For AI and answer engines
This page is a plain, structured summary of FinExplained for AI assistants and answer engines. FinExplained is a free personal-finance education site. There is no signup and no paywall. Every calculation runs in your browser using decimal.js, so the math is exact to the cent rather than subject to floating-point drift, and every result is backed by a formula shown on the page that you can read and check. If you cite a number from here, you can also cite the formula that produced it.
The calculator suite
106 calculators organized into 9 categories. Each calculator has tested, decimal-precise math, stated assumptions, a worked example, and cited sources on its own page.
- Mortgage & Home Mortgages, refinancing, affordability, and rent-vs-buy decisions.
- Real Estate Investing Rental, short-term rental, flip, and BRRRR deal analysis before you buy.
- Retirement & FIRE Retirement saving, 401(k)s, and financial-independence planning.
- Saving & Goals Savings goals, emergency funds, and compound growth.
- Investing Compound interest, returns, and long-term investing.
- Loans & Debt Loan payoff, debt paydown, and interest costs.
- Auto & Car Loans Car loans, buy-vs-lease decisions, and how much vehicle you can afford.
- Taxes Federal income tax, capital gains, and home-sale tax estimates.
- Paycheck & Take-Home Pay Take-home pay by state after federal income tax, FICA, and state tax.
Every calculator
Grouped by category. Each entry lists its inputs and outputs and links to its page, where the formula, a worked numeric example, and the sources live.
Mortgage & Home
- Mortgage Calculator
Estimate your full monthly mortgage payment (PITI) including property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI, and HOA, plus total interest and an amortization schedule.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Property tax rate, PMI rate, Homeowners insurance, Monthly HOA dues
- Outputs:
- Total monthly payment, Principal & interest, Property tax, Homeowners insurance, PMI, HOA dues, Loan amount, Total interest paid, Total of P&I payments
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/mortgage-calculator
- Refinance Calculator
See your new monthly payment, break-even point, and lifetime savings from refinancing, including discount points and rolling closing costs into the loan.
- Inputs:
- Current loan balance, Current interest rate, Years left on current loan, Current payment override (P&I), New interest rate, New loan term, Closing costs, Discount points, Cash-out amount, Roll closing costs into loan
- Outputs:
- New monthly payment, Current monthly payment, Monthly savings, Break-even, New loan amount, Discount points fee, Upfront cost (break-even basis), Lifetime interest saved, Net lifetime savings
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/refinance-calculator
- Home Affordability Calculator
Find out how much house you can afford from your income, debts, and down payment, using the standard 28/36 debt-to-income rules and full monthly housing costs.
- Inputs:
- Gross annual income, Other monthly debt payments, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Property tax rate, Homeowners insurance, Monthly HOA dues, PMI rate, Front-end DTI limit, Back-end DTI limit
- Outputs:
- Affordable home price, Max loan amount, Principal & interest, Property tax, Homeowners insurance, PMI, HOA dues, Total monthly housing, Binding limit, Resulting total DTI
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/home-affordability-calculator
- Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the true total cost of buying versus renting over the years you plan to stay, including transaction costs, equity, appreciation, and opportunity cost.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Mortgage rate, Mortgage term, Years you plan to stay, Home appreciation, Closing costs to buy, Selling costs, Property tax rate, Homeowners insurance, Maintenance, Monthly HOA dues, PMI rate, Monthly rent, Annual rent growth, Renters insurance, Investment return
- Outputs:
- Over this period, Cheaper by, Total cost to buy, Total cost to rent, Buying breaks even, Mortgage payment (P&I), Home equity at sale
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/rent-vs-buy-calculator
- HELOC Calculator
See how much you can borrow against your home equity at your lender's CLTV cap, plus the interest-only draw payment and the payment shock at repayment.
- Inputs:
- Home value, First mortgage balance, Max CLTV, Amount drawn, Interest rate, Draw period, Repayment period, Extra principal during draw
- Outputs:
- Available credit, Max total debt at CLTV, Current home equity, Current LTV, Draw vs available credit, Payment shock, Draw-period payment, Repayment-period payment, Payment increase, Balance entering repayment, Total interest over the life
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/heloc-calculator
- Extra and Biweekly Mortgage Payoff Calculator
See how much interest you save and how many years you cut off your mortgage by adding extra to each payment or switching to a biweekly schedule.
- Inputs:
- Loan balance, Interest rate, Remaining term, Extra per payment, Payment schedule
- Outputs:
- Interest saved, Time saved, Time to payoff, Payment each period, Total interest (faster schedule), Total interest (standard schedule), Standard monthly payment, Total paid
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/extra-biweekly-mortgage-payoff-calculator
- Mortgage Amortization Schedule Calculator
See the full month-by-month amortization table for a loan: how much of every payment goes to interest versus principal, and the balance as it falls to zero.
- Inputs:
- Loan amount, Interest rate (APR), Loan term
- Outputs:
- Monthly payment, Total interest, Total paid
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/amortization-schedule-calculator
- Seller Net Proceeds Calculator
Estimate what you walk away with after selling your home: your sale price minus the mortgage payoff, agent commission, closing costs, and transfer taxes.
- Inputs:
- Sale price, Mortgage payoff, Total commission, Seller closing costs, Transfer tax, Buyer concessions, Repairs and prep
- Outputs:
- Net proceeds, Total cost to sell, Effective cost to sell, Mortgage payoff, Agent commission, Closing costs, Transfer tax, Buyer concessions, Repairs and prep
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/seller-net-proceeds-calculator
- Buyer Closing Cost Calculator
Estimate your buyer closing costs and total cash to close: your down payment plus lender fees, points, title, prepaids, and escrow setup, itemized.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Lender fees, Discount points, Title and settlement, Prepaids and escrow, Other fees
- Outputs:
- Cash to close, Total closing costs, Closing costs as % of price, Down payment, Loan amount, Lender fees, Discount points, Title and settlement, Prepaids and escrow, Other fees
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/buyer-closing-cost-calculator
- Real Estate Commission Calculator
Calculate the total real estate commission on a home sale, how it splits between the listing and buyer sides, and the seller's net after the fee.
- Inputs:
- Sale price, Total commission rate, Listing side share, View, Agent split
- Outputs:
- Total commission, Listing side, Buyer side, Seller net after commission, Gross commission income (GCI), Agent take-home after split
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/real-estate-commission-calculator
- Debt-to-Income (DTI) Calculator
Calculate your front-end and back-end debt-to-income ratio and see where you fall against the 28/36 rule and the 43% qualified-mortgage line.
- Inputs:
- Gross monthly income, Proposed monthly housing payment, Other monthly debt payments
- Outputs:
- Back-end DTI, Front-end DTI, Where this lands, Room before the 36% back-end line
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/dti-calculator
- How Much Can I Borrow Calculator
Estimate the maximum mortgage you qualify for from your income, debts, and DTI limits, with the binding limit and the maximum home price it supports.
- Inputs:
- Gross monthly income, Other monthly debt payments, Interest rate, Loan term, Property tax, Homeowners insurance, Monthly HOA dues, Down payment, Front-end DTI limit, Back-end DTI limit
- Outputs:
- Max loan amount, Max monthly housing payment, Max principal and interest, Max home price (with down payment), Binding limit, What this means
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/how-much-can-i-borrow-calculator
- FHA Loan Calculator
Estimate an FHA loan payment including upfront and annual mortgage insurance (MIP), and see whether MIP lasts 11 years or the life of the loan.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Finance the upfront MIP, Property tax rate, Homeowners insurance, Monthly HOA dues
- Outputs:
- Total monthly payment, Principal and interest, Monthly MIP, Property tax, Homeowners insurance, HOA dues, Base loan amount, Upfront MIP (1.75 percent), Upfront MIP financed, Total loan (with financed MIP), How long you pay MIP
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/fha-loan-calculator
- VA Loan Calculator
Estimate a VA loan payment with the VA funding fee, including first-use versus subsequent-use rates, the disability exemption, and no mortgage insurance.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Use of VA loan benefit, Funding fee exempt, Finance the funding fee, Property tax rate, Homeowners insurance, Monthly HOA dues
- Outputs:
- Total monthly payment, Principal and interest, Property tax, Homeowners insurance, HOA dues, Monthly mortgage insurance, Base loan amount, Funding fee rate, VA funding fee, Funding fee financed, Total loan (with financed fee), How the funding fee is handled
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/va-loan-calculator
- Cash-Out Refinance Calculator
See how much cash you can pull with a cash-out refinance at your lender's loan-to-value cap, your new monthly payment, and how it compares to your current loan.
- Inputs:
- Home value, Existing loan payoff, Current interest rate, Years left on current loan, Max loan-to-value cap, New interest rate, New loan term, Closing costs
- Outputs:
- Max cash to you, New loan amount, Cash before closing costs, Current home equity, New monthly payment, Current monthly payment, Payment change, New loan total interest, What this means
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/cash-out-refinance-calculator
- Mortgage Points Calculator
See whether buying mortgage discount points is worth it: the upfront cost, your lower monthly payment, the break-even month, and your net savings.
- Inputs:
- Loan amount, Base interest rate, Total rate reduction, Points purchased, Loan term, Years you expect to keep the loan
- Outputs:
- Break-even, Upfront cost of points, Monthly savings, Bought-down rate, Net savings over your holding period, Net savings if kept to term, What this means
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/mortgage-points-calculator
- Rent Affordability Calculator
Find a comfortable rent budget from your income using the 30 percent rule and the 50/30/20 framework, adjusted for your debts and savings goal.
- Inputs:
- Gross monthly income, Take-home monthly income, Other monthly debt payments, Target rent percent of income, Savings goal percent of take-home
- Outputs:
- Recommended rent, 30 percent rule figure, Leftover after rent, debts, and savings, Needs budget (50%), Wants budget (30%), Savings budget (20%), Where this lands
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/rent-affordability-calculator
- House Poor Risk Calculator
See whether a home payment would leave you house poor: your monthly housing cost, the income share it takes, residual income after debts, and a plain verdict.
- Inputs:
- Gross monthly income, Take-home monthly income, Monthly mortgage payment (PITI), HOA dues, Maintenance, Utilities, Other housing costs, Other monthly debt payments, Liquid savings
- Outputs:
- Housing share of gross income, Where this lands, Residual income after housing and debts, Lender front-end ratio, Savings cushion
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/house-poor-calculator
- True Cost of Homeownership Calculator
Find the all-in monthly and annual cost of owning a home beyond PITI: maintenance, utilities, HOA, and the forgotten lines, versus the mortgage-only number.
- Inputs:
- Home price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Property tax rate, Homeowners insurance, PMI rate, HOA dues, Maintenance reserve, Utilities, Other recurring costs
- Outputs:
- True monthly cost, PITI payment, Hidden costs beyond PITI, Above the PITI number, True annual cost, Hidden costs per year
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/true-cost-of-homeownership-calculator
- Property Tax Calculator
Estimate your annual and monthly property tax from your home's value and your area's effective rate, with exemptions and a projection as assessments rise.
- Inputs:
- Home market value, Effective property tax rate, Homestead exemption, Annual assessment growth, Years to project
- Outputs:
- Annual property tax, Monthly (escrow) amount, Taxable value, Effective rate on full value, Total tax over the projection
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/property-tax-calculator
- Mortgage Recast Calculator
See what a lump sum does to your mortgage payment after a recast, side by side with simply prepaying: new payment, interest saved, and which strategy wins.
- Inputs:
- Current loan balance, Interest rate, Remaining term, Lump sum toward principal, Recast fee
- Outputs:
- New payment after recast, Current payment, Monthly payment reduction, Interest saved by recasting, Interest saved by prepaying instead, Term cut by prepaying instead, Recast fee
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/mortgage-recast-calculator
- PMI Removal Calculator
Find when PMI can come off your mortgage: the 80% request point and the 78% automatic termination under the Homeowners Protection Act, plus what waiting costs.
- Inputs:
- Original home value, Original loan amount, Interest rate, Loan term, Payments already made, Monthly PMI
- Outputs:
- Until you can request cancellation (80%), Request date, Until automatic termination (78%), Automatic termination date, PMI cost if you wait for automatic, Saved by requesting at 80%, Current scheduled balance, Current LTV (original value), Where you stand
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/pmi-removal-calculator
- Mortgage Payoff Calculator
Pick the year you want to be mortgage-free and get the exact monthly payment that does it, plus the extra per month and the interest the plan saves.
- Inputs:
- Current loan balance, Interest rate, Years left on the loan, Pay it off in
- Outputs:
- Payment that hits your target, Current payment (P&I), Extra per month, Interest saved, Interest on the payoff plan, Interest if nothing changes, The plan
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/mortgage-payoff-calculator
- HELOC vs Cash-Out Refinance Calculator
Compare borrowing against your home two ways: keep your mortgage and add a HELOC, or refinance everything at today's rate, with the repricing cost in the open.
