You should have at least $33,000 saved i🎃n your emergency fund to cover six months of 🍸expenses in case of a surprise cost or the loss of a job, according to an analysis by Investopedia. The Investopedia team analyzed the average cost of six months of household expenses frequently included in emergency funds for U.S. residents. Investopedia’s analysis determined that six months of living expenses currently totals $33,110.68 for an average U.S. household with at least two people—but that’s far more than most households have saved.

Data from the Federal Reserve shows that 73% of households that have a checking or savings account don’t have sufficient balances to cover an emergency fund of that amount. The median account balance in all transaction accounts for U.S. households that have at least one account was about $8,329, in 2023 dollars.

Financial planners and advisors recommend households have three to six months' worth of their expenses saved in an emergency fund, which should be in a checking or savings account that can easily be liquidated to use in case of a sudden job loss or surprise expense.

Despite the apparent shortfall in savings, most people expect to rely on savings in the case of an emergency, according to the Federal Reserve's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. A♏bout 43% of respondents said they would use savings in a hypothet﷽ical financial emergency, which was far more than the number who said they would work more, borrow money, postpone payments, or cut back on spending.

While the exact amount needed for an emergency fund in each household in the U.S. will vary based♑ on the number of members in the household and their specific needs, financial experts recommend that all households should hꦗave an emergency fund.

Building a sufficient emergency fund is a challenge for many, given the reality that $33,000 represents about 43% of the average household's annual income. So how can Americans start to build savings? Read the section below on "How to Save and Invest in an Emergency Fund" for our recommendations on the best strategies to get started. But first, let's take a closer look at five categories of household expenses we analyzed.

Housing and Utilities

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, six months of the median housing costs in the U.S. equals an estimated $7,921.18 in 2023 dollars. This includes all mortgage payments, home equity loans, property taxes, fire,ཧ hazard, and flood insurance, electricity, gas, wat🌳er, and sewer bills, home fuel costs, and condominium and mobile home fees where applicable. For renters, costs include rent in addition to electricity, gas, water, sewer, and home fuel bills.

Other standard expenditures—including trash and garbage collection, septic tank cleaning, home and cell phone service, cable, and internet service cost a combined $1,215.99 for six months, according to data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey.

That brings the total for housing and utilities to $9,ℱ137.17. Aside from some🌼 of the select utility costs, there aren’t immediate ways to reduce housing costs, which makes having an emergency fund that’s at least able to cover them even more critical. 

It's important to note that average housing costs also vary substantially with geography. Costs in some of the most expensive metro areas in the U.S. such as San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego, easily run well over $2,000 per month. Meanwhile some of the least expensive housing costs come in at under $700 a month in cities such as Anniston, AL, Parkersburg, WV, and Cumberland, MD.

Medical Care

Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s (KFF) Employer Health Benefits Survey shows the average health care premiums for all types of single coverage plans for six months cost an estimated $4,217.50 in 2023. 

In the event of a job loss, you can temporarily maintain your employer-sponsored health insurance plan by buying COBRA insurance. Premiums for COBRA are often substantially higher than your employer’s health plan costs because your 🌳employer is no longer required to pay their share.

For our analysis, we multiplied the COBRA single coverage insurance costs for six months by 2.5, which is the average number of people per household in 2022 according to data from the Census Bureau’s American Communities Survey. W🌟e also added 2% to account for a fee that employers are allowed tཧo tack on to COBRA plans to cover their administrative costs for keeping you on the plan.

That brought 🐽the total medical expenses for six months to $10,754.63, the highest amount for all the categories we analyzed. The amount a household might have to pay for health insurance and other health expenses will depend heavily on household composition and can vary widely. 

Some households might have members that qualify for Medicare, Medicaid, or be on a public exchange insurance plan offered through the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Affordable Care Act (ACA) and have much lower medical expenses. Other households might have members with medical conditions that incur costs that are outside coverage provided🌟 by COBRA or other insu꧂rance.

Costs for COBRA, and health insurance in general, increase substantially for group plans compared to individual plans. If your family is on your group health insurance plan, the average cost for COBRA can be as high as $12,223.68 for six months according to💜 KFF data.

Transportation

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation, the average cost of owning two cars and operating one for six months in 2023 was $10,250.

