Is it really worth having so much in emergency savings when you have good job security?

[Bluetoybox]

I work for the NHS and my job is secure.... Not a 100% guarantee of course, but about as secure as it gets. I've also worked long enough that I have full sick pay entitlement (6 months full pay, 6 months half pay) and in the unlikely event that I was made redundant I'd receive over a year's salary in a redundancy package. I'm not planning on doing anything to get me fired and of course as many who know the NHS will know, you have to pretty much murder someone for that to actually happen so again, not really something I am anticipating being an issue.
I've finally cleared all debt apart from Mortgage and am now building an emergency fund. I have about 3 months living expenses if I lived off beans on toast and pulled DD out of nursery. There are things I'd really like to do though especially to my house which could do with a lot of TLC to make it a nicer home for us. AIBU to think, especially with the interest rate as it is, it's not really worth plummeting lots of money into savings when I could be using it to make my home nicer and increase its value which in a true financial emergency would probably help me more anyway as I could sell my house if I absolutely had to.
I know this year has taught everyone we need to be more financially smart but does that alwaysean having money just sat there doing nothing?

@EnoughnowIthink

I would get savings up to 6 months of full living costs as a minimum. Then look at a house renovation fund.

You also need to think about the ‘what ifs....’. The stuff that seems unlikely. Partner has a car accident and is unable to work again? You have a child with a disability that requires round the clock care? You wake up one morning and realise you no longer want to be a nurse?

In scenarios one and two, no amount of savings would protect you from having to completely re-organise your life and being seriously out of pocket. In scenario three, you wouldn't "Wake up one morning", you'd plan an exit and get another job first.

@Shinyme That's what insurance and empty credit cards are for.

Good question op. Dh and I are risk averse so our security net is a year worth of savings. We drew up a list of expenses in order of priority and worked at worse case scenario and got the amounts. I am a sahm so obviously I am very concerned about finances.
So for us a realistic budget of our monthly expenses x12 is what we worked towards. For a long time that amount was zero because our focus was paying off our mortgage. I was also working. Now that things have changed we have adjusted accordingly. I would say 3 months is too tight a buffer. Maybe go for 6 months and then start doing up the house? A house can take a while to sell so if you things change and you need immediate liquidity then it might be too risky.

You need a better union. Just because you're getting fucked over doesn't mean others should

A union? Haha you are joking? You may find in the real world most employees in the private sector don't have a union to do collective bargaining for them.

And that's besides the point. Public sector workers shouldn't receive a year's pay as redundancy as it's taxpayers money. it's overly generous.

And I'm not being fucked over. I wouldn't expect a whole years pay as part of a redundancy package if i was made redundant

We have about 2 months of savings. Not adding to that atm, every single extra penny goes into overpaying the mortgage.

It will mean that when we come to renew the mortgage we're in a lower LTV and will hopefully save thousands in interest alone. Will start saving again once the mortgage is paid off, in about 8 years.

If the boiler breaks we can pay for it over a couple of months and if the roof blows off we'll have to take out a loan. Both secure (for the grace of god) jobs but we could just about survive on one salary.

Not the most risk free of approaches but it works for us, for the time being.

@ConsuelaHammock
I didn't say I had been a nurse for 17 years, I have 17 years continuous service for the NHS, not always as a nurse. And anyway, I did save and I used that as a deposit for a house if that's alright with you.

@Girlsblouse17 Because that's part of the NHS package. Take it up with them if it bothers you so much.They very rarely use it and the odds that I will be made redundant are incredibly thin. My entire specialty could disappear overnight and I would simply be shipped off elsewhere because all of my skills are transferable.

Yes. If my car was written off tomorrow I could go out and buy a brand new one without a qualm, not have to spend days trailing around second hand car lots. I like that ability to remove the stress.

She's a nurse. She could register with any of a hundred agencies this afternoon and be earning 40k tomorrow. There's not many qualifications that have that safety net.

We have retained a years income in saving for decades but the mortgage is nearly paid off and we would be horrendously unlucky if both of us lost our jobs. So we are spending a big chunk of the nest egg on a significant home improvements that will add value to the house- but more importantly increase our enjoyment living there. As well as spending savings we will have to pull our belts in - but with o holidays last year and none booked this we are saving little more than normal