Well, my point is getting the higher interest rate for those "high interest checking accounts" is a major pain in the ass and rarely "worth it" for many (most?)

Well, my point is getting the higher interest rate for those "high interest checking accounts" is a major pain in the ass and rarely "worth it" for many (most?) people. On top of that the limits are so low they have limited usefulness. Robinhood was promising all the interest (and more) with none of the pain in the ass/effort. >IM(potentially uninformed)O, if your family is keeping more than $30K in a checking account, then you should probably be investing in stocks or bonds or mutual funds at that point anyways. It's not like you can't sell off investments to pay for emergency costs. Emergency fund should not be invested! It needs to be in a liquid account that has zero (or near zero) risk to the principal. How big your emergency fund should be is dependent on your life situation. You're most likely to need your emergency fund at the same time the market tanked. I'm not selling securities (maybe at a loss) when I have an emergency, I'm going to use the money I've already set aside for such an occasion. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/emergency_fund.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/emergency_fund.asp >Financial advisers view an investment strategy as a pyramid. A strong base is fundamentally important to support the levels of risk an investor bears as securities with varying levels of volatility layer over the foundation. Before an individual ventures into intermediate- or long-term investment vehicles, the establishment of an emergency fund is recommended as the first step toward creating stability and minimizing risk. Stashing three or even six months’ income in a highly liquid account, such as a money market, should preclude the purchase of any instrument that holds risk to principal or requires lock-in periods during which penalties are assessed for early withdrawal. As more volatile securities sit atop above the base of savings accounts or Treasury bills, overall portfolio volatility is minimized and necessary access to risk-free capital is optimized.