I recently wrote about this in our newsletter. So, I apologize to those who have heard it twice, but I really want to emphasize the importance of taking this story seriously.

I started to go for a run on Sunday morning and just as I got to the end of my drive way I looked up and saw my neighbor approaching. He had just gotten done with a walk. We exchanged small talk for a while and then he told me the bad news. The company he had been working with for over 15 years had just let him go. The man is 62 years old, has thirty five years of experience in commercial insurance - not to mention a college degree in insurance and marketing - and now he is applying for unemployment benefits, filling out his resume and trying to get social security earlier than expected.

It just did not seem right to me. It made me think about the fact that there really is no such thing as job security. We need to be prepared for anything.

I asked my neighbor if he had some money saved up in order to pay for his expenses in the mean time. He told me he would start pulling from his IRA fund and other investment funds, but all of that money would be taxable because he is not over the required age.

Again, I thought to myself about how great it is that he learned to put money away in case of an emergency, but he forgot to keep it as liquid as possible. In my opinion, investment funds do not make great emergency funds. They can produce a lot more growth, but they can also bring loss. They are also a little harder to access in order to get cash when you need it, and they may, in this case, be taxable, which can sometimes out weigh any gain you may have produced.

This is the reason I like to keep my emergency fund separate from my investments. It's important to have both, but a high interest savings account is a much better option for an emergency fund and should be the first thing you set up before starting to invest.

Let's not be victims of life's unexpected behavior. God is the only one who can bring security - Not jobs, money, pleasure, relationships, or anything else on this world. He calls us to be good stewards of what we have. Be prepared for the future.

-Griff