• ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      ‘Cash savings’ is describing liquid funds that are relatively quick and easy to access in emergencies. Because we are now in a time when emergencies are getting more expensive due to the risig cost of living.

      Many people in America have some money locked away in IRAs and 401k accounts for retirement (though a lot don’t). But if you try to access that for emergency expenses you get penalized heavily via charges.

      Edit: fixed a couple of typos.

      • Malyca@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        You can loan yourself money from 401k at about 6% interest paid to yourself, better way to avoid the penalties.

    • smeg@infosec.pub
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      2 days ago

      And your response is why this survey result is probably a useless stat. Most Americans don’t understand the term liquid assets, so instead they ask about access to cash. But many people understand the word cash to only mean paper money.