Two numbers decide whether leaving your job is a plan or a feeling: how exposed you are right now, and what a business would actually have to pay you. This works them both out in about ten minutes.
STEP 1
Your W-2 Fragility Index
Score each dimension 0–10, where 10 is most fragile. If you're unsure, round up — optimism is the default error here.
Fragility score
0/ 60
Move the sliders to score yourself.
Below 25 is manageable. 25–40 means you're more exposed than you feel. Above 40 is high urgency.
STEP 2
Your true monthly overhead
Every fixed cost, counted honestly. The number people get wrong is benefits — what your employer quietly pays for becomes yours the day you leave.
Benefits replacement
Get an actual health quote for your household in your state. Don't estimate this one.
True monthly overhead
$0
Includes an automatic 10% miscellaneous buffer on living costs.
STEP 3
Your replacement ratio
Your overhead is the floor, not the target. The ratio is the cushion between "the business covers my bills in an average month" and "the business survives a bad one."
Your Freedom Number
$0
Monthly cash flow the business must produce, after business expenses and debt service, before personal taxes.
Then layer taxes on top. At a 25% effective personal rate, the business needs to generate roughly $0 before your personal tax obligation. Your entity structure changes this — confirm with a CPA.
STEP 4
The stress test
A Freedom Number that only works in an average month isn't your real number. Enter what you project a target business would actually throw off each month, and assume the setback lands in month three — not year three.
Scenario, arriving in month 3
Remaining
Result
Enter a projected cash flow above to run the five scenarios.
The number tells you what you need. It doesn't tell you where to find it.
Send yourself this result, and I'll follow it with the deal-screening checklist and the Red Flag Stack — the two things you'll want the first time a listing looks good.
No spam, and unsubscribe any time. Your numbers stay in your browser — only your email address, your score and your Freedom Number are sent.
The Deal Box scores any listing across five dimensions in under ten minutes, and tells you when to walk. It's in Stop Hustling. Start Owning.