Your Most Expensive "Emergency"?

[ExFlyBoy5]

There have been several threads relating to emergency funds and such. As I sit here and type this, I am having a very large hardwood tree removed to the tune of about $3,000. Granted, this is not really an "emergency" expenditure for us but it got me thinking about what would be a true emergency and how much that might cost. I figure that housewise, the most I would be looking at would be maybe $7-10K for complete AC replacement. Most other high costs would be covered by insurance. So...I am thinking the highest expense that I might have to cover would be dental work.

Anyway...what is the largest unexpected (emergency) expense have you had to cover? So far, I am going with $7,000 for roof replacement (not really unexpected but our timeline got moved up when it started leaking in more than 2 spots).

 

[MichaelB]

Ours was around $35K in medical expenses when my son broke his arm. That was our share of the total cost after 3 surgeries and 3 months of intravenous antibiotic treatment, and included a fair amount of travel. We didn't have that much and were extremely fortunate that my employer gave us an interest free loan.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Hurricane Ike - probably $10K - several thousand in tree work, plus damage to the roof and my $4K standby generator got hit by lighting

easily could have been worse, insurance covered part of it but I had a $6K tropical cyclone deductible


New roof on rental house last year was $7K


Sump installation in basement two years ago was $7K


I guess I spend $7K a year on "emergencies" - I'm looking at a $6500 mustang right now that I'm calling an emergency too

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Ours was around $35K in medical expenses when my son broke his arm. That was our share of the total cost after 3 surgeries and 3 months of intravenous antibiotic treatment, and included a fair amount of travel. We didn't have that much and were extremely fortunate that my employer gave us an interest free loan.

Wow...$35K is a significant amount. I am very thankful that we have EXCELLENT insurance and would most likely not be out of pocket more than $10K a year but, never say never!

 

[Big_Hitter]

Wow...$35K is a significant amount.

yep, that's a true emergency - I hope he had a good recovery

 

[W2R]

Vanguard says that a good size for an emergency fund, is enough to cover 3-6 months' expenses. Or, more during a recession, if employed in a high risk industry, if income isn't steady, or if retired with assets in volatile investments.

I think that's about right and it is consistent with my emergency fund balances in the past. Truthfully I'm not sure what my biggest unexpected/emergency expense was.

 

[Senator]

A driveway replacement, $10K on my own home. Not a true emergency, but certainly necessary. Over 25-30 years, it's not much. A $12K parking lot replacement on a rental.

I am replacing two furnaces next week, ~$4K total. One at my own home, another $2K in August.

Next year, estimated taxes... Another large bill 4x a year.

It comes and goes faster than you expect...

 

[aaronc879]

Right after I left my full time employment(not FIRED) I had to have 2 root canals and 2 crowns with no insurance. I think it cost nearly $4K which is about 1/4 of my typical annual expenses. I think from now on I may just have to tooth pulled and leave a hole unless it's a front tooth. The only large expense I see in the foreseeable future would be an expensive car repair like a new transmission. I can't think of anything else where a four figure+ expense is even possible. My max OOP is $500 and I don't expect to own a home after July 1st.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I think from now on I may just have to tooth pulled and leave a hole unless it's a front tooth.

are you serious?

 

[MRG]

A basement wall caved in. First guy suggested 50k then said he wanted nothing to do with it and took off(he did suggest arson). Found an expert on basement repair who wanted to stay warm for the month of December, he did it for 13k.

 

[Bamaman]

I had one tree die on my property line, and a storm could have dropped it on my neighbor's $1 million house. The tree surgeon came and cut a 30" tree on the other side of my lot--instead of the right tree. I paid another tree guy $1K to take the tree down piece by piece.

Then I had another tree die and it couldn't be dropped without taking down an overhead electrical line. It took a crane to take it down piece by piece.

Another tree at my old house was hanging over the house, and it had to be carefully taken down piece by piece. Two alcoholic down and out tree guys dropped it for $350 but I had to haul away the tree.

We see roof mold on houses all over the place. Owners are replacing the roofs because they're unsightly, but the roofs aren't leaking and are still servicable.

