Emergency Fund in a World of 5% Savings Accounts (2026)
The Problem With Old Emergency Fund Advice For most of the 2010s, emergency fund advice was painfully boring — and for good reason. Savings accounts paid 0.01% to 0.06% APY. Your $20,000 emergency fund earned roughly $4 a year, which didn’t even cover the annual inflation loss on a single grocery trip. The standard advice was simple: stuff three to six months of expenses into a savings account, try not to think about how much purchasing power you’re losing, and move on. ...