Financial emergency! (Page 2)

steveseer - 2010-10-08 4:03 PM

According to D.R. you should:

1.  Save $1000. 
2.  Then pay off all debt but mortgage. 
3.  Then save 3 to 6 months expenses.

There are more after, but outside the scope of this thread.  I think its a pretty solid plan, although I'm not there yet.  Done with 1, working on 2.   Almost there!

the bear - 2010-10-08 4:34 PM

Seriously, what information are you trying to get from this survey?

morey000 - 2010-10-08 8:16 PM the secret to financial happiness is to spend less than you make.

I'm not rich, but I've been gainfully employed making a reasonable professional salary for 25 years and always put a little away.  I can't retire yet, but if I lost my job, I'd be OK for a few years.

I realize that many people live paycheck to paycheck and have their credit cards maxed.  It's for these people that we have to pay unemployment insurance. 

trishie - 2010-10-10 4:16 PM

The majority of BTers have $10K in the bank/ invested/ at your ready disposal, etc? Good god I feel poor !

steveseer - 2010-10-08 5:03 PM According to D.R. you should:

1.  Save $1000. 
2.  Then pay off all debt but mortgage. 
3.  Then save 3 to 6 months expenses.

There are more after, but outside the scope of this thread.  I think its a pretty solid plan, although I'm not there yet.  Done with 1, working on 2.   Almost there!

the bear - 2010-10-08 4:34 PM

Okay, now you have a poorly worded as well as poorly designed survey. Seriously, what information are you trying to get from this survey? Notice how the majority of respondents are clustered in the >$10K response.

Not ten but one that happens with all too often: losing your job. Unless you figure that $10K is 3-6 months salary, it's way too low of a limit. Remembering that per the USAT the median income of traiathletes is $126K.

morey000 - 2010-10-08 7:16 PM the secret to financial happiness is to spend less than you make.

I'm not rich, but I've been gainfully employed making a reasonable professional salary for 25 years and always put a little away.  I can't retire yet, but if I lost my job, I'd be OK for a few years.

I realize that many people live paycheck to paycheck and have their credit cards maxed.  It's for these people that we have to pay unemployment insurance. 

trishie - 2010-10-10 3:16 PM The majority of BTers have $10K in the bank/ invested/ at your ready disposal, etc? Good god I feel poor !

lisac957 - 2010-10-11 8:39 AM

I would also like to know the corresponding AGES (or how long they have been in the workforce) of those who have more than 10K saved up. I have a feeling there would be a strong correlation - could be wrong though.

Bripod - 2010-10-08 7:11 PM


I thought I was pretty clear in my original post, but I guess it bears (no pun intended) repeating:

how big of a financial emergency could you cover today using your own money (not credit cards, cashing out retirement funds, or borrowing of any form)?

I consider anything over $10K to be a significant life event that goes beyond the scope of the run-of-the-mill emergency. I'm thinking like somebody going to the ER, then getting a bill for $2,500 for what insurance didn't cover. Or the transmission in the car goes out and it's $1,500. Could you cover that without missing a beat? That's the kind of stuff that I'm wondering. Looks like half the people can. Interestingly, the next highest percentage of respondents (12% at the time of this post) couldn't cover anything over $1,000 without some sort of outside assistance. Supposedly according to USAToday, 97% of 65 year-olds can't write you a check for $600 right now. According to Harris Interactive, 77% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. If that's the case, then there should be a lot more people responding to the first option. I neglected to leave a "$0" option, but maybe I shouldn't have...

jdwright56 - 2010-10-11 8:41 AM



So you are saying that only people that live paycheck to paycheck claim unemployment?  How much do you think one gets for unemployment? 
Its about $1600 per month at it's highest.  Yep, that's less than $20,000 per year.  You go from $80,000 to $20,000 grand and see how long your savings survives. 

mrbbrad - 2010-10-11 1:48 PM A friend of mine just had a financial emergency and fortunately I have money saved so I was able to help. He had been arrested in Europe on some trumped up charges but luckily was able to send me a message through Facebook. Thank God for technology, social media, and the money I've been saving to put my kids through school. It's going to take him a few days to sort things out but he should be home in a week or so. I know he'll pay me back once he's safely back in the States.