The world of personal finance is full of common rules of thumb and shortcuts designed to make

managing money easier. But do they actually help you build wealth? Or are they outdated

relics for a different generation or a different economic era. Well, today's podcast

will review some popular financial rules, which ones are still gold standards in 2026, and which

ones you should probably ignore. You'll learn how to customize them to fit your actual life

and money goals. Welcome back to Money Girl, everyone.

I appreciate you downloading the show. I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera

spokesperson, money speaker, and founder of The Money Stack. That's my substack newsletter. You can learn

more and subscribe at Laura D d adams.com.

This is episode 998, which means we are really getting close to the 1000th Money Girl podcast.

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All right, let's talk about eight money rules of thumb. We'll talk about whether they're actually

true or false or, you know, maybe somewhere in the middle. The first money rule of thumb we often

hear is that your emergency fund should equal three months worth of living expenses.

So this one can be true or false depending on your stage of life and financial situation.

I think most experts recommend building a cash reserve equal to three months of expenses

because, well, it's better than one

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