Emergency Fund Calculator

How much should be in an emergency fund?

Enough to pay your essential expenses for the number of months you want covered: multiply what you must pay each month by those months. The CFPB says the right amount depends on your situation and suggests looking at the unexpected costs you have had before. A common rule of thumb, which the OpenStax textbook in the sources also gives, is 3 to 6 months of living expenses. It is a guideline, not an official number.

With $2,855 a month of essentials, 3 months is $8,565.00 and 6 months is $17,130.00. The calculator shows the target for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months at once, how long the money you already have would last, and when you would reach the target at the pace you can save.

How to use the calculator

• Enter essentials as: one monthly total, or an itemized list. The list suits bills that don’t arrive monthly.
• Monthly essential expenses (one total): what you would still have to pay each month if your pay stopped. 3,000, $3,000 and 3k all work.
• Essential expenses (itemized): one row per bill, with how often you pay it: weekly, every 2 weeks, twice a month, monthly, quarterly or yearly. Each row is turned into a monthly amount, so a $240 yearly registration counts as $20.00 a month. Your bank and card statements for the last few months are a good place to find these numbers.
• Months of coverage: 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, or another whole number from 1 to 60.
• Current emergency savings: cash you could use within a few days. Enter 0 if you are starting out.
• Amount you can set aside: what you can add to the fund each week, every 2 weeks, twice a month or each month. Enter 0 if nothing for now.
• Income you would still have (optional): money you could count on if your own pay stopped, such as a partner’s take-home pay.
• Savings APY (optional): the yearly rate your savings account pays. Leave it blank to count no interest.

Results update as you type. Each Try button changes one input: $20,000 already saved, starting from $0, nothing set aside for now, a partner’s $1,800 a month that would continue, or savings earning 4% APY. To compare plans, press Save for comparison, change an input and save again: each saved plan shows how its target and time differ from the first.

Emergency fund formula

The target is your months of coverage times the monthly amount the fund has to cover:

• $E$ is your essential expenses a month.
• $I$ is other income that would continue each month (0 if none).
• $M$ is the months of coverage.
• $S$ is your current emergency savings.

With $c$ set aside at the end of each month and no interest, you reach the target after $(T - S) \div c$ months, rounded up to a whole month.

Worked example: $2,855 a month, 6 months, $5,000 saved, $500 a month

A renter lists seven essential expenses. Three of them are not monthly:

1. Convert the bills that aren’t monthly: groceries $150 × 52 ÷ 12 = $650.00, insurance $480 ÷ 3 = $160.00, registration $240 ÷ 12 = $20.00.
2. Add the monthly amounts: $2,855.00 a month.
3. Target: 6 months × $2,855.00 = $17,130.00.
4. Still to save: $17,130.00 − $5,000 = $12,130.00.
5. Time: $12,130.00 ÷ $500 = 24.26, so the target is reached in month 25 (2 years 1 month). After 24 months the fund holds $17,000.00, so the 25th month needs only $130.00 of the $500.
6. How long the current savings last: $5,000 ÷ $2,855.00 = 1.75 months, shown as 1.7 months (rounded down).

Which expenses count as essential?

Essential expenses are the bills you would still have to pay if your income stopped. Spending you could stop, and money you move to savings, stays out:

Yearly and quarterly bills count too. They are easy to forget when you think in months, and the itemized list turns them into a monthly amount for you. If your spending changes from month to month, an average of the last few months is a fair starting point.

3, 6 or 12 months: choosing your months of coverage

There is no single right answer; the CFPB says it depends on your situation. Each of these questions can push the number up or down:

• How secure is your income? Pay that varies, commission, seasonal work or a single employer in a shaky industry argue for more months.
• How many people depend on it? A second earner in the household can cover part of the bills, which you can enter as income you would still have.
• Do you expect large one-off bills? An older car or home, or ongoing medical costs, can argue for a bigger cushion.
• How long would it take to replace your income? The longer a job search might take, the more months you may want.

The Target by months of coverage table under the result answers the trade-off in numbers. For the example, the 3, 6, 9 and 12-month targets are $8,565.00, $17,130.00, $25,695.00 and $34,260.00. At $500 a month from $5,000 they take 8, 25, 42 and 59 months to reach.

How long would my current savings last?

Divide your savings by what you would need each month. In the example, $5,000 covers 1.75 months of $2,855.00. The result shows it rounded down to a tenth, 1.7 months, so it never says you are covered for longer than you are.

Is $10,000 enough for an emergency fund?

It depends on your monthly essentials, so turn the question around: $10,000 ÷ your essential expenses a month = the months it covers. With the example’s $2,855.00 a month, $10,000 covers 3.5 months: above a 3-month target, below a 6-month one. With $20,000 saved (Try: Have $20,000 saved), the same budget is covered for 7 months, and the result says the fund is already complete, $2,870.00 above the 6-month target.

How long will it take to build my emergency fund?