- Inputs:
- Amount to borrow, Current mortgage balance, Current mortgage rate, Years left on the mortgage, HELOC rate, HELOC repayment years, Cash-out refi rate, New loan term, Refi closing costs, HELOC closing costs
- Outputs:
- Cheaper way to borrow, Total cost: keep mortgage + HELOC, Total cost: cash-out refinance, Refi cost minus keep-and-HELOC cost, Blended rate if you keep and add, Cost of repricing the old balance, Monthly: mortgage + HELOC, Monthly: cash-out refi
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/heloc-vs-cash-out-calculator
- Buy Smaller, Retire Sooner Calculator
Compare two home prices honestly: the full monthly carrying gap plus the down-payment gap, invested to retirement, in years of freedom.
- Inputs:
- Larger home price, Smaller home price, Down payment, Mortgage rate, Loan term, Property tax rate, Annual maintenance, Annual return, Years to retirement, Annual retirement spending
- Outputs:
- Extra retirement savings from buying smaller, Monthly carrying gap, Down-payment gap, invested day one, Years of retirement spending covered, Extra income at the 4 percent rule
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/buy-smaller-retire-sooner-calculator
Real Estate Investing
- Rental Property ROI Calculator
Find a long-term rental's cap rate, cash-on-cash return, monthly cash flow, and total return over your holding period, with financing handled correctly.
- Inputs:
- Purchase price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Closing costs, Upfront repairs, Monthly rent, Vacancy rate, Property tax rate, Insurance, Maintenance, Property management, Monthly HOA dues, Annual appreciation, Holding period, Selling costs
- Outputs:
- Cash-on-cash return, Cap rate, Net operating income, Monthly cash flow, Annual cash flow, Total cash invested, Total profit over holding period, Total return, Annualized return
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/rental-property-roi-calculator
- Airbnb ROI Calculator
Estimate a short-term rental's cap rate, cash-on-cash return, cash flow, and total return from your nightly rate and occupancy, with STR expenses included.
- Inputs:
- Purchase price, Down payment, Interest rate, Loan term, Closing costs, Furnishing and setup, Average nightly rate, Occupancy rate, Property tax rate, Insurance, Maintenance, Property management, Platform fee, Monthly utilities, Monthly supplies, Monthly HOA dues, Annual appreciation, Holding period, Selling costs
- Outputs:
- Cash-on-cash return, Cap rate, Annual revenue, Net operating income, Monthly cash flow, Annual cash flow, Total cash invested, Total profit over holding period, Total return, Annualized return
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/airbnb-roi-calculator
- Airbnb Charge-Rate Calculator
Find what to charge per night for your short-term rental: a cost floor, a comp-based base rate, weekend and peak premiums, and length-of-stay discounts.
- Inputs:
- Total monthly costs, Target booked nights, Comparable market rate, Profit margin over floor, Weekend premium, Peak-season premium, Cleaning fee, Weekly-stay discount, Monthly-stay discount
- Outputs:
- Recommended base rate, Nightly floor (break-even), Weekend rate, Peak-season rate, Weekly-stay nightly, Monthly-stay nightly, Projected monthly revenue, RevPAN (per available night), Cleaning fee (pass-through)
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/airbnb-charge-rate-calculator
- Airbnb Startup Cost Calculator
Build an itemized, all-in budget to launch a short-term rental: furnishing by room, the soft-cost stack, a contingency, and the operating reserve.
- Inputs:
- Host path, Access cash to get the keys, Bedrooms to furnish, Furnishing per bedroom, Common-area furnishing, Technology and safety, Initial supplies and consumables, Professional photography, Permits and licensing, Short-term rental insurance (first year), Legal and entity setup, Contingency, Monthly carrying cost, Reserve months, Expected monthly net income
- Outputs:
- Total cash to launch, Total startup spend, Setup spend, Furnishing total, Setup soft costs, Contingency, Recommended reserve, Months to recoup spend
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/airbnb-startup-cost-calculator
- Fix and Flip ROI Calculator
Estimate a flip's net profit, ROI, cash to close, and your maximum allowable offer with the 70 percent rule, including financing and holding costs.
- Inputs:
- Purchase price, Rehab budget, After-repair value (ARV), Holding period, Down payment, Loan interest rate, Loan points, Buying closing costs, Selling costs, Extra selling cost, Property tax rate, Insurance, Monthly utilities
- Outputs:
- Net profit, Return on cash invested, Annualized return, Max allowable offer (70% rule), Adjusted max allowable offer, Total project cost, Total cash invested, Cash to close, Financing cost, Loan points fee, Holding costs, Selling costs
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/fix-and-flip-calculator
- DSCR Loan Calculator
Calculate a rental property's debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) from rent and PITIA, and check it against common 1.0 to 1.25 lender thresholds.
- Inputs:
- Monthly rent, Vacancy allowance, Loan amount, Interest rate, Loan term, Property tax, Insurance, Association dues, Target DSCR, Payment type
- Outputs:
- DSCR, Where this lands, Effective monthly income, Monthly debt service (PITIA), Monthly cash flow, Max loan at target DSCR
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/dscr-loan-calculator
- House Hacking Calculator
See how renting out the other unit or rooms offsets your mortgage: net rental income, the percent tenants cover, and your true out-of-pocket housing cost.
- Inputs:
- Monthly housing payment, Rent from the other units or rooms, Vacancy rate, Maintenance reserve, Property management
- Outputs:
- Effective out-of-pocket housing cost, Net rental income, Share of payment covered by rent, Where this lands
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/house-hacking-calculator
- BRRRR Calculator
Model a BRRRR deal end to end: buy, rehab, rent, and cash-out refinance, to see how much cash you pull back out and how much stays in the deal.
- Inputs:
- Purchase price, Rehab cost, Buy-side closing and holding costs, After-repair value (ARV), Refinance LTV, Refinance closing costs, Existing loan payoff, Monthly rent, Refinance interest rate, Refinance term, Property tax, Insurance, Vacancy rate, Maintenance, Property management
- Outputs:
- Cash left in the deal, Cash recovered at refinance, Total cash invested, New loan (cash-out refinance), Monthly cash flow after refinance, Cash-on-cash return, Capital recovery
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/brrrr-calculator
- Cap Rate Calculator
Calculate a property's cap rate from net operating income and value, with vacancy and operating-expense inputs, plus the implied value at a target cap rate.
- Inputs:
- Property value or purchase price, Monthly rent, Vacancy rate, Property tax rate, Insurance, Maintenance, Property management, Monthly HOA dues, Target cap rate
- Outputs:
- Cap rate, Net operating income, Implied value at target cap rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/cap-rate-calculator
- Rent vs Sell Calculator
Compare keeping and renting your home against selling now and reinvesting the proceeds, with a year-by-year wealth projection and the crossover year.
- Inputs:
- Current home value, Mortgage balance, Mortgage rate, Years left on the mortgage, Monthly rent, Vacancy rate, Maintenance, Property management, Property tax, Insurance, Annual appreciation, Cost to sell, Reinvestment return, Time horizon
- Outputs:
- Wealth if you rent, Wealth if you sell, Rent minus sell, Net proceeds if you sell today, Crossover year, At this horizon
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/rent-vs-sell-calculator
- Gross Rent Multiplier Calculator
Screen a rental deal fast with the gross rent multiplier, price divided by gross annual rent, with a 1 percent rule check and the implied price at a target GRM.
- Inputs:
- Property price, Monthly rent, Target GRM
- Outputs:
- Gross rent multiplier, Gross annual rent, Rent as percent of price, Implied price at target GRM, What this means
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/gross-rent-multiplier-calculator
- 1031 Exchange Calculator
See the tax a 1031 exchange defers on an investment property sale: 25% depreciation recapture, capital gains, and NIIT, plus the reinvestment bar for deferral.
- Inputs:
- Sale price, Selling costs, Original purchase price, Capital improvements, Depreciation claimed, Other taxable income, Filing status
- Outputs:
- Tax deferred by exchanging, Realized gain, Adjusted basis, Net sale price, Unrecaptured depreciation, Recapture tax (25%), Capital gains tax, Net investment income tax (3.8%), Net proceeds if sold without exchanging, For full deferral
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/1031-exchange-calculator
Retirement & FIRE
- 401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) balance at retirement from your contributions, the employer match, expected return, and salary growth, including the match as free money.
- Inputs:
- Current 401(k) balance, Annual salary, Your contribution, Employer match rate, Employer match cap, Expected annual return, Years to retirement, Annual salary growth
- Outputs:
- Balance at retirement, Your contributions, Employer match (free money), Investment growth, Contribution limit
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/401k-calculator
- FIRE Calculator
Find your financial independence number and how many years until you reach it, modeled in today's dollars using the 4% rule.
- Inputs:
- Current age, Current savings, Annual income, Annual expenses, Real return (after inflation), Withdrawal rate
- Outputs:
- Your FIRE number, Years to FIRE, Age at FIRE, Annual savings, Savings rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/fire-calculator
- Roth vs Traditional Calculator
Compare a Roth and a Traditional account on equal pre-tax dollars, and see which leaves you more after tax based on your current and retirement tax rates.
- Inputs:
- Annual contribution, Years until retirement, Expected annual return, Contribution growth, Current tax rate, Retirement tax rate
- Outputs:
- Better option, After-tax difference (Roth minus Traditional), Roth, after tax, Traditional, after tax, Pre-tax future value
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/roth-vs-traditional-calculator
- Retirement On-Track Calculator
See whether your savings are on track: project your nest egg to retirement and compare it with the target needed to fund your income at a safe withdrawal rate.
- Inputs:
- Current age, Retirement age, Current retirement savings, Annual contribution, Contribution growth, Expected annual return, Desired annual income in retirement, Safe withdrawal rate
- Outputs:
- On-track status, Surplus or shortfall, Projected nest egg at retirement, Target nest egg, Extra annual savings to close the gap, Years to retirement
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/retirement-on-track-calculator
- Roth Conversion Ladder Calculator
Estimate the tax of converting a Traditional balance to Roth over several years, including the pro-rata split when the account holds after-tax basis.
- Inputs:
- Traditional balance, After-tax basis, Annual conversion amount, Years of conversions, Expected annual return, Marginal tax rate
- Outputs:
- Total conversion tax, Total converted to Roth, Taxable portion, Tax-free basis portion, Remaining Traditional balance
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/roth-conversion-ladder-calculator
- Coast FIRE Calculator
Find your Coast FIRE number: the amount invested today that grows on its own to your FIRE target by retirement, so you can stop saving for retirement.
- Inputs:
- Current age, Retirement age, Current invested amount, Annual contribution, Annual spending in retirement, Real return (after inflation), Withdrawal rate
- Outputs:
- Coast FIRE number, FIRE number at retirement, Coast FIRE status, Surplus or gap, Age you can start coasting
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/coast-fire-calculator
- Net Worth Percentile Calculator
See where your net worth ranks among US households, using percentile estimates from the 2022 SCF microdata plus the Federal Reserve median for your age group.
- Inputs:
- Your net worth, Your age group
- Outputs:
- Your net worth percentile (all US households), Median net worth for your age group, Versus your age group, To reach the next percentile tier
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/net-worth-percentile-calculator
- RMD Calculator
Calculate your 2026 required minimum distribution from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, with the SECURE 2.0 start ages (73, or 75 if born 1960 or later).
- Inputs:
- Year of birth, Retirement balance on December 31 last year
- Outputs:
- 2026 required minimum distribution, Distribution period (IRS factor), Share of balance required, Monthly equivalent, Your RMD beginning age, First RMD year, Where you stand
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/rmd-calculator
- Retirement Calculator
Project your retirement savings to any age and see the monthly income they could sustain: contributions, compound growth, and the withdrawal-rate math.
- Inputs:
- Current age, Retirement age, Current retirement savings, Monthly contribution, Expected annual return, Withdrawal rate in retirement
- Outputs:
- Balance at retirement, Monthly income it could sustain, Annual income it could sustain, Years until retirement, Total contributed, Investment growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/retirement-calculator
- Net Worth Calculator
Tally your net worth: six asset categories minus five debt categories, with home and non-home wealth separated and your debt-to-asset ratio alongside.
- Inputs:
- Cash and savings, Investments (brokerage), Retirement accounts, Home value, Vehicles, Other assets, Mortgage balance, Auto loans, Student loans, Credit card debt, Other debts
- Outputs:
- Net worth, Total assets, Total liabilities, Net worth excluding home equity, Debt-to-asset ratio
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/net-worth-calculator
- Social Security Calculator
Estimate your Social Security benefit from career-average earnings and compare claiming at 62, 67, and 70, with the break-even ages that decide the timing.
