Emergency Fund & Job Loss Runway Calculator

Frequently asked questions

What counts as "essential monthly expenses"?

What you'd actually spend if income stopped tomorrow and you cut everything non-essential: housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, minimum debt payments, transportation to a new job search. Leave out discretionary spending, dining out, subscriptions, vacations, since a real stress test should reflect the bare-bones number, not your normal budget. The budget & cash flow tracker's expense breakdown is a good place to pull real numbers from if you've been logging them there.

Why does this ask about severance and unemployment benefits? Most emergency fund calculators don't.

Because leaving them out understates how much runway you actually have if you're laid off specifically, as opposed to other emergencies a fund also needs to cover. Most emergency fund calculators only answer "how much should I save" as a static target; this one also answers the sharper question, given what you'd actually have coming in and going out, how many months does that really buy you right now.

How much unemployment benefit should I assume?

Unemployment benefit amounts and duration vary significantly by state and by your prior earnings, typically replacing a fraction of your previous wage up to a state-specific cap, for a limited number of weeks (commonly 26, though this varies). Check your own state unemployment agency for a real estimate rather than guessing; entering $0 is the more conservative, safer assumption if you're unsure.

What about COBRA or health insurance?

If your job provides health insurance, losing the job usually means losing that coverage too, and COBRA continuation coverage, while it keeps the same plan, is typically the full premium with no employer subsidy, often several hundred dollars a month more than what you were paying. Leaving this cost out of the calculation is one of the most common ways people overestimate their real runway.

What is the "3 to 6 months" rule, and why does the target here go up to 9 or 12?

Three to six months of essential expenses is the most commonly cited starting guideline for an emergency fund, though it's a rule of thumb, not a law. Single-income households, variable or commission-based income, self-employment, or a specialized job market that takes longer to re-enter are all reasons many planners recommend leaning toward 9 or even 12 months instead of the low end of that range.

What if my unemployment benefit and any other income actually cover more than my expenses?

Then your effective monthly burn is zero or negative, meaning your savings wouldn't actually shrink during that stretch, and the tool reports your runway as fully covered rather than a finite number of months. That's a genuinely different, better position than a large but finite runway number, worth knowing explicitly rather than just seeing a big months figure.

Does this replace a real budget or financial plan?

No, it's a stress test: a quick, honest answer to one specific question using the numbers you enter. For ongoing tracking of income and expenses, use the budget & cash flow tracker; for tracking overall savings and debt, the net worth tracker. This tool doesn't save anything between visits, on purpose, since it's meant to be rerun periodically as your numbers change, not tracked as a running history.