3 Benefits of Starting a Personal Medical Emergency Fund

When something happens to us, the world doesn’t stop. This is especially true when it comes to bills. Many people today are starting a personal medical emergency fund to cover unexpected medical emergencies that accumulate major bills or prevent them from working. Here are 3 reasons that you should consider a personal medical emergency fund, too.

Health Insurance Doesn’t Cover Everything

Even if you have health insurance, it can’t cover all unexpected expenses that might occur because of an accident. Many times, dental procedures, weight loss procedures, and alternative treatments are not covered. When something is covered, you may still have to cover a percentage of the cost. 

Many prescriptions aren’t covered, either. An emergency medical fund gives you money to cover the things that aren’t covered by insurance. For people without insurance, an emergency fund is absolutely necessary in the event that they get sick or injured.

Attorney Fees

When you get into an accident, you may have to hire an attorney. An attorney is helpful if you got into a car accident, get injured at work, fall at an establishment, and a number of other reasons. While insurance companies claim to work for you, they are really trying to pay out the least amount possible. 




A personal injury attorney can help you get the settlement that you deserve. They can also listen to your case and tell you whether you should move forward or not. Your medical emergency fund can help pay for the personal injury attorney services.

Medical Emergencies Are Unexpected

If you want to buy a car, you can plan for it. You can save a certain amount of every paycheck until you’re ready to make your purchase. Unfortunately, you can’t plan for an injury or an illness. 

When it happens, you get the bills whether you are ready or not. If you have an emergency medical fund, you will be more prepared when the unexpected happens. This will prevent the bill collector phones calls, which is the last thing you need when you’re recovering.

Going through an illness or injury his bad enough as it is. It gets significantly worse when you see how much it is going to cost you. Make it easier on yourself by planning ahead and building up a personal medical emergency fund. You can use it to cover your medical bills, personal bills, and give yourself a piece of mind after a tragedy.

How Spry Seniors Financially Protect Themselves

In order to financially protect yourself, you need to take steps to understand your current financial situation. You’ll also need to set goals about the things that you want to be able to do with your life. 

Here are some of the methods that you can use in order to financially protect yourself and safeguard your future.

Determine Your Means

You have to understand where your money is going in order to take control of it. Keeping tabs on your monthly expenses is the first place to start. Determine your assets and examine your debt load. 

Ask yourself what it would take to decrease or eliminate your debt and how that would impact your life. Learning to live within your means now will ensure that you have a better chance of doing so after you retire.

Plan for the Future

Create a long-term plan for your future so that you can live your life to the fullest. Use professional financial planners to help you plan for your retirement. This will help you to set long-term as well as short-term goals. 



A part of being financially independent is making your money work for you instead of you having to work for your money. This is sometimes referred to as lifestyle planning so that you can set the goals that are important to you.

Have a Contingency Plan

Create a fund for emergency purposes and other types of unforeseen events. This may include you getting life insurance or having a long-term care plan in place. Many health insurance companies offer this type of insurance so that you won’t get stuck with having to pay for these expenses out of your own pocket. 

Unexpected medical bills could derail your ability to retire and retain your financial stability throughout your life.

Balance Your Budget

Balancing your expenses with your income is the first place to start when it comes to balancing your budget. The second step is to have more money coming in than is going out. This strategy will allow you to set extra aside other than what you’re currently putting away for retirement. 

Medicare can be a big help, but it doesn't cover long term stays in memory care or assisted living facilities. Unexpected medical bills could derail your ability to retire and retain your financial stability throughout your life.

Once you decide to retire, you won’t have a steady income flow and will be relying on your retirement savings. Beef it up so that you can handle whatever life has to throw at you.

Protecting yourself financially can sometimes mean that you need a little bit of help to achieve your goals. Use these tips so that you can be ready for a future of being financially secure.

How to Use an HECM Line of Credit as an Emergency Fund

Many seniors turn to a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), or reverse mortgage, only when their nest egg is depleted and they are struggling to cover their living expenses. Instead, it may be in your best interest to establish a HECM line of credit as soon as you are eligible so it is available when — and only when — an emergency expense arises.

The best strategy for using an HECM line of credit is not as a last resort, but rather as a well-planned, tax-free emergency fund of sorts. Setting a plan in motion now to handle unexpected financial needs in your future may help you avoid a crisis down the road. 

