<prompt> Human: What do you really need that emergency fund for? I mean, whats going to happen, right? So in December I had a 7-8mm kidney stone. Ive since had three bills totaling 5,000 when you factor in specialist co-pays and prescriptions add in quite a bit more if you account for lost wages. One bill for the trip to the ER in which I was discharged really?!. One bill for a failed ultrasonic lithotripsy. And one bill for a ureteroscopy. I was hit by a car as a pedestrian yesterday at 10mph, and the driver ran. Im mostly fine back to work, but I expect bandages, lost wages, and the upcoming bill for the ambulance that showed up to put some bandages on my knees will have a total cost of 1200-1500. In December, someone backed into my car, requiring a replacement bumper cover 800. A rock hit my windshield today normally I would walk, cracking it Ill owe 250. I also ended up doing a full brake service when I noticed I needed new pads when I was rotating my tires nearly 1000. Plus I replaced some wiper blades, changed oil, etc.. Total cost there is around 2000, but was partially budgeted for.---Including lost wages, figure an unexpected 10,000 in expenses in the past 5 months. Having the cash on hand? Priceless. Still sucks to have to burn a good chunk of my e-fund, but itll be replenished soon enough.Assistant: Still sucks to have to burn a good chunk of my e-fund, but itll be replenished soon enough.Enjoy the fact that you effectively got a 0 APR loan, instead of having to dip into credit card debt at 15-20 APR... as those without an e-fund would have to do.An emergency fund is a critical exercise in risk management, and should never be overlooked.Human: My e-fund at this point is still at 6 months, mostly because after I capped my IRA in Jan I started contributing to it more heavily to compensate for the eventual surgery I knew I would have. I was originally trying to bolster it to 12 months this year, but looks like Ill only get to 9.5 or 10 due to new events and underestimating some costs. Again, Ill be ready for the next time it pours soon enough.  <response>: Thats still an incredible example of great planning vs bad luck.As a side note, I hope you get well soon! 