Net Worth
$385KTop 42%PeakWorth
$4.2M+$182KNet Worth
$385KTop 42%PeakWorth
$4.2M+$182KFI Age
50y 1m-11moPeakWorth sizes the buffer both ways: too little and one bad month becomes a credit-card spiral, but $50K of idle extra cash silently forgoes ~$150K of compounding over 30 years — a measurable FI-Age drag the projection makes visible.
Modeled cash drag of $50K extra
~$150K lost over 30 yr
Standard target
3–6 months of expenses
Single income / volatile job
6–12 months
Best 2026 HYSA APY
4.0–4.5%
Dual-income, stable jobs, no kids: 3 months of expenses is plenty. Single income or volatile career (sales, startup, freelance): 6–12 months. Add 1–2 months if you have kids or a high deductible health plan.
'Expenses' means the floor you actually need to survive — not your current discretionary lifestyle. Strip out vacations, restaurants, and savings contributions when sizing the fund.
High-yield savings account at an FDIC-insured bank. Avoid CDs (lockup), money markets (marginal benefit), and brokerage cash (settlement delays). The point is liquidity in 24 hours, not yield maximization.
PeakWorth models cash two ways at once: too small a buffer raises the odds a shock lands on a credit card, while every dollar held beyond what you need is a dollar not compounding at ~7%. It runs both effects through the year-by-year deterministic simulation to age 95.
The output is the FI-Age and PeakWorth (highest projected lifetime net worth) cost of holding extra cash, which is why 'is 6 months too much?' has a real answer for your situation — $50K of unnecessary cash quietly costs roughly $150K of lifetime net worth.
Generic articles can only go so far. PeakWorth runs every scenario against your real income, expenses, and goals — so you see the dollar-and-year impact of every decision before you make it.
For most dual-income households with stable jobs, 3 months is plenty. Going beyond 6 months has real opportunity cost.
No. The whole point is that it's available when markets are also down. Stocks are not an emergency fund.
As a backstop, yes — Roth contributions can be withdrawn tax/penalty-free. But don't rely on it as your primary buffer.
Yes — it's a hidden cost. PeakWorth shows that $50K of excess cash beyond your real buffer can forgo ~$150K of compounding over 30 years and push your FI Age out. Hold what protects you, invest the rest.
Build a small starter buffer (~1 month), then attack high-rate debt, then finish the full fund. PeakWorth models the sequence so you're not paying 20% credit-card interest while sitting on idle cash earning 4%.
Calculators, true-cost pages, and audience playbooks across the PeakWorth network.
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Cost of
Your daily coffee, in retirement years
$5/day. 30 years. The FI Age cost of a daily latte.
Cost of
The true cost of avocado toast
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