How the BrickScore is calculated
The whole method, in the open — the seven dimensions, what each one weighs, how the number is built, and just as importantly, what it can't tell you.
Published · Describes calculation version fsi-1.2.0
What it measures
The BrickScore is the plain-English read of the Financial Strength Index. It is a decision-support tool, not a measure of your worth, your wealth, or how much you earn. It answers one question:
How prepared are you to make financial decisions that support the life you’re trying to build?
The seven dimensions and what each weighs
The weights are fixed and identical for everyone. Your line of work never changes them — scoring someone differently because of the job they do is exactly the kind of thing this model is built to avoid.
| Dimension | What it asks | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Stability | Can everyday money run without a monthly scramble? | 20% |
| Resilience | Could you take a hit — a layoff, a breakdown — and stay standing? | 20% |
| Protection | Are your people and what you've built actually covered? | 15% |
| Growth | Are your income and savings set up to climb over time? | 15% |
| Flexibility | How many real choices does your money give you? | 10% |
| Direction | Is the money pointed at the life you're building? | 10% |
| Behavior | Do you follow through — automatically, on a rhythm? | 10% |
How the number is built
- Each answer scores 0–4 points. “I’m not sure” and “doesn’t apply to me” record a skip — never a zero.
- Each dimension scores as points earned ÷ points available, over the questions you actually answered. A question you skipped doesn’t count against you, because a missing answer is not evidence of a problem.
- If a dimension has no answers at all, it is marked unable to assess and its weight is spread across the rest, rather than being scored as a failure.
- The seven dimension scores combine by the weights above, then map onto the 300–900 scale. There is exactly one rounding step, at the very end.
The bands
Bands describe the state of your financial systems — never you. There is no failing band, and there is no band that means you did something wrong.
| Score | Band | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 300–419 | Starting | Immediate foundational opportunities exist. |
| 420–539 | Building | Core systems are forming but remain vulnerable. |
| 540–659 | Developing | Meaningful progress with specific gaps. |
| 660–759 | Strong | Solid foundation and improving optionality. |
| 760–839 | Very Strong | Broad preparedness with targeted opportunities. |
| 840–900 | Enduring | Highly resilient, intentional, and well-maintained. |
How confident the score is
Every result carries a confidence level based on how many of the 31 available signals you answered — the 21 core questions plus 10 optional precision questions offered after your reveal. Under half is Low; up to 80% is Moderate.
Today the score never reports High confidence, even if you answer everything. High is reserved for evidence we can verify, and every answer here is self-reported. Finishing the core questions with no skips lands around 68% coverage — Moderate, by design. We would rather cap the claim than overstate it.
What the BrickScore is not
- Not a credit score. It is not reported to anyone, it is not shared with lenders, and it never touches your credit. The 300–900 shape is there because it’s a familiar range, not because it means what FICO means.
- Not personalized financial advice. This is educational coaching. It is not legal, tax, or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for a licensed professional who can look at your actual numbers.
- Not a verified audit. Everything is self-reported. No bank connection, no credit check — which is what keeps it free and private, and also why confidence is capped.
- Not a judgment of you. A low band means some systems aren’t built yet. Most of the time nobody ever showed you how, and that is not a character flaw.
How your next move is chosen
Any question you answered at two points or fewer nominates a MoneyBrick as a candidate. Candidates rank by how much the move would help, how urgent it looks, how confident we are in that dimension, and whether it connects to a life priority you named — divided by how much effort it takes.
A few things jump the queue no matter what: high-interest debt, a first cash cushion, insurance, health coverage, and income protection. If one of those is at zero, it outranks everything else, because the downside is the kind you don’t recover from quickly.
Versioning
This calculation is version fsi-1.2.0. Every saved result records the version that produced it, and past scores are never silently recalculated when the model changes — so a score you took last year still means what it meant last year.
That’s the whole method. 21 questions, about 5 minutes, no bank connection and no credit card — and you can read exactly how the number was built before you decide whether to trust it.
Prefer to look around first? What the BrickScore covers.
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