Episode 5 of 6
Rebuilding the Emergency Fund
After legal fees and moving costs, Dana's emergency fund is down to $4,800 — barely one month of expenses. She needs to rebuild to 6 months ($25,200) while also restarting retirement contributions. The prioritization model reveals a surprising split.
Key Insight
Splitting $1,400/month as $900 to emergency fund and $500 to her Roth IRA reaches a 3-month cushion in 7 months. Pausing all retirement contributions to fill the fund faster costs $38,500 in lost compounding over 20 years.
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