How much do you have in your emergency fund, ERA?
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Economists say this is the minimum amount of money you need in an emergency fund
- Thread starter Sqrt
- Start date
How much do you have in your emergency fund, ERA?
Currently have about 8k in savings and 15k in checking. My wife and I still try to remain frugal regarding unnecessary wants. We also save a lot for big vacations.
Almost 6 months of living expense for my wife and my salaries combined. Doesn't include investments.
I wish I had a partner so that I could have money like this saved up. Sigh.
$2,467 for lower-income families? Cool, too bad you aren't allowed to save that much money and remain on any public assistance in a lot of states.
You can pull cash out of a Roth IRA pretty quickly. No reason to have thousands stored in a savings/checking account (unless you've already maxed out retirement investments).
Currently saving up more, but I have 1 month in savings. Currently paying down my credit card and preparing to hyper save so that I can live 6 or so months without a job when I inevitably go to school full time.
I've had it beat into me about 401K, so I have a bit in that but my savings account is only $400 after I was laid off last year. I'm going to be building the savings back up to one months' pay next year.
Thats really the thing. A lot of families find themselves in that gap where they don't make enough money to sustain themselves but TOO much to qualify for government assistance programs.
I just did some back of the envelope math and I've got 10-11 months of expenses in the bank, not including retirement savings. I need to take some of that out and apply it to my student loans. God I can't wait to be rid of those.
About 6 months seems to be what I usually hear, and $2,467 was lower than I expected but seems reasonable for lower incomes. However, having grown up and know people surviving with lower incomes, having $1000 stowed away for a rainy day can still be incredibly difficult to accumulate.
If my wife or I were to lose our jobs, we would be good for several months if we re-budget and don't have any medical emergencies.
If my wife or I were to lose our jobs, we would be good for several months if we re-budget and don't have any medical emergencies.
have zero in savings, on purpose, and have never put a single penny into a pension
i am in an extremely fortunate position (seriously, i can't stress enough just how lucky i 'know' i am) where my 94 year old granddad is leaving me 250k
the entire amount will be put to specific planned out use, and aside from a slither of fun money, none of it will be wasted
aside from that, i've lived my entire adult working life pretty much resetting myself to zero every month
i am in an extremely fortunate position (seriously, i can't stress enough just how lucky i 'know' i am) where my 94 year old granddad is leaving me 250k
the entire amount will be put to specific planned out use, and aside from a slither of fun money, none of it will be wasted
aside from that, i've lived my entire adult working life pretty much resetting myself to zero every month
My first order of business after graduating from university and getting my first job was to save up at least 30k in order to account for unforseen circumstances (like being laid off, needing to buy a new car, or sudden changes in my living situation). My current goal is to save up whatever amount I still owe in student debt (on top of the 30k cushion), then pay off the debt, then start saving up for a home loan.
On average, for all of my monthly bills, I pay $1,550. That's including mortgage, student loans, the whole nine yards, but not groceries. No way in hell would I ever feel comfortable keeping that low of an amount in my savings. I very much like the 6-month rule of thumb, as this gives plenty of cushion in a worst-case scenario.
Having 15k in checking is a huge waste, transfer like 10k of that into savings dude
Ditto. It used to be a year's worth, but we decided to divert some of that into investments / mortgage after it had sat in a low-interest current account for about three years.
I wouldn't feel comfortable any other way, because we're both self-employed contract workers whose monthly income can vary dramatically.
That's the thing. This number clearly factors in medical crisis as a low probability event.
$300. My emergency fund has been wiped out multiple times though. My SO and I have had some bad luck over the years.
Weird situation for me. I have 3 months savings that I can tap into at any point without any issue. I could eventually go up to 9 months by moving stuff around, however, I am not legally allowed to be unemployed for more than 90 days within the US so its a moot point.
I have two storage lockers full of Beanie Babies, Bakugan cards and scented candles so I'm feeling pretty comfortable about my financial safety net thank you very much.
H1-B? Or similar? I remember that feeling of instability and impermanence- like I can't even imagine how it feels in this climate of immigration assaults on every category. Getting my green card was a huge relief but also a constant reminder of how fragile it is- like you're one unprovoked bar fight or traffic accident from being deported. Even as a naturalized citizen I don't feel 100% confident that it's bulletproof in this period.
H1-B? Or similar? I remember that feeling of instability and impermanence- like I can't even imagine how it feels in this climate of immigration assaults on every category. Getting my green card was a huge relief but also a constant reminder of how fragile it is- like you're one unprovoked bar fight or traffic accident from being deported. Even as a naturalized citizen I don't feel 100% confident that it's bulletproof in this period.
Number is way lower than I was expecting.
I know this is an internet forum and the userbase tends to skew younger, but you can't really say a significant amount without the "humble brag" or other comments coming out.
I know this is an internet forum and the userbase tends to skew younger, but you can't really say a significant amount without the "humble brag" or other comments coming out.
Why are you keeping so much in your checking account? I know it's not much, but at least you'll earn some interest leaving it in the savings account, plus if anyone gets a hold of your debit card number, it's best to not have a lot in there.
It's a very low-interest yield, but yeah it's an ongoing conversation in my house. Worth exploring.
Thank goodness for the FDIC then!
When factoring in emergency medical costs, I'm not sure a common achievable number actualy exists in the U.S., especially for low income people. Could be $1,000 Could be $1,000,000. Had a coworker who was hit by a car, lost a limb, and they found cancer when amputating. Told me his bills were around $15,000/month for treatment.
