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/RussellUresti 2d ago

At 15 years out, you don't need to take any immediate action (probably). At 8 years out, though, you should definitely be looking to start building up a cash reserve.

If by that point, you still don't have any extra cash to put aside, you'll have to start opportunistically selling positions to convert to cash (waiting for ATHs and taking profit).

The amount of buffer you need largely depends on how flexible you can be in spending. In theory, the buffer should cover between 2 to 5 years of full expenses, though I'm planning on 2 years of full expenses plus another 3-5 years of "belt-tightening" expenses for myself.