This calculator shows the amount of alimony needed to get the recipient to break-even, after all expenses that have been entered.
It is equivalent to using the Meet Recipient Need calculator, opening the calculator that shows Budget After Taxes and Expenses, and setting “0” as the target.
Please note that this is different than the alimony needed to get the recipient’s “income after tax” amount to reach zero.
The “income after tax” number shows income after-tax but before living expenses such as mortgage, food, rent, children’s expenses, and so on.
The “alimony breakeven” number shows the alimony that just enables the recipient to cover all living expenses.
The time frame is just the current year. If the recipient’s income and expense will be different in future years than they are today, and if it is a goal to set alimony at a point that just enables the recipient to cover all expenses for future years, then you can do the following:
- Set “actual” alimony at this level (on the “Alimony to use…” section of the screen where you enter child support information).
- Manually inspect future years’ Budget Reports, to be sure that this level works in future years as well.
- If you need to change alimony in future years, you can do that on a “more info” screen in the “Alimony to Use” section mentioned above.