Alan Farley

Mon, Jun 9, 2025, 1:30 PM4 min read

Morningstar Director of Personal Finance Christine Benz understands that emergencies happen, and you may need cash quickly, despite long-term plans to manage and grow your family's assets. She's come up with a valuable checklist of top tips to get that money when you need it most. Just keep in mind that, when the clouds pass, you'll need to double down on your financial discipline to rebuild the coffers you've just depleted.

Don't wait for the unexpected. If possible, set aside emergency funds that include highly liquid investments like bank savings and money market accounts. Avoid assets that are held in tax shelters, like 401Ks and educational savings plans, because you'll probably incur penalties for early withdrawals on these instruments. However, some tax-sheltered investments come with provisions that allow withdrawals for emergencies.

Don't Miss:

• Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share.

• Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down on taxes: Schedule your free call with a financial advisor to start your financial journey – no cost, no obligation.

Next, Benz says to consider getting quick cash from taxable accounts that incur the smallest penalties for withdrawal. "Taxable accounts" are roughly defined as nonretirement and non-tax-sheltered instruments, like taxable bonds and bond funds, multi-asset funds, actively managed stock funds (including mutual funds) and high-dividend paying stocks and funds. Tax efficiency is the name of the game, ruling out many of the categories listed above.

Instead, consider drawing capital from more efficient instruments like municipal bonds, I Bonds, Series EE Bonds, individual stocks, equity exchange-traded funds, equity index funds and master-limited partnerships. Stocks that don't pay dividends could be the best choice for folks needing quick cash because buying back shares at lower prices is often possible.

Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal: Invest in Cytonics and help disrupt a $390B Big Pharma stronghold.

This popular strategy falls into two categories, Roth individual retirement and traditional 401(k) retirement accounts. Roth holders pay tax as they go so there is no penalty for withdrawing cash when needed. However, depleting those funds may impact your ability to retire with sufficient assets. Alternatively, 401(k) accounts offer two ways to get fast money before the age 59 ½  withdrawal threshold.