Can You Afford to Quit Your Job? Calculate Your Financial Runway
How long will your savings last if you quit?
Can I Afford to Quit My Job?
Enter your savings, expenses, and expected income to calculate your financial runway, readiness score, and scenarios. Results update live as you type.
Your Financial Situation
Cash, savings — not 401k or home equity
Include health insurance after leaving
Freelance, side work, spouse income
Optional — for risk assessment
0 if none — adds to effective savings
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Quitting your job without another lined up is one of the highest-stakes financial decisions you can make — and one of the most common ones people make with gut feeling instead of numbers. This calculator replaces the anxiety with clarity: exactly how many months your savings will last at your current burn rate, how much freelance or part-time income would extend your runway to 12 months or more, and what monthly income you'd need to sustain your lifestyle indefinitely. The calculation depends on three things: your liquid savings (not retirement accounts, not home equity — actual accessible cash), your true monthly expenses (people consistently underestimate this), and your expected monthly income from any side work, freelance, severance, or unemployment during the transition. The gap between your savings and your burn rate is your runway. Most people need at least 6 months of runway for a job search in their field. A career pivot or business launch typically requires 12–24 months. Knowing your actual runway — not an optimistic estimate — is the difference between a well-planned transition and a panicked return to any available job. This calculator also computes the break-even freelance income needed to make your current savings last indefinitely, so you can see exactly how close (or far) part-time work brings you to sustainability.
- →Seriously considering leaving your job and want to know how long your savings will last
- →Planning a career change, business launch, or sabbatical
- →Evaluating whether to accept a severance package and leave
- →Calculating how much freelance/side income you'd need to extend your runway
- →Deciding whether to wait longer before quitting to build more savings
Marcus earns $95,000/year but wants to launch a SaaS business. He has $68,000 in savings and $42,000 in a 401k. Monthly expenses: $4,200. Entering only liquid savings ($68,000), the calculator shows 16.2 months of runway. With $1,500/month in consulting income, runway extends to 34 months. Break-even freelance income to sustain indefinitely: $4,200/month. He needs $2,700 more per month in consulting to be cash-flow neutral. He decides to build to $3,000/month in consulting before quitting.
Should I count my 401k or IRA as part of my runway savings?
Generally no — early withdrawals before 59½ incur a 10% penalty plus income tax, effectively reducing the value by 30–40%. In a true emergency they're accessible, but planning to use them as primary runway funding is expensive. Your runway should be based on taxable savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs, and accessible liquid assets.
Does unemployment insurance extend my runway?
Yes — if you're laid off or meet your state's criteria, unemployment insurance typically replaces 40–50% of your prior wages up to a state maximum, for up to 26 weeks. If you qualify, it's a significant runway extender. If you quit voluntarily, you generally don't qualify for unemployment — though exceptions exist for constructive dismissal, hostile work environments, or following a spouse's relocation.
What expenses do people commonly forget when calculating burn rate?
Health insurance (if leaving employer coverage, individual plans typically cost $400–800/month for an individual or $1,200–2,000+ for a family), quarterly estimated taxes if you'll have self-employment income, annual expenses like car registration and insurance that get overlooked in monthly budgeting, and the psychological tendency to spend more during a transition period.
How much runway is enough?
As a general rule: job search in the same field = 3–6 months minimum. Career pivot = 12–18 months. Starting a business = 18–36 months (most businesses take 2+ years to generate meaningful income). Side hustle to full-time = 6–12 months after the side hustle covers at least 50–75% of your expenses. The right answer depends on your risk tolerance, family obligations, and the specific transition.