How long could you financially survive without your job?

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Geepandjagger@reddit

Maintaining current lifestyle with emergency fund solely cash in the bank 1 year. Selling investments 20+ years. I have been planning to FIRE or probably Coast FIRE as I don't mind my job.

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If my boss were to let me go right now I'd probably only last about a month to a month and a half since my wage is basically all gone by the end of the 4 weeks, after putting around £200 into savings, (which is not a lot just now).

I'd have to move out my rented flat, move back into my parents and be forced to sign up for Benefits, which I detest because of what they put you through.

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HankHippopopolous@reddit

I made it a point of always wanting to have at least 6 months worth of emergency fund.

When I was in my mid 20s I hit that level and now I just maintain it. I also have a separate £30k emergency fund for sudden unexpected expenses.

So between the no job fund and emergency fund if I actually had no income I would immediately make cuts and I reckon I could last a year with no income.

I’m not rich by any means and I still live mostly paycheque to paycheque in terms of monthly outgoings but it’s a huge mental health relief to know that I have that buffer if something bad happens.

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Ok-Ship812@reddit

About 18 months before I'd have to sell a kidney.

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TheAdamena@reddit

4 years I'd say?

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ProfileBoring@reddit

I live pay to pay so I'd be instantly screwed.

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Suspicious_Clerk7202@reddit

Yeah, that's the real kicker—most people don't have anywhere near 30k saved, so if you're not willing to drastically cut costs and claim benefits straight away, you'd be lucky to last three months.

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CicadaSlight7603@reddit

A year from the emergency savings fund plus investments we could liquidate if needed. Mortgage is paid off. 20 years if we reduced our lifestyle as we have some big regular expenses.

But I know we are outliers and have been extremely lucky.

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these_metal_hands@reddit

Well I wouldn't maintain my lifestyle for a start. I'd dial everything right back to extend it as long as possible.

Probably a year. Maybe longer is I really had to by selling stuff. Could probably do a couple more years if I downsized / sold the house to free up money.

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agoentis@reddit

JSA is £92.05 per week for six months if you’ve over £16k in the bank - with over £16km or a partner in work you’ll not be entitled to much else. I am a bit out of touch (worked in housing benefit for 20 years) but I think that this is still the maximum support you’ll get from government if unemployed. It’s staggering as isn’t linked to what you’ve contributed. Many European states pay % of final salary while you find a new job.

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Blue-Cheeeze@reddit

That’s a terrible system tbh , it actually drives people into poverty

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Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

This often isn't an indefinite payment though - France does this, but unless things have changed, it's for the first six months only.

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ookookdk@reddit

Im in France and depending how you leave your last job you are entitled to jobseeking allowance which is a percentage of your last income. For example I was on 2500 a month and Im entitled to 18 months at 1750 per month as long as you show are you searching for a new job

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Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

Thank you for clarifying - I was going back a good while with my memories of the process. At what point are you required to look outside your field? Is it only when the enhanced payment comes to an end?

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South-Visual3803@reddit

I thought it was no savings over 6k? Then you get nothing.

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fotfddtodairsizr@reddit

I thought people with over 16K get nothing

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james8807@reddit

Accurate. Saw this from a friend first hand. Sadly those that prepare well and pay taxes loyally get penalised.

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Marsof1@reddit

JSA is not means tested so anyone can claim it. While UC you are only entitled to if you have less than 16k, but realistically it not worth claiming if you have more than 6k due to them taking money off for every penny above 6k you have in savings.

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agoentis@reddit

By and large yes. The only exception for JSA is when you’ve been in work for a long time and have made contributions, which you get back at £90 per week for 6 months. After that is over the £16k rule kicks in hard.

Interesting point to note - the limit was raised to £16k from £8k in 1996, and hasn’t been raised since (stealth cut) so the limit (had it kept up with inflation) should be about £32.5k. The state was a lot more generous in the old days.

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CandidLiterature@reddit

You get contributions based JSA for a fixed 6 month period regardless of any savings. Obviously eventually you will also run down your savings and can claim means tested benefits at that point.

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Cipriano_Ingolf_Oha@reddit

Yeah, I think it starts at the quoted figure if you don’t have savings. Pretty terrible. The German system is much better (but no surprise there).

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T13ut5@reddit

I was surprised by this. That’s not means tested. They changed the rules a couple of years ago that you can claim something, no matter what you have in reserve

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doegrey@reddit

Just wait until everyone who has only ever been on defined contribution discovers they won’t have enough to retire…

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HaydnH@reddit

I went through this during COVID as one of the excluded. I was earning six figures in Finance give or take up until December 2019 when I got made redundant. I'd just got married, had a kid, bought a house in SW London just before that, all the things that drain your savings. Luckily I had a decent redundancy package.

I had 3 final interviews lined up by March 2020, then the lockdowns happened and they all vanished. Recruitment consultants were furloughed. I wasn't entitled to any COVID benefits. How on earth are you meant to survive on £90 odd a week?

I had to take drastic measures in the end which impacted my credit history so jobs in Finance were out of the question, so less salary when I eventually found a job, less tax paid going forward... It just seems like a lose lose for everyone.

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ImFamousYoghurt@reddit

If you can afford to keep going for a year you won’t qualify for benefits until your savings are lower

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Numerous_Green4962@reddit

As I'm looking to FIRE I have a spreadsheet for this. I spent about £17,150 in the last 12 months, excluding savings. I could probably knock off about £150 a month without impacting my lifestyle thanks to not commuting and other work-related costs. That gives me about 2 years in cash accounts and depending on the markets anything from 10 years to retirement in the S&S ISA.

