Help & user manual · Retirement Planner

1. Before you begin

This app helps you answer one question: "Will my money last for the rest of my life?"

You type in what you have, what you earn and what you spend. The app plays your life forward, year by year. It shows how your savings rise and fall, what taxes you may pay, and how likely your plan is to work.

Gather these first. Rough numbers are fine. You can change them any time.

Your birth year (and your spouse's or partner's).
The age you hope to stop working.
Your yearly pay before tax.
Your account balances: workplace plan (401(k), 403(b)), IRAs, Roth, brokerage, savings, HSA.
How much you put into each account per year, and any employer match.
Your Social Security estimate. Get it free at ssa.gov/myaccount. Use the monthly amount "at full retirement age".
Your yearly spending. A rough total is enough to start.
Your home value and mortgage, if you own a home.
Any pension, and what it pays.

Tip: You do not need everything. The app starts with a sample family. Replace their numbers with yours, one section at a time.

2. Quick start (10 minutes)

Follow these steps. We use an example: Maria, born 1971, single. She wants to retire at 65.

Open the planner. A sample plan loads by itself. It saves automatically as you type.
Make your own copy. In the top bar, click Rename and type a name, like "Maria's plan".
Go to the Plan inputs tab.
Household & taxes. Maria is single, so she unticks Plan as a couple. She picks her state.
You. She enters Birth year 1971, Retirement age 65, Life expectancy (plan to age) 95, Salary 80000. She enters 1500 as her Social Security benefit and 67 as her claiming age.
Accounts & balances. She edits the rows to match her accounts. Her 401(k) has 300000 and she adds 15000 a year. Her employer adds 4000. She removes rows she does not have with ✕.
Expenses. She enters her yearly costs: housing 18000, food 9000, other 15000. Healthcare and her home are entered elsewhere, so she does not add them here.
Go to the Dashboard. Read the coloured line at the top. It might say "✓ On track: 88% of 500 Monte Carlo runs fully fund your plan."
Try a what-if. Click Duplicate. In the copy, change her retirement age to 63. Then open Compare scenarios, tick both plans and click Compare selected.
Back up. Click Export JSON to save a file copy of your plans.

That's it. The rest of this manual explains every field and result in detail.

3. How the app works

Years and ages

The plan runs one year at a time. It starts in the Plan start year and ends in the year the last person reaches their life expectancy age.
Ages are ages, not years. "65" means "when I am 65". It never means "in 65 years". Ages in expenses, events, Roth conversions and real estate are your age (the first person), unless the field says "owner".
You stop working in the year you reach your retirement age. Example: retirement age 65 means you work through age 64 and are retired the year you turn 65.

Today's money vs. future dollars

Prices rise over time (inflation). $100 buys less in 20 years than it does now.
Most amounts you type are in today's money. Example: if you spend $50,000 a year today, type 50000. The app raises it each year with inflation for you.
Results can be shown either way. On the Dashboard, the box Show in today's dollars switches the charts and table. Ticked = today's money (easiest to understand). Unticked = the actual future dollar amounts.
The exception: a pension or income with COLA unticked, and an event with Today's $ unticked, stay at the fixed dollar amount you typed.

Percents

Type percents as plain numbers. For 5%, type 5, not 0.05. For 0.15%, type 0.15.

Blank fields

A blank "end age" or "to age" means "for life" or "no end". A blank buy age means "already owned". A blank sell age means "never sold". A blank account fee uses the plan-wide fee.

Saving

Every change saves itself in your browser. The top bar shows "Saved" and the time.

4. Plan inputs, field by field

The Plan inputs tab holds everything about your situation. It has boxes (sections) at the top and tables (lists) below. Each section in the app has a ? link to its part of this manual.