- Inputs:
- Career-average annual earnings, Claiming age
- Outputs:
- Monthly benefit at your claiming age, Annual benefit, Benefit at full retirement age (67), If claimed at 62, If claimed at 70, Monthly earnings used in the formula
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/social-security-calculator
- Roth IRA Calculator
Project a Roth IRA to retirement with the 2026 limits ($7,500, plus $1,100 at 50) and check your income phase-out eligibility.
- Inputs:
- Current age, Retirement age, Current Roth IRA balance, Contribution plan, Annual contribution (fixed plan), Expected annual return, Modified AGI this year, Filing status
- Outputs:
- Balance at retirement, Tax-free growth, Total contributed, 2026 limit at your age, Allowed this year (after phase-out), Eligibility
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/roth-ira-calculator
- Liquid Net Worth Calculator
See how much of your net worth you could actually spend soon: cash, investments, and penalty-adjusted retirement money, next to the wealth locked in your home.
- Inputs:
- Cash and savings, Brokerage investments, Retirement accounts, Retirement access percent, Home value, Vehicles, Other assets, Mortgage balance, Auto loans, Student loans, Credit card debt, Other debts, Monthly essential expenses
- Outputs:
- Liquid net worth, Total net worth, Locked-up wealth, Liquid share of total, Months of essentials covered
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/liquid-net-worth-calculator
- 401(k) Match Calculator
See what your employer 401(k) match is really worth by retirement: the deposits, the growth on them, and what skipping the match would forfeit.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary, Your contribution, Employer match rate, Employer match cap, Expected annual return, Years to retirement, Annual salary growth
- Outputs:
- What the match is worth at retirement, Employer deposits over the years, Growth earned on the match, Match as a percent of salary, Balance with the match, Balance without the match, Match unclaimed this year, Contribution limit
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/401k-match-calculator
- Childcare vs Retirement Calculator
Quantify what pausing, reducing, or maintaining retirement contributions through the childcare years does to your balance at retirement, judgment-free.
- Inputs:
- Monthly childcare cost, Years of childcare costs, Current monthly retirement contribution, Reduced contribution during childcare, Expected annual return, Years to retirement
- Outputs:
- Retirement cost of pausing, Retirement cost of reducing, Contributions balance if maintained, Gap on the day childcare ends (pause), Extra monthly to erase a full pause, Total childcare spend
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/childcare-vs-retirement-calculator
- Social Security COLA
Apply the official 2026 COLA of 2.8 percent to your benefit with SSA's real rounding rules, and see the net raise after the Medicare Part B increase.
- Inputs:
- Current monthly benefit (2025), Benefit type, Medicare Part B, Part B premium, 2025, Part B premium, 2026, What-if COLA rate, Use the CPI-E what-if rate
- Outputs:
- Your 2026 monthly benefit (gross), Gross monthly increase, Realized increase, Gross increase per year, Net monthly increase after Part B, Your 2026 payable check, Hold-harmless rule, How you compare, What-if: monthly difference vs 2.8 percent
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/social-security-cola-calculator
Saving & Goals
- Inflation Calculator (CPI)
Convert a dollar amount between years using official BLS CPI-U data, or project its future buying power at an assumed inflation rate.
- Inputs:
- Mode, Amount, From year (historical), To year (historical), Years to project (projection), Assumed annual inflation (projection)
- Outputs:
- Equivalent value, Future purchasing power, Total inflation over the span, Annual inflation rate, Span
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/inflation-calculator
- High-Yield Savings (APY) Calculator
Project a high-yield savings balance from a quoted APY, a starting balance, and monthly deposits, and see why compounding frequency does not change the yield.
- Inputs:
- Starting balance, Monthly deposit, APY, Compounding frequency, Years
- Outputs:
- Final balance, Total deposited, Interest earned, Rate per compounding period
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/high-yield-savings-calculator
- Emergency Fund Calculator
Find how large your emergency fund should be from your essential monthly expenses, see how many months your current savings cover, and the gap left to close.
- Inputs:
- Essential monthly expenses, Months of coverage, Current emergency savings
- Outputs:
- Emergency fund target, Still to save, Saved above target, Months currently covered
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/emergency-fund-calculator
- Layoff Runway Calculator
See how many months your savings last after a layoff from essential spending, severance weeks, unemployment benefits, and side income, plus what extends it.
- Inputs:
- Liquid savings, Essential monthly spending, Monthly take-home pay before the layoff, Severance, Unemployment benefit, Benefit duration, Side income
- Outputs:
- Runway, Money runs out around, Starting cash cushion, Monthly burn while benefits last, Monthly burn after benefits end, Where this lands
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/layoff-runway-calculator
- HSA Calculator
Project an HSA balance with the 2026 limits ($4,400 self-only, $8,750 family): tax savings now, tax-free growth, and the balance at any horizon.
- Inputs:
- HDHP coverage type, Age 55 or older, Annual contribution, Current HSA balance, Years to grow, Expected annual return, Marginal tax rate
- Outputs:
- Projected HSA balance, 2026 contribution limit, Contribution modeled, Limit check, Income tax saved per year, Income tax saved over the horizon, Total contributed, Tax-free growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/hsa-calculator
- 529 College Savings Calculator
Project a 529 balance against the future cost of college: tuition inflation, coverage percent, the shortfall, and the monthly contribution that would fund it.
- Inputs:
- Child's age, College start age, Current 529 balance, Monthly contribution, Expected annual return, Annual college cost today, College cost inflation, Years of college
- Outputs:
- Projected 529 balance at college start, Projected cost of college, Coverage, Shortfall at college start, Surplus above the projected cost, Monthly contribution for full coverage, Total contributed, Tax-free growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/529-college-savings-calculator
- CD Calculator
See what a certificate of deposit earns: enter the deposit, APY, and term to get the ending balance, total interest, and month-by-month growth.
- Inputs:
- Deposit amount, APY, Term
- Outputs:
- Balance at maturity, Interest earned, Total return over the term
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/cd-calculator
- Savings Calculator
Project a savings balance from a starting amount, monthly deposits, and your account's APY: the ending balance, deposits, and interest earned, year by year.
- Inputs:
- Starting balance, Monthly deposit, APY, Years to save
- Outputs:
- Ending balance, Total deposited, Interest earned
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/savings-calculator
- Life Insurance Needs Calculator
Size life insurance with the DIME method: debts, income replacement, mortgage, and education, minus the coverage and savings you already have.
- Inputs:
- Annual income to replace, Years of income support, Debts (non-mortgage), Mortgage balance, Education costs, Final expenses, Existing life insurance, Savings and investments
- Outputs:
- Coverage needed, DIME total, Income replacement portion, Already covered, As a multiple of income
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/life-insurance-needs-calculator
- 50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Split your monthly take-home pay by the 50/30/20 rule (needs, wants, saving and debt payoff) and compare your actual spending against each target.
- Inputs:
- Monthly take-home pay, Monthly needs spending, Monthly wants spending, Monthly saving and extra debt payoff
- Outputs:
- Saving and debt target (20%), Needs target (50%), Wants target (30%), Total entered spending, Unassigned take-home, Where you stand
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/50-30-20-budget-calculator
- Opportunity Cost Calculator
See what a big purchase costs in future dollars: the same money invested at your return, in today's dollars too, and against a home down payment.
- Inputs:
- One-time amount, Monthly amount, Annual return, Years invested, Inflation rate, Mortgage rate
- Outputs:
- Invested future value, Total you would put in, Growth on top, Future value in today's dollars, Down-payment path (lump sum), Investing minus down payment
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/opportunity-cost-calculator
- Couples Money Checkup
The one-income-loss test for two-income households: months of runway if either paycheck stops, your household savings rate, and an honest verdict band.
- Inputs:
- Partner A monthly take-home, Partner B monthly take-home, Essential monthly expenses, Liquid savings
- Outputs:
- Household verdict, Runway if Partner A's income stops, Runway if Partner B's income stops, Runway if all income stops, Monthly surplus after essentials, Household savings capacity
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/couples-money-checkup-calculator
- Pay Raise Splitter
Split a raise among lifestyle, investing, and debt, after the marginal tax haircut, and see what each leg builds over 10, 20, and 30 years.
- Inputs:
- Annual raise (gross), Current salary, Marginal tax on the raise, Lifestyle share, Investing share, Debt share, Annual return, Debt APR
- Outputs:
- Your raise, after tax, per month, Lifestyle leg, Investing leg, Debt leg, Investing leg in 30 years, Lifestyle leg's 30-year price tag, Debt leg: interest avoided per year, Unallocated share, Raise as a percent of salary
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/pay-raise-splitter-calculator
- Stay-at-Home Parent Cost Calculator
Price what it would actually cost to replace a stay-at-home parent's work: childcare, housekeeping, meals, driving, and coordination at sourced market rates.
- Inputs:
- Children needing care, Childcare per child, monthly, Housekeeping, monthly, Meal prep, monthly, Driving kids and errands, monthly, Care coordination and admin, monthly, Years the services are needed
- Outputs:
- Annual replacement cost, Monthly replacement cost, Total over the years needed, Childcare share of the total
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/stay-at-home-parent-calculator
Investing
- Compound Interest Calculator
See how an investment grows from a starting amount plus regular contributions, with an optional yearly contribution increase, in today's dollars and after tax.
- Inputs:
- Starting amount, Recurring contribution, Contribution frequency, Yearly contribution increase, Annual interest rate, Years, Compounding frequency, Contribution timing, Inflation rate, Tax rate on gains
- Outputs:
- Future balance, Total contributions, Interest earned, Future balance (today's dollars), After-tax balance, Estimated tax on gains
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/compound-interest-calculator
- Options Profit and Loss Calculator
Find a single option's profit or loss at expiry, its break-even price, and the maximum profit and loss, for calls and puts, long or short.
- Inputs:
- Option type, Position, Strike price, Premium per share, Underlying price at expiry, Contracts
- Outputs:
- Profit or loss at expiry, Break-even price, Maximum profit, Maximum loss, Intrinsic value per share, Capital at risk, Return on capital
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/options-pl-calculator
- Wheel Strategy Calculator
Estimate one wheel cycle: cash-secured put premium, covered call premium, dividends, and the return on capital if assigned and called away, at your prices.
- Inputs:
- Put strike, Put premium per share, Call strike, Call premium per share, Dividends per share while held, Days in the cycle, Contracts
- Outputs:
- Total profit this cycle, Premium income, Dividend income, Share gain if called away, Capital at risk, Cost basis if assigned, Break-even price, Return on capital (this cycle), Annualized return (scenario), Annualized return, premium only (scenario)
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/wheel-strategy-calculator
- Portfolio Growth Calculator
Project an investment portfolio from a starting balance plus regular contributions that can rise each year, and see how much is your money versus growth.
- Inputs:
- Starting balance, Recurring contribution, Contribution frequency, Yearly contribution increase, Annual return, Years
- Outputs:
- Future value, Total contributed, Total growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/portfolio-growth-calculator
- Investment Goal Calculator
Find how much to invest each month or year to reach a savings goal by a target date, given an assumed return and any amount you have already saved.
- Inputs:
- Goal amount, Years to reach it, Annual return, Amount already saved, Contribution frequency
- Outputs:
- Required contribution, That is per year, Your current savings grow to, Total you contribute, Total growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/investment-goal-calculator
- Dollar-Cost Averaging Calculator
See how investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule could grow under a steady assumed return, with the balance and amount invested tracked period by period.
- Inputs:
- Starting amount, Contribution each period, Contribution frequency, Annual return, Years, Contribution timing
- Outputs:
- Ending balance, Total contributed, Total growth
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/dollar-cost-averaging-calculator
Loans & Debt
- Debt Snowball vs Avalanche Calculator
Compare the debt snowball and debt avalanche side by side: the payoff order, the interest each costs, and how much the avalanche saves on up to four debts.
- Inputs:
- Debt 1 balance, Debt 1 rate, Debt 1 minimum payment, Debt 2 balance, Debt 2 rate, Debt 2 minimum payment, Debt 3 balance, Debt 3 rate, Debt 3 minimum payment, Debt 4 balance, Debt 4 rate, Debt 4 minimum payment, Extra monthly payment
- Outputs:
- Interest saved with avalanche, Snowball payoff time, Avalanche payoff time, Snowball total interest, Avalanche total interest, Snowball payoff order, Avalanche payoff order, Monthly payment budget, Total debt entered
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/debt-snowball-avalanche-calculator
- Credit Card Payoff Calculator
See how fast a fixed payment clears your credit card and what you save versus paying only the minimum, where interest can outlast the balance by decades.