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Objective-Wrangler73@reddit

Glad to see someone else with financial literacy and planning. Saddly we will be panned for it.

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Geepandjagger@reddit

Yes it seems to be the common take and people take pride in a race to the bottom of who has least??. I really wish financial literacy was taught at school but still there is no shortage of resources to get fully up to speed. Personal accountability in the UK for many things is really low and I know lots of people who fully expect others to pick up the pieces of their poor decision making.

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VolcanicBear@reddit

Get back in the bucket!

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zephyrmox@reddit

I spent about £17,150 in the last 12 months

This is a comically low number - how are you living so cheaply?

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Numerous_Green4962@reddit

£28 a month landline and broadband, £36 professional membership, £21 union membership £7 for my mobile phone contract, £11 for my mum's, £7 window cleaner, £100 ish council tax, £75 water rates, £12 NHS perscription pre pay, £100 gas and electricity, £19 home insurance, £15 TV license, £200 ish on food, £360 on diesel, £40 on petrol, £70 ish combined car insurance, £12 humble bumble.

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zephyrmox@reddit

Ah so no mortgage / rent. Makes it a lot more viable!!

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Numerous_Green4962@reddit

Yes, I paid off my mortgage a few years ago. That was about £585 a month.

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Sway_RL@reddit

If i lost my job today I would last until the end of May. Assuming i'd get paid this month, i'd have about a week to find a job so I don't miss a months pay.

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R2-Scotia@reddit

4 months before I start selling cars or dipping pension

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Say10sadvocate@reddit

1 month. Lol

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cmsht@reddit

Indefinitely... I recently took out an income protection policy that pays put 60% of my salary after 3 months

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No_Ring_3348@reddit

Could just about stretch to 5y but it'd be 5y of penury and struggle.

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romeo__golf@reddit

5 or 6 months if I was very careful with my expenditure. I have the equivalent of 4 months' salary in savings currently, it's not all intended as an emergency fund as I'm saving for other things as well, but if the redundancy happened today, it's there.

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halfempty357@reddit

Happy to be proved wrong but I don’t think couples typically have 30k savings. Advice is to have a few months salary equivalent in savings but most people have little to no savings I think

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TheTjalian@reddit

The average person in England supposedly has £16k in savings, however that said 39% of adults in England have less than £1k saved and 16% have no savings at all, so clearly this is the mean average which is being massively bumped up by people who save up a lot of money every month.

Given that half of all adults have £1k or less savings, I would be highly surprised if couples "typically" have £3k in savings.

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Redgrapefruitrage@reddit

I don’t know any couples who do.

We both work hard but we only have £4k in savings, so if we both lost our jobs, we could last maybe 3 months if we cut back on all unnecessary expenses. After that, we’d have to sell our house and move in with parents I think.

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The__Pope_@reddit

I bet you do, you just don't know that you do

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Da5ren@reddit

Exactly, house equity.

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The__Pope_@reddit

I'm not talking about equity but actual savings

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Nervous_Yard7034@reddit

If they had £100k in savings in the bank, would they tell you?

Being in that situation due to an inheritance, it's not something I share with people I know.

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Ok-Personality-6630@reddit

Except ofc if it's anonymous 😅

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The__Pope_@reddit

Yeah that's my point. People will rarely share that kind of information

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Nervous_Yard7034@reddit

Just adding evidence to your point. :-)

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Mr06506@reddit

Had almost that number until a few things went wrong with a recent building project. Now back to square one and would be up shit creek really on day one of losing my job if that happens.

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Deep_Pepper_5405@reddit

There seems to be different statistics on this but few sources like Money Super Market says average british adult has £16k in savings. But of course averages are skewed by people having a lot of savings and then 12% having no savings.

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Neat-Ostrich7135@reddit

Median figure is 9k

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Shnarf1980@reddit

Depends if it's the mean or the mode of course (says my GCSE maths teacher 30 years ago)

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Jo3Pizza22@reddit

Median is usually reported for things like this because the data will be skewed. Median is the middle number and is unaffected by the magnitude of the highest numbers in the dataset.

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Shnarf1980@reddit

Damn, your right. Got my mode and median mixed up. Mr Boreham will be disappointed in me! Although in your example the mode and median would be the same.

The median is absolutely the right number to use on this case, hopefully that's what they do use. Depends what message they want to convey I guess... Lies, damnded lies and statistics eh!

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Deep_Pepper_5405@reddit

Yep, those would be a lot more useful when talking about this. But the stats I saw only talked about averages. And I didn't have time to do a deep dive :D

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AndyTheSane@reddit

I have a feeling that this £30k includes pension savings.

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ossietheowl@reddit

When people talk bout "savings" would that include retirement planning like Pension/S&S ISA? Or just literal instant access cash?

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nivlark@reddit

If they don't, they should be building towards it. Even a couple where both partners are are earning minimum wage is taking home about £3700 a month. If they're unable to save anything out of that amount, they're doing something wrong.

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BigFatSue_@reddit

Do you think everyone on minimum wage takes home 1850 a month?

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nivlark@reddit

That is the salary paid by a full time minimum wage position, so yes.

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Educational_Walk_239@reddit

Lots of couples don’t have both working full time though. About a third of women working only do so part time. Chuck in the men that work part time and it’s quite a significant chunk.

