How long would your savings last if your income stopped?
A layoff, an illness or a gap between jobs can stop a paycheck with little warning, and the bills keep coming. The money you've set aside buys your household time.
The paycheck can stop. The bills keep coming.
Income can stop with little warning — a layoff, a slow season, an illness, a gap between jobs. The mortgage or rent, the groceries and the insurance premiums don't stop with it. The first thing a household reaches for is money already set aside, and many households don't have much of a cushion: the Federal Reserve reports that 63 percent of adults would cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent — so more than 1 in 3 would not. A reserve buys time: time to find the right next job rather than the first one, and time to make decisions without pressure. Your Protection Map shows how many months your savings would cover the bills you can't skip, compared with the goal you choose.
Source: Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024, May 2025
What families want to know
How many months of savings should we have?
There isn’t one right number for every family. Your Protection Map lets you choose a goal of 3, 6 or 12 months of essential spending set aside. 6 months is FRP’s suggestion.
What counts toward it?
Your cash, savings and investments outside retirement accounts. Your Protection Map divides that by your household’s essential monthly spending to show how many months it would last if income stopped.
What counts as essential spending?
Include rent or mortgage, property taxes, home insurance, utilities, home upkeep, food, transport you need for work, required debt payments, other insurance and childcare. Leave out saving and investing, holidays, eating out, and subscriptions you could cancel.
What if we’re short?
The result shows the gap, and the monthly saving that would close it over 12, 24 or 36 months. You choose.
Three ways to protect against a financial risk
Fund it yourself: set money aside. Reduce the risk: arrange things so you'd need less if it happened. Transfer the risk: pay an insurer a set amount so a large loss doesn't fall on your family alone. Most households use a mix.
An emergency fund protects your household's bills while income is paused. It buys time to find the right next job rather than the first one.
See where your family stands.
Income Interruption is one of four financial risks your Protection Map looks at, in dollars, with every step shown.
See all four risks