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" I raid my emergency savings much too often! Should I invest the funds so I can&amp;#039;t dip in so easily? Don&amp;#039;t do it! Money you might need in an emergency shouldn&amp;#039;t be invested, because investing means taking on risk and possibly losing the funds. There are other ways to build a kind of wall so you don&amp;#039;t spend your cash. Consider keeping your emergency savings in an account entirely separate from your checking account\u2014maybe even at a different institution, such as a credit union or an online-only bank. If that doesn&amp;#039;t do the trick, or if you prefer to stay with your regular bank, lock up your savings for a while in no-risk certificates of deposit (CDs). CDs carry a penalty for early withdrawal\u2014typically three months&amp;#039; interest on a CD with maturity of one year or less\u2014so you&amp;#039;ll have an added incentive to leave the money alone. Here&amp;#039;s a smart idea: Divide your money and stagger your CDs&amp;#039; time frames. For example, if you have $1,200 in savings, buy three separate $400 CDs that mature in three, nine, and 12 months, respectively. This way, there will always be some money being freed up in the near future, just in case you need it. (And if you don&amp;#039;t need it when the CD matures, you can just roll it over into another term.) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/advice/a21879/emergency-funds/?src=shelter_footer>