{"tool":{"slug":"emergency-fund","name":"Emergency fund calculator","version":"2026-08-22","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/emergency-fund","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/emergency-fund.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/emergency-fund","parameters":[{"key":"housing","label":"Housing","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":100000,"default":1800,"sourceId":null,"help":"Rent, or mortgage principal and interest plus escrowed taxes and insurance. The default is an example; enter your own."},{"key":"food","label":"Food","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":50000,"default":650,"sourceId":null,"help":"Groceries and the household supplies you cannot skip. Restaurants belong in other spending, not here."},{"key":"utilities","label":"Utilities","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":20000,"default":300,"sourceId":null,"help":"Electricity, gas, water, trash, internet, and phone. Streaming is not a utility."},{"key":"insurance","label":"Insurance","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":20000,"default":350,"sourceId":null,"help":"Health, auto, renters or homeowners premiums you pay yourself. If your health plan comes through work, use what it would cost you without the job."},{"key":"debt","label":"Minimum debt payments","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":50000,"default":400,"sourceId":null,"help":"The minimums on cards, student loans, and any loan other than the mortgage already counted in housing. Minimums only: extra payments stop in an emergency."},{"key":"transport","label":"Transportation","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":20000,"default":450,"sourceId":null,"help":"Car payment, fuel, upkeep, transit fares. Auto insurance is counted under insurance, not here."},{"key":"savings","label":"Set aside already","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":10000000,"default":2000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Cash you could actually reach this week. Retirement accounts and home equity do not count: reaching them costs a penalty, a tax bill, or a closing."},{"key":"monthly","label":"Saved each month","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":1000000,"default":400,"sourceId":null,"help":"What you can add every month without borrowing it back. Added at the end of each month."},{"key":"months","label":"Months of coverage","unit":"months","min":1,"max":24,"default":3,"sourceId":"fed-shed-2025","integer":true,"help":"How many months of essentials the fund should cover. Three is the Federal Reserve's yardstick for financial resiliency, not a rule; move it to what your income actually justifies."},{"key":"other","label":"Everything else you spend","unit":"usd-per-month","min":0,"max":100000,"default":900,"sourceId":null,"help":"Normal-month spending outside the essentials above: restaurants, travel, subscriptions, gifts. It never enters the target; it is here so the page can say what the target covers as a share of your whole life. The default is an example."},{"key":"apy","label":"Rate the account pays","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":20,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"help":"The annual yield on wherever the fund sits, credited monthly. The default is zero because emergency money often sits in checking; a savings account paying near the inflation rate changes the timeline below."},{"key":"inflation","label":"Inflation","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":25,"default":3.4,"sourceId":"bls-cpi","help":"How fast the essentials themselves get more expensive. Used to price what the fund gives up while it waits, and to re-run the timeline against a target that drifts up with prices."}]},"inputs":{"housing":1800,"food":650,"utilities":300,"insurance":350,"debt":400,"transport":450,"savings":2000,"monthly":400,"months":3,"other":900,"apy":0,"inflation":3.4},"result":{"essentials":3950,"total":4850,"essentialShare":0.8144,"target":11850,"gap":9850,"surplus":0,"funded":0.1688,"monthsCovered":0.51,"monthsOfTotalCovered":2.44,"monthsToTarget":25,"monthsToTargetIndexed":27,"driftMonths":2,"targetAtArrival":12775.84,"holdingCostPerYear":402.9,"realYield":-3.4,"schedule":[{"month":1,"added":400,"balance":2400,"target":11883.06,"shortfall":9483.06},{"month":2,"added":800,"balance":2800,"target":11916.22,"shortfall":9116.22},{"month":3,"added":1200,"balance":3200,"target":11949.47,"shortfall":8749.47},{"month":4,"added":1600,"balance":3600,"target":11982.81,"shortfall":8382.81},{"month":5,"added":2000,"balance":4000,"target":12016.24,"shortfall":8016.24},{"month":6,"added":2400,"balance":4400,"target":12049.77,"shortfall":7649.77},{"month":7,"added":2800,"balance":4800,"target":12083.39,"shortfall":7283.39},{"month":8,"added":3200,"balance":5200,"target":12117.1,"shortfall":6917.1},{"month":9,"added":3600,"balance":5600,"target":12150.91,"shortfall":6550.91},{"month":10,"added":4000,"balance":6000,"target":12184.81,"shortfall":6184.81},{"month":11,"added":4400,"balance":6400,"target":12218.81,"shortfall":5818.81},{"month":12,"added":4800,"balance":6800,"target":12252.9,"shortfall":5452.9},{"month":13,"added":5200,"balance":7200,"target":12287.09,"shortfall":5087.09},{"month":14,"added":5600,"balance":7600,"target":12321.37,"shortfall":4721.37},{"month":15,"added":6000,"balance":8000,"target":12355.75,"shortfall":4355.75},{"month":16,"added":6400,"balance":8400,"target":12390.22,"shortfall":3990.22},{"month":17,"added":6800,"balance":8800,"target":12424.79,"shortfall":3624.79},{"month":18,"added":7200,"balance":9200,"target":12459.46,"shortfall":3259.46},{"month":19,"added":7600,"balance":9600,"target":12494.22,"shortfall":2894.22},{"month":20,"added":8000,"balance":10000,"target":12529.08,"shortfall":2529.08},{"month":21,"added":8400,"balance":10400,"target":12564.04,"shortfall":2164.04},{"month":22,"added":8800,"balance":10800,"target":12599.09,"shortfall":1799.09},{"month":23,"added":9200,"balance":11200,"target":12634.25,"shortfall":1434.25},{"month":24,"added":9600,"balance":11600,"target":12669.5,"shortfall":1069.5},{"month":25,"added":10000,"balance":12000,"target":12704.85,"shortfall":704.85},{"month":26,"added":10400,"balance":12400,"target":12740.3,"shortfall":340.3},{"month":27,"added":10800,"balance":12800,"target":12775.84,"shortfall":0}],"scheduleTruncated":false},"drivers":[{"key":"months","label":"Months of coverage","step":1,"monthsDelta":10,"sentence":"Each 1 month of coverage pushes it 10 months further out."},{"key":"monthly","label":"Saved each month","step":100,"monthsDelta":-5,"sentence":"Each $100 more a month brings the target 5 months closer."},{"key":"savings","label":"Set aside already","step":1000,"monthsDelta":-2,"sentence":"Each $1,000 already set aside brings the target 2 months closer."},{"key":"housing","label":"Housing","step":-100,"monthsDelta":-1,"sentence":"Each $100 less housing a month brings the target 1 month closer."}],"sensitivity":{"byMonths":[{"months":1,"target":3950,"gap":1950,"monthsToTarget":5},{"months":3,"target":11850,"gap":9850,"monthsToTarget":25},{"months":6,"target":23700,"gap":21700,"monthsToTarget":55},{"months":9,"target":35550,"gap":33550,"monthsToTarget":84},{"months":12,"target":47400,"gap":45400,"monthsToTarget":114}],"byContribution":[{"monthly":100,"monthsToTarget":99,"monthsToTargetIndexed":171},{"monthly":250,"monthsToTarget":40,"monthsToTargetIndexed":46},{"monthly":500,"monthsToTarget":20,"monthsToTargetIndexed":22},{"monthly":1000,"monthsToTarget":10,"monthsToTargetIndexed":11},{"monthly":2000,"monthsToTarget":5,"monthsToTargetIndexed":6}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"housing","label":"Housing","value":1800,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"food","label":"Food","value":650,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"utilities","label":"Utilities","value":300,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"insurance","label":"Insurance","value":350,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"debt","label":"Minimum debt payments","value":400,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"transport","label":"Transportation","value":450,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"savings","label":"Set aside already","value":2000,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"monthly","label":"Saved each month","value":400,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"months","label":"Months of coverage","value":3,"unit":"months","provided":false,"source":{"id":"fed-shed-2025","name":"Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, Savings and investments","url":"https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-savings-investments.htm","asOf":"2026-05-13","note":"The Board states the benchmark this calculator defaults to: \"One common measure of financial resiliency is whether people have savings sufficient to cover three months of expenses if they lost their primary source of income.\" In 2025, 55 percent of adults said they had set aside money for three months of expenses, unchanged from 2024 and down from a high of 59 percent in 2021; 30 percent said they could not cover three months of expenses by any means, including borrowing or selling assets. The same section carries the Board's separate $400 measure: faced with a hypothetical $400 expense, 63 percent of adults said they would cover it exclusively with cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement, and 12 percent said they could not pay it by any means."