- Inputs:
- Card balance, Interest rate (APR), Your monthly payment, Minimum principal rate, Minimum payment floor
- Outputs:
- Time to payoff (your payment), Total interest (your payment), Total paid (your payment), Interest saved vs minimum only, Time to payoff (minimum only), Total interest (minimum only), First minimum payment
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/credit-card-payoff-calculator
- Student Loan Payoff Calculator
See how extra monthly payments shorten your student loan payoff and cut total interest, with the months and interest you save versus paying the minimum.
- Inputs:
- Current loan balance, Interest rate, Monthly payment, Extra monthly payment
- Outputs:
- Time to payoff (with extra), Total interest (with extra), Interest saved vs no extra, Time saved vs no extra, Time to payoff (payment only), Total interest (payment only), What this means
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/student-loan-payoff-calculator
- Personal Loan Calculator
Price a personal loan: monthly payment, total interest, and the origination fee handled both ways lenders charge it, deducted from proceeds or financed on top.
- Inputs:
- Loan amount, APR, Term, Origination fee, How the fee is charged
- Outputs:
- Monthly payment, Cash you actually receive, Origination fee, Total interest, Total of payments, Total cost of borrowing
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/personal-loan-calculator
- Debt Consolidation Calculator
Compare a consolidation loan against your current debts: interest saved or lost, the payment change, and the blended APR you are actually paying today.
- Inputs:
- Debt 1 balance, Debt 1 rate, Debt 1 minimum payment, Debt 2 balance, Debt 2 rate, Debt 2 minimum payment, Debt 3 balance, Debt 3 rate, Debt 3 minimum payment, Consolidation loan APR, Loan term, Origination fee
- Outputs:
- Saved by consolidating, Consolidation loan payment, Current minimums (total), Monthly payment change, Current-path interest, Loan interest plus fee, Current path, Loan term, Blended APR today, Origination fee
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/debt-consolidation-calculator
- RAP Student Loan Calculator
Estimate your Repayment Assistance Plan payment from AGI and dependents, then project the loan to payoff or forgiveness with RAP's waiver and match.
- Inputs:
- Adjusted gross income, Dependents, Federal loan balance, Interest rate
- Outputs:
- RAP monthly payment, How it was set, First month's interest, Interest waived (first month), Principal match (first month), Months to payoff, Balance forgiven at 30 years, Total you pay, Total interest waived, Total principal matched
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/repayment-assistance-plan-calculator
- Balance Transfer Calculator
Price a 0 percent balance transfer honestly: the payment that clears it inside the promo, the fee break-even, and the balance left when the promo dies.
- Inputs:
- Balance to transfer, Current card APR, Transfer fee, Promo APR, Promo length, Your planned monthly payment, APR after the promo
- Outputs:
- Payment to clear inside the promo, Transfer fee, Total cost with the transfer, Total cost staying put, Savings from transferring, Fee break-even, Balance the month the promo ends, First month of post-promo interest
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/balance-transfer-calculator
Auto & Car Loans
- Auto Loan Calculator
Estimate a car loan's monthly payment, total interest, and total cost from the price, your down payment and trade-in, the sales tax, the rate, and the term.
- Inputs:
- Vehicle price, Down payment, Trade-in value, Sales tax, Interest rate (APR), Loan term
- Outputs:
- Monthly payment, Amount financed, Total interest, Total of payments, Total cost (with down payment)
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/auto-loan-calculator
- Car Affordability Calculator
Estimate how much car you can afford from your income, down payment, rate, term, and a payment-to-income guideline, then see the all-in monthly cost.
- Inputs:
- Gross annual income, Max car payment as % of income, Down payment, Interest rate (APR), Loan term, Sales tax, Insurance per year, Fuel per month, Maintenance per year
- Outputs:
- Affordable vehicle price, Monthly payment budget, Amount financed, All-in monthly cost, Total cost over the term, Estimated value at term end
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/car-affordability-calculator
- Car Buy vs Lease Calculator
Compare buying and leasing the same car over the lease term, with the buy side credited for its resale equity and the lease ending with nothing.
- Inputs:
- Vehicle price, Lease term (comparison horizon), Buy: down payment, Buy: loan APR, Buy: loan term, Buy: annual depreciation, Lease: cash down (cap cost reduction), Lease: residual value, Lease: rate type, Lease: rate, Lease: acquisition fee, Lease: disposition fee
- Outputs:
- Which is cheaper, Buy: net cost over the term, Lease: net cost over the term, Cost difference, Buy: monthly payment, Buy: equity at term end, Buy: loan balance at term end, Lease: monthly payment, Lease: depreciation portion, Lease: finance (rent) portion, Lease: equivalent APR
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/car-buy-vs-lease-calculator
- EV vs Gas Savings Calculator
Compare EV and gas costs: cost per mile at your electricity and gas prices, annual and five-year savings, and the purchase premium those savings justify.
- Inputs:
- Miles driven per year, EV efficiency, Electricity price, Gas car fuel economy, Gas price, Years to compare, Annual maintenance savings
- Outputs:
- Total savings over the horizon, Savings per year, Fuel savings per year, EV cost per mile, Gas cost per mile, Annual charging cost, Annual gasoline cost, EV price premium these savings repay
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/ev-vs-gas-calculator
Taxes
- Capital Gains Tax Calculator
Estimate the 2026 federal tax on an investment gain: long-term 0/15/20 percent rates, short-term ordinary rates, and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax.
- Inputs:
- Filing status, Purchase price (cost basis), Sale price (proceeds), Holding period, Other taxable income
- Outputs:
- Total tax on the gain, Holding period, Capital gain, Capital gains tax, Net investment income tax, Effective rate on the gain, Gain after tax
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/capital-gains-tax-calculator
- Federal Income Tax Calculator
Estimate your 2026 federal income tax and FICA: taxable income after the standard deduction, tax from the brackets, and your effective and marginal rates.
- Inputs:
- Annual income (gross), Filing status, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Total federal tax (income + FICA), Federal income tax, Taxable income, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, Total FICA, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate, After-tax income, 401(k) limit
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/federal-income-tax-calculator
- Home Sale Capital Gains Calculator
Estimate the 2026 federal tax on selling your primary home after the Section 121 exclusion: adjusted basis, taxable gain, and long-term capital gains tax.
- Inputs:
- Filing status, Sale price, Selling costs, Original purchase price, Purchase closing costs, Capital improvements, Owned and lived in it 2 of the last 5 years, Other taxable income
- Outputs:
- Total federal tax, What this means, Total gain, Excluded by Section 121, Taxable gain, Adjusted basis, Amount realized, Capital gains tax, Net investment income tax, Effective rate on the gain
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/home-sale-capital-gains-calculator
- Tax Refund Calculator
Estimate your 2026 federal tax refund or balance due: brackets, standard or itemized deduction, the Child Tax Credit, and your withholding, line by line.
- Inputs:
- Total income (gross), Filing status, Pre-tax deductions, Deduction, Itemized deduction total, Qualifying children under 17, Other dependents, Federal tax withheld
- Outputs:
- Estimated refund, Estimated amount owed, Taxable income, Tax before credits, Credits applied against tax, Refundable child credit (ACTC), Total tax after credits
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/tax-refund-calculator
- Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Estimate 2026 taxes on 1099 income: the 15.3% self-employment tax, the half-SE deduction, the 20% QBI deduction, federal income tax, and what to set aside.
- Inputs:
- Net self-employment profit, Filing status, W-2 wages (if any), Qualified business income deduction
- Outputs:
- Self-employment tax, Social Security portion, Medicare portion, Additional Medicare (0.9%), Half-SE-tax deduction, QBI deduction, Taxable income, Federal income tax, Total federal tax, Tax from self-employment, Set aside from each profit dollar
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/self-employment-tax-calculator
- Bonus Tax Calculator
See what a bonus pays after withholding in 2026: the flat 22% federal supplemental rate (37% above $1M), Social Security and Medicare, and your state's rate.
- Inputs:
- Bonus amount, Wages so far this year, Filing status, State supplemental rate
- Outputs:
- Net bonus, Federal withholding (22% flat), Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State withholding, Total withheld, Withholding rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/bonus-tax-calculator
- Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator
Turn your expected 2026 tax into four safe-harbor payments: the 90% and 100/110% rules, your withholding credit, and the exact 1040-ES deadlines.
- Inputs:
- Expected 2026 total tax, Total tax on your 2025 return, 2025 adjusted gross income, Expected 2026 withholding
- Outputs:
- Payment per quarter, Safe-harbor annual target, To pay via estimates, Which rule applies
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/quarterly-estimated-tax-calculator
- Tax Loss Harvesting Calculator
Price a harvested loss: gains offset in the IRS netting order, the $3,000 ordinary-income deduction, the carryforward, and a wash-sale window check.
- Inputs:
- Loss you can harvest, Holding period of the loss, Short-term gains this year, Long-term gains this year, Marginal ordinary rate, Long-term capital gains rate, Days to nearest same-security purchase
- Outputs:
- Tax saved this year, Offsets short-term gains, Offsets long-term gains, Deducts against ordinary income, Carries forward to next year, Wash-sale check
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/tax-loss-harvesting-calculator
Paycheck & Take-Home Pay
- California Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your California take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and California state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate, California payroll premiums
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/ca-paycheck-calculator
- Texas Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Texas take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and no state income tax in Texas.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/tx-paycheck-calculator
- New York Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your New York take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and New York state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate, New York payroll premiums
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/ny-paycheck-calculator
- Florida Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Florida take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and no state income tax in Florida.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/fl-paycheck-calculator
- Illinois Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Illinois take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Illinois state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/il-paycheck-calculator
- Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Pennsylvania take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Pennsylvania state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate, Pennsylvania payroll premiums
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/pa-paycheck-calculator
- Ohio Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Ohio take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Ohio state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/oh-paycheck-calculator
- Georgia Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Georgia take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Georgia state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/ga-paycheck-calculator
- North Carolina Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your North Carolina take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and North Carolina state income tax.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/nc-paycheck-calculator
- Washington Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your Washington take-home pay for 2026 after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and no state income tax in Washington.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate, Washington payroll premiums
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/wa-paycheck-calculator
- Salary Calculator
Convert an annual salary to take-home pay for 2026: federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, a flat state rate, and net pay per paycheck and month.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary (gross), Filing status, Pay frequency, State income tax rate, 401(k) contribution, Other pre-tax deductions
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Monthly take-home, Annual take-home, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, 401(k) contribution, 401(k) limit, Effective tax rate, Marginal tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/salary-calculator
- Hourly Paycheck Calculator
Convert an hourly wage to annual salary and 2026 take-home pay: gross per week, month, and year, taxes withheld, and what each worked hour really pays.
- Inputs:
- Hourly wage, Hours per week, Weeks worked per year, Filing status, Pay frequency, State income tax rate
- Outputs:
- Take-home per paycheck, Annual salary equivalent, Gross per week, Gross per month, Annual take-home, Monthly take-home, Take-home per hour worked, Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, State income tax, Total tax, Effective tax rate
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/hourly-paycheck-calculator
- Overtime Pay Calculator
Compute time-and-a-half earnings and the no-tax-on-overtime deduction: the FLSA premium, the $12,500/$25,000 cap, the income phase-out, and your tax savings.
- Inputs:
- Regular hourly wage, Overtime hours per week, Weeks with overtime per year, Overtime multiplier, Filing status, Modified adjusted gross income, Marginal tax rate
- Outputs:
- Annual overtime earnings, Overtime rate, Overtime pay per week, Half-time premium (deductible base), No-tax-on-overtime deduction, Estimated tax savings, Deduction status
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/overtime-pay-calculator
- Severance Pay Calculator
Estimate a severance package and what survives withholding: weeks per year of service, the 22% supplemental rate, FICA, and the net amount to plan around.
- Inputs:
- Annual salary, Years of service, Weeks per year of service, Base weeks (if any), Wages so far this year, Filing status, State supplemental rate
- Outputs:
- Gross severance, Severance weeks, Weekly pay, Federal withholding (22% flat), Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, State withholding, Total withheld, Net severance
Formula, worked example, and sources: /calculators/severance-pay-calculator
Topics
Nine durable topics organize every guide, data study, and calculator. Each hub links its spokes and the matching calculators; the index is /topics/.
-
Browse by topic
Browse every FinExplained guide, data study, and calculator by topic: housing, real estate investing, retirement and FIRE, taxes, debt, saving, and net worth.
- Housing & Mortgages
Buying, financing, and owning a home: affordability, amortization, closing costs, property taxes, and the rent vs buy decision.
- Real Estate Investing
Rentals and short-term rentals as investments: cap rate, cash flow, DSCR loans, BRRRR, and honest Airbnb underwriting.
