{"url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/","section":"academy","title":"Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it | ETFIQ","description":"Size an emergency fund, then compare where to hold it: T-bill, ultrashort and bond ETFs on yield, return and falls, using real dated ETF data.","as_of":"Nov 10, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/#lesson","name":"Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it","description":"Over the year to Nov 10, 2026, $12,000 in BIL, a T-bill ETF, earned about $440, and in AGG, a core bond ETF, about \u2212$39.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/","learningResourceType":"Lesson","teaches":"How to judge a short-term home for an emergency fund: the value must hold, so look at total return and the worst fall, not the yield","educationalLevel":"Intermediate","timeRequired":"PT7M","inLanguage":"en","isAccessibleForFree":true,"isPartOf":{"@type":"Course","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/#course","name":"Building Wealth","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/"},"position":1,"dateModified":"2026-11-10","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/#check","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the first job of an emergency fund?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Be there, in full, when you need it. a surprise bill can come in any month, so the value matters more than the return."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Over the year to Nov 10, 2026, how much did $12,000 in SHY earn?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"About $213. $12,000 \u00d7 1.77% total return = $213."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Dee needs $3,000 a month and wants 4 months covered. Fund X yields 5% and holds 20-year bonds. Fund Y yields 3.7% and holds 3-month Treasury bills. Which fact matters most?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Fund X's long bonds can fall in price, so the $12,000 might not be there in full. long loans swing in price, and an emergency fund can't wait for a recovery."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academy","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Building Wealth","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Your emergency fund","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it","description":"Size an emergency fund, then compare where to hold it: T-bill, ultrashort and bond ETFs on yield, return and falls, using real dated ETF data.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/","dateModified":"2026-11-10","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":5538,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Academy / Building Wealth / Your emergency fund \n \n Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it\n Data as of Nov 10, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n Over the year to Nov 10, 2026 , $12,000 in BIL, a T-bill ETF, earned about $440 , and in AGG, a core bond ETF, about \u2212$39 .\n Building Wealth \u00b7 Lesson 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 \n Set the size of your fund. See what each of four ETFs earned on it over the year. Size of your fund $12,000 On $12,000: BIL earned $440, JPST earned $420, SHY earned $213, AGG earned \u2212$39. Hypothetical fund size. One-year total returns, Nov 10, 2025 to Nov 10, 2026. \n The question\n \"I know I need an emergency fund. How big should it be, and where should the money actually sit?\"\n The idea\n An emergency fund is money set aside for a surprise: a lost job, a car repair, a medical bill. Its one job is to be there, in full, on the day you need it. A return is a bonus.\n So you want three things from its home, in this order: Its value doesn't fall when you need to take it out.\n You can reach it within days. \n It earns something while it waits.\n \n A common size is 3 to 6 months of needs : the rent, food, bills and debt payments from the budget in Where your money goes . With needs of $2,000 a month, that is $6,000 to $12,000.\n Worked example\n Take $12,000 and four ETFs it could sit in. All numbers cover the year Nov 10, 2025 to Nov 10, 2026 .\n BIL holds Treasury bills that mature (are paid back) in 1 to 3 months.\n JPST is an ultrashort fund: mostly loans maturing within 3 years, including loans to companies.\n SHY holds US Treasury bonds maturing in 1 to 3 years.\n AGG holds a broad mix of US bonds, with 30.9% maturing in over 20 years.\n The 12-month yield is the cash a fund paid over the year, as a share of its price a year ago. Total return ( Cash or invested ) adds the price change to that cash.\n Fund 12-month yield Total return $12,000 earned \n BIL 3.7% +3.67% $440 \n JPST 4.1% +3.50% $420 \n SHY 3.5% +1.77% $213 \n AGG 4.0% \u22120.32% \u2212$39 \n Step 1. Earned = $12,000 \u00d7 total return. For SHY: $12,000 \u00d7 1.77% = $213 .\n Step 2. Compare yield with total return. BIL's two match: its price barely moved. AGG paid 4.0% but returned \u22120.3% , so its price fell by roughly the difference. SHY's price fell 1.8% , which took its 3.5% yield down to a 1.8% return.\n Step 3. For scale: in the month to Nov 10, 2026 , SPY, an S&P 500 fund, fell 3.7% , about $442 on $12,000. Stocks are a poor home for money with a job this short.\n The longer a fund's loans run, the more its price can move ( Bonds for income shows why). Short Treasury bills barely move.\n The common mistake\n \"Pick the highest yield.\" This year, AGG's 4.0% yield returned less than BIL's 3.7% , because AGG's price fell .\n Now check each fund's worst fall ( Your first fund check ). Over each fund's full ETFIQ scorecard (the windows differ), BIL's was 0.4% ( January 2010 to November 2026 ), JPST's 3.2% ( May 2017 to November 2026 ) and AGG's 18.2% ( July 2011 to November 2026 ). An emergency fund can't afford an 18% fall.\n Check your understanding\n Pick an answer to see why. Two of three right passes the lesson.\n 1. What is the first job of an emergency fund? A Be there, in full, when you need it B Earn the highest return C Beat inflation every year D Pay out monthly cash Answer: A. Be there, in full, when you need it. a surprise bill can come in any month, so the value matters more than the return. Not B: a higher return usually comes with prices that can fall. 2. Over the year to Nov 10, 2026 , how much did $12,000 in SHY earn? A About $426 , its 3.5% yield B Nothing C About $440 D About $213 Answer: D. About $213 . $12,000 \u00d7 1.77% total return = $213 . Not A: the yield leaves out SHY's 1.8% price fall. 3. Dee needs $3,000 a month and wants 4 months covered. Fund X yields 5% and holds 20-year bonds. Fund Y yields 3.7% and holds 3-month Treasury bills. Which fact matters most? A Fund X pays more cash B Both are ETFs, so they behave alike C Fund X's long bonds can fall in price, so the $12,000 might not be there in full D Fund Y is older Answer: C. Fund X's long bonds can fall in price, so the $12,000 might not be there in full. long loans swing in price, and an emergency fund can't wait for a recovery. Not A: the extra 1.3 points of yield is about $156 a year on $12,000; a price fall can cost far more. \n Takeaways\n Size it first: 3 to 6 months of needs. \n Hold it where the value barely moves. \n Judge a cash-like fund by total return and its worst fall, not by yield alone. \n Do it on ETFIQ\n Compare where your emergency money sits with a T-bill fund \n Where to next\n Next lesson: Inflation and real return: what your money can buy Building Wealth: all lessons The explainer behind this lesson ETFIQ Academy How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it, data as of Nov 10, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/ Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it, data as of Nov 10, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/ APA ETFIQ. (Nov 10, 2026). Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/ Markdown [Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it (ETFIQ, Nov 10, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, Your emergency fund: how much, and where to keep it, data as of Nov 10, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/building-wealth/emergency-fund/"}