Free tool
Emergency fund calculator
Enter what your household actually has to pay each month. You will get a target fund, how many months your current savings would cover, and how long it takes to close the gap.
Essential monthly expenses
Only the things you could not stop paying if income disappeared. Leave anything blank at zero.
How steady is your income?
This sets how many months to aim for.
Your numbers stay on this device. Nothing is sent to us.
Your target fund
$0
Fill in your monthly essentials to see your target.
See the whole picture
Cash is one of five dimensions. The free Household Resilience Check scores your savings alongside health, housing, caregiving, and support in about five minutes.
Take the 5-minute check →How the emergency fund target is calculated
The math is your essential monthly expenses multiplied by the number of months you want to cover. Essentials are the payments that keep going whether or not income arrives: housing, utilities, food, transport, insurance, minimum debt payments, and caregiving costs.
The months come from how predictable your income is. A steady paycheck in a two-earner household recovers faster from a gap, so three months is a reasonable working target. Variable income, and especially self-employment or a single earner, needs closer to six.
Runway is the more useful number day to day. It answers how many months your household could keep paying for what it needs with no income at all. Going from zero to one month of runway is the single largest change most households can make.
Common questions
How much should I have in an emergency fund?
A common guideline is three to six months of essential expenses, not total spending. Essentials are housing, food, utilities, transport, insurance, minimum debt payments, and childcare. If your income is steady, three months is a reasonable working target. If it is variable or self-employed, six months gives more room.
How do I calculate my emergency fund?
Add up your essential monthly expenses, then multiply by the number of months you want to cover. A household with $3,500 of monthly essentials targeting three months needs $10,500. This calculator does that math and also shows how long your current savings would last.
Where should I keep an emergency fund?
Somewhere reachable within a day, separate from daily spending, and earning interest. A high-yield savings account at a different bank than your checking account works well. Avoid investments, crypto, and anything with a withdrawal penalty.
What counts as an emergency?
Lost income, medical bills, an urgent home or car repair, and travel for a family crisis. Holidays, upgrades, and planned purchases do not. Writing the rules down before you need them is what keeps the fund intact.
Should I pay off debt or build an emergency fund first?
Most households do better building one month of essentials first, then attacking high-interest debt, then returning to fill the fund to three months. Without any cushion, the next surprise goes back onto the card you just paid down.
This calculator is educational and directional only. It is not financial advice.