Published: Friday, 9 Jan 2009 | 4:49 PM ET

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By: Carmen Wong Ulrich
On The Money Host

As we wrap up our full week dedicated to being Financially Fit, let’s talk immunity. What builds up financial immunity? Just as mega doses of Vitamin C or daily exercise and good eating habits make us better able to recover or reject illness, an emergency fund functions as a healthy immune system to counteract setbacks when it comes to your money.

Jeanine, the fourth member of our Financially Fit Club, hasn’t earned a paycheck in almost a year yet she still has enough money to keep her where she’s at for another four months. A real estate agent who once sold $6 million of property in a month, Jeanine’s sales—and paycheck—dried up along with the housing market. But due to savvy financial planning—especially needed when you have a job that depends on erratic commissions—Jeanine has been able to maintain her lifestyle and pay her bills every month because she had built up a solid emergency fund. But without closing any sales for so long, Jeanine has become a case of financial health dissolving under the weight of income illness.

With her emergency fund clock ticking down to only four more months, she knows she needs to earn again, but Jeanine’s not sure if she should stay in real estate or use her sales experience combined with her tech background to go back to Silicon Valley. We gave Jeanine a financial plan based on either scenario, but since both will take time, she needs to buy more time by

liquidating some non-IRA retirement savings she currently has in mutual funds. Jeanine is financially fit. Her prescription is to make money-moves to stay that way, and forge ahead to win that well-overdue paycheck.

Watch On The Money Friday at 10p ET as we wrap up our Financial Fitness series.

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