Where to park some money

[freelancerNfulltimer]

I've been saving money with the idea to use it as a downpayment to purchase another investment property.  This is all the cash I have in the world. Total is $40,000. I'd say half of it is my down payment money and the other half is my emergency money.

It's just sitting in my savings account and I don't know what to do with it. (I don't fund a retirement account because my plan is to buy investment property as my retirement vehicle.) The only debt I have is my mortgages and car payment which is super low interest rate.

However, as I mentioned in a long-ago post, my husband is currently unemployed due to a lay-off and his unemployment will be running out soon. He's working very hard at finding a position but it's really tough out there for what he has experience in. His job hunt though isn't really pertinent other than it's got me nervous to do anything with this money.

I've been thinking about putting it into a Vanguard investment account. Maybe start with $5,000 a month for six months 'til I get to the point I have $30,000 in the fund. I may want to be able to pull out $20,000 for the investment purchase as soon as my husband has a job and is stable but I have no idea if that will be a month from now or six months + from now.

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/vanguard-mutual-funds-list

What would y'all recommend?

[BuzzardsBay]

This is your emergency fund and money that you're going to need for a down payment.  Keep it in a money market account.  This isn't money you can stand to lose if the market goes down.  Doesn't matter if you're only putting in $5,000 of it.   It isn't earmarked for long-term investing.  It has another purpose.

[ice813]

If you are planning on using the money in less than a year I would recommend just holding onto the cash. A year is too short of a time horizon to put the money in the market as the market may drop right when you are ready to buy that investment reducing your buying power! I would just be patient and hold onto the cash.

[markstache]

For short term usage, go with a saving's account (shop around online, e.g. Ally) or CDs are the way to go. You don't want to take on market risk for something that may be used in six months (or even 10 years).

If 20k is really an e-fund, you could consider putting part in the market. Lots of us do (me included). The idea here is that if is really an emergency, I am willing to sell stocks during a down turn. Otherwise, if I lead a charmed life, I retire even richer. Roth IRAs and US I-bonds offer some nice properties for double use investments. With the Roth, after 5 years, you can pull out contributions if you need them. I-bonds are tax deferred until you redeem them (and then have some special caveats to waive taxes for qualified educational expenses and perhaps some other stuff). Worth looking into.

I think overall strategy and risk tolerance questions need to be answered before picking specific funds. If you push me I'll just tell you to get a Target Retirement fund (which holds a balance of stocks and bonds).