[kqr]

Keep in mind it's not a binary choice. You can exchange anywhere between 0 % and 100 % of your savings for some other asset class, like stocks. An extreme position in either direction is probably a mistake, but what about 20 %? 30 %?

The idea is not to get rich quick, nor is it to avoid any risk (because both are statistically impossible.)

The idea is to limit how much a crash of any type hurts, by having some savings also in other types of assets.

So for example, if your savings are $100 and you buy stocks for $30 of that, and the stock market crashes so you're down to $10 in stocks, now you only have $80 in savings. But you can use your cash savings to bootstrap your stock position back to 30 % again. If the market recovers, you get an outsize benefit from that.

(Similarly, if there should be some sort of dollar crash, you can probably use your stock market savings to bootstrap your dollar position again, putting you in a good position for recovery.)