{"id":357818,"date":"2026-03-25T20:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T20:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/357818\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T20:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T20:03:08","slug":"dont-want-a-health-situation-or-sudden-job-loss-to-turn-to-financial-crisis-heres-how-to-start-an-emergency-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/357818\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t want a health situation or sudden job loss to turn to financial crisis? Here&#8217;s how to start an emergency fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Middle class need to plan wisely in order to ensure that one medical setback or a sudden job loss does not set them on a path to financial crisis. Thus, building an emergency fund to keep you safe through the troubled times is key.<\/p>\n<p>Here, Chartered Accountant (CA) and financial advisor Nitin Kaushik believes that well begun is half done. He noted that changing <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/topic\/inflation\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"inflation \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">inflation <\/a>dynamics, a volatile job market and high interest debt has reshaped how you should save in order to insulate against sudden financial shocks.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The math of survival has changed\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In a series of posts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Kaushik noted that for most <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/online-views\/america-economy-unfair-us-upper-middle-class-billionaires-rising-prices-inflation-11771099007498.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"middle-class\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">middle-class<\/a> people in 2026, the lifeline that is your salary is a \u201cfrayed line\u201d that is \u201cready to snap\u201d. He added that a single medical emergency or losing your job, could result in \u201ca mathematical trap\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf your income stops, your rent, <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/ask-mint-money\/joint-home-loan-how-couples-should-split-ownership-emis-for-maximum-tax-savings-11773752027006.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"EMIs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EMIs <\/a>(equal monthly installments), and school fees don\u2019t. Without a buffer, you aren\u2019t just unemployed you are insolvent. The math of survival has changed,\u201d he added. How so? According to Kaushik, while 10 years back, three months of savings was the \u201cgold standard\u201d the current 5-6% inflation crawl, coupled with a volatile job market has made having six months of salary in savings as \u201cthe absolute floor\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This further increases to one years&#8217; worth of <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/personal-finance\/india-new-wage-rules-salary-structure-take-home-pay-impact-financial-planning-tax-hra-basic-pay-11773833455045.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"salary\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">salary <\/a>in savings if you have a family or aging parents, he added.<\/p>\n<p>How much do I need for an emergency fund?<\/p>\n<p>According to Kaushik, you have to start your calculations \u201cwith the raw essentials&#8221;. This includes your monthly spend on groceries, insurance, rent, and utilities, among other things. Next you need to calculate the six month, and one-year financial buffer needed to service these essential requirements in case of an emergency or <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/technology\/tech-news\/out-of-ideas-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-dismisses-ai-job-loss-fears-blames-recent-layoffs-on-lack-of-imagination-11773995361646.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"job loss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">job loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He broke it down: If your monthly burn (monthly expenditure) is  \u20b940,000, your survival fund isn\u2019t a suggestion \u2014 it\u2019s a  \u20b92.4 lakh shield (six months cumulative). For freelancers who may not have a steady <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/personal-finance\/income-tax-rules-2026-will-there-be-changes-in-tax-slabs-from-1-april-2026-all-faqs-answered-11774074660796.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"income \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">income <\/a>flow, or other high-risk sector jobs, at  \u20b940,000 expenditure, you will need to have  \u20b94.8 lakh in savings, \u201cjust to stay level\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Being prepared includes <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/personal-finance\/financial-planning-required-return-goal-based-investing-wealth-management-india-11766723809588.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"financial planning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">financial planning<\/a> that takes into account your monthly expenses and future requirements, plus factors outside your control.<\/p>\n<p>How should I start building an emergency fund?<\/p>\n<p>The CA noted a few steps to follow: \u201cDon\u2019t let the <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/personal-finance\/core-and-satellite-portfolios-money-advice-investment-strategy-benefits-do-and-dont-common-mistakes-challenges-explained-11772956192978.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"money \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">money <\/a>sit idle, but don\u2019t let it get stuck. A standard savings account at 3% is a guaranteed loss against inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaushik also suggested using \u201cevery bonus, tax refund, or side-hustle check\u201d to pad your savings until you hit your six-month target.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe data is clear: 76% of <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/money\/personal-finance\/will-the-new-income-tax-i-t-act-be-better-for-salaried-taxpayers-experts-weigh-in-11773412236561.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"salaried \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">salaried <\/a>Indians without an emergency fund end up in a high-interest debt trap during a crisis. The fund isn\u2019t about growing wealth; it\u2019s about making sure a bad month doesn\u2019t turn into a bad decade,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Edelweiss Mutual Fund Chief <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/trends\/quote-of-the-day-edelweiss-mf-ceo-radhika-gupta-advice-market-volatility-corrections-come-like-cats-be-goldfish-investor-11770692924098.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"Radhika Gupta \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Radhika Gupta <\/a>agrees, \u201cTax is deducted at source. Why not do the same with your savings? That\u2019s SDS \u2014 Savings Deducted at Source. Automate your SIPs, RDs (recurring deposits) or FDs (fixed deposits) before you even see the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies or user-generated content from social media, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Middle class need to plan wisely in order to ensure that one medical setback or a sudden job&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,292,268,6835,287,85,932,173320,46,55529,2101,266,267,6896],"class_list":{"0":"post-357818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-emergency-fund","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-financial-crisis","12":"tag-financial-planning","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-inflation","15":"tag-inflation-dynamics","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-job-loss","18":"tag-money","19":"tag-personal-finance","20":"tag-personalfinance","21":"tag-savings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}