Run the numbers yourself

Loan & Amortization

Any fixed-rate loan: business term debt, an equipment note, a car, a mortgage. Add an extra monthly payment to see what it saves you.

Compound Interest

What a starting balance plus steady monthly contributions grows into. The gap between what you put in and what you end with is the whole argument for starting early.

Am I on Track for Retirement?

Projects what you will have against what your income goal will actually cost, with the income figure entered in today's dollars and inflated for you. If there is a shortfall, it shows what closing it would take.

Solo 401(k) vs SEP-IRA

When you are both the employer and the employee, your contribution limit is not a percentage of what you made. For a sole proprietor it is based on net profit less half your self-employment tax, and the employer piece works out to 20% rather than 25% because the contribution reduces the very number it is calculated from. This does that arithmetic.

Mortgage Payment (PITI and PMI)

The number that matters is not principal and interest, it is everything that leaves your account each month. Taxes, insurance, HOA, and mortgage insurance are broken out separately.

Business Valuation

A rough enterprise value from an earnings multiple, then equity value after cash and debt. The two discount fields are where most owners are surprised: a company that depends on the owner, or on one large customer, does not fetch the multiple the industry chart says it should.

After-Tax Proceeds From a Business Sale

Owners plan around the headline price. What funds your retirement is what is left after advisory fees, debt payoff, and tax. Enter the rates that apply to you: this tool assumes nothing about your situation.

The Wealth Gap

For most owners the business is the retirement plan. This is the exit-planning question: what will life after the business cost, what will you actually have, and how much of the answer is riding on one illiquid asset selling well.

The Value Gap

The wealth gap says what you need. This works backwards from that to what the business has to sell for, grossing the number up for the fees and tax that come out first, then compares it to where the business is actually heading. The answer an owner can act on is the last line: how much more EBITDA the company needs.

QSBS Exclusion (Section 1202)

If your company is a C-corp and the stock qualifies, Section 1202 can exclude a very large amount of gain from federal tax. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed this for stock acquired after July 4, 2025: a higher cap and partial exclusions at three and four years, where the old rule was all-or-nothing at five. Eligibility is technical, so treat this as a sizing exercise, not a determination.

Section 1202 also requires an eligible C-corporation, original issuance, an active qualified trade or business, and a gross-asset test at issuance ($75 million for stock acquired after July 4, 2025, $50 million before). This calculator assumes those tests are met and only sizes the exclusion. Confirm eligibility with your CPA and counsel before relying on it.