Eight Mileposts for deciding what comes next.
Money Mileposts organizes financial priorities into eight progressive goals. The app uses the accounts, debts, expenses, contributions, employer benefits and retirement forecast you enter to show the first unfinished Milepost and explain what remains.
Emergency fund for the biggest deductible
Keep enough cash to cover the household's largest insurance deductible without creating debt.
Capture the employer match
Contribute enough to workplace retirement accounts to receive the full available employer match.
Pay off high-interest debt
Eliminate debt whose interest rate is considered high based on the user's age and debt type.
Build three months of normal expenses
Save three months of ordinary day-to-day expenses without assuming a stripped-down emergency budget.
Max the HSA and build Roth savings
Keep employee and employer HSA contributions within the annual limit while making Roth contributions at least equal to traditional retirement contributions.
Build six months of normal expenses
Expand the emergency fund from three months to six months of regular expenses.
Max retirement and protect retirement pay
Use available retirement contribution space and remain on track for estimated retirement spendable income to equal or exceed current spendable income.
Prepay future expenses
Create dedicated accounts for education, bridge savings, travel, family care and other future costs, with a target amount, target date, expected return and planned monthly contribution.
Quick Milepost Checker
Enter a few snapshot details for a simplified estimate of the first Milepost that may still need attention.
Where are you today?
This web version intentionally uses fewer inputs than the full app.
Simple high-interest guide
Credit cards, payday loans, and similar revolving consumer debt: treated as high-interest. Student loans: use the published age-based thresholds below. Other personal/unsecured loans: this quick checker uses the same age-based percentages as a simplified heuristic, so a low-rate personal loan does not automatically stop you at Milepost 3. Auto loans: evaluated using the 20/3/8 guideline instead of an APR cutoff.
*These are simplified guides, not financial, legal, tax or life advice.