I've got about $15k saved up and I'm thinking about putting most of it into the stock market. My job's pretty stable but I'm wondering if I should hold back some cash first. What's a reasonable amount to have sitting in a savings account before I start investing?
The classic advice is 3-6 months of your living expenses, depending on how stable your situation is. Since you mention your job's pretty solid, you could lean toward the lower end - maybe 3-4 months. So if you're spending like $3k a month, that's $9-12k you'd want to keep liquid and easily accessible. That way if something pops up (car breaks down, medical stuff, sudden job disruption), you're not forced to sell investments at a bad time or rack up credit card debt 😅
With $15k total, setting aside $10-12k for emergencies and investing the rest isn't unreasonable as a starting point. You can always adjust later once your emergency fund feels comfortable. The big thing is not putting money into stocks that you might need within the next couple years - that's just asking for stress if the market dips right when you need cash.
Real talk though: even $5-6k in savings can work if you've got access to other safety nets (family who could help, low debt, etc), but having that cushion really does make investing less stressful. You can build up your emergency fund over time as you invest too; it doesn't all have to be perfect on day one 💰
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