Runway Calculator
Enter your savings and your real monthly burn, and see how many months you can cover, then drag the scenario controls to watch how cutting spending or adding income changes the answer. The cleanest way to turn "I think I have enough" into a number, and download it as a PDF.
Fill in your numbers, results update as you type. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
Reading your runway
The months figure is how long your spendable savings cover the gap between what you spend and what still comes in. The scenario sliders show the two levers you actually control: spending less and earning something. A runway that looks short at your current budget often reaches a workable band after a realistic 15% cut and a modest side income, and seeing that on screen is far more useful than guessing.
What runway is not: a prediction of how long your job search will take, or a promise your costs will not rise. It is the financial floor of the decision, the number that tells you whether the rest of the plan is even possible.
How to get an honest number
- Use spendable savings, not net worth. Exclude retirement accounts and any emergency fund you intend to keep intact. Locked or penalised money is not runway.
- Budget for your post-quit life. Add what your employer currently covers, health insurance in the US above all, and remove commuting and work costs that disappear. The budget planner builds this line by line.
- Only count income that exists today. A client who already pays you is income. A client you hope to find belongs in the scenario slider, not the income field.
- Stress-test, do not hope. Drag the sliders to the cut and the side income you could genuinely sustain, not the heroic version you will resent in month two.
A worked example
Sam has 18,000 in spendable savings and a real monthly burn of 3,000 once health cover is added, with no reliable income. Base runway: 18,000 divided by 3,000 is 6.0 months, the bottom of the workable band.
Now the levers. A 15% cut drops the burn to 2,550; a steady 800 a month of freelance work lifts effective income to the same. New burn: 2,550 minus 800 is 1,750. Runway: 18,000 divided by 1,750 is about 10.3 months. The same savings, two realistic changes, and the exit moves from tight to comfortable. That is the whole point of the sliders.
Methodology, in plain English
Runway in months equals spendable savings divided by (monthly expenses minus monthly income). The scenario applies the cut to expenses and adds the extra to income before dividing. If income meets or exceeds expenses, runway is reported as indefinite, savings are no longer the constraint, income stability is. The tool does not model inflation, investment returns, tax changes, or irregular annual costs; fold those into your inputs. Full assumptions on the methodology page. Educational estimates, not financial advice.
The mistakes that shorten real runway
Forgetting the costs employers absorb
Health insurance, income protection, even subsidised commuting. Price what you will now pay yourself before trusting any expense figure. Insurance guide
Counting hoped-for income
If it has not been paid to you yet, it is a scenario, not income. Ramp-up almost always runs slower than the plan. Pressure-test it
Ignoring irregular spending
Annual renewals, car repairs, the holiday you will still take. Divide last year's irregular costs by twelve and add them to the monthly burn.
Living a "lean" budget you never tested
A runway built on spending you have never actually lived on tends to break in week three. Try the cut for a month before you bank on it.
Read next
Quit My Job Calculator
Turn your runway into a readiness verdict with clear next steps.
How much to save before quitting
Build the savings target your runway should be measured against.
Budget Planner
The line-item budget that makes your expenses number worth trusting.
Frequently asked questions
What is financial runway?
Runway is how many months your spendable savings will cover the gap between what you spend and what still comes in. It is calculated as savings divided by monthly burn rate, where burn rate is your monthly essential expenses minus any reliable monthly income. A six-month runway means your money lasts roughly six months with no new income.
What should I include in my monthly expenses?
Your real post-quit burn: housing, food, transport, utilities, debt minimums, insurance you will now pay yourself, and one twelfth of irregular annual costs. In the US, add the cost of replacing employer health coverage, it is the most commonly forgotten line and often the largest.
How is the runway calculator different from the quit my job calculator?
The runway calculator answers one question, how long will my savings last, and lets you stress-test cutting expenses or adding income. The quit my job calculator combines more of the decision and returns a readiness verdict with next steps. Use the runway tool to explore the math, the quit tool to decide.
Does runway account for investment growth or inflation?
No. This is deliberate. The calculator assumes your savings sit still and your costs hold steady, which keeps the number conservative and easy to trust. Real returns on cash during a short gap are usually small, and inflation tends to push the true figure slightly lower, not higher.
People also ask
How many months of runway should I have before quitting?
With a signed offer, three months of essential expenses is a reasonable floor. Without one, six months is a sound default and twelve buys real freedom, including the freedom to refuse a bad offer. Dependents, debt, and a slow hiring market all push the number higher.
How do I extend my financial runway?
Two levers move it most: spend less and earn something. Cutting your essential burn and adding even modest reliable income both shrink the monthly gap your savings have to cover. The scenario sliders on this calculator show exactly how far each lever stretches your months.
Is a six-month runway enough to quit a job?
For many people with in-demand skills and no dependents, six months is workable for a planned exit. It is tighter if hiring in your field is slow, if you have fixed family costs, or if you are the only earner. Test a leaner budget and any side income in the sliders before deciding.
Is the runway calculator free and private?
Yes. It is free with no signup, and every calculation runs in your browser, so nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. The PDF summary is generated locally on your device.
Turn the number into a plan
The Job Exit Checklist covers everything beyond the math: benefits, paperwork, the conversation, and your first 30 days out.
Get the free checklist