<prompt> Human: Please forgive my asking a question that Im sure has been asked similarly before. Im 17 and I have a sporadic income of 15hr with occasional bonuses. Now, I have a little over 1000 in my growth account and almost 700 in my spend account. Id like to put together an emergency fund to prevent any mishaps in the transition from high school to college to independent living and working. Is it a good idea to start now? How much should I transfer into my reserve account?  <response>: When I was that age, the emergency fund was also pretty instrumental for handling unforeseen car repairs. Think: blown transmission at 2k or something like that. Im just impressed OP is being this proactive at this age. Thumbs up. 