That’s how much money you should have on hand for emergencies

There are situations in life that you would rather miss. For example, if an unexpectedly high bill flutters into the house or an expensive electrical device gives up the ghost. For such cases, you should always set aside a nest egg. But how high should this financial reserve ideally be?

Let’s imagine the following situation: You overslept because your alarm clock stopped working. But that’s the least of the evils. Because your coffee machine has also given up the ghost. And as if that weren’t enough, your car won’t start either.

Admittedly, the situation described may be exaggerated. But sometimes life surprises with unpleasant events. This is exactly why it is important to set aside a financial reserve for precisely such moments.

Nest egg: How high should the reserve be?

A rule of thumb says that this nest egg should be at least two to three net salaries high. Some experts, on the other hand, claim that there should be six net salaries. But even if opinions differ, one thing seems clear: the higher your financial cushion, the better.

For example, if you lose your job during the probationary period, you can pay yourself your salary for a certain period of time without reducing your standard of living. Meanwhile, if you land a new job or a higher salary, it’s a good idea to adjust your nest egg accordingly.

Interest: This is how you get the most out of your savings

So that you can access your financial reserve in an emergency, you should not speculate with the money. A fixed-term deposit account is also out of the question, since you entrust your savings to your bank for a fixed period of time – despite relatively high interest rates.

A call money account has been available since the turnaround in interest rates However, it is a lucrative alternative. Because if you leave your nest egg in the checking account, you usually do not receive any interest. With the money market account, the situation is different. Many German banks, for example, offer an overnight interest rate of around 1.6 percent – ​​some European banks even offer up to 2.5 percent.

Nest egg: This is how much interest you get with 10,000 euros

In addition, some neo-brokers have jumped on the interest train. Trade Republic is currently attracting interest rates of around two percent. At the competitor Scalable Capital it is even 2.3 percent – but only for subscribers of the Plus subscription. The ING is currently even tempting with three percent overnight interest, but only for six months.

With follow-up interest, the bottom line is an effective annual interest rate of 1.8 percent. If we assume an interest rate of two percent, a nest egg of 10,000 euros in a call money account would result in 200 euros in interest per year. Another advantage: In an emergency, you can access the money at any time.

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