How much should your 'security net' be?

[nymphadora]

I have read 6 months salary but is that joint or individual? Or should it be more /less?

We have three months living costs in easy access account and 3 months in slower to access ISA. I figure that the actual costs of running our home and feeding ourselves are much more important than salary levels.

I always thought it was around 3 months worth of living costs. I did have this (and much more) until a few weeks ago but savings have dropped down a lot due to home improvements Will be happy when it gets back up to at least 3 months worth again.
Lizcat, you sound very sensible

I have read 6 months of outgoing plus whatever credit card bill you currently owe.

I guess that is roughly 6 months salary for most folk.

how much would you like for peace of mind? and how long do you think it would take you to get a job to be able to afford the basics?

6 m of outgoings sounds more sensible than salary for us. Dh has v good salary atm but we have only been spending it all as we were paying extra bills & paying for work on house. We will soon( depending on spare house sale) have paid off all debts except for main morgage.

Should then have money for 'safety net' and pay off some more morgage. I was wondering how much should be each IYSWIM.

In theory we both work in safe jobs but even they are looking potentially risky and could look for similar but not on the same salary ( ESP dh) so want to be prepared.

Luckily most of the house is under warranty / I'd new so less likely to have that sort of emergency. Cars would be the main voncern

Six months of outgoings. We have zilcho savings atm, though so are going to have to start building some up.

It all depends upon what severance package you would likely receive but 6 months is a little light for me. I'd be looking at 12 months on a little over minimal rations but with all bills paid, mortgage, utilities, car etc.

The only way to work it out is to itemise it on a spreadsheet. Getting rid of debt is a huge priority as well.

Interesting. Does that change if you have large equity in the house? I suppose it doesn't.

I'd want about 6 months income but don't have it at the moment as I've spent a huge amount on work to the house, moving costs etc. I've probably got about 2 months worth put away at the moment but i'm expecting a builders invoice for new roof any day now so need to wave lots of it good bye.

Appletrees I would have thought that if you were mortgage free you may be able to take a slightly more relaxed view on the matter (if only!)

We don't have much of a safety net, other than our redundancy packages. Would love to save but we have a high mortgage and a new baby.

However, we have taken out insurance policies to cover redundancy, sickness etc and this covers the mortgage plus 25% and will pay out for 12 months.

I'd agree with 6 months expenses as being sensible. My savings are split between easy-access and long-term. Having had a bad experience with redundancy insurance policies ie. they didn't pay out until you'd been out of work for 3 months... I'd say to chanie44 'check the small print'.

We have 1 years salary but that would be all our savings and outgoings are likely to increase over the next year. Or at least we hope!

We have 1 years salary but that would be all our savings and outgoings are likely to increase over the next year. Or at least we hope!