"Save 3 to 6 months of expenses" is the advice everyone's heard, and it's not wrong — it's just incomplete. A single-income freelancer with kids and a dual-income household with no dependents don't face the same risk if a paycheck stops, so they shouldn't be aiming for the same number of months.
How the Target Is Actually Built
Instead of one flat number, the calculation starts from a 3-month base and adds months for each risk factor that applies:
- Single income earner: +3 months
- Variable or self-employed income: +3 months
- Dependents: +1 month (1-2 dependents) or +2 months (3 or more)
- Volatile or cyclical industry: +2 months
- Limited health coverage: +1 month
The total is capped at 12 months — even in the highest-risk scenario, the recommendation doesn't grow indefinitely.
Three Real Profiles
- Low risk (dual income, stable jobs, no dependents): stays at the 3-month base — no added risk factors apply.
- Moderate risk (single income, freelance, 1-2 dependents, stable industry): climbs to 10 months.
- Highest risk (single income, freelance, 3+ dependents, volatile industry, limited coverage): the raw score reaches 14, but caps at 12 months.
Same "emergency fund" concept, three genuinely different targets — which is exactly the point of scoring risk factors individually instead of applying one number to everyone.
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