<prompt> Human: I want to preface this by saying me and my partners salaries are quite different and this is a good problem to have and for that Im thankful. I make about 62 grand a year and he makes about 100k. We are both really good savers, but I have become much more into the whole longtermtarget datevanguard way of doing things and in particular, I have finally understood from YNAB that every dollar needs a job. That job can be a down payment on a house, rainy day fund savings for a car, long term investing etc, but it should have some kind of prescribed function. Since then, I have committed to fully funding my ROTH, then doing as much into my 401k as I can. Currently 15 percent I believe. He has about 40 grand in an old IRA, and he is contributing a small amount to his 401k now after my explaining to him why he should participate. Percentage wise, his contribution to 401k is really small when he could EASILY be maxing it out and funding his roth I got him to start at Vanguard. Instead, he continues to accumulate cash in the bank. At one point he had almost 90,000 dollars sitting in a money market account at a credit union. His issue is fear. Not so much of market downturns as I think he understands the nature of long-term investing vs short term, but he fears if he loses his job he will need that money to live on. Now, that is a legitimate fear, but with the kind of cash reserves we are talking about, he has more than enough to survive paying his half of the bills for several years, not just a 6-moth rainy day fund. 1850.00 from us both for EVERYTHING is what we pay including mortgage, eating out, groceries etc. We are both 36 with a normal mortgage and he is an extremely sought after professional. I suppose the bottom line is, I don think he needs to be as afraid as he is and I think he is doing himself a disservice in the long run by not doing anything to help his money grow. He says the money is In case he wants to start his own business, but he wouldnt need nearly that much for the type of business he would start, and he has absolutely no concrete business plan in the works. Does this make sense and has anyone encountered this? Again, this is a wonderful problem to have, but I just want some advice. Or, am I being nuts? It just seems like a huge missed opportunity to not invest and to have that money essentially lose value in the bank, year after year, not even keeping up with inflation. He loves to save money, so you would think explaining to him the free money he is leaving on the table by not doing anything would get him moving, but alas, nothing changes. What are your thoughts? How much cash should someone keep in the bank if there arent any goals that have been set for it? Edit: Thanks for all of the fantastic responses guys and gals, I really appreciate it. My main goal is to help him understand how can can invest and be comfortable at the same time with his level of risk and you all have given me some great suggestions. Thanks again! Assistant: Have you tried a visual graph?His fears may go deeper than you think. Does he buy into conspiracies a lot? Human: What site is that from? I need to find some online calculators to sit with him I think.  <response>: I did a search for Investment Calculator Comparison and clicked the second link. The site was a little low tech, but it really doesnt need to be. 