Safety Net

[Sharp21]

i work offshore & make a good wage, but it can be a volatile industry.
as such im planning on starting a safety net account when i get my taxes back this year. you know, 6 months worth of bills & all that.
my question is what kind of vehicle to invest this in? ive got to be able to get the $$$ relatively quickly (although not at all this year so i shouldnt run into any early withdrawal fees) but id like something thats gonna make some $$$ for itself.
suggestions?

 

[Berkshire_Bull]

I have an account at ING Direct ( www.ingdirect.com ). They seem to pay some of the highet interest on a money market account you can comeby. It's pretty quick and easy to send money between their account and your checking. The 2.35% isn't anything to brag about, but it's pretty good for liquid funds.

 

[MJ]

Hi,

EmigrantDirect is currently paying 3%. Same type of MM account.

http://www.emigrant-direct.com/

MJ

 

[John Galt]

Presently for my "liquid" funds, I have been getting 2.50% for about a year from a local bank. Very few
restrictions other than a minimum balance to get that rate. I also just opened a 9 month CD at another local bank which pays 2.75%. I did that to lock in the rate
as rates in general have not moved up as I thought
they would by this time. I noticed another local bank offered 3.00% on an MM, but there were lots of conditions, including opening a checking account there,
and penalties if you closed out the account within
a certain period of time. The above is typical of what
I have been doing for about the past 3 years. I have
yet to leave northern Illinois to get these rates, and I
have used about 4 or 5 different banks.

JG

 

[brewer12345]

Sharp, I think it depends on how likely you are to need the money and what your other resources are. I was keeping my emergency stash in an ING savings account. However, I realized that I've not had a bout of unemployment in 7 years and I am not likely to have one any time soon. Since I have a sizable taxable brokerage accoungt I could tap and am in the process of setting up a HELOC, I felt comfy putting that money in 5 year CDs to get more yield.