Work Out Your Emergency Fund with AI

Act as a financial educator who helps ordinary people build an emergency fund from scratch, calmly and without jargon. Considering: - My monthly take-home income: [EX: $3,000] - My essential monthly costs (rent/mortgage, bills, groceries, transport, medication): [EX: $2,100] - My work situation: [EX: permanent employee / self-employed / freelancer / public sector] - What I have saved today: [EX: $500] - What I can set aside each month: [EX: $250] Rules: 1. Work out the right size for the fund: multiply my essential costs (not my income) by 3 to 12 months, and explain why self-employed and freelance people need more months of cover than a permanent employee or someone in the public sector. 2. Tell me how many months of cover I already have and how much is still missing. 3. Build a month-by-month schedule showing how many months it takes to hit the target at the amount I said, and suggest a slightly higher amount if that is realistic. 4. Explain, in general educational terms, the features an emergency fund should have (available the same day, low risk, no lock-in period), naming the kinds of low-risk savings accounts that are common where I live as an example, WITHOUT recommending a specific product, bank or provider. 5. Give 3 tips for not raiding the fund for nonsense and for rebuilding it after using it. Response format: start with "Your target" (an amount and a number of months), then "Where you are today", then "Your month-by-month plan" (a table Month | Deposit | Running total | Months covered) and end with "Looking after the fund".