Target
$21,000
Emergency Fund Calculator
How many months of expenses you should keep on hand, and how close you are.
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Monthly expenses
mo
Emergency fund target
$21,000
At $3,500/month, 6 months of cover is $21,000. You are 24% there.
You have
$5,000
Still need
$16,000
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How this is calculated
Your target is simply your monthly expenses multiplied by the number of months of cover you want to hold.
target = monthly expenses x months of cover. We then subtract what you already have set aside to show the gap and how far along you are.Once your safety net is set, the rest of your cash should be working.
Put the rest to work with OpenTradeEstimate based on your inputs. Not financial advice. Your ideal cushion depends on your own situation.
How to size an emergency fund
An emergency fund is the cash you keep aside for the unexpected: a lost job, a medical bill, a car that dies at the worst time. Sizing it is straightforward once you know your monthly expenses.
- Add up your essential monthly expenses, the rent, food, utilities, and payments you cannot skip.
- Pick how many months of cover you want to hold, commonly three to six.
- Multiply the two. That total is your emergency fund target, and the gap to what you have is what is left to save.
3 months or 6 months?
Three months is a reasonable floor when your income is steady and easy to replace. Lean toward six months or more if you are self-employed, have variable income, support dependents, or work in a role that would take a while to backfill.
Where to keep it
Keep it somewhere safe and quick to reach, like a high-yield savings account or money market account. This money is about availability, not returns, so it should not sit in investments that can fall in value right when you need it.