Most Americans tend to think they need to earn just a little bit more in order to really save for retirement and create a comfortable nest egg. The reality is that most Americans make a ton of money during the course of their careers, but wind up living check to check regardless. Oftentimes the solution is not that we necessarily need to make more money, but that we need to honestly and objectively evaluate where our money is being spent.

For example, let’s take a 25 year old college graduate. Assuming he or she can land a job paying a $35,000 salary, and assuming a standard 3% raise each year, this person will retire at the age of 65 with career earnings of $2.6 million. That is a lot of money! Of course, that figure does not take into account any investments such as forex or financial independence options that may yield compounding interest. This Lifetime Earnings Calculator will allow you to compute your lifetime earnings; all you need to know is the following:

• Current Age
• Age You Plan to Retire
• Present Gross Annual Income
• Partner’s Gross Annual Income (optional)
• Estimated Annual Raises & Cost of Living Increases (this can be estimated at 3% if you are unsure)

Using this LE Calculator will help you realize that making more money is not necessarily the key to retirement. It is easy to flippantly spend money in our American consumer-based economy, but the reality is that a bit of frugality can go a long way in retirement planning and savings. Of course, there has to be a balance between frugality and enjoying the fruits of our labor, but scaling back on non-essential purchases can really help stretch our income considerably.

The other powerful insight that this Lifetime Earnings Calculator can bring you is a deeper insight into the difference a few extra years of work can make. If you plug just a few extra years into the calculator, you will most likely earn several hundred thousand dollars more, which can help cushion your retirement nicely. Plug in the necessary variables to find out what your lifetime earnings will be: