How Big Should the Fortress Be?

The standard advice says three to six months of expenses. For a salaried household with two incomes, fine. For a fifty-plus builder stepping away from salary, the fortress must be sized for a different weather system.

Count the real monthly number first: household running costs, EMIs, school and college fees, insurance premiums, parents' support, and the annual items divided by twelve that everyone forgets — maintenance, festivals, travel to family. Then the builder's range: twelve months of that number as the floor, eighteen to twenty-four if your venture income will be lumpy or your industry re-entry would be slow.

Park it boringly — liquid funds, sweep FDs — where returns are modest and access is instant. The fortress's job is not growth; it is making you unhurryable. Desperate founders accept bad clients, bad prices and bad partners. Fortressed founders can say no, and 'no' is a profit centre.

Yes, it's a lot of money sitting quietly. That quiet is what courage is made of.