Life Buyback Calculator

Discover what everyday spending really costs — in time, not money.

Time ArbitrageSkip spend → invest → retire earlier Compound CostSmall habits, huge long-term impact Exit ClockSee your retirement date move
YOUR PLANNED RETIREMENT DATE
06
06
DAY
·
MAY
MAY
MONTH
·
2051
2051
YEAR
In 25 years · Age 60
What if you skipped this spend?
$0 $100
$

Your Expenses

Add an expense above to see its retirement cost

About this tool

The Life Buyback Calculator reframes everyday spending as retirement time — not dollars. Every habit you cut is invested and compounded, buying back months or even years of your retirement life.

Enter your planned retirement age and daily budget, then explore what your spending habits really cost you. No portfolio tracking needed — just honest maths on the compound cost of small decisions.

Further reading: Noise vs. Fundamentals — why market crashes and tax changes don't break the long-term ETF playbook →

Frequently asked questions

How does the calculation work?

For recurring habits, we calculate the future value of investing that money every month until your retirement date at your chosen return rate. For one-time purchases, we compound the single amount. That future value is then divided by your daily retirement budget to show how much retirement time it funds.

Does this tell me if I'm on track to retire?

No — this tool focuses purely on the time cost of individual spending decisions, not your overall retirement trajectory. It answers "what does this habit cost me in retirement time?" not "will I retire on time?" Use the FIRE Calculator for full retirement projections.

Is this free and private?

Yes. No sign-up, no tracking, no data sent anywhere. All calculations happen in your browser. Your inputs are saved locally on your device only.

What return rate should I use?

7% is a reasonable long-term average for a diversified equity portfolio, roughly matching historical Australian and global share market returns after inflation. Conservative investors might use 5–6%; growth investors 8–9%. The rate has a large effect on results over 20+ year horizons.