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nivlark@reddit

Working part time is a choice. I would say it isn't one you can afford if you have no savings.

And yes, there are situations where it makes sense - starting a family is the obvious one. But that doesn't happen overnight, and making sure you're in a financially sustainable position beforehand is what allows you to have that flexibility.

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BigFatSue_@reddit

Do you not think it’s a bit disingenuous to work it out using the new minimum wage rate and to not include pension contributions or student loan deductions?

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nivlark@reddit

You don't pay student loans on minimum wage, and pension contributions are savings. But if you prefer not to think of them as such, then the take-home drops by 3.75% to £3560.

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ProfessorYaffle1@reddit

They'd take home £1,681 if working a 35 hour week, £1,880 if working 40 hours. However, that's assuming that they have opted out of their workplace pension .

If they are opted in and payin 5% then they would take home £1812 if working 40 hours and £1625 if working 35 hours a week.

So it's a little high but not wildly out if both work full time

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PersonalityTough6148@reddit

This might work if you don't have kids or any caring responsibilities but factoring in school pick up/drop off and school holidays (13 weeks a year) means two parents working full time is almost impossible without wrap around childcare/family support.

If you start paying for breakfast/after-school club and holiday clubs your expenses go through the roof.

If one or both of you go part time to pick up the childcare your earnings reduce quickly.

It's very very hard to survive on minimum wage with kids, especially if you rent.

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Next-Suit-9579@reddit

We have savings but they get all but wiped out every August when my husband has to take the 6 weeks off to look after our son due to lack of summer childcare in our area. We save up for the rest of the year to cover his salary for that month and a bit.

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PersonalityTough6148@reddit

Just commented similarly above.

Kids are off 13 weeks a year. Most jobs offer 4-6 weeks holiday a year. That's before you factor in school drop off, pick up, inset days, finishing early for end of term plays, sports day etc etc.

It's almost impossible working full time around kids but it's the reality many of us are trying to balance :(

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Next-Suit-9579@reddit

And even with two parents annual leave it leaves little to no time for actual days off without children around! My son is 7 and I can count on one hand how many days in the house I’ve had alone since he started school. And I haven’t had a single night off either as we have no support network. Nursery fees nearly crippled us too!

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yoga202@reddit

I reckon I know quite a few, although it’s not as if we all sit round and discuss how much we have. I’m about to hit mid 30’s, most of us are well settled into our jobs by now. Maybe it’s an age thing?

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Zubi_Q@reddit

Probably a month tops

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Gubbins95@reddit

Right now about a month, but I’m trying to rebuild an emergency fund

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Ok-Personality-6630@reddit

Probably 20 years it depends how the stock market performs.

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El_John_Nada@reddit

If for some reason, both my wife lost our jobs at the same time and we foolishly decided to not reduce our (fairly leisure oriented) spendings, probably 6 month. But realistically, if it was to happen, we'd be a bit more careful and we'd be able to weather around 1.5/2 years without much issue.

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PM_ME_VEG_PICS@reddit

We could afford for one of us not to work at all. We would have to cut back on a few things but could manage. If we both lost our jobs we could sustain the current lifestyle for 5 or so years maybe and a simplified one for much longer.

I appreciate that we are in the minority due to a mix of luck and timings and the careers we have. As well as the type of spending that we do.

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Hitching-galaxy@reddit

0

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Acceptable_Hope_6475@reddit

1 year probably with some scrimping and scraping it wouldn’t be an exuberant lifestyle it would be existing

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Equivalent-Lab9075@reddit

People saying until the end of the month might be forgetting jsa/ universal credit exists. Given that our mortgage is £400 a month and no car I think me and my husband probably could survive on benefits ( we would be miserable of course)

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Isgortio@reddit

With the remainder of my student loan, about 4 months. Then I'm screwed.

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CaptainRAVE2@reddit

24 months or so.

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SeaHamster5209@reddit

Redundancy package would give me 1 year + 4 months from cash savings. If no job still - it would be benefits, sell the house and would have to move into partner's mum's house - I have no 'back-up' option via my own family.

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HodlMcDonald@reddit

10-11 years at current spend rate but I would most definitely cut back. Potentially move in with my parents and rent out my flat to reduce mortgage outgoings (won't cover it fully though)...could then stretch to 20 years.

I am super focused on FIRE / retiring early and so it is essentially my retirement nest egg that i would be throwing away

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Neat-Ostrich7135@reddit

I think the average savings pot for a couple is £30k

I would be amazed if that is true, what is the source? Or maybe if it is true it's skewed heavily by a few very wealthy people. What is the median savings pot rather than mean

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2c0@reddit

2 months, maybe 3 with JSA but I would not be sustaining my lifestyle. I would be paying for the mortgage, food and utilities (Including internet). Not a single thing else until I was earning again.

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Puzzled-Job9556@reddit

To maintain lifestyle? A year.

If I changed my lifestyle, became frugal, a few years.

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ikiteimasu@reddit

3 years comfortably, 5 not so comfortably. However that would be using up all savings for house deposit, emergencies and investing, so it’s screwing over future me quite a bit.

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Sorbicol@reddit

r/UKpersonalfinance has a lot of good advice on this.

I’ve just been through two extended periods of unemployment. We’ve coped - and I’d recommend getting on JSA immediately, it’ll make getting Universal Credit a bit easier if it comes to that - but we’re now completely out of savings and are carrying a fair bit of credit card debt. It’s going to take several years to sort out.

