Emergency Fund Calculator
Know until when you're covered
An emergency fund is money set aside to cover essential expenses if your income suddenly stops. Enter your monthly expenses, how many months of coverage you want, and what you already have saved to see your target and how close you are to it.
Your take-home pay after taxes, used to work out how much you can put toward your fund each month.
Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, and other essentials. Leave out discretionary spending.
Your emergency fund target
$0
What is an emergency fund
An emergency fund is cash set aside specifically to cover essential expenses if your income suddenly stops or an unplanned cost hits, such as a job loss, medical bill, or urgent repair. It lives in an account you can access quickly, separate from the money you use for everyday spending or long-term investing.
Why should you have one
Without a cash buffer, an unexpected expense often turns into debt, forcing you onto a credit card or a loan just to get through a rough patch. An emergency fund breaks that cycle. It gives you time to find a new job, recover from an illness, or fix what broke, without derailing your other financial goals or adding interest payments on top of the original problem.
How is it calculated
Your target is your monthly essential expenses multiplied by the number of months of coverage you want. Enter your monthly income and current savings as well, and the calculator works out your monthly surplus (income minus expenses) to estimate how long it will take to close the gap if you're not already fully funded. The calculator above does this math for you automatically as you fill in each field.
Choosing your coverage
How many months you should aim for depends mostly on how stable and replaceable your income is.
3 months
A reasonable minimum if you have a stable job, a second income in the household, and strong job security in your field.
6 months
The general recommendation for most people, giving you a solid cushion against a layoff or a major unplanned expense without being overly conservative.
9 months
Worth targeting if your income is variable, such as freelance or commission-based work, if you are the sole earner in your household, or if your industry is prone to volatility.
The bottom line
An emergency fund is not meant to grow your wealth, it is meant to protect it. Once you hit your target, you can redirect what you were saving toward other goals like investing or paying down debt, and simply top the fund back up if you ever need to dip into it.