How many months should an emergency fund cover?

A common guide is three to six months of essential expenses, more if your income is variable or you are a single earner. The right size depends on your job security, dependants and other safety nets.

How do I work out my emergency fund in months?

Divide your current savings by your monthly essential expenses. That gives the months of runway your fund provides if your income stopped, which is the figure that really matters in an emergency.

Should I count all my spending or just essentials?

Use essential expenses, the costs you could not avoid such as rent or mortgage, food, power and transport, since in a real emergency you would cut back on discretionary spending. This gives a longer, more realistic runway.

Emergency Fund Months Calculator

This New Zealand calculator shows how many months of expenses your current savings would cover. That runway is the figure that really matters in an emergency, more than the dollar balance alone. You enter your savings, your essential monthly expenses and a target number of months, and the tool shows the months you have covered, whether you have reached your target, and how much more you need to get there.

Current emergency savings

Essential expenses per month

Target months of cover

months of essential expenses your savings cover

Your target$0

Still to save$0

Use essential expenses, the costs you could not avoid, since in a real emergency you would trim discretionary spending. Three to six months is a common guide, more if your income is variable. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator divides your current savings by your essential monthly expenses to show the months of runway your fund gives you if your income stopped. It compares that with your target months to work out the target dollar amount and how much more you need to save to reach it, or confirms you are already there. Measuring in months, not dollars, is what tells you how secure you really are.

Worked example

With $12,000 saved and $3,500 of essential expenses a month, your fund covers about 3.4 months. For a 6 month target you would need $21,000, so there is about $9,000 still to save to reach a full six months of security.

Related calculators

Emergency Fund Calculator: size your fund.
Savings Goal Calculator: reach a target.
Budget Calculator: your expenses.
Sinking Fund Calculator: known costs.

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