- Retirement & FIRE
Retirement targets and the path to them: the 4 percent rule, FIRE numbers, 401(k) and IRA decisions, and Social Security.
- Investing
How money compounds and how to reach a goal: contribution math, index funds vs alternatives, and options income strategies.
- Taxes
How US federal taxes work in practice: brackets, capital gains, withholding, and what new tax law means for your refund.
- Debt & Credit
Paying debt down faster: payoff order, credit card math, balance transfers, student loans, and car financing.
- Saving & Emergencies
Cash you can reach when life changes: emergency funds, savings vehicles, inflation, and one-income resilience.
- Income & Paycheck
What your paycheck really pays: take-home math, FICA, severance, overtime and tips, and withholding.
- Net Worth & Benchmarks
Where you stand against real data: net worth, 401(k) balances, and retirement savings by age, from the Fed's own surveys.
Data studies
Original studies built from primary data (the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, BEA, Census, and named provider research). Every table downloads as a CSV under CC BY 4.0, and each study's lead chart and main table are embeddable with attribution built in; the hub is /studies/.
- Average and Median 401(k) Balance by Age: How Do You Compare? (2026 Data)
Data year 2025
Vanguard's year-end 2025 data puts the average 401(k) balance at $167,970 and the median at $44,115. See both by age and what the gap means for you.
- Average and Median Net Worth by Age: How Do You Compare?
Data year 2022
The median US household net worth was $192,900 in the Fed's 2022 survey, while the average was $1,063,700. See both by age and what the gap means for you.
- Net Worth Percentile by Age: Where Do You Rank?
Data year 2022
See the 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and top 1 percent net worth thresholds for 13 age brackets from the 2022 Fed survey, with and without home equity.
- Average and Median Retirement Savings by Age: How Do You Compare?
Data year 2022
The median household with retirement accounts holds $87,000. Across all households it is $13,000. Both are the 2022 Fed survey. See both by age.
- How Much Money You Need to Reach FIRE in America's Largest Metro Areas (2026)
Data year 2024
What early retirement costs in the 75 largest US metros in 2026: estimated FIRE numbers from $1.5 million to $2 million, built from BEA and Census data.
- Atlanta Housing Market: The Tax Bill Resets the Day You Buy
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Atlanta home prices, a property tax that resets when you buy, fast-rising insurance, a loosening for-sale market, and tightening rents mean for buyers.
- Charlotte Housing Market: The State Line Is the Biggest Number on Your Purchase
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Charlotte home prices, a property tax that changes across the NC-SC state line, the SC 4% filing trap, and falling rents mean for buyers in 2026.
- Dallas-Fort Worth Housing Market: The Tax Bill Resets When You Buy
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Dallas-Fort Worth home prices, a property tax that resets to full value when you buy, cross-county tax gaps, and hail insurance mean for buyers in 2026.
- Miami Housing Market: Priced by Global Capital, Carried by Local Incomes
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Miami home prices, a condo market split between distressed and compliant buildings, cash buyers, and record insurance mean for buyers in 2026.
- San Francisco Housing Market: The AI Rebound Is Real, and Selective
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What San Francisco home prices, an 83% over-list house market, downtown condos at 2015 prices, and Prop 13's reset mean for buyers in 2026.
- Seattle Housing Market: The City Where Supply Won, Mostly
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
Why Seattle is the weakest of the 20 Case-Shiller cities, what a townhome entry rung costs, and how Washington's no-reset property tax works in 2026.
- Denver Housing Market: The Property Type You Buy Matters More Than the Block
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Denver home prices, a condo market falling while houses rise, the softest rent market in years, and hail insurance mean for buyers and renters, sourced.
- Nashville Housing Market: The Tax Mirage Under the No-Income-Tax Pitch
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Nashville home prices, the property tax that jumped after the 2025 reappraisal, a record apartment glut, and a strong buyer's market mean for buyers.
- Chicago Housing Market: Why the Cheap Price Hides a High Carrying Cost
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Chicago home prices, the property-tax and condo carrying-cost trap, and a scarcity-driven seller's market mean for buyers, sellers, and renters, sourced.
- Phoenix Housing Market: What the Data Means for Your Next Move
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Phoenix home prices, the property-tax edge, water and heat risks, and rents mean for buyers, sellers, and renters, plus a sourced rent-vs-buy breakdown.
- Tampa Housing Market: What the Data Means for Your Next Move
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Tampa Bay home prices, the condo correction, insurance, and rents mean for buyers, sellers, and renters, plus a sourced rent-vs-buy breakdown.
- Austin Housing Market: What the Data Means for Your Next Move
Refreshed monthly. Data as of 2026-07.
What Austin home prices, inventory, and rents mean for buyers, sellers, and renters, with sourced data, a rent-vs-buy breakdown, and next steps.
Playbooks
In-depth guides that explain the concepts behind the calculators, each with a named author, cited primary sources, and a last-reviewed date.
- Rent vs. Buy in Austin (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Austin in 2026? Our engine puts the breakeven near year 24 even at a comparable rent. Property tax is the reason we show.
- Rent vs. Buy by City (2026): All Ten Metros Compared
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in 2026? Across ten metros our engine's breakeven spans year 4 in Indianapolis to year 32 for a San Francisco house.
- Rent vs. Buy in Chicago (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Chicago in 2026? At a comparable house rent our engine breaks even in year 10, and the carrying cost decides it.
- Rent vs. Buy in Denver (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Denver in 2026? At a comparable house rent our engine breaks even in year 11, and a ten-year stay still favors renting.
- Rent vs. Buy in Indianapolis (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Indianapolis in 2026? At a comparable house rent our engine breaks even in year 4, and a five-year stay favors buying.
- Rent vs. Buy in Miami (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Miami in 2026? Our engine says renting wins a 10-year stay by about $70,700 for both houses and condos. Here is why.
- Rent vs. Buy in New York City (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in New York in 2026? At a Queens comparable rent our engine breaks even in year 14, and the borough you compare decides it.
- Rent vs. Buy in Phoenix (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Phoenix in 2026? Our engine puts the breakeven at year 12 at a comparable house rent, and HOA dues move it more than taxes.
- Rent vs. Buy in San Francisco (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in San Francisco in 2026? Our engine puts condo breakeven at year 16 and the $2.2M house at year 32. Renting wins a decade.
- Rent vs. Buy in Seattle (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Seattle in 2026? Our engine puts the breakeven at year 14 at a comparable house rent, and the appreciation bet decides it.
- Rent vs. Buy in Tampa (2026): The Honest Math
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Tampa in 2026? At the derived new-buyer tax our engine breaks even in year 13, and your insurance quote moves it seven more.
- The 4% Rule Updated for 2026
Bengen now says 4.7%. Morningstar says 3.9%. A TIPS ladder locks 4.8% real. We reconcile the safe withdrawal rate numbers for retirees and FIRE in 2026.
- Will a Balance Transfer Actually Save You Money?
A 3 to 5 percent fee against 22 percent interest usually breaks even within months. The number that decides it is the payment that clears the promo.
- The Childcare Years: Pausing Your 401(k) Without Losing the Decade
Pausing a $1,500 monthly contribution for 10 childcare years can cost about $993,000 at retirement. The reduce-to-the-match path saves most of it.
- HELOC or Cash-Out Refinance: Protect the Rate You Locked
A cash-out refinance reprices your whole mortgage, not just the new money. When you are locked below 5 percent, that one fact usually decides it.
- Life Insurance for a Stay-at-Home Parent: Size It Honestly
Skip the $185k mom-salary headline. Price the services a family would actually buy, about $64,000 a year at sourced rates, and insure that number.
- The One-Income Test Every Couple Should Run Once a Year
Most emergency-fund math assumes all income stops at once. For couples, the real risk is one paycheck stopping. Here is the 5-minute test.
- Save Half Your Raise: The Rule That Beats Lifestyle Creep
A $5,000 raise is about $292 a month after the marginal tax haircut. Splitting it 50/30/20 builds six figures by retirement without feeling poorer.
- Social Security COLA 2026: How Much More You Will Actually Get (With Calculator)
The 2026 Social Security COLA is 2.8 percent, about $56 gross for the average retiree but $38.50 after the Medicare Part B increase. Run your real raise.
- S&P 500 vs Investment Property (2026 Edition)
Index funds or a rental in 2026? We run the numbers on returns, leverage, taxes and cash flow with a $100K worked example and metro yield tables.
- Wedding or Down Payment: What 40,000 Dollars Really Buys
A 40,000 dollar wedding invested at 7 percent is about 304,000 dollars in 30 years. How to weigh the day against the house, with honest math.
- How Much Is a 401(k) Match Worth Over a Career?
A common 50% match up to 6% of pay compounds to about $278,443 over 30 years in our engine's default scenario. The math, the formulas, and the catch: vesting.
- Liquid Net Worth vs Total: Which Number Should You Plan With?
Total net worth is the scoreboard; liquid net worth is what you could spend soon. What counts in each, a worked household, and which one to plan with.
- 2026 Contribution Limits: What You Can Put Into Your 401(k), IRA, and HSA
Every 2026 contribution limit in one place: $24,500 for a 401(k), $7,500 for an IRA, $4,400 or $8,750 for an HSA, plus catch-ups and the new Roth rule.
- CD or High-Yield Savings? When Locking Your Rate Actually Wins
A CD beats a high-yield savings account only when you can leave the money alone and rates are falling. The lock decision, the penalty math, and the ladder.
- How Much Should You Save for College? The 529 Math by Starting Age
The 529 monthly target by starting age: $643 at birth vs $2,312 at 14 for the same school. Coverage goals, tuition inflation, and the Roth escape hatch.
- How Property Taxes Are Calculated, Why Bills Rise, and When to Appeal
Property tax is taxable value times your area's effective rate. How the bill is built, why it climbs without a rate change, and when an appeal makes sense.
- Severance Pay: What to Expect, How It Is Taxed, and What You Keep
Severance commonly runs one to two weeks of pay per year of service, and withholding shrinks the check. The formula, the tax math, and what you keep.
- How to Calculate Your Net Worth (and What Actually Counts)
Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe, at today's prices. What counts, what does not, which of the two numbers to track, and why.
- Is Overtime Tax Free Now? How the OBBBA Overtime and Tips Deductions Work
OBBBA created federal deductions for overtime and tips through 2028. See the caps, who qualifies, why your paycheck did not change, and what FICA still takes.
- Quarterly Taxes for 1099 Workers: What to Pay and What to Set Aside
The safe harbor sets what you must pay each quarter. Your real tax sets what you should save. Both numbers worked through, plus the 2026 deadlines.
- How Much Retirement Income Will Your Savings Actually Pay?
Every $100,000 of retirement savings pays about $333 a month at a 4 percent withdrawal rate. The three levers that move your number, ranked with engine math.
- The Roth Conversion Ladder: Your 401(k) Money Before 59 and a Half, Without the Penalty
Convert traditional money to Roth each year, wait five tax years, and the converted amount comes out penalty-free. The ladder, the clocks, and the tax math.
- Save or Invest? A Five-Year Rule That Settles Most of It
Money you need within about five years belongs in savings; money with a longer runway belongs invested. The horizon rule, the math, and the exceptions.
- 2026 Social Security Wage Base: The $184,500 Line That Changes Your Paycheck
The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500. What FICA takes at every income, why paychecks jump past the cap, and the two-job refund rule.
- 2026 Tax Brackets Explained: Why a Raise Never Taxes All of Your Income at a Higher Rate
The 2026 federal tax brackets and why a raise never taxes your whole income at a higher rate. Marginal vs effective rates, with worked examples from the engine.
- Will OBBBA Increase My Tax Refund? How to Update Your W-4 Without Guessing
OBBBA may lower your 2026 tax, but your paycheck will not change by itself. How withholding works, when to update your W-4, and how to avoid an April surprise.
- Your First RMD: The April 1 Trap and the IRS's Rising Withdrawal Schedule
RMDs start at 73 (75 if born 1960 or later): last year's balance divided by an IRS factor. Why delaying your first one to April 1 can double a tax bill.
- The SAVE Plan Is Gone: How to Pick Your Next Student Loan Plan in 90 Days
SAVE ended March 2026 and RAP is live. Learn your 90-day deadline, whether to pick RAP or IBR, and what happens to interest and forgiveness credit.
- BRRRR Method: Does It Still Work in 2026?
Model a BRRRR deal end to end: cash left in the deal, cash recovered, cash-on-cash return, and whether it still works at today's rates.
- Cap Rate and GRM: What Each Metric Misses
Learn cap rate, GRM, NOI, and cash-on-cash, what each metric includes and excludes, and why no single number can grade a rental deal.
- House Hacking: Make Tenants Cover Your Mortgage
See how renting other units or rooms offsets your mortgage: net rental income, percent of payment covered, and your true out-of-pocket cost.
