How much $$$ do you keep as an 'emergency buffer'?

LOC is generally higher interest, that's mu issue with LOCs!

 

Love this topic!!!
Since we have paid our home off we have built quiet a CASH buffer.

We have saved around 140K... in cash but we will be investing the 40K shortly.

 

Oh gosh why not take a Round the World trip? There's only so much you can do when you're younger.

 

We are definitely well under the average of posters here in terms of our "buffer" - realistically we have very little at the moment. We made a choice to use our cash/share holdings in our last investment and are still rebuilding - and very slowly.

It's definitely a risk, but a calculated one. We probably have another 3 years or so before we start to feel comfortable again in terms of our buffer.

 

I'm comfortable with having 6mths salary saved in an offset account against PPOR in case anything happens to my job. That way I can live and cover any unexpected property costs whilst I search for a new job.

 

It all depends on the risk you want to take at any point in time, and what opportunities are available.

At my lowest point a few years ago I've had probably had less than 6 months' cash for interest/repayments, and this doesn't include living expenses. So if I lost my job and my places went vacant, I'd have only a few months to sort it out. At my highest cash cycle in time - which is probably now - there's probably enough for 10 years interest and repayment, assuming places were vacant.

Not too sure about the point of lazy money. If you don't invest your cash in the long-term, it'll probably depreciate in value. But not having cash when it counts means you can't act quickly if the right opportunities come up.

 

There is not really a one size fits all as many factors should be considered.

Job/Industry is however is the biggest. If you do not work in a specialized field or there are alternatives to your work then you should be confident of finding a job quickly. I for example work in IT and have a preferred role but if I were to lose it I could quite easily take say a level 2 helpdesk position. Sure it would be a significant pay cut but it would ride out any storm.
Someone with a more specialized skill set however may take much longer to find work and hence require a bigger buffer.

 

Have about 100k in high interest savings account under non working wife's name as ppor is practically paid off. I think its better than an IP offset account with reduced interest payments.

 

Thanks, @hobo - you're making me feel like I'm not the only overly-exposed person out there. Some people on this thread have got huge amounts of money put aside (from where I stand) - I can't imagine saving that much (my income just doesn't allow the ability to put that much aside).

I put a bit more aside each week, but the idea of having a year's worth of payments just 'sitting there' is a very foreign thing my brain to be able to process.