The turn in fortune of Canada's energy resource sector has once again caught many workers flat footed. There was a humorous bumper sticker seen in Calgary in the 1980s: Please God let there be another Oil Boom I promise not to piss it all away next time! It would appear that the lesson was not taken to heart.

If you ever have the opportunity to speak with a financial planner, and anyone can do this who has an account at a bank or credit union, you will inevitably be told that you should have an emergency fund in place to deal with unforeseen calamity. Of course, a banker will try to persuade you to keep that fund with them in a TFSA or GIC or some other financial instrument. Personally, I don't care how one holds the fund so long as they have it. Frankly, it's the 'grown up' thing to do. As preppers, this should be a no-brainer and should be one of the first preps that you ever put into place. The first time it was mentioned to me by a financial planner was just after I got married. We didn't really have any money to speak of and I thought it was a Herculean sum! "Three months expenses to be built up to six months as you can afford it." Attached is a link to an essay from another writer who speaks further on the topic. The writer addresses a variety of different scenarios and starting points.
http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/emergency_fund.html

I can pretty much guarantee that there will come a time in all of our lives that we will need a lump sum of cash to deal with the unforeseen. I can't say the same for a number of the preps that are invested on elsewhere in the pages of this forum.