In other words, you need to planning for how to access the equity you have in your home before you truly need it.

Read on to learn more about HECM lines of credit, how you can use them, and how they could help you cope with any surprises during your retirement years.

What Is the HECM Program?

The HECM program was established as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, and is federally regulated and insured by FHA. It allows homeowners to convert a large portion of the value of their homes into cash that is typically tax-free, while retaining ownership of their home. 

The homeowner does not incur a new mortgage payment; their only obligation is to live in the house and pay for its property taxes and homeowner’s insurance. Of course, it is worth consulting a certified public accountant to review the details of your specific situation.

The term "reverse mortgage" is often applied to an HECM because it works in the reverse way of a traditional mortgage. Instead of the homeowner making a monthly mortgage payment, the bank gives money to the homeowner. 

This money can be delivered as a line of credit to be used as needed, a lump sum, equal monthly payments, or a combination of these options. We’re going to focus largely on the line of credit option, because it is the option best-suited for use as an emergency-fund-in-waiting.

Unlike a loan or other traditional lines of credit, the money that is used from the HECM line of credit does not have to be paid back as long as the homeowner lives in the house. Instead, the amount used is covered by the eventual sale of the property when the homeowner moves into a new home or passes away. 

The home is the only asset involved and it is a non-recourse loan secured by the FHA, no debt related to the HECM is taken on by the homeowner’s spouse or heirs.

When Can You Get an HECM?

Making the most of an HECM is all about timing. All too often, seniors on a fixed income find themselves unable to keep up with their expenses when they face unexpected financial demands. 

If you wait until this kind of situation arises to take out an HECM line of credit, the amount of money available right away may be limited, and the initial fees associated with setting up the line of credit would further deplete the funds. But you can make the HECM work for you by setting it up well before a financial emergency takes place. 

Under the terms of a HECM line of credit, the available balance will gradually increase over time as interest compounds, which means it is in your best future interest to let the line of credit sit untouched for as long as it is unneeded.

Read More: Reverse Mortgage Guide

You become eligible to take out an HECM as soon as you turn 62 years old. Should you choose line of credit option, this is usually the ideal time to do so, because you are either still working or have only recently retired, so you may not yet have felt the strain of a fixed income. 

Since you may not need to use any of your available line of credit at this time, you have the option to leave it alone and let the available balance increase. Ultimately, more money in the account means more growth as time passes, due to the compounding interest on a HECM line of credit.

For this strategy to work, it is very important that you have the discipline not to draw from the money for small or unnecessary expenses. 

If you are planning to preserve your HECM line of credit as an emergency option, we trust that you are more financially responsible than most. Use the money only when you absolutely need to cover an essential expense and cannot do so any other way. You should consider it an emergency fund.

How Does Your HECM Change Over Time?

Viewing your HECM line of credit as an emergency fund means you do not plan to rely on it as a primary source of income when you retire. It is separate from your retirement savings and investments. If you start it at age 62, it will accrue value over the years until you need to draw from it.

The program is designed so that the principal amount grows over time, and the growth rate is accelerated if interest rates and inflation rise. If you use it wisely, your HECM line of credit could surpass the value of your home with enough time.

It’s important to remember that this is only the case as long as you are living in the house on which you took out the reverse mortgage. 

When Do You Use Your HECM Line of Credit?

Eventually, you will likely have a pressing need to take advantage of your reverse mortgage. You may need to make sudden household repairs, which can get expensive very quickly. 

You will likely find that your medical expenses grow over time, and medications, surgeries, ongoing treatments, or home health equipment are not always covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Other financial emergencies could arise from a change in income, or the death of your spouse or another beloved family member.

On the happier side, you may want to have a source of extra funds for special occasions. Perhaps you want to take a vacation or attend a loved one’s destination wedding. 

You deserve to relax during your retirement without worrying about depriving yourself just to cover basic living expenses. Your years as a responsible homeowner should work in your favor at this time.

Is an emergency fund already part of your financial management plans? Look into your options today to avoid any costly scares in the future. Consulting a certified reverse mortgage professional may help you determine what will work best for your individual situation so you can enjoy your retirement to the fullest.


