Emergency fund calculator: how much should you save?
Use this free emergency fund calculator (emergency savings calculator) to plan how much to set aside. An emergency fund covers job loss, medical bills, or urgent repairs without debt. A common target is three to six months of essential expenses.
- Size your fund: Enter essential monthly expenses and pick 3–6 months—the emergency fund target updates automatically (defaults: $2,500/mo × 3 months).
- Starting balance and deadline (years + extra months).
- Annual rate and compounding if the money sits in savings.
- Pick monthly savings needed or time to reach goal with a fixed monthly deposit.
- Use copy link to save your plan, or open the compound interest calculator for a full schedule.
For other targets (down payment, vacation), use the general savings goal calculator.
How do I calculate my emergency fund from monthly expenses?
Enter essential monthly expenses, choose 3–6 months to cover, and the target updates as expenses × months. Example: $2,500 × 3 = $7,500.
How much emergency fund do I need?
Many planners suggest three to six months of essential expenses—not a fixed dollar amount for everyone. Use the builder above instead of guessing a round number like $15,000.
Can I share my emergency fund plan?
Copy link saves everything you entered—monthly expenses, months covered, goal, starting balance, and timeline—so you can bookmark it or send it to someone else.
Should I include inflation on a short-term emergency fund?
For horizons of a year or two, many people leave inflation at 0. Longer build timelines can use the inflation field on the calculator if you want purchasing-power context.