Future Value Calculator
The Math Behind Compound Growth.
This tool uses the standard future value formula, the same one used in finance textbooks and regulator calculators. The defaults are grounded in long-run market history, not a sales pitch.
- Formula: future value of a lump sum plus a stream of monthly contributions, compounded monthly. It is the same method behind the SEC’s Investor.gov compound interest calculator.
- The 7% default: U.S. large-company stocks have returned roughly 10% a year on average since 1928 before inflation, and about 7% after it, based on the historical return series maintained by NYU Stern (Aswath Damodaran). A diversified portfolio that also holds bonds will typically land lower.
- Inflation: measured by the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has averaged about 3% a year over the long run. Using a real (after-inflation) return keeps the result in today’s dollars.
- What is left out: taxes, fund and advisory fees, and the fact that real returns arrive unevenly. Sequence-of-returns risk can make two portfolios with the same average return end up in very different places.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
Retirement Readiness Calculator
The Research Behind the 4% Rule.
The target here is built on decades of published research on sustainable withdrawal rates, plus the same long-run return history used across our tools.
- The 4% rule: comes from William Bengen’s 1994 study in the Journal of Financial Planning, “Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data,” and was confirmed by the 1998 Trinity Study (Cooley, Hubbard, and Walz). Both found that a portfolio of roughly half stocks and half bonds historically survived 30 years of inflation-adjusted 4% withdrawals.
- Your target number: desired retirement income times 25, which is the 4% rule turned around. Many planners now argue for a range of 3.3% to 4.5% depending on the market environment and how flexible your spending can be.
- Growth assumptions: the return you enter is applied to today’s savings and future monthly contributions using the standard future value formula. The 7% default reflects long-run U.S. stock returns after inflation, per NYU Stern’s historical return data.
- Benchmarks for context: Fidelity’s widely cited age-based savings milestones (about 1x salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, 10x by 67) are a useful cross-check on the result.
- What is left out: Social Security, pensions, taxes on withdrawals, healthcare costs, and market sequence risk. A real plan models all of them.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
Student Loan Analyzer
How the Payoff Math Works.
Loan payoff is straightforward arithmetic. The tool applies the same amortization formula lenders use, so the schedule it shows is the schedule you would actually face.
- Formula: standard amortization, with interest accrued monthly on the remaining balance and each payment split between interest and principal. Extra payments go straight to principal.
- Rates: the defaults reflect the range of recent federal loan rates published by Federal Student Aid (studentaid.gov). Private refinance rates vary by lender and credit profile.
- Refinance comparison: shows the interest saved at a lower rate on the same balance and payment. It does not model the loss of federal protections such as income-driven repayment, deferment, or Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which can outweigh a lower rate.
- Context: the Federal Reserve’s consumer credit data tracks outstanding student debt nationally and is a good reality check on where your balance sits.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
Net Worth Calculator
A Simple Formula, With Real Benchmarks.
Net worth is assets minus liabilities. The value of tracking it comes from consistency, and from comparing it against data rather than headlines.
- Formula: everything you own (cash, retirement accounts, taxable investments, home equity, other assets) minus everything you owe (mortgage, student loans, auto loans, credit cards, other debt).
- Benchmarks: the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, published every three years, reports median and average net worth by age, income, and education. It is the most reliable public source for comparing your number to households like yours.
- Why we track it: income measures what comes in; net worth measures what stays. Research on household wealth consistently shows that savings rate and time, not income alone, drive the gap between households with similar earnings.
- What is left out: the value of a pension or Social Security, which are real but hard to put a balance on, and the tax owed on pre-tax retirement accounts when the money is eventually withdrawn.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
Savings Rate Calculator
Why Savings Rate Is the Number We Watch.
The formula is simple, and the reason it matters is well documented. Here is the basis for the targets the tool uses.
- Formula: everything that builds net worth each month (retirement contributions, HSA dollars, taxable investing, and principal paid on debt) divided by gross income.
- The 15% guideline: Fidelity’s long-standing retirement savings guidance suggests saving about 15% of pre-tax income, including any employer match, starting by age 25, to maintain your lifestyle in retirement.
- National context: the U.S. personal saving rate, published monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, has spent most of the last two decades in the single digits. Anything above 15% puts you well ahead of the average household.
- Why rate beats return: early on, a higher savings rate compounds on a larger base for longer. The arithmetic is not controversial; over a 30-year horizon, contributions typically account for more of the ending balance than the difference between an average and a strong return.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
Insurance Needs Calculator
The DIME Method, Not a Rule of Thumb.
The coverage gap here is calculated the way insurance professionals and planners size a policy: by adding up what would actually need to be paid for, then subtracting what is already in place.
- Method: a needs-based calculation commonly known as DIME: Debt, Income replacement, Mortgage, and Education. Final expenses are added, and existing coverage plus liquid assets are subtracted. This is the approach taught in Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) coursework, in contrast to the “10 times income” shortcut.
- Income replacement: annual income multiplied by the number of years your family would depend on it. Many households use the years until the youngest child is independent, or until the surviving spouse’s own retirement income begins.
- Context: LIMRA’s annual Insurance Barometer Study consistently finds that a large share of U.S. households report a life insurance coverage gap, and that most people overestimate the cost of term coverage.
- What is left out: inflation over the coverage period, investment returns on a lump-sum payout, and disability coverage, which for most working households is the larger risk. Quotes depend on underwriting and vary by carrier and state.
Results are hypothetical and for education only. They do not account for your full situation and are not a recommendation. Bring the output to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the calculator →
The 2-Minute Wealth Checkup
How the Checkup Is Scored.
Each of the ten questions maps to a widely used planning benchmark. Your score is a count of how many areas already meet the standard, not a judgment.
- Cash flow and emergency savings: knowing your real monthly number, and holding three to six months of essential expenses in cash, consistent with guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- Protection: own-occupation disability coverage for working households, and current beneficiaries on every account. Beneficiary designations override a will, which is why estate attorneys and CFP® practice standards treat the audit as baseline.
- Investments: being able to explain what you own and why, and keeping any single stock under 10% of the portfolio. Ten percent is the concentration threshold most planners use; FINRA’s investor guidance on concentration risk explains why.
- Taxes: a mid-year withholding check so April holds no surprises, and a tax review before December while moves still count. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator is the public version of that first check.
- Estate: a signed will and healthcare directives, and documents organized so your family can find them. Multiple national surveys find that most U.S. adults still do not have a will, which is the single most common gap we see.
The checkup is educational and not a recommendation. Nothing you enter is saved or sent. Bring your result to a conversation and we will pressure-test it against your real numbers. Open the checkup →
