Ochotona’s post illustrates the importance of being intentional about your Cash quadrant strategy—and also understanding just how individualized that strategy ought to be:ochotona wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:27 pm "Deep Cash" is that amount of cash above and beyond what is likely to be needed under the worst likely personal crisis situations. Where only 5% of scenarios would require more cash, for example. It's a guess, it's imprecise.
Because of my job in the crappy oil industry, I have an emergency fund equal to 12 months of expenses. That will always be in the bank and liquid T-Bills and some paper currency. Beyond that is deep cash space.
My oldest I-Bonds is 3.5 years old. At 5, I won't count it as deep any longer.
If you work in a volatile industry where your job could suddenly vanish, you certainly want to keep a well-funded bank account and even a healthy stack of greenbacks on hand before you start buying STTs or I bonds, however attractive their current interest rates might seem.
If, on the other hand, you are in a very stable job situation, have achieved a high earning potential, and have already maxed out all of your other tax-deferred accounts (eg., 401k, 457b, IRAs plus catch up provisions), a multi-year ladder of I bonds (and, potentially, EE bonds too) could provide a whole new tax deferral space in which you might fund a self-annuity for early retirement; delay taking social security until 70 ½; or put off starting to draw down your portfolio indefinitely.