Thanks, just out of curiosity what would that number be and where would you keep it for liquidity sake? I was under the impression that most mustachians viewed emergency funds as essentially wasteful employees?
Also DCA would not enable me to buy into the admiral shares version of a new fund due to not having met the minimum requirements, in this case 10K. The lower expense ratio is on the table.
I suggested
value averaging, which is different from
dollar cost averaging, to mitigate buying the funds at a peak. You have solved much of your own when to buy problem if you insist on starting with Admiral funds. You can buy a fund and add to it; when you have enough to change to Admiral, Vanguard offers that choice. The expense ratio difference for a short period of time is not that much, IMO. Have you formulated a written asset allocation plan? Bogleheads or William Bernstein books can help with that, if you are interested.
For an emergency fund, I keep 2-3 times our monthly expenses in a checking account; it helps with cash flow and general house maintenance issues. I use credit cards (mostly a Fidelity AE) for the points and to help with monitoring expenses. For bigger things, I might use my home equity line of credit, but not often. Best wishes.
