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About this tool
Score your saving, spending and planning habits against standard benchmarks like the 20% savings rate and a six-month emergency fund.
The Money Habit Score Tool scores eleven money habits out of 100 across three pillars — saving, spending and planning — using the benchmarks financial planners actually underwrite to rather than generic advice. It measures your savings rate against the 20% target from the 50/30/20 rule, your emergency fund against the three-to-six-month range, your EMIs against the 40% fixed obligation to income ratio lenders apply, and your term cover against the ten-times-annual-income guideline. The output ranks the weakest habits first and states the exact rupee gap for each one.
Open Money Habit Score Tool on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Under "Your numbers", enter monthly take-home income, living expenses excluding EMIs, the amount saved each month, your liquid emergency fund, total EMIs, term life sum assured and health cover in rupees.
Under "Your habits", answer the six dropdowns covering spending reviews, how retirement money goes in, the credit card bill, written goals, nominations and will, and review frequency.
Read the score out of 100 with its band, the saving, spending and planning pillar scores, and the "Savings rate", "Emergency fund", "EMIs to income" and "Life cover" rows, then work down "Fix these first".
Every check states the standard it measures against instead of scoring on vibes.
Tells you the shortfall in rupees, not just that a number is low.
Sorts the weak spots by how much they drag the score down, so you fix the biggest one first.
At least 20% of take-home pay, which is the savings portion of the 50/30/20 rule — 50% to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to saving and debt repayment. If you are starting late or carrying high-rate debt, a higher rate is needed to catch up, and the surest way to hold it is a standing instruction on payday rather than saving whatever is left at month end.
Three to six months of living expenses, held in a savings account or liquid fund rather than in equity. Six months is the usual target for a single earner or anyone with variable income; three months is the practical floor. On expenses of Rs 50,000 a month that is Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 3,00,000.
Under 40%. Lenders assess this as the fixed obligation to income ratio and generally stop approving new loans somewhere between 40% and 50% of net income. Staying below 40% leaves room to absorb a rate rise on a floating loan without the budget breaking.
At least ten times annual income as a starting point, adjusted upward for outstanding loans and downward for assets already built. Pure term cover buys that sum assured for a fraction of what a bundled savings policy costs. This is a general guideline — a certified financial planner can size it against your actual liabilities and dependants.