<prompt> Human: I have allways been good at saving. Right now i have 17k in my savings acc, but its just sitting there, if inflation in my country is assumed to increased by 2 each year then my account would be worth only 16k in 3 years, if im not wrong.. so my question is what i should do to prevent my money decreasing in value? Invest in stocks? Spread my money? What is the smartest? EDIT: im not from US. Iam from Norway!:  <response>: Smartest is a subjective statement and depends on your total financial situation. If that money is your emergency fund aka you might need it in the next 3-5 years then a high yield savings account will get you somewhere around a 1.75 return and help curb that loss to inflation. If you dont need to touch the money in that time frame then follow the prime directive in the sidebar. Most likely it will be pay down high interest debt then put it into an IRA. Youll need to do some research based on your age and risk tolerance but the most likely answer will be invest in index funds. 