Emergency fund calculator
Your emergency fund is the cash buffer that keeps you from selling investments at the worst moment. Itemize what you must spend each month, pick a coverage level, and follow the month-by-month plan to get there.
| Month | You add | Balance | Of target |
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How to use this calculator
- Itemize your essential expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport, minimum debt payments, healthcare and other essentials. Only count what you must pay even with no income, and leave out the spending you would cut in a crisis. The math is the same in any currency, so the symbol is just a label for your own numbers.
- Pick a coverage level: three months suits a stable salaried job in a two-income household, six months is the common recommendation, and twelve makes sense for freelancers, single earners and anyone with dependents.
- Already saved and monthly saving turn the target into the schedule above.
What the default plan looks like
The example expenses add up to €2,000 a month, which puts the three targets at €6,000, €12,000 and €24,000. Starting from €3,000 and saving €300 a month, the minimum buffer is 10 months away, the recommended six-month fund takes 30 months, and the full twelve-month fund takes 70. A common approach is to sprint to the three-month milestone first, then build toward six alongside other goals.
Where to keep the money
An emergency fund needs to be available within a day or two, so it belongs in cash: an instant-access or high-yield savings account, not in stocks or ETFs. The point is reliability rather than return, although a competitive savings rate means the fund at least keeps pace while it sits there. Our comparison of the best high-yield euro savings accounts shows current rates. The schedule here deliberately assumes zero interest, so any rate you earn gets you there slightly sooner.
Emergency fund first, investing second
The buffer is what lets you leave investments alone during a job loss or a large surprise bill, instead of selling at a bad time. Once the fund is full, the same monthly amount can flow straight into investing. The emergency fund guide for EU investors covers the strategy in depth, and the compound interest calculator shows what that redirected monthly saving could build next.
The schedule assumes no interest on the savings, so it is a conservative path; money in a savings account will reach the target slightly sooner. Keep the fund in cash or near-cash, not investments. This is an illustration for education only, not financial advice.