How many people have 6 months worth of savings? (wild, light, prices)
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About 4 months cash on hand available right this second.
Maybe 5 years of liquid assest using the ATM or going in to the fiancial institution.
Maybe an additional 5 years with accessible investments that are outside the US.
And until death with all other investments, pensions, defered retirement funds, commodities, royalties, and physical assets.
What state, availability and value they would be in under various SHTF scenerios, thats the real question. Half is valued in governement backed currency (cash), and half is in tangable assets (property, commodities, etc). I can't afford to keeop it all in currency backed holdings as there is that slim possibility that a failure can wipe it out, but I also have no room (or desire) to have 500 goats running around to trade for toilet paper. So I have to balance the commodities to have some value while still being able to have it recognized today as a financial instrument. I can;t deposit 500 lbs of dry milk at the bank to pay the utility buills, and I have a hard time finding someone who will repair the car for boxes of ammo.
We had almost a year's expenses in the old shoe box at one point. Then we changed course, careers and residence and need to rebuild our nest egg. Wife is looking at buying a place, but I am looking at living cheap and increasing the resources we would need to get through any economic drought.
More like two sides of the same coin. Having cash reserves for emergencies like vehicle break down, replacing a major appliance like a water heater, unexpected medical bill or a lay-off or loss of job is just being prudently prepared.
No different from having some food, water, heat and probably a generator in case of a short term disaster like a flood or windstorm that blocks roads and takes out the grid.
Not every reason for prepping, or method of prep will work for every kind of disaster, so you have to have some flexibility and cover as many options as you feasibly can for your individual situation.
Any prep that helps survive is good prep, no matter what form it takes.
That depends on whether you classify "savings" as money only or not. For me, "income" and "savings" can be in any format and are not necessarily tied to money. My preps, my land, my cabin, and my equipment are my "savings" in tangible, immediately accessible and useful format.
If you see money as simply another tool, a means to procure the things you need, and you already have or can produce most of your needs, then you only need a bank account for a relatively small number of things because your homestead is your savings account and investment portfolio.
You should still have some cash reserves for the few things that you need cash money for and some financial ability to handle emergencies requiring cash like a stash on-hand, insurance and an empty credit card... but you don't necessarily need to have 6 months of liquid cash income sitting in the bank. You should have enough cash somewhere to cover 6 months of your mandatory cash-only expenses... and be strongly considering how (and actively pursuing) to limit those to the absolute minimum.
About 2-3 years in cash, that's living like today without further economizing or selling assets.
A lifetime of cash in 401Ks that we moved from stock funds to government securities 6 months before the crash of 10/2008. Just lucky timing on our part, no particular insight. I always say I'd rather be lucky than good. We can't access those 401Ks for another 5 years though. We do have two government pensions that we don't expect to go on forever.
No debt. A farm house, outbuildings, fruit trees, hayfield, pond and acreage in flyover country bought with cash. Stocked hard assets, consumables and tools. Some silver/gold in jewelry and sterling flatware stored in a safe deposit box in a highly rated financial institution. A small house in Alaska, a few "toys". This is because we are both notoriously frugal especially in the small things. We almost never buy new anything with a few nods towards sanitary issues like mattresses. All of our clothes come from thrifts save underwear and most shoes. We troll Craigslist for stuff we need, pay cash for everything or do without. Our cars are older but reliable rugged goodies. I have an eye for quality and trust it implicitly.
For example: Today we bought a used commercial refrigerator from Craigslist for our excess produce from the garden for $200. It looks great and has a retail value of 4 or 5 times what we paid for it. Early bird getting the worm and all that... I once saw an interview on TV a number of years ago about a retired postal worker and his wife that had built a world class art collection valued at several million dollars on his middle class salary. We were/are a lot like that couple though real estate and other goods are our forte rather than art.
... For example: Today we bought a used commercial refrigerator from Craigslist for our excess produce from the garden for $200. It looks great and has a retail value of 4 or 5 times what we paid for it. Early bird getting the worm and all that... I once saw an interview on TV a number of years ago about a retired postal worker and his wife that had built a world class art collection valued at several million dollars on his middle class salary. We were/are a lot like that couple though real estate and other goods are our forte rather than art.
We collected apartment buildings. When I retired our Net Worth was around 20X my annual salary.
Working on it...It's SO slow. Thinking of paying off student loans first to speed up the process.
I'm with you there. I'm focusing on paying off debt (car payment and student loans). My goal is to be debt free in the next five years. After that, I'll start putting tons of money away into savings/retirement.
I have been told on a couple different occasions that this is sort of the benchmark for being prepared in today's economy in case you happen to lose your job. Aside from whether or not you agree with that figure, do you have at least 6 months of savings set aside in case of emergency?
I do but it's not in any bank or credit union. One question to ask, and understand the full meaning of, is will todays currency be worth anything in an economic collapse??
Just look at what's happening in Europe now with the Euro.
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