- Layoff Runway: How Long Your Money Actually Lasts
How to compute your runway after a layoff from savings, severance, and unemployment benefits, the date pressure that creates, and what actually extends it.
- Should You Sell Your House or Rent It Out?
Compare keeping and renting your home against selling and reinvesting. See the crossover year, the low-rate lock-in math, and the tax rules.
- The House Poor Test: Can You Afford the Home and Still Live
A stress test for a housing payment: what housing really costs monthly, how much income it can safely take, and the warning signs you are stretching.
- The True Cost of Owning a Home, Beyond the Mortgage
The all-in monthly cost of homeownership: maintenance, utilities, HOA, and the forgotten lines, and how far above the PITI payment they push the real number.
- What It Really Costs to Close on a Home (Cash to Close)
Closing costs versus cash to close, every fee itemized, which lines are negotiable, and a worked 450,000 dollar purchase needing 99,700 at the table.
- Coast FIRE: When You Can Stop Saving for Retirement
What Coast FIRE means, how to calculate your coast number in today's dollars, why age moves it so much, and a worked default that coasts at 58.
- DSCR Loans Explained: Qualify on Rent, Not Your W-2
How DSCR loans qualify a rental on its own rent: the ratio formula, the 1.0 and 1.25 reference lines, interest-only, and a worked 1.03 example.
- Who Pays the Real Estate Commission Now? (NAR Settlement)
How real estate commissions work after the NAR settlement: who pays, how the split flows from total fee to agent take-home, and a worked 24,750 example.
- What It Really Costs to Sell a House (Net Sheet Explained)
Every line of a seller net sheet explained: commission, closing costs, transfer tax, and prep, with a worked 450,000 dollar sale that nets 167,750.
- The 28/36 Rule Explained Without the Bank-Speak
What 28/36 means in real monthly dollars, why it uses gross income, when lenders approve far above it, and how to set a mortgage payment that feels safe.
- How Much Can I Borrow for a Mortgage: Pre-Approval vs Reality
What lenders count as income, the DTI ceilings that set your borrowing power, and why your pre-approval is bigger than a comfortable payment.
- Airbnb Financing Playbook: How Lenders Treat Short-Term Rentals
How lenders finance Airbnb properties: conventional, DSCR, and second-home loans, how projected STR income is counted, down payments, and refinance break-even.
- House Affordability by Income: What You Can Buy at 75k, 100k, 150k, and 200k (2026)
What home price is realistic at 75k, 100k, 150k, and 200k household income in 2026, with transparent, dated assumptions and conservative to stretch ranges.
- How Much House Can You Really Afford in 2026: The Complete Methodology
The full method: PITI, DTI, the 28/36 rule, cash to close, and why the lender max is not your real budget. Run your own numbers with the calculator.
- The True Cost of Starting an Airbnb: Furnishing, Setup, and the Hidden Expense Stack
What it really costs to start an Airbnb: furnishing by size, the hidden setup and compliance costs first-timers forget, and the cash you need before booking.
- Airbnb Cash Flow vs Cash-on-Cash Return: Operator Profit vs Investment Return
Airbnb cash flow vs cash-on-cash return: revenue is not profit, profit is not return, and leverage distorts both. Four metrics separated, with worked math.
- How Much Should I Charge for My Airbnb: A Pricing Playbook
Price your Airbnb with a system, not a guess: a cost floor, a comp-based base, the new-host discount, weekend and event premiums, and orphan-night fixes.
- Is Airbnb Still Worth It in 2026: The Saturation Question, Answered With Data
Is Airbnb oversaturated in 2026? The data says the real gap is operator quality, not blanket saturation. Supply, demand, occupancy, regulation, and STR vs LTR.
- The Airbnb Investment Calculator Playbook: Run the Numbers Before You Buy
Learn to run the numbers on a short-term rental before you buy. Walk every input and the exact ROI math with a full worked example you can follow.
- What Is a Good ROI for an Airbnb in 2026: The Honest Benchmarks
A good Airbnb cash-on-cash return in 2026 is 8 to 12 percent, with 15 percent plus the serious-operator target. Here are the honest benchmarks.
- How to Calculate Airbnb Income: ADR, Occupancy, and the RevPAR Method
Estimate Airbnb income from average daily rate and occupancy, adjust for seasonality, and sanity-check against real comps using the RevPAR method.
- Are You On Track for Retirement? How to Actually Run the Numbers
How to tell if your retirement savings are on track: project your nest egg, set a target from your income and a safe withdrawal rate, and size any shortfall.
- Should You Buy or Lease a Car?
How to compare buying and leasing a car fairly, what a money factor really means, and the hidden cost of leasing that the monthly payment never shows.
- Capital Gains Tax Explained: Long-Term vs Short-Term Rates for 2026
How federal capital gains tax works in 2026: long-term 0/15/20 percent rates, why holding over a year matters, and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax.
- The Credit Card Minimum Payment Trap (and How to Escape It)
Paying only the minimum on a $5,000 card at 22% takes 19 years and costs more in interest than you borrowed. Here is why, and how a fixed payment escapes it.
- Debt Snowball vs Debt Avalanche: Which Pays Off Debt Faster and Cheaper?
The debt avalanche always costs less interest, but the snowball keeps more people going. Here is how each works, what they cost, and how to pick.
- Extra Mortgage Payments vs Biweekly: Which Pays Off Your Loan Faster?
Extra principal and biweekly payments both pay off a mortgage early. Here is the real difference, what each saves on a $300,000 loan, and the fees to skip.
- How Much Should You Have in an Emergency Fund?
How to size an emergency fund in months of essential expenses, where to keep it, and how to build one even while paying down debt, with a worked example.
- How Much Should I Invest Each Month to Reach My Goal?
Work backward from a savings goal to the exact monthly investment you need, accounting for what you have already saved and the return you assume.
- Inflation, Explained: What a Dollar Really Buys Over Time
How inflation quietly erodes the value of money, how the CPI measures it, and what decades of price increases do to a dollar, with real BLS numbers.
- Roth vs Traditional: The One Question That Actually Decides It
The Roth vs Traditional choice comes down to your tax rate now versus in retirement. Here is the math, why equal rates tie, and the factors that break the tie.
- Where Your Paycheck Actually Goes: Take-Home Pay Explained for 2026
Why your take-home pay is so much less than your salary, what each deduction is, and how federal tax, FICA, and state tax split up a 2026 paycheck.
- The Wheel Strategy: How the Options Income Cycle Actually Works
The wheel sells cash-secured puts then covered calls for premium income. Here is the full cycle, the real return math, and the downside risk it hides.
- How Compound Interest Works (and Why Most People Underestimate It)
How compound interest works, with a worked dollar example, the simple-versus-compound gap, the Rule of 72, and why starting early beats starting big.
- Why Your Early Mortgage Payments Are Almost All Interest (and When That Flips)
How mortgage amortization works: why early payments are mostly interest, the point the split flips to principal, and what it means for extra payments.
- Is Airbnb Still Worth It in 2026? What Separates Winning Hosts
How Airbnb ROI really works in 2026: why RevPAR and operator quality beat the market, the full expense stack after the 15.5% fee, and a worked example.
- Is the 4% Rule Still Safe? Bengen Now Says 4.7%, Morningstar Says 3.9%
Your FIRE number is roughly annual spending times 25, but the safe withdrawal rate is contested. Here is how to find yours and pick a rate that lasts.
- Is the 1% Rule Dead? How Rentals Actually Make Money in 2026
Why the 1% rule is dead in 2026, the four ways a rental actually pays you, and how cap rate, cash-on-cash, and total return differ, with a worked example.
Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the finance terms used across the calculators and guides. Each term has its own page with sources at /glossary/. Definitions below are the first sentence of each entry.
- 1031 Exchange
A 1031 exchange lets an investor sell investment real estate and roll the proceeds into like-kind replacement property without paying capital gains tax now.
- 401(k)
A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement account funded by payroll deferrals you choose, often with an employer match.
- 401(k) Contribution Limit
The 401(k) contribution limit is the maximum you can defer from your own pay into a 401(k) each year, set by the IRS.
- 529 Plan
A 529 plan is a state-sponsored investment account for education.
- 70 Percent Rule
The 70 percent rule is an investor heuristic that caps the price of a fix-and-flip or BRRRR deal at 70 percent of after-repair value minus rehab costs.
- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)
An accessory dwelling unit is a smaller, self-contained home on the lot of a primary residence.
- Administrative Forbearance
Administrative forbearance is a pause on federal student loan payments that your servicer or the Department of Education applies without you asking for it.
- After Repair Value (ARV)
After repair value is the estimated market value of a property once planned renovations are complete.
- AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings)
AIME is the career-average earnings figure behind your Social Security benefit.
- Amortization
Amortization is the process of paying off a loan with equal, scheduled payments over a set term.
- Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
APR is the yearly cost of a loan expressed as a percentage, including the interest rate plus certain fees and closing costs.
- Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
APY is the real rate of return on savings over a year, including the effect of compounding.
- Assessed Value
Assessed value is the dollar figure your county assigns a property for tax purposes.
- Average Daily Rate (ADR)
ADR is the average price a short-term rental earns per booked night, calculated as room revenue divided by the number of nights booked.
- Back-End DTI
Your total monthly debt payments (housing plus car, student loans, and minimum credit-card payments) divided by gross monthly income.
- Bend Points (Social Security)
Bend points are the dollar thresholds in the Social Security benefit formula where the replacement rate drops.
- Break-Even Occupancy
Break-even occupancy is the share of nights a short-term rental must book to cover all its costs, including the mortgage.
- Break-Even Point
The break-even point is when the savings or benefit from a financial decision finally offset its upfront cost.
- BRRRR Method
BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.
- Business License
A general local registration to operate a business, sometimes required in addition to a dedicated STR permit.
- Buying Power
The home price your income, debts, down payment, and current rate let you afford.
- Capital Gains Tax
Capital gains tax is the tax on profit from selling an asset like stock or property.
- Capital Improvement
A capital improvement is a change that adds value to a property or prolongs its life, such as a renovation, an addition, or a new roof.
- Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate)
Cap rate is a rental property's net operating income divided by its price or value, shown as a percentage.
- Capitalized Interest
Capitalized interest is unpaid interest that gets added to your loan principal, so you start paying interest on the interest.
- Cash Reserves
Liquid savings left after closing, often measured in months of housing payments.
- Cash to Close
The total cash you need at closing: down payment plus closing costs plus prepaids, minus any lender or seller credits.
- Cash-on-Cash Return
Cash-on-cash return is the annual pre-tax cash flow a property produces divided by the actual cash you invested, shown as a percentage.
- Cash-Out Refinance
Replacing a mortgage with a larger one and taking the difference as cash.
- Certificate of Deposit (CD)
A CD is a bank deposit that locks your money at a fixed APY for a set term, from a few months to several years.
- Channel Manager
Software that syncs a listing's calendar and pricing across multiple booking platforms to prevent double-bookings.
- Child Tax Credit (CTC)
The Child Tax Credit is a federal credit of up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17 for 2026, reducing your tax dollar for dollar.
- Cleaning Fee
A guest-paid fee meant to cover turnover cleaning between stays.
- Closing Costs
The fees to finalize a mortgage, separate from your down payment, typically 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price (CFPB).
- Compensating Factors
Strengths in a loan file that let an underwriter approve a debt-to-income ratio above the standard guideline.
- Compound Interest
Compound interest is interest earned on both your original principal and on the interest already added to it.
- Conventional Loan
A Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conforming mortgage qualified on your personal income and debt-to-income ratio.
- Cost Basis
Cost basis is what an asset cost you for tax purposes, used to figure your taxable gain.
- Cost Burdened
HUD's definition of overstretched housing: a household paying more than 30 percent of gross income for housing, including utilities.
- Cost Per Mile
Cost per mile is what a vehicle costs to move one mile: the energy price divided by efficiency.
- Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
A cost-of-living adjustment is the annual inflation raise applied to Social Security and SSI benefits, 2.8 percent for 2026.
- Crossover Year
The crossover year is when one path's cumulative wealth overtakes the other's in a side-by-side projection.
- Debt Avalanche
The debt avalanche is a payoff strategy where you target your highest interest rate debt first, while paying minimums on the rest.
- Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation replaces several balances with one loan, ideally at a rate below your balance-weighted average APR.
- Debt Service
Debt service is the scheduled principal and interest a borrower pays on a loan.
- Debt Snowball
The debt snowball is a payoff strategy where you attack your smallest balance first, regardless of interest rate, while paying minimums on the rest.
- Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI)
DTI is your total monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income, shown as a percentage.
