It has been a hectic and busy week for me. On the previous Sunday, my good friend got married but I was busy as well, having to wake up at 3+am to be his “gatecrash brother” and best man. On Monday night, I was doing some of my work in my room. My dad was out and when he gotten back, he told me he had some pain around this stomach and groin area. Apparently, he couldn’t pass urine for the past 2 hours. I suggested going to A&E immediately but he wanted to wait and observe.
ANOTHER HOUR PASSED
Suddenly Dad told me he could not take the pain anymore. I then booked a Grab to go to Tan Tock Seng A&E immediately. Dad’s tummy and back is hurting really bad. But the usual registration process still needs to be done. Shortly after, my dad got to see the doctor and she did the urinary catheterisation for my dad. Large amount of urine came out and the pain is gone. Dad still needs to be placed under observation. I ordered McDonald’s in and had my dinner around 1am. I spent about 7 hours in the hospital and slept at about 6am.
PAYMENT TIME
As I “toured” around the hospital, I noticed there are various posters explaining how payment can be made using CPF etc and the different kind of financial assistance. It is a good initiative but I will not go into detail on that. As my dad was not warded, Medisave can’t be used to make payment. So I had to pay $128 (after subsidy) in cash.
It got me thinking “Thankfully, I can afford it. What about the people who can’t even afford this $128?”. Then I remembered reading this article about “Just 40 percent of Americans are able to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense, such as an emergency room visit or car repair, with their savings…”
I am unsure about the statistics in Singapore. Hopefully, it isn’t too bad here. For anyone reading this, if you do not have a sum of money set aside. Start with $1000, then slowly build it up to cover at least a few months of your expenses.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Personally, I already have a reserve fund which can cover 6 months of basic expenses. In case of emergencies or lost of job, there is money for me to tide it through. It will not be used for investing, leisure or whatever. It is a reserve fund.
I seriously hope everyone can set aside this money.
Do you have an emergency fund? How many months of expenses can it cover? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: www.engboonhow.com is an opinion based website. I am not a financial advisor, and the opinions on this site should not be considered as financial advice.