Methodology

My Finance Position is designed to give you a simple, intuitive view of where you stand financially compared to people in a similar situation. This page explains, in plain language, how we calculate your result.

1. What we ask you for

When you use the comparison tool, we ask for information such as:

• Age or age range
• Country or region
• Annual income (before tax)
• Total savings and investments
• Total debt
• Optional: monthly expenses or savings rate

From this, we may calculate:

• Net worth = total savings and investments – total debt
• Savings rate = savings per year ÷ income per year (if applicable)

2. Grouping you with similar people

To make comparisons meaningful, we compare you to people in a similar situation, for example:

• Age bands (e.g. 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, etc.)
• Country or region (e.g. Australia)

Your results are calculated within these groups, not across the entire population regardless of age or location.

3. Data sources

Our comparisons may use a combination of:

• Official statistics, such as government or reputable financial surveys that provide median income or net worth by age group and region.
• Anonymous user submissions, which are entries provided directly by users on My Finance Position.

At the beginning, when there are fewer user submissions, we may rely more heavily on official statistics to provide meaningful medians and reference points. As more people use the tool, anonymous submissions can be used to show a more detailed distribution, such as percentiles or curves.

4. Medians, percentiles, and labels

We use standard statistical concepts to describe your position:

• Median – the middle value. About half of people are above this number and half are below.
• Percentile – the percentage of people at or below your value. For example, if you are in the 70th percentile for income, roughly 70% of people in your group earn less than you, and 30% earn more.

To keep things simple, we often translate these into plain English labels:

• “Behind” – significantly below the median or in a lower percentile band.
• “Around average” – near the median or middle percentiles.
• “Ahead” – above the median or in a higher percentile band.

The exact thresholds (for example, which percentile counts as “ahead”) may change slightly over time as we refine the model, but the goal is always to give you an honest, easy-to-understand overview.

5. Limitations

While we aim to provide useful and accurate comparisons, there are important limitations:

• The data may not perfectly represent the entire population of a country or age group, especially when based on a smaller number of user submissions.
• Users may enter approximate or estimated numbers rather than exact values.
• Official statistics may be published with a delay and may not reflect very recent economic changes.

For these reasons, your result should be seen as an informative guide, not a precise financial diagnosis.

6. No financial advice

My Finance Position does not provide personalised financial advice. We do not take into account your individual goals, risk tolerance, or full financial situation.

Our tool is intended to help you understand your position in broad terms. For detailed financial planning, you should consider speaking with a licensed financial professional.

7. Continuous improvement

As more people use My Finance Position, we may update our models, age bands, and calculation methods to improve accuracy and clarity. Where possible, we will update this page to reflect any material changes in methodology.