How to use the financial health score calculator
The calculator opens with an example household. Replace each figure with your own; rough numbers are fine, because the score moves in small steps.
- Monthly take-home income. The amount that lands in your account after tax, retirement contributions and other payroll deductions. If your pay varies, use an average of the last few months.
- Monthly essential spending. Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport and minimum debt payments. Leave out eating out, travel and subscriptions you could cancel.
- Liquid savings. Cash and savings you can reach within days. Retirement accounts and investments do not count here.
- Monthly debt payments and gross monthly income. The pair behind the debt-to-income ratio. Include the mortgage payment but not rent.
- Non-mortgage debt. The balances you owe on cards, car loans, student loans and personal loans.
- Retirement savings and age. All retirement accounts combined, and your age for the benchmark.
Each of the five areas shows its points out of 20 and the specific change that would bring it to full points. The chart shows earned and missing points side by side, and the table underneath lists the limits used.
How the score is calculated
The score is the sum of five sub-scores, each worth 20 points. Each figure is scored on a straight line between a level that earns nothing and a level that earns full points:
Emergency fund = liquid savings ÷ monthly essentials: 0 at 0 months, 20 at 6 months
Debt-to-income = monthly debt payments ÷ gross monthly income: 0 at 50%, 20 at 20%
Debt vs income = non-mortgage debt ÷ gross annual income: 0 at 50%, 20 at 10%
Retirement = savings ÷ (age multiple × gross annual income): 0 at nothing saved, 20 at the benchmarkThe age multiple follows a widely cited Fidelity rule of thumb (1× salary by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60, 10× by 67), with straight lines in between and 0× at 20.
This is PromtFinance’s own scoring method, designed to be simple and fully visible. It is not a credit score, a lending decision or a standard used by any institution.
A worked example
The household takes home $5,000 a month and spends $3,600 on essentials, so 28.0% of pay is left over: 18.7 / 20.
Savings of $12,000 cover 3.3 months of essentials, earning 11.1 / 20. Debt payments take 24.6% of gross pay (16.9 / 20), and non-mortgage debt equals 23.1% of a year’s gross income (13.5 / 20).
At 35 years, the retirement benchmark is 2.0× salary, or $156,000. With $60,000 saved, retirement earns 7.7 / 20.
The total is 68 out of 100, rated Good.
Where the quickest gains are
The breakdown tells you which change moves the score most. In the example, retirement savings are the weakest area, so they hold the most missing points. But the fastest gain is often in a smaller area, because some gaps are cheaper to close than others.
| Change | Score |
|---|---|
| Example as entered | 68 |
| Build savings to six months of essentials ($9,600 more) | 77 |
| Reach the retirement benchmark ($96,000 more) | 80 |
| Both | 89 |
Topping up the emergency fund needs $9,600 of savings; reaching the retirement benchmark needs $96,000. The emergency fund is usually the first target, because without it any surprise bill tends to end up on a credit card and pushes two other areas down.
Three example households
| Household | Age | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early career, student loans, little saved | 26 years | 52 | Fair |
| High income, high spending, heavy debt | 44 years | 18 | Needs attention |
| Steady saver, small car loan | 52 years | 96 | Strong |
The second household earns well but scores lowest. A large income does not help if it is fully committed: essential spending eats almost all of take-home pay, payments take 41.5% of gross income and savings cover 0.5 months. Income sets what is possible; the ratios show what is left after commitments.
How to read the result
- Read the sub-scores before the total. Two households with the same score can have very different problems. One may lack savings while the other carries too much debt.
- Retirement points depend on age. The benchmark rises with age, so the same balance earns fewer points each year unless contributions keep pace.
- Recalculate after a change, not every week. The score is built from balances and monthly averages, which move slowly. Checking it once or twice a year, or after a raise, a new loan or a move, is enough to see the trend.
What this score does not include
- Assets other than cash and retirement accounts. Home equity, taxable investments and a business are left out. The net worth calculator captures them.
- Interest rates. A 0% car loan and a 25% credit card balance count the same here, although the card costs far more.
- Insurance and income stability. Health, disability and life cover, and how secure your income is, matter as much as the ratios but cannot be scored from these inputs.
- Personal plans. Someone planning to retire early, or with a pension, needs a different retirement target from the rule of thumb.
Use the score as a quick check of the basics and a way to see which area deserves attention first.