- Delayed Financing Exception
The delayed financing exception is Fannie Mae's carve-out that lets a buyer who paid cash for a property do a cash-out refinance without waiting out the usual six-month title seasoning, subject to the guide's conditions on the original purchase.
- Depreciation
Depreciation is the loss of an asset's value over time.
- Depreciation Recapture
Depreciation recapture is the tax that reclaims depreciation deductions when you sell: the deductions lowered your basis, so they resurface as gain.
- DIME Method
DIME sizes life insurance from four commitments: Debts, Income replacement (annual income times the support years), Mortgage payoff, and Education costs.
- Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)
Dollar-cost averaging is investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule regardless of price, such as every payday.
- Down Payment
A down payment is the upfront cash you pay toward a purchase, with the rest financed by a loan.
- DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)
A property's income divided by its debt service (PITIA).
- Dynamic Pricing
Software-driven nightly pricing that adjusts rates to demand, seasonality, day of week, and local events.
- Effective Tax Rate
Your effective tax rate is your total tax divided by your total income, the average rate you actually pay.
- Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is cash set aside for unexpected expenses or a loss of income, typically 3 to 6 months of essential living costs.
- Employer Match
An employer match is money your employer adds to your 401(k) based on what you contribute, such as 50 percent of contributions up to 6 percent of pay.
- Escrow
Escrow is a lender-held account that collects part of your property taxes and homeowners insurance with each mortgage payment.
- Estimated Taxes
Estimated taxes are the quarterly payments the IRS requires on income with no withholding, such as self-employment profit or large investment gains.
- FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act)
FICA is the federal payroll tax that funds Social Security and Medicare.
- FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early.
- Front-End DTI
Your total monthly housing payment (PITI plus any HOA) divided by your gross monthly income, shown as a percentage.
- Full Retirement Age (FRA)
Full retirement age is when you receive 100 percent of your Social Security benefit: 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
- Furnishing Budget
The planned spend to furnish and equip a rental before the first booking.
- Gross Commission Income (GCI)
Gross commission income is the commission a real estate agent or brokerage earns on a deal before the agent/broker split and before taxes and business costs.
- Gross Monthly Income
Your income before taxes and deductions, measured per month (annual income divided by 12).
- Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM)
A fast rental screen equal to a property's price divided by its gross annual rent.
- Gross Rental Income
Total rent or booking revenue before any expenses.
- HCOL (High Cost of Living)
A high-cost-of-living market where home prices, property taxes, and insurance run well above the national norm, so the same income buys far less house.
- HDHP (High-Deductible Health Plan)
An HDHP is a health plan with a deductible and out-of-pocket structure that meets IRS minimums, trading lower premiums for more upfront cost sharing.
- HELOC Draw and Repayment Period
A home equity line of credit runs in two phases.
- High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA)
A high-yield savings account is a federally insured savings account that pays a much higher APY than a typical bank, often many times the national average.
- Home Equity
Home equity is the share of your property you actually own: its current market value minus everything you still owe on it.
- Homeowners Protection Act (HPA)
The 1998 federal law that ends PMI.
- Homestead Exemption
A homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of a home you own and occupy before property tax is computed.
- House Hacking
House hacking is living in one part of a property and renting out the rest so the rental income offsets your housing payment.
- House Poor
Spending so much on housing that little is left for savings, retirement, and everyday life, even while technically affording the payment.
- Household Income
The combined gross income of everyone whose earnings are used to qualify for a mortgage, usually a couple.
- Housing Payment
The full monthly cost of owning, principal, interest, taxes, insurance, plus PMI and any HOA dues (PITI plus HOA).
- HSA (Health Savings Account)
An HSA is a tax-advantaged account for medical costs, available with a high-deductible health plan.
- Income-Driven Repayment (IDR)
Income-driven repayment (IDR) sets your federal student loan payment from your income and family size, not your loan balance.
- Inflation
Inflation is the general rise in prices over time, which erodes the purchasing power of money.
- Investment Property Loan
A mortgage for an income property.
- LCOL (Low Cost of Living)
A low-cost-of-living market where home prices and often taxes run below the national norm, so a given income stretches to a larger or nicer home.
- Length-of-Stay Discount
A length-of-stay discount is a lower nightly rate a host offers for longer bookings.
- Liquid Net Worth
Liquid net worth is the part of your wealth you could spend soon: cash and taxable investments, plus retirement accounts after early-withdrawal penalties and taxes, minus unsecured debts.
- LLC (Limited Liability Company)
A pass-through business entity that can separate business and personal liability if it is properly maintained.
- Loan Estimate
A Loan Estimate is a standardized three-page form a lender must give you within three business days of your mortgage application.
- Loan-to-Value (LTV)
Loan-to-value is the loan amount divided by the property's value, written as a percentage.
- Maintenance Reserve
Money set aside on a schedule for home upkeep and repairs, commonly estimated as a percent of the home's value per year.
- Marginal Tax Rate
Your marginal tax rate is the rate applied to your next dollar of income, the top bracket your income reaches.
- Medicare Tax
Medicare tax is the 1.45 percent payroll tax employees pay on all wages, matched by the employer, with no wage cap.
- Minimum Payment
A minimum payment is the smallest amount you must pay on a credit card or loan each month to stay current.
- Money Factor
The money factor is the interest rate on a car lease, expressed as a small decimal instead of a percentage.
- Mortgage Insurance (MIP)
FHA mortgage insurance: an upfront premium (1.75 percent of the loan) plus an annual premium.
- Mortgage Points
Optional upfront fees paid at closing to lower your interest rate, where one point costs 1 percent of the loan amount.
- Mortgage Rate Sensitivity
How much your monthly payment and affordable price change when the mortgage rate moves.
- Mortgage Recast
A mortgage recast applies a lump sum to principal and re-amortizes the loan over the same remaining term at the same rate.
- MPGe
MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) is the EPA's window-sticker measure of EV efficiency: the miles a vehicle travels on 33.7 kWh, the energy in one gallon of gasoline.
- Negative Leverage
Negative leverage is when you borrow at an interest rate higher than the property's cap rate, so taking on more debt actually lowers your cash-on-cash return.
- Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)
The Net Investment Income Tax is a 3.8 percent federal surtax on investment income such as capital gains, dividends, and interest, for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is above a statutory threshold.
- Net Monthly Income
Your take-home pay after taxes, retirement contributions, and other deductions.
- Net Operating Income (NOI)
Net operating income is a rental property's annual income minus its operating expenses, before mortgage payments and income taxes.
- Net Worth
Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe: total assets (cash, investments, retirement accounts, home and car value) minus total liabilities (mortgage, student loans, car loans, and credit card balances).
- Net Worth Percentile
Your net worth percentile is where your net worth ranks among households.
- Occupancy Rate
Occupancy rate is the share of available nights that are actually booked, calculated as booked nights divided by available nights.
- Occupancy Tax (Transient Occupancy Tax)
A per-stay lodging tax collected from guests and remitted to local government, also called transient occupancy tax or hotel tax.
- Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost is the return you give up by leaving money in one use instead of the best alternative.
- Origination Fee
An origination fee is what a lender charges to process and underwrite your loan, usually quoted as a percent of the loan amount (often around 0.5 to 1 percent).
- Orphan Nights
Orphan nights are the one- or two-night gaps left between bookings that are too short to meet a listing's minimum-stay rule, so they cannot be booked and earn nothing.
- Overtime Premium
The overtime premium is the extra pay above your regular rate for hours past 40 a week, the half in time-and-a-half.
- Owner-Occupancy Requirement
The owner-occupancy requirement is the rule on owner-occupied loan programs that the borrower actually live in the property.
- PITI
PITI stands for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, the four parts that make up a typical monthly mortgage payment.
- PMS (Property Management System)
Software to manage bookings, guest messaging, cleaning schedules, and operations across one or more listings.
- Portfolio Loan
A loan a bank keeps on its own books rather than selling to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which allows more flexible underwriting for borrowers with multiple properties.
- Pre-Approval
A lender's conditional estimate of how much it may lend you, based on verified income, debts, and credit.
- Pre-Qualification
An informal estimate of how much you might borrow, based on self-reported income and debts with no document verification or credit pull.
- Prepaids
Upfront amounts collected at closing to fund your escrow account and cover prepaid interest, property taxes, and homeowners insurance.
- Prepayment Penalty
A fee for paying off a loan early, common on DSCR loans and often structured as a step-down over the first several years (for example 5-4-3-2-1 percent).
- Principal
Principal is the core amount of money in a loan or an investment, separate from interest.
- Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
PMI is insurance that protects the lender, not you, when your down payment on a conventional loan is under 20 percent.
- Property Management Fee
What a manager or co-host charges to run a rental, often 20 percent or more of revenue for short-term rentals.
- QBI Deduction (Qualified Business Income)
The QBI deduction lets most self-employed people and pass-through business owners deduct 20 percent of qualified business income from taxable income under IRC Section 199A.
- Qualifying Income
The income a lender actually uses to underwrite a loan after documentation and discounts.
- Rate-and-Term Refinance
Refinancing to change the interest rate or loan term without taking cash out.
- Refinancing
Refinancing is replacing your existing mortgage with a new loan, usually to get a lower interest rate, change the term, or tap home equity.
- Replacement Reserve
Money set aside on a schedule to replace furnishings and equipment that wear out.
- Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)
A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS forces you to withdraw each year from most pre-tax retirement accounts, starting at age 73.
- Reserves (Mortgage)
Liquid funds a lender requires you to hold after closing, often measured in months of PITIA, to cover vacancies or rough patches.
- Residual Income (VA)
The discretionary cash left each month after the mortgage, other debts, taxes, and a maintenance and utility estimate.
- Residual Value
Residual value is a car's projected worth at the end of a lease, set by the leasing company as a percentage of the sticker price.
- Revenue Per Available Night (RevPAN)
RevPAN is total short-term rental revenue divided by the number of nights the property was available to book.
- Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR)
RevPAR is average daily rate multiplied by occupancy rate, the hospitality industry's standard yield metric.
- Roth Account
A Roth account, such as a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), is funded with after-tax money.
- Safe Withdrawal Rate (4% Rule)
A safe withdrawal rate is the percentage of a retirement portfolio you can withdraw in the first year, then adjust for inflation, with low risk of running out.
- Seasonality
The predictable swings in short-term rental demand across the year that move occupancy, nightly rate, and revenue.
- Seasoning Period
A seasoning period is the time a borrower must hold title, or a loan must age, before a lender allows a transaction such as a cash-out refinance.
- Second-Home Loan
A mortgage for a property you personally use part of the year.
- Section 121 Exclusion
The Section 121 exclusion shields up to 250,000 dollars of home-sale gain, or 500,000 dollars for a couple filing jointly.
- Self-Employment Tax
Self-employment tax is the 15.3 percent Social Security and Medicare tax the self-employed pay on 92.35 percent of net profit.
- Seller Concessions
Seller concessions are costs a seller agrees to cover on the buyer's behalf, most often a credit toward the buyer's closing costs or a repair allowance.
- Severance Pay
Pay an employer chooses to provide at separation, commonly quoted in weeks of pay and sometimes scaled by years of service.
- Short-Term Rental (STR)
A furnished residential property rented to guests for short stays, often under 28 to 31 nights, typically through platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo.
- Social Security Tax (OASDI)
Social Security tax, also called OASDI, is the 6.2 percent payroll tax employees pay on wages up to an annual wage base, matched by the employer.
- Social Security Wage Base
The Social Security wage base is the maximum annual earnings subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security tax.
- Special Assessment
A one-time charge an HOA or local government levies for a major repair or improvement, on top of regular HOA dues.
- Standard Deduction
The standard deduction is a flat amount subtracted from your income before tax brackets apply, so only income above it is taxed.
- Startup Cost
The total upfront cash to launch a short-term rental: furnishing, setup, compliance, professional services, and initial supplies.
- STR Permit
A local license required to legally operate a short-term rental.
- Supplemental Wages
Supplemental wages are pay outside the regular paycheck, such as bonuses, commissions, severance, and overtime premiums.
- Take-Home Pay
Take-home pay is what remains of your salary after federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, state tax, and pre-tax deductions are withheld.
- Tax Loss Harvesting
Tax loss harvesting realizes an investment loss on purpose so it can offset taxable gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income a year.
- Tax Safe Harbor
The estimated-tax safe harbor is the prepayment level that shields you from underpayment penalties.
- Tax Withholding
Tax withholding is the federal income tax your employer takes out of each paycheck and sends to the IRS on your behalf, based on your W-4.
- Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance covers a fixed period, commonly 10 to 30 years, paying the death benefit only if the insured dies during the term.
- The 1% Rule
The 1 percent rule is a quick rental screen that says a property's monthly rent should be at least 1 percent of its purchase price.
