I try to keep $2,000 cash in the house, but end up raiding it whenever I need cash.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a true emergency I could get my hands on

$100k within 24 hours
$500k within a week
$5M within 30 days

Without causing any taxable events

Please explain how you keep it non-taxable. Thanks!

Borrow against existing assets, plus cash. I have a hard money lending company that makes short term loans (generally 1w months or less). About $15M outstanding there so on average $2M coming in per month. I could simply not recycle it. Plus another $1M in liquid but tied up cash (ie cds and bonds and money that is mine but undistributed in various business accounts) And borrow the balance on investment assets I own free and clear.

One year of expenses ($170k for me) in a savings account earning 5%.

It’s not all “cash” per se but $300K in emergency funds. About $5K in checking with the rest in MMFs, short term CDs, a couple of inherited annuities exchanged for short term MYGAs, and I bonds.

$25k cash in savings. Don't need more than that. But mid six figures in revolving tbills, a portion of my portfolio that I can tap into if need be.

200k

We have about $700k in checking/savings, maybe a little more right now. Most of it is at around 5% interest - I try to move it out of checking into higher interest accounts pretty quickly. We pay quarterly estimated taxes so need cash on hand for that, and are about to do a $300k renovation project so are not moving money into the market the way we otherwise might. We also need to buy a new car in the next year. But even without that we tend to keep reasonably high amounts in cash. All to say I think individual circumstances vary so much that getting data points from others isn't that helpful.