Contributed by: Mehran Aram, a graduate from the University of San Diego School of Business in 1984, founded Aramco Mortgage in 1998 after spending almost five years in the industry. Today, Mehran Aram is President and CEO of The Aramco Group, and has recently been honored with the distinction of CRMP(Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional) a certification held by less than 50 brokers nationwide. Mr. Aram currently heralds the title of “Mortgage Analyst” on San Diego radio stations: AM 600 KOGO, AM 760 KFMB, AM 1170 KCBQ, AM 1210 KPRZ, FM 98.1, and Fox News Monterey’s AM 1460. Garnering endorsements across the state of California, including from radio personalities, Roger Hedgecock, George Chamberlin, Mark Larson, and Ladona Harvey, Mehran Aram along with his nearly 20 years of industry experience has effectively become California’s Mortgage Expert in reverse mortgages, refinances and purchase loans, among many other loan products.

Emergency Fund and Why It Is Necessary

Keep saving, for who knows when the thick, sturdy and long trunk may be filled. Sometimes, the bright shining sun on a beautiful spring day may hide behind the scary black clouds to pour out thunder. 

Life is never as we see it, even Steve Jobs had to face a stressful public failure, although he was a millionaire by then, but money is never constant, it keeps flowing away like a gushing river. 

Saving up for an emergency is the best way to cope up in times when an excess amount of money is immediately needed.

An emergency fund stored up beforehand can prevent people from untimely issues like that of health, failure or even poverty; saving money may seem difficult in the beginning, cutting luxuries to save up, but the result of hard work and patience is always fruitful. 

Even if the emergency fund isn’t too big in amount, it’ll always help in reducing the amount of money. Some Americans reportedly tell that during the great depression in the 1930s, their saved up emergency funds helped them eat at least once a day for some time. 

Types of emergency funds

● Short termed

This type of emergency fund is usually for smaller emergencies like house repair, car repair, failure of a costly appliance, health emergency and much more. 

These should be in accessible accounts which usually bear little interest. Accessibility is the most important thing- since usage of a debit card or check writing is a must.

● Long term

These are for big scale emergencies like- earthquake, fire, unemployment, immediate purchase of some costly but necessary thing. 

These also need to be accessible but keeping them safe in an account that takes days to liquidate works fine, till the short termed emergency fund is well saved up. These have an increased level of interest.

Always remember an emergency fund should always be quickly accessible and easily liquidate (converted into cash) and should be kept at – no risk. 

Benefits of having emergency fund

● Stress free

Life without a ‘financial safety net’ is a life on ‘financial edge’ hoping to pass by without bumping into an emergency; it intimidates the financial stability and well- being of a person. 

Being well prepared for any kind of financial menace can make a person lead a successful and confident life. Stress is the cause of serious health issues; better keep away from it and start saving up for stability. 

● No unwise whims or fantasies

Have a separate account for the emergency fund; it’s the best way to store up funds. The more out of sight it is the more out of mind it will be, if it’s as close as on the debit card, it won’t be your fault but your four-five digit saved up money will lure you into buying a dress or the latest gadget. By keeping it in a separate account, you’ll know how much you’ve saved up and how much more you need to save.

● Away from bad financial decisions

It will keep you away from bad financial decisions; you’ll always have this thought stored up for the fund to be saved. All decisions will be risk-proofed when a goal of saving up stands ahead. 

Digits of the fund and why so much

According to financial experts, saving up to six to eight months worth of expenses is always the best. It’s painful to cut off luxuries which we treat ourselves with, or pamper our souls with new clothes and food. 

But these funds can help in times of serious trouble. Corporate jobs are always risky and demanding, unemployment can stand up unexpectedly with no warning bells. Taking the unstable economy in hand, a saved up fund of about 3 months expense doesn’t come to even close enough of being an aid during the emergency. 

Time takes a different toll when saving up for retirement; six month’s expense will look too puny. A saved up $14583 for funds will look like a small twig.

Building the emergency fund

The most disheartening aspect of saving up for an emergency fund is the contribution of a large amount of money. Saving $6000 per month seems out of reach for some people. 

But there is no need to pay everything at once; an emergency fund can be built up little by little with time.

Building the fund

First, make a well-schemed list of the expenses per month.

