Money Girl Is the 4% Rule Dead? 8 Personal Finance Rules of Thumb Explained
Feb 25, 2026
A brisk audit of eight common personal finance rules of thumb. Topics include emergency fund sizing, capturing employer 401(k) matches, and smarter life insurance math. Listeners also hear quick methods for estimating investment doubling time, critiques of age-based asset allocation, and a plain look at retirement withdrawal and savings multipliers.
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Customize Your Emergency Fund Size
- Keep an emergency fund sized to your personal risk, not a fixed rule.
- Laura Adams suggests 3 months is common, but sole earners or those with job risk may need more, and retirees may keep a year's cash to manage sequence-of-returns risk.
Always Capture Your 401(k) Match
- Always contribute enough to get the full employer match in a workplace retirement plan.
- Laura Adams calls the match a 100% return and illustrates with a 4% salary match doubling your contribution immediately.
Rule of 72 Gives Fast Doubling Estimates
- Use the Rule of 72 to estimate how many years until money doubles by dividing 72 by expected annual return.
- Laura Adams notes it's accurate for rates below about 12%, e.g., 6% gives ~12 years to double.