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Business owners calculator

Business Owner Income Replacement Calculator

If I stop owning my company, how will I replace the money and benefits it currently provides?

Model the household income gap after a sale, compare investable closing cash with a simple capital benchmark, and test what happens if less cash arrives.

The owner income gap

What replaces the paycheck, distributions, and benefits?

Start with an example, then enter your estimates. Your answers stay in this browser while you calculate. You can review the result before deciding whether to share anything.

No account connection. No email gate. No financial inputs sent to analytics.
1 What disappears when you leave the business?

Use annual amounts the household actually receives or benefits from—not the company's gross profit.

Pay from the company that you actually spend or save personally.
Include cash received personally, not profits retained in the business.
For example, health coverage or a vehicle that your household must fund after exit.
2 What must your money support afterward?

Your future household spending is the key input. Do not assume all current compensation must be replaced dollar for dollar.

Include taxes and costs your household will pay, including the benefits above if they continue.
Only income available in the period modeled, such as pensions or rental net cash flow. Exclude company pay.
Available liquid investments intended for this spending plan, not the value of your house or business.
3 What cash might a sale provide?

Keep uncertain proceeds separate. This is not a business valuation or transaction tax model.

Net of transaction fees, debts, taxes, and amounts that will not be invested. Use the sale-proceeds calculator if needed.
Shown separately and excluded from the base and downside results because receipt or timing is uncertain.
A calculation assumption only, not a recommended or guaranteed sustainable withdrawal rate.

The questions behind the numbers

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to replace all my salary and distributions after selling my business?

Not necessarily. Compensation may fund saving, taxes, or reinvestment rather than household spending. Begin with your expected after-sale household spending, including costs and benefits formerly covered by your business.

Does the estimate include taxes on the business sale?

No. Enter cash expected to be investable at closing after relevant taxes, debt, transaction costs, and other uses. The business sale net proceeds calculator can help organize the inputs, but the transaction's actual tax treatment requires professional review.

Should I include an earnout or seller note as retirement money?

This screen shows contingent consideration separately and excludes it from the base and downside funding comparison. Amounts subject to collection risk, milestones, or delayed payment should not be treated as certain cash at closing.

Is the annual portfolio draw assumption a safe withdrawal rate?

No. It is a simple way to convert an annual spending gap into a capital benchmark. It does not model changing returns, sequence risk, taxes on withdrawals, inflation, fees, longevity, or the timing of income sources. It is not a recommendation.

What should I review before relying on the result?

Verify your household spending after the sale, owner-related benefits that will disappear, the amount and timing of after-tax closing cash, outside investable assets, continuing income, and the risks absent from this simplified illustration.

This educational illustration is not a business valuation, tax projection, actuarial retirement analysis, portfolio recommendation, or a prediction of investment outcomes. See the sale net proceeds calculator for transaction-input organization and the methodology and disclosures. The IRS business-sale guidance explains why different assets and transaction structures can produce different tax results.

If a transition involves family succession or an unexpected owner departure, the Business Owner Estate Checkup can help organize questions for your legal and tax professionals.