4
Bank Accounts
While a savings account may seem like a safe bet, there are better places to stash your extra cash.
Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock
If you're really afraid of losing your savings, you might choose the next best solution to burying money in the backyard: Put it in an interest-earning passbook account.
It's safe, it's backed by the government and it's a solution that's easy to understand. But it's a losing strategy, experts say: An interest-earning savings account is not an investment.
Advertisement
"The general answer in the academic world is that the riskiest investment of all is the bank account," Grable says. He points out that the interest will never outstrip increases in the cost of living. "Rising prices keep people from accumulating wealth. Your biggest fear as an investor should be keeping up with the cost of living. Banks are not your friend."
