01 — Your risk-based target
The classic "3–6 months" rule ignores whose income is at risk. Pick the profile closest to your situation — the recommended range shifts with income volatility.
02 — Essential expense builder
An emergency fund covers needs, not lifestyle. Add up the bills that must be paid even with zero income. Skip dining out, subscriptions you can cancel, and discretionary shopping.
03 — Gap plan: monthly deposits to your target
Know the gap between your target and today's savings? This computes the fixed monthly deposit that closes it in N months, including interest if the money sits in a yield-bearing account.
04 — Tier tracker: starter → full → extended
Big targets feel impossible; tiers make progress visible. Starter absorbs minor shocks, full is your risk-based target, extended adds six more months for a prolonged job-loss scenario.
Tiers use the monthly expenses and months from the Target tab. If your monthly expenses are under about $250, the $1,000 starter can exceed the "full" target — that's fine; it just means the starter milestone is generous for very low spenders.
05 — "What drains it" simulator
A fund is only as good as the emergencies it survives. Pick a scenario and watch a starting balance drain month by month — an estimate to calibrate your target, not a prediction.
06 — Where to keep it: an educational comparison
An emergency fund has one job: be there, in full, on a bad day. That means liquid, separate from spending money, and not exposed to market swings. Categories below — not product recommendations; compare specific accounts yourself.
| Parking spot | Liquidity | Typical yield | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-yield savings account | 1–2 business days | Among the best for liquid cash | Rates are variable and can fall; keep it at a different bank from checking to add friction |
| Money market account | Same-day to 1–2 days; check-writing common | Similar to high-yield savings | May have minimum balances or transaction limits; not the same as a money market fund |
| Regular checking | Instant | Near zero | Too easy to spend accidentally; mixing emergency cash with bill money defeats the purpose |
| Certificate of deposit (CD) | Locked until maturity (early-withdrawal penalty) | Slightly higher for the lock-up | An emergency during the term costs you the penalty — at odds with the fund's job |
| Cash at home | Instant | Zero (loses to inflation) | Theft/fire risk, no growth; a small buffer for outages is reasonable, the full fund is not |
| Stocks / crypto | Days to sell + settle | Higher expected, deeply negative when you need it most | Emergencies cluster with market crashes and layoffs — the worst moment to be forced to sell |
How the math works
Every number on this page comes from one of these formulas — no black boxes:
months depend on job-type risk: stable 3–6 · contract 5–8 · freelancer 6–9 · single-income 6–12
(with r = 0 it simplifies to gap ÷ n)
depleted in the first month the balance goes below zero
Targets are rounded to whole dollars. The $1,000 starter tier follows the popular "baby-step one" milestone used by many financial educators; the extended tier is simply your full target plus six extra months of expenses, modelling a prolonged job loss. These are conventions for planning, not guarantees.