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Your personal finances can be an important but challenging aspect of your life to manage. Even if you are brilliant at math, computing things like the payoff amount on student loans or the optimal goal for retirement savings can be complicated.

That’s where financial calculators can swoop in and help you. These tools can make it simple to see how much you are spending in, say, credit card interest or what a mortgage payment might look like on your dream house.

Here’s a resource with a variety of financial calculators. Read on to learn what kind of assistance is out there to help you take control of your money and your goals.

1. Student Loan Calculator

There are plenty of student loan calculators out there that can help you estimate your monthly payment and total interest cost.

In addition, you are likely to find student loan refinancing calculators to get a basic idea of how refinancing might affect your bottom line.

Typically, you enter your current loan information, then adjust the term “slider” to see how your monthly payment and total savings amount could be impacted by refinancing.

You could see valuable information like how much you might be able to save every month by refinancing or how much you could potentially save over the lifetime of a loan if you were to refinance. (Calculated payments and savings are only estimates, and don’t factor in your current credit picture or financial situation.)

Just keep in mind that refinancing isn’t necessarily the right choice for everyone. If you have federal student loans and refinance, you will forfeit federal protections and benefits. Also, if you refinance for an extended term, you may pay more interest over the life of the loan.


💡 Quick Tip: A low-interest personal loan from SoFi can help you consolidate your debts, lower your monthly payments, and get you out of debt sooner.

2. Retirement Calculator

It’s almost impossible for one online retirement calculator to take into account all the variables that retirement planning requires. But a calculator could still be useful to give you a general idea of how much money you may want to be saving and how big your retirement nest egg could grow.

It might also give you some insight into how much you’re contributing now, and if you might want to think about adjusting your IRA (individual retirement account), 401(k), or other retirement investment.

One online tool that may be helpful is AARP’s Retirement Calculator . It asks for quite a bit of information, including information about your age, income, current savings and lifestyle expectations in retirement (i.e., will you need more, less, or the same amount of money as you now spend).

The calculator then gives an estimate of how much wealth you’re likely to accumulate and changes you could make — like working longer or saving more — that might help improve your outcomes. Understanding when to retire and what your expenses will be like at that life stage can be an important part of your future planning.

3. Budgeting Calculator

Making a budget — and sticking to it — is one important step on the road to financial security. By making a budget and sticking to it, you might be able to save some extra cash and even be able to gain some new insight and understanding about how you’re currently spending your money.

Setting up a budget might have a snowball effect, potentially empowering you to save even more money once you have a holistic view of current spending. By tracking your finances with a budgeting tool, you can get a better sense of how your earnings, spending, and savings are tracking. It can also help you course-correct if, say, you get hit with a big unexpected bill or move to an area with a different cost of living.

4. & 5. Credit Card Debt Payoff Calculator

Various tools can be helpful if you’re focused on paying down some credit card debt.

•   You might want to use this debt snowball calculator to figure out how long it could take you to completely pay down your balance. In this method, you eliminate your smallest debt first, which can build your motivation. You may want to see how increasing your monthly payments could affect your debt and help you save on interest, which might help keep you motivated in your payoff goals.

You could also use a calculator to see how much faster you could pay off your debt with the debt avalanche method. With this technique, you go after your highest interest-rate debt first.

•   Additionally, to take a look at debt in terms of your credit card interest rate, you might spend some time using a credit card interest calculator. Since credit card debt can be one of the most challenging debts to pay off, you might want to understand how much you are paying overall.

This kind of calculator shows roughly how much interest you could end up paying on your credit card debt. It can give a broad estimate of when that debt could be paid off in full if you continue to make the same payments. Equipped with that information, you might decide to opt for a different way to pay down your debt, such as looking for a lower-interest personal loan.

6. Student Loan Payoff Calculator

If you’re budgeting for your student loans, you could try working with a student loan payoff calculator. Simply add your basic information, and it calculates when your estimated payoff date could be. Plus, you can often click through and discover additional information and tips you could use to potentially shorten that payoff period.

Some of these ideas might include things like seeing if you can find a lower interest rate or making additional payments. Plugging these two data points into the calculator might give you a basic estimate of how much sooner you could pay off your loans.

7. Housing Costs Calculator

Is your attention focused on buying a home? Are you all about mood boards for the primary bedroom and vegetable garden you’ll plant? Then you’re in the right place.

A home affordability calculator can help you look at how much house you can afford. It will help you factor in such considerations mortgage amount, interest rate, property taxes, and so forth. It can be a great way to get a handle on just how much homeownership might cost you.

Additionally, a mortgage calculator can help you get a sense of how much you can save on your monthly payment by changing your down payment. This intel can help you decide whether to start bidding soon or wait until you have a bigger chunk of cash to put down.

These tools can help you decide whether to rent or buy in the near future, as well as (when buying) how to determine the right balance of down payment and financing to suit your budget.

Get Started on Your Goals With These Tools

Your goals are probably pretty unique to you and where you’re at career-wise, with money, and maybe even with outstanding loans. So there’s probably not one end-all, be-all financial calculator to help you achieve all of your financial goals. But there are an array of tools that can help you track your money and determine good options as you move forward.