Just remember if you’ve been working and paying income tax / national insurance those are benefits you are entitled to. People get very sniffy about needing them, it’s a daft attitude to have.

Cars not working are a black hole for money.

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Realistic-Muffin-165@reddit

A lot of people don't realise that jsa isn't means tested. I was on it for 3 months last year.

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thelaughingman_1991@reddit

Really sorry to hear you guys are going through this, I hope it's amended as soon as possible for you both.

Really healthy outlook about JSA. I felt 'shame' going on it shortly previously, but a friend told me since I've been working part-time and full-time since I was 16 (alongside education when I was younger) and I'm 34 now, there's no guilt to be felt about it.

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Sorbicol@reddit

Ah thanks for the kind words. And yes, I have a new job lined up for the beginning of next month!

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Sternschnuppepuppe@reddit

The shame seems very British to me. I am German and after ca 7 years of working in the UK got made redundant and started claiming straight away. Never even occurred to me to be ashamed about it.

I mean why would I? I’ve paid in for years, and was actively looking for a new job.

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Paul_my_Dickov@reddit

Zero days.

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OkTechnician4610@reddit

2 months even if I cut down to the bone.

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TheEnglishNorwegian@reddit

Probably indefinitely with some cutbacks as my wife and I both earn a decent amount, the social security net here is fantastic (I left he UK) and we have some savings. We also have a bit of passive income from renting out our holiday house.

If both of us lost our jobs, I think we would still be ok indefinitely, but we would need to cut back quite a lot.

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Prize-Alternative864@reddit

Honestly, seeing that stat about the average couple's savings only covering a year really puts things into perspective, especially when you factor in how quickly people say they'd have to cut back. It’s not just about the money you have in the bank, but how fast you'd adapt and strip your life right back to the essentials. That one comment about selling the house to buy a few more years is grim but probably the reality for a lot of homeowners who aren't liquid. For me, I think I'd be comfortable for maybe six months on pure savings before I'd have to start panic-selling everything that isn't nailed down.

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rupertbarnes@reddit

I huge amount of this depends on two facts, savings and Mortgage/Rent. With no housing costs mist people could live in about £15,000 a year. Like in Covid, if you just don’t go anywhere or need things like a new TV or fridge basic living is quite cheap.

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HMS_Hexapuma@reddit

About three months if we were careful. Part-ownership flat so mortgage and rent to pay. Single income as partner is disabled. All those people who think the disabled are leeches, living the high-life on the backs of the taxpayers? Try it some time. You'll be homeless in a few weeks. Oh, and those who are talking about selling your homes and moving in with parents? We've been trying to sell for almost two years. A quick sale, or any sale, is not guaranteed.

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26Eddie26@reddit

Decades, but I have no dependants and my partner also has a good job and could afford to pay all the bills on his own without any issues. However, I wouldn't be maintaining my lifestyle for a minute. I would strip back to bare necessities so I don't have to touch my long term investments etc. We already live way below our means, save hard and have a small mortgage etc The only thing I spend the money without that much consideration is travel. Everything else is on a budget and below means (we still enjoy a great lifestyle but we don't upgrade tech, cars, designer clothes etc). We worked hard for the last decade to be in this position and not have to worry, no inheritance etc to see here. Living below your means and not having kids really works wonders for the budget.

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nikkijxd@reddit

Manintaining my lifestyle 1 month, cut back to basics 3 months. I could probs do 8 months with a mortgage holiday

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Usual-Journalist-292@reddit

I live alone and recently bought my own place, if I lost my job tomorrow I'd still be okay for at least 9 months, possibly a year.

I didn't put everything into my deposit for exactly this situation. I feel pretty secure in my position but you can never be too safe.

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Rare-Quantity5503@reddit

My job currently pays me £0, so… until I die

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Jimny977@reddit

If it happened after we buy a house (currently have a flat with a cheap mortgage), and assuming S&S ISA access at current market rates, which is a big if in reality, a bit over three years. On cash savings alone maybe two months.

I’ve been pursuing Financial Independence Retire Early for a decade though, and was working two jobs for it even at Uni. One thing I’m realising is that when we buy a house, and my wife is a SAHM on top, Pension will keep going but funding an ISA meaningfully will be impossible, so I’m glad I did it while relatively more responsibility free.

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I-Spot-Dalmatians@reddit

I literally live paycheque to paycheque

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FourCats44@reddit

I got a redundancy package but I haven't touched it yet and I've been out of work for about 2 years.

It depends on the life you currently live and want to live. I don't like the house I live in, I eat at best one meal a day, I don't ever have takeaways or really go out to restaurants.

I had no obligations like car finance (other than annual insurance and the like) so my outgoings are pretty minimal. Ironically the harder I look for jobs, more interviews I drive to the more expensive it's going to get.

You can "live" miserably for a long time with very little money. It's a distinction between surviving and thriving.

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mister_meaner7@reddit

Hopefully long enough I gave up work last June at 43. I’ve no intention of finding another job. I’m quite happy messing about everyday without a purpose, I thought I’d get fed up, but not giving a toss about anything is a whole new me. I’ve had my home refurbished from top to bottom. If I do anything next I’ll probably just buy and sell houses.

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IDAIN22@reddit

I found out over winter. Lost my job in November. I had £1,000 on hand and another £1,000 in funds that needed liquidated. I live alone so Universal credit and JSA provided me with around £800 each month. I didn't change anything for the first month just... went with it. In January I made cut backs massively.

