# Could you get $20,000 in emergency funds in 30 days? $200,000? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097 "2011-05-25T00:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/21 "2011-05-25T02:09:19Z")
If I pushed everything to the max, and borrowed from every family member on both sides, I could probably scrape up $100 k. That’s about it. $20 k would be no problem, we’ve got that in our equity line of credit. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/22 "2011-05-25T02:13:38Z")
I could get the 200k, but not the 20. _What?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/23 "2011-05-25T02:18:09Z")
I think I have about 20K if I add up all my credit cards. No chance at 200K, though. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/24 "2011-05-25T02:20:16Z")
Tough one to answer - I finally chose that I could get both, but the 200k would definitely require borrowing/finagling. 20k on the other hand would not be a big deal at all, but I can’t image what would happen to make me spend that - for almost any scenario I can’t think of I’d probably pass rather than spend it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/25 "2011-05-25T02:24:49Z")
$20K easy. $200K probably in 30 days; I could get most of that fairly easily but would probably have to dip into retirement savings for the full amount. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/26 "2011-05-25T02:28:11Z")
Twenty thousand, yes. I have that much. Two hundred thousand would be quite a stretch but I might be able to do it with extensive borrowing and selling off a lot of stuff. (I don’t own a house so that’s out.) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/27 "2011-05-25T02:35:36Z")
Is it possible to change an answer? I said I could raise neither but on reconsideration, I could probably raise the $20K with a mortgage but not the $200K. But I’d have to sell my condo, if I could, and then die homeless but what the hell. ---
**Author:** ![ImNotPaulAvery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@ImNotPaulAvery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImNotPaulAvery)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/28 "2011-05-25T02:51:43Z")
20k = savings + sell stocks/bonds + cash out 401k + credit cards Yeah, I could do it, but it wouldn’t be pretty. ☹ 200k, hell no. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/29 "2011-05-25T02:52:49Z")
How hard is it to rob a bank? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/30 "2011-05-25T02:56:20Z")
Not anymore. I used up all my financial sources recently and if I came back to them, they’d not be happy with me. Luckily I just got a new job, and can pay them all back. After that, maybe I could get $20k from them sometime in the future, should I need to. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/31 "2011-05-25T02:58:13Z")
I answered “yes to both” but it would entail doing things like selling my house (which would leave me houseless on 30 days notice) or cashing out retirement savings at severe penalties, neither of which would be very palatable, so it’d better truly be for a real emergency. Like putting it all on a 10-to-1 long shot at the Belmont Stakes that I just KNOW is coming in. Yeah… ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/32 "2011-05-25T03:15:47Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > How hard is it to rob a bank? Mmm. Not that hard to roll over a branch bank if you just hit the tellers, but that won’t get you much, less than $10,000 probably, and that’s multiple tellers. Most of these robbers get less than $3,000. Very hard to get into the big safe where the real money is, and branch banks really don’t have that much on-hand anyway. Nearly impossible to get to the really big safe in a big downtown bank where they have a million or more. I used to get money from one of those safes to refill the indoor lobby ATM’s, and it took three people with three different codes to open the thing, plus me carrying the cash with two armed guards and a second teller. Forget about the distribution center where palates of cash were delivered from the Fed every week. It was a big bank. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/33 "2011-05-25T03:30:33Z")
I could borrow both from family, I think. My parents have $20,000. I have some wealthy extended family who could give me $200,000. But it would have to be imminent life or death for me to ever ask such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/34 "2011-05-25T03:33:40Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > …where palates of cash were delivered from the Fed every week. It was a big bank. Dur. Pallets. I wish spell check worked with context. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/35 "2011-05-25T03:48:30Z")
Yes, but only by hitting up relatives, which I would only do in a life-or-death sort of emergency. 20k wouldn’t be too hard for my parents and future-in-laws to spare, and even 200k would be possible if I asked extended family. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/36 "2011-05-25T04:13:23Z")
$20,000 would be easy; I have more than that in my savings account. $200,000 _might_ be doable (I don’t think I could raise more than half of that on my own, but if it was a truly dire emergency, I could probably borrow the balance from my parents). ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/37 "2011-05-25T04:45:26Z")
As long as the Apple stock price stays above $200/share, yes, I could get either amount. Paying the taxes to get that amount liquidated would piss me right off though. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/38 "2011-05-25T04:50:03Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Rats, typo in title. That’s $20,000 as the lower amount, not $20.000 Fixed. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/39 "2011-05-25T04:57:20Z")
I’ve got the $20,000 covered in savings but would lose a month’s interest if I took it out in just 30 days. No way I can get $200,000 from my current assets though. I don’t count potential loans from friends/family as : a) I doubt my family has that much in hand (would require selling land etc which would probably take longer than 30 days), and b) to do so would just make my emergency their emergency too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097/40 "2011-05-25T05:06:36Z")
Both. I have $20,000+ in my savings account. Between that and other accounts I have pretty close $200,000 and could borrow the rest from family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-get-20-000-in-emergency-funds-in-30-days-200-000/583097.md?page=3)