Free Tool
Emergency Fund Calculator
Size your target from your real essential expenses, see why you landed there, and track the months to reach it.
On $3,000 a month in essential expenses, with variable income and a single-income household, the target here is $21,000 — 7 months of essentials: the 6-month floor for one risk factor, plus 1 more month for the second. Starting from $4,000 saved and adding $500 a month gets there in 34 months.
Essential monthly expenses
Your emergency fund target
7 months of essential expenses
Why 7 months?
The common range is 3-6 months: $9,000 to $18,000 at your essentials.
The 3-6 month range is a common rule of thumb (see Treasury's emergency fund guide); the risk-factor adjustments are Treasury's own. Reviewed by Junead Khan. Last updated .
How the target scales for the $3,000/month example
On $3,000 in monthly essentials, here is the target at a few common coverage levels. Use the calculator above for your own numbers.
How the recommendation is built
Starts at a 3-month baseline. Any single risk factor raises the total to 6 months on its own; each additional factor adds one more month.
The three risk factors this calculator recognizes: Variable or self-employed income (commission, tips, irregular hours, or self-employment); Single-income household; Dependents to support. Stacking more than one can carry the total past 6 months, up to a documented safety cap of 12 months.
Months to goal, by contribution
Starting from $4,000 saved toward the $21,000 target above, no interest assumed.
Read more in how to build an emergency fund and how to budget, or see what your paycheck actually leaves you with the paycheck calculator.
Emergency fund questions.
A common rule of thumb is 3 to 6 months of essential living expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, minimum debt payments, and childcare. Where you land depends on how stable your income is, not how much you earn — this calculator starts at 3 months and shows exactly which factors moved your number.
3 months if you have no risk factors: steady, dual income with no dependents. Any single risk factor — self-employment, commission or variable pay, being your household’s only earner, or supporting dependents — raises the recommendation to 6 months on its own. Each additional factor adds 1 more month on top of that.
In a high-yield savings account that is separate from your everyday checking and FDIC-insured, so the money stays safe and liquid but slightly out of reach. Skip the stock market, cryptocurrency, and long-term CDs for this money — it needs to be there, in full, on short notice.
Monthly essentials (added up from the categories you enter) multiplied by a recommended number of months. That number starts at a 3-month baseline; any single risk factor raises it to 6 months on its own; and each additional factor adds 1 more month, up to a documented cap of 12 months — the adjustments applied are always shown.
See how much further your money can go.
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