Here are my outgoings at that point:

- Utilities £202
- Rent £465 *(I'm very lucky rent hasn't gone up once in the past 10 year) Average rent in my area for the same as what I have is actual £1,100)*
- Broadband, TV, Phone £130
- Food £175

Total of £975

Add in the odd public transport for interviews and JSA mandatory "meetings, qualifications and education."

Had I made changes sooner I could have maybe survived indefinitely, but as it was I'm very happy I got a job in March.

After I got a job I really took a look at my outgoings. With an current income of around £1,100 now I got my food bill down a fair bit. Broadband and Phone decreed by £50, sadly I'm locked into my TV contract another year. My Utilities should go down to £120 from this month too. So If I get hit my an unexpected job loss I am technically "safe"

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DoreyCat@reddit

Assuming 6 month redundancy package and assuming I am not getting another dime…2.5-3 years. I’d probably ram my savings into some sector of the market if it was on a dip just to see if I could short squeeze another couple months in profit but this would be out of pure desperate recklessness…

I guess if I sold the house and massively downsized to something I own outright I could go another 5 years, then maybe sell the smaller house for more than I bought it for, downsize again, and live off the profit from the middle house for like…a little longer. Eventually I’d have to sell and just rent till the bitter end I guess.

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soulsteela@reddit

Shave/wax the legs n toes and go onlyfans selling pics of my feet dipping into custard or blancmange, ya know, the good stuff!

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PangolinMandolin@reddit

Nearly 18 months ago I left my job because it was honestly making me question whether I wanted to continue existing on this earth (which is clearly not a healthy place to be mentally). If I'd been thinking clearly I probably would have gone on long term sick and dragged it out to get as much salary as possible and maybe see if I could turn things around. But given the aforementioned terrible mental state I just wanted out. So I handed in my notice, told my manager not to tell anyone who we worked with until I had left, and was gone just before Christmas.

I had savings that could pay my mortgage and bills for 2 years (with a modest spending money pot).

18 months later, I still have about three quarters of what I had. I will have to disclaim here that shortly after I left my job we had a death in the family, not totally unexpected due to age, but fairly sudden and not what you want when you're in a horrible mental place - anyway, they weren't a direct family member but it did result in me getting a small inheritance which essentially added another 6 months to my savings pot.

Now I'm back in a better mental space (followed some passions, sorted out some personal life issues, found a couple of odd jobs to help my finances) I'm back to applying for jobs and discovering that the market is terrible at the min.

NGL it does make me look back and wonder if maybe I could have toughed it out at my old job, but that can't be changed now.

What I've turned to is online work which has ended up being surprisingly consistent and so useful given my circumstances (nothing x-rated haha)

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Gauntlets28@reddit

Well my wife also works, and in theory we could cover the costs on one salary, but it wouldn't be pretty. We do have a fair amount saved though.

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Da5ren@reddit

I have seen this a fair bit in my sector (finance) where people are made redundant or let go and take a long time to get another, similar paying job and I think a lot of it is down to either being out priced for that job in the market, or having weak reputations.

I have seen people who have been promoted to a salary internally that they just have no real chance of getting elsewhere and rather than settling for less money, they price themselves out. I have also seen people be let go who were thought of quite poorly. Everyone in finance knows someone else in the other places you are likely to apply, people will ask around before even interviewing you. If you are known to be difficult to work with, left on poor terms or even worse, nobody knows you, good luck getting an interview.

I have enough savings where I could stretch to a year unemployment if needs must, but I would be taking on other work while looking, as an Amazon delivery driver or uber driver if possible. So that would fund my outgoings.

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TonyBlairsDildo@reddit

Firstly, a substantial proportion of the country are persistently on benefits such as Universal Credit (Limited capability for work) and PIP. This has two effects:

1) You're not allowed substantial savings (anything above £6,000 causes a deduction in your UC entitlement)

2) There's no need to save because unlike a job, you're unlikely to be sacked from UC/PIP.

Secondly, most modern democracies have a strong preference for not delaying consumption by savings and prefer to leverage credit. Very few people save £20,000 for a new car; they finance one with ~£0 downpayment. In a way, the total household debt is the inverse of how much savings each household should have.

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No_Run3357@reddit

If I liquidated my ISA, and assuming my wife had to do the same, and pared things back probably about 10 years. We're outliers though.

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OneCrispyCritter95@reddit

I have enough to pretty much go on until I die. If I die yesterday that is

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icecoldpoker2@reddit

This one made me laugh a bit too much

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Lazy-Objective-1630@reddit

If I knuckle down and press all the emergency buttons I could probably survive a year but the quality of life would be gone. It would just be a frantic year of job searching.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit

Guess Im gonna find out this year

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heretolurk24@reddit

6 minutes

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OrdoRidiculous@reddit

Without selling anything, \~4 years at my current expenditure, though nursery fees would drop off completely after 2 years, so pushing that to 5 wouldn't be too difficult.

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C_Blaikie@reddit

I imagine if you were not working you could probably drop your nursery fees immediately? or are you locked in for x amount of time?

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danamlowe@reddit

I think this is quite tricky because yes, technically you could take your child out of nursery and look after them while unemployed, but then when you get a job you need a nursery place again and they can be hard to come by.

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Cupid_Stunt17@reddit

About a week, if i'm frugal

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MrNiceGuy420420@reddit

A couple of years, would have to sell investments

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Crypto_gambler952@reddit

If I sold off all my investments that I hope to keep for retirement about 6 months.

