What are my options to park my savings?

The easiest? In a bank’s savings account. You get a teeny “bonus money” in interest. We’ll give a lowdown on different ways to think about interest in a later MoneyDrop newsletter, but for now all you need to know is, no matter how small are your savings, banks pay you interest for “giving” that savings to them, and that interest makes your money grow a teeny bit each month without you having to do anything.

The less-easy but higher potential reward? Opening an investment account. Investing = saving, just for the longer-term. That’s it. It is not risky / scary / whatever-adjective people use to intimidate you. Putting $50 each month (that you know you don't need to touch for a few years) into the stock market counts. Before you ask where exactly is this “stock market” that you “put money into,” we explain (simply) in an upcoming MoneyDrop newsletter.

The takeaway? Working = you earning money. Investing = money earning money. Put yourself to work, sure, but also put your money (savings) to work.

If you want to see us make the difference between saving vs investing even more real, this simple chart says it all.