Food	$5233.71
Transportation (no car)	$225.4
Utilities	$201.76
Sports and leisure	$275.44
Child care	$2328.77
Clothing and shoes	$ 504.72
Rent (approx)	$1942.22

If the pocket is short, then some expenses can be shortened or cut. Cutting basic expenses is very difficult, but slowly with time, some improvements can be made. 

If you start saving up for six months, the total amount will cost approx $27000 which may increase with interests. 

Months	Cumulative expenses
1st  month	$ 4,658.98
2nd month	$ 9,317.96
3rd month	$ 13,976.94
4th month	$ 18,635.92
5th month	$ 23,294.9
6th month	$ 27,953.88

Daily expenses may vary from state and city wise, moreover the monthly income of a person and the people living in the house matter. 

Break it down

First, determine and make a monthly expense chart, then decide the figure of the fund needed as per the money left from the monthly income. 

Determine the time it will take to reach the goal based on monthly savings, breaking it down will help in keeping up with this goal as well as targeting for other things too. 

Wasted money

A family usually wastes its money up to 10% per month. Over usage of electrical appliances, electricity, ordering food etc can be stacked and used wisely. This money, be it little in comparison can be used up for the emergency fund.

Automatic payment

Automatic or direct payment from the checking account to the emergency fund is a good method of payment. Forgetting will not be a problem, and since it will be done by the bank the person will not worry about it for longer and will try to adjust to the changes.

Dividend earnings

Padding the account with dividend earnings is also a good method, dividend accounts are not meant for just investing the income they can also be padded up for the emergency funds.

With pain comes success, a saved up emergency fund will bring pride and assurance.

Peter Christopher is the personal finance blogger at Finance Care Guide and a guest columnist for many blogs that deals with providing practical solutions to different financial issues. Visit him on Google Plus and Twitter.

Guiding your Recently Graduated Kids through Debt Management

Source: Personal Trainer Pioneer

If there's one thing that we adults have learned as we approach retirement is that the world is not a secure place, no matter how hard you've tried to make it so. 

Living a debt-free life in America is though not impossible very difficult, and more and more people have realized that their debts can seriously hamper their ability to get what they want in life. Debt can make it difficult to have a stable marriage, to buy a house, or to relocate. Debt can also stop you from retiring when you are ready, and it can keep you from pursuing more education. 

Even if you've handled your debts wisely, it's very important to pass this knowledge on to our children. If you have children who are now adults and out on their own, here's how to guide them through a financially responsible life:

1. Encourage them to pay back their student loans as aggressively as they are able.

Hopefully, your children's only debts after graduating from college are student loans. While this was the case with me and my siblings, many of my recently graduated friends had mountains of credit debt as well. 

Regardless of your child's debts after graduating, it's important to emphasize to your children the need to start paying loans back as soon as they find work. 

Most young professionals will only pay monthly minimums for years before they realize that they could have paid much of their debt off a lot faster had they simply pitched in a little more every month.

2. Help them develop a budget for living expenses.

While budgeting may come second nature to you, it's often tough for young adults who are doing it for the first time. Sit down with your adult children and talk about ways that they can implement a reasonable budget on their expenses, including separate budgets for food, rent, entertainment, and savings.

3. Do not pay back their loans for them, especially if it means sacrificing your retirement savings.

One of the most tempting things parents usually want to do for their children is to pay back their loans. Of course, if, like many young adults in America, your child cannot find a job and is completely unable to pay back their debts, there's nothing wrong with stepping in and helping a little bit. 

At the same time, however, it's important to understand that we much continue to teach our children lessons even as adults. And one of the most important lessons that many people take their entire lifetimes to learn is a personal responsibility. 

Of course, advise them on how they should manage their debt, but leave the actual repayment up to them. Don’t risk your retirement savings just to coddle your kids.

4. Talk to them about the importance of starting an emergency fund.

It's quite astounding to read the statistics concerning the percentage of people who have absolutely no emergency fund. A serious accident on the highway can happen at any time, and recovering can be difficult. While legal aid like a Tampa truck accident lawyer can help with the recovery, it can still be difficult to recover from the mounting expenses.

Of course, it's hard to establish an emergency fund when you're busy paying off debts. Still, once your child has learned to manage her debt and budget correctly, encourage her to start an emergency fund that can pay for six months' worth of living expenses. 

Most financial advisers recommend having a fund that covers at least six months and as much as a year, especially in an uncertain economic climate.