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Mobile-Stomach719@reddit

2 years. But that's because I had a great redundancy package from my employer along with 38 years service. Sadly not everyone is in that position.

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

A while (years), because I live in perpetual anxiety so I’ve saved an absolutely unreasonable amount.

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Kvark33@reddit

A week, it boils down to how much I get paid and am able to save each month. I can normally save around 10-20% of my monthly wage, but when I get to a reasonable amount, life decides to hit me with something, unexpected vet bills, car, glasses, something breaking.

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Familiarsophie@reddit

Assuming my wife keeps her job? And the rest of our finances stay the same?

The exact lifestyle hard to tell but to be honest a slightly more frugal one we could probably last forever.

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Nervous_Yard7034@reddit

Depends. If both my wife and I lost our job, I reckon 3-4 years.

If one of us lost our job, probably double that - might be able to stretch to a decade.

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WriteandRead@reddit

I don't know where you got your figure of 30k from but i think you are wildly off. Check out the ONS data here, scroll to the financial wealth section:

Median household financial wealth has increased

Median household physical and property wealth remained relatively stable between the April 2018 to March 2020 period and the April 2020 to March 2022 period. However, over this time, median household financial wealth increased by 25% after adjusting for inflation, from £8,300 to £10,400.

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fastestman4704@reddit

About 4 weeks

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cheandbis@reddit

I've been with my place for 15 years and the typical redundancy is 1.5 weeks per year served so I should get 22 weeks pay. I'm on a 3 month notice period so that's another 13 weeks. With the tax free redundancy up to £30k I should be able to stretch that to a year. A bit in savings so I think I could last about 14 months fairly comfortably.

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Suitable-Season-4847@reddit

About 15 years due to no mortgage and considerable savings.

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znv142@reddit

that's the dream. You should ask your wife if she would be okay with it and just live it : )

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TachiH@reddit

That 30k amount must be very heavily skewed by the rich. Considering most young people are struggling to purchase houses, if they had 30k thats a deposit.

I think I could probably last 3 months without benefits without changing anything. Probably 8-9 if I cut out as much spending as possible.

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ToasterMonster69@reddit

3-4 months just on savings alone. However, if I was made redundant with package could go for 3-5 years probably. Last time the option was up, I realised could do 3 years out of work with little to no impact on my lifestyle. That was 6 years ago

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Jenkes_of_Wolverton@reddit

I've always lived month to month. I think you're wrong about the average amount of savings being 30k for a couple, and that might be a huge misunderstanding of how averages are calculated. There are millions of families struggling even with jobs.

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Nervous_Yard7034@reddit

There are also millions of families who are far more financially comfortable than you'd think.

Not everyone is struggling paycheck to paycheck - in fact, far from it.

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ice-lollies@reddit

I agree. Seems like a lot. Especially when children are young and growing up.

Also I think people might have quite a bit of debt behind them.

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znv142@reddit

I keep an emergency fund of around 6 months to 1 year - 6 months if I cut everything off and I move to survival mode.

I also have an investment ISA to supplement my retirement that could last a lot longer, but the hope is that within 6 months you will find something.

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mronionbhaji@reddit

Only my notice period. Luckily I have a 3 month notice period, and am soon going to pass 2 years service for a bit of redundancy pay protection too.

I would then need to start selling things like the car to pay bills.

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Captftm89@reddit

It would take c.18 months if I had zero work whatsoever. Could probably stretch that out another 6-12 months or so by getting part time/gig economy work.

After that, I'd need to sell the house and massively downsize.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

I'm lucky in that I have some company stock, but still I think 18 months would be pushing it.

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EyeAlternative1664@reddit

1 month.

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Shnarf1980@reddit

Maintaining my lifestyle, about 3-4 months.

But the first thing to go would be holidays and frivolous purchases, so probably 5-6.

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insertitherenow@reddit

I’d be alright as the wife earns plenty and we don’t have a mortgage anymore. I’d have to cut back on how often the cleaner comes and maybe stop my Foie Gras club subscription though.

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Chrispy_GB@reddit

Me & my girlfriend live well below our means and luckily we both earn enough individually for both of us to be fine on just one salary.

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Tricky-Reporter-5246@reddit

About 20 minutes

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RowRow1990@reddit

Glad to see some realism 😂

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CeleryEastern8993@reddit

Fancy pants rich McGee over here

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MidnightRambler87@reddit

Oooh, look at this.

More realistically for me like 5 😂

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PetersMapProject@reddit

My passive income covers the essential bills - food, utility bills, dog, car insurance but not fuel etc.

If I maintained my actual lifestyle, 14 years, if we ignore inflation and the house doesn't need any repairs.

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brykins@reddit

Until the 1st of the following month, when the rent is due.

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everyoneelsehasadog@reddit

Im currently sort of doing it. Got made redundant, holding onto the redundancy pay to cover maternity (and pre-maternity baby related spending).

We've not switched to the in case of emergency budget (that's Me and Husband lose job) so the main change is less savings - no savings for home expenses, Christmas, hols etc. We can do this for about a year because my husband still earns. If we're both out of work, we have a proper emergency budget and it's not fun, but we could get by for 2 years. That's without any income.

We've been very very poor in the past and didn't have a aafety net so all the planning is to avoid that happening again.

