With the pandemic, Brazilians had to create the habit of having a emergency reserve, because we know that in Brazil, financial education is unfortunately not taught in schools, having a reserve is an important procedure for companies and also for individuals, after all, we never know when unforeseen events may arise.
What is an emergency fund?
This is protection against unforeseen events, the most common of which are the loss of a job or a last-minute expense. To be considered a reserve, it must cover expenses for at least 6 months, in more extreme cases it can reach 18 months.
You can also bet on investments, to have a emergency reserve, for this purpose the best investments are: Tesouro Selic, CDB and DI Funds, do not use this reserve at any time, as the name says, it is only for emergencies.
The amounts to create this reserve change according to the monthly income, for example, if a family has an income of R$ 10,000.00, with essential expenses of R$ 5,550.00 then the reserve is R$ 33,000.00.
See below how to create a reserve to protect your family or business when necessary:
1. Keep your accounts in order
You need to find out how much you actually earn, always deducting taxes, and then check what your fixed expenses are, thus making it easier to plan your finances.
2. Set a goal to save
We have to be careful to set goals that are realistic, that are in line with the calculations we have made, so that there is money left over, so that there is organization, planning is an extremely important tool, this in turn, must be monitored.
How important is an emergency fund?
If you want to have financial security, you need to get into the habit of having a emergency reserve, these values can cover certain unforeseen events such as: shower resistors that burn out, gas, to work on this habit, use the tools below:
Financial planning
This is the best way to have a reserve, so we can more easily identify which actions should be excluded to balance the budget and have money left over for the reserve.
Make a list of your expenses
When we make a list of expenses, we can detect if there are any invisible expenses, those small expenses that appear to be harmless, and therefore, over time, harm our budget. We have to get into the habit of writing everything down.
Create a household budget
After writing down your expenses and income, try to set aside at least 10% of the amount for the reserve, so that at the end of the year you can see a good difference in your account.
To choose investments for your reserve, remember to analyze the liquidity, the risks that the investments have, their predictability, if possible ask for help from a financial consultant.
Conclusion
So in 2023, there is still time to have one emergency reserve, just follow the procedures above, start with a plan to balance your household budget, whether you are not using additional cards or not, it is important to cut them out so as not to have annual fee expenses.