<prompt> Human: I know the usual advice is a 3-6 month emergency fund. My parents operate with a 12 month emergency fund. Theyre pretty solid financially and its not detracting from their retirement savings. I find myself following in their footsteps and have saved up a large emergency fund. All the while Ive been maxing out my retirement savings, so I dont feel like theres a better use for it. Thoughts?  <response>: If losing out on some potential growth in favor of more safety makes you sleep better at night then go for it. Personally, I skew to the other end of the spectrum and keep more like 2 months liquid and invest everything over that. I feel comfortable with that because my job is very safe and Id rather that extra money be growing. The largest emergency Ive ever had was a roof, I could still cover that with my 2 month fund so Ive had little reason to increase it. 