It's quite astounding to read the statistics concerning the percentage of people who have absolutely no emergency fund. A serious accident on the highway can happen at any time, and recovering can be difficult. 

While legal aid like a Tampa truck accident lawyer can help with the recovery, it can still be difficult to recover from the mounting expenses. Of course, it's hard to establish an emergency fund when you're busy paying off debts. 

Still, once your child has learned to manage her debt and budget correctly, encourage her to start an emergency fund that can pay for six months' worth of living expenses. 

Most financial advisers recommend having a fund that covers at least six months and as much as a year, especially in an uncertain economic climate.

Still, once your child has learned to manage her debt and budget correctly, encourage her to start an emergency fund that can pay for six months' worth of living expenses. Most financial advisers recommend having a fund that covers at least six months and as much as a year, especially in an uncertain economic climate.

At some point, of course, there isn't much that we can do when our kids are all grown up. At the same time, however, you'll be their parents forever, and they still will look to you for advice. Offering sound financial advice is perhaps the most important advice we can give. Good luck!

Mariana Ashley is a freelance education writer who also writes about parenting, personal finance, and small business strategies. She has an especial interest in online education, particularly online colleges in Arkansas. Please feel free to contact Mariana at mariana.ashley031@gmail.com

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How My Emergency Fund Kept Me Above Water

Emergency funds are nice things to have around because of the many nice things they do. The best thing they do is keep you out of debt. My emergency fund kept me out of debt today.

In my backyard I have a nice pool. It's a nice thing to have. It's pretty to look at but it's a shame no one ever uses it. The kids are to grown up and are always out, to busy, but my wife loves to lay beside it and soak up some sun on Saturdays. Last weekend, the pump finally burnt out. I have been nursing it for almost a year. The rear bushing has been making a horrible noise and I have been giving it a shot of WD-40 to make it behave. It gave up the ghost last weekend and I needed a new one. 

It Gets Worse!

Luckily my brother deals with foreclosed houses and was able to locate a nice, almost new pump. Things were looking up. An almost free new pump was going to solve my problem. I had it installed in no time and preceded to crank it up. It was running great. Better than ever, pressure was noticeably twice as much as the previous motor. As I was admiring my handy work a 8 inch crack developed on the filter tank. Water sprayed everywhere. The higher pressure from the new motor was to much for my 22 year old plastic filter tank. 

I must admit the tank was previously patched along the crack but sadly it couldn't take the increase in pressure, it was time to replace it. I was back on the phone to my brother but he had no good news for me but said he would try to hunt one down for me. 

While brother was on the job I did some searching over at the pool store. The salesman quoted me a price of $500 for a new filter tank. I was immediately depressed at this situation. I would of liked to not spend that kind of money but I had the cash in the emergency fund for things just like this. It's funny I almost forgot I had an emergency fund I haven't had to use for a few years, the last time was when the water heater went out. 

On a Mission.

I was determined to not pay $500 so I was on a mission to seek out a cheaper solution. I went on Craigslist and found many used filter tanks for sale. Most of them did look a little distressed but out of 12 filters I pick one that was the right size and the best price was $80. It was an alternative I was going to seriously consider. 

While I was online I searched the online pool stores and found they were selling the same tank as my local pool store for about $25 less. I was down to $475 for a new tank. I was determined to do better. Amazon was next. They had the same tank listed for $300. I was feeling better that I was going to save $200 on Amazon as apposed to my local store. I have an Amazon Associates account so that would knock 4% off the price plus I would have used my Chase Amazon card which would have given me another 5% off. I was down to $273 with the discount.

Lets Do Better.

Still I wanted to do better. It was on to Ebay! They had the filter I wanted at auction for less than $200. I searched Ebay's completed auctions and saw they were going for an equivalent price as Amazon. I placed the bid when the filter tank was at $175. When it finished I had won the auction at a bid of $220 with a shipping cost of $30. So I was buying a filter tank for $250, brand new, guaranteed for 1 year from a pool supply company with over 10,000 good recommendations. I felt confident in the purchase and I should have the new tank at my home by the end of the week. And I paid cash.

