Episode #69: Mailbag – Emergency Funds, Market Crashes, And Retirement Planning

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Today’s Smart Money Question:

We’ll feature your listener questions from the Mailbag on emergency funds, market crashes, and the retirement planning process.

(Click the featured times below to jump forward in the episode)

Here Are Just A Handful Of Things You’ll Learn:

6:38 – Mailbag: Hans Asks How To Better Steward His Emergency Fund. 

  • Hans wrote in complaining his emergency fund wasn’t earning enough interest. He’d like to know whether there’s a better place for it than the bank. Well, it really depends on how safe you’d like this money to be. After all, your emergency fund isn’t really supposed to be an investment. Rather, it’s supposed to be kept liquid and ready to use at a moment’s notice. Therefore, it isn’t really a vehicle for growth. However, it could be that you have too much money in your emergency fund. Most advisors recommend you keep anywhere from three to six months worth of expenses in this fund. That way, if you lose your job, fall ill, etc, you’ll have the money to pay for any costs you incur. If you’re keeping more than the recommended amount in your emergency fund, it could be that you need to give some of that money a different purpose.

11:06 – Mailbag: Donnie Asks About The Next Market Crash. 

  • Donnie is convinced the market will crash at any point. However, he’s also been convinced of that for the past four years and acknowledges he could be wrong. The truth is that we don’t know when the next crash will occur. We know it will happen, but we don’t have a crystal ball. However, we can prepare you for the next crash in your plan. You don’t have to live in fear, and you don’t have to put all your money in cash to protect yourself. There are ways to diversify your portfolio in an effort to continue to grow your money while protecting it from market losses.

[22:40] – Mitch Asks How Long The Retirement Planning Process Takes. 

  • The retirement planning process should be ongoing. It starts with several initial appointments that might occur over a span of a few months to get a plan in place. However, you should continue to meet with your advisor regularly once your plan is put together and even once you retire. After all, life happens and plans change. It’s important to update your plan to your needs along the way. You can’t just “set it and forget it” so to speak.

Other Smart Money Points: 

  • [15:57] – Getting To Know You. In our new feature segment, we ask Matt what he’s an expert in outside of the financial world.

The Answer:

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The host: Matt Hausman – Contact – Resources – Call: 610-719-3003

 

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