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birb_cromble  11hr ago (text post)   212 thread views

Weekly Finance Thread

Since a lot of us here have expressed interest in not starving to death in a gutter, I figured I'd start a weekly thread to discuss financial matters.

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  • Remember that we're all just Internet randos. Don't bet your life savings on a hot tip from this thread.
  • Keep culture war in the culture war thread. Yes, global events may impact our personal finances, but that does not mean we have to incessantly harp on culture war aspects here. If you are going to discuss it, please stick to the practical impacts of it on an individual level.
  • Be kind. Remember that everyone here comes from different circumstances. We all have different resources available and different risk tolerances.
  • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better is better. Celebrate people when they take a step up and work to move their finances in the right direction. Don't flame out because they haven't followed what you consider the optimal path. Everybody has to start somewhere.
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How much emergency cash do people keep around? and where precisely so I know where to look I don't mean uninvested money in a checking account or whatever, I mean literal cash not in a bank.

I have a few thousand, which might be too much, but zero feels like too little.

I have a few thousand, which might be too much, but zero feels like too little.

Same, and my brain won't shut up about how it would make much more sense for me to add it to my mad money brokerage account and reap the extra GAAAAINZ. But then, it's emergency money, it's doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.

If it makes you feel any better, think of it as insurance.

If you invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 five years ago, you'd get a 77-78% return. Amortized over 5 years, that's about ninety-seven cents a day. How much is it worth to you to have cash handy if your card gets stolen and your bank is closed? Is it a dollar a day?

I usually use the cash drawer for more routine emergencies like "omg, I am late to my hairdresser appointment and I forgot to get the cash! - No worries, my dear, just take it from the cash drawer!" or "The gardener says he wants cash, have you got any cash?" The drawer has enough to cover any such inconvenience and gets replenished within a week.

For losing the wallet (or getting the walled chewed up by a puppy, ask me how I know) I have a bunch of cards that I usually use once a twice a year but they can serve as replacement for my regular ones for a while, and if I need to identify myself to the bank (like, to replace the stolen ATM card while the ID is stolen too) I can use my passport. Theoretically it'd be prudent to store a couple of copies off-site in a secure storage too, but in practice I'm too lazy to do that. Maybe I should.

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