TL;DR
Emergency Fund Calculator: target fund is £13,200 — £10,200 to go.
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Emergency Fund Calculator

Build your safety net before you start investing

Target Fund
£13,200
£10,200 to go
Currently Saved
£3,000
Gap
£10,200
Months to Target
21 mo
Interest @ Target
£594
Quick context
Read full guide: How Much Cash to Hold →
  • Hold 3–6 months of essential costs (rent, food, utilities) — not lifestyle spending — as your emergency buffer.
  • Single-income or self-employed households should lean toward 6 months; secure dual-income households can lean toward 3.
  • Excess cash beyond the buffer plus known 5-year costs is a near-guaranteed real-terms loss to inflation — invest it instead.
Stress test
What if the world changes? Toggle a scenario.
simulator
New target fund
£13,200
Δ vs baseline
+£0
Real value 1yr out
£12,878
@ 2.5% CPI
Today£13,200
Now£13,200
Current plan. Scenario figures are illustrative — they scale your current calculation rather than re-running every band. Useful for direction, not for filing.
Rent, food, bills, transport — not lifestyle
£
3–6 months typical, more if self-employed
mo
£
£
Use a top easy-access rate
%

Progress

£3,000£13,200
23%
Build first, invest second. Investing without a buffer means you may have to sell during a market crash to cover an emergency — locking in losses.
Watch & learn
Emergency Fund: How Much Cash to Hold
YouTube · Damien Talks Money

Emergency Fund: How Much Cash to Hold

A short, plain-English walkthrough relevant to this page. We curate from trusted UK personal finance creators.

Watch on YouTube
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