Where do you keep your emergency fund?

[thesimplemoneyblog]

Credit union savings account as primary with excess in a brokerage account.

[lewiskelly]

why don't you prefer bank.i think its right and safe place for keeping amount.You should go for bank account

[ValQue]

In the past I have kept emergency funds in a safe at home and also in a money market account at the same bank that I have my checking account. I was even able to get a debit card for my money market account in the case of an emergency that I also kept in the safe. If you keep your emergency funds in the money market account, it can grow at the same time...even though it won't be all that much.

[YLTL_Dan]

I keep $2,000 in my bank savings account (attached to my checking account) and my remaining emergency fund in a separate online savings fund.

You should be able to have quick access to some of your emergency fund just in case you have... well, an emergency. I can switch mine over to checking in seconds. However, the rest of my emergency fund takes ~5 days to access.

[jasonbinary]

I'm wondering what is the best place for my $1000 emergency fund...keeping it in my checking accounts is too dangerous for me

Online bank? Local bank? In a safe at home? Under the mattress?

Just curious what others do...thanks!

Having an emergency fund is one of the cornerstones of good financial budgeting. The best place to keep that emergency fund is not underneath your mattress but in a high interest savings account. Some people don’t like to keep cash so they prefer to utilize lines of credit, but what do you do if those lines of credit are not there when you need them? The safest emergency fund should be in good ol’ hard cash. That way if you need some money to pay for an unexpected bill such as a car repair, house repair, medical procedure – you don’t need to borrow money to cover it.

[thekid]

Checking, online banking, money market funds.

Usually keep 6-8 months worth of current living expenses (also serves for stuff like unexpected house repairs and whatnot).

[Biffard]

What are everyone's thoughts on keeping $1,000 cash at home for your emergency fund?

I know it won't gain interest but it is easy to access. I think of a natural disaster where the power or internet goes out and you can't access your account. Then what do you do?

[Bades]

High yield savings account online.

If I need immediate funds, I almost always keep a paycheck in my checking to pay my credit card. I always pay my CC off at the end of the cycle, so technically I pay it off a month early every time, so I can afford to use a paycheck in my checking for an emergency if I need to.

[kork13]

What are everyone's thoughts on keeping $1,000 cash at home for (added: ...PART OF...) your emergency fund?

I know it won't gain interest but it is easy to access. I think of a natural disaster where the power or internet goes out and you can't access your account. Then what do you do?

Personally I think that $1000 is probably a bit much, but the idea of keeping SOME cash at home is a smart one, particularly if natural disasters are common. I keep about $100-$200 at home, basically enough to get me out of town if necessary. But then, I'm single, and $200 would easily cover food, gas, and other expenses to get me somewhere that isn't a crater of human civilization. More people = more need for extra cash on hand.

That said, any amount of cash at home should only really be for extreme, short-notice, immediately pressing emergencies -- thus, you really don't need alot there anyway. In most all other cases, one can use other better (and more secure) means of covering unanticipated expenses. The rest you can keep in savings, CDs, or other accounts.