<prompt> Human: Me 23 and my wife 22 are currently living in California. We are beginning to save for a home what we plan on purchasing in 7 years. We cant predict the future, but its highly likely that we will purchase a home in 1 of 4 states, Montana, Colorado, Washington or California, since we would like to be close to family. If you were me, what sort of tricks or tips would you offer to optimize buying a home? I.E, what sort of special accounts can I use, tax advantages, how should I save the money cash v stocks v bonds?  <response>: Theres not really any tax advantage to be had. Just save money for your goal. 7 years is a little on the soon side to invest the money aggressively-- if youre flexible on the 7 years, it might be OK to invest with a conservative allocation. If youre not, Id suggest a savings accountmoney marketmaybe some high quality bonds. 