So I got hit by a car on July 14th biking home from work. Bent the bike frame and broke my leg, tore my ACL. I have been semi retired for several years now and have a job where I work by the hour and so there is no compensation or vacation pay for lost days. For years, I have socked away 3 months of expenses in cash. So far due to my reduced costs of sitting at home and being less mobile, I have been eating less and for other reasons, the stash is lasting much longer. So I think my expected 3 month stash should be able to last for over 5 months at this rate.... Anyway I have always looked at the emergency fund as wasted potential as it is sitting in cash for all these years, toying with the idea of investing it so it could be put to more use. Since it is not very much cashola I never got around to it and so it was just sitting there in the account when I went to the hospital... It has been SO nice not having to shuffle funds around to deal with all this and I am really glad that the cash was so easy to access, even with the loss potential that could have had if it was invested. The convenience of having one less thing to worry about at a time like this is worth every penny I have sacrificed by not investing the cash and have it less liquid...
Anyway, so I am fine, gonna be laid up for a while longer, glad the emergency fund is there, glad it will last much longer than I expected.... and I can't even begin to imagine being in a position like this without an emergency fund, living paycheck to paycheck, and monthly bills from financing too big a house and a car, ect. I could not sleep at night living like that.........
So I guess I urge each of you to think about what type of plan you have for an emergency of any kind BEFORE you need it. Having things in place and not having to think about it AFTER the accident has been invaluable.
Cheers,
Scott
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