Welcome Back Debate Fans!

Are you ready for Grumpus to grumble about the concept of investing the Emergency Fund (EF) in equities?

Or should I say “GGGGGRRRRUUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEEE” in my best sport’s announcer’s voice?

A Quick Recap

I’m back with another round of Debate Club. I hope everyone enjoyed round one. Just to re-cap, ChooseFI episode 66 prompted this series of articles in response to the idea of investing an EF. In episode 66, and the follow-up episode 66R, Brad and Jonathan (the hosts) enthusiastically endorsed Big Ern’s (the guest’s) idea that the traditional EF, invested in some sort of cash or cash-equivalent account, was a bad move. Instead, all three agreed it made more sense that a person invest their EF in equities.

In response, I argued in my first article of this series that Episode 66 lacked nuance and suffered from a mistaken definition of the EF. In other words, Ern, Jonathan, and Brad set up a strawman argument and easily knocked it down. By the end of the first article, I created what I felt was a level playing field on which to engage in a debate about the merits and drawbacks of their argument. Thus, I moved on to the second article. Continue reading →