The entire purpose of an emergency fund is to have cash on hand when you need it. Yet money sitting in a savings account can feel like it’s doing nothing, particularly if the interest you’re earning is failing to keep pace with inflation .

Meanwhile, stocks have proven to be excellent long-term wealth builders, vastly outperforming the return you can expect to get at the bank.

So, it’s fair to ask: Why not invest your emergency savings in a stock market index fund and be done?

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You could do that. And chances are good that things would work out just fine if you did.…