Vocations · Professional Development · Career money

Where could this
salary be in
fifteen years?

Start with the first-year salary, add the usual raise and the promotions you are aiming for. The projection shows each year’s pay, what it is worth in today’s dollars and what the whole stretch adds up to.

Project my salaryWhat you get

The income projection calculator

The worked example is a made-up registered nurse. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentFree

What you finish with
A year-by-year salary projection with each year in today’s dollars and earnings so far, the final salary, the average growth and the doubling time. It prints and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Students comparing careers, job seekers weighing an offer’s long-term pay, and early-career adults planning for a promotion or license.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Look up a typical starting salary for the job.
  2. Set the usual yearly raise.
  3. Add promotions, licenses or job changes.
  4. Set an inflation rate for today’s dollars.
  5. Compare two careers by saving each as a file.

Project my salary

How the projection is worked out

Compound raises, then inflation taken back out.

The worked example: a registered nurse with two jumpsYear 1$62,000starting salaryYear 4$73,1693% raise + 8% jumpYear 9$95,0023% raise + 12% jumpYear 15$113,437$80,282 todayThe worked example: a registered nurse with two jumpsYear 1$62,000starting salaryYear 4$73,1693% raise + 8% jumpYear 9$95,0023% raise + 12% jumpYear 15$113,437$80,282 today
Raises compound: each one is a percent of the salary before it, so a jump early on lifts every year after it.

Raises compound

A 3 percent raise on $62,000 is $1,860; the next year’s 3 percent is on $63,860. A promotion adds its jump on top of the usual raise that year, and every later raise builds on the higher figure. That is why an early promotion is worth more over a career than a late one of the same size.

Today’s dollars

Prices rise too. Dividing a future salary by (1 + inflation) for each year shows what it would buy at today’s prices. If raises only match inflation, the salary grows on paper but buys the same. The Federal Reserve’s longer-run inflation goal is 2 percent; the example uses 2.5.

Sources

  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: pay by occupation (bls.gov/ooh).
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI inflation calculator (bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm).
  3. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Why does the Federal Reserve aim for inflation of 2 percent over the longer run? (federalreserve.gov).
  4. CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Salary information by occupation and location (careeronestop.org).

The worked example is made up. A projection is not a promise; pay is before tax. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.