Building an Emergency Fund
We’ve all heard of the best practice of having three to six months of expenses saved for an emergency fund. While that is a great goal for some people, that can be an overwhelming place to start for others. Instead, America Saves encourages our savers to start with an emergency fund of $500.
A speeding ticket can set you back a couple hundred dollars. Have you ever shattered your cell phone? That can put you back a couple hundred dollars. The same goes for many other unexpected expenses that occur all the time. A hundred dollars here, three hundred dollars on some new tires there. We’ve all been there. Having access to just $500 will help cushion your bank account when those expenses hit.
Regardless of your current financial situation, America Saves has some tips and tricks to get you closer to establishing an emergency fund so that you can feel financially confident when those real-life unexpected expenses occur.
For tips and tools on how to build an emergency fund, we encourage you to share the following articles, social media content, graphics, and resources with your constituents, partners and the general public.
Social Media Posts
Please incorporate these posts (as written or changed to suit your brand voice) into your social media content over the month of August. They will be great to share with your community to get them in a savings mindset!
Savers tips and stories
Saving With My Boys
By Kelly
Kelly has made saving a family effort. She started her boys saving early. “Probably 3,” Kelly told us, “when I started encouraging them to save because that’s when they started receiving small bills from family on the holidays.”
Put 20 Percent Away
By Melissa
“I am a single mother, and I make ends meet for me and my daughter, but I wanted to put money away for my...
Budget like Nohemi
By Nohemi
Nohemi found out about America Saves a few years ago as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at...
Budget like Nohemi
By Nohemi
Nohemi found out about America Saves a few years ago as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She remembers attending a University of Illinois Saves event where she decorated a piggy bank and took the Pledge, but college life made her put the thought of saving at the back of her mind.
Saving With My Boys
By Kelly
Kelly has made saving a family effort. She started her boys saving early. “Probably 3,” Kelly told us, “w...
Put 20 Percent Away
By Melissa
“I am a single mother, and I make ends meet for me and my daughter, but I wanted to put money away for my...
Budget like Nohemi
By Nohemi
Nohemi found out about America Saves a few years ago as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She remembers attending a University of Illinois Saves event where she decorated a piggy bank and took the Pledge, but college life made her put the thought of saving at the back of her mind.
Saving With My Boys
By Kelly
Kelly has made saving a family effort. She started her boys saving early. “Probably 3,” Kelly told us, “w...
Put 20 Percent Away
By Melissa
“I am a single mother, and I make ends meet for me and my daughter, but I wanted to put money away for my daughter for a college fund. So I started saving 20 percent of my paycheck every month to put it away in a savings account with a high Annual Percentage Yield (APY). By the time my daughter is 18, I will have saved nearly $90,000.”
Saving With My Boys
By Kelly
Kelly has made saving a family effort. She started her boys saving early. “Probably 3,” Kelly told us, “w...