I'll disagree strongly here if the $80K and $4K are after tax. $40K in savings with an average life is highly preferable to $3K in savings with an average life. Yes there are smaller impacts to immediate choices, but I'd bet on the $40K to have a higher impact in the future. PPP is very sensitive to things like rapid economic growth, changes in immigration, changes in popularity of location, etc. You could very quickly find $3k/year of savings obliterated if that $1K goes to $4K. It's a lot harder for a $40K cost of living to go to $60K or $80K.
"$40K in savings with an average life is highly preferable to $3K in savings with an average life."
Your comparison is meaningless, unless they are in the same country with the same cost of living.
"You could very quickly find $3k/year of savings obliterated if that $1K goes to $4K. It's a lot harder for a $40K cost of living to go to $60K or $80K."
Again, meaningless, unless they are in the same country with the same cost of living.