Household & taxes

Plan as a couple: Tick if you plan with a spouse or partner. A second person's fields will appear. Couples file taxes jointly while both are alive.
Plan start year: The first year of the plan. Normally this year. Balances you enter are as of the start of this year.
Tax regime: Which country's tax rules to use. Choose "United States" unless you live in the UK, Canada or Australia. "Custom" lets you type your own tax brackets.
State (US): Your state, for state income tax. Choose "Custom flat rate" to type one rate.
Custom state / regional rate (%): Only used with "Custom flat rate", or as a regional tax outside the US. Type 5 for 5%.
Heirs' tax rate on pre-tax accounts (%): When your children inherit a 401(k) or IRA, they pay income tax on it. This rate (for example 24) is used to show what your heirs really keep.
Unspent income while working: What happens to money left over after your bills while you still work. Spent (lifestyle) assumes you spend it. Saved to taxable or Saved to cash invests it. If you are unsure, choose "Spent". It is the cautious choice. After you retire, leftovers are always saved, and money from a home sale is always saved.
Cap contributions at IRS limits: Keeps yearly contributions within legal limits (for example $24,500 for a 401(k) in 2026, more at age 50+). Leave it ticked.
Harvest capital gains in 0% bracket: An advanced tax trick. In low-income years, the app sells and rebuys investments so the gains are taxed at 0%. This lowers future taxes. Safe to tick if you have a brokerage account.

You / Spouse / partner

Name: Any name. Used in labels.
Birth year: For example 1975. Used for every age in the plan.
Retirement age: The age you stop working (for example 65). If this is your current age or lower, you are treated as already retired, and your salary is ignored. The app warns you.
Life expectancy (plan to age): The age the plan should last to. Choose a long age, such as 92 to 95. Running out at 85 is a real risk if you live to 95.
Salary (today's money/yr): Yearly pay before tax, in today's money. Example: 80000.
Real salary growth (%/yr): How much faster than inflation your pay grows. This is on top of inflation. With inflation at 2.5%, a 1 here means about 3.5% raises a year. If you expect normal raises that just keep up with prices, type 0 or 0.5.
SS benefit at FRA ($/mo, 0 = estimate): Your monthly Social Security at "full retirement age", from your SSA statement, in today's money. Type 0 and the app estimates it from your salary.
SS claiming age: The age you plan to start Social Security: 62 to 70. Later means a bigger monthly check. See Social Security.

Market assumptions: base set (nominal, %/yr)

These say how investments might grow. "Nominal" means before subtracting inflation. The defaults are reasonable long-term averages. You can leave them alone.

Stock return: Average yearly growth of stocks. Default 9 (9%).
Stock volatility (SD): How much stocks swing from year to year. 17 means a typical year lands within about ±17% of the average. Used by Monte Carlo.
Bond return / Bond volatility (SD): The same for bonds. Bonds grow less but swing less.
Cash yield: Interest on savings and cash accounts.
Inflation / Inflation volatility (SD): How fast prices rise (default 2.5) and how much that varies.
Fund fees / expense ratio: Yearly fund fees in percent, such as 0.15. Taken from returns each year. An account's own Fee % replaces this.
Glide path: shift to bonds by retirement: Tick to move gradually from stocks to bonds as you near retirement.
Stocks % at retirement (glide): The stock share you want to reach by retirement, for example 50.

Withdrawals

Withdrawal order

Which accounts to spend from first in retirement. The default (cash, then taxable, then traditional, then Roth, then HSA) is a common, tax-sensible order.

Withdrawal strategy

Fixed: planned expenses spends exactly what you entered. This is the simplest choice. Other choices let spending move with the market:

Lifetime consumption smoothing: one steady spending level for life (see Monte Carlo tab).
Inflation-adjusted initial % (4% rule): spend a set % of savings in year one, then raise it with inflation.
Constant % of portfolio: spend the same % of whatever you have each year.
Guyton-Klinger guardrails: cut spending after big losses, raise it after big gains.
Variable percentage withdrawal (VPW): spend more as you age, based on years left.

The flexible strategies never drop below the expenses you marked Essential.

Initial / constant rate (%)

The % used by the 4% rule, constant % and guardrails. Default 4.

Guardrail band (±%) / Guardrail adjustment (%)

For guardrails. Band 20 means "act when the withdrawal rate drifts 20% from the start". Adjustment 10 means "change spending by 10%".

VPW real return (%)

The growth rate assumed by VPW. Default 4.

Smoothed discretionary spending (today's money/yr)

For consumption smoothing: yearly "fun money" on top of essentials.

Apply go-go/slow-go phases to smoothed spending

Lets smoothed spending fall in later years, using the spending phases.

Rule of 55 / no early-withdrawal penalty

Normally, taking money from a 401(k) or IRA before age 59½ costs a 10% penalty. Tick this if you leave your job in or after the year you turn 55, or otherwise qualify. It removes the penalty.

