Have I already saved enough to quit for a job I like?
“Keep the tech job” leaves the most at 45: $1.41M.
In today's dollars, from the same engine you'd plan with.
Javier is 38, single, and a software engineer earning $160,000. He has saved hard: $300,000 in his 401(k), $250,000 in a brokerage account and $50,000 in savings. He rents a modest place, cooks for the week on Sundays, and rides his bike everywhere. He's also burned out.
He'd like to quit for work he enjoys, like the local bike shop at $45,000 a year, or take a year off and come back to something calmer. He's afraid that means running out of money later.
3 futures
Each line is one future, projected year by year. Tap a name in the legend to hide or show it.
The numbers
At 45, the future with the most is “Keep the tech job”: $1.41M in today's dollars.
In every future, the money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
| Future | Works until | At 45 | At 55 | At 65 | Money runs out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep the tech job | 45 | $1.41M | $1.40M | $1.41M | Never |
| Quit for a $45k job at the bike shop | 60 | $685k | $842k | $860k | Never |
| A year of travel, then a $100k remote job | 55 | $999k | $1.87M | $2.09M | Never |
Net worth in today's dollars, by Javier's age, in their plan as written. A single projection with steady returns (no market swings), run by Life Budget's engine as of October 4, 2026: income, payroll and state tax, retirement-account rules, the mortgage and inflation, year by year.
What happens in each future
Keep the tech job
- At 45: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Quit for a $45k job at the bike shop
- At 60: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
A year of travel, then a $100k remote job
- At 55: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Questions
Are Javier real?
No. This is a sample household, written to be typical of people asking this question. Their plan runs on the same engine yours would: federal and state income tax, payroll tax, retirement-account rules, mortgages and inflation, year by year.
What is Coast FI?
Having enough invested that, left alone to grow, it would fund a normal retirement without adding anything more. From there you can trade a high salary for one that only has to cover today's spending.
Does the bike-shop future really save nothing?
Nothing new: his pay there roughly covers his spending, so nothing is added to his investments. What he already has keeps growing on its own.
What about health insurance before 65?
Stopping work before Medicare means buying coverage yourself. Every future here that stops work early pays for it until 65.
What does "today's dollars" mean?
Every figure is shown in what money buys now, with inflation taken out, so a number decades from now can be compared with one today.
Can I change their plans?
Some of it. Under "Try it", move the sliders and the engine re-runs their plans; nothing is saved. To change everything, create a free account and plan with your own numbers in the same simulator.
Run your own numbers
The same engine, with your income, accounts and plans. Free to start.
Create a free account