40% of Americans can’t come up with $400 if there was an emergency.
Start Your Emergency FUND!
Let’s look at a few things that we use our emergency fund for.
Vacancies mean lost income!
Fortunately, our only tenant is a teacher and was able to continue teaching online. But what if your tenants got furloughed, laid off, or lost their job? What if one or more of your tenants had to move out? Flipping an apartment can take time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have savings to cover the full cost of the mortgage and other expenses until you can get it rented again.
Crazy Virus Pandemic!!
What if the entire world came down with some strange virus and was ordered to stay in their homes for two months? We have not been personally touched by this and have been lucky enough to continue working. However, people are losing loved ones to this illness and nobody knows what to do. Perhaps you and your partner’s places of employment close up and you are unable to work for two months or more. It’s a good idea to have 3-6 months worth of living expenses in savings to continue to pay your bills and rent/mortgage.
Property Maintenance
It’s time to do the roof! A roofing job can be very costly, depending on who you hire. However, if you do the work yourselves, you could save hundreds, even thousands of dollars. So, do you have the money saved up to afford the supplies? We are doing the roof this week, and have landscaping and kitchen remodels in the list of to-dos.
Tragedy!!
What if you were in a car accident? What if you were seriously injured and had to be out of work for a couple of months? Most employer’s FMLA plans only cover a certain percent and only for 12 weeks a year. Could you live on FMLA? Could you replace your car in the meantime? Car insurance claims usually take 30 days, so you’re not getting paid for possibly 6 weeks. Do you have enough in your savings to cover your expenses AND buy a car?
Flat Tire
Putting new tires on any car can be quite expensive. I picked up something that immediately popped one of my tires and because my tires were older, to begin with, I had to replace all four tires. I didn’t have the money then. There are many things that could go wrong with a car and the price of them adds up. Having an emergency fund is key to keeping you moving without slowing you down.
Sleep better at night!
Stress affects your sleep. If you weren’t stressed about your finances, would you sleep better at night? I know we do.
Start it now! It’s not too late.
We could all come up with another thousand reasons to have an emergency fund. The idea is to save what you can when you can. It’s that simple. And if you need help finding motivation, think of how you felt during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
