I'm the last person on earth to say «live for today, don't bother saving», but the idea
of an emergency money pool of cash strikes me as a fallacy.
In general, after the down payment, one would hope to take the rent, and be able to pay the mortgage, tax, insurance, and then have enough left each year to at least have a bit
of emergency money for repairs.
Hilary Anderson, American Red Cross Preparedness and Resiliency Manager, explains how much gas and money you should always have to use in case of an emergency
(
outside of emergency money, which you say is already dealt with) Especially since you effectively get an immediate return on the investment = to your marginal tax rate.
Consider what happens if you take $ 20,000
of emergency money from your high - interest saving account and instead apply it to your mortgage in the following example:
This
kind of emergency money is typically invested in highly liquid vehicles such as savings accounts or money market accounts, and is kept outside of tax - advantaged retirement savings so you could tap into it without penalty.
Alternatively, this person could purchase a whole life policy that will not only pay that policy face value if they should die before their children are through college, but would also accrue a cash value that would provide additional benefits to his or her family or a growing
fund of emergency money.
After you have 4 to 6 months
worth of emergency money, start channeling money into mutual funds, bonds and stocks, anything with a higher potential yield than cash?
If you want to save six months» worth
of emergency money, your first goal may be to have $ 500 saved.
To amass money for a future house down payment while also accumulating a pool
of emergency money, try shoveling cash into a savings account or certificates of deposit.
Not
all of our emergency money is «credit», but about 50 % of it is.