Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda...

 

Growing up I used to love visiting my paternal grandmother. Not only because her red sauce “gravy meat” and pasta remains unmatched by any home or restaurant cooking to this day, but because before I left, she would always slip a folded $10 bill into my hand and declare that it was to be “saved for a rainy day.”

Years later I realized that in the broader context, a “rainy day” was a euphemism for emergency savings. By the time I was 16, I did manage to accumulate a tidy nest egg only to foolishly blow it on a 370 horsepower Pontiac and more beer nights in college than I care to remember. But that’s fodder for a future column.

I reminisced about my teenaged largesse when I saw a survey by financial concern Bankrate which polled folks about their biggest financial regrets. Not surprisingly, more than 20 percent replied that not saving for emergencies or that “rainy day” – the highest percentage of any category. And, coupled with recent events – most notably the COVID-19 pandemic - some 26 percent indicated that they would have done things differently, read: saved more, as the pandemic has impacted the wallets of nearly every American as 25 percent of those participating said their finances were worse than before the virus struck.

Some 36 percent of older millennials were more than twice as likely than Baby Boomers like yours truly to regret not having a strong enough emergency fund. I once read where something on the order of 50 percent of Americans do not have an extra $400 to deal with an unexpected repair or situation.

I shudder to think what would have happened to us as this year had we not had an emergency fund, as I have had to replace both my water heater and air conditioning unit, install a water softener, and repair the floor and wall damage when two radiators suddenly decided to explode.

In addition to too little emergency savings other regrets noted in the poll were not saving enough for retirement (another column for the future) accumulating too much credit card debt (which currently stands at $750 billion nationally) too much student loan debt ($1.6 trillion) and buying more house than their budgets could afford. The last one I could attest personally to as a young couple I know recently purchased a home that thus far has swallowed nearly 50 percent of their combined incomes where the accepted rule of thumb is somewhere near 28 percent.

Indexed for inflation, I once calculated my grandmother’s years-long generosity would extrapolate to about $7,000 in today’s economy. Fortunately, I am too old (and hopefully wise) to attend those rowdy beer nights and nightclubs while roaring around in my ’68 GTO. So, I now bank any extra change I find between the couch pillows.

Although I still miss her gravy dinners – rain or shine.