Money
How long can I afford to be without a salary?
Your usable savings divided by what genuinely leaves your account each month — not by your gross pay. That figure is your runway: the length of the gap you could cover if the income stopped tomorrow.
Reading this in your own language does not mean it describes your own country’s law. What you owe comes from your employment agreement and the country you work in. Unless a page names a country, it is deliberately jurisdiction-neutral.
General information only. Employment rules depend on your contract and location.
What counts as enough
There is no universal number. A useful way to frame it: how long would a realistic search take in your field right now, plus the time between accepting an offer and the first pay landing, plus the buffer. If your runway after the buffer covers that, you have room. If it does not, the gap is the thing to close — by saving longer, by cutting the burn, or by finding the next role before you resign.
Project your last working day so you know when the income actually stops — a notice period you are paid through is runway you already have.
Employment contracts and notice requirements vary by jurisdiction and circumstances. This tool provides general information and planning guidance, not legal advice.
The method
How the runway is worked out.
The starting point is the obvious one:
Runway = available funds ÷ monthly burn
What makes that number useful or useless is what goes into each side. Three adjustments do most of the work.
Debt is part of the burn, not a separate problem
Loan repayments and EMIs continue after your last pay cheque. Treating them as part of your monthly burn rather than as something to sort out later is the difference between a runway figure you can plan against and one that quietly overstates your position.
Other income reduces the burn, it does not extend the savings
Rent received, a partner’s contribution, or steady freelance work reduces how fast savings drain. It belongs on the burn side of the equation. Be honest about the word reliable here — income that depends on you having energy to spare during a stressful period is not the same as income that arrives whatever happens.
Final settlement counts, with a caveat
Final salary, leave encashment, and any severance are real money and belong in the total. When they arrive depends on where you work and on payroll timing, so include them if you are confident they are coming, and plan the first month or two as though they have not arrived yet.
The buffer is held back, not spent
The calculator sets aside three months of burn as an emergency buffer and shows you the runway both with and without it. The buffer is not for the job search — it is for the medical bill, the deposit, or the repair that arrives at the worst possible time. The second number, the one after the buffer, is the honest length of your search.
What is deliberately not modelled
- Investment growth, since a job-search horizon is too short to count on it.
- Tax on final settlements, which varies too much by jurisdiction to guess.
- Inflation, which is noise over a runway measured in months.
- One-off costs like relocation, notice buyout, or insurance you have to replace — add these to your essentials if they apply to you.
Next
- Run the full exit check to see your runway against your notice period and contract.
- Project your last working day so you know when the income actually stops — a notice period you are paid through is runway you already have.
- What happens if I quit without notice? — including what decides when a final settlement is due, which is worth confirming rather than assuming.