Emergency Fund

We did, actually 12 months, until my husband was laid off in July 2011 through April 2012.

We are building it back up.

We have investments that we can liquidate should he get laid off again.

Absolutely. We actually have a lot more than that but if we couldn't, I would still insist on or want at least a year. My husband is senior enough that a new job takes a while. Seems like a catch 22. Senior with lots of technical and managerial skills and experience should mean more easily employable but it can be the opposite. Fewer positions, he's "over qualified" for others etc. So at his level, it can take a long time to find a new job. If I wasn't working, it would make me nervous.

We did. Then it got used when my husband lost his job. We were building it again when my van was stolen and destroyed in Dec and had to use it to buy a car. Right now we have medical bills but slowly starting all over.

We live below our means and with no debt. Our daughter starts college this fall and she is fully funded for 4 yrs at least and we have our retirement funded as well.... well... yes it is fully funded but in our minds it will never be funded fully....we keep stashing it away.

We are believers in delayed gratification and we save. That is not to say we don't have fun, spend money, eat out a lot, drive luxury cars, etc and have nice things. We are fortunate and part of being fortunate is that we are huge planners.

We started our retirement with first jobs, started daughter's college fund before she was born. It is just something in our blood.

Do we have a specific fund set aside for emergency... no but we have plenty of liquid assets which are easily at reach if we needed to access them and we could easily live at least a year off of the extras.

It is all about prioritizing.

We have the equivalent of one year's worth of expenses (mortgage included) saved and "liquid". If needed, we could access it tomorrow. That does not include investment/ retirement savings.

EDIT: An "emergency fund" is NOT for vacations and other purchases. It's your "oh sh*t" fund that you hope to leave untouched, but can be secure in knowing that you would be OK for ___ period of time should something happen. Hubs needs to grow up a bit and realize that vacations are something you save for short-term and plan on never seeing that money again. Getting laid off comes without much warning and can go on for a very long time.

We did until my husband got laid off last year and we used it. Now we have pretty much nothing left in savings. But we paid off the credit card debt we also found ourselves in after being laid off and he is finally employed. We are going to work on rebuilding it now that the CC debit is gone but it's not as easy with the paycut he took to get reemployed.
Also, your calculations for 6 months may not be as accurate as you think. Had we had nothing but our normal monthly bills we would have easily had 6 months with some buffer.
But, Murphy's Law hit us the entire time we were unemployed. This is what ended up on the credit card. Our washing machine broke that we needed to buy the part for to repair, a window broke that we had to get the glass replaced on, both cars had to be smogged for their renewals and one needed a part to pass, my son injured his ear that led to a 2AM ER visit because it wouldn't stop bleeding followed by all the specialists visits to make sure it healed right and he didn't loose hearing in it, my other son needed new glasses, 2 of my kids needed dental work, both mine and my husband's drivers licenses had to be renewed...and on and on. All these things that aren't in the day to day budget but had to be done all the same. COBRA also cost us just a little shy of $1300 a month, but given the amount of medical we had it did end up being cheaper than the medical had it been totally out of pocket.
I remember the day I was so excited when I realized that my favorite magazine still had another year left before it expired so I didn't have to drop it because we didn't have the money for it!
You can plan all you want, the reality is never the same.

We have a years worth. Plus we have another year in regular savings.

6 months if, God forbid, we should both lose our jobs at the same moment. It would last much longer obviously if only one of us lost his/her job.

That is 'untouchable' money. We have a separate account for vacations, home improvement, etc, that the balance goes up and down on.

I think you would need more than 6 months if one of you is a stay at home parent, because there is obviously less security with only one person in the job market.

Yes, more than 6 months.

We have about a four month fund. But my husband is active duty military, so layoffs aren't a concern for us. Plus, if needed, there are a lot of miscellaneous expenses we could cut out.

Just wanted to make a comment about using IRA's as an emergency fund. I am not a financial planner, but please understand that there are HUGE fees for early withdrawal of any retirement plan funds. It is never a good idea to tap into them.

