Poll of the Day > Rainy day fund

(+) Yeah! (+)

Rainy day/emergency savings fund. Financial experts claim majority of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings.

---

I have money saved, but not really a rainy day fund. Just money...
---

Yes, but it's more my wife's doing (she handles the money in the relationship).

It also helps that we're like the unicorns of millennials in that neither of us accrued any student loan debt.

---

I could probably live comfortably for 18-24 months on my savings alone. Need to invest some of it...

---

I have up to about a year of savings but I'm likely to use most of it to pay back my mortgage. If everything goes well, over half of it will be cleared within 2-3 years

---

Way, way, way more than 12 months.

If I never held a job again for the rest of my life, I could probably live more than a decade at my current cost of living (I tend to be pretty spartan in spending). Longer if I started scaling back my lifestyle to even more severe cost-cutting.



Dragooncancer_ posted...

It also helps that we're like the unicorns of millennials in that neither of us accrued any student loan debt.

My status tends to fluctuate between tail-end of Gen X and very beginning of Gen Y depending on which cut-off date you choose to use (which is what happens when generational divisions aren't actually official measurements in any way, and aren't standardized by any one single group or organization), though most modern interpretations tend to count me pretty firmly as part of Gen X.

But if I am counted as a Millennial, I'd fall into that same category. Tons of scholarships and going to a relatively economical university meant I never really needed student aid, and any debts I did have were cleared years ago.

Can't even say "Yeah, well, you came from money and your parents paid your way through college" in my case, because my dad was a blue-collar factory worker and my mother was an unemployed housewife - they weren't rolling in disposable cash. It's part of why I tend to live somewhat below my means - I got used to having to save and avoid extravagant spending when I was growing up. And I've always had a compulsion to pay off whatever debts I do have as quickly as possible to clear accounts (part of why I now own my house outright rather than having an outstanding mortgage).
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

But if I am counted as a Millennial, I'd fall into that same category. Tons of scholarships and going to a relatively economical university meant I never really needed student aid, and any debts I did have were cleared years ago

Yep. I was given a full scholarship to my local community college so I was able to get my associates for free. Then I worked part time and went to school part time and finally got my bachelor's after six years.

My wife was lucky enough to get a complete college scholarship which allowed her to get her masters in only five years.

So the only debt we have is my car (which will be paid off this year) and our mortgage.

---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Way, way, way more than 12 months.

This. And being the huge penny-pincher I am I wouldn't be surprised if I never touch this money.

---

like... 8-12 months if neither of us were getting paid? nah, I don't think we could do that unless we dipped into our retirement and took a penalty. We tend not to keep a lot of money in then standard checking account and empty out quite a bit each year into our retirement funds and other such investments.

>12 months

---

Yes, several years.

---

BUMPED2002 posted...

Rainy day/emergency savings fund. Financial experts claim majority of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings.

Considering how many Americans live on the dole (and therefore shouldn't be able to save unless they're doing something illegal), is it really all that surprising? >_> Otherwise Americans are generally poor savers, although part of that comes down to our high COL and taxes on top of that since money can go a lot further in other nations.

Dragooncancer_ posted...

Yes, but it's more my wife's doing (she handles the money in the relationship).

It also helps that we're like the unicorns of millennials in that neither of us accrued any student loan debt.

Given the number of reasonably-priced state schools, I constantly suspect that the student debt numbers are either heavily distorted or many students just engaged in some really reckless shit (going to higher-priced schools, not working to pay as they went along, incurring other expenses, etc)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Way, way, way more than 12 months.

This, but it also depends on whether I touch my investments, if I continue at normal spending habits, etc; and technically I still have my investments on top of that where I could take money out to cover living expenses. If that's the case, we're talking quite a while.

More generally, as I mentioned in Blu's topic (and this is a response to the topic, not to a specific post):

Zeus posted...

In this day and age, people should really have two years' worth if they're able. However, I'm not entirely sure that's sufficient as a back-up plan any more given the worldwide supply chain disruptions we've seen. Back in 2008, the biggest concern was loss of savings and long-term unemployment which was strictly a money issue. Going forward, even if you have the money, it might not always be possible to get what you need when society grinds to a halt. You might not even have electricity, as we've seen with recent storms.