Roth conversions

A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional 401(k)/IRA to a Roth. You pay tax now, but later growth and withdrawals are tax-free. Often worth doing in low-income years between retirement and Social Security.

Strategy: None; Fixed amount per year; Fill up to tax bracket converts just enough to reach the top of a tax bracket you choose, counting your other income that year; Stay under IRMAA tier converts while keeping income under a Medicare surcharge level.
Fixed amount (today's money): For the fixed strategy, for example 30000.
Bracket to fill: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24% or 32%. Lower brackets are cheaper.
IRMAA limit: Which Medicare surcharge tier to stay below.
From your age / To your age: The ages (yours) when conversions happen, for example 63 to 72.

Not sure? Use the Roth conversion strategy explorer on the Taxes tab. It compares the choices for you.

Assumption sets

Three ready-made views of the future: Base (average), Optimistic and Pessimistic.

Active set: Which set the whole plan uses right now. You can also switch it on the Dashboard.
Optimistic / Pessimistic: stock return, bond return, inflation, stock volatility: The numbers for each set, in %. A blank field uses the base value.

Early access & charitable giving

Use 72(t) SEPP: A legal way to take money from a 401(k)/IRA before 59½ without the 10% penalty. You must take fixed yearly amounts for at least 5 years or until 59½, whichever is longer. Breaking the schedule is costly in real life.
SEPP owner / SEPP start age / SEPP interest rate: Whose account, when it starts, and the interest rate used for the payment (at most the larger of 5% or 120% of the IRS "AFR" rate).
Annual giving (today's money): Money you give to charity each year.
Giving from your age / to your age: When you give. Blank = always.
Give via QCDs when eligible: From age 70½, gifts can come straight from an IRA (a "QCD"). This is tax-free and counts toward required withdrawals. Leave ticked.

Healthcare & Medicare

All amounts are per person, per year, in today's money. They include premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

While working: premiums+OOP: What you pay for job-based health insurance. Example: 3000.
Retired before 65: benchmark ACA premium + OOP: Cost of buying your own insurance before Medicare (on healthcare.gov) before any subsidy. Often 8000 to 15000.
Apply ACA premium tax credit: Tick to subtract the government subsidy based on your income. Above 400% of the poverty level there is no subsidy (the "cliff").
65+: Medigap/Part D/OOP: Medicare costs besides Part B. Part B and any IRMAA surcharge are added for you.
Healthcare inflation above CPI (%): Healthcare costs usually rise faster than other prices. 2 means 2% faster than inflation.

Retirement spending phases

Many retirees spend more early on (travel) and less later. Only expenses ticked Phased change.

Go-go years end at age: Until this age, spending is 100%. Default 75.
Slow-go years end at age: Default 85.
Slow-go spending (% of go-go): For example 85 = spend 85% of the go-go level.
No-go spending (% of go-go): After slow-go, for example 70.

Custom tax regime

Only shown when Tax regime is "Custom".

Brackets: Pairs of "top of band:rate%", separated by commas. Example: 40000:15, 100000:25, inf:35 means 15% up to 40,000, 25% up to 100,000, and 35% above.
Personal allowance: Income each person can earn tax-free.
Capital gains inclusion (%): The share of investment gains that is taxed. 50 = half.
Tax-free share of pension draws (%): For example 25 if a quarter of pension withdrawals is tax-free.
Currency code: For example EUR. Changes the money symbol.

Accounts & balances

One row per account. Click + Add for a new row and ✕ to remove one.

Name: Anything, for example "Work 401(k)".
Type: Taxable = a normal brokerage account. Traditional (401k/IRA) = taxed when you withdraw. Roth = tax-free when you withdraw. HSA = health savings account. Cash = savings and checking. Outside the US, the names change (pension, ISA/TFSA and so on).
Owner: Whose account it is. This matters for ages, contributions and required withdrawals.
Balance: What is in it today.
Contrib/yr: What you put in each year, in today's money, while the owner works.
Employer match/yr: What your employer adds each year.
Stocks %: Share invested in stocks (the rest is bonds). Type 60 for 60%. Check your fund mix if unsure. Target-date funds are often 50 to 90.
Basis %: Only for taxable accounts. The share of the balance that is money you put in, rather than gains. 100 = no gains yet. 70 = 30% of the balance is gains (taxed when sold).
IRS limit: Which legal contribution limit applies: 401(k)/403(b), IRA, HSA or None.
Fee %: This account's yearly fee, such as 0.5. Blank uses the plan-wide fee.

