PLAY PODCASTS
24 - Emergency Fund Sizing for the Enterprising Investor
Episode 24

24 - Emergency Fund Sizing for the Enterprising Investor

The DIY Investing Podcast · Trey Henninger: Private Investor, Portfolio Manager, Business Strategist, and Value Investing Expert

April 28, 201919m 6s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (pdcn.co) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Please review and rate the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast and found it helpful, please consider leaving me a review. Your feedback helps me to improve the podcast and grow the show's audience.

Support the Podcast on Patreon

This is a podcast supported by listeners like you. If you'd like to support this podcast and help me to continue creating great investing content, please consider becoming a Patron at DIYInvesting.org/Patron.

You can find out more information by listening to episode 11 of this podcast.

Emergency Fund Show Outline

The full show notes for this episode are available at https://www.diyinvesting.org/Episode24

Emergency Fund Sizing:
  • Recommended Size: 1 year
  • Mainstream Alternatives:
    • 3 months
    • 6 months
    • $1,000
    • $10,000
Why?
  • Liquidity is all-important for investors
  • Value investing requires managing risk and accepting volatility
  • Lack of liquidity can cause you to sell investments when your stocks are undervalued and priced too low
  • A strong emergency fund protects you from this possibility
Where should you store it? (Hint: Maximize Safety)

You should maximize the safety of your emergency fund. Don't worry about maximizing the rate of return you receive.

Store your emergency fund in a government guaranteed account. This can be with either an FDIC-insured savings account. I believe Ally Bank is a good option.

A great alternative is TreasuryDirect.gov where you can lend money directly to the US government. Emergency Fund money would obviously need to be invested only in short-term government bonds. (3 months or less to maturity)