Emergency Fund Calculator
Work out how big your emergency fund should be and how long it will take to build.
An emergency fund is cash set aside for job loss, medical bills or a broken car. It keeps a bad month from becoming debt.
Most advisers suggest three to six months of essential expenses.
How it works
The target is your essential monthly spending times the months of cover. The gap is the target minus what you have.
Dividing the gap by your monthly saving gives the time to get there.
The formula
Months to reach = gap / monthly saving.
Tips
- Keep it in a high yield savings account. It should earn interest but stay instantly available.
- One income households and the self employed should lean toward the higher end.
Frequently asked questions
Should I build an emergency fund before paying off debt?
A small starter fund of around one month comes first. Then attack high interest debt while adding to the fund.
This is not financial advice. Nothing on this site is investment, tax, legal or financial advice of any kind.
The calculators give simplified estimates from the numbers you enter. They ignore taxes, fees, rate changes and real market returns, and they can be wrong.
Do not make financial decisions based on these results. Speak to a licensed financial adviser, accountant or lender before acting, and read the full disclaimer.