The Importance of Having a Contingency Fund
March 30, 2011 3 Comments
This letter was written in 1939,ten years into the Great Depression, by Warren Buffett’s grandfather Ernest, to his youngest son (and Warren Buffett’s uncle) Fred, and his wife. Warren found it in a safe in 1970 while executing a will of a family member…along with $1000. I believe I will gift a copy of this letter and cash for a contingency fund to any children I might have.
Dear Fred & Catherine,
Over a period of a good many years I have known a great many people who at some time or another have suffered in various ways simply because they did not have ready cash. I have known people who have had to sacrifice some of their holdings in order to have money that was necessary to have at that time.
For a good many years your grandfather kept a certain amount of money where he could put his hands on it in very short notice.
For a number of years I have made it a point to keep a reserve, should some occasion come where I would need money quickly, without disturbing the money that I have in my business. There have been a couple of occasions when I found it very convenient to go to this fund. Read more of this post
In case of our demise we would all love to have provided well for our near and dear ones. A Human Life Value Calculator is a nice place to begin planning how to do so.A very enthusiastic insurance agent might tell you that various insurance products are the best way to provide for all these needs.This is strictly not so.Think if you want to provide for a child’s college education you do not need to buy an expensive children’s education plan but can for example use a plain term deposits.Here is a link to a fairly comprehensive Human Life Value Calculator: 
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