Money Reality Check
Four numbers in, one honest snapshot out: where your income ranks among South Africans, the tax you really pay, how heavy your housing is, and whether your saving puts you on track. Move the sliders — it recalculates live.
What it measures
Income percentile
Where your gross income sits among formally employed South Africans. It's a high-inequality country, so the answer surprises most people.
Effective tax rate
Your real PAYE rate on the 2026 SARS brackets and primary rebate — not the marginal bracket headline, which almost nobody actually pays on their whole income.
Housing burden
Rent or bond as a share of gross income, measured against the long-standing 30% guideline — the single biggest lever on how much you can save.
Savings rate & retirement track
What share of income you keep, and how your accumulated savings compare to a common age-based multiple-of-salary target.
Frequently asked
Is the Money Reality Check accurate for South Africa?▾
The tax maths uses the exact 2026 SARS individual brackets and primary rebate. The income percentile is an approximation from public StatsSA and SARS aggregates for formally employed South Africans, so treat it as directional rather than exact. Everything is explained in the 'How this is calculated' panel.
Do you store the numbers I enter?▾
No. The entire calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. Your snapshot is encoded in the page URL, so the only person who can see it is whoever you choose to share the link with.
What is a good Money Reality Score?▾
The score rewards habits you control — your savings rate, keeping housing under ~30% of income, and being on track for retirement — rather than how much you earn. 70+ is solid; below 50 means at least one of those three is under strain.
Why is my effective tax rate lower than my bracket?▾
Your marginal bracket only applies to the top slice of your income. The brackets below it are taxed at lower rates, and the primary rebate is subtracted, so your effective (average) rate is always lower than your marginal rate.
Ready to act on it? Jump into the Tax-Efficient Wealth, Rentvesting, or Solar ROI engines.