Keeping Cash Money Around

Americans are concerned about a market crash or impending recession, according to a new Allianz Life Quarterly Market Perceptions Study — and 54% say they’re keeping more money than they should in cash because of recession concerns.


That could be costly. “While you might not feel like you’re losing money by holding it in cash, over the long term you will lose out,” says Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life. “Money kept in cash or in low interest bearing accounts isn’t keeping up with the rising cost of living,” says LaVigne. 

Plus, with some savings accounts paying 5% or more — see some of the best-paying savings accounts here — there’s no reason to have cash sitting in a low-paying vehicle.

How much should you have in cash?
You certainly need some money in cash in case of an emergency, pros say, and this MarketWatch Picks guide details how much. “At least 6 to 12 months of an emergency fund is adequate,” says certified financial planner Joe Favorito at Landmark Wealth Management. 

You might need less if you’re in a stable industry and not worried about job loss, or a two-income household where you could live on one income; you might need more if you’re in a single-income household or in an industry plagued by layoffs.

While it’s generally a good idea to have a liquid emergency fund as well as some cash on hand for other expenses, you don’t want to have a stash of cash tucked underneath your mattress. Especially not when many savings accounts are paying higher rates than they have in 15 or so years.

“Rates are high enough that with a little shopping around, people can often get more than a 5% return in a simple money market account and still have all the liquidity they need,” says certified financial planner Bobbi Rebell, founder of Financial Wellness Strategies.  READ MORE...

Retirement and Beyond

When will you retire...  if ever?

My father retired at age 62 with a pension from the Federal Government (that now is no longer) and a pension from the US Military with the pay of Naval Caption just under an Admiral...  not bad for being in the Reserves for 26 years.  His retirement was more than I ever made annually...  

I retired at age 67 with about $500,000 in the bank...  no pension from any company...  only Social Security...  however, my wife and I combined our Social Security which helped a lot and we had eliminated our debt over a decade ago...  However, we had a small investment that paid us about $1,000 each month +/- so we never had to pull any money out of our savings...  plus I taught about 6 night classes for a local university...

The odds are that if you can retire at all, it will be at the age of 70...  and, no doubt 75 for your children and their children as retirement age creeps up to 80.

Social Security will be gradually reduced over the years but it will still be available possible in the neighborhood of 50-75% of what it is today.  The average social security check is about $1,500.

Advances in medical technology will enable people to live longer and longer so one will either need to keep working or make sure that they have enough in savings or income coming to them from other sources.

It would not surprise me at all that by the year 2050, our life span will increase from right around 80 to right around 100... and, by the year 3000, it will be 120 to 150...

However, by the year 3000, there is also a good possibility that we will not longer be living on this planet we call earth...  which is difficult for some of us who care to comprehend.

• How much money will you need in retirement?
• Will you be debt free?
• How much money will you have saved or invested?
• How many jobs will you have had?
• How many homes and vehicles?
• How is your health...  do you eat healthy and exercise?
• How do you manage stress outside of drinking alcohol?
• How will you compensate for inflation?
• How long will it take for prices to double?

Back in the 1960's, I paid $.18/gallon for gasoline and cigarettes were $.25/pack and a hamburger was $.15 and wages were $.75/hour...  that was over 50 years ago...  and, you know what the prices of things are today...  can you imagine what they will be like in 50 years from today?  I was 23 years of age 50 years ago...

Economic Forecasting

According to a report from FOX NEWS this morning, our economy will not completely rebound from the COVID-19 Pandemic until the END OF 2021... that's almost 20 months from now...  much can happen during the next 20 months...  and, if it takes these next 20 months, many of our financial investments will become substantially damaged even when and after the economy does, in fact, rebound.

During my working career, I never much gave a rat's ass to whether investment increased or decreased as I was just concerned about my own salary and how much money I was able to save...  and, while that may seem very narrow minded on my behalf, the money I saved never made it into the stock market...   I based all my goals on non-interest bearing accounts which always meant that they would always do a little bit better than my predictions.

Now that I am taking money out of my accounts, I still do not plan for interest earned, but on a simple reduction of the funds and how long those funds will last.  Interest will only delay the inevitable...  that is to say, the depletion of the account.

Right now, those monies will pay our bills until both of us have reached the age of 97 regardless of the interest earned...  so, economic forecasting is of minimal concern to us and our livelihood.