Breaking Free tool

What does an hour of your life actually sell for?

A second income does not enter your household at the average tax rate. It stacks on top of the first income, then gets reduced again by childcare, commute, work spending, and the hours the job quietly consumes.

The paycheck

Enter the second earner's numbers plus the household's first income. The stacking is the point.

First earner's gross salary ($/yr) Second earner's gross salary ($/yr) Filing status State Pre-tax deductions: 401(k), health premiums ($/yr)

The costs of earning

The spending that exists because the job exists. The tool only works on honest inputs.

Childcare caused by working ($/yr) Commute cost: gas, transit, parking ($/wk) Work-required spending: wardrobe, lunches, convenience takeout ($/mo)

The hours truth

Not what the contract says. What the job actually takes.

Contracted hours/week Unpaid overtime + always-on hours/week Commute hours/week Decompression hours/week Working weeks/year

Enter at least a salary and contracted hours.

-Sticker wage

-Real wage

Where it goes

Read the story behind buying back time

Every assumption, in the open

Federal income tax: Uses the official 2026 federal brackets and standard deductions: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%; standard deduction of $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, and $24,150 head of household. IRS source.

Payroll tax: Uses the 2026 Social Security wage limit of $184,500, the 6.2% employee Social Security rate, the 1.45% Medicare rate, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above the applicable household threshold. Social Security source.

California estimate: California had not yet published its 2026 personal income tax schedule when this tool was updated on July 12, 2026. The estimate uses the official 2025 California brackets and standard deductions. California FTB source.

The stacking: In second-income mode, income tax attributed to the second income equals household tax with both incomes minus household tax with only the first income. That is the part many calculators skip.

Real wage: Gross income minus attributed income tax, payroll tax, childcare, commute, and work-required spending, divided by work, overtime, commute, and decompression hours.