 TITLE: Savings Goals for Age 30, 40 and 50 CONTENT: By Age 30: An Emergency Fund + Retirement Savings\n-------------------------------------------------\nIf you are just out of your 20s, you're probably about a decade into the workforce. Money might have been (and may still be) tight, especially if you're paying off student loan debt. Because of this, and perhaps other debts you might have racked up, you may not have begun contributing to a retirement account. That's OK—just be sure you start contributing now. More on saving for retirement below.\nBy age 30, you need a solid emergency savings fund.\nIdeally you will have three to six months' worth of expenses set aside. As an example, if your essential bills—which might include rent, utilities, transportation costs and groceries—total $3,500 a month, you'll want at least **$10,500** in a savings account. With that, you'll have enough cash to keep you afloat in case you lose your job and it takes a few months to regain employment. You can pull from this account for other necessary but unplanned expenses, too, such as uncovered medical bills or an essential car repair.\nIf other people are depending on you for their care, you'll want to have even more in savings. A good rule of thumb is one month's expenses for each dependant. So if you have a non-working spouse and a child, five months' worth of expenses saved would be ideal. With that same $3,500 figure, your emergency fund should be **$17,500**.\nIf you're nowhere near your own emergency fund goal and aren't sure how to get there, consider these top strategies for saving money. You may consolidate debt so you have extra money each month or use your tax refund to drop a chunk of cash into your emergency savings. You can also look at your daily, weekly and monthly expenses to find places to trim spending.\nOnce you've reached your emergency savings goal, you can stop adding to it and save for something for the longer term, like a home down payment. END