建立应急储蓄基金

车祸、房屋火灾和裁员有什么共同之处? They’re all unexpected, uncontrollable, urgent life events that occur in our world every day. What you can control about these situations is the emergency money you save to prevent these situations from having a negative impact on your financial status.

为应急基金做预算

根据 美联储在美国，十分之四的美国人无法支付400美元的紧急费用. Setting aside cash for unexpected events is important for long term stability and can also give you some peace of mind, 考虑到生活是多么出人意料.
The rule of thumb is to save at least three to six months of living expenses in an emergency savings fund. The amount of emergency cash you should budget for depends on your lifestyle, 提交的费用, 住户人数及收入.

我需要多少应急现金?

Here’s a simple way to figure out how much emergency money you should budget:

第一步:计算出你每个月必须支付的总费用

These expenses include everything from your rent or a mortgage payment, 公用事业公司, 汽车分期付款, 气体, 食品杂货, 电话账单, 以及其他按月支付的必要款项. 在这个例子中，我们假设每月花费2000美元.

Step 2: Pick the number of months you would like this emergency fund to cover

Although it’s recommended to save enough to cover at least six months’ worth of expenses, 我们打算用三个月的时间来做这个练习.

Step 3: Choose how long it will take to fund an emergency 储蓄账户

This number is based on the amount of money you intend to save per month. For this example, we will say that we want to reach our emergency money goal in three years.

第四步:计算一下

• Multiply monthly expenses by the number of months the emergency fund will cover.2 000美元* 3 =需要6 000美元紧急现金 
• Multiply the number of years you’ll save to reach your emergency savings goal by 12, to figure out the number of months you’ll need to fund the emergency account. 3 * 12 = 36个月的资金储蓄目标
• Divide the emergency savings goal by the number of months needed to fund your savings goals to determine your monthly contribution. $6,000 / 36 =每月供款$167 

在这个例子中, 你需要每月存167美元，连续三年才有6美元,在应急储蓄里存了一万块. 这还不包括从你的 储蓄账户.

应急现金该放在哪里

Now that you know how much money you need to save to build up your emergency savings, 现在你要决定在哪里保存它. It’s smart to start a separate account for your emergency fund to avoid the temptation of dipping into it. 储存应急资金的一些安全选择是:

• 储蓄账户: A 储蓄账户 will allow you to access your money easily in case of an emergency and offers better interest rates than a typical checking account.
• 货币市场帐户: 这种类型的储蓄账户, 也叫综合格斗, is like a cross between a savings and checking account in that you can earn interest and can withdraw money up to six times a month via a debit card or checks. 
• 证书: Another option is to tie up some of your emergency savings into a CD as a way to earn interest on money you’ve already saved and can afford not to access for a while. You’ll get a guaranteed rate of return based on your initial deposit and term selected. You may also consider laddering cd so they mature at different dates, 让你可以在不同的日期使用你的钱.

These options will allow you to dissociate yourself completely from this fund, 因为它只用于紧急情况. 如果这笔资金最终被用于娱乐消费, 比如度假或新车, 你将不再为紧急情况保护你的财务.

紧急储蓄策略

取决于你的情况, it may be difficult to set aside money into an emergency 储蓄账户. 这里有一些策略可以帮助你存更多的钱以备不时之需.

1. 自动储蓄: Use direct deposit to automatically set aside a portion of your paycheck into your 储蓄账户 or MMA 每个月. 你可以在我们的网站上找到更多的信息 自动保存页面. 
2. 评估和减少每月开支; Look at non-essential costs that can be substituted with a less expensive alternative or cut out completely. 如果你倾向于每天早上买一杯高档咖啡, 试着在家煮咖啡，或者等到工作的时候再喝. Take a look at subscriptions that may be non-essential or try cooking more at home and eating out less. 你的紧急储蓄账户以后会感谢你的. 
3. 出售二手物品: 如果你六个月都没用过什么东西，为什么不把它卖掉呢? There are a ton of free apps and websites now that help you sell unwanted items for cash. 你也可以来一次老式的旧货大甩卖. 把你赚的钱存到应急账户里.  
4. 做一份副业: Have a talent that you could make money from, or have some extra time? 想办法赚更多的钱，比如找一份零工 马里兰州的副业.   
5. 每年重新计算你的预算: 生活中的花费和环境会发生变化, so make it an annual task to make sure you’re saving the right amount.

A fully funded emergency 储蓄账户 gives you the ability to deal with problems in a level-headed manner and helps you avoid high interest loans (like payday loans) or racking up credit card debt. This approach will enhance your lifestyle both financially and emotionally, 在你最需要的时候给你内心的平静. 联系MECU代表 为你的应急基金寻找最好的储蓄账户.