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Icy-Belt-8519@reddit

I wouldn't 😂

We have kids, we have rent, my partner gets pip so we would be able to survive due to benefits, but no, we'd have to immediately cut back

If its due to illness my partners job pays 3 months full pay the 12 months at 75%, so good in that aspect, if he looses his job we will just both look for other jobs, we're both pretty well qualified/experienced so it won't get to that point touch wood

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Deep_Pepper_5405@reddit

If I liquidate my investments and all savings accounts, I could live about 36 months with minor changes to my lifestyle. 50 month with tightening my budget.

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Electricbell20@reddit

Something that is worth doing is a minimum budget where you strip everything out that you don't need to see how well you'd survive.

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thelaughingman_1991@reddit

At the moment, I've got £1800 left to pay off on a credit card that's interest free until the end of September. I'm aiming to have this paid off by the end of May, and beyond that I'll be able to put away £600+ a month if things go to plan.

Currently, I use my 'main' credit card for spending, then pay it off on payday, then repeat. I've got no savings, and I can imagine if I lost my job tomorrow, I'd potentially be reliant on my credit card and overdraft, though I'd be applying for Universal Credit immediately.

I live with my girlfriend who owns her house, and we've both said if the other one lost their job, we'd support them without question.

But financially, things could get pretty shit pretty quickly.

My aim from the end of May is to build up a rainy day fund as soon as possible to help mitigate this if it ever happens. It has before, and having money go out of your account for the foreseeable with nothing coming in, can be pretty terrifying.

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Particular-Quit-630@reddit

12-18 months I’d say.

But I would get a low paying job straight away to core living expenses.

I’m not one to sit on my arse waiting for the perfect opportunity.

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SushiRollFried@reddit

With £1m savings or with 0 savings. The answer is the same, immediately. Employment is so uncertain these days. I would take drastic measures and assume this could last decades. I like to be overprepared. My why is simple, people are cunts, don't forget that.

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Feeling-Boss787@reddit

7 years

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SoupyAT@reddit

The impact would be immediate, I would need to start eating my retirement savings which would then have the greatest impact on me later in life, rather than now.

I do have unemployment insurance for 6 months, so that would help. If my employer simply missed my monthly payment, I would need to scramble for cash.

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charlottedoo@reddit

I have three months in an easy access account but could probably last the year.

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Party_Advantage_3733@reddit

Imagining this scenario as a 'before they'd need to start claiming' benefits is a daft premise to begin with. You'd claim benefits immediately, that's exactly what they're supposed to be for.

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isitmattorsplat@reddit

Is it really an outlier if 31% have less than £1000 in savings?

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negras@reddit

A week

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ImpossibleD@reddit

Living with my parents, and have quite a bit saved/invested. I would say indefinitely, so long as I keep getting a low rent.

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heartpassenger@reddit

About 15 minutes lmao. Nah probably about 2 months but then we’d be so far behind on debt and mortgage we’d have to sell the house.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

If my wife retains her job, theoretically forever.

We'd have to cut our holidays, eating out and generally tighten our belts, and forget growing of our bank balance, but we've been very careful to ensure that we can "live" off one salary, and save/enjoy the rest.

In a world where we both lose our jobs, maybe couple of years if we're very careful.

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WestleyMc@reddit

Probably a year.. but i would be to depressed watching my life savings quickly disappear to not get ‘a’ job within 2-3 months

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DaVirus@reddit

Are we talking complete financial drain? 4-5 years.

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Willing_Parsley_2182@reddit

According the FCA, excluding pension, 10% of people have £0 in savings. A further 21% have less than £1,000. Your “outliers” contains at least 31% of people.

According to consumer surveys, it’s estimated ~£5k is what the median person has saved… these are not outliers. Those with £30k are way above the average.

Anyways, for most people, they’d survive less than 2 months. That’s the question you seem to be asking.

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Nice_Back_9977@reddit

10 months, assuming no big unexpected costs like the car breaking down. I generally aim to have a year in backup but splurged on a holiday a few weeks ago!

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Lonely-Job484@reddit

The title and the body ask different questions really. More than I assume most, but not enough for total comfort, and after a few months I'd need to liquidate long term assets which would probablymean working longer before retirement.

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Lakridskaffe@reddit

Where does the 30k saving pot figure come from? Genuinely curious!

My wife and I have always tried to keep essential bills to a point where one of us can cover them if the other is out of work. So hopefully for a long time.

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sparklybeast@reddit

A month.

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Relative-Tea3944@reddit

5 years

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ldn-ldn@reddit

If I just sit and do nothing - a year. But I will most likely reduce my spending and start doing something on my own, so most likely - indefinitely.

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steveakacrush@reddit

At my current level, about 9 months. If I cut back on somethings I could probably last a year.

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Wishmaster891@reddit

12 months, if my employment insurance actually pays out

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jack5624@reddit

About 2.5 years if I cut back a bit.

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yoga202@reddit

About 2 years if we both lost our jobs and didn’t cut back. Probably over 3 if we really lived miserably. Significantly longer, maybe 5-6 if only one of us lost our job.

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IranianAlan@reddit

Probably a solid 2 years if I sold ETFs, bonds, gold etc

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urghasif@reddit

About one day lol (have been renovating my flat, live alone)

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Successful_Buy3825@reddit

Assume my fiancé & I both get made redundant at once.

We’ve both got around a year of after-tax salary saved, and a reasonable mortgage rate. If we continued our current lifestyle, we could survive ~2 years before things are totally depleted. Realistically wed cut back, so that could probably stretch closer to 3 years if needed.

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missuseme@reddit

Survive, probably 2 years but that's cutting all unnecessary expenses and living as frigsly as I can.

