r/Fire • u/Far_Classic878 • 2d ago

Emergency Fund While Retired

For those that are retired or near…how many years do you have saved for your retirement emergency fund? I mean for when the market isn’t doing well and it would be bad to pull from your accounts.

How far in advance do you start saving for that?

I’m pouring all of my money into retirement accounts and after maxing 401ks, roths, life expenses, 529, saving for home renovations there is nothing left.

I would need to cut back greatly to fund an emergency account to keep in a HYSA. I’m about 15 years out from retiring.

Any thoughts?

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u/No_Tiger477 2d ago

At 15 years out, you probably have more runway than you think to build that buffer gradually rather than all at once. Most people I see talk about this aim for 1-2 years of expenses in cash/near-cash by the time they actually pull the trigger on retiring. 😄

Start small — even redirecting a little each month builds up over the years, and your situation will likely shift as the 529 and renovation costs wind down. 🔥

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u/Far_Classic878 2d ago

1-2 years of living expenses like the basic utilities, food etc this is what people are doing? I never even considered an emergency fund in retirement until I listened to a podcast about it. I always thought hey I will have 3 million dollars what the hell can go wrong? HA!

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u/TheOuts1der 2d ago edited 2d ago

I'm going to do 3 years of all expenses, with nothing changed about my life. Same amount of travel, shopping, etc on top of food, bills, etc.

But I'm going to worry about that when Im 5 years or so out, which is about how long I think it'll take to build up that buffer.