<prompt> Human: I am not trying to troll, but rather trying to understand. Currently I have very little cash savings. Rather I have a 100k HELOC with about 9 years left and 0 balance that I never really intend to use except for emergencies. By the time my HELOC is up, I will only have a couple of years left on my mortgage.Dont get me wrong, I do have savings, but only for retirement 12 salary and my HSA which is getting maxed. My finances are such that if I wanted to get cash savings I will need to pull back on my HSA and 401k.So my question is, am I doing something really stupid in my current situation...and is it worth taking from tax deferred savings to get cash on hand?  <response>: From the rpersonalfinance wiki A Crash Course in Risk Analysis: Why Six Months in an Emergency Fund is a NecessityHELOCs can dry up during a financial downturn see the first comment for an example, and if you lose your job during a downturn you wont be able to pull back deferrals from a now non-existent salary. 