Methodology

Tool Methodology

Monthly Money Map

The Monthly Money Map subtracts entered monthly essentials, debt payments, everyday extras, and savings from take-home pay. Blank spending fields count as zero. A negative balance is shown as a shortfall. Its spending-change slider reduces everyday extras by the chosen amount; the annual cash change is that amount multiplied by 12, without interest or returns. Annual income is divided by 12; hourly income is multiplied by entered weekly hours and paid weeks, then divided by 12. Gross pay is reduced by the user-selected deduction percentage. The example deduction share is not a tax estimate. Optional second-earner income is calculated independently and added to monthly take-home pay. Entered workplace retirement contributions and employer matches are tracked separately; they never increase spendable cash or get deducted twice. There is no recommended allocation or saved history.

Calculator estimates

ClearWorth uses simplified, deterministic planning models. They are meant to make tradeoffs easier to understand, not to replace official calculators, payroll systems, lenders, brokerages, tax software, employer documents, or professional advice.

Runway and job-exit calculations

Cash Runway divides entered accessible cash by essential monthly spending to show a no-income runway. Reliable income is displayed separately as the current monthly margin. Can I Quit first subtracts entered one-time exit costs from cash, then divides the remainder by the monthly gap between essentials plus added insurance and reliable continuing income. Its target is the selected number of months of that gap plus one-time costs. A projected target month assumes the entered current monthly saving stays constant.

Career Lab calculations

Career Lab keeps three views separate. Financial value adds entered salary, employer match, benefits, probability-adjusted bonus, and probability-adjusted equity, then subtracts entered work and commute costs. First-year value also adds sign-on pay and subtracts transition costs. Time combines entered work hours with round-trip commute hours across estimated working weeks after paid days off. Life fit is the simple average of five user-entered scores and is never added to compensation. The comparison reports separate leaders and an annual-value swing factor rather than claiming one objectively correct choice.

Where calculations run

ClearWorth calculators do their math in your browser. Calculators marked "Calculations run in your browser" were checked to make no network requests with what you type. A few features do contact outside services: the paycheck and mortgage calculators look up the ZIP code you enter (zippopotam.us and the U.S. Census geocoder) to find state and local tax or property details, and the portfolio tool sends ticker symbols to public price sources. Shared calculator links put inputs in the web address, so anyone who opens one, and the services that load that page, can see them. On the production site, Google Analytics records page views and which tools are used, without calculator inputs or the query string, and Google AdSense may run on content pages. See the privacy policy for details.

Investment calculations

Investment growth estimates use compound growth based on user inputs for starting balance, contribution amount, contribution frequency, annual return, inflation, and time period. Actual investment returns are uncertain and can be negative.

Paycheck calculations

Paycheck estimates use simplified federal, state, local, FICA, and deduction assumptions. Local tax coverage includes static ZIP-driven rules for jurisdictions such as New York City, Yonkers, and Philadelphia, but some states require full address or PSD-code lookup instead of ZIP alone. The manual local tax override lets users enter a rate they verified from an official local source, such as Pennsylvania's PSD/EIT lookup, without sending an address to ClearWorth. Verify important payroll decisions with official state, county, city, and employer payroll sources.

How state income tax is estimated

State tax starts from annual wages after pre-tax deductions that the state allows (for example, Pennsylvania does not exclude employee 401(k) deferrals) and after any state allowances you enter. States with no wage income tax show $0. For most states, ClearWorth then applies a single planning rate: the flat rate for flat-tax states, or an approximate typical rate for states with graduated brackets. This is an estimate, not your exact withholding or liability.

For a few states, the estimate also applies 2026 figures we confirmed with official state sources: Georgia, Kentucky, and Louisiana standard deductions; Mississippi's exemption, standard deduction, and untaxed first $10,000 (head of household assumes one dependent at $1,500); Ohio's $26,050 threshold ($332 plus 2.75% above it); Illinois, Michigan, and Massachusetts personal exemptions; and Nebraska's standard deduction and graduated brackets. Kentucky's $3,360 standard deduction is applied once for a joint return; married couples filing separately on a combined return can each claim $3,360. The Ohio estimate omits Ohio's personal exemption. South Carolina's 2026 estimate starts from wages minus pre-tax 401(k) and HSA contributions, applies the new SC income-adjusted deduction ($15,000 single, $22,500 head of household, $30,000 married filing jointly, phased out at higher incomes), then 1.99% below $30,000 and 5.21% minus $966 from $30,000, with any phase-out reduction that is not a multiple of $10 rounded down to the next lowest $10 (SC Information Letter #26-20). Georgia's $5,000 deduction for each dependent is not modeled. Massachusetts also charges an additional 4% surtax on very high incomes; the estimate does not include it. Where a state publishes no separate head-of-household amount in those sources, the single amount is used. Credits, phase-outs, surtaxes, county or school-district taxes not listed above, and other state-specific rules are not modeled, so graduated-rate states and high incomes can differ most. Check your state revenue department's withholding tables for exact figures.

Mortgage calculations

Mortgage estimates use standard amortization math and planning assumptions for property tax, insurance, HOA, PMI, and extra principal payments. The amortization explorer uses the same loan model as the main result. Each monthly payment applies interest to the opening balance, then applies scheduled and extra principal, capped at the remaining balance. Yearly rows sum those monthly payments. Its tables and CSV files exclude taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI; extra principal is included within the principal column. Real lender quotes and escrow figures can differ materially.

Portfolio calculations

Auto-loan monthly cash costs combine the financed payment with entered insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking, and an annual registration amount divided by 12. Cash cost per mile divides that monthly total by entered mileage and excludes depreciation. Unpaid trade-in debt is added to financing only when explicitly selected; otherwise it remains a separate payment obligation. Term comparisons hold the APR and financed amount constant.

Portfolio allocation estimates rely on user-entered holdings and prices, with best-effort public quote lookup where available. Quotes may be delayed or unavailable.