I would think the roof on my new house would be $12K or more to replace.
It's steep, very tall and the back side is probably 28' to the gutters.

One relatively new medium size HVAC system was installed prior to my buying our house.. The second medium size unit is 15 years old and running on borrowed time for my fully finished basement. Fortunately I seldom have to run it--cool enough down there already. It'd cost $6K to replace.

People need to have a separate savings account to accrue money for such expenses, and they should put in a set amount monthly into it.

 

[calmloki]

Had a power outage in the heart area a couple years ago - woke up to a year or so of bills coming in that were in the $150k area. Kaiser Permanente ended up covering all but a tiny amount after sending about a 6" thick file worth of bills and re-bills to us. My gal does do documentation and just kept banging away till it was all cleared up. Kinda stressful in the interim though.

The good thing our lifestyle is that there really haven't been any emergency expenditures - unexpected, yes, but thus far nothing we couldn't cover.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Right after I left my full time employment(not FIRED) I had to have 2 root canals and 2 crowns with no insurance. I think it cost nearly $4K which is about 1/4 of my typical annual expenses. I think from now on I may just have to tooth pulled and leave a hole unless it's a front tooth. The only large expense I see in the foreseeable future would be an expensive car repair like a new transmission. I can't think of anything else where a four figure+ expense is even possible. My max OOP is $500 and I don't expect to own a home after July 1st.

Wow...hate to hear about the dental work. I have some concerns with this since my mother has had the worst luck with dental health even though she has been going WAY above and beyond in trying to keep them healthy. But...I do what I can. Floss everyday, semi-annual cleanings. I don't think there is much more I can do.

As for a car, we have two and only really need one. So, I don't think I would ever have a car emergency unless they both were out of commission at the same time (unlikely). *IF* they both blew up and had to replace one, then I we would probably get something about 5 years old and quite utilitarian in nature (like a Civic or something similar) so it certainly wouldn't break the bank.

 

[aaronc879]

are you serious?

Yes, i'm serious. I'm not rich like you. If it's a back tooth, it doesn't need to be replaced. I have more money than the average american but I still only have very low six-figures. I'm not going to spend $2K every single time I lose a tooth. That's for rich people like you.

 

[MBSC]

Here are some related E-R threads.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/unexpected-expenses-81597.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/unexpected-expenses-after-er-75717.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/unexpected-expenses-43695.html

 

[aja8888]

I guess you could catagorize this as an emergency.

$25,000 for daughter's funeral expenses. She passed away unexpectedly at 22 years old, one month from finishing college. She had no student debt as we paid for the four years and she had a job.

 

[MrLoco]

HAving my deck rebuilt. Though I could have a few boards replaced but the contractor made a lot of sense. Replace a few boards this year....a few more next year, etc. etc. Since we will live here at least another 10 years....decided to tear it down and rebuild the deck. Cost was $10,000. Glad I did it. Looks beautiful.

 

[MrLoco]

I guess you could catagorize this as an emergency.

$25,000 for daughter's funeral expenses. She passed away unexpectedly at 22 years old, one month from finishing college. She had no student debt as we paid for the four years and she had a job.

Wow. Obviously don't know you ....but deep condolences. We come on here to talk finances, retirement, etc. but your post puts it all in perspective. God bless.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I guess you could catagorize this as an emergency.

$25,000 for daughter's funeral expenses. She passed away unexpectedly at 22 years old, one month from finishing college. She had no student debt as we paid for the four years and she had a job.

Sorry for your loss. I suppose my parents had the same cost for my sister's funeral in 1986. She was only 18 and had a full academic scholly to OU. It was a huge blow to our family.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Yes, i'm serious. I'm not rich like you. If it's a back tooth, it doesn't need to be replaced. I have more money than the average american but I still only have very low six-figures. I'm not going to spend $2K every single time I lose a tooth. That's for rich people like you.

rich in what manner? that's kind of presumptuous

 

[jim584672]

I lost a tooth several months ago. Fractured and they could not save it. So looking at 4k-7k for an implant. uugghh.

