More and more people have large sums of money in savings – and it’s way more than any financial-planning manual or guru will tell you to have, writes Brian Hood, who is a certified financial planner and partner at Legacy Financial Group. Hood writes about the reasons why, which are largely based in misunderstanding or fear. One example is people not knowing they can invest outside of their retirement – or not feeling like they should. Hood encourages people to do the math to figure out a budget that works for them. “How much cash reserve should you keep? The textbooks say six to nine months of expenses. Let’s be conservative and keep 12 months. Now, let’s add in short-term savings goals – such as buying a $40,000 car next year. (Yes, people do pay cash for cars.) Or a known kitchen remodel. And the list goes on. But these all need to be added to the number. I challenge all of you to work through the math; and I will bet the savers out there are sitting on too much savings.”