You will want this cushion of time when you leave your job. Give yourself the runway to figure out how to pivot and evolve your business without having to worry about keeping your day-to-day living comfortable.
But if you’re starting a side hustle that’s not capital intensive or one that requires a large team, saving six months’ worth of runway is a great start, especially if you’re not adding interest to it by taking out loans. Include basic expenses to keep your business running such as:Industry memberships, business education and/or coachingMany students I teach have high-paying jobs, but also have high student debt amounts, making it really hard to get comfortable with leaving a steady salary.
Mathematically, I understand the logic. But psychologically, the benefit of letting go of all those extra payment accounts, and losing the mental burden of student debt was more than I ever thought it would be.