Life Equivalence Calculator
A relocation decision-support app that compares gross salary, take-home income, local costs, family plans, retirement, and end-of-life wealth across Cologne and Boston.
Life Equivalence Calculator compares relocation options as life paths, not only salary numbers.
Live
life-equivalence-calculator.hectorsanchez.eu
What it does
The first version compares Cologne and Boston for a software engineer. It starts with gross salary, estimates take-home income after taxes and required contributions, then layers in housing, transport, healthcare, lifestyle costs, family planning, childcare, education savings, retirement, and end-of-life wealth.
The app also shows how bumpy the trajectory is: negative cash-flow years, worst year, largest one-year drop, and a rough bumpiness score.
Stack
- Plain JavaScript frontend.
- Node backend for comparison APIs.
- systemd for the backend process.
- nginx on the Hetzner VPS for TLS, static assets, and API proxying.
Status
Alpha. The model is intentionally transparent about weak assumptions. Future versions need stronger local data, partner-income modeling, real wealth metrics, FX and PPP conversion, and support for more countries and cities.
Live
The app runs at life-equivalence-calculator.hectorsanchez.eu.