<prompt> Human: Hi all, thanks for clicking :Im planning to make a housing purchase in 4-5 years and Im been hearing conflicting adviceSituation: Single 27yo software engineer Worked for about 4 years making on average 74k, but didnt really save anything due to bad habits and large purchases i.e. new car, paying off debt, etc. Total savings are around 10k Recently found a new job at 120kyear, now saving about 3kmonth after expensestaxes401k 1800 rent, but havent moved because this lets me walk to work and live comfortably cheapest rents in the area are 1400 but much poorer conditions and require a commute. I dont want roommates because of personal reasons, but have been reconsidering lately... Different topic I guess No debt of any kind, decent credit 760k At my current rate, Im expecting around 140-150k after 4 years, which from my research puts me barely in range for a down payment on a home in California SoCal areaHow should I be holding these savings? Should I be investing in stocks? Vanguard ETF came up while googling PF? And maybe delaying the purchase date? AFAIK, Im not in any rush other than wanting to get a house to build equity sooner. I just want to get a jump on housing before real life kicks in and I have to start dealing with familyhealthetcOr should I be putting everything into a savings accountCDsomething low risk since my target date is only 4 years from now? Even if I got a bonkers 10 return every year from stocks, it doesnt seem like it will drastically change my buying situation but adds more risk in returnFrom reading around here, I understand that its all about numbers and that different variablespersonal things affect choices. Im just hoping to get some perspective and maybe some advice about details I might be overlooking. Thanks for reading!  <response>: Generally, if the purchase is less than 5 years away, saving in cashCDssavings account would be recommended.More than 5 years, one could consider putting some of the money in stocks or bonds.So, yes, youre on the brink of that. And given that there is no deadline at the end of those 4 years, and you can postpone if the market is down, or maybe want to postpone anyway given your situation in 4 or 5 years ... Maybe you can invest some of your surplus money. By the way, this is not a black or white question. You can for example put money in investments over the next two or three years, and then, as the moment comes closer that youd probably want to have that down payment, put new savings in cash and also slowly convert the shares back to cash. Or you can, from the beginning, split your surplus money in two, and put one part in investments and the other part in savings. 