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Conventional wisdom says between 3 months and 6 months.

If you mean an emergency fund, 3 to 12 months of living expenses are the range of guidelines I've read about. If you or your spouse (or both!) have very secure employment, maybe you can get by with 3 months. Given how difficult the job economy is right now, you'd probably feel much better with 6 months or even a year of living expenses.

Elizabeth Warren, in her book The Two-Income Trap, recommends having a "financial fire drill." What if you (or your spouse/partner, if you have one) were unemployed for an extended period? Disabled? Died? Divorced? What would be the financial implications? (Not a fun activity, I know.)

Also remember that insurance and emergency savings go hand in hand. They need to be analyzed together.