1 month. 3 months.
6 months. Done.

Somewhere safe, liquid, and separate from your everyday checking — so it's there when you need it but not so visible that it gets spent. A high-yield savings account is the usual home: your money stays accessible within a day or two, it's FDIC-insured at a bank (or NCUA-insured at a credit union), and it earns real interest while it sits. We surface current top-APY options for your situation, but the priority is keeping it out of investments or anything that could drop in value exactly when an emergency hits.

It depends on your situation, which is why we don't treat "6 months" as one-size-fits-all. If your income is steady and predictable — salaried, one stable job — three months may be plenty. If you're self-employed, work on commission, have variable income, or are the sole earner for a family, a larger cushion buys real peace of mind. We help you set a target that fits your actual risk, and you can always start with one month and decide whether to keep going once you're there.