Investboard …
Calculator · Retirement
How much financial cushion do you need?
The calculator turns your monthly expenses into an emergency-fund target and shows how long the build-up takes at your savings rate.
Track your progress towards your safety cushion with Investboard.
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The common recommendation is 3 to 6 months of expenses. For the self-employed or sole earners, 9 to 12 months is sensible.
An instant-access savings account (Tagesgeld) for short-term needs, a money-market ETF for the medium term, and a fixed-deposit ladder (Festgeld) for longer-term goals.
Yes. The emergency fund is part of your total wealth, but it should be held separately from your investments.
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Calculate now →A widespread rule of thumb from consumer guidance is three to six months of net expenses. What counts is what you actually spend, not what you earn. If you spend EUR 2,200 a month, your buffer target sits somewhere around EUR 6,600 to EUR 13,200.
Where you land in that range depends on your situation:
| Situation | Orientation | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Secure dual earners | closer to 3 months | Two incomes cushion an outage on either side |
| Employed, sole earner | towards 6 months | One outage hits the whole household |
| Self-employed | closer to 6 months | Fluctuating income, longer transitions |
An emergency fund has to satisfy two conditions: available at any time and stable in value. Both point to a call-money account (Tagesgeld). The money is accessible daily, the nominal amount does not fluctuate, and in an emergency it is at hand without a sell decision.
The portfolio is the wrong place for it: whoever has to sell in an emergency may be selling in the middle of a drawdown, turning a liquidity problem into a realised loss.
Balances at banks in Germany and the EU are protected by the statutory deposit guarantee up to EUR 100,000 per bank and customer.
Inputs
Buffer months
Standard: common for most households
Your emergency-fund goal
Target amount
EUR 15.000,006× monthly expenses (EUR 2.500,00)
The highest return among the safe options. Funds are tied up for a set term. Only worthwhile when the build-up takes longer than a year.
You need EUR 15.000,00 for your emergency fund. With Investboard you track your progress automatically, with a forecast, milestone markers and daily updates.
Your calculation result is carried over automatically as a goal target.
Target = monthly net expenses × buffer months (3, 6, 9 or 12)
For the savings timeline, the calculator compounds your existing cushion month by month and adds your savings rate until the target is reached. The interest applied per parking option is an illustrative model assumption (call money 2.5%, money-market ETF 3.2%, fixed-term ladder 3.5% per year), not a live market rate; actual rates follow the market environment.
Promotional call-money rates are often time-limited. For an emergency fund the rate is secondary anyway: availability and stability matter more than the last decimal of yield.
The emergency fund is not an investment; it is the precondition for one. Build the buffer first and you can invest afterwards without having to sell units over the first car repair or utilities back-payment. That order protects the long-term strategy from short-term pressure.