Financial Simulator

Most people don't have a clear understanding of finances, they don't know what investment vehicles exist, how they are taxed, or the long-term benefits of investing, and don't have a plan for their retirement. There is generally no education on this subject in schools and most people go through life unaware of this gap, or too scared of it to get involved.

Additionally, most personal finance calculators are simplistic, narrow and generic or US‑centric, for example simple compound interest calculators, mortgage calculators, etc. There’s no privacy‑first, transparent tools that can model a lifetime of events with country‑specific tax rules to offer a comprehensive long-term view of financial outcomes.

There's an opportunity to help people to experiment with “what‑if” scenarios to understand the impacts of different financial decisions under their local tax system over time, including different types of incomes, pensions, investments, real estate operations, and have a clearer idea of the opportunities and options before engaging with a qualified financial advisor to validate and execute those ideas.

I built a privacy-focused, country‑aware financial planning sandbox that empowers DIY planners, FIRE enthusiasts, expats, educators, and advisors to explore complex scenarios. It currently models the Irish tax system and it's free to use, and I'm in the process of expanding it to cover other countries. Since the tool doesn't store personal information, doesn't provide personalised financial advise and doesn't sell any financial products, there is no regulatory risk. I plan to market it through informal knowledge-sharing sessions where this tool can be used to demonstrate concepts and as a resource for the attendees to explore in their own time.

It was used in several informal introductory classes to investing, and helps current users in experimenting with their financial plans.