SURVEY: Where Do You Stash Your Emergency Fund

[fe2o3ez]

My feeling is that nothing would ever happen that would necessitate me having instant access to 6 months worth of expenses all at once. The main "emergency" that I feel our EF prepares us for is me losing my job. ... As long as I had some readily accessible money for day to day stuff, I'd have plenty of time to cash in an I bond or make a withdrawal from my brokerage account or whatever else I needed to do to keep the money flowing.

I totally agree, which is why I have the following strategy:

1. about $1000 remains in our regular savings to cover absolute emergencies, and the deductible for any immediate insurance needs.
2. one month of emergency fund are in a 2-year CD.
3. 4-5 additional months of EF are in a 4-year CD.

I just started using Ally Bank's Raise Your Rate CDs. There is only a 60-day interest penalty, no matter when early withdrawal would be, so the most I would pay to get my money is $40-50, which is likely the least of my worries, if I get into a situation that I need the money that bad. I found the yield to be similar or better than any high-yield savings vehicle I could find, especially with the option to raise your rate once (twice in the case of the 4-year) prior to maturity. I may be giving up a few bucks vs. the average yield in a savings account over that time, but I don't feel like spending my time juggling my EF from place to place. I just want to know where it is when I need it!

[PMMM]

While that rate is good at Consumers Credit Union it's only good through June 2012. It's basically just a teaser rate. By the time you get everything set up and working the rate will revert to .05 % or so. You have to watch out for the fine print that's for sure. Not worth the hassle for a few months at that rate.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

3-4 months in online savings and the rest in a taxable account.