Emergency Fund Calculator 🔒 Your data never leaves your browser.
Find how many months your savings would cover, or your savings target.
Months of coverage
Rule of thumb: many financial planners suggest keeping 3–6 months of expenses in an emergency fund — but the right target for you depends on job stability, dependents, and other income sources.
About this tool
An emergency fund is money set aside specifically to cover unplanned expenses — a job loss, a medical bill, a major car or home repair — without having to rely on high-interest debt like credit cards. This calculator works in both directions. Switch to "How many months does my savings cover?" to enter what you already have saved and your typical monthly expenses, and see exactly how many months of living costs that balance would carry you through. Switch to "How much should I save for a target?" to go the other way: enter your monthly expenses and how many months of coverage you want, and the calculator tells you the savings balance you need to reach.
There is no single right answer for how many months of coverage is enough — it depends on things like how stable your income is, whether you have dependents relying on you, whether a partner's income or other savings could cover gaps, and how quickly you could realistically find new work in your field. The commonly cited rule of thumb is 3 to 6 months of expenses, a reasonable starting point for most people with stable jobs and no dependents, but freelancers, single-income households, or people in volatile industries often aim higher. Use this tool to check where your current savings stand, or to work out a concrete savings target instead of guessing. Everything is calculated locally in your browser, so your financial details are never sent anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Should my emergency fund include investments, or just cash?
The standard advice is to keep it in cash or cash-equivalent accounts you can access within a day or two without penalty or risk of loss — a high-yield savings account is the classic choice. Investments like stocks can lose significant value right when you might need the money most (a market downturn often coincides with job losses during a recession), and some accounts (retirement funds especially) carry early-withdrawal penalties, which defeats the purpose of a fund meant for immediate, unplanned access.