This includes both fixed costs such as financing, insurance, and registration, which on average are $8,318 for two cars for six months, as well as variable costs such as fuel and maintenance for one car, which account for the other $1,932. For our analysis, we assumed a scenario in which a household has two cars, and that in the case of an emergency one of those cars wouldn't be used, though fixed costs such as monthly payments and insurance would need to be made.

Although there are some ways to decrease the variable costs of car ownership through 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:improving gas mileage and delaying cosmetic repairs, about 💫68% of the costs of owning a car are fixed, making it important to have them covered in an emergency fund.

Food

U.S. households spent an average of $2,968.88 in 2023 dollars for six months of food according to data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. This includes the average amounts spent on grocery items including cereals, bakery products, meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, fruits, a🔯nd vegetables, among others. 

However, it is important to note that these costs only include what the BLS categorizes as “at home” foods. Spending for foods “away from home,” which includes everything from a vending machine snack to a meal at a restaurant, averaged about $1,894 in 2023 dollars and accounted for about 39% of overall U.S. household food expenditures.

For our analysis, we assumed that households could greatly reduce "away from home" spending on dining in the case of an emergency. While that would likely increase the number of meals consumed at home, we also assumed that households would find ways to trim their spending on that in the event of needing to use their emergency fund.

How to Save and Invest In An Emergency Fund

Building an emer𝔉gency fund is an essential part of your financial plan. There are a few types of accounts that you can use to build your emergency fund that will allow you to keep your funds easily accessible, and maximize your returns. 

Money market accounts and high-yield savings accounts can be suitable options to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:invest your emergency funds. CDs (Certificates of Deposit) may also be suitable, but there are penalties for making early withdrawals. It’s recommended that your emergency fund is invested in more liquid assets so you can access them quickly and without any withdrawal fees to use on any unexpected expenses. Experts do not recommend investing your emergency fund in stocks due to their volatility. If you have to sell your stocks in an emergency, you may incur losses, or have to pay 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:capital gains taxes if you sell at a profit.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Money market accounts are interest-bearing accounts at a bank or credit union. They generally pay a higher interest rate compared to regular savings accounts. The national average interest rate for savings accounts is about 0.45%, according to the FDIC. A money market account is a good mix of a savings account and a checking account, because some come with features such as a debit card and limited check-writing privileges so you can instantly access funds. Money market accounts currently offer 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:APYs around 5%, although that rate could change. Most money market accounts are insured up to $250,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or National Credit Union Association (NCUA).

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Certificates of deposit (CDs) also allow you to earn more interest than a typical savings account. CDs are interest-bearing accounts where you deposit your money for a set period of time such as six to eighteen months at a fixed interest rate. When the period is over and your CD matures, you get your money back with interest. While CDs with longer maturities (such as five years) have higher interest rates, keeping your emergency fund in a CD means that you generally have to pay a penalty if you need to withdraw money before the CD matures. However, some banks do offer no-penalty CDs that have lower interest rates, but allow you better access to your funds. CDs are also insured by the FDIC. 

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:High-yield savings accounts are another suitable option to store your emergency fund. Many are offered through online banks, with yields as high as 5.5%꧟ in 2024. High-yield savings accounts typically offer access to your funds through online transfer or a bank check. Most offer unlimited withdrawals and transfers, although some banks may have limits or fees.

Methodology and Sources

Al꧅l costs, expenses, income, and account balances that were not measured in 2023 were converted to 2023 dollars with the CPI-U all-items annual average. All annual and monthl🌜y costs and expenses were adjusted to fit the six-month time period. All costs, expenses, income, and account balances stated as averages are survey medians except for health insurance premiums, food, non-housing utility and vehicle costs which are weighted means. Transaction accounts include checking, savings, money market, and call accounts, as well as prepaid debit cards. All data is based on the household level except for food and non-housing utility data, which is for consumer units.

Housing data is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey. Vehicle cost data is sourced from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ National Transportation Statistics. Health care premium data is sourced from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2023 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Food and non-housing utility data is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Transaction account balance data is sourced from the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances.

This analysis is an estimate provided for educational purposes, and does not include the full extent of items or their costs that each household may need to account for.