Cash is king, but these days, stocks can behave a lot like money. With electronic investing, you no longer have to call your broker or dig out stock certificates to sell your shares. These days you can cash out quickly. Value fluctuates, but it does for cash too.
In investing, liquidity refers to the extent to which an asset can be bought and sold at stable prices. Cash is the most liquid of all financial instruments. You can buy things immediately if you have cash. However, credit is now more liquid than cash in the online space. You can buy something on Amazon with a credit card faster than you can with a twenty dollar bill.
Stocks are not considered liquid, but with the internet, that is changing. Anyone can make stock transactions instantly online. These days, you can convert stock to cash in 3-5 days. You just have to sell stock, wait three days for it to settle, then transfer it to your bank account for withdrawal.
For anyone who can hold their ground on the stock market, savings accounts are now obsolete. I’ve already canceled all of mine. My stock investments are my new savings account.
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