Freelance Take-Home on $120,000 Revenue with 20% Retirement
Calculate take-home pay for a freelancer earning $120,000 who sets aside 20% for retirement and 25% for taxes.
How to use this tool
- Enter your gross revenue (money collected from clients).
- Enter your deductible business expenses.
- Set a combined tax set-aside percentage for income + self-employment tax.
- Optionally set a retirement contribution, then read your take-home pay.
Aggressively saving for retirement changes your take-home — this calculator shows what $120,000 in revenue nets after a 20% retirement contribution.
Frequently asked questions
- What tax percentage should freelancers set aside?
- It depends on income, deductions and country, so enter your own effective rate. As a working estimate many US freelancers reserve 25–35% of net profit to cover both income tax and self-employment tax.
- Is the retirement contribution a tax deduction?
- This tool treats it as a set-aside out of profit so you can see cash take-home. In practice contributions to accounts like a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) may be tax-deductible, which would lower your tax — adjust your tax rate if you want to model that.
- Why subtract expenses before tax?
- Because tax is generally owed on net profit, not gross revenue. Deductible business expenses reduce the profit on which both income and self-employment tax are calculated.