Finish line Calculator
If you ask most people how much money they would need to be happy, they would answer, “Just a little bit more”. In our hearts, though, we know that’s not true. We aren’t designed to be satisfied by money and possessions.
So what do I do? Join the growing movement of Christians who have set a finish line for their spending. By setting a finish line, you are choosing to leave behind the endless race for more. In exchange, God invites you into a new race filled with freedom and purpose. We promise, you’ll never want to go back.
Where do I start? Start by seeing how your lifestyle compares to the rest of the country by using the calculator below. Go ahead, give it a try!
Where Do You Stand?
Below, enter the number of people you are financially responsible for as well as your annual income. Alternatively, you can use your monthly budget by clicking the link at the bottom.
use monthly budget instead
Your current budget is approximately
per month
Your lifestyle is more expensive than
Results based on 2023 U.S. Census household income data. See the detailed methodology to reproduce the results on your own.
Try Out a Finish Line
How does it work? Use the slider below to see what different finish lines might look like for your family. The resulting budget is scaled for a family of 3, based on the family size you entered in the prior section.
Why percentiles? Situations change. Our families grow. The costs of rent, and food, and gas all go up each year. Choosing a flat dollar amount would force us to constantly re-evaluate our finish lines.
For example: If you had a family of 3 and chose a finish line of $5,000 per month for your family right now, what would you do in 10 years when the cost of living is 10% higher and you have one more child to care for?
By matching that $5,000 finish line to the 52nd percentile, you can figure out how much you can spend each month to maintain the same standard of living when your situation changes. Read how it works for more information.
How does it work? Use the slider above to see what different finish lines might look like for your family. The resulting budget is scaled for a family of 3, based on the family size you entered in the prior section.
Why percentiles? Situations change. Our families grow. The costs of rent, and food, and gas all go up each year. Choosing a flat dollar amount would force us to constantly re-evaluate our finish lines.
For example: If you had a family of 3 and chose a finish line of $5,000 per month for your family right now, what would you do in 10 years when the cost of living is 10% higher and you have one more child to care for?
By matching that $5,000 finish line to the 52nd percentile, you can figure out how much you can spend each month to maintain the same standard of living when your situation changes. Read how it works for more information.
If you set a finish line of approximately
per month
Your lifestyle would be more expensive than
Remember to check back here each fall when new census data comes out, or anytime your family size changes!
Join a greater Story
If you committed to a finish line of of $4,828 per month, you would have an excess of $6,888 every year to give away. What could you do with that kind of money? See some examples below or visit our Giving Ideas page for more ideas.
13,505 decisions for Christ among unreached people groups
137,760 meals for the poorest of the poor
5,298 people who cannot read with access to bible recordings
Data courtesy of ROI Ministry
Start a New Race
When it comes to money, we are all running a race of some kind. Often, we don’t have a clear picture of where that race is going or where it will end.
By choosing a finish line, even if you aren’t there yet, you are starting a new race, one with a clear end in sight.
So what do you do when you get there? Once you start earning more than your finish line, start setting any excess aside to use as God leads you. In doing so, you join a wonderful community of Christ-followers who are finding deep joy and purpose through the wealth God has given them to manage.
Want some ideas for how to use the excess? Get some inspiration here.
Current Status
| Current Household Income | INCOME |
| Household Size | SIZE |
| Current Income Percentile | PERCENTILE percentile |
| Federal Taxes | TAX |
| State Taxes | TAX |
| FICA Withholding | FICA |
| Monthly Budget | BUDGET |
Together, your household currently earns $80,000 per year. That means you earn more than 62 out of every 100 families, regardless of household size.
After scaling for a household of 2 people, you earn more than 58 out of every 100 families.
Your expected taxes include approximately $80,000 in federal tax, $80,000 in state tax, and $80,000 in FICA withholding.
After taxes, your remaining budget is $80,000 per month
Comparison Percentile
| Comparison Income Percentile | PERCENTILE percentile |
| Household Size | SIZE people |
| Comparison Household Income | INCOME |
| Federal Taxes | TAX |
| State Taxes | TAX |
| FICA Withholding | FICA |
| Monthly Budget | BUDGET |
Expected taxes include approximately $80,000 in federal tax, $80,000 in state tax, and $80,000 in FICA withholding.
That corresponds to a spending budget of $5,354 per month or $1,210 per week.
Potential Impact
| Commitment Percentile | PERCENTILE percentile |
| Current Monthly Budget | BUDGET |
| Commitment Monthly Budget | BUDGET |
| Monthly Surplus | SURPLUS |
| 1 Year Impact | 1 YEAR |
| 5 Year Impact | 5 YEAR |
Over the course of 1 year, you would be able to give $2,820. Over the next 5 years, if your income doesn’t change at all, you’d be able to give away $14,100.
See what you could do with that money here.
Household Income by Percentile
The following charts show where your results stand in the bigger picture. The first chart shows the pretax income that corresponds to the percentile you chose. In other words, this is the “salary” that someone living at that percentile would have. The unscaled line does not take family size into account and is based on real, collected data (i.e. the 50th percentile is actually the 50th percentile for all households, regardless of household size). The scaled line applies a factor to account for family size. For more details, see the methodology section.
Monthly Budget by Income Percentile
The second chart shows the effective monthly budget that a person or family living at your chosen percentile would live on. Again, the unscaled line is based on collected data and the scaled line accounts for family size with a scaling factor.
What If Lots of People Committed?
Imagine if 100 people, evenly distributed among the 1st to 99th percentiles, all committed to living at or below the 50th percentile. How much would they be able to give in a year? What about 100,000 people?
What Next?
This is great and all, but what do I do now? How do I pick a finish line? What do I do with debt? How do retirement savings fit in? Once I pick a limit, how do I structure my life to implement it?
There are answers to all of these questions. Host a SPRINT with some friends to get into the nitty gritty over 8 interactive sessions (absolutely free of course). We promise, it will be one of the best things you do this year.
Take It To The Next Level
Host a SPRINT with some friends. A SPRINT is a weekly program for small groups over 8 sessions that flips upside down our understanding of wealth and provides a biblical framework for answering the question “How much is enough?”.
The program is completely self-led, no prior training or experience necessary. All you need is a group to get started.
Explore More
Giving Ideas
Once you have set a financial finish line, what do you do with the excess? Explore a variety of ideas.
SPRINTs
Explore the biblical foundation for setting a finish line in a small group context over 8 weekly sessions.
Beliefs
Learn about the biblical foundation and core beliefs that led us to setting a finish line.