Personal finance calculator

Emergency Fund Calculator

Model a cash-reserve target from essential monthly expenses and the number of months you choose. The calculator shows the arithmetic; it does not prescribe one correct reserve.

Modeled target—

Funding gap—

Current coverage—

Your selected scenario—

—

Progress

—

Current savings ÷ target

Estimated time to target—

Amount above target—

Growth assumptionNone

How this model works

Target reserve = essential monthly expenses × user-selected months. Time to target divides any funding gap by the monthly amount added and rounds up to the next whole month.

No interest, inflation, taxes, withdrawals or changing expenses are modeled. The result is an arithmetic planning scenario, not financial advice.

Formula

The target changes when either expenses or coverage changes.

A household with €1,500 of essential monthly expenses would model €4,500 at three months, €9,000 at six months and €18,000 at twelve months.

Target reserveessential monthly expenses × target months

Current coveragecurrent savings ÷ essential monthly expenses

Funding gapmax(0, target − current savings)

Months to targetceil(funding gap ÷ monthly amount added)

Choosing a horizon

Three, six and twelve months are scenarios—not laws.

Income stability, dependants, multiple earners, insurance, essential fixed costs and access to other resources can all change how a reserve horizon is interpreted.

Compare 3, 6 and 12-month emergency-fund scenarios →

Next question

What cash should remain outside an investment plan?

Separate emergency reserves, near-term spending and irregular costs before deciding what may be available for long-term investing.

Read the cash-before-investing guide

Source

Emergency savings are personal by nature.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — An essential guide to building an emergency fund