How long could
you last?
Enter what you must spend each month, how steady your income is and who depends on you. See your target, how many months your savings cover today and when you’ll get there.
A plain rule: 3 to 9 months · Runway today · Months to your target
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1.5
months of runway today, of 6
Your emergency fund target
$39,000
Still to save
$29,000
You get there
Dec 2029
Your $10,000 covers 1.5 months of essentials. At $800 a month you reach 6 months in 37 months.
What you must spend each month
Only what you couldn’t stop paying if your income stopped. The numbers to start with are examples.
Fine-tune 4 more inputs: tuition, insurance, utilities, other
Essentials each month$6,500
How many months to cover
What you have and what you add
Your emergency fund
Target
$39,000
Six months of essentials at $6,500 a month.
- Essentials each month
- $6,500
- Months to cover Salaried 3 + 3 people
- 6
- Saved now Covers 1.5 months
- $10,000
- Still to save
- $29,000
- Months to the target At $800 a month, Dec 2029
- 37
Illustration only. The 3-to-9-month rule is a common rule of thumb, not a requirement; your situation may call for more or less. Runway is savings ÷ essentials, rounded down to a tenth of a month. Months to the target leave out interest and assume you add the same amount every month, starting next month.
Why the months change.
Income
- Salaried. The paycheck is steady, so the base is 3 months.
- Pay varies. Commission, tips, hourly or seasonal work: 5 months covers the slow stretches.
- Self-employed. No unemployment cover and lumpy income: 6 months.
People
- Each person who depends on you adds a month, up to 3.
- Two earners in the house? You can lean toward the lower end.
Where to keep it
- Separate and reachable. A savings account you can draw on in a day, apart from your spending money.
- Not invested. It is there for a bad month, so it shouldn’t fall when markets do.