Perhaps you could consult a financial planner and ask for alternatives to cash accounts (CD's, bonds, money market).... something along those lines?

Great job on your current emergency fund! Keep up the good work!

Not yet. But we're well on our way. We're also nearly debt free. Just one more student loan to go.

We have more than six months and some more stashed away in a few different places. We wanted a large cushion since my husband's the sole wage earner in the family. Like others have said, our emergency fund is only for emergencies. Thankfully, we haven't had to use it yet. *fingers crossed, knocking on wood, etc*

J., even Roth IRAs are subject to penalties for early withdrawal. From the horse's mouth (aka http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch02.html#en_US_2012...: "If you receive a distribution that is not a qualified distribution, you may have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions..." You may want to research other savings options.

Nope. We have never been able to save that much. My husband used to have a pention but when he was without a job for 8 months we had to cash that in and live off of it and now there in nothing there.

No, we're spending it all on our cat's teeth.

Reading below: really? Wow. All the responsible people in America must be on this site. Not that I don't believe you ladies, but statistically, most Americans don't have an emergency fund, and live close to month to month. Interesting.

Does your question include IRAs? We do have some money in IRAs, but not nearly enough to retire on.

Yes. More, actually.
Do you?
Why do you ask?

No, we don't yet. But, we are working on it. We have our $1000 emergency fund and about one month's expenses saved right now. We are trying to get it up to 6 months worth, but it is a struggle. Good luck.

We always planned for a rainy day......not a monsoon which is what hit us a few times over, first my husband's cancer which left huge medical bills, then his lay off which meant a cashed in 401k, bankruptcy, a $1500/month COBRA payment, then a short sale on our home & a 2/3 cut in pay when he did find a job about 15 months later, but cancer free & happy is what we are living today. To me our emergency fund was suitable in some ways, but if something happened right now, we'd work it out some how.

Yes

Not yet, but we're working toward it. Baby steps... ;-)

We have a true "emergency fund" for 6 months, meaning it is not touched unless it is an emergency and really exists in case my husband (main breadwinner) loses his job. Vacations, christmas, exterminator, whatnot are not emergencies.

We have used the fund twice. The first time was when our dog had cancer and we used the money for his surgery and chemo treatments. The second time was when our furnace broke. In the middle of a freakin' blizzard.

In both instances, building the fund back up to the desired level was the priority for any extra cash until it was complete. Only then did we begin making the contributions to the other wants on our lists.

Omg, I just have to say I find it AMAZING that so many people have more than 6 months money saved in an emergency fund!!! I have 1 month :-( but i'm working on it!

Cat's teeth, Rosemud! So funny! I hope you found a cheaper vet!!

no, not liquid, because we used it to buy a house. We will have to build it back up. But my husband would likely never have the full 6 moths in liquid cash either. My husband is self- employed so lay- offs are not possible, only slow downs in business.

Yes, I do. But, then I am thrifty as hell. I wear second hand clothes. My 2007 car is paid off. My second-hand townhome was built in 1976 and its paid off (less than 900 sq feet). When I bought it my sister turned up her nose at the neighborhood. She had a very large home. She now has lost that home and is renting (another very large home).

No,

But I am working toward one. My Ex-Husband was so mad that I Divorced him, he gave me NOTHING EXTRA. The 401k that I was entitled to was used to relocate, and that wasn't much. I had been a SAHM for the 8 years that we were married, and he has only at the Company he is with for 8 years.

My husband is like yours--he hates to just have cash sitting in the bank. We met with a financial advisor last week and they seemed to agree that having actual cash isn't completely necessary, as long as you have other forms of liquidity; mutual funds, 401k, stocks, a home equity line of credit ready to go at any moment.

ETA: Yes, maxing out a Roth IRA is a GREAT idea, since you are right, you can take a loan from it. Our advisor told us that if we have equity in our home, we should go ahead and secure a HE line of credit, just in case we actually have to utilize it some time. Our 401k allows us to take out up to $50k, or 50%, whichever is lower, with virtually no fee. The interest that you have to pay on it goes right back into your 401k account when you repay the loan.