Six Months of Emergency Cash? Get Real.
It's conventional wisdom: In case you get hit with a financial emergency, you should keep six months of living expenses tucked away in conservative investments held in your taxable account.
This is a joke, right?
Sure, if you are rolling in dough and you aren't having any problem meeting your financial goals, by all means stuff heaps of cash into a savings account or a money-market fund.
But for the rest of us, this advice borders on the ridiculous. Folks are struggling to make the mortgage payment, save for retirement and pay for their kids' college education.
Instead, however, we are being told to build up this enormous emergency reserve and then leave the money idling in low-returning investments. Let's face it: This just doesn't make any sense.
Taking Precautions
"In a perfect world, people would have a huge stash of emergency cash, they'd have 150% of the retirement savings they need and they'd have enough to send their kids to Harvard," says Sal Miceli, a certified financial planner in Littleton, Colo. "But the reality is, people don't have the money."
So what should you do? Maybe it's time to ditch the whole notion of a separate emergency fund. Instead, start with these four steps.
First, think of your emergency money and retirement nest egg as one big pot of money. Second, build up the savings in your taxable account, using this money to buy tax-efficient stock funds such as market-tracking index funds and tax-managed funds.
Third, allocate at least part of your 401(k) plan or individual retirement account to bonds. Fourth, set up a home-equity line of credit.
Putting Out Fires
What is the point of all this? Suppose you suddenly need $15,000 to pay a hefty hospital bill. If stocks are flying high, that's no problem. You can sell part of your taxable account's stock-fund holdings and pay the hospital that way.
What if we were in the middle of a brutal bear market? You would still sell $15,000 of your taxable account's stock-fund shares. But this, of course, seems foolish. After all, selling shares at fire-sale prices isn't exactly smart investing.
With that in mind, you would immediately want to repurchase the stocks in your retirement account, by shifting $15,000 from bonds to stocks. Result: You have maintained your stock exposure, you have lightened up on bonds and you have the $15,000 to cover the hospital bill.
Meanwhile, view your home-equity line of credit as an additional source of emergency cash. With any luck, you won't ever use it.
But suppose you get hit with a truly costly financial emergency or, for some reason, you don't want to tap your investment portfolio. The credit line gives you an alternative source of cash.
"Even if you don't agree that you should use the line of credit as part of your emergency reserve, having it is always a good idea," Mr. Miceli reckons. "It's an extra layer of protection."
Helping Yourself
The above strategy should bolster your portfolio's overall performance, because you no longer have a huge wad of money languishing in low-returning investments. "Having $30,000 sitting in your bank account earning 1% for 40 years is absurd, particularly if you're struggling to save for retirement," Mr. Miceli contends.
The strategy, however, won't just boost your returns. As an added bonus, you will also enjoy a fistful of tax advantages.
For instance, the tax-efficient stock funds in your taxable account shouldn't kick off large taxable distributions -- and those distributions you do receive will probably get nicked at the long-term capital gains or dividend-tax rate.
These days, that means paying a maximum of just 15% to Uncle Sam. You will likely also pay that rate if you have an emergency and have to liquidate part of your taxable account's stock-fund holdings.
By contrast, you wouldn't want to pay for a financial emergency by dipping into your retirement accounts. That would be likely to trigger both income taxes and tax penalties, which together might snag 40% of any withdrawal.
That said, retirement accounts can be a great investment vehicle, in part because they offer tax-deferred growth. Thanks to that tax deferral, these accounts are the best place to hold your bonds, including the bonds needed for your emergency-money strategy.
As you probably know, the interest from taxable bonds gets dunned at ordinary-income-tax rates -- and that will be true whether you hold your bonds in a regular taxable account or a retirement account. Nonetheless, if you stash your bonds in a retirement account, you should amass greater wealth.
The reason: You get to defer the tax bill. Until you pay that tax bill, you can use the money earmarked for Uncle Sam to earn additional investment gains.
Even the home-equity line of credit has tax advantages. If you tap the credit line, you should be able to deduct the mortgage interest on your tax return. I am no fan of second mortgages. But if you have to borrow, it's probably your best bet.
Danger Ahead
Sound appealing? There are a few drawbacks with the strategy. For starters, folks may use it as an excuse not to save.
They like the idea of skipping the six-month emergency reserve. But I worry they may never get around to buying the tax-efficient stock funds in their taxable accounts.
Similarly, while a home-equity line of credit is a useful financial backstop, I fear families will start viewing their home as a piggybank. Remember, the credit line is there to pay for emergencies, not next summer's vacation.
Indeed, you shouldn't use the above strategy as an excuse to ignore upcoming costs. Let's say you plan to buy a new car within the next three years.
