How much will you earn between now and 65?
Enter your current income and age. We'll apply a 2.5% annual inflation adjustment to project the total — the foundation of your wealth math.
Σ (income × 1.025year) — from today through retirement age.Your Lifetime Earnings Potential
This is the "Phil Number" in the book — the total dollars your current earning power will generate from now through retirement, inflated at 2.5% a year.
What is that worth today?
Future dollars aren't worth today's dollars. We discount your lifetime earnings at a 6% rate to tell you what your labor — as a pure asset — is worth right now.
LE ÷ (1.06n) — present value at 6% over n years.Your Human Life Value Ch. 10
What your labor — your mind, your time, your earning capacity — is worth as an asset today. In the book's framing, this is the asset you already own before you build a single other one.
Why 2.5% inflation?
The long-run U.S. average. The book's math is intentionally conservative — you'll want to stress-test against 3% or 3.5% if your industry prices aggressively.
Why discount at 6%?
It's the long-run after-tax real equity return used in the Chapter 10 example. Bump it to 8% for a more aggressive comp, 4% for a bond-like reality check.