<prompt> Human: At my new job they have an Employee Stock Option Program that is tied to their 401k program. Im not eligible to make contributions I thought this was odd for another year or so. In the meantime I have been beefing up my emergency fund. It has reached sufficient levels and Im concerned that Im losing momentum in my retirement account. As of this month my wife is quitting her job to stay home with my elementary age children and well be losing her teachers salary. Im not overly concerned about our income because I do pretty well. Also, Ive built the emergency fund up pretty thoroughly. But now that Ive done so Id like to see what you fine people think about investment options until I become eligible for the company 401k. Additionally, I feel like the market is inflated right now and is due for a drop. In that case it might be best to have some cash on hand to buy low. But, I could be wrong about this, so feel free to offer alternate opinions.  <response>: Both you and your wife can contribute 5500 to an IRA for a total of 11k in tax-advantaged savings equivalent to a 401k. Choose Roth or Traditional based on your own research.If you are worried about stocks collapsing, you can put the IRA funds into a Money Market Fund which is very similar to a savings account read: cash. Low risk in this environment, but also low reward In the high 1 tange right now, but going up. Bond funds are generally not great while the federal interest rate continues to increase. Im staying away from those for now. 