This isn't an emergency expense. Rather, the new car is a known cost -- and you should save for it by socking away money in a short-term bond fund or a money-market fund. 换个角度看应急资金
传统观点认为，你应该在应税帐户的保守投资中划出一部分作为应急之用，并保证它足够支付你 6 个月的生活费，以防备可能遇到的财务危机。
这是开玩笑，对吗？
这当然是一句戏言，但前提是你腰缠万贯，从来不用为钱操心，并且还千方百计地将大量现金放入储蓄帐户或是货币市场基金中。
不过，对我们普通人而言，这种观点有些可笑。为了偿还抵押贷款、积攒退休金、供孩子上大学，我们已经被弄得疲惫不堪。
然而，我们却被告知还要准备如此一笔应急资金，并把它们放在低回报率的投资上。让我们现实一点吧，这样做毫无意义。
防患于未然
“在一个完美的世界里，人们应该准备大量的应急现金，他们的退休存款是实际需要额的 150% ，他们有足够的钱送孩子上哈佛 (Harvard) ”，科罗拉多州注册财务策划师米塞利 (Sal Miceli) 说，“然而现实是，人们并没有那么多钱。”
那么你应该怎么办呢？也许现在是时候彻底抛弃建立单独的应急资金的观点了。不如尝试从以下四点开始做起吧。
首先，将你的应急资金和退休储蓄看作是同一类资金；其次，在你的应税帐户中增加存款，使用这些资金来购买节税的股票基金，比如追踪市场走势的指数基金和节税基金等。
第三，你的 401(k) 计划或个人退休帐户中至少要有一部分投资是放在债券上；第四，建立房屋净值信用额度。
消除危机
所有这些的核心是什么呢？假设你突然需要支付一笔 15,000 美元的医疗费用，如果这时股价飞涨，那就不存在什么问题，你可以卖出应税帐户中部分股票基金来支付这笔费用。
如果正巧碰上股市疲软时期又该怎么办呢？你仍然可以卖出应税帐户中的股票基金来筹集 15,000 美元，但这样做显然并不明智，毕竟低价卖出股票并非聪明的投资之举。
明白这一点后，你应该立即在你的退休帐户中回购这些股票，办法就是将 15,000 美元的债券转为股票。结果是：你的股票头寸并没有发生变化，债券头寸减少了，同时获得了 15,000 美元支付医疗费用。
同时，将房屋净值信用额度作为应急资金的一个额外来源。你运气好的话也许永远不会用到它。
不过，假设你因某些原因陷入了一次十分严重的财务危机，你又不想动用投资组合。这时房屋净值信用额度就会成为你的一个现金来源。
“即便你并不认同将这种信用额度作为应急储备的观点，但有它总是一个不错的主意”，米塞利说，“它为你增加了又一层保护。”
自力更生
以上策略应该能够提高你投资组合的整体表现，因为你不再需要将大量资金投向低回报率的投资中。“ 40 年如一日让 30,000 美元躺在银行里睡大觉、赚取可怜的 1% 的收益，这样做太荒谬了，特别是你还要为退休储蓄而四处奔忙，”米塞利说。
这种策略不仅能够提高你投资回报，还能让你享受到税收方面的不少好处。
与此相反，在应对财务危机时不应动用退休帐户，因为你可能要为此支付所得税和税收罚金，两者相加可能会占到退休帐户资金提取额的 40% 。
退休帐户可以是一个非常好的投资渠道，部分就是因为它提供了递税成长。由于享受了税收递延，这些帐户是你持有债券的最佳地点，包括那些用于应急策略的债券。
你可能也知道，从应税债券获得的利息还会受到普通所得税税率的侵蚀，无论你是在普通应税帐户中还是在退休帐户中持有债券都是这样。不管怎样，如果你把债券放在退休帐户中，你应能积累更多的财富。
原因是：你享受到了税收递延。在纳税前，你还可以利用山姆大叔的这些钱获得额外的投资回报。
即便是房屋净值信用额度也有税收方面的优势。如果你使用了信用额度，你应该能在税收返回中扣除抵押贷款利息。我并不喜欢第二按揭，不过如果你不得不进行借贷的话，这可能是你最好的选择。
前方的危险
听起来十分诱人吗？这种策略也有几个不足之处。首先，人们可能会利用这种策略作为不储蓄的借口
他们喜欢这种不需要准备应急资金的想法。不过，我担心他们可能永远也不会在应税帐户中买入节税的股票基金。
同样，虽然房屋净值信用额度是一个有用的财务帮手，我担心人们可能会开始把他们的房子视作存钱罐。记住，房屋净值信用额度是用作应急之需，而不是为你明年的夏季渡假买单。
实际上，你不应将上述策略作为你忽略即将发生的成本的借口。比如说你计划在未来三年内购买一辆新轿车。
这并不是一项应急支出，新轿车是一项已知的成本，你应该在短期债券基金或货币市场基金中准备出一笔钱，作为买车之用。
