Wealth & retirement · super (composes 4 primitives)

Cash reserve planner

Cash reserves fail when every bucket fights for the same dollar. This super calc chains emergency runway, current-quarter tax reserve, upcoming known bills, and annual sinking funds into one prioritized plan.

No profile data yet. Fill your profile to skip data entry on every super calc.

Inputs

Load a preset

Monthly essential expensesMonthly reserve capacityHow much cash can move into reserves each month after normal bills.Income typeIncome stabilityDependentsCurrent emergency savingsAnnual known expensesNext known bill amountNext bill current balanceMonths until next billQuarterly tax estimateTax set-aside balanceReserve account APY

Result

Reserve score 18/100. Plan needs $3,712.52/mo.

Share image

First short row: Annual known expense drip: add $379.18/mo or push the deadline.

1
Emergency runway target
$33,600 (8 months)
$27,600 gap after current emergency savings.
Stand-alone calc
2
Current quarter tax reserve
$1,433.33/mo
$4,300 gap toward $5,500 quarterly estimate.
3
Next known bill
$345.85/mo
$2,094 projected gap if no transfer is added.
Stand-alone calc
4
Annual known expense drip
$400.00/mo
Insurance, maintenance, travel, renewals, and other predictable annual hits.
5
Monthly capacity check
$1,912.52 short
$1,800 current capacity vs $3,712.52 recommended.
6
Preset benchmark: W-2 family buffer
44/100 score
$2,058.25/mo plan, short $258.25/mo.
7
Preset benchmark: Variable 1099 catch-up
18/100 score
$3,712.52/mo plan, short $1,912.52/mo.
8
Preset benchmark: Owner-operator runway
18/100 score
$14,853.57/mo plan, short $9,353.57/mo.
9
Priority 1: Current quarter tax reserve
$1,433.33/mo allocated
$4,300 gap. Status: on-track.
10
Priority 2: Next known bill deadline
$345.85/mo allocated
$2,100 gap. Status: on-track.
11
Priority 3: Starter emergency buffer
$0.00/mo allocated
$0 gap. Status: funded.
12
Priority 4: Annual known expense drip
$20.82/mo allocated
$4,800 gap. Status: short.
13
Priority 5: Full emergency fund
$0.00/mo allocated
$27,600 gap. Status: short.

Assumptions & notes

Emergency runway uses 8 months based on income type, income stability, and dependents.
Reserve score weights emergency readiness 50%, current-quarter tax readiness 25%, and next known bill readiness 25%.
Monthly plan assumes tax reserve catches up over 3 months and full emergency savings build over 18 months after urgent buffers.
Preset benchmarks are shared with the mitchreise.com tool so W-2, freelancer, and owner-operator scenarios stay consistent.
Reserve health score: 18%.

Multi-scenario comparison

What if — ±20% on one input

Vary

Scenario	Monthly essential expenses	Headline	Δ vs baseline
−20% (cautious)	$3,360	Reserve score 20/100. Plan needs $3,339.18/mo.	$-6,720
Baseline	$4,200	Reserve score 18/100. Plan needs $3,712.52/mo.	0
+20% (aggressive)	$5,040	Reserve score 16/100. Plan needs $4,085.85/mo.	+$6,720

Try the input with the highest sensitivity (above). The Δ column shows the dollar swing from a 20% move — that's how much room you have for a counter, raise, or hedge.

Goal seek

Solve for an input value

Pick the input you want to vary and the output you care about. We'll find the input value that gets you to the target. Bisection-based; converges in < 50 iterations.

Vary inputTarget outputTarget value

Monte Carlo simulation

Distribution under input uncertainty (500 trials)

We perturb every numeric input with normal-distributed noise (10–25% sigma depending on input type) and run 500 compute trials. The output is a probability distribution, not a single number — closer to how finance actually works.

Most-leveraged inputs (sensitivity analysis)

Where to focus — what moves the answer most

Each input perturbed ±10%; measured impact on Emergency runway target. Higher elasticity = bigger lever.

1
Monthly essential expenses
Elasticity ↑ 1.00× — 10% change in this input increases Emergency runway target by 10.0%.
2
Monthly reserve capacity
Elasticity ↕ 0.00× — 10% change in this input affects Emergency runway target by 0.0%.
3
Dependents
Elasticity ↕ 0.00× — 10% change in this input affects Emergency runway target by 0.0%.
4
Current emergency savings
Elasticity ↕ 0.00× — 10% change in this input affects Emergency runway target by 0.0%.

ShowMath is the only calc site that surfaces this. Adjust the highest-leverage input first — that's where small moves create big results.

Chain payload (for the 3D constellation)

{
  "slug": "cash-reserve-planner",
  "depth": 1,
  "primitives": [
    "emergency-fund-target",
    "sinking-fund-planner",
    "quarterly-tax-calculator",
    "savings-goal-calculator"
  ],
  "composes": [],
  "chain": [
    {
      "key": "emergency_target",
      "label": "Emergency runway target",
      "primitive": "emergency-fund-target",
      "numeric": 33600
    },
    {
      "key": "tax_reserve",
      "label": "Current quarter tax reserve",
      "primitive": "quarterly-tax-calculator",
      "numeric": 1433.3333333333333
    },
    {
      "key": "next_known_bill",
      "label": "Next known bill",
      "primitive": "sinking-fund-planner",
      "numeric": 345.85132367017053
    },
    {
      "key": "annual_drip",
      "label": "Annual known expense drip",
      "primitive": "savings-goal-calculator",
      "numeric": 400
    },
    {
      "key": "monthly_capacity",
      "label": "Monthly capacity check",
      "numeric": -1912.517990336837
    },
    {
      "key": "preset_w2-family",
      "label": "Preset benchmark: W-2 family buffer",
      "numeric": 44
    },
    {
      "key": "preset_freelancer-variable",
      "label": "Preset benchmark: Variable 1099 catch-up",
      "numeric": 18
    },
    {
      "key": "preset_owner-operator",
      "label": "Preset benchmark: Owner-operator runway",
      "numeric": 18
    },
    {
      "key": "priority_1",
      "label": "Priority 1: Current quarter tax reserve",
      "numeric": 1433.3333333333333
    },
    {
      "key": "priority_2",
      "label": "Priority 2: Next known bill deadline",
      "numeric": 345.85132367017053
    },
    {
      "key": "priority_3",
      "label": "Priority 3: Starter emergency buffer",
      "numeric": 0
    },
    {
      "key": "priority_4",
      "label": "Priority 4: Annual known expense drip",
      "numeric": 20.815342996496213
    },
    {
      "key": "priority_5",
      "label": "Priority 5: Full emergency fund",
      "numeric": 0
    }
  ]
}

The chain explained

Each step above corresponds to a primitive calculator. Click any to see the stand-alone version with its own explainer + sources.

emergency fund target
sinking fund planner
quarterly tax calculatorshipping soon
savings goal calculatorshipping soon

Chains naturally with

Tax

Freelancer tax master

Self-employment tax → quarterly estimate → safe harbor → home office → retirement-contribution impact.

Wealth & retirement

Wealth trajectory

Net worth → savings rate → portfolio growth → retirement projection → Coast FIRE age.

Comprehensive plans

Complete financial health (super-super)

Runs Freelancer Tax Master + Wealth Trajectory + Home Affordability Master in sequence and surfaces the top 3 actions.

Get the new super calcs as they ship

One email per drop. We're chaining the next 6 right now.