For Your Short- and Mid-Term Financial Goals, Put Your Money Here

Unanimity among personal finance experts is rare, but pretty much everyone will agree that it's good to have financial goals. Opinions on how to save for those goals are as many and varied as you'd expect, but surprise again, there is general agreement on the where.

For your long-term goals, for instance, most experts will agree that investments of some type are the way to go. Pretty much anyone will tell you to get a retirement account, like an IRA or 401(k), to save for long-term retirement goals, for instance.

But what about your short- and mid-term financial goals, the ones you're hoping to reach in the next few months or years? The stock market, while historically positive in the long term, isn't ideal in these cases. Instead, look for something safer, or at least something with a shorter turnaround.

Keep your short-term savings accessible

You'll get different answers from everyone as to how short is short-term, but I tend to consider it to be any goal you intend to reach within the next year or two. A lot of things could fall under the umbrella of a short-term savings goal, such as saving toward:

• A family vacation
• Your emergency fund
• A down payment for a car
• Upgrading your TV or phone
• A planned medical procedure

For most of these things, you won't need immediate access to the money, but you'll still want it to be accessible when you're ready for it. You also want it somewhere safe -- both from potential theft as well as from the evil clutches of inflation.

A good high-yield savings account is arguably the ideal place to keep your money for these types of short-term goals. The best accounts offer interest rates over 4%, which is appreciably above the current inflation rate of 3.2%.

The only exception here? Your emergency fund. Savings accounts tend to have limits on withdrawals and rarely come with ATM cards, making your cash hard to access in an emergency. A money market account, on the other hand, can have high rates as well as debit cards. Choose a money market with a competitive APY for your emergency fund.

Put mid-term savings in high-yield accounts

Your mid-term savings goals are things you want to save for over a period of several years, though not quite decades. This could be things like saving up to have children in the future, or putting aside the 20% for a house down payment.

Unlike your short-term savings, you probably won't ever need quick access to your mid-term savings. However, you still don't have time to play the long game with the stock market.

You could stick with a high-yield savings account for a consistent return. Or, consider some other options:

• Certificate of deposit (CD): Offered by many banks, CDs come in a variety of term lengths, with some offering higher interest rates than a savings account. Plus, your money stays FDIC-insured. Remember that you'll need to leave your money in the CD for the length of its term.
• Government bonds: Various types of government bonds can offer solid returns on your investment, often at least a point or two above inflation. In most cases, however, you'll need to leave your money alone for at least a few years to earn that return.
• Peer-to-peer lending: If you're alright with taking on some risk with your mid-term savings, you could become an investor on a peer-to-peer lending platform. These offer multiple term lengths so you can choose to invest in loans that fit your timeline. While many peer-to-peer platforms advertise returns above a high-yield savings account, your investments aren't insured, so you could potentially lose money.

While tying up your funds isn't great for short-term goals, if your mid-term goals are far enough out, these types of accounts could be great ways to earn more money on your savings.

One thing to keep in mind on this is that you should ensure you have a solid emergency fund -- in an accessible money market account -- before you start putting money into savings products that aren't easy to liquidate.