There’s always a lot of talk in the realm of personal finance about emergency funds. How much should one have? Where should one keep it? I’ve talked about these before on this site, and I don’t want to rehash it all right now. I do however want to mention an aspect that I haven’t really seen addressed.What happens if you’re involved in a true emergency such as a natural disaster? I’m talking about something where the normal infrastructure has either been destroyed or isn’t accessible. Would you be prepared for such a circumstance?

Obviously there are a lot of issues here, but I’m only concerned with the financial in this space. Regardless of how much you choose to keep in an emergency fund and at which institution you decide to hold it, it would probably be a good idea to keep at least some money in cash for true emergencies. When I say cash, I mean actual cash money kept at your home or some other self-designated place.

How much you decide to keep on hand is a choice that you’re going to have to make based on your circumstances and needs. I would recommend keeping whatever you’d need for at least a period of 72 hours. This would obviously be only for extreme cases, but I’m sure you’d be glad to have it if something awful were to happen. Like I stated before, this isn’t your typical emergency fund, but it’s another part of your personal finances that you ought to consider.

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