---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Way, way, way more than 12 months.

How do you keep it? Not $ amounts but like proportionally what percent in this vs that.

I don't really have one because I don't need to set aside a separate fund for anything. Not enough debt or current expenses/liabilities that an interruption in income would have a financial impact given the amount of surplus assets and cash available.

Zeus posted...

Considering how many Americans live on the dole (and therefore shouldn't be able to save unless they're doing something illegal), is it really all that surprising? >_>

Concentrate on your own shit before you stick your nose in other peoples. People out of work can save money without doing anything illegal. It all depends their circumstances. No point enlightening you though as you've been beating this dead horse for a while and will probably continue to do so as you've nothing more going for you in your life. It's really pathetic.

BUMPED2002 posted...

Rainy day/emergency savings fund. Financial experts claim majority of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings.

I have no savings at this point but will start saving a bit here and there soon. According to Zeus though I must be doing something illegal so don't ask me how.

---

Ive more than 1k i could use but what i would consider emergency costs a fair bit more than that and more than i have. Even if i cut back on the groceries i get ill never save up much at my current pay.

---

Zeus posted...

Otherwise Americans are generally poor savers, although part of that comes down to our high COL and taxes on top of that since money can go a lot further in other nations.

It doesn't help that Boomers were basically repeatedly told for decades that things like Social Security and company retirement programs would take care of them later in life, so they shouldn't bother saving and should spend, spend, spend instead (because constant spending tends to stimulate the economy).

It wasn't until they started to realize they'd been sold a bullshit story that they started panicking, by which point it was already a bit too late. And then the rise of credit cards as the default currency has sort of left the younger generations even less practiced at managing their own debt (so they basically dig themselves into a massive hole early and never quite manage to climb their way back out again).
---

wwinterj25 posted...

Concentrate on your own shit before you stick your nose in other peoples. People out of work can save money without doing anything illegal. It all depends their circumstances. No point enlightening you though as you've been beating this dead horse for a while and will probably continue to do so as you've nothing more going for you in your life. It's really pathetic.

Methinks the lad doth protest too much! And I'm not simply talking about somebody being temporarily out of work, I'm referring to the people living on Benefits Street. If the gov has been fronting you all of your money, it's supposed to be covering your needs, not helping you save for vacations, etc.


---

A report came out a couple of years ago that 2/3 Americans cant afford a $500 emergency


---

Zeus posted...

Methinks the lad doth protest too much!

Methinks you're very ignorant.

If the gov has been fronting you all of your money, it's supposed to be covering your needs, not helping you save for vacations, etc.

So what happens if you have enough money to get by from the government but they pay you more than you actually need as your situation is different from others. Such as living at home? Can folk on benefits even give money back? If they can that's news to me but let's be honest nobody would do that. I really hope somebody, somewhere is using 'your tax money' to fund their vacations and I hope they send you holiday snaps to prove it.

---

wwinterj25 posted...

So what happens if you have enough money to get by from the government but they pay you more than you actually need as your situation is different from others.

See: Fraud.

The government evaluates claims based on your need. If you're not reporting your situation correctly, you're going to get overpaid. Again, this is something specific to normal benefits, not something like unemployment which is meant to cover a portion of your lost wages (and it usually comes up way, way short)

wwinterj25 posted...

Can folk on benefits even give money back?

If you know that you're being overpaid, legally you're required to. The odds of you actually getting in trouble for it are low because the records are wrong on their side

wwinterj25 posted...

If they can that's news to me but let's be honest nobody would do that.

Well, if they had ethics, they'd be working(well, barring the severely disabled). If somebody is already exploiting the system, they're not going to feel any compunction to act honestly. Not to mention that the system often encourages them to act amorally, like during the 90s when states hired professionals to help their unemployed get onto federal disability (and thus off the state's hands).


---

Zeus posted...

If you know that you're being overpaid, legally you're required to.

