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Ok, but to be jealous of "all" the people that inherited such sums?
Certainly a bit odd and more over misguided as most inheritance is gone within 1-2 generations and doesn't do what so many wish it didn't when they planned to give it away in the first place
An EF is a security blanket...not much else. Also some people can get in trouble relying on a CC for emergencies. They think everything is an emergency and when you have 3 emergencies in 3 months...you end up with CC debt and 10% interest. Then you lose your job...big trouble.
I would rather have a little pile of cash to avoid getting in debt.
I personally dont love the idea of a 6-9 month EF. I think 3-4 months is fine but it depends on the volatility of your job/industry. A salesperson on commission should have a bigger fund to deal with the ups and downs.
Some ppl can't handle credit. I can and my system works for me. And honestly people with access to big credit should have it work for them too as long as they're investing their EF as I do. It's the same argument as buy vs rent as long as you're investing the difference. Obviously a CC and LOC isn't a viable EF if you spent your whole emergency fund and saddled yourself in debt in the event of an emergency. In my case I would sell off a piece of my invested EF in the event of a 5k+ emergency. For me as a minimalist it's really impossible for me to have an emergency in excess of a week's pay. Car maintenance and medical bills couldn't amount to that. My job(s) is/are as stable as it can get.
Some ppl can't handle credit. I can and my system works for me. And honestly people with access to big credit should have it work for them too as long as they're investing their EF as I do. It's the same argument as buy vs rent as long as you're investing the difference. Obviously a CC and LOC isn't a viable EF if you spent your whole emergency fund and saddled yourself in debt in the event of an emergency. In my case I would sell off a piece of my invested EF in the event of a 5k+ emergency. For me as a minimalist it's really impossible for me to have an emergency in excess of a week's pay. Car maintenance and medical bills couldn't amount to that. My job(s) is/are as stable as it can get.
Its just a basis of a solid financial foundation. Its personal finance and everyone tailors it to your specific needs. One size doesn't fit all. Unfortunately most people don't have a clue and the simple concepts of avoiding debt, spend less then you make and invest the difference is a foreign language.
No Debt
Emergency Savings
Budget income vs expenses
investments
insurance
If you are clueless...these concepts will change your life.
I have 400k on my heloc, to me that is pretty safe. The stock market is at all time high, it will correct anytime now.. I rather use any extra cash to pay off my heloc asap.
As I think someone else pointed out, HELOCs can be frozen or rescinded if the housing market turns. This happened in 2008. I believe you should reconsider this strategy.
I agree that the amount of cash you keep on hand should be based on your individual situation. I cannot imagine making our day-to-day cash flow work with that little cash on hand, let alone having a cushion for an emergency.
I m not bragging, but why would I need an EF when I am getting 14k net income every month. ( 5k net from rental after all the expenses) Most of my friends think that I m too conservative with money.
I m not bragging, but why would I need an EF when I am getting 14k net income every month. ( 5k net from rental after all the expenses) Most of my friends think that I m too conservative with money.
Because you cannot guarantee your net income when an emergency could wipe out your job(s), create long term vacancies in your rentals, or coincide with a major crunch on available credit. You only have $12K in assets that are liquid or could be easily liquidated.
Yeah, most people are in that boat. The few people who've posted on here talking of their inheritance represent a very slim minority of Americans.
The few people posting on here don't represent anything. They're just the inheritors who are willing to talk about it.
We received a six figure cash gift a few years back. The person is still living and prefers to distribute their wealth now while they can see what comes of it. We used it to pay off our house. We didn't expect to get it and it was/is very much appreciated. We may or may not be in this person's will -- we have no expectations there, either.
Want an inheritance or better yet, a living gift? Be the kind of frugal responsible person your elders would be pleased to give to.
Chris Christie has proposed reducing SS benefit for retiree's with more than $80,000 in income and eliminating SS payments for those with more than $200,000.
wait, is the $80,000 continued income that they have from other sources at retirement OR is it $80,000 average income over their lifetime?
wait, is the $80,000 continued income that they have from other sources at retirement OR is it $80,000 average income over their lifetime?
I think it's 80k in income while eligible for SS. Another question, is this for individuals or HH? For individual filers 80k is a lot and 200k is a ton. For HHs 80k isn't really a ton, but I'm assuming you still get to claim deductions, so it's likely closer to an actual taxable income of closer to 95-100k/yr.
I wonder if people realize how well off the posters here are?
People who report they're in their 20s-40s with 100K up to several hundred thousand net worth!
The median net worth of Americans aged 30-45 is around $45,000 last I checked. The people posting here are in the top quarter of wealth for the country.
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