}},{"key":"other","label":"Everything else you spend","value":900,"unit":"usd-per-month","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"apy","label":"Rate the account pays","value":0,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"inflation","label":"Inflation","value":3.4,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":{"id":"bls-cpi","name":"BLS Consumer Price Index, all items, U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SA0)","url":"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0","asOf":"2026-07-01","note":"The index rose from 323.048 in July 2025 to 333.918 in July 2026, a 3.4 percent twelve-month change. That is the default inflation rate used to price what a cash fund gives up while it waits."}}],"sources":[{"id":"fed-shed-2025","name":"Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, Savings and investments","url":"https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-savings-investments.htm","asOf":"2026-05-13","note":"The Board states the benchmark this calculator defaults to: \"One common measure of financial resiliency is whether people have savings sufficient to cover three months of expenses if they lost their primary source of income.\" In 2025, 55 percent of adults said they had set aside money for three months of expenses, unchanged from 2024 and down from a high of 59 percent in 2021; 30 percent said they could not cover three months of expenses by any means, including borrowing or selling assets. The same section carries the Board's separate $400 measure: faced with a hypothetical $400 expense, 63 percent of adults said they would cover it exclusively with cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement, and 12 percent said they could not pay it by any means."},{"id":"fed-shed-hardships","name":"Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, Economic hardships","url":"https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-economic-hardships.htm","asOf":"2026-05-13","note":"59 percent of adults had at least one major unexpected expense in the prior 12 months: a major vehicle repair or replacement (30 percent), a major house or appliance repair (22 percent), and unexpected major medical expenses (21 percent). Among those who knew the amount, the three most common had a median cost of $1,000 to $1,999. That is the shape of the ordinary emergency, and it is much smaller than a job loss."},{"id":"cfpb-emergency-savings","name":"CFPB Data Point No. 2022-01, Emergency Savings and Financial Security","url":"https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_mem_emergency-savings-financial-security_report_2022-3.pdf","asOf":"2022-03-01","note":"Analysis of survey and account data finds that \"roughly one month of savings may provide an important delineation between consumers who are in danger of financial hardship and those who are at a lower risk of financial difficulty.\" 24 percent of consumers reported no emergency savings, 39 percent had some but less than a month of income, and 37 percent had at least a month of income."},{"id":"bls-unemployment-duration","name":"BLS Current Population Survey, median and average weeks unemployed (LNS13008276, LNS13008275, LNS13025703)","url":"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS13008276","asOf":"2026-07-01","note":"Seasonally adjusted, July 2026: the median spell of unemployment ran 10.5 weeks and the average 24.9 weeks, and 25.5 percent of unemployed people had been out of work 27 weeks or longer. The median is why three months is usually enough; the tail is why six months exists."},{"id":"bls-cpi","name":"BLS Consumer Price Index, all items, U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SA0)","url":"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0","asOf":"2026-07-01","note":"The index rose from 323.048 in July 2025 to 333.918 in July 2026, a 3.4 percent twelve-month change. That is the default inflation rate used to price what a cash fund gives up while it waits."}],"warnings":[{"code":"under-one-month","message":"You have 0.5 months of essentials set aside. CFPB research puts the sharpest change in hardship risk near one month of savings rather than three, so the first $1,950 is the part of this target that buys the most."},{"code":"holding-cost","message":"Held at 0% against 3.4% inflation, a $11,850 fund loses about $403 of purchasing power a year. That is the price of the money being there on the day you need it, not a mistake in the plan."}],"disclaimer":"This is arithmetic on the numbers you enter: essential monthly spending times the months of coverage you choose, against what you have and what you add. It is not advice about how much you personally should hold, and it does not know whether your income is stable, whether anyone else could cover your bills, or what your next emergency will cost."}