It isn't fun being a saver these days.

The fragile economic recovery, weak housing market and tight lending standards all underscore the need for an ample emergency fund to ride out a job loss, unexpected expense or other temporary financial shock.

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Yet interest rates are sitting near multidecade lows -- and the Federal Reserve has vowed to keep those rates at rock-bottom levels through 2014.

That means investors who stow emergency funds in a bank account or certificate of deposit will have trouble just keeping pace with inflation, currently around 3% a year. The average annual yield on four-year CDs, for example, sits at 0.89%, compared with 2.61% in March 2008, according to Bankrate.com. Unless the economy takes a grave turn, such savers will end up with less spending power than they started with.

Meanwhile, many other asset classes, from stocks to high-yield bonds, are rallying -- rewarding risk taking and penalizing parsimony.

The good (or less bad) news: Taking more time to hunt down better interest-rate deals can lead to unexpected payoffs. "In a normal environment, you wouldn't be able to find a savings account or money rate that is four times the national average," says Richard Barrington, a senior financial analyst at MoneyRates.com. But with average rates so low, "that's now possible."

Where to Find the Best Rates Lisa Haney

The first step in building an emergency fund is determining how much cash you need. Financial advisers generally recommend a stash equal to six to nine months of living expenses, and more if you plan big purchases soon.

A larger reserve makes sense if you worry about job security, expect large medical bills or suffer a bout of anxiety each time stock prices slump. Some people think the peace of mind from keeping more in cash outweighs the extra returns that can be gotten from putting that money in stocks or bonds.

Christopher Coutinho, a 47-year-old owner of a logistics company who lives outside Charlotte, N.C., maintains an emergency fund equal to about 36 months of expenses. He keeps a small portion of his cash at his bank and the rest in CDs with varying maturities.

"It gives me lots of lead time if I do have problems," says Mr. Coutinho, who experienced a near financial collapse earlier in his career. "I don't have to react instantaneously because I've run out of cash."

Some investors are moving money normally targeted for safe investments into dividend-paying stocks and bond funds that offer higher yields. But that is too risky for the cash you might need to cover a sudden income shock, financial advisers say.

Individual investors who flocked to higher-yielding auction-rate securities learned that lesson the hard way during the financial crisis, when the market froze and they couldn't get access to their money.

First and foremost, an emergency fund has to be liquid, says Charles Byron, an adviser in Cherry Hill, N.J. "You just have to suck it up and get used to the fact that you aren't going to earn much," he says.

Most cash products are safe. The classic trade-off is yield versus access -- generally speaking, the higher the interest rate, the longer you must typically wait to get your money without paying a penalty fee.

With rates so low, however, it can sometimes make sense to go for the higher yields and simply pay the fee if necessary. Here is a guide to various cash products.

I Bonds

I Savings Bonds, issued by the U.S. Treasury, offer one of the best deals for savers, though in small doses. Unlike a typical supersafe investment, the interest rate on I Bonds has two parts: a fixed rate that lasts for the life of the bond and a variable inflation rate that is adjusted twice a year based on changes in the consumer-price index. Currently, the fixed rate is 0% and the inflation rate is 3.06%, meaning investors receive a 3.06% yield.

"With I bonds, you are at least guaranteed to keep pace with inflation," notes Mel Lindauer, co-author of "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing," a resource for fee-wary investors. I Bonds also have several tax advantages. Among them: They are exempt from state and local taxes, and interest income is tax-deferred.

One downside is that investments are limited to $10,000 per person per year, though you can also receive a tax refund of up to $5,000 in the form of an I Bond. The bonds generally can't be redeemed in the first 12 months, so they are best used as part of a multiyear emergency fund. Between years one and five, you will pay the last three months' interest as a penalty for cashing in early. After five years, the bonds can be cashed in without penalty.

High-Yield Checking

Some checking accounts offer higher yields, but savers usually must make a certain number of transactions and meet other requirements to earn the best rates, and the amount of money eligible for the highest rates is typically capped, often at $25,000.

Average yields stood at 1.38% in March, compared with 2.38% in March 2008, according to DepositAccounts.com, which surveys banks and credit unions.

Consumers Credit Union, based in Waukegan, Ill., pays 4.09% on balances of up to $10,000. Members must elect to receive their statements electronically, enroll in automatic bill paying and make 12 qualifying debit-card transactions and at least one electronic deposit or bill payment monthly. The yield drops to 0.01% if borrowers fail to meet even one of the requirements.

