One decision — spend the income your money makes, or redirect it — changes how long your savings last. Put in your own numbers and watch the three paths split apart.
Your numbers
Edit any field — everything below recalculates instantly. The defaults show a household with $4,000 in monthly bills and $1,000 left over each month.
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Showing 10 years. The full 30-year view unlocks with your book code.
Monthly income your savings throw off — the three paths
Path 1 · Spend the income Path 2 · Redirect it Path 3 · Redirect + rising payouts Your budget (the finish line)
1 · Spend the Income
You spend or pocket the income your savings pay out. Only your original margin keeps getting invested — a flat climb, no snowball.
Years until your savings cover the bills
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Show the month-by-month table
2 · Redirect It
As the income starts covering bills, you redirect the freed-up paycheck back into savings. One compounding engine, working for you.
Years until your savings cover the bills
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Show the month-by-month table
Book owners
Path 3 — and the full 30-year view — unlock with the code in your copy of the book.
3 · Redirect + Rising Payouts
Same redirect — and now the payouts themselves climb over time. Two compounding engines stacked, pulling the finish line closer still.
Years until your savings cover the bills
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Show the month-by-month table
Unlock the full model
Path 3 and the complete 30-year (360-month) projection are reserved for book owners. Enter the code from your copy.
Unlocked — Path 3 and the 30-year view are open. Run as many scenarios as you like.
Own the book?
Email proof of purchase (a receipt or order screenshot) and I'll send your unlock code.
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Important — read this
This calculator is a simplified illustration of the framework in The Pretirement Staircase. It is not personalized financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Your real results depend on your own numbers, taxes, fees, and actual market returns, which vary and are never guaranteed.
The model assumes a constant annual yield, and in Path 3 a constant income-growth rate. Real yields and payouts move around.
It assumes you keep redirecting every freed dollar (Paths 2 & 3). Spend it instead and the snowball flattens.
It leaves out taxes on the income, investment fees, inflation, and market ups and downs (including the risk of a bad stretch early on).
Income from your savings is treated as spent on bills, not re-added to the balance — matching the book's convention.
Figures are directional — they show how the decision moves the timeline, not a promise of a specific date.
A note on the math. The book quotes clean closed-form figures (a continuous-compounding approximation). This tool steps month by month instead (discrete compounding), matching the downloadable model. The two agree closely and differ by a small amount that grows over long horizons — both are illustrations, not predictions. Each card shows both: the headline is the book's formula; the second line is the month-by-month result.
Consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions. The full method is in the book.
Built on the book's own flow-of-funds model · J. Anthony Carnette · The Pretirement Staircase