"In an uncertain economy, what could be safer than a pile of money?" asks The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It says, "At a very practical level, cash is a relatively safe investment that rarely loses its nominal value, unlike stocks and long-term bonds, which could lose value and, in the worst of circumstances, become worthless. At a more strategic level, cash makes it possible for an investor to buy other assets when prices take a dive.... Although cash-related assets such as U.S. Treasury bills, CDs and money market funds are paying close to 0 percent, when compared to asset classes that took a deep plunge in the market meltdown last year, 0 percent is still a better return than losing money." The article continues, "So, if the idea is to preserve capital and temporarily hide from uncertain market conditions, what could be safer than holding a pile of cold cash? ... Still, some experts say at least for the short term, there's nothing wrong with sitting on a hoard of cash, especially if your tolerance for risk is low.... Generally, there are six ways for investors to hold cash: savings accounts, money market accounts, money market funds, U.S. Treasury bills, bank CDs and ultra-short bond funds."
