What should I do with my salary?

Enter your numbers and I'll tell you where to start saving, how big a cushion you need and how long each goal would take.

Stage 1
Payslips a year
Job

Will your ability to save change? If you know that in a few years you'll change jobs, home or expenses, add a stage with the numbers you'll have then.

Your goals
What you have now
How you handle risk

If your investment drops 20% in a month, what do you do?

When do you think you'll need that money?

How much investing experience do you have?

Your result

Each month

Coming in
€1,750
Going out
€1,200
Left over
€550

with the extra payslips spread over twelve months

Your investor profile

Moderate

You accept some falls in exchange for higher returns. A mix of stable products and stocks suits you.

Where to start

  1. Build your emergency fundMoney set aside and easy to reach, not invested, for surprises: losing your job, a breakdown or a big bill. It saves you from selling investments at a bad time or borrowing.: 3 months of spending, €3,600. You have €2,000; you need €1,600 more.
  2. Then invest whatever is left each month, in line with your profile.

Your split

A common benchmark is the 50/30/20 rule: half your pay for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for saving.

  • Needs46%benchmark 50%
  • Wants23%benchmark 30%
  • Saving31%benchmark 20%

How long it would take

The car You need €15,000
2 years and 7 months
The home deposit You need €60,000
8 years and 8 months
Living off your investments You need €225,000
21 years and 11 months

If you invest every month

Enter how much you'd put in each month and the yearly return you expect from an index. According to MSCI, its world index, the MSCI WorldAn index of 1,249 large and mid-sized companies from 23 developed countries, as of 30 September 2026 according to MSCI. It is a common benchmark for the world stock market., returned 9.02% a year from 31 December 1987 to 30 September 2026, in US dollars, with dividends reinvested and before inflationThe general rise in prices. With 2% inflation, what costs €100 today will cost €102 a year from now.. That average mixes very good years with sharp falls: between 2007 and 2009 it lost as much as 57.46%.

In 20 years you'd have put in €132,000 and it would be worth €200,113. The difference, €68,113, is compound interestWhen gains are reinvested and earn gains of their own. That's why, over the years, the curve grows faster and faster.: gains that earn further gains.

It starts from what you've already invested and adds what you have left over each month now, unless you change it. The line is smooth because it's an average; in reality it goes up and down.

And when you want to buy something?

If everything you save goes into a stock fund, paying for the car means selling part of it and paying tax on the gain. That's why the usual advice, including the CNMVCNMV: Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Spain's securities regulator. The public body that supervises markets and investment products in Spain and publishes guides for investors.'s investor materials, is to split your money by when you'll need it.

Under 3 years: the car
Out of the stock market: a high-interest account, a deposit, Spanish Treasury billsSpanish government debt at 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. You buy it for less than its face value and get the full value back at maturity. or a money market fundA fund that invests in very short-term, low-risk debt. It earns little, but its value barely moves. It isn't guaranteed.. They earn little, but the money will be there on the day you pay. Stocks have fallen more than 40%, as in 2000-2002 or 2008-2009.
3 to 5 years: the home deposit
Mostly short-term fixed incomeLoans to governments or companies that pay you back with interest on a set date. It moves less than stocks. and cash. At most a small slice in stocks, shrinking as the purchase gets closer.
Over 5 years: living off your investments
This is where stocks fit: an index fundA fund that copies an index (for example, the world's largest companies) instead of picking stocks. It has low fees and moves with the market. tracking a world index, with monthly contributions and left alone. It's the pot where compound interestWhen gains are reinvested and earn gains of their own. That's why, over the years, the curve grows faster and faster. does its work, and it shouldn't be emptied to pay for the car.

What if it's all invested already?

A year or two before you buy, gradually move the money for that goal out of stocks into something steady, such as a money market fundA fund that invests in very short-term, low-risk debt. It earns little, but its value barely moves. It isn't guaranteed..

  • If you hold mutual funds, moving from one fund to another (a fund transferMoving money from one mutual fund to another without it passing through your account. In Spain it isn't taxed until you finally cash out.) is tax-free in Spain. You can't do that with an ETFETF: Exchange Traded Fund. A fund, often an index fund, that is bought and sold on the stock exchange like a share.: to switch, you have to sell it.
  • When you take the money out to pay, you only pay tax on what you've gained: 19% on the first €6,000 of gain, 21% on the part from €6,000 to €50,000 and 23% on the part from €50,000 to €200,000.
  • The tax office treats what you bought longest ago as sold first, and that is usually what has gained the most. So the gain you declare is often bigger than you'd expect.

That's why the calculator counts the car with no return, the home deposit at the conservative rate (2%) and living off your investments at your profile's rate.

Sources: CNMV, time horizon · CNMV, fund transfers · 2026 IRPF brackets · MSCI World

The assumptions behind it

  • InflationThe general rise in prices. With 2% inflation, what costs €100 today will cost €102 a year from now. of 2% a year, the European Central Bank's target. All figures are in today's euros.
  • Annual real returnWhat money earns after inflation. If an investment returns 6% and prices rise 2%, the real return is 4%. by profile: 2% conservative, 4% moderate and 6% dynamic.
  • Each stage saves what it has left over and, if it falls short, draws on savings. Living off your investments uses the pay of the last stage, which is what your investments will have to pay you.
  • Emergency fundMoney set aside and easy to reach, not invested, for surprises: losing your job, a breakdown or a big bill. It saves you from selling investments at a bad time or borrowing. of 3 months of spending, one more if your job is temporary, two if you're self-employed and one more if someone depends on you, up to 6. If a new stage needs more, it is topped up before going on with the goals.
  • Goals are paid from what's left once the fund is complete. Savings above the fund and what you've already invested count as a starting point.
  • The car is paid in full without investing: it's short-term money.
  • The home deposit is 20% of the price plus 10% for taxes and fees, at the conservative return.
  • The goals you add are calculated by when you'll need them: within 3 years, not invested, like the car; in 3 to 5 years, at the conservative return, like the house; and beyond 5 years, at your profile's return.
  • Living off your investments means gathering 150 times the net pay per payslip of the last stage, at your profile's return.

This is educational material, not financial advice. The returns are assumptions and the past doesn't guarantee the future; before deciding what to do with your money, talk to a professional.