Emergency Fund

This handles emergency fund sizing and structure based on your income stability and expense profile. It walks through the 3-6 month rule for stable employment versus 6-12 months for freelancers or variable income, breaks down essential versus discretionary expenses, and covers tiered fund structures across checking, high-yield savings, and Treasury bills. The opportunity cost framing is useful: it treats the foregone investment returns as an insurance premium rather than pretending cash reserves are free. Good for initial setup conversations and when clients ask about HYSA allocation or whether they're holding too much in checking. The vehicle comparison table and replenishment planning after drawdowns are solid references.

skills.sh installs: 748
GitHub stars: 224
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add joellewis/finance_skills --skill emergency-fund --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Emergency Fund Planning

Core Concepts

Rule of Thumb

Employed with stable income: 3-6 months of essential expenses
Dual-income household (both stable): 3 months may suffice (lower probability of simultaneous job loss)
Single income, variable income, or self-employed: 6-12 months of essential expenses
High job-search risk (niche industry, senior executive, specialized role): 6-12 months
These are guidelines — individual assessment is essential

Essential Expenses

The emergency fund should cover non-discretionary spending only:

Housing: Mortgage/rent, property tax, insurance, HOA
Food: Groceries (not dining out)
Insurance: Health, auto, life (premiums that cannot be paused)
Utilities: Electric, gas, water, internet, phone
Transportation: Car payment, gas, basic maintenance, public transit
Minimum debt payments: Credit cards, student loans, other obligations
Healthcare: Regular medications, co-pays
Exclude: Dining out, entertainment, travel, shopping, subscriptions that can be cancelled