Financial Channel

The "experts" say we should set aside about 4 months living expense money just in case of an emergency.

I'll bet most people don't. With interests rates the way they are, isn't it better to have a line of credit ready to tap instead? Would that be a better alternative?

As an advisor what I usually suggest is have a credit card or line of credit available but with the emergency fund, stick it into an investment that gets higher returns. Upon an emergency they could just pay with the line of credit or credit card, then get a redemption from their investment and pay back the loan asap. I only keep about 9k a month in my accounts to cover the month's pre authorized withdrawals such as loans and mortgage payments. Other than that, all the excess is deposited or used right away.