@Alex Keedy this is just my own way of thinking about it, but cash reserves are an amount specifically earmarked for, say, when the HVAC on a rental goes out; savings is living expenses. 

Lastly I would also ensure that you save some of your current capital and ear mark it as reserve, if you are using govt backed loans for acquisitions, lenders will require 6 months of reserves for each property (PITI) you own. 

Like just the facts : 3 houses with x equity and sitting on 800K in cash… thinking of taking out equity but not sure… because 800K is earmarked for something….

It allows use to earmark time for different tasks such as this based upon who in the firm is available. 

An additional $60 million would be earmarked for public housing complexes'http://www.startribune.com/wal...I'm not a fan of Walz, but that's a pile of opportunity

Most importantly, the City of Hamilton is very supportive of investment, and has earmarked a lot of money for small time investors, I encourage you to look into tax credits and other incentives. 

As I noted above, I have been monitoring the higher limits for a while, have a dozen or two props earmarked on Zillow, and not a single one has moved an inch.

Small businesses employ almost 50%+ of our workforce but the big corporations get all the attention and bailouts, in this case its going to be way beyond the $2Trillion earmarked for individuals, more like $10Trillion.

We have bills to pay and it's quite likely that many of us won't be eligible for the stimulus money that's earmarked for individuals or for big business.     

If you're collecting $2,400; bare minimum 25% gets earmarked for expenses.