A year without much adjustment, maybe just not doing a holiday.

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RabbitRabbit77@reddit

About 6 months worth of savings. I’m a single person with a mortgage and a dog so I’d be panicking. I’m also incredibly risk averse and I’d take on any job - even shovelling shit - just so I had some sort of money coming in.

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destria@reddit

I'm a SAHM so technically I'm already surviving indefinitely without a job. If my husband lost his job and had no redundancy and we kept spending the way we do, we would burn through our accessible savings in about 3 years. If we cut back our lifestyle and just needed to cover the mortgage and essential bills/expenses, we could stretch it to 5 years.

I appreciate we're in a very fortunate financial situation with a lot of savings.

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anonoaw@reddit

Depends when in the monthly pay cycle I lost my job, but assuming I’m getting a full month’s pay then 1 month. Maybe 2 at a push.

I’ve been prioritising paying off debt (nearly there) so now I’m gonna build an emergency fund.

In reality I’d get buy with a combo of debt and borrowing money from family. Worst case scenario I’d move in with my mum or in laws so we wouldn’t be destitute.

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FOARP@reddit

Never happened to me but did happen to my parents when I was growing up. Yeah, that moment when you start getting the tickets for free school lunches, where you can’t afford satellite TV any more, when your holidays become camping in Wales…

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Glittering_Box4815@reddit

Thanks to my husband's work, which is very secure, I could survive indefinitely but everything would have to be cut back to almost nothing, including food.

Realistically, 4/5 months before I would need to cut back to a massive scale.

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WaywardJake@reddit

Maybe four years, five in a stretch.

I am eligible for retirement in four years (hadn't actually planned to retire, though), but I was made redundant in 2025. I had some health problems, so I decided to take a year off. Then, I developed a rare and aggressive form of cancer and am now busy dealing with that. I have no idea if or when I'll be returning to meaningful employment or even getting back into freelance work (I'm a professional writer). I'm financially okay for now, as long as I'm careful. But, I am fully aware that the pot from which I draw was never very big, not getting significantly bigger, and I'm taking more from it than I put in it. So, it will run out. If I'm still alive, I'm not sure what I'll do. But, I'm okay today, and I'm glad for that.

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NapalmSword@reddit

My situation is a bit different, I live on a canal boat. If nothing changed in my life and I carried on the same, about 4 or 5 weeks at most. If I jacked in everything I do, got rid of my rented workshop and just existed, I could last quite a few months, maybe even a year or two.

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Sirlacker@reddit

I could potentially do till the end of the day, if I skimp and scrape on a few things.

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GlumAd9856@reddit

I could probably stretch myself to about a year - if I cut down a lot.

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jiajune3@reddit

Most financial advisors recommend a 3 to 6 month emergency fund. If you're the average couple with £30k and your monthly expenses are £3k, you're looking at 10 months. But if you're living paycheck to paycheck, the answer is less than 30 days.

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PootMcGroot@reddit

Given over 30% of the population don't even have access to £1000 for an emergency bill, I suspect the answer for the majority is "not very long".

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tyrefire2001@reddit

48 fiscal minutes

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BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit

I’m self employed so I’ve always been as careful as possible with this while also balancing having a bit of a life.

Luckily we’re mortgage free which is a big breathing space and have enough savings to probably do us for about 10 years with very careful spending, but the plan to retire abroad would more than likely have to go out the window if one of us was to become long-term unemployed.

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folklovermore_@reddit

Maybe six months, if I cut back on everything except mortgage and bills. The goal is to get to a point where I could manage for at least a year.

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Far_Kaleidoscope_102@reddit

Forever.

I seem to be doing just fine with no money AND a job at the moment.

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Fellsy8@reddit

Maybe 10 -15 years max.

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Puzzled-Barnacle-200@reddit

I have a 6 month emergency fund, and then some investments I could sell to cover my half of the bills. But I also have a working spouse who earns almost the same as me, ans in theory on one income we would only need to spend £300-400/month from savings. My partner also has a 6 month emergency fund.

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2KCoinsLTD@reddit

What do you mean... I've already spent next months paycheck i haven't earned yet!

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sossighead@reddit

Over a year, but I also wouldn’t maintain the lifestyle I have now.

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

At the moment it would be about 4 months, but I’m currently mid-divorce and am paying half the mortgage on the house my ex refuses to put on the market while he lives in it and I have full custody of our daughter in a rented place.

Once the divorce is final, the house is sold and I’ve bought the place I’m currently renting off family, I’d be good for about 18 months.

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orangesapplespears@reddit

8 months only by using the savings I kept for completing my house renovation. If I didn't have that then just the end of the month. But there's no way I wouldn't find some job if I needed to even if it paid less. I wouldn't sit there going I can't find a job coz it's not the ideal job I want, that seems strange to me.

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

9 months without decreasing my spending in any way.

I probably would cut back though so 12 months is more likely.

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Fine_Shallot_8447@reddit

If we both lost our jobs and maintained our social lifestyle but cut back on shopping like clothes that are unnecessary with our current savings probably about 3/4 years. If we really cut back probably double that.

If it was just me and not my husbands job, forever unless things went mental haha, but I would not be able to buy all the clothes I want haha

He got very lucky out of uni and got a job in a company that has continued to grow and do well, and over the years has been given lots and lots of stock, every few months he gets given another chunk and you can take them out every 2 years, so it would be a steady chunk of money we can take out every 3/4 months

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