Care runway calculator
One month's care shortfall is the amount your monthly cost exceeds income available for care. For a positive, fixed shortfall, divide savings by that shortfall. Enter your figures to estimate funded months and see a yearly table, including any cost increase you choose.
What monthly figures will you use?
Use your own figures in dollars. Enter zero for a confirmed zero amount.
Your financial inputs stay on this page. They are not saved or added to a link.
What can your reserve cover?
Enter monthly cost, set-aside savings and monthly income to calculate a scenario. The complete formulas and assumptions remain below.
How can you work out the runway?
- Start with your original cost For year y, starting at zero, multiply the original monthly cost by (1 + your chosen percentage divided by 100) raised to y. Round that year's monthly cost half up to cents once. Do not compound a previously rounded cost.
- Change cost after each full year The starting monthly cost applies for the first twelve months. The first increase begins in month thirteen. Income available for care stays fixed.
- Bank unused care income Each month, add income available for care to the reserve and subtract the care cost. A surplus adds to the reserve for later care.
- Spread money evenly through the month This scenario treats care cost and income as even flows within a month. Different bill or payment dates can change when cash is needed.
- Keep the reserve assumptions fixed The scenario adds no interest or investment return and makes no withdrawals beyond the modeled care cost.
- Keep an exact part-month When monthly cost exceeds income, divide the remaining reserve by that monthly shortfall for the exact funded part of the next month.
- Round down the displayed months The displayed tenth of a month is truncated. A positive result below one tenth is labeled less than one tenth. The exact month fraction remains available.
- Keep unknown amounts blank An entered zero is valid. A blank required amount is unknown and produces no numeric scenario. A blank optional yearly increase means zero increase.
- Separate no exhaustion from the time limit Zero starting cost stays zero under percentage increases. A flat positive cost covered by income does not exhaust the reserve under these assumptions. Other scenarios run until exhaustion or one hundred years. Reaching that limit shows only that the reserve lasts through the modeled period.
- Label a representative year A proven no-exhaustion result shows one representative first year. Other results show each modeled year until exhaustion or the one-hundred-year limit.
- Keep amounts within the software limits Each entered money amount is limited to $1,000,000,000,000.00. The chosen yearly increase is limited to 100.00%. These are software limits, not recommended amounts.
How does this tool work?
- 1What it does
Calculate how long savings and monthly income cover your own care-cost figures. Choose a yearly increase and read the exact assumptions and yearly table.
- 2How it decides
Each modeled month adds income available for care and subtracts care cost. Unused income adds to the reserve. Each yearly cost comes from your original monthly cost and chosen increase, rounded once to cents. An exact funded part-month stays available; the displayed tenth rounds down.
- 3Your answers
Financial inputs stay on this page and clear when you leave. They are not saved, sent or put into a link. Anonymous counts can record a completed scenario or printing without any amounts. Your explicit print includes the figures and assumptions.
- 4What it is based on
It uses only your entered figures and the displayed formulas and assumptions. No outside cost estimate is inserted. We review this worksheet every year. Return when costs, income or savings change.
- 5What it doesn't do
This worksheet models even monthly cash flows, fixed care income, no reserve return and no other withdrawals. It does not predict bill dates or future costs. Other scenarios stop at exhaustion or one hundred modeled years. A result through that limit is different from proven no exhaustion under the stated assumptions. It covers the United States. This is general information, not legal, medical or financial advice.
What else should you know?
What happens if income covers the starting cost?
Unused care income adds to your reserve in this worksheet. With no cost increase, a covered cost does not exhaust the reserve under these assumptions. For a positive starting cost, a chosen increase can create a later shortfall.
Does a blank amount mean zero?
A blank required amount stays unknown and produces no numeric scenario. Enter zero for a confirmed zero. The optional yearly increase is different. Leaving it blank means no increase, as its label explains.
When does the chosen yearly increase apply?
The starting cost applies for twelve modeled months. The first increase begins in month thirteen. Each later monthly cost comes from the original cost and the chosen compounded increase, rounded once to cents.
Does this predict a payment date?
No. The worksheet spreads cost and income evenly through each month. It has no bill dates, changes in income or other withdrawals. A fractional month describes the arithmetic. It does not predict cash on a particular date.
When should I run the worksheet again?
Return when your care cost, available income or set-aside savings change. Use fresh figures each time. The worksheet does not save them or choose a cost increase for you.
This tool is general information, not legal advice. Something wrong here? Tell us.
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