Divide what you still need by what you can set aside each month and round up. The table When each month of expenses is covered shows the steps on the way. In the example, the first month is already covered, the second is reached in month 2, the third in month 8, and all six in month 25.

• Starting from $0 (Try: Starting from $0): the whole $17,130.00 takes 35 months (2 years 11 months) at $500 a month.
• Nothing to set aside yet (Try: $0 a month for now): without deposits or interest, savings stay at $5,000 and the target is never reached. Instead of an error, the result says so and shows what would work: $1,010.84 a month reaches $17,130.00 in 1 year, or $505.42 a month in 2 years.
• A deadline: the table Monthly amount to reach the target by a deadline answers “how much should I put in my emergency fund per month?” for 6 months to 3 years. For the example, 3 years needs $336.95 a month, $163.05 less than the $500 planned.
• Interest: with a savings APY of, for example, 4% (Try: Savings at 4% APY), interest is added each month at 0.3274% (which compounds to 4% over a year). The target is reached in month 23 instead of 25, with $814.13 of interest earned by then; the $500 deposits still do most of the work.

If you are paid every 2 weeks, enter what you move per paycheck with Every 2 weeks: $100 per paycheck is $216.67 a month on average (× 26 ÷ 12), not $200.

When other income would continue

If someone else’s pay or other steady income would keep coming, the fund only has to cover the difference. In the example with a partner’s $1,800 a month of take-home pay (Try: Partner still earning $1,800), the monthly shortfall is $2,855.00 − $1,800.00 = $1,055.00. Six months of it is $6,330.00, the $5,000 already saved leaves $1,330.00 to go, and at $500 a month that takes 3 months. The same savings last 4.7 months instead of 1.7.

Count only income you would really keep. Unemployment benefits depend on your state’s rules and on your eligibility, and the first payment generally arrives two to three weeks after you file, so leaving them out gives a safer target. If the other income would more than cover your essentials, the calculator says there is no monthly shortfall and still shows what your essentials alone would cost for the months you chose.

Where to keep an emergency fund

Somewhere safe that you can reach within days and won’t dip into for other things. The CFPB lists a bank or credit union account as one of the safest places, and a separate savings account keeps the fund apart from everyday spending. FDIC insurance covers savings deposits at insured banks up to the legal limit, but not investment products, even ones sold by a bank.

A certificate of deposit may pay more, but it locks the money for a set term, and taking it out early can cost a penalty. That makes a CD a poor home for money you might need next week. For part of a large fund that you don’t expect to touch for a while, it is one option, as long as you can accept the penalty if you do need it early.

Reading the result

• Emergency fund target: months of coverage times your monthly essentials, or times the shortfall when other income continues.
• Still to save: the target minus your savings, with the share you already have. When you have more than the target, the result says Already funded and shows the surplus.
• Time to reach the target: whole months at your pace. When it can’t be reached, it says so and the notice above it shows what would work.
• Current savings last: your runway if your income stopped today, rounded down to a tenth of a month.
• Target by months of coverage: your target, gap and time for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, with your own choice marked.
• When each month of expenses is covered: the month in which the fund first covers 1, 2, 3 and more months, with the balance then.
• Monthly amount to reach the target by a deadline: how much to set aside each month to finish in 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years or 3 years, and how that compares with your amount. Amounts are rounded up to the cent so they are enough.
• Your essential expenses (itemized list): each bill as a monthly amount and for your months of coverage, and a bar showing where the money goes. Every table has a Download CSV button.

Assumptions and limitations

• Essential expenses stay the same for every month of coverage. Prices can rise while you save, so recheck the target once a year or when your bills change.
• The target covers months of essentials only. One-off costs such as a car repair or an insurance deductible come on top; add a cushion if you expect them.
• Deposits are made at the end of each month. Weekly or every-2-weeks amounts are counted as their monthly average, so the month you reach the target can differ slightly.
• Interest, when you enter an APY, compounds monthly at a rate that stays the same. Taxes on interest and account fees are not included.
• How long savings last assumes you spend only your essentials and ignores interest.
• This is an educational estimate, not financial advice.

Common mistakes

• Using total spending instead of essentials. Restaurant meals and subscriptions inflate the target, and they are the first costs you could cut.
• Forgetting bills that aren’t monthly. Car insurance paid twice a year or a yearly registration still has to be paid during a lean stretch. Enter them as quarterly or yearly items; a twice-a-year bill works as its yearly total with Yearly.
• Treating every-2-weeks amounts as twice a month. $100 per paycheck every 2 weeks is $216.67 a month, not $200, because a year has 26 paychecks, not 24.
• Counting money you can’t reach quickly. A CD before its term ends or an investment that may be down when you need it is not the same as cash in a savings account.
• Counting on unemployment benefits from day one. Eligibility depends on your state and on why the job ended, and the first payment generally takes a few weeks.
• Stopping after one emergency. Once you spend from the fund, the CFPB’s advice is to build it back up; running the calculator again with your new balance shows how long that takes.