How many months of expenses should an emergency fund cover?

Convention runs three to six months, and the profile decides which end: three for a stable salary in a two-income household, six as the general case, nine or more for freelancers, founders and single-income families. This instrument sizes it to your actual monthly spend, not a round number.

How much does holding an emergency fund cost?

The yield gap between invested money and cash, on the fund's size. A $69,000 fund at a 4-point gap costs about $2,760 a year in returns forgone — roughly 4% of what it protects. That's the insurance premium, printed; whether it's worth paying is exactly the question this page settles.

Where should an emergency fund be kept?

Somewhere same-week liquid and boring: high-yield savings or equivalent. The fund's one job is to be there in a bad month — which rules out anything that can be down 20% or locked up precisely when the bad month arrives.

Emergency Fund Calculator — Months, Size & Drag

Your details

Currency symbol display only

The fund today

Cash and same-week-liquid only. Not the brokerage account.

Honest monthly spending

Σ/ mo

The number the card statements say, not the budget.

Income profile

Steadier income needs a shorter rope; founders, freelancers and single-income households need a longer one.

Yield gap to invested money assumption

% / yr

Market return minus what the cash account pays — the price of the insurance.

Everything is calculated in your browser as you type. Nothing you enter is sent or stored, and no account is needed.

Your result

Fully provisioned.

7.0 months

what the fund covers at your honest monthly spend

The provision

Months covered today	—
The target, at your profile	—
Gap to close (or excess to deploy)	—
What the full fund costs per year, in returns forgone	—
That cost as a share of what it protects	—

Three ropes, same life

At a cover of	Fund needed	Insurance cost / yr
—	—	—
—	—	—
—	—	—

What moves this result

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Worth checking

The fund's job is to exist at the worst moment — which is exactly when markets are down and credit is tight. That correlation is why 'I'll just sell some stock' is not an emergency fund.

Spending in an actual emergency is rarely your normal spending: some lines vanish, insurance deductibles and flights appear. Six months of honest spend covers the reshuffle.

Past the target, every extra month is a choice to buy more insurance at the printed price. Allowed — as long as the price is being read, not ignored.

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Common questions

How many months of expenses should an emergency fund cover?: Convention runs three to six months, and the profile decides which end: three for a stable salary in a two-income household, six as the general case, nine or more for freelancers, founders and single-income families. This instrument sizes it to your actual monthly spend, not a round number.
How much does holding an emergency fund cost?: The yield gap between invested money and cash, on the fund's size. A $69,000 fund at a 4-point gap costs about $2,760 a year in returns forgone — roughly 4% of what it protects. That's the insurance premium, printed; whether it's worth paying is exactly the question this page settles.
Where should an emergency fund be kept?: Somewhere same-week liquid and boring: high-yield savings or equivalent. The fund's one job is to be there in a bad month — which rules out anything that can be down 20% or locked up precisely when the bad month arrives.

How this is calculated

Everything below is calculated from your inputs. The yield gap is an assumption you control.

months  = fund / spending
target  = profile months × spending
cost    = target × yield_gap

The gauge reads months covered against your chosen target — the house default is 6 months, tightened to 3 for genuinely stable salaries and stretched to 9 for variable or single-source income. The insurance cost is the yield gap on the full target: the honest annual premium for sleeping through a bad quarter.

Limitations. Access to cheap credit, a working spouse, or severance terms all substitute for months of cash and are outside the model. So is the psychological return, which is real and unpriceable.

Emergency Fund, Sized