← Back to the calculator
✍️ The story behind Finance Simulator

I built the tool my spreadsheet couldn't be.

A decade of personal finance planning led to a battle-tested spreadsheet. 15 years of UX background turned it into a web tool.

6 yrsBattle-testing the sheet
15 yrsProduct design background
$0100% Free & local

The clarity gap

For a decade, I tried mapping out my financial future across salary, taxes, savings, and retirement. Every tool I tried fell into two extremes: childishly simple or overwhelmingly complex. There was no middle ground for genuine clarity.

Six years, one spreadsheet

Six years ago, I built a custom spreadsheet to bridge the gap. It grew into a battle-tested model handling home equity, tax refunds, salary projections, and retirement bridges. It was accurate and effective, but let's be honest: it was clunky, fragile, and ugly.

Not financial advice, just personal math. I'm a product designer, not a certified financial planner, accountant, or tax professional. This tool is an educational simulator built using public Canadian tax rules to help visualize scenarios. All outputs are estimates for informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified professional before making real-world financial decisions.

From spreadsheet to software

I've spent 15 years designing digital products for a living. Eventually, I decided to solve my own problem: I took my spreadsheet's logic, fixed its limitations, and turned it into a clean, intuitive web tool. All the accuracy, zero clunkiness.

Built for clarity, not complexity

🎯 The moment it clicked

A few months in, I realized I hadn't opened my master spreadsheet once. I was spending a fraction of the time on my finances while gaining far more clarity. That was the exact moment I knew this was worth sharing.

Why it's 100% free

I'm sharing this tool for free to help other Canadians get a clear picture of their financial future. Because I built it for myself first, every design decision was made by someone who actually relies on it, not a product team optimizing for engagement or ad revenue.

Releasing it publicly also brings real-world feedback: what's confusing, what's missing, and what needs fixing. Major updates since launch, such as pension support, clearer labels, and edge-case calculation fixes, have come directly from people using the tool and sharing their feedback.

Design, not decoration

15 years of product design experience shaped how effortlessly this feels to use, not just how it calculates.

Grounded in official math

Calculations are benchmarked against published CRA brackets and provincial rules, kept current every year.

Battle-tested logic

Six years of building and refining my own model revealed where most finance calculators fall short.

Shaped by real users

Continuously improved through direct feedback from Canadians planning their own futures.

No signups, no accounts. Your data stays on your device, your financial inputs are never sent to a server. There is an optional tip jar if you want to support future updates, but full access is 100% free for everyone.

🧮 Try it with your own numbers

Estimate your net pay, build a custom scenario, and project your TFSA, RRSP, and FHSA growth in under two minutes.

100% Free · No signup required · Data stays on your device

Open the simulator


This page is a personal account, not financial, tax, or legal advice. See the terms of use for what the tool's estimates are (and aren't) meant for.

Try it with your own numbers