up your opportunity to make your 2015 contribution. To be clear, I dont think you should invest that IRA money, but your bank probably offers a CD IRA, or Ally has a savings IRA, which are FDIC backed products. What is important is that you get that contribution in, and can roll it to something else later on. 