DH and I were thinking about this the other day, since we're almost debt free. What "hidden" accounts or assets could we tap if we absolutely needed to?

We were also trying to figure out our net worth at the same time, but it was a comforting thought to think that if we had to, we actually have several sources.

We both have 401K's
I have a ROTH IRA
I have a small whole life insurance policy with a cash value about $1600
We have 3 savings accounts between us
We have a small DRIP in ExxonMobile stock
And of course, last resort, we have a few credit cards we could run up.

So - outside of your official EF (if you have one or not) - what do you have that you could use if you really needed to?

Well...
IRA's for both my husband and I
My 401k
Of course the dreaded credit cards.
We just cashed out my Whole life policy...That's how we paid off the remainder of our debt. :)
I suppose we could sell our cars if it came down to it.

If we had something come up that our EF couldn't handle, I would use a credit card. I have a very small amount in a Roth IRA but it would probably be more hassle than its worth to pull that money out. I have a pension plan that I contribute to at work but we cannot borrow against it for any reason. I can't wait til I get completely out of debt. Then I can really start saving.

If we had no other choice we could dip into our retirement , it takes 3 banking days to get it out. Mind you we would be taxed big time as here in Quebec for 15,000 or less it is automatically 21% taxed and is taken off the amount before we even have it in our hands (other provinces I believe it is 10% taxed) If we decided to take out more then that it is an automatic 31% I believe, I could be wrong it might be more then that. And least we forget at the end of the year we are taxed on it yet again as it would be considered income.

We do have a cc if it came right down to it.

We also keep $500 in an account at our bank as a small emergency fund but I don't include that as our big emergency fund (which we are trying to build up again) as we have an ING account for the big emergencys.

no dipping anywheres unless we touch hunnys retirement fund, and that aint enough to snuff about. he's only been working 14 years always seasonal work, so no big hand out here. and PEI gets taxed high too on talink money out, so that a no- no.

no where to dip for us at all. I have opened a savings account, and what i make from any sales is being divied up between that and some savings jars. the bank saving account is for two seperate purposes. 1. saving for a vacation to maine (driving) in summer 07. 2. emergency fund. I am even concidering separate savings account so that these will be seperate.. less likely to rob peter to pay paul then.

the kids each have savings accounts but i send my mom the money to add to it. it's in hers and my brothers names, not mine, so i can't get into it.

We could use CC's but really I do anything to prevent that, we also have a few smaller savings accts that we could rob, one for a truck fund for hubby, our vacation fund and the money put back for taxes.

Our main "savings" is the 36 acres up front that are in my name free and clear (a girls gotta have a savings stash, lol :) ) If really necessary I could sell a few acres, I've got several people that are always interested but I'd rather eat ramen noodles than sell it. We purchased it VERY cheaply (owner was about to go bankrupt) and have been offered very good money for building lots as we're the closest good open land to town.

kj

Our emergency fund. (first)
An IRA. (second)
Company account (third)
Equity in our home. (last resort)

Equity in our home. (last resort)

I forgot about the equity in our home.

I agree, that would definately be our last resort too , we want our home paid off sooner than later :cheergrl:

Actually I'm not sure if it would be worse to tap into the 401K/IRAs than to take out a home equity loan due to the penalties in taking money from retirement accounts.

We have various savings bonds, mutual funds, stocks outside of our 401Ks/IRAs. All from when we were a dual-income no kid family. Since I've been home for 5 years now, we've spent everything (outside of DH's 401K contributions) - mostly on the house.

Hmmmm .. let's see:

We could sell some land we own

Cash in our life insurance policies

I have 2 retirement funds we could raid

We several old vehicles we could sell for parts


Mostly though-- I just work OT to get any extra money (I'm an experienced critial care RN- so work is pretty easy to come by, and the OT pay is good)

Actually I'm not sure if it would be worse to tap into the 401K/IRAs than to take out a home equity loan due to the penalties in taking money from retirement accounts.


I thought of that too but with our family I think it would be a better resort for us to leave tapping into the home equity for last. this is because dh has a military pension which will cover our living expenses (barely but doable with a bit more tweaking of the budget and getting rid of our basic cable,internet:surprise:etc... ) and if anything were to happen with his job say he was laid off or the building burned down and we had a home equity loan payment to pay we would be out of luck and end up having to sell the house I am sure.

I guess too it would depend on the the reason to have to tap into our assets and how much $ we would need. We have life insurance and a will, medical/dental insurance, disability insurance, house/car insurance so we shouldn't have to dip into any assets there. We keep enough in the bank to cover any deductables.

Now, if anything were to happen however to either of our parents/family members and we needed a flight ASAP we would use the credit card then focus on paying it back as fast as we could........I don't like using a cc as it is not my money, it is someone elses money.

I can't wait to get our emergency fund back up to par after having had those few visits from Murphy last month......not to mention a couple of visits the month before that.....having had the cash in the bank to cover our emergencys was such a God Send :)

Once the EF was used up, I have a small whole life policy that could be cashed out. It's about $2200 or so.

We have an IRA and a 401k, but truthfully, if we were so desperate that we'd need to go that route, we'd crawl to our parents first. First, because there would be no penalties in doing so, unlike borrowing against retirement. Second, because our parents have the means to help us out. DH was laid off a couple of years ago, five days before a scheduled trip to Disney World. My dad showed up at our house a couple of days before the trip and handed me several hundred dollars in cash. He said he didn't want me breaking out in hives worrying about our money while we were gone. He also said that if we needed money to make the house payment or pay bills or buy food or whatever, he'd give it to us.

Thankfully, we had the money to tide us over until DH found another job, but I was so humbled and grateful to my dad for his generous offer. We'd hate to ever reach a point of having to ask our parents for help, but it's nice to know that the option is there if we ever find ourselves in a desperate situation.

My first thing would be home equity. We bought our house dirt cheap and have fixed it up A LOT.

That is pretty much all we have. I could get a couple of cc's but I already have one that is maxed out (hubby doesnt' know) :sigh:

We have our regular emergancy fund and then I have about four other saving accounts we could tap into if needed (all with ING). Mostly those are for specific goals like vacations, and my business. We have two IRA's a CD, and a life insurance policy we could cash out. The last resort would be our credit card, although I doubt I would take from the IRA's or insurance either.

DH has a thrift savings plan - I think it is similar to a 401k.
We have some equity in our home approx 100,000

We don't have an emergency fund, but.......we have a ton of equity in our home, we have large 401k's due to dilligently setting aside since my very first paycheck (15+ years ago.) We have credit cards we could use. I could always ask my mom for money if I HAD to, but I would never do it.

If our savings (EF) was gone, we could use DH's 401K and my 403B. The last resort would be credit cards. I would hate to ever have to resort to that again though.