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I have about three months. I am the last person to worry about layoffs, but I do worry about injury/illness. I have a long-term disability policy at work that kicks in after three months.
I have a lot of low-interest fixed rate debt- should be gone in 3-4 years. Mortgage is another story, although low interest. I've decided that I might as well put a minimal amount into my 403b for dollar-cost averaging (I mean like $40/week) and take a tax deduction with charitable contributions instead, while working on debt. I have an old-fashioned pension plan at work that is as solid as it gets. It's why I chose to return to my job after bouncing around for years.
just did i got one of the pheumatic chairs and while i was yacking fell out of it
good thing i had that cuchion. but yeah, 3 months has been the rule as i understand it.
Just a mortgage, insurance for the house and cars along w/ utilities/food. Aside from this no CC bills or car notes. I've got 5 yrs worth of savings stashed away for mortgage only and 2 yrs of cash for unemployment. Still putting aside 75% in savings too until I retire from AD in the next yr. I have a slight advantage as I and my wife will receive a pension from the AF (retire the same time )but I don't count on it seeing how everything is crashing all around us...you never know.
I had a cushion of about 8 months. Cobra, thanks to the leasing company Gevity HR dropping my firm for being too small for their liking, veterinary surgical expenses and life wiped that sucker out a lot faster than I imagined. I thank God I was not one of those people who went on internet message boards bragging about how I did things right and how those in debt are such horrible and stupid people for being in the position they are in now.
Now I have two mortgage payments, more credit debt than I ever imagined due to robbing Peter to pay Paul and a job I love but being in the mortgage industry does not pay so well right now. Still haven't missed a single payment on any of my accounts in my life but unless things pick up I may be rethinking things. I hate to even consider missing a credit card payment but since all of my cards increased my rates to almost 30% ( and yes I knew that was a possibility but it still doesn't make it right) I am less inclined to beat myself up as I would have in the past.
My wish to all is to just hang in there and do the best you can!
I have a cash cushion of about 3 months, but I have fully-matured, easily liquidatable US bonds that would cover about a year and a half or so. So far, the job situation for both me & my husband looks secure, but you never know these days.
I was wondering how many on here are sitting on a cushion of, say 6 to ten months worth of mortgage/rent/living expenses?
I think I'm getting there(I've got five months so far) but what about the rest of folks. do folks really save anymore?
I have no mortgage. I used my investment portfolio [built up during my military career] to buy a farm. I wrote a check for it, so I have no mortgage.
Our taxes are very low, our living expenses are low.
My Federal pension supports me and my family. My Dw's part-time income is being used to complete the construction of our house and to build up our livestock.
I still have my portfolio though, this past year it's growth was not so good as it had been in the past. It only grew by about 6%.
If my pension disappeared, and if she lost her job; we would be okay for a few years.
I have a cushion but I'm really on the fence as to whether it would be safer in bank of matress or clever house hiding spot of choice rather than the bank. I DO worry about that.
There's no need to panic if your bank is FDIC insured. What if there's a fire in your home or you get robbed?
I have a cushion of about 8 months in my savings account. But if I have to pay cobra rates for health insurance or, worse, try to get it on my own--my cushion goes waaaay down.
The law has recently changed: you would now have to pay 35% instead of 100+%.
Your monthly expenses should consist of everything besides savings, not just mortgage payments. Right now, I have more than 6 months and saving to have an 8-month and beyond for calculated expenses such as medical.
I have 6 to 7 months worth of living expenses but as someone already mentioned, if I had to pay Cobra rates or get health insurance on my own, then it would go down significantly!
You could just go without coverage. I did that for about 3 years.
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)but I don't count on it seeing how everything is crashing all around us...you never know.
