How much post tax cash do you keep around?

[SecondCor521]

Ok, so I want to ask a slight twist on this question.

In reading through the posts on this thread it looks like most everyone here who says they have "cash" has it in an account somewhere. Fair enough.
And there were a few snickers about the Dave Ramsey caller who said his elderly father had $500k in actual cash on hand.

That leads to my question:
If you have an actual "Bank Holiday" where you really CANNOT get to your "cash" in any institution but you need currency what kind of shape are you in? i.e. how much actually currency do you have or do you think you should have on-hand for such an emergency?

I reject the premises of the question, but I'll answer it anyway.

First, I am 51 and have never had an emergency that required cash. Even further, I think the likelihood of such an emergency requiring cash drops over time because more and more places accept electronic payment, whether that be credit card or Paypal or Venmo or bitcoin.

Second, my bank doesn't have bank holidays that last more than a day or two. To the best of my recollection, my bank has never been closed for more than a day in my 51 years.

To answer your question, I have $5 in literal cash.

The most common example I see cited for having hundreds to thousands of dollars in cash on hand is for buying "good deals" at estate sales or garage sales or off Craigslist. To each their own, but I don't do that and if I did would not consider it to fall under the definition of "emergency".

 

[rk911]

...That leads to my question:

If you have an actual "Bank Holiday" where you really CANNOT get to your "cash" in any institution but you need currency what kind of shape are you in? i.e. how much actually currency do you have or do you think you should have on-hand for such an emergency?

very very good shape.

 

[38Chevy454]

Guess I'm running with scissors because I only have < 0.5% in cash.

 

[targatom2019]

I keep 7 years of expenses in cash, 12x in bonds and 45x in equities.

 

[scrabbler1]

Ok, so I want to ask a slight twist on this question.

In reading through the posts on this thread it looks like most everyone here who says they have "cash" has it in an account somewhere. Fair enough.
And there were a few snickers about the Dave Ramsey caller who said his elderly father had $500k in actual cash on hand.

That leads to my question:
If you have an actual "Bank Holiday" where you really CANNOT get to your "cash" in any institution but you need currency what kind of shape are you in? i.e. how much actually currency do you have or do you think you should have on-hand for such an emergency?

Very rarely in my life have I used or gotten cash only during an emergency or potential emergency. Once was during the 2003 Northeast USA/Canada blackout. I needed to buy a cigarette lighter to light some candles. The local mini-mart was open but took cash only, of course. The lighter cost 75 cents. Another time was when Y2K arrived, January 1, 2000. I took out some extra cash (about $160) in case there was some banking screw-up. There wasn't.

I keep about $50 in my wallet and another $100-$150 in my apartment, refilling my wallet as needed. I don't spend nearly as much cash these days compared to as recently as 3 years ago when I was still square dancing (admission fees were cash only) 2-3 times per week.

 

[5Miler]

I used to keep about 3 years expenses in a money market fund but now that is down to 1 year which funds my monthly automatic withdrawal. I keep an additional $600 or so in my gun safe for rainy days and currently have $15K extra in checking as travel money seems to just accumulate unspent. I'm now 67.5 but still can't make myself pull the trigger yet on SS so I keep that in my back pocket in case times get tough.

 

[NW-Bound]

Curious what percent other have in post tax cash accounts in their portfolio?

Also, part of me wants to invest this cash in SOMETHING, but looking at CD rates and bank saving rates, why bother?

I have about 6.3% of post-tax cash, squirreled away in TreasuryDirect I bonds.

I have a lot more pre-tax cash or cash equivalents in retirement funds, some in my wife's 401k stable value fund, but much of it in a short-term T-fund that I use as collateral to write cash-covered puts.

I see your point about having accessible cash that you can tap without triggering a big tax bill. At this point, even my TreasuryDirect account has a lot of tax-deferred interest. It's 36% to be exact.

If I need to raise a lot of cash for a large expenditure, I guess I can sell stocks in my Roth accounts, and spend that. My Roth accounts are 7.5% of investable assets.

PS. My Roth accounts are 100% equity. If I need to liquidate them, then I will buy more stocks in other accounts to maintain my preferred AA.

 

[dcoy]

I keep 7 years of expenses in cash, 12x in bonds and 45x in equities.

Is that this total? Meaning you have 7 years expenses in cash + 12x expenses in bonds + 45x in equities? Or is each separate?

 

[srblanco7]

right now we're at 1.9% cash. we're stockpiling as we work to build that up to a couple of years of expenses prior to retirement.

 

[mickeyd]

Officially I am about 10% cash (MMF, Ally savings, CD) but I am actually a bit more than that when I factor the taxable STB account that I consider an additional cash-stash. What am I doing with soooo much cash? Waiting for the right time to spend it, I guess. Cruise lines are shut down, Covid scare has gotten my attention and I realize that the safest place to be is home in my CCRC. I will spend it later on, meantime I will keep adding to my cash-stash.

 

[kjpliny]

We keep about $80k-$100k cash at the local credit union just in case of family emergencies, home projects, new cars, etc. The last big project was a home reno that cost about $140k cash. We have no debt. Investments are all in pre-tax retirement or Roth accounts.

 

[RobbieB]

From 100 t0 200 grand in the checking account at the bank and around 10 grand in green in the safe.

 

[Sunset]

Very rarely in my life have I used or gotten cash only during an emergency or potential emergency. Once was during the 2003 Northeast USA/Canada blackout. I needed to buy a cigarette lighter to light some candles. The local mini-mart was open but took cash only, of course. The lighter cost 75 cents. Another time was when Y2K arrived, January 1, 2000. I took out some extra cash (about $160) in case there was some banking screw-up. There wasn't.

I keep about $50 in my wallet and another $100-$150 in my apartment, refilling my wallet as needed. I don't spend nearly as much cash these days compared to as recently as 3 years ago when I was still square dancing (admission fees were cash only) 2-3 times per week.

Exactly what I was thinking about.
Turned out I needed gas as I was going to drive 500 miles, well the gas stations were closed as they need electricity to power the pumps.

So I didn't use any cash that time.

During Y2K, I took out a few thousand in advance... didn't use it.

Now I have about $100-$200 cash, can't see any emergency where I would need it and not get out of an ATM.
For post-Nuclear attack, I have guns, as cash will be worthless.

 

[braumeister]

Now I have about $100-$200 cash, can't see any emergency where I would need it and not get out of an ATM.
For post-Nuclear attack, I have guns, as cash will be worthless.

When the aliens invade Earth, they will dump us all into the food processor unless we can buy our freedom with Intergalactic Credit Vouchers. I'm trying to accumulate a stash of them, but it's not easy.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Ok, so I want to ask a slight twist on this question.

In reading through the posts on this thread it looks like most everyone here who says they have "cash" has it in an account somewhere. Fair enough.
And there were a few snickers about the Dave Ramsey caller who said his elderly father had $500k in actual cash on hand.

That leads to my question:
If you have an actual "Bank Holiday" where you really CANNOT get to your "cash" in any institution but you need currency what kind of shape are you in? i.e. how much actually currency do you have or do you think you should have on-hand for such an emergency?

A couple/few hundred $ max.

However, in terms of a real "Bank Holiday" instead of cash I have:
Food, Fuel, Water, other necessities to last for a good period of time.

After all, what good is paper money if banks were truly shut down?

 

[MichaelB]

When the aliens invade Earth, they will dump us all into the food processor unless we can buy our freedom with Intergalactic Credit Vouchers. I'm trying to accumulate a stash of them, but it's not easy.

Twinkies are the thing for bargaining with aliens.