See what your salary, bonus, and RSUs may really be worth.

A compensation planning calculator — not a tax optimizer

This tool helps tech employees estimate the long-term value of a compensation package made of base salary, cash bonus, and equity (RSUs) that vests over time. Despite the "optimizer" nickname, it does not design or recommend any tax strategy. It's a planning calculator that applies a simplified estimated tax rate so you can compare offers and understand how the pieces add up. It is not tax or financial advice.

How RSU value is projected

Your equity grant is converted into shares at today's price, then vests according to your schedule (4-year equal vesting by default). To project the share price, the calculator uses the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) implied by your current and expected future price:

CAGR = (Future Price ÷ Current Price)^(1 ÷ years) − 1

That growth is applied year by year, and each year's vested shares are valued at that year's projected price. Because RSUs are valued at future prices, your equity total is very sensitive to the stock-growth assumption — a small change compounds into a big swing. Try optimistic and pessimistic future prices to see a realistic range.

Gross, after-tax, real, and present value

For each year the calculator builds your total gross compensation (base + bonus + vested equity), estimates taxes, and reports your after-tax income. It then restates the totals two more ways:

• Inflation-adjusted — your after-tax pay expressed in today's purchasing power, because a dollar in year five buys less than a dollar today.
• Present value — future after-tax cash flows discounted back to today using your discount rate, via PV = Cash Flow ÷ (1 + discount rate)^year. This lets you fairly compare an offer weighted toward future vesting against one with more cash up front.

Reading the stacked chart

The chart breaks each year's gross compensation into three parts: your net income (real, after-tax), taxes paid, and the value lost to inflation and opportunity cost. Seeing taxes and inflation visualized alongside take-home pay is a powerful reminder that headline "total comp" numbers overstate what actually lands in your pocket in real terms.

Simple vs advanced tax mode

In the default mode you enter a single estimated tax rate — quick and transparent. Advanced mode instead estimates federal tax from the progressive brackets based on your filing status (using the same simplified Tax Engine that powers our tax calculators). Neither mode models state taxes, payroll taxes in detail, the special supplemental withholding on RSUs, or many other real-world factors. Treat the tax figure as a rough estimate.

Things this tool intentionally simplifies

• Vesting cliffs and refresher grants are not modeled separately.
• State income tax is not calculated.
• RSU supplemental withholding differs from your effective rate.
• Stock growth is assumed smooth; real prices are volatile.

Use it to ask better questions

The real value of this calculator is helping you see how much of an offer is locked in future vesting, how sensitive it is to stock performance, and what taxes and inflation do to it. When you sell vested shares later, estimate the tax with our long-term and short-term capital gains calculators, and plan your savings with the investment goal calculator. Always verify specifics with the employer and a qualified professional.