what are the downsides of money markets 
money market investments pay very low returns because they re virtually risk free they can t provide substantial capital gains or investment growth compared to riskier assets like stocks or even bonds some types of money market accounts like cds lock your money up until a future date that can be months or even years ahead individual investors should also look carefully at the fees they ll be charged for money market accounts they can eat into the already modest rates of return on these investments the bottom linemoney market accounts and money market funds are among the safest ways to invest money they also have much lower returns than other investments and they may even fail to keep up with inflation many individuals and businesses use money markets as a short term investment for their cash reserves these investments are virtually risk free and offer at least a modest return on savings 