What should I do with cash if interest rates may fall?
Keep near-term spending available first. For cash tied to a later known date, compare locking today's rate with the income you may lose if floating rates decline.
Interactive cash planner
Cash Strategy Lab
Start with the bills and planned expenses your cash must cover. Then see whether the rest should stay available or earn a fixed rate.
Change the assumptionsYour results update immediately.
Your assumptions
Your money today
What your cash must cover
Risk & liquidity
Extra cash to reviewEstimate · not a recommendation
Possible extra cash: $380,000
Your near-term needs appear covered. Decide whether the extra cash has a job or could earn more elsewhere.
Current cash15.0% of assets
Estimated cash needed$310,000
Needs covered2.42×
Your cash versus the estimate
The green band shows the range based on your answers.
Current cash$750,000
Estimated range$310,000–$370,000
2.42×coverage
What if things change?
See whether your cash still covers the bills without selling investments after a market drop.
Base case: No stress changes are applied.
Potential cost of extra cash
Estimated return gap on $380,000 above your cash range.
$15,6031 year
$92,9165 years
$231,88710 years
The alternative return is a scenario assumption, not a forecast. Volatility and losses are not shown in this simple illustration.
Cash by time horizon
Compare the cash you have with the needs you entered.
Next 12 mo
$310,000
Years 1–3
$250,000
Planned total
$560,000
Current cash
$750,000
What sets these amounts: Your spending, income and planned expenses determine the first three bars. The last bar is the cash you entered. Bank rates are from Sep 15, 2026; the government-fund reference is stale. Treasury values come from the latest SwitchWize rate snapshot.
Questions people ask about cash and rates
Should I lock all of my cash before rates fall?
Usually no single rate view should control every cash dollar. Access dates, emergency needs, taxes, maturity terms and the cost of being wrong all matter.
What happens if rates rise instead?
Flexible savings and short maturities may reprice higher, while a fixed rate continues paying its contracted yield. The calculator shows this opposite scenario in dollars.
How the estimate works
Current rates are starting points. You choose any future rate change; SwitchWize does not forecast it. The estimate simplifies taxes and product terms. Review the calculation method and rates used.