 

[RE2Boys]

Anyway...what is the largest unexpected (emergency) expense have you had to cover? So far, I am going with $7,000 for roof replacement (not really unexpected but our timeline got moved up when it started leaking in more than 2 spots).

Keying on your phrase largest unexpected emergency expense, I've been very fortunate not to have anything over maybe $6K. I'm interpreting your question as something that could not be reasonably expected or planned for and generally must be taken care of soon.

When our house was hit by lightning and started a fire, I was out several thousand (much on credit cards) until we got in sync with the insurance company reimbursements. Temporary living and house close/security issues.

When we sold our last house in 2004, we had some foundation settling issues that cost about $6K to fix.

And this year we've had a washer, freezer, and dryer die so spent about $1200 unexpectedly......but each was over 20 years old.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Keying on your phrase largest unexpected emergency expense, I've been very fortunate not to have anything over maybe $6K. I'm interpreting your question as something that could not be reasonably expected or planned for and generally must be taken care of soon.

When our house was hit by lightning and started a fire, I was out several thousand (much on credit cards) until we got in sync with the insurance company reimbursements. Temporary living and house close/security issues.

When we sold our last house in 2004, we had some foundation settling issues that cost about $6K to fix.

And this year we've had a washer, freezer, and dryer die so spent about $1200 unexpectedly......but each was over 20 years old.

Yep. I think the thing I have seen (in my life) is that these expenses that might be out of the ordinary aren't overly burdensome. BUT...I have noticed that they seem to come one after another...several thousand dollar "issues" that crop up within a short period of time...which can add up quickly.

I guess you could catagorize this as an emergency.

$25,000 for daughter's funeral expenses. She passed away unexpectedly at 22 years old, one month from finishing college. She had no student debt as we paid for the four years and she had a job.

Ugh..that's got to the worst expense ever...my sincere condolences. *IF* something happened to someone I love and I had to deal with that, it wouldn't be a financial set back since we all wish for very simple burials/cremations. This is NOT to say that that large expense is NOT worth it...that is a VERY personal decision but for us, that should never be a large expense.

 

[Sue J]

I had hip replacement surgery in 2014. It was the first year of Obamacare and we had a high deductible plan with a $6000 deductible. But we had a family plan with the combined deductible thing so our deductible was $12,000. Once we hit the deductible everything else for the rest of the year for both of us was paid at 100% so we crammed in everything we could for the rest of the year.

Total amount attributable to the hip replacement was $10,675. Subtract the $755 tax deduction for the $7550 HSA contribution and our additional $789 Premium Tax Credit (MAGI reduced by HSA deduction) and my hip cost us $9131. Well worth it and we had the cash.

Another one that was an emergency was our furnace and A/C in 2011. We had the original furnace from 1955. It worked as well as it always had but was not very efficient. DH retired in 2010 and we had plans, and savings, for new windows, a new roof and a new furnace and A/C.

We did the windows right after he retired in 2010 and we planned to do the roof next. We woke up one morning in January 2011 with no heat. Our old reliable furnace needed a part from a previous century. So replacing the furnace and A/C became urgent and the roof got pushed back another year.

So while wearing coats in the house made it feel like an emergency we knew it was coming and had the cash set aside. As Dave Ramsey says, "An emergency fund turns a crisis into an inconvenience."

 

[nash031]

Anyway...what is the largest unexpected (emergency) expense have you had to cover? So far, I am going with $7,000 for roof replacement (not really unexpected but our timeline got moved up when it started leaking in more than 2 spots).

I had some plumbing work done about two years ago when our outdoor sprinkler supply pipe ruptured upstream of the isolation valve. It force me to shut water off to the house. The plumber - who seemed trustworthy and laid out all the options for us very clearly - indicated the issue was likely traced to our pressure regulator which wasn't functioning properly and was likely to lead to other piping issues downstream. So not only did we replace the pipe with a proper isolation setup, he replaced our regulator as well as the piping leg associated with it to the tune of $2500.

I still need to get him out to fix our water heater someday...

Our AC install/furnace replacement was more expensive, but wasn't unplanned/emergency.


Reading this thread, we've been pretty lucky so far.