CapitalVia Research Desk · 29 Oct 2026

Data story · 29 Oct 2026

Salaried India · Emergency savings

65% call their emergency fund “fully funded”. 83% say it would run out within a year.

A Grant Thornton Bharat survey of 528 mostly young, urban, salaried Indians finds confidence running ahead of cushion: having a fund is common, a long runway is rare.

83%

say their savings would last less than one year if their income stopped.

Yet 84% have an emergency fund that is fully or partly funded, and 63% describe themselves as financially stable and confident.

Most say the fund is there

Status of emergency fund, % of respondents

Fully funded 64.5%

Partially funded 19.5%

Planning to start 9.1%

No fund 6.8%

But few think it would last

“If your income stopped, how long would your savings sustain you?” % of respondents

Under 1 year

82.7%

1–5 years

10.6%

5–10 years

1.9%

10–15 years

1.7%

Over 15 years

3.0%

Bars on a 0–100% scale. Odd one out: more people claim 15+ years of runway (3.0%) than 5–10 years (1.9%).

83 in every 100

Each square is 1% of respondents. Blue squares would run through their savings in under a year without a paycheque. A fund sized to the common 3–6-month rule of thumb counts as “full” and still sits in this group.

What rests on that cushion

% of respondents

91%

rely on salary as their main income

29%

earn any income from investments

74%

support at least one family member

32%

are the sole earner at home

21%

have life cover under ₹20 lakh

92%

of under-34s say they are not ready for retirement

≥47%

of all respondents must be both: they call their fund “fully funded” and expect it to last under a year.

CapitalVia calculation: 64.5% + 82.7% − 100% = 47.3%, the smallest possible overlap.

The takeaway: “funded” describes a target someone hit; “runway” describes how long a household lasts. With most incomes tied to one salary and most earners supporting family, the second number is the one a job loss tests.

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65% call their emergency fund “fully funded”. 83% say it would run out within a year.

Most say the fund is there

But few think it would last

83 in every 100

What rests on that cushion

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