Safety for your Money Market Funds

Park your money in a bank money-market deposit account or savings account

There are options to consider if your money-market account is suddenly keeping you awake at night:

_Move the money into a U.S. Treasury money fund at your brokerage firm. The upside is that it removes the exposure your current fund may have to corporate debt. The downside is you'll take a bit of a hit in yield on the government instruments, which have dropped in recent days. For example, the one-year Treasury note yield is about 1.5 percent, down from 2 percent, where it was trading as recently as Friday. Top money-market funds are likely trading around 2 to 2.5 percent, McBride said.

_Park your money in a bank money-market deposit account or savings account. This option carries two big advantages. The money is covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from losses if the bank goes under. Another plus, the yield at some banks is about 3.5 percent.

"If you find yourself staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. wondering if your money is safe, money-market deposit accounts and savings at banks offer safety of money without sacrificing yield," McBride said.