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Career tool
Career Change & Education ROI Calculator
See when a course or career change could pay back its costs — month by month, using your own assumptions.
Your scenario
Every number is your own assumption — especially the salary after the change. Try a low and a high case.
Break-even
Month 40 (3.3 years)
when cumulative cash flow turns positive, if your assumptions hold
Estimate · your assumptions
- Up-front costs
- $10,000.00
- Earnings given up
- $24,000.00
- Monthly gain after the change
- $1,000.00
- Loan payment / month
- No loan
- Total loan interest
- $0.00
- Cumulative cash at the end
- $80,000.00
- Net present valueonly with a discount rate
- No discount rate
| Year | Net cash | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | −$28,000 | −$28,000 |
| 2 | $12,000 | −$16,000 |
| 3 | $12,000 | −$4,000 |
| 4 | $12,000 | $8,000 |
| 5 | $12,000 | $20,000 |
| 6 | $12,000 | $32,000 |
| 7 | $12,000 | $44,000 |
| 8 | $12,000 | $56,000 |
| 9 | $12,000 | $68,000 |
| 10 | $12,000 | $80,000 |
How this was calculated
Month 0: up-front costs, minus any amount borrowed. Transition months: lost pay (× share not kept) and extra costs. After: (expected − current salary) ÷ 12 each month. Loan: standard amortised payment. Break-even = first month the running total is back to zero or above.
Calculation scenarios.career-roi v1.0.0. Gross pay, before tax.
Is a certificate, degree or bootcamp worth it? Model it as cash flow
The honest way to judge a course or career change is to lay out the money month by month: what you pay up front, what you give up while you study or search, and what changes afterwards. The answer is only as good as the salary you assume afterwards — so run a cautious case and an optimistic one.
Up-front costs + earnings given up − (new pay − current pay) over time = cumulative cash flow
Make the expected salary realistic
- Look at the 10th–25th percentile pay for the target occupation, not the median — that's closer to entry-level pay. Our salary data shows these from BLS.
- Allow for a job search after the course ends; add those months to the transition.
- Count lost employer benefits (health coverage, retirement contributions) as extra monthly costs if you'll stop working.
Discounting
Money now is worth more than money later. If you want to account for that, enter a yearly discount rate — for example the interest rate on your savings or debt. Leave it blank to see plain cash totals.