How healthy are my finances, and what should I fix first?
Seven published benchmarks measured against your own numbers, each with the dollars you are short. There is no score, only where you stand and what is furthest from its benchmark.
BENCHMARKS YOU MEETSEVERAL GAPS
2 of 5
You meet 2 of the 5 benchmarks measured. The furthest from its benchmark is your high-interest debt: $12,000 at 22% APR costs $2,640 a year in interest. That order is the share of each benchmark you meet, not a judgement of what matters most.
Cash cushion
1.8 months
Savings rate
38.5%
Retirement
2.9x pay
Match unclaimed
$4,350 a yr
Where you stand on each benchmark
| Check | You | Benchmark | Where you stand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency fund | 1.8 months of spending | 3 to 6 months of spending (FINRA) | Short by $6,000 of 3 months ($21,000 of 6) |
| Savings rate | 38.5% of pay | 15% of pay a year, match included (Fidelity) | Met |
| Retirement savings | 2.9x pay | 1x pay by 30 (Fidelity) | Met. Next mark: 3x pay ($435,000) at 40, $15,000 away. |
| 401(k) match | 3% of pay | 6% of pay, the full match | $4,350 a year of employer money unclaimed |
| High-interest debt | $12,000 | No balance at card rates | $2,640 a year in interest at 22% APR |
2 of 5 benchmarks are met: your cash covers 1.8 months of spending against a benchmark of 3 to 6, $6,000 short of 3; you save 38.5% of pay against 15%; you have 2.9x pay against 1x; you contribute 3% of a 6% match, leaving $4,350 a year unclaimed; $12,000 of high-interest debt costs $2,640 a year in interest.
How much of each benchmark you meet
High-interest debt$2,640 a year in interest at 22% APR
0.0%
401(k) match$4,350 a year of employer money unclaimed
50%
Emergency fundShort by $6,000 of 3 months ($21,000 of 6)
60%
Savings rateMet
100%
Retirement savingsMet
100%
Sorted from the furthest below its benchmark: high-interest debt 0%, 401(k) match 50%, emergency fund 60%, savings rate 100%, retirement savings 100%. A debt balance counts as 0% of a benchmark of no balance, which puts it first whenever there is one.
What moves the needle
Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.How it's computed
FORMULA
Emergency fund = cash ÷ (yearly spending ÷ 12), against 3 months (6 as a goal)
Savings rate = (take-home pay − spending + employer match) ÷ gross income, against 15%
Retirement savings = invested ÷ gross income, against the latest Fidelity checkpoint for your age: 1x by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, 10x by 67
401(k) match unclaimed = (match limit − your contribution) × income; high-interest debt costs balance × card rate a year
Housing = monthly housing cost ÷ gross monthly income, against 28%; debt payments = housing plus other debt payments ÷ gross monthly income, against 36%
- Each benchmark is a published guideline with its own stated basis, not a law of finance. FINRA’s three to six months, Fidelity’s 15% and salary multiples (which assume saving from 25, retiring at 67 and living on about 45% from savings), and the 28/36 guideline from the FDIC all apply to a typical household, not to everyone.
- Take-home pay is estimated the way the Money Map does: a single filer on the 2026 federal tables, payroll tax, and your 401(k) contribution. The Map’s spending figure includes rent or a mortgage, so months of cash is a little conservative, since some of that spending is not an emergency cost. The employer match is assumed to be 100% up to 6% of pay.
- High-interest debt is charged the card rate the Map and the Debt Payoff Planner share, 22% APR. The retirement check uses the latest Fidelity checkpoint your age has reached, with no values between checkpoints, and does not count home equity, a pension or Social Security.
- The count of benchmarks met is a count, not a grade: a check that cannot be measured is left out of it, and the count changes only when a benchmark is met.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
Cash $9,000 ÷ $5,000 a month = 1.8 months. Take-home $111,418 − spending $60,000 + $4,350 of match = $55,768 saved, 38.5% of $145,000. Invested $420,000 ÷ $145,000 = 2.9x pay. 2 of 5 benchmarks are met.
SOURCES
[1]Financial Foundations: build an emergency fundFINRA[2]Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025: savings and investmentsFederal Reserve Board[3]How much do I need to retire? (savings rate and salary multiples)Fidelity Viewpoints[4]How Much Mortgage Can I Afford? (front-end and back-end ratios)FDIC Money Smart[5]What is a debt-to-income ratio?Consumer Financial Protection BureauHSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026
Keep this number honest as your life changes.
Put it on your Money Map and it re-runs as you change the seven numbers. It stays in this browser, and the calculator stays free.
Questions about this result
Not a number out of 100. A single score hides which part is weak and by how much, so this page measures seven published benchmarks and gives each one in dollars. The count of benchmarks met at the top is only a count.
FINRA says financial planners often recommend three to six months of living expenses in an emergency fund. Fidelity’s guideline is to save 15% of income a year, employer match included, and to reach 1x pay by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60 and 10x by 67. The FDIC describes the 28/36 guideline for housing and total debt payments. The Money Map’s 401(k) match and 22% card rate come from its own shared assumptions.
By the share of each benchmark you meet, lowest first. A cash cushion of 1.8 months against 3 is 60%; contributing 3% of a 6% match is 50%; a high-interest balance is 0% of a benchmark of none. It is a mechanical order, not a judgement of what matters most to you.
The Federal Reserve’s 2025 survey found 55% of adults said they had set aside money for three months of expenses in an emergency fund, unchanged from 2024 and down from a high of 59% in 2021, and 63% said they would cover a $400 expense with cash or its equivalent.
Because Fidelity’s multiples are checkpoints at those ages, and the page does not invent values between them. At 34 you are held to 1x pay, the mark you reached at 30, and shown the next one, 3x at 40. Under 30 the check is not due yet and is left out of the count.
That your employer matches 100% of what you contribute up to a share of pay that you enter (6% is the example). Contributing less leaves the difference in pay times income unclaimed each year. If there is no match, enter 0 and the check is skipped.
Optional. The FDIC describes lenders’ 28% limit for housing and 36% for all debt payments, both as shares of gross monthly income. The CFPB defines the debt-to-income ratio as all monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. Enter your housing cost, and the other debt payments, to include them; at 0 they are skipped.