Alternate income sources
August 30, 2009
I really like MoneyMonk’s question in this post:
What are my options to having access to emergency cash in midst of a crisis?
She lists the following “order of financial sources.”
1. Emergency Fund
2. Family/friends
3. HELOC
4. Credit card
5. 401k
Mine is a pretty short list, and doesn’t include credit cards because that’s just borrowing trouble that I might not be able to pay back:
1. Sell stuff, freelance work if poss
2. Cash
3. Roth IRA
4. 403(b)/401(a)
5. I have one relative I might be able to borrow money from, but I seriously doubt I’d ask her unless things were dire. She’s not exactly the best money manager, we’re just close enough to give each other money if necessary.
What does your list look like?
1. Sell stuff (but I really don’t have much stuff to sell)
2. Emergency credit card
3. Mom and Dad
Not the best of lists…but hey…if you’re in a crisis and need money, that’s what I would do.
Probably
1. Emergency Funds
2. Credit Cards
3. Sell Stuff
4. Family
Lets hope i never have to find out.
1. Cash (won’t last long)
2. Credit Card
3. Margin Loans
4. Sell stock and mutual funds
5. Borrow from my Mom
We could sell our car as we could get by without it – basically grocery shopping will be a hassle. That would raise $A10k.
I did this exercise years ago on my blog, but i guess it’s time for an update:
0) move, do everything I can to reduce expenses
1) ‘stuff’ funds (new laptop, travel, car)
2) emergency fund
3) pull contributions out of Roth IRA (it’s not that much)
3) family
4) credit cards
5) 401(k)
I have no stuff to sell…
It’s interesting how people prioritize family or retirement–I’d try to borrow from family before I’d borrow from my 401(k)(not that my mom and dad have much) but I’d tap the Roth before family. I guess it depends on your relationships?
(Iin my Sept 23, 2006 post on this I said:
“In the event of an emergency, my proposed plan of attack would be as follows:
1) deplete cushion in my checking account (1 month)
2) deplete emergency fund (3 months)…
3) sell assets/stocks/taxable non-retirement funds (1 month)
4) tap Roth (2 months)
5) tap 401K (1 month)”)