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Emergency fund: how much should a family keep aside?

By the My Shubh Nivesh team · 4 min read · 20 October 2026

A job change, a medical bill not covered by insurance, a business slowdown. Emergencies rarely announce themselves. An emergency fund is the money that lets your family handle them without breaking long-term investments or taking expensive loans.

How much is enough?

A common guide is six months of essential expenses plus EMIs. Essentials mean what your family must pay even in a tough month: groceries, rent, school fees, utilities, insurance premiums and loan instalments. Leave out holidays and shopping.

Some families need more:

• Single-income households, or those with one main earner;
• business owners and the self-employed, whose income can swing from month to month;
• families caring for elderly parents or a member with ongoing medical needs.

For them, nine to twelve months is a sensible target.

Where to keep it

The goal here is safety and quick access, not high returns. Families typically split it between:

• a savings account for the first month or so;
• fixed deposits with a sweep-in facility or short tenures;
• liquid or overnight mutual funds, which usually allow redemption within one working day. They carry low but not zero risk.

Avoid locking it in equity funds, long-term deposits or anything with exit penalties. Keep it separate from your goal investments so it is not spent by accident.

Building it without stopping your SIPs

• Set aside a fixed amount each month until the target is reached, alongside your SIPs.
• Use part of a bonus, incentive or tax refund to fill the gap faster.
• Review the target once a year, or when expenses or EMIs change.

Find your family’s target

Open the Emergency fund planner, enter your essentials and EMIs, and see how far you are from a comfortable cushion.

This article is general information for education, not a recommendation to buy or sell any product. Figures are illustrative and not guaranteed; they depend on the assumptions shown. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Past performance is not indicative of future returns.