Here’s why I personally don’t like keeping my emergency fund in a high-yield savings account

Here’s why I personally don’t like keeping my emergency fund in a high-yield savings account. <br><br>1. High-yield savings account is tied to brick-and-mortar or credit union (even if online). <br>Banking is one of the few sectors that hasn’t really been affected by the internet. While I find just about any restaurant/retailer to be online or have some online ordering/delivery, banks don’t do this well, and I refuse to do business with any bank or credit union that isn’t online and mobile (smartphone) app accessible. <br><br>The closest bank to where I live is Navy Federal, and the closest branch is 60 miles away. I personally don’t really care about having a brick-and-mortar branch nearby or a way to deposit cash into my account (although I could use the ATM at the bank that is literally across the street from my house). <br><br>2. High-yield savings account is tied to credit cards with good rewards. <br>I don’t like the idea of keeping my emergency fund somewhere that requires me to use a credit card. I don’t have a problem with credit cards, but I don’t like the idea of my emergency fund being some place that I have to use a credit card for most expenses. What if I don’t want to use a credit card? I feel like I should have a choice. <br><br>Case in point: Discover high-yield savings account. You don’t have to use a Discover credit card, but you’re going to miss out on making money on your high-yield savings account if you don’t use one. <br><br>I just don’t like the idea of my emergency fund being some place that requires me to use a credit card. I think that’s ridiculous. I would rather have complete freedom on how I use my money. <br><br>3. Credit unions that offer high-yield savings accounts are tied to certain employers/industries/organizations. <br>What I don’t love is that many credit unions are tied to a certain employer or industry or organization. For example, Navy Federal is tied to US Armed Services and their families. Alliant Credit Union is tied to some sort of national digital association that anyone can join for $5. <br><br>I don’t like the idea of my emergency fund being tied to where I work or an industry that I work in. I want my emergency fund to be portable and accessible regardless of where I work or what industry I work in. <br><br>I really like the idea of keeping my emergency fund at an online bank that doesn’t care where I work or what industry I’m in. <br><br>4. APY is not that great. <br>Honestly, I don’t care that much about the APY on high-yield savings accounts. The difference between earning .5% APY and 5% APY is not that big of a deal to me, especially considering the reasons I mentioned above. <br><br>Let’s say you have $50,000 in your emergency fund and the APY is 5% APY. That’s $2500/year or about $200/month. I don’t know about you, but that’s not a big deal to me, especially considering what I mentioned above (I don’t want my emergency fund to be tied to a certain bank/credit union/employer/industry that I can’t get out of). <br><br>So yeah. I’m not a fan of high-yield savings accounts personally.