An emergency fund is what stands between an unexpected bill and a real problem, and it matters more in the first years after a move than it ever did at home. Open a separate account and start a modest monthly transfer; the amount matters less than the habit.
Do you already hold this money in an account separate from your current account?
Seeing the fund apart from spending money is the strongest defence against spending it. A second account at your existing bank, a pikadon yomi (an overnight deposit that stays accessible), or an account at one of the digital banks all work. Check there is no monthly fee on an account with little activity, which some Israeli accounts still carry.
Five to ten percent of salary is a reasonable place to start, and ₪250 a month is a real start if that is what fits right now. Date the hora'at keva to your payday so the money moves before it is available to spend.
An emergency fund does not belong in ETFs, shares or anything with a lock-up. It belongs in an overnight deposit or a savings account with no minimum term. The working test: if getting at the money takes more than 48 hours, it is not liquid enough to be the emergency fund.
This is the question an oleh has and a local does not. Your emergencies are priced in shekels, so the buffer should be too, and money left in your home currency carries exchange-rate risk against the bills it is meant to pay. Keeping some abroad can still make sense while you have obligations there; the point is to choose the split deliberately rather than inherit it.
Several Israeli banks, the digital ones in particular, pay interest on a current-account or overnight-deposit balance, which compounds the fund while it waits and leaves the money available. Compare the rate against any account fee before moving, because a fee can outweigh the interest on a small balance.
See how many months of spending your buffer covers today.
A buffer is measured in months of spending rather than in a round number, because what it has to absorb is a gap in income or an unplanned bill, and both of those scale with what you spend now, not with what you used to earn. Three to six months of spending is the range to aim at, reached in stages from one month up.Read the full guide: your emergency fund, and in which currency
