Emergency fund - real world examples

mebu60

boingy said:

Nebulous2 said:

Having retired earlier than intended, moved to a cheaper home and put a public sector pension into payment,  we find ourselves with far more cash than we have ever had in our lives. We had big ambitions to renovate our home, draw on our capital to see us through to state pension age, and to travel extensively. More or less all of those needs for cash have gone. We've scaled back our renovations, I've taken a part-time job, which means we haven't needed to draw on our capital, and caring responsibilities have meant that we haven't travelled as much as planned. 

We're sitting on about three years expenditure, or seven years expenditure if we deduct my DB pension, primarily in premium bonds. 

I don't regret committing so much to cash, things might have taken a different route, but it was almost certainly over-provision from the start. 

 

Having retired early myself I know exactly where you are coming from. It takes a while to realise you have "enough money". The reason you have enough money is that you have been prudent and sensible in your working life. It's really hard to start spending that carefully saved money. If you find a way, let me know!

11 years into early retirement, qualify for State Pension next year, still not done any big travels / renovations / upgraded car / etc despite having sufficient funds through downsizing etc. Breaking those sensible proven good habits is incredibly hard! 

subjecttocontract

VNX said:

jimjames said:

Barkin said:

Emergency fund?  I just have 'funds'... 

When 34% of people have no savings or less than £1000, having any savings whatever you call them is a worthwhile thing.

• Almost two-thirds (65%) of people believe they wouldn’t be able to last three months without borrowing money.

https://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts/savings-statistics

This is quite sad/depressing to read 

It isn't for me...

* There a cost of living crisis....increased costs of food, rents, mortgages, energy and everything else.
* Large groups don't earn much above minimum wages.
* They struggle just to pay the bills and keep their heads above water.
* Some of those who do earn a bit more have very little idea of how best to manage it.

It's entirely expected.

Modern life......mobile phones, monthly media payments, eating out regularly, holidays, peer pressure etc all contribute to lack of savings.

Bostonerimus1

mebu60 said:

boingy said:

Nebulous2 said:

Having retired earlier than intended, moved to a cheaper home and put a public sector pension into payment,  we find ourselves with far more cash than we have ever had in our lives. We had big ambitions to renovate our home, draw on our capital to see us through to state pension age, and to travel extensively. More or less all of those needs for cash have gone. We've scaled back our renovations, I've taken a part-time job, which means we haven't needed to draw on our capital, and caring responsibilities have meant that we haven't travelled as much as planned. 

We're sitting on about three years expenditure, or seven years expenditure if we deduct my DB pension, primarily in premium bonds. 

I don't regret committing so much to cash, things might have taken a different route, but it was almost certainly over-provision from the start. 

 

Having retired early myself I know exactly where you are coming from. It takes a while to realise you have "enough money". The reason you have enough money is that you have been prudent and sensible in your working life. It's really hard to start spending that carefully saved money. If you find a way, let me know!

11 years into early retirement, qualify for State Pension next year, still not done any big travels / renovations / upgraded car / etc despite having sufficient funds through downsizing etc. Breaking those sensible proven good habits is incredibly hard! 

I retired at 52 and it took a few months to switch from the routine of getting a paycheck to spending from my own retirement pot. However it was made easier as I have money coming in monthly from a rental I own and at 55 I started receiving a DB pension. These cover my spending so I haven't taken anything from my drawdown pot in the last decade.

FIREDreamer

My emergency fund is in NS&I index linked savings certificates and premium bonds. May have to rethink the former given the 3 or 5 year lock-in from their next renewals.

newatc

What is I regard as emergency money is that which doubles up for my not too savvy wife to easily get her hands on if I depart suddenly. Thus
Nationwide (our main bank) Triple Access £25k 4.25%
Nationwide Flex Saver £2k 3.25%
Halifax Bonus Saver £5k 4.02%
Yorkshire Building Society Easy Access £20k 4.45% (a little more difficult for her)

We also have an additional fallback in the form of premium bonds .

trickydicky14

parchedpeas said:

Halifax and Club Lloyds Regular Savers are instant access if required, so I fill them up too. The rest is in Santander Edge Saver and Barclays Rainy Day, and Tandem with the top-up bonus.

Pretty much all of these give near instant access, and all are 5% aer or more.

I think you will find Halifax RS has to be closed if you want access to your cash, Lloyds is easy access.

Nurse2047

All our emergency savings are in NS&I PBS of £6100. Have some slush funds in YBS and Skipton that use for holidays etc so aim to keep adding to the money in PBS. 

stuart746

We have approx £8k in an easy access account paying 4.3%. For emergencies. Emergencies are unplanned expenses, hence anything we could imagine spending money on is kept separately in a sinking fund in our main bank account … roughly £3k slush fund for car repairs, home etc. This helps me sleep well at night! I’m not a believer in chasing higher interest rates or moving money back and forth for a few extra pounds… seems like a waste of time and effort disproportionate to the gain, and especially when larger money decisions (e.g. mortgage interest rates; investment decisions; income) are more important longer term for building wealth.

ircE

I have about 1 month's worth of essential expenses spread in £200-250 chunks across a few different places, including hard cash.

The bulk of my savings (5-6 months' worth of essential expenses) are being drip fed from a 5.6% account to regular savers paying 7%, 7.5% and 8%.

I add £25 to Nationwide's Start 2 Save @ 5.50% every month (haven't won a draw yet but the final one's in Feb, here's hoping).

The rest (tiny percentage) is in various accounts with the minimum operating balances to maintain membership.

The aim is to get the whole fund up to 12 months' worth of expenses but it's not a particularly urgent goal, I'm happy with the current level.

surreysaver

trickydicky14 said:

parchedpeas said:

Halifax and Club Lloyds Regular Savers are instant access if required, so I fill them up too. The rest is in Santander Edge Saver and Barclays Rainy Day, and Tandem with the top-up bonus.

Pretty much all of these give near instant access, and all are 5% aer or more.

I think you will find Halifax RS has to be closed if you want access to your cash, Lloyds is easy access.

You can still access it though. You just need to close the account to do so