BANKING BASICS & WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR 6

As much as possible, even when you are already in deficit on your monthly expenses, put away some amount into an emergency fund. With hard times worsening from week to week, you have to prepare for a future when your finances drop to near zero. Or, worse –if you or a member of your family gets sick or meets an accident or some disaster strikes, immediate funds will be required.

Don’t just keep your emergency fund in a piggy bank, in a cookie jar, or under your mattress. Place it in an earning certificate of deposit, a money market account, or a simple savings account. Even if the yield rate on your emergency fund may be lower than the inflation rate, you are at least mitigating the effects of an erosion of the value of your money and what it can buy.

image from Microsoft Clipart