How much cash on hand...

[Anonymous]

To keep?

We are a 2 income household and we both work in totally opposite fields; so the chances of both of us being unemployed at the same time are slim.

We net ~6k/month combined. I think/want to limit our cash on hand to ~20k (~3months income/expenses) and I think that would be sufficient. But the new thing is 6 months so about ~40k which I think is a bit excessive.

I think ~20k should be enough because if one of us did lose our jobs I would hope:
- unemployment would substitute some
- we contribute about ~25% of our income to retirement now, so can cut back.
- postpone/put in forbearance student loans .

And basically the 20k is both net income for 3 months so really replacing 1 net income for 6 months.

Also we are in the process of being down some medical debt (baby born in January - high deductible plan) and student loans, so the quicker we can stop having to add to the savings the quicker we can pay down the debt.

Your take?

[Anonymous]

How much do you currently have in savings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To keep?

We are a 2 income household and we both work in totally opposite fields; so the chances of both of us being unemployed at the same time are slim.

We net ~6k/month combined. I think/want to limit our cash on hand to ~20k (~3months income/expenses) and I think that would be sufficient. But the new thing is 6 months so about ~40k which I think is a bit excessive.

I think ~20k should be enough because if one of us did lose our jobs I would hope:
- unemployment would substitute some
- we contribute about ~25% of our income to retirement now, so can cut back.
- postpone/put in forbearance student loans .

And basically the 20k is both net income for 3 months so really replacing 1 net income for 6 months.

Also we are in the process of being down some medical debt (baby born in January - high deductible plan) and student loans, so the quicker we can stop having to add to the savings the quicker we can pay down the debt.

Your take?

What's the interest rate on the debt? Pay that off first before you start saving more.

[Anonymous]

How stable are the fields you work in? How hard is it to get a new job in your respective fields where you live? More stable fields allow for lower savings. More volatile fields are a reason to increase your funds.
Do you own a home or rent? I wanted more in savings after buying a home, since in addition to guarding against unemployment or relatively small unexpected expenses like a car repair, I also need to plan for significant home expenses whether unexpected, like a pipe bursting, or planned, like replacing the roof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much do you currently have in savings?

20k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To keep?

We are a 2 income household and we both work in totally opposite fields; so the chances of both of us being unemployed at the same time are slim.

We net ~6k/month combined. I think/want to limit our cash on hand to ~20k (~3months income/expenses) and I think that would be sufficient. But the new thing is 6 months so about ~40k which I think is a bit excessive.

I think ~20k should be enough because if one of us did lose our jobs I would hope:
- unemployment would substitute some
- we contribute about ~25% of our income to retirement now, so can cut back.
- postpone/put in forbearance student loans .

And basically the 20k is both net income for 3 months so really replacing 1 net income for 6 months.

Also we are in the process of being down some medical debt (baby born in January - high deductible plan) and student loans, so the quicker we can stop having to add to the savings the quicker we can pay down the debt.

Your take?

What's the interest rate on the debt? Pay that off first before you start saving more.

Student loans : ~6% or less
Medical debt / credit card : 0%

So nothing really at an extravagant rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How stable are the fields you work in? How hard is it to get a new job in your respective fields where you live? More stable fields allow for lower savings. More volatile fields are a reason to increase your funds.
Do you own a home or rent? I wanted more in savings after buying a home, since in addition to guarding against unemployment or relatively small unexpected expenses like a car repair, I also need to plan for significant home expenses whether unexpected, like a pipe bursting, or planned, like replacing the roof.

Both fields are stable and last time we were both unemployed (not the same time) took less than 2-3 months each to find a new job; easier in my field vs hers (2 weeks / 1 month vs 2-3 months for her).

We do own our own home.

[Anonymous]

i keep a year's worth of gross income on hand, but 3/4 of this doubles as a pot for investment opportunities. after investing, i replenish from salary.

[Anonymous]

We have $70k in a money market account for savings. Our gross income is $230K but our monthly expenses are less than $5k.

We also keep $2k actual cash in a safe in the house.

[Anonymous]

If you have $20k, I would start paying off the debt now.