Emergency Fund Calculator: How much do you need?
Enter your expenses and your saving rate and see how much of an emergency fund fits you and when you reach the goal.
- Your goal
- €6,000
= 3 months of expenses
Your emergency fund is full
Scale in months of expenses
At €300 a month you reach the goal after 20 months
Emergency fund and savings plan side by side: with two thirds of the saving rate (€200) you reach the goal after 30 months, while €100 a month already goes into a savings plan
- Rule of thumb: 3 to 6 months of expenses in an instant-access savings account, more buffer with each tick. German consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentrale) name 2 to 3 months of net pay.
Rounded values, not investment advice
The depiq app is in German for now. Leave your address to hear when the English version is ready.
How the calculator works
The calculator multiplies your monthly expenses by the number of months your emergency fund should cover. It starts at 3 months of expenses. Each tick adds one month, up to 6 months of expenses at most. This shows you how much of an emergency fund fits your situation.
It then subtracts what you have already saved and divides the rest by your saving rate. The result is rounded up to full months. Interest is not included. The line about the emergency fund and savings plan side by side shows the same path when two thirds of the saving rate go into the emergency fund and one third already goes into a savings plan.
Where do you park your emergency fund?
In an instant-access savings account, separate from your current account: the money is safe there and quickly available. Shares and ETFs are not suitable for this, because prices can be low at exactly the moment you need the money.
More on this, with an example, in the article: Emergency fund: how much do you really need? (with example)