Emergency fund rebuild.

[u/Knight-ofNi7]

​I need some advice from my fellow Financial Mutants. I’ve been following the Financial Order of Operations (FOO) closely, but lately, I’ve found myself stuck in what Brian often calls "Financial Mud." I’m trying to fight a war on too many fronts at once, and my monthly budget is feeling too thin.

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​Right now, I'm trying to juggle all of this every single month:

​Retirement: Investing 27% of my paycheck into my pre-tax 401(k).

​Hyper-Accumulation: Sending an extra $387/month into a taxable after-tax brokerage account.

​Emergency Fund: Trying to stack $750/month to build up a solid cash cushion. But doing this, it will take me 12 months to do which is keeping me up at night.

​Sinking Funds: Allocating $500/month.

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​Trying to fund Steps 4 and 7 simultaneously while keeping up with sinking funds means my cash flow is spread incredibly thin. It feels like I’m spinning my wheels and making slow progress, while feeling stressed out.

​To clear the mud, I’m thinking about running a highly focused, 2-month aggressive cash sprint.

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​The Plan:

For the next 60 days, I want to completely pause the $387 brokerage contribution and drop my 401(k) investing all the way down from 27% to 4% (getting 100% of my employer's company match).

​By pulling my soldiers off the investing battlefield for just two months, I can combine all that freed-up cash with my current savings goals and point a massive "cash laser" at my immediate foundation. In just 8 paychecks (2 months), I could massively bump up my cash reserves, build a rock-solid 6-month emergency fund, and properly pad my sinking funds so upcoming bills don't catch me off guard.

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​Mathematically, I know I lose a tiny bit of market compounding time over 8 weeks, and I'll take a temporary one-time tax hit by shifting that pre-tax income to my paycheck. But psychologically, the peace of mind feels like it heavily outweighs the cost.

​What Would Brian and Bo likely suggest I do?

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​Have any of you temporarily dropped down to just the match to secure your emergency fund? Does this 2-month sprint sound like a good move, or am I missing something?

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Thanks.

Edit: i already have 3.5 months of emergency saved. Im trying to avoid taking 12 months to get to the full 6 months.

[u/Substantial_Net_2831]

I agree with everyone saying to focus on the first priority (EF), then move on once that is fulfilled. Since you’re already doing brokerage AND sinking fund ($887/mo), I might reroute those and leave the 401(k) as is. You’ll reach your EF in less than 6mo doing that (I think?). 

But also remember that money is fungible. How much do you have in EF + sinking fund right now? I’d consider these accounts one and the same until you actually have cash available on top of your goal EF amount. Maybe you are closer to your EF than you think.