[bradlys]

I used index funds. For me - huge emergencies were so unlikely that I would lose a lot of money by keeping it in cash. Yes, having $50k+ in cash is nice but it also does lose value by sitting in that account every year. Kept it in index funds instead and would withdraw in $10-20k lump sums as needed. Never saw a loss - and there were significant market downturns when I had to use this.

I think the advice also depends on your own personal scenario. In my case - I have to save extra money on top of 401k, Roth IRA, etc. in order to retire. (Social security plus that isn’t anywhere near enough) So, can use that brokerage account as an emergency fund as well. Which is more or less what I do now, tbh. The assets are all mixed. It’s mostly irrelevant.

I still keep 20k cash in my account but I try to not keep more. (Sometimes I have $10k bills in a month or what not - like having the buffer and like being able to divest an entire month or two of paychecks to just do all 401k in that time)