<prompt> Human: Fiance and I are building a house. Closing is in a couple months so we havent locked in our loan numbers. We can afford about 10 down while still maintaining an emergency fund. Is putting the extra 5 toward the down payment worth it? We will have PMI regardless, so is it better to just pay the minimum 5 down? This is a conventional loan by the way.What are the pros and cons to both?  <response>: Very few people completely respect the value of short term liquidity. A liquidity crisis is not something you want to get into. As such, having cash on hand or reserves of assets that can be easily and cheaply converted to cash on hand without stiff penalties is very worthwhile. I dont know how much emergency fund you have, but if its going to shrink massively and stay low due to this extra 5, then seriously consider if its worth it.Free cash flow increase from not having PMI is a really good benefit, but that isnt on the table here. Might be more risky to pay the other 5 and still have the PMI than to keep the 5 and save up until you can make one big payment that gets rid of PMI or to refinance your way out of PMI sometime later.If your payments are going to be a large percentage of your take home pay, I would keep the added liquidity. You likely wont be able to persuade your bank that you shouldnt have to make payments based on your extra up front 5 in the case that you lose your job. 