Pensions, annuities & other income

Name / Type: For example "Teacher pension", type Pension. Types: Pension, Annuity, Part-time work, Other rental, Other.
Owner: Who receives it. Start and end ages are this person's ages.
Amount/yr: Yearly amount. If COLA is ticked, type it in today's money and it rises with inflation. If unticked, it stays at exactly this dollar amount forever (most private pensions).
Start age / End age: When it starts and stops. Leave End age blank for a lifetime pension.
COLA: "Cost-of-living adjustment". Tick if the payment rises with inflation.
Taxable: Tick if income tax is due (true for most pensions).
Survivor %: The share your spouse keeps after the owner dies, for example 50. 0 = it stops.

Expenses by category (today's money/yr)

Your yearly living costs. Do not include healthcare (entered above), mortgage, property tax or upkeep (entered under Real estate), loan payments (Debts) or taxes (calculated for you).

Category: For example "Food" or "Travel".
Amount/yr: Yearly cost in today's money.
From age / To age: Your ages. Blank = always.
When: Always, only while Working, or only once Retired. Example: commuting = Working; travel = Retired.
Essential: Tick for needs (food, utilities). Flexible strategies never cut these.
Phased: Tick for wants that shrink with age (travel). Uses the spending phases.

One-time & recurring events

Name / Type: For example "New car", type Car.
At age: Your age when it happens.
For years: How many years in a row the amount repeats. A single car purchase is 1. College for 4 years is 4. A value of 10 charges the amount every year for 10 years.
Amount/yr (±): Negative for a cost (−40000), positive for money coming in (+100000 inheritance).
Today's $: Ticked = the amount is in today's money and rises with inflation. Unticked = exactly that many dollars.
Taxable: Tick if income tax is due on money coming in (for example a bonus; usually not an inheritance).

Real estate (home purchase, sale, rentals)

Your home and any other property. Amounts are in today's money.

Name: For example "Home".
Value: What it is worth today (or, for a future purchase, its price in today's money).
Apprec. %: Yearly growth in value, for example 3.
Mortgage: Loan balance today (or the loan you will take for a future purchase).
Rate %: Mortgage interest rate, for example 6.5.
Payment/mo: Monthly principal and interest. Blank = calculated from the loan term.
Costs %: Yearly property tax plus upkeep as a % of value. 1.5 is typical. Half is treated as property tax.
Rent/yr: Rental income if you rent it out.
Buy age: Your age when you buy. Blank, 0, or an age in the past = you already own it. A future age = you buy it at the start of that year. The down payment (value − mortgage) and closing costs come from your accounts.
Sell age: Your age when you sell. Blank or 0 = keep it. When sold, the loan is paid off and the money left over is saved.
Loan term (yrs): Mortgage length, for example 30. Used when Payment is blank.
Closing costs %: Buying costs, for example 2.
Selling costs %: Agent and other selling costs, for example 6.
Cost basis (if owned): What you paid plus improvements. Used to work out taxable gain when you sell. Blank = today's value (assumes no gain so far).
Primary home: Your main home gets up to $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (married) of gain tax-free. Auto = yes unless it has rent.
Credit line: HELOC or Reverse mortgage (HECM): a backup source of money used only if investments run out.
HELOC max LTV % / Credit rate % / Reverse from age: How much of the home value you can borrow, the interest rate, and the youngest age for a reverse mortgage (62+).

Holdings (for fee & allocation analysis)

Optional. List the funds inside your accounts to see fees and mix.

Account: Must exactly match an account Name above.
Holding / Asset class / Value: Fund name, its type (US stocks, International stocks, REIT, Bonds, Cash) and current value.
Expense ratio %: The fund's yearly fee, from its fact sheet, for example 0.03.

Debts

Name / Balance / Rate % / Payment/mo: Car loans, student loans, credit cards. Monthly payments are made until the debt is paid off.

5. Dashboard

Your plan at a glance.

