I have practically nothing in savings right now. I simply don't need it. We have about $500k in a taxable brokerage account through Vanguard. If we have an emergency, we can sell some shares. We have about a million in retirement accounts, and our house is paid off.

This concept of "emergency fund" is like a stepstool for people getting started. It's not for everyone.

1.5 - 2 years of expenses

8 months' worth of basic expenses.

I have $5K in completely liquid savings and another $18K or so in non-retirement mutual funds I could easily cash out. I also have about $15K worth of unused credit limit on my card that I could tap if need be. I'm 43.

If I lost my job and burned through my savings, I'd just sell my house. I'd have about $300K of equity after I sold, and could probably sell to a developer without doing anything to it or even hiring a realtor.

I have ~$12K that I can snatch out today if needed.

Our threshold is 6 months expenses in an emergency fund, plus extra for expected but unpredictable expenses (car repairs, home improvement, etc). A lot of it depends on your level of risk to your income, health issues, safety net, insurance, etc.

I would suggest starting with a goal of 3-6 months expenses (not income) and go from there, see how it feels for your unique situation.

OP here. I didn't mean for retirement. I have that covered. I meant just for emergencies.

I would never be able to save 150K regardless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much money should a person have in an available saving account for emergencies? I am single with no dependents but old - 60.

I'm 40 and only have 150k.

If my plan stays intact, I'll have 500-600k in emergency cash when 60.

I am about as conservative as one can be with emergency funds and can't rationalize this at all. Why do you have $150K in cash? Why do you need $500-600K? I totally understand and strongly support 6 months (or even 12) in cash, but half a million dollars? Why not invest some of it to increase return?

Define available?

In terms of What I could write a check for that day, or go into a bank and get the same day, we have about $15k (on average depending on when in the month it is and when we've gotten paid). We have about another $60k in online accounts that are liquid but we need about 2 days to transfer it to more accessible accounts.

Anonymous wrote:How much money should a person have in an available saving account for emergencies? I am single with no dependents but old - 60.

I'm 40 and only have 150k.

If my plan stays intact, I'll have 500-600k in emergency cash when 60.

How much money should a person have in an available saving account for emergencies? I am single with no dependents but old - 60.