As you evaluate where your finances stand, you may want to consider ways to pay down debt, such as using a personal loan to eliminate high-interest debt and lower your monthly outlay of funds.

Think twice before turning to high-interest credit cards. Consider a SoFi personal loan instead. SoFi offers competitive fixed rates and same-day funding. See your rate in minutes.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

Moving is part of most people’s lives. Maybe you’re heading to grad school a couple of towns away. Or perhaps you have a job offer hundreds of miles away that you’re excited to accept.

Whatever the reason, the logistics of getting your stuff from the old place to the new one will need wrangling. Here, you’ll learn more about your options for moving, how much it may cost (from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands), and how to afford the expense.

DIY Moving Costs

Yes, you could move yourself. This could be a smart move for a small, local move, and it can help keep costs within your budget.

Exactly how much this might cost will be based on several factors:

•   Cost of transportation (can you borrow a friend’s van or do you need to rent one)?

•   Cost of the packing materials you use (recycled boxes and old newspapers vs. the pros’ higher-end and job-specific supplies

•   How much stuff you’re moving (and if you need to figure out insurance for any pricey items)

•   How far you’re going

•   Whether you need to store some things temporarily.

As you might guess, packing up the contents of a dorm room and moving it half a mile away to the apartment you’re renting with friends will cost one amount. Supplies might cost, say, $65.

Loading up the contents of the sweet bungalow you’ve been living in for a couple of years and depositing your worldly possessions at a new place 1,000 miles away will be a much more involved and expensive undertaking. Packing materials alone could be a few or several hundred dollars, and renting a moving truck could be anywhere from $20 to $100 per day, depending on your local cost of living. Also, you will likely have to pay to stay somewhere overnight and also spend at least a couple of hundred dollars on gas, dollies, and insurance.


💡 Quick Tip: Some personal loan lenders can release your funds as quickly as the same day your loan is approved.

Full Service Moving Costs

If you decide a full-service move best meets your needs, you’re probably going to want to gather some estimates, so you can nail down the details and be ready when it’s time to go. Some pointers as you do so:

•   Also, do check ratings and references carefully. There are plenty of instances of fraud and scams in this realm, and it’s wise to protect yourself.

•   Booking your truck four to eight weeks in advance is typically a good rule of thumb — maybe even further out if you’re moving in the busy summer months.

•   Professional moving companies can give you an estimate based largely on how many rooms of furniture you have. Most have websites, so you can often get a quick estimate online. A typical local (or fairly local, not long-haul) move for a three-bedroom home is about $2,100.

The average moving costs if you relocate cross-country can easily be twice that, or $4,300 for a distance of about 1,225 miles. Keep in mind, specifics will vary. Oversized or extremely heavy items might cost you extra — as could lots of stairs, or things that need to be taken apart and put back together.

Recommended: Average Personal Loan Rates

Extra Moving Costs to Think About

Then there are the extras that go along with getting out of one place and into another.

•   Transportation: If you’re taking your car across the country, you’ll probably want to get a tune-up before you go. And then there’s gas, hotel stays, and eating on the road. Having a car transported instead of driving it yourself could cost anywhere from $700 to $2,000.

If you’re in a hurry and decide to fly, that’s another expense. And if you’re taking a pet, you may have to add a little bit more to your overall bill, depending on the mode of transportation you choose for your furry friend.

•   Getting into your new home: Don’t forget about deposits you might have to make at your new location. That could be anything from first and last month’s rent and a pet deposit at a new apartment, to utility deposits at a new house.

•   Home repairs and cleaning: Be ready to pay for some home repairs on both ends of your move. You may have to make some quick fixes to get out of your rental without losing the deposit or maybe even major repairs if you’re selling a home. When you get to your new location, you could find some unexpected problems. Or you may just want to hire someone to come in and clean so you can cross that off your ever-growing moving to-do list.

•   Starting out fresh: You’ll probably need to buy some things at your new home (like curtains, curtain rods, hangers, bedding, etc.) that are easily overlooked. Then there’s that fridge to fill. All those little costs can add up.

•   Cash for tips: You will likely need to withdraw money from an ATM to thank people for their help when you move. Tips for the movers. Tips for the handyman or housekeeper who helps you get things in shape. Tips at your hotel. Tips for waitstaff at the restaurants you’ll be eating at until you get your new place up and running—or at the very least, tips for the pizza delivery guy.

Recommended: Typical Personal Loan Requirements Needed for Approval

Financing Your Move

If you have enough room on multiple credit cards, you could go that route, but should you? Interest rates can be considerable.

Or would a personal loan make more sense for you to cover all those costs, big and small?

Remember, even if you’ll be reimbursed by your employer or plan to take some moving deductions when you file your tax return, it’s very likely you’ll be paying at least some moving costs up front. And the longer those expenses sit on a credit card, the more interest racks up.