This whole experience was very eye opening for me. Before emergency funds I would of made the purchase of a new tank at my local pool store and I would of put it on my credit card. It was an automatic response that I had made throughout my life, and a very costly one. I never gave it a thought to shop around like I did this time. But the main reason I did shop around was I was spending real cash. Real cash makes you work for the best deal. Dave Ramsey is right when he says it hurts to spend real money. Buying with a credit card is painless and you don't even feel the need to get a better deal. At least I didn't.

Lessons Relearned

Overall the experience has retaught me that staying out of debt is something to be proud of. Having an emergency fund is something to be proud of. Taking control of your life is really something to be proud of. 

The 4 Ways to a Better Emergency Fund

Image by lism. via FlickrThe worst mistake people make in their journey to a better financial future is failing to create a fully funded emergency fund. Many people get into credit card trouble because when that inevitable emergency comes they have to go into debt to take care of the problem. They don't have the money to pay off their debts and the cycle repeats till they are over their heads in major debt. An emergency fund is your insurance to staying out of debt.


If you are a fan of Dave Ramsey you know his first "Baby Step" is to save up a $1,000 emergency fund before ever starting to pay off debt. That emergency fund is the number one way to be prepared for what trouble life hands you.


A rainy day fund or emergency fund is a cushion of money that keeps us afloat when times are tough but actually building one is sometimes harder than paying off debt. To get started building the fund you need a plan.


Create a Plan. The rule of thumb for an emergency fund is it must be at least three months worth of expense. So add up your mortgage or rent, utilities, food, health insurance, etc., multiply it by three, and that's your minimum goal for emergency savings. If you spend $3,000 a month, you will want to have at least $9,000 in your emergency fund. Having more than that depends on if you are self-employed or have any other issues that may affect you losing your job or any health issues. Another way to determine the size of the fund is your "sleep well" ratio. If you don't sleep well at night because your worried about a future layoff or other expense issue, maybe raise the amount of the fund till you can sleep well. It's a common indicator of satisfaction and peace.


Make it Automatic. It's hard to save money every month if you are doing manually. You may forget or be distracted by some work or family problem. It's best to make the process automatic. Set up a payrole deduction at work that adds money to you emergency fund automatically. If not at work set up an automatic transfer of money from your checking account to a savings account. It will all be simple and painless and won't be forgotten.


Where is the Right Place to Put it? It would be a good idea to put the money in a place where it could make some interest. But in today's savings environment a good place is hard to come by. The place has to be somewhere that it is completely safe and guaranteed not to lose principle. Today's low interest environment is bad for now but it may be better in the years to come. Accessibility is key for a good emergency fund.


Don't Touch it. The only real reason to access this money is for a true emergency. A true emergency is any event where you where you could not have predicted it's occurrence. It's not to fix that broken washing machine. You know that baby will someday breakdown, it doesn't qualify. An emergency fund is for a dire event not one that you are temporarily uncomfortable.

How I Used My Emergency Fund

Well, it just happened to me. A rainy day. An emergency. Emergency might be too strong a word. But I did have something break that required repairing. Two days ago the a leak started on my water heater. I didn’t realize it at first. I saw some water on the floor and later that day no hot water.

I called around to get some prices for a new water heater. I called Lowe's and Home Depot they both had good prices. It turned out I had a 10% of coupon for Home Depot so I went there. The cost for the heater was $420. I got out the checkbook for the Emergency fund account and went down to get the heater. The store was offering 10% off if I opened up an account with them. It was tempting, I could have another 10 percent off. I was justifying it that I could open the account and just pay it off, then close it. Use credit or pay by check. Of course I chose the latter and paid by check from my emergency fund. 

But it was because I had erased my debt and built up an emergency fund that I was able to deal with this in a calm state of mind and not worry about where was the money going to come from to make this repair. I didn’t panic and place the payment on a credit card. I had the cash in reserve and I used it. Of course my wife and daughter laughed at me because they kept joking how it “hurt” me to part with the cash. And they were right – I hate parting with my hard earned money and savings. But better that than to go back into debt.


Sure, $420 may not seem a big deal to some folks. But to others it could be the source of great stress if they don’t know where the money will come from. Others may feel self-defeated and think, “stuff always breaks and I have to put it on credit card. I’ll never get out of debt.” But with a plan to erase debt and build an emergency fund, an emergency will just be an inconvenience and not a nightmare of falling further into debt.

Erase your debt and you too will have the money to take on life’s surprises.

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