It’s widely recommended for an emergency fund to hold 3–6 months of living expenses that remain untouched until you have, well, an emergency. Why 3–6 months of living expenses, you ask? Finance gurus tout this number as a way to cushion yourself in case you find yourself unemployed so that you can hold yourself over until you find another job.
Wait a minute. That just sounds like my normal life as an actor.
As actors, we’re consistently between gigs, always looking for jobs, and don’t have the luxury of always knowing when our next paycheck is coming in. If we used our emergency fund every time we found ourselves unemployed, we would never be able to keep our hands off of it. It’s not sustainable to treat every season of unemployment as an emergency.
Here’s the thing. An emergency fund is for exactly that…emergencies. As actors, we know stints of unemployment are coming, so although we don’t know exactly when those stints will happen, we know to expect them.
6 Important Sinking Funds for Actors Enter the off-contract buffer! For actors, having an off-contract buffer in addition to an emergency fund is crucial. Your emergency fund will remain untouched, as planned, and your off-contract buffer will hold those between gig funds that you can dip into and refill as needed. Let’s talk details.
Off-Contract Buffer
This account is where you should hold that 3–6 months of living expenses. While you’re on contract, take a portion of your paycheck and throw it into your buffer account to prepare for that inevitable closing night “oh no I don’t have a job anymore” anxiety. We actors are scrappy, always finding various ways to make money, so you most likely won’t need to deplete that whole fund every time you’re job searching. With this off-contract buffer, you’re giving future you the gift of time. Time to search for another gig, time to take a week off for mental health, time to take a gig that doesn’t pay much but will fulfill you artistically.
Emergency Fund
There is no set-in-stone number for this fund. It will depend entirely on your personal situation and risk tolerance. Do you have great healthcare, no pets, and low anxiety? You might not need as much in this account as someone who has a high-deductible, two dogs, and is easily anxious (pointing to myself). Things that constitute emergencies are unexpected hospital visits, a car accident, unexpected eviction or move, unexpected vet bill, etc. The keyword in all of these examples is unexpected. We are planning for the unexpected and creating a cushion for future you. Our lives as actors are already so unexpected and volatile that the more we can cushion and plan for our future selves, the better.
Having both of these funds as an actor can give you the peace of mind that, even in times of uncertainty, you’re covered. You can walk calmly into an audition room and crush it because you don’t have the added pressure of needing that job to pay rent next month. Creativity thrives on financial stability. Even though our income may be inconsistent, we can give ourselves a safety net to catch us as we chase after what we love in this crazy industry.
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