<prompt> Human: I have 11,000 I would like to set aside as my emergency fund. My wife and havent contributed anything to our 2015 Roth IRAs, so an idea I have is to move the 11,000 out of the savings account and to invest 5500 in each of our Roth IRAs, but instead of putting it in the 2050 Target fund which is high risk, invest it in Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund which is a 4060 stocksbond fund.In case youre wondering, I do not have extra money to actually invest in our 2015 IRAs, so if I dont do something, my 2015 IRA deposit will forever be unused.Thoughts?  <response>: Wanting to save for retirement is a good goal and having money available for emergencies is always recommended.Emergency funds EF are suggested to be between 3-6 months worth of living expenses, review your budget to see if your 11,000 covers this or if you actually need to save more. If you own a home this number can jump to 6-12 months worth of living expenses. Remember these funds are separate from your regular savings and should only be used for emergencies.EFs are generally suggested to be kept in a low risk, stable, and easy to access accountinvestment. Often the go to is a savings account or checking account, but many get frustrated as these can earn a low interest rate. But when an emergency hits, you need to be able to access the money and know that it will be enough to cover your emergency you dont want your 11,000 to really be worth 9,000. The reddit wiki suggests that you can consider investing any funds over 6 months worth of living expenses in a CD or I-bond, but this is a personal choice.Stocks and funds are suggested for goals that are 5 years out. Why? Because the market can suffer short term loses that can take years to recover. In theory, after 5 years, the market should have recovered from any short term loses, and has historically trended upward. Emergencies on the other hand can happen at any time.All this being said, I am reluctant to encourage you to raid your EF to put money in your Roth IRA. You have until April to make your 2015 contribution, consider reviewing your budget and spending habits to see if there is anywhere you can cut back on for the next couple of months. Or consider doing an over haul of your budgetspending so youll be able to make your 2016 contribution and have an EF, and not be in this situation come Jan. 2017. 