As of: March 25, 2024, 4:52 a.m
By: Laura Hindelang
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If your income stops, you have to fall back on your emergency fund.
But how long will the savings last?
A study provides information.
The car is in the workshop, the washing machine is broken, a back tax payment is coming your way, you have to pay double rent when you move - or you quit your job and suddenly find yourself without a salary.
The list of unforeseen expenses goes on and on.
This makes it all the more important that you have enough money set aside.
This is especially true if you no longer earn any income and have to use your emergency fund to tide you over for some time.
The majority go without a salary for more than six months
More than half of Germans would have no problem with this, as a study by the
Federal Financial Supervisory Authority
from December 2023 shows.
Accordingly, 57 percent of those surveyed would go without a salary for more than six months.
Two out of three people also said they were satisfied with their financial situation.
The majority can therefore make ends meet even after their main source of income has disappeared.
However, a quarter of those surveyed would not be able to cover their living expenses for at least three months or longer.
Sufficient financial reserves are essential - this means you are well positioned even without income.
© Zoonar/Imago
The remaining respondents provided the following information in detail:
18 percent would go three to six months without a salary
15 percent would go one to three months without a salary
10 percent would go without a salary for less than a month
Many are hardly prepared for possible bottlenecks: 15 percent said that they would not be able to cope with major expenses without borrowing money or seeking other outside help.
That's why it's essential to save an emergency fund.
The
consumer advice center
recommends setting aside three to six months' salary as a financial cushion.
In reality, however, the ideal amount of the emergency fund depends on the individual life circumstances, as the financial institution
WeltSparen
emphasizes.
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Families with children should tend to save more money for emergencies than singles.
Even those who own their own home should have more money ready for major repairs than people who live in rent.
To slowly build up an emergency fund, you can use the 50-30-20 rule.
This advises setting aside 20 percent of your income.
Save money with three simple tips
You have to decide for yourself whether this is a realistic requirement for you.
In any case, you should get a precise overview of your income and expenses.
According to the study by the
Federal Financial Supervisory Authority,
86 percent of Germans already do this.
Would you like valuable money-saving tips?
Merkur.de's “Clever Save” newsletter always has the best money-saving tips for you every Thursday.
A few helpful savings tips include:
A fixed savings rate:
It doesn’t have to be 20 percent.
Even if you only put aside five percent of your income every month, you'll add up to a lot in the long run, explains the
savings bank
.
On average, Germans save around eleven percent of their salary.
Use special payments
: Whether it's a Christmas bonus, tax repayment or cash for your birthday - don't hesitate for long and put the unexpected amount of money aside, advises ING
Bank
.
Save change:
Regularly sort out the small coins - or even the five-euro notes - from your wallet.
You could collect these separately and pay them into your savings account at the end of the month, suggests
WeltSparen
.
It is best to transfer what you can put aside into a current account.
This has the advantage that on the one hand there is more interest on your savings and on the other hand the money is available at any time.
This means you can quickly access the reserve in the event of an emergency.