Unaffordable Utah: In A Pinch? Here\u2019s How Emergency Cash Options Stack Up<\/title><\/p>\nSALT LAKE <a href=\"https:\/\/rapidloan.net\/installment-loans\/direct-lenders-installment-loans\/\">online installment loans direct lenders<\/a> CITY, Utah \u2014 In a report released last year, the Federal Reserve found 40 percent of Americans lack enough savings to cover an unexpected $400 bill.<\/p>\nThis year, the partial government shutdown showed how desperate some federal employees were to raise cash to pay bills. Federal workers appealed for help on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe; they went to food banks, and some tried to cover their expenses with either part-time jobs, or freelance work.<\/p>\nThere are a number of ways to raise emergency cash, but financial planners said some are better than others.<\/p>\n<h2>Payday Loans<\/h2>\nDaniel Love shares his experience with payday lenders.<\/p>\nDaniel Love, 27, found himself with a budget that just didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\u201cMy rent is $960, my car payment is $125, my gasoline bill runs between $50 and $60,\u201d said Love.<\/p>\nHis expenses often outpaced his monthly income of $1,800. He turned to payday lenders to make up the shortfall, but he couldn\u2019t afford to pay them off right away. The interest quickly ballooned.<\/p>\n\u201cFour hundred percent, holy crap,\u201d said Love.<\/p>\nRolling over the loans kept pushing up his balances, until he owed nearly $2,000. He eventually turned to a credit counselor to help him consolidate his debt and pay off the loans.<\/p>\n<h2>Love said he won\u2019t turn to payday loans again.<\/h2>\n\u201cBecause once you get into that cycle, once they get their meat hooks into you, it\u2019s very hard to break that cycle,\u201d Love said.<\/p>\nBut payday industry spokesperson Wendy Gibson said payday loans can be a useful tool for people in some situations.<\/p>\nWendy Gibson is a spokesperson for Utah Consumer Lending<\/p>\n\u201cTo kind of bridge the gap in between paydays if they\u2019re experiencing a cash shortfall, an unexpected expense, like a car repair,\u201d said Gibson, who works for Utah Consumer Lending Association.<\/p>\nGibson acknowledged payday lenders charge high interest rates, the average APR in Utah is 527 percent according to a state report, but she said the interest on a short-term loan may still be cheaper than bouncing checks.<\/p>\n\u201cIf you compare the cost of credit against, let\u2019s say, an overdraft protection program at my bank, the cost is $39. If I were to go into overdraft, I repay my bank. After one week on $100 overdraft, the APR is 2,033 percent. But the bank is not required to disclose that in the form of an annual percentage rate,\u201d said Gibson.<\/p>\nKSL calculated the cost of a $400 two-week payday loan. At the state average of 527 percent, a customer would be charged $81 in interest. Depending on a person\u2019s financial situation, the interest may be cheaper than bouncing a check, or missing a rent payment.<\/p>\nCertified Financial Planner Shane Stewart ranks payday loans low on the list of emergency cash options.<\/p>\nShane Stewart, a Certified Financial Planner, talks with Debbie Dujanovic.<\/p>\n\u201cProbably one of my last resorts,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\nHe said a payday loan may not be the best option if a person doesn\u2019t know when they\u2019ll have a steady paycheck again.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s the defaulting on the payday loan. If a job loss or a furlough lasted longer than you anticipated when you default they just add that, and you pay an incredible amount of interest,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\n<h2>401(k) Loan<\/h2>\nFor more uncertain cash shortages, is it worth it to borrow against a 401(k)?<\/p>\nStewart said probably not.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019d put it in the same category as a payday loan,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\nHe said the cash a person borrows would cause them to miss any growth in the retirement account.<\/p>\n\u201cYou never know when the two best days of the market will be,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\nUsing Bankrate\u2019s online calculator, if someone borrows $5,000 from their 401(k) at age 30 and takes five years to pay it back, they\u2019ll lose out on $3,200 in growth, assuming a seven percent growth rate in the 401(k). If they never pay it back, the lost growth and tax penalties will cost the consumer $72,000 from their retirement.<\/p>\nStewart said a smarter option might be an interest-free credit card, as long as a borrower is determined to repay the spending before the zero percent interest rate expired. But he said to make sure to check for hidden fees, such as balance transfer fees, or time limits on the offer.<\/p>\n\u201cI would give a thumbs-up to a zero-percent credit card as long as it was option two or three,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\nLine of Credit<\/p>\nHis top choice to cover financial emergencies: a line of credit or a home equity loan. Getting either can be difficult if a consumer has limited time or a poor credit history.<\/p>\nUltimately, Stewart said its best to save for emergencies by creating an emergency fund. The best way to do this, he said, is by asking your company to automatically direct a set amount from each paycheck for savings. Another way is to download a savings app that pulls money from your checking every time you pay a bill or swipe your debit card.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unaffordable Utah: In A Pinch? Here\u2019s How Emergency Cash Options Stack Up SALT LAKE online installment loans direct lenders CITY, Utah \u2014 In a report released last year, the Federal Reserve found 40 percent of Americans lack enough savings to cover an unexpected $400 bill. This year, the partial government shutdown showed how desperate some …<\/p>\n <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/mega-foot.com\/unaffordable-utah-in-a-pinch-heres-how-emergency-2\/\"> Unaffordable Utah: In A Pinch? 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