Throughout life, many things can change, including health, income, and family responsibilities. However, one thing remains the same: the most valuable things always need to be protected from an early stage.
The Benefits of Emergency Funds
March 15, 2021
Few things might happen outside the financial plan. That’s why it is important to have an emergency fund. Here are the benefits!
Everything can happen unexpectedly, including in financial planning. That is why you must have an emergency fund as anticipation to not disturb your established goals.
As the name implies, an emergency fund is money available and can be taken at any time when you need it. That is why you must place it as a post in financial planning so that it is easy to find solutions when unexpected needs occur.
When life does not always run smoothly and is full of uncertainty, emergency funds must be prepared early to be used at any time when in an emergency. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where your regular income has the potential to be disrupted, starting from the choke in the production process to the threat of Termination of Employment (PHK).
Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, many states of emergencies require immediate funding that may not be sufficiently covered by the salary received. For example, having an accident or suffering from a disease whose cure must be handled by the hospital.
Saving Money for Emergency Fund
Suppose you are an employee working in a company. In that case, it is crucial to set aside the salary received as an emergency fund. From what you spend each month, it must be known how ideal your emergency fund is. How many?
Determination of standard emergency funds based on expenses each month, not on the amount of salary. The greater the expenses, the greater the need for emergency funds.
You must have at least an emergency fund of 6x your expenses each month. So that you will feel safe even if you have no income at all for up to 6 months until you get the latest source of income.
As an illustration, if you have monthly expenses of IDR 5 million, it means you must have an emergency fund of at least IDR 30 million. Meanwhile, freelancers or freelancers are advised to have an emergency fund of 12 times their monthly expenses or IDR 60 million.
Why is the emergency fund needed by a freelancer higher than employees in a company? This is because freelancers are a profession that is prone to various state of emergency, such as a quiet project or being interrupted in the middle of the road so that their financial condition is far from certain.
Now, considering that emergency funds are prepared for emergencies, of course, they must be easy to withdraw or withdraw. That is why you should consider depositing these funds in safe, low-risk, easy-to-cash, and easily accessible instruments such as savings and deposits.
However, if you want to benefit from an emergency fund and dare to take risks. There is nothing wrong with saving it in investment instruments such as mutual funds with higher returns and free from taxes.
In addition to an emergency fund, it is also essential that you equip yourself with insurance protection that will protect your financial planning from the various risks that occur. So, when you experience a state of emergency such as an accident and hospitalization, the emergency funds you have will not be contested to cover the billed costs.
In this case, Sun Life Indonesia has a Term Life, a life insurance product with a flexible premium payment period. It can be added with additional insurance (rider) to provide more comprehensive protection.
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