Emergency Fund Calculator

Protect yourself against life’s surprises. An emergency fund shields your finances when the unexpected strikes - especially if you lose your job. Experts generally recommend saving three to nine months’ worth of essential expenses.

What’s the right amount for you? It depends on your actual spending, how much you could trim back, and how long a new, similar-pay job might take. Use this tool to plug in those variables and get a personalized savings target.

Some savings is always better than none. Even a modest fund can keep you from turning to high-interest credit cards when you face an unexpected bill.


If needed, I could reduce monthly spending by:

I can likely find a new job in:

An emergency fund of $14,250 would last 3 months when spending $4,750 per month.

Key Insights

  • Your monthly spending is $4,000
  • With a 5% reduction, your emergency spending would be $3,800
  • For a 3-month emergency fund, you should save $11,400
  • Each month of unemployment will use approximately $3,800 of your emergency fund

Use the Short-Term Savings tool to calculate exactly how much you need to set aside each month to build your emergency fund.

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