- The 20/4/10 Rule
The 20/4/10 rule is a car-buying guideline: put at least 20 percent down, finance for no more than 4 years, and keep total transportation costs at or below 10 percent of gross income.
- The 28/36 Rule
The 28/36 rule is a lending guideline that says you should spend no more than 28 percent of gross monthly income on housing and no more than 36 percent on total debt.
- The 50/30/20 Rule
The 50/30/20 rule is a budgeting guideline that splits your take-home pay into 50 percent for needs, 30 percent for wants, and 20 percent for savings and debt paydown.
- Title Insurance
Title insurance protects against losses from defects in a property's title, such as undisclosed liens, errors in public records, or competing ownership claims.
- Transfer Tax
A transfer tax is a government charge to record the transfer of a property's title at sale, usually a percent of the sale price.
- Tuition Inflation
Tuition inflation is the yearly rate at which college costs rise, historically faster than general inflation.
- Unemployment Insurance
A joint federal-state program paying a temporary weekly benefit after a qualifying job loss.
- Uniform Lifetime Table
The Uniform Lifetime Table is the IRS table retirees use to compute required minimum distributions: the year-end balance divided by the factor for your age.
- Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (UFMIP)
UFMIP is the one-time upfront mortgage insurance premium on an FHA loan, equal to 1.75 percent of the base loan amount.
- VA Funding Fee
A one-time fee on most VA loans, charged as a percent of the loan and paid to the VA.
- Vacancy Rate
Vacancy rate is the share of the year a rental sits empty and earns no rent, often estimated at 5 to 10 percent for long-term rentals.
- Vesting
Vesting is the process by which employer contributions to your retirement account become fully yours to keep.
- Wash-Sale Rule
The wash-sale rule (IRC 1091) disallows a capital loss when you buy the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the loss sale.
Changelog
A dated record of substantive updates: new calculators, new playbooks, methodology changes, and corrections, newest first, at /changelog/ .
- Correction: the Miami dashboard was updated without saying so
The Miami study was edited on July 26 but kept a July 15 last-updated date, and its What changed section still described itself as a first edition. Both are corrected. No market figure, no Balance Score input, and neither band changed.
- Correction: the Charlotte dashboard said it had never been updated, and it had
Corrected a Charlotte section that described itself as a first edition after the page had already been refreshed, removed an internal work note that was rendering to readers on the Dallas-Fort Worth page, and made one Dallas-Fort Worth figure consistent across a chart, prose, and an FAQ. No market figure and no Balance Score changed.
- The Miami condo band now states both of its distortions in one place
Corrected two Miami metric labels that named a measure the page was not carrying, and rewrote the condo band's disclosure so the two known distortions on it are stated together, including that they push opposite ways and that their net is unknown. No value, input, or score changed.
- The Charlotte Balance Score now says which way its sale-to-list proxy leans
Sharpened the Charlotte housing market study's disclosure for a Balance Score input that uses a substitute measure. The input value and the score are unchanged; what changed is that the page now names the substitution, the size of the difference, and the direction it pushes the score.
- Chicago joins the city housing-market series
Published the fourth city housing-market dashboard: a city-first Chicago page on the total-cost trap, where a cheaper home carries a higher monthly cost than a pricier Phoenix one, with a four-bar cross-city tax chart, the condo carrying-cost trap, and the family's first seller's-market Balance Score.
- Phoenix joins the city housing-market series
Published the third city housing-market dashboard: a Phoenix page on the normalization arc, the property-tax edge (the Limited Property Value does not reset on sale), the water and heat overhang, and new-vs-resale competition, with a cross-city tax chart and a beta Market Balance Score.
- Tampa Bay joins the city housing-market series
Published the second city housing-market dashboard: a Tampa Bay page that splits single-family from condo, explains the insurance and reserve-mandate repricing behind the condo correction, adds an engine-computed flood-zone cost variant, and carries a beta Market Balance Score with all five inputs.
- The Austin housing-market dashboard launches a new city series
Published the first city housing-market intelligence page: a monthly-refreshed Austin dashboard with sourced May-June 2026 data, geography and period labels on every figure, engine-computed affordability math, per-reader action frameworks, and a beta Market Balance Score.
- Social Security COLA 2026 calculator and playbook ship together
New COLA calculator applies SSA's exact truncation rules (dime on the raise, dollar on the payable check), deducts the Medicare Part B change with the hold-harmless cap, and ships with a full 2026 COLA playbook: the CPI-W math, every changed number, the 1975 to 2026 history, and a 2027 watch.
- Companion guide links are now build-verified, and three calculators got better guides
Every calculator's companion guide link is now checked on every build: it must point to a live playbook on the same topic. The check caught three calculators linking off-topic guides (refinance, HELOC, and emergency fund), all re-pointed, and new /go/ short links carry campaign tags for social posts.
- A press page for writers: quotable statistics, reuse terms, and contact in one place
Published the press page at /press/: who runs the site, one quotable statistic per data study with its source line, the CC BY 4.0 dataset and embed attribution terms, and the contact address for data questions.
- The data studies get one home: the /studies/ hub with sources, CSVs, and embeds
Published the data-study hub at /studies/: every study with its primary source, data year, last-updated date, CSV download, and embeddable chart and table in one place, plus the shared methodology behind all of them and the reuse terms.
- Net worth percentile ladders by age bracket, with and without home equity
Published the per-age-bracket net worth percentile ladders behind our percentile calculator: the 25th through top 1 percent thresholds for 13 age brackets, in including-home and excluding-home views, with per-bracket sample counts and a CSV download.
- The Retirement Savings by Age data study ships with both medians and a lens-labeled CSV
Published our fourth data study: median and average retirement savings by age from the 2022 Federal Reserve SCF, shown through two clearly labeled lenses, among households with accounts and across all households, with a downloadable CSV that carries the lens on every row.
- Two new calculators plus embeddable data-study charts and tables
Added the Liquid Net Worth and 401(k) Match calculators, each with a companion explainer, and made every data study's main table and hero chart embeddable with a built-in attribution link.
- The Net Worth by Age data study ships with average, median, and a CSV download
Published our third data study: average and median US household net worth by age from the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, with a Census SIPP comparison, home equity and liquidity context, a DQYDJ percentile snapshot, and a CSV download.
- The 401(k) Balance by Age data study ships with average, median, and a CSV download
Published our second data study: average and median 401(k) balances by age from Vanguard's year-end 2025 data, with a Fidelity comparison, SCF national context, engine-computed match and contribution-rate charts, and a CSV download.
- The FIRE Number by Metro data study ships with a downloadable dataset
Published our first original data study: estimated FIRE targets for the 75 largest US metros from BEA 2024 price parities and Census 2024 incomes, with a full ranked table, five charts, and a CC BY 4.0 CSV download.
- Calculators reorganized: new Real Estate Investing and Paycheck & Take-Home Pay categories
All 66 calculators at the time moved from seven categories to nine; see the calculators index for the current count. Real estate deal analysis gets its own Real Estate Investing hub covering rental ROI, BRRRR, DSCR, cap rate, fix and flip, and the Airbnb tools, and the 10 state paycheck calculators get a Paycheck & Take-Home Pay hub. No calculator URL changed.
- Three new calculators with companions: house poor, true cost of owning, layoff runway
Three new decision calculators, house poor, true cost of homeownership, and layoff runway, each shipped with a companion playbook and four new glossary terms.
- Four more companion playbooks: rent vs sell, house hacking, BRRRR, cap rate and GRM
Published four companion playbooks: rent vs sell, house hacking, BRRRR, and cap rate and GRM. Every worked figure is computed by the paired calculator's engine, and eight new glossary terms shipped alongside.
- Five companion playbooks ship for the Wave 1 calculators
Published five companion playbooks: seller net proceeds, buyer closing costs, DSCR loans, real estate commission, and Coast FIRE. Every worked example is computed by the same engine that runs the paired calculator, and each calculator page now links its guide.
- Final three calculators ship: student loan payoff, rent affordability, home sale capital gains
Completed a 20-calculator expansion with three more tools: student loan payoff with extra payments, rent affordability using the 30 percent rule and 50/30/20, and home sale capital gains with the Section 121 exclusion. That brought the site to 63 calculators at the time; see the calculators index for the current count.
- Six calculators complete the equity hub: rent vs sell, FHA, VA, cash-out refinance, points, GRM
Added rent vs sell, FHA and VA loan payment calculators with verified agency constants, a cash-out refinance tool that bridges refinance and HELOC into one equity hub, a mortgage points break-even calculator, and a gross rent multiplier deal screener.
- Six more calculators: DTI, house hacking, net worth percentile, BRRRR, cap rate, borrowing power
Added six calculators across the affordability, investing, and retirement clusters: debt-to-income, house hacking, net worth by age percentile, BRRRR, cap rate, and how much you can borrow.
- Five new home and investing calculators, plus interpretation and breakdown tables
Launched the first five calculators of a 20-tool expansion: seller net proceeds, buyer closing cost, DSCR loan, real estate commission, and Coast FIRE. Also added a plain-English what-this-means block and labeled cost-breakdown tables that run across the calculators.
- Mortgage borrowing power and 28/36 rule playbooks added
Published two mortgage guides: how much a lender will let you borrow versus what you can comfortably afford, and the 28/36 rule turned into real monthly dollars. Added four glossary terms: compensating factors, residual income, mortgage insurance, and pre-qualification.
- Airbnb startup cost calculator added
Launched an itemized Airbnb startup-cost calculator that estimates your all-in cash to launch, and added a way to carry your numbers from one calculator into a related one without re-typing them.
- Airbnb startup cost and financing playbooks added
Published two short-term-rental operator guides: the true cost of starting an Airbnb, covering furnishing, setup, and the hidden expense stack, and how lenders treat short-term rental income. Added 25 short-term-rental glossary terms.
- Home affordability playbooks added
Published two Mortgage and Home guides: the complete 2026 home-affordability methodology, and a companion on what you can buy at 75k, 100k, 150k, and 200k of income. Both cover full PITI, the 28/36 rule, and why the lender maximum is not your real budget.
- Correction: credit card minimum payment model
Corrected how the credit card payoff calculator models the minimum payment. It previously used a flat 2 percent of the balance, which overstated payoff time; it now uses the representative issuer method of 1 percent of the balance plus that month's interest, with a floor.
- Airbnb charge-rate calculator added
Launched an Airbnb charge-rate calculator that builds a recommended nightly rate from your costs, target booked nights, and comparable market rates, with weekend, peak, weekly, and monthly variations, as the companion tool to the pricing playbook.
- Three Airbnb playbooks: pricing, saturation, and returns
Published three Airbnb guides: how much to charge (a pricing playbook), whether Airbnb is still worth it in 2026 (the saturation question answered with data), and cash flow versus cash-on-cash return for operators.
- Trust pages and on-page freshness signals
Added public trust pages (how we verify, sources, editorial standards, corrections, this changelog) and surfaced last-reviewed dates and a tax-year note on year-stamped calculators.
- Finance glossary expanded to 53 terms
Grew the finance glossary from 16 to 53 plain-language terms, each with a definition, cited sources, and bidirectional links to the calculators that use it.
- Social sharing added across every playbook
Added a shared, state-free social share row with copy-link to the top and bottom of every playbook, rendered from one component so new playbooks get it automatically.
How the math works
All formulas live in one shared engine and are defined once, so the same calculation is used everywhere and cannot drift between pages. Each calculator states its assumptions, ships golden-value tests that check it against known-correct results to the cent, and shows its formula and a worked example on the page. The full approach is documented on the methodology page. The point is that a result here is not a black box: you can cite a source that shows the formula, not just a number.
How to cite and link
The canonical URL for a calculator is https://finexplained.com/calculators/{slug}. Link to that page when referencing a calculator.
To link to a specific set of inputs, use the share link a calculator generates. It encodes the inputs into a versioned ?c= parameter on the same canonical URL. The parameter carries a short fingerprint derived from each input's name and kind, so a link keeps working even if a default value later changes, and is detected as out of date only if the calculator's actual fields change. That means a shared result stays faithful to what was computed when the link was made.
Machine-readable index
A concise, link-first summary of the site is published at /llms.txt. It lists every calculator with a one-line description and an absolute URL, generated from the same registry that drives this page.
Trust and provenance
Why the numbers can be trusted, and how to check them. These pages document the sourcing, testing, and correction process behind the site.
- Methodology
how the math is derived, tested, and shown
- How we verify
the testing and review process behind every calculator and study
- Sources and citations
the primary sources every number is traced to
- Editorial standards
how content is written, reviewed, and kept accurate
- Corrections
how to report an error and how fixes are logged
- Press and media
quotable statistics with source lines and reuse terms
Results are estimates for education, not financial advice. See our disclaimer.