THE LIFESTYLE CALCULATOR: HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND?

M.A.S.H Calculator: How Much Will My Lifestyle Cost?

When it comes down to it, the way we spend our money is really about the kind of lifestyle we want.

Some people, if they had an extra $1,000, would put it toward a future home, others a dream vacation, others charity, and still others a well-made handbag.

The way we normally approach our money is to think about how much we have first and then decide how to spend it. But it helps to do the reverse: think about how we want to spend our money, determine how much that will cost, and then figure out how much money we’ll need.

While people often do this for individual items–i.e. their dream home or their next car–we’ve put together a calculator that will do that for your whole life. It’s like the M.A.S.H game from your childhood–but instead of writing down the name of the boy you want to someday marry, you’re telling us if you want a second home, how many kids you plan on having and what kind of vacations you dream of.

Of course, the calculator can only give you a ballpark estimate. After all, you may end up with more kids than you had planned for, or when you retire, you may decide you miss working and want to go back part-time. But it’s useful for testing your expectations. If you’re working a low-paying job but still expect to someday have a beachfront home, it’s better to find out now that you’ll need to make some extra income or nab that promotion in order to make that happen. On the other side of the coin, it’s a relief to see that you can achieve your ideal lifestyle on your current career track or that you have money to spare and can retire earlier or increase your charitable giving.

You can take the M.A.S.H. quiz as many times as you need, tweaking the numbers, to see how different lifestyle choices make your number go up or down. And, if no matter how you slice it, you’re not on track to make enough, then start that side job you’ve been considering, find out if grad school will get your salary up to the level you need, or sign up for our Build Your Career bootcamp, which gives tips on negotiating yourself a raise or switching jobs to boost your salary.

Calculate the cost of your lifestyle at Learnvest.com after the break!