10 sources of emergency cash, ranked from best to worst

By Christine Benz of Morningstar

If unanticipated expenses exceed your emergency fund, here’s a look at where to go next.

1. Your own emergency fund/short-term securities

Emergency funds should be held outside of tax-sheltered wrappers and include highly liquid investments like bank savings accounts, money market accounts, and so on.

2. Low-risk assets in taxable account

Next, look at other taxable holdings: investments in brokerage accounts, outside the confines of tax-sheltered vehicles.