<prompt> Human: Ive been in the US military for over 7 years and am currently an E-4. My current schedule is a bit chaotic but I am able to work during the day while my wife works nights so we have avoided child care costs.I currently contribute 5 of my monthly income to my Thrift Savings Plan retirement account and have 15,000.00 in TSP. I have almost nothing in a traditional savings account but have 37,000.00 in certificates and plan on adding 1500 more a month to those certificates until I separate from the military either early 2018 or 2019 depending on certain situations. The certificates range from earning 1-3 interest. The penalties my credit union gives for early withdrawal are not significant. After separating I plan on doing a 2-year program at a college but may try to immediately enter the workforce as well I do have a bachelors in healthcare admin. but dont expect to immediately get a great job with that degreeWhat could I be doing better with my money? If I planned on staying in the military I would be maxing out my TSP but I will probably need access to a lot of it during my transition out. Is this certificate laddering dumb? What other options are their for me to have relatively easy access to my money, but actually earn interest on it?  <response>: I will probably need access to a lot of it during my transition out.You probably wont need 37k for your transition out of the military, unless you expect that you and your wife will both be unemployed back in school for a while. I would increase your TSP contributions for now, unless you have any debt that should be paid off. 