You're paid a flat rate regardless of your circumstances so unless they pay you someone else's dues, you're not overpaid.

Zeus posted...

Well, if they had ethics, they'd be working(well, barring the severely disabled). If somebody is already exploiting the system, they're not going to feel any compunction to act honestly. Not to mention that the system often encourages them to act amorally, like during the 90s when states hired professionals to help their unemployed get onto federal disability (and thus off the state's hands).

You're talking to a guy who lives off unemployment to drink pints every day lol
---

Zeus posted...

-snip-

https://i.imgur.com/jinGLRk.gif

Kyuubi4269 posted...

You're talking to a guy who lives off unemployment to drink pints every day lol

I wish.

---

Enough for a year, at most.

---

2k in Savings, and about that or a little more in Checking, not counting tomorrow's paycheck. I'm also getting close to done with paying back my folks for helping me move from SoCal to WA, so when that's done I will have that amount extra to help tuck a little away each month.

This is certainly a huge difference from a year or more ago, as some of you may recall. It'd have been nice if my first self-published book sold more, but eh... I wasn't expecting that one to be a bestseller as good as it was. If I can hurry up and get my next one or two out, those might move me into a more financially sound position. =p

---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

You're paid a flat rate regardless of your circumstances so unless they pay you someone else's dues, you're not overpaid.

They're paid an evaluation based on their needs. It's not everybody getting the same flat rate, although that could be something specific to your nation.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

You're talking to a guy who lives off unemployment to drink pints every day lol

Kinda wonder to what extent his substance abuse influences his chronic joblessness.


---

10k but i also only have 8k in retirement

Zeus posted...

Kinda wonder to what extent his substance abuse influences his chronic joblessness.

Are you saying if I drink more that'll get me a job? Interesting...

---

I mean, you need to do fun things sometimes for your mental health. Just because you need help supporting yourself doesn't mean you should be living a miserable life devoid of anything to look forward to.

---

I've got about 14-15k. That would easily last me over a year even with no income because my cost of living is ridiculously low right now.

---

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I mean, you need to do fun things sometimes for your mental health. Just because you need help supporting yourself doesn't mean you should be living a miserable life devoid of anything to look forward to.

Work should support life, not the other way around. That's something I've been telling people of late. It's a bad system that, at best, treats workers as though the weekend should support the work hours. It's an unhealthy lifestyle to ignore the facets of life that require actually living it.

---

Entity13 posted...

Work should support life, not the other way around. That's something I've been telling people of late. It's a bad system that, at best, treats workers as though the weekend should support the work hours. It's an unhealthy lifestyle to ignore the facets of life that require actually living it.

It's simply an issue of competition. We could have halved our hours years ago and been more productive than before, however any country that does this would become less productive relative to the others. No country willingly chooses to be weaker than its neighbours and no company chooses to be less capable than its competitors.

At least in the end this means we have 4K tvs and smart homes now rather than 30 years in the future.
---

In 30 years, assuming humanity lives that long? Our homes will be literally smart with their sentient AI rather than "smart" for those of us who don't want to lift a finger when we're home. lol


---

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I mean, you need to do fun things sometimes for your mental health. Just because you need help supporting yourself doesn't mean you should be living a miserable life devoid of anything to look forward to.

Indeed. I'm lucky enough to have family who make my life happy and I enjoy going for walks/hikes that cost nothing todo been as I live close to countryside. Mental health is very important. This doesn't mean I'm not looking for work and also doesn't mean I'd rather be out of work but until I find work I'm still going to enjoy life the best I can, whenever I can. Unemployment doesn't mean one should spend all their time staring into the abyss too.

Also IF folk manage to save money due to their circumstances when out of work, no matter if it's a small amount or not then good for them. Over here you get a allocated amount. Some folk budget really well and thus have a bit of cash left over so save. Others get paid a lot on say disability benefit but don't need all the money they get so again they save. It all depends the circumstances. I've never heard of a system where folk can give the government money back when been unemployed nor have I heard anyone actually do that. Could be different in the states though.

---