Free caregiver planning tool

See the career cost of care before it compounds.

A few reduced work hours can add up to years of lost pay and retirement growth. Estimate the cost, then bring the number to your family.

Free to use. Your inputs stay in your browser.

Your work

Start with the work hours you have cut

Enter the paid work hours you have reduced or expect to reduce. Leave the rest of your caregiving hours out.

Annual salaryBefore taxWork hours reduced0 to 40 each weekhours / weekCaregiving durationYour best estimateyearsYears until retirementFor compoundingyears

Estimated impact

$71.3K

This adds your lost gross pay to the employer match and investment growth you may miss. It does not count your own contributions twice.

Lost wages Employer match + growth

Lost wages

$18,750 a year for 3 pre-retirement years

$56,250

Contributions not made

$3,375 from you + $1,688 employer match

$5,063

Retirement savings lost

Projected value at retirement using a 7% annual return

$18,394

What five work hours could protect

Keeping 5 paid work hours a week could protect about $35,634 of this value.

Those hours represent $9,375 in pay each year. Compare that with respite care, sibling support, or workplace flexibility.

Your numbers stay in the link, not on our servers. Anyone who opens it sees this same estimate.

This is an educational estimate, not financial advice. It does not model taxes, raises, Social Security benefits, pensions, health insurance, or career re-entry costs. Investment returns are not guaranteed.

The cost behind the care

The receipts are only the visible part.

Cutting your schedule can shrink your pay, break up your work history, and leave retirement contributions with less time to grow.

63M

Americans provided care to an adult or child with a complex condition in 2025.

50%

of employed caregivers reported at least one work disruption.

35 years

of earnings are used in the Social Security retirement benefit calculation.

Sources: AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving, Caregiving in the U.S. 2025; Social Security Administration.

How the estimate works

How we calculate your estimate

Lost wages use your salary divided across a 40-hour, 52-week work year, multiplied by the paid work hours reduced and the caregiving duration.

Missed retirement contributions apply your contribution rate and employer match to that reduced pay.

Retirement value compounds each missed monthly contribution until retirement. If caregiving extends past retirement, only pre-retirement months are counted.

Use the estimate

Bring the number to your family.

Compare the estimate with part-time paid help, flexible work, family contributions, and benefits available to the person receiving care. It gives your family a concrete way to see how much one caregiver would otherwise absorb.

Read the full caregiving cost guide

For publishers and advisors

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Free to embed, no account and no attribution fee. If you write for caregivers, advise families on retirement, or run a caregiver support program, your readers can run their numbers without leaving your page.

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