ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.  An ETF is basically a mutual fund that can be traded any time of the day in contrast to a normal mutual fund which must be traded at certain times of the day (sometimes at the end of a trading day).  Because the ETF is structured differently than a mutual fund they can also have reduced trading fees associated with them in contrast to other investments.  ETF’s often are matched to a market index such as the Standard & Poor’s 500.  The investment houses who may buy ETF shares and if they choose to may actually trade them in for the underlying shares that the ETF represents.

I don’t have experience with ETFs myself but compared to a traditional Mutual Fund they’re definitely appealing to me.  The any time trading means that you as an investor could cut losses in a market shift in contrast to letting a ‘killer day’ wipe out any gains the ETF may have earned for you.  I would definitely recommend talking to a financial adviser about the advantages of an ETF fund in contrast to a mutual fund - it could save you a lot in trading fees and increase your sense of control (and thus reduce some risk).

Long Term Care Insurance is a type of insurance sold primarily in the United States to cover the care of individuals who may not be able to take care of themselves for a period of time.  This doesn’t mean until death necessarily, but instead may reflect a period of recovery from surgery or from a medical condition.  This insurance doesn’t cover traditional medical expenses, but instead the paid for provision of care and help from a nurse or attendant.  According to Wikipedia Christopher Reeves had 9 years of long term care after having his accident and being paralyzed from the neck down.

Policies, once instantiated, may not be reneged on by insurance companies and the terms can’t be re-written.   The policies also have some sort of pre-requisite self-paid care (AKA a deductible).  Payments towards a Long Term Care Insurance plan may be income tax deductible, which can help reduce taxes.  Being covered for these needs can help reduce financial strain on individuals that have an emergency.

A money market fund, according to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, is the following:

A money market fund is a type of mutual fund that is required by law to invest in low-risk securities. These funds have relatively low risks compared to other mutual funds and pay dividends that generally reflect short-term interest rates. Unlike a “money market deposit account” at a bank, money market funds are not federally insured.

The reason that these mutual funds are low risk is in part because the value of each share should be maintained at or close to a dollar, but each share pays dividends.  By law a Money Market Fund should be invested in various ’safer’ investments such as government bonds and CD’s.   These funds are managed conservatively so the chances of losing money is lower.  Investors are not allowed to put the money into higher risk investments like options (another post on Options will be forthcoming).  Specific companies will offer different types of money market accounts.  For example Fidelity offers several different types: Taxable Money Market Accounts, Federal Municipal Money Market Accounts and State Municipal Money Market Accounts.  Vanguard currently has 11 money market funds within those funds it appears that state municipal funds are earning around three to four percent while other funds are earning up to five and a quarter percent (those numbers are as of this writing, you should do your own research on the funds and their performance).

Dave Ramsey recommends that folks put their emergency fund savings into a money market account that has check writing privileges and no fees. Assuming that these funds are liquid (which a check-writing enabled account would be) you should be able to transfer money in and out of the account as needed.  You may want to consider a high yield/high interest savings account as well if five percent is an acceptable amount of interest.