The Takeaway

Even if you have a small amount of stuff and aren’t moving very far, moving takes time, energy, organization, and money. With the average professional move costing a couple of thousand dollars, you may want to plan carefully for this expense. It’s likely not a good reason to dip into your emergency fund, so you may want to save in advance or consider a personal loan. If you qualify for a personal loan, your interest rate may be lower than a credit card, which can free up some cash and reduce your money stress.

Think twice before turning to high-interest credit cards. Consider a SoFi personal loan instead. SoFi offers competitive fixed rates and same-day funding. See your rate in minutes.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

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College graduates who have been bit by the travel bug but don’t have the funds to see the world might still have the opportunity to travel by working abroad after college. Living and working in a new country may have its challenges, but the experience may also transform graduates in ways that are likely to be impressive to future employers.

The Pros and Cons of Working Abroad

Though it can be an enjoyable experience, working abroad can also have challenges. Considering both the pros and cons is recommended before making this life-changing decision.

Pro: Making Money While Traveling

Working abroad allows graduates to start their career while also having the opportunity to travel. This can be a popular post-graduation choice for students who want to travel but don’t have the funds. Moving to a new country generally makes it easier to truly explore and get to know a country better.

Traveling to nearby countries may be easy, as well. Instead of visiting a single country during a one-week vacation, traveling workers might be able to experience multiple countries and cultures.

Recommended: Ways to Be a Frugal Traveler

Pro: Learning the Language

Living abroad gives people a great opportunity to learn a new language or sharpen their skills in one they already speak. Every situation, from ordering breakfast to figuring out transportation, will give recent grads an opportunity to improve their language skills. The ability to speak more than one language might also open more doors in the job market. Being multilingual has become an increasingly desired skill, and learning a language while abroad could pay off in the future.

Con: Culture Shock

Unfamiliar surroundings. A different culture. Moving to a new country means making adjustments. People will communicate differently, eat differently, work differently. Every part of life will be new, which can be both exciting and stressful. Adjustment to life in a new place may be experienced in a range of stages, beginning with excitement and enthusiasm, with maybe some frustration in the middle, to feeling at home in new surroundings and building relationships.

Con: Language Barrier

Dealing with a language barrier can be stressful and scary. Not only can a language barrier make daily activities difficult, it can also make building relationships slow-going. This can feel isolating for people who don’t understand the local language.

Finding Jobs

Finding an international job isn’t all that different from finding one here in the states. Recent grads might consider looking on well-known job search sites or those specific to finding opportunities in other countries. Some overseas job opportunities might be found on websites for international humanitarian organizations, travel magazines, or even the United Nations.

Requirements to Work Abroad

Getting a passport or travel visa and an employment visa are important parts of preparing to work in a foreign country. Most countries grant specific work visas to international workers, but the requirements and processes for getting the visa will vary by country.

It’s also important to know whether or not fluency in the language is required. People who are not fluent in a language other than English and do not want to learn before moving may want to consider countries where English is the official language.

Employment Abroad

Graduates who like to think long term may want to consider applying for jobs with global companies that have positions in multiple countries, including the United States. This may open up opportunities to move back to the U.S. in the future.

One popular choice for working abroad is teaching English. A teaching degree may or may not be required, so make sure to check the requirements in the country you are considering.

Another popular option is to look for seasonal work, such as jobs in the tourism industry. This can include working at a ski resort, a hostel, or bartending at a local restaurant. People who enjoy caring for children might be interested in working as an au pair, which typically includes room and board in addition to a salary.

Other Post-Graduation Decisions

Finding a job isn’t the only task that begins after graduation. Once a student graduates, drops below half-time enrollment, or withdraws from school, the task of paying back student loans begins. Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, and Federal Family Education Loan borrowers have a six-month grace period before they’re required to start making payments. Students who took out a Perkins loan have a nine-month grace period.

Refinancing student loans into one new loan may offer borrowers a lower interest rate or different terms than their existing loans. Both federal and private student loans can be refinanced, but when federal student loans are refinanced by a private lender, the borrower loses federal benefits, such as income-driven repayment plans, loan forgiveness programs, deferment, and forbearance.

The Takeaway

Whether your future employment is in the U.S. or in a foreign country, there are many options to consider. Pros of working abroad after college include gaining new work and life experiences, learning a new language, and making money while traveling. Cons of working abroad include experiencing culture shock and language barriers, and possibly missing out on events back at home.

However, no matter where your future employment takes you, if you have a student loan, repayment will follow.

If refinancing a student loan is something you’re considering, SoFi has options that may work for your situation. Saving money is simple with SoFi’s online application process, low fixed or variable rates, and flexible terms.

SoFi Student Loan Refinance
Terms and conditions apply. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are private loans. When you refinance federal loans with a SoFi loan, YOU FORFEIT YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR ALL FEDERAL LOAN BENEFITS, including all flexible federal repayment and forgiveness options that are or may become available to federal student loan borrowers including, but not limited to: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, extended repayment plans, PAYE or SAVE. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Learn more at SoFi.com/eligibility. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.