Freelance Calculator · 2026
Freelance Savings Runway Calculator
Find out exactly how long your savings will last if you go freelance — and the minimum monthly income you need to never touch them. Enter your savings, expected income, monthly expenses, and state, and see a month-by-month projection instantly.
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How to use this calculator
- 1 Enter your current savings — the cash you could realistically live on, not total net worth.
- 2 Enter your expected monthly freelance income — be honest and use a conservative estimate, especially for your first year.
- 3 Enter your monthly expenses — include rent, food, health insurance, subscriptions, and any loan payments.
- 4 Select your state and choose whether to see months of runway or minimum income needed as your primary result. The month-by-month savings chart updates instantly.
How we calculate this
Freelancers pay taxes differently from W2 employees — and most runway calculators ignore that entirely. This one doesn’t. Here’s what we apply to your gross monthly income before computing cash flow:
Tax Deductions on Freelance Income
Self-employment tax (both FICA halves)
14.13% of gross
SE tax deduction (IRS allows 50%)
Reduces federal taxable income
Federal income tax
22% on (gross − SE deduction)
State income tax
Auto-filled from your state
Months of runway is calculated by simulating your savings balance month-by-month — adding net income and subtracting expenses each month until the balance hits zero. The chart shows exactly when that happens.
Minimum income needed is the gross monthly amount where your net pay (after all taxes) exactly equals your monthly expenses — the break-even point where you stop drawing down savings. We use 50 billable weeks as the annual basis for all tax calculations. Results are estimates for planning purposes; actual tax liability depends on your full return.
What this calculator doesn’t include
A few things that could make your real runway longer or shorter:
Business expenses — software, equipment, home office, and professional development are deductible and reduce your taxable income beyond what’s modeled here
Quarterly estimated tax payments — as a freelancer you pay taxes four times a year, which affects your monthly cash flow more than an annual number suggests
Income volatility — this calculator assumes steady monthly income; in reality, freelance income fluctuates and slow months can drain savings faster than the model shows
Health insurance costs — if you’re leaving an employer plan, individual coverage can add $300–$700+/month; include this in your monthly expenses input
Interest on savings — if your cash is in a high-yield account, returns can meaningfully extend your runway at current rates
Local and city income taxes — New York City, Philadelphia, and other cities add their own rate on top of state tax
Frequently asked questions
The standard advice is 3–6 months of living expenses, but for freelancers that benchmark undersells the risk. Client acquisition takes time, income is irregular in the first year, and you’re now covering your own health insurance and self-employment taxes. Most experienced freelancers recommend 6–12 months of full expenses saved before leaving a stable job — more if you’re in a specialized field with long sales cycles. Use this calculator with a conservative income estimate (50–70% of what you hope to earn) to stress-test your cushion before you hand in your notice.
Self-employment (SE) tax is Social Security and Medicare combined — the same FICA taxes W2 employees pay, except freelancers pay both the employee and employer halves. For 2026, that’s 12.4% for Social Security (up to the $184,500 wage cap) plus 2.9% for Medicare, totaling 15.3% — though the effective combined rate after accounting for deductibility works out to approximately 14.13%. The IRS does allow you to deduct half of your SE tax from your gross income before calculating federal income tax, which softens the impact slightly.
Freelance runway is the number of months your savings can cover the gap between your after-tax income and your monthly expenses. The formula is: starting savings ÷ monthly shortfall (expenses minus net income). If your expenses are $4,000/month and your net freelance income is $3,000/month, your shortfall is $1,000. With $12,000 in savings, your runway is 12 months. This calculator does that math automatically — and accounts for self-employment taxes, which most back-of-napkin estimates skip entirely and which can add $500–$1,000+/month to your effective cost of going solo.
Generally no — your emergency fund should stay untouched and separate from your freelance runway. An emergency fund is there for unexpected costs like medical bills, car repairs, or equipment failures, not for covering routine monthly shortfalls. When using this calculator, enter only the cash you’ve set aside specifically to support the transition to freelance. If you blend your emergency fund into the savings figure, you risk a situation where a single unexpected expense wipes out both your runway and your safety net at the same time.
It’s a reliable planning tool, not an accountant. The tax math — 14.13% SE tax, the 50% SE deduction, the 22% federal rate, and your state’s rate — reflects 2026 IRS rules and gives you a realistic picture of take-home pay that most runway calculators skip entirely. The main limitation is that it assumes steady monthly income, which rarely matches reality in the first 12–18 months of freelancing. To get a more conservative estimate, enter 60–70% of your expected income and see whether your runway still holds. If it does, you’re in a solid position.