Maybe I wasn't clear. I was talking about how I didn't see $30k being useful except in very limited circumstances. Having enough cash to deal with emergencies is imperative (unless you've got something to barter that the person who can help you wants more). However, most of a $30k stash wouldn't be usable under scenarios the vast majority of us would ever encounter, so it's a waste to stash that much unless the person thinks having to quickly disappear is a realistic scenario.
