This is part of our Financial Literacy Month Question and Answer series

Question: Why should I have emergency savings when the interest rates are so low? What’s the use?

Answer: When you have savings, you can be your own banker and not have to use your credit cards for things like car repairs or medical bills. Even if you have a little bit of money set aside, you will feel so much better having even some money to put toward a “crisis” situation.

Your Emergency Savings money isn’t really designed to make you a lot of money — it’s supposed to keep you out of trouble! If you have your emergency money invested in stocks and need it when the market is down, you’ll be hurt. You’ll may also trigger capital gains taxes.

I recommend ING Direct (http://www.ingdirect.com/) for your all your savings needs. It’s an online bank that is very easy to work with and pays some of the highest rates around.

Warmly, Cindy