Cash Position
Money available to spend today, with nothing to sell and no penalty to pay.
Cash position counts what is accessible immediately: checking, savings, money market balances. Brokerage holdings and retirement accounts are excluded, since reaching them requires a sale, a settlement period, or a penalty.
The net version subtracts outstanding card balances, and it is the more informative of the two. $20,000 in savings alongside $5,000 on a card is a $15,000 position, because the card balance is a claim that has already been made.
The figure matters mostly for what it prevents. An unplanned expense met from cash stays an expense. The same expense met on credit becomes a balance compounding at card rates, and the size of the original bill stops being the relevant number.
Worked through
Gross and net, one household
Checking and savings, set against the balance carried on one card.
- Checking
- $3,000
- Savings
- $17,000
- Card balance
- -$5,000
- Net cash position
- $15,000
The gross figure is $20,000. The card balance is a claim already made against it, which leaves $15,000.
Where this lives in Promi
Cash Flow page. The Liquid Cash chart, which switches to Runway to show the same balance in months of spending.
Related in Cash Flow & Runway
See your own cash position
Promi computes this from your linked accounts, with the definition one click from the number.
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