The credit union says a majority of checking-account customers qualify for the rewards program. Membership is open anyone who pays a one-time $5 fee to join Consumers Cooperative Association, a related organization. The CCU charter allows only members of the cooperative to join the credit union.

Inova Federal Credit Union, based in Elkhart, Ind., pays 3% on balances of up to $20,000, but just 0.20% if customers don't meet its requirements. Members must maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,500, make 15 qualifying debit-card transactions a month, have a direct deposit of at least $200 a month and receive statements electronically.

About 20% of credit-union members receive the highest rate on their accounts, the lender says.

Bank accounts come with a federal guarantee, generally up to $250,000, making them about as safe as Treasury securities.

Certificates of Deposit

CDs come with the same government guarantee as other bank products -- and returns that have been slipping for several years. The average yield on a one-year CD stands at 0.34%, down from 0.48% a year ago and 2.35% in March 2008, according to Bankrate.com. One top payer, from Puerto Rico-based Doral Bank (DRL), yields just 1.15%.

To snag a higher rate, you must lock in your money for more than a year -- and pay an early-withdrawal penalty if you need it sooner. Lisa Varesio, a 49-year-old bank manager in southern New Jersey, splits her emergency fund between a low-yielding money-market mutual fund and one-year and five-year CDs that offer higher rates.

She says she would tap the money fund first in an emergency, but would cash in the CDs "in a pinch, though I would take a penalty on the interest."

In some cases you can still come out ahead even if you are forced to pay the penalty. Allan Roth, a financial planner in Colorado Springs, Colo., recommends Ally Financial's five-year CD, which currently yields 1.74% and charges a penalty of 60 days interest for early withdrawals.

"If you cash [the five-year CD] in after four months, you're still earning more than you would on a money-market account," he says.

Other deals are less generous. On CDs with terms of 12 months or longer, Bank of America (BAC) and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) charge a penalty of $25 plus 3% of the amount being withdrawn. A Bank of America spokeswoman says savers who want to avoid the penalty can opt for a "Risk Free" CD that carries a lower rate but no penalty. A J.P. Morgan spokesman declined to comment.

Savings and Money-Market Accounts

Bank savings and money-market accounts are federally guaranteed and easy to tap: You can usually get your money the same day. The main difference is that money-market deposit accounts generally come with check-writing privileges.

The price you pay for such perks is low yields -- which average about 0.25% on savings accounts, according to DepositAccounts.com.

Better deals often can be found at online banks, local banks that can reach consumers nationwide through the Internet and the banking divisions of larger financial-services companies. These institutions typically have only a handful of branches, or none at all, and use higher rates to attract savers.

TIAA Direct, a unit of TIAA-CREF, offers a money-market account and a savings account with a 1.25% yield, according to DepositAccounts.com, while MyBankingDirect offers a money-market account with a 1.15% yield. EverBank offers a money-market account with a 0.91% yield, according to Bankrate.com.

The biggest risk is that today's good deal could disappear tomorrow as a bank or credit union's appetite for new deposits wanes.

"Rarely does an Internet savings account stay a rate leader for more than one year," says Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com.

Money-Market Funds

Unlike bank money-market accounts, money funds don't carry a government guarantee. But they are highly liquid, and for years they offered good rates.

Not so much anymore. Average yields for the 100-largest money funds stood at just 0.06% at the end of February, compared with 5.01% in August 2007, according to Crane Data. The highest-paying money fund open to retail investors, BMO Tax-Free Money Market, yields 0.23%, according to Crane Data.

Pickings are likely to remain slim even if short-term rates begin to edge upward. That is because fund managers have been waiving a significant chunk of their fees in order to maintain positive returns.

Proposed regulatory changes, expected to be announced soon by the Securities and Exchange Commission, might also diminish money funds' allure.

Under one expected proposed change, investors who wish to sell all their holdings would get only 95% to 97% of their funds back immediately, with the remaining sum returned to them after 30 days.

Nevertheless, Joseph Goldberg, 61, an attorney in Philadelphia, is keeping his emergency fund in a money fund for now. The returns are "pathetic," he says. "But I don't do it to make money. I do it to have peace of mind."