Status line (coloured): green "✓ On track" (85% or more), amber "⚠ Borderline" (70–85%), red "✗ At risk" (below 70%). It also says whether, with average returns, money lasts through life expectancy or at what age it runs short.
Warnings (⚠ lines) about inputs that look odd. See Every warning.
Chance of success: see Reading your chance of success.
Net worth at retirement: everything you own minus debts in the year you retire, in today's money.
Retirement spending, year 1: first-year spending (living, health, housing and debt, and events), not counting taxes.
Lifetime taxes: all income taxes over the plan, in today's money.
Net legacy (after estate tax): what your heirs would get with average returns, after estate tax and their income tax on pre-tax accounts. The "median MC" is the middle result of the random runs.
Monte Carlo range (end): the bad-luck (10th percentile) to good-luck (90th percentile) range of what is left at the end.
Show in today's dollars: switches charts and table between today's money and future dollars.
Assumption set and Compare assumption sets: switch between Base, Optimistic and Pessimistic, or see all three side by side.
Net worth by account: how each account type grows and shrinks. The "Home equity" layer is your home value minus the loan.
Cash flow: bars are money coming in each year (wages, Social Security, pensions, withdrawals and so on). The red line is spending plus taxes.
Spending by category: where the money goes each year.
Year-by-year table (click to open): every number, every year. Negative numbers are red.
- Withdrawals is money taken from accounts.
- Surplus spent is leftover income treated as spent (when "Unspent income while working" is "Spent").
- Bracket is the federal tax rate on your next dollar.
- Shortfall is money the plan could not find. Any shortfall means the plan failed that year.

6. Monte Carlo & history tab

Real markets go up and down. This tab tests your plan against many possible futures.

Method: Monte Carlo (random returns) makes up random yearly returns using your averages and volatility. Historical rolling periods (1928–2025) replays real market history, starting in each past year; when it reaches 2025 it wraps around to 1928. Historical block bootstrap stitches together random chunks of real history.
Block length (yrs): Chunk size for the bootstrap, for example 10.
Runs: How many futures to test. 1000 is plenty.
Seed: A number that fixes the random draws. The same seed gives the same result, so you can compare changes fairly.
Run simulation: Runs it. You see chance of success, median, 10th and 90th percentile ending net worth.
Percentile fan chart: The shaded bands show the range of outcomes over time. The middle line is the median (half do better, half worse). The bottom band edge is the 10th percentile (1 in 10 do worse).
Maximum sustainable spending: Pick a Success target and click Solve. It finds how much you could scale all your expenses up or down and still meet that target.
Lifetime consumption smoothing: Finds the highest steady yearly "fun money" (on top of essentials) your money supports, leaving the Legacy to leave you choose. Apply to plan switches your strategy to smoothing.
Replay a historical sequence: Pick a Start year to see how your plan would have done if you had retired then (for example 1966, a famously hard start). The table lists the worst start years.

7. Reading your chance of success

What it means: "85%" means that in 85 out of 100 tested futures, you never ran out of money for your planned spending.
It does not mean a 15% chance of being broke. In most "failed" futures, you would cut spending a little in later years and be fine. It is a warning light, not a forecast.
What is a good number? Many planners aim for 75% to 90%. Below 70% deserves attention. 99–100% may mean you could spend more or retire earlier.
Average-returns result vs. success %: they can differ a lot. Average returns ignore bad luck early in retirement. That early timing matters a great deal ("sequence risk").

How to improve it

Work 1–2 years longer, or retire part-time (add "Part-time work" under income).
Spend a little less, especially early in retirement. Mark wants as Phased.
Delay Social Security (see the Social Security tab).
Save more now, or capture the full employer match.
Lower fees (see Holdings & fees).
Use a flexible strategy such as guardrails.
Plan to sell or downsize a home, or keep a HELOC or reverse mortgage as a backup.
Check your inputs. Repeated events, high fees or a "real" salary growth that is too high can distort results.

8. Social Security tab

Benefit estimates: for each person, the monthly benefit (today's money) if claimed at 62, at full retirement age (FRA, 67 for most), at 70, and at your planned age. Claiming early cuts the check for life; each year of waiting after FRA adds 8%.
PIA is your benefit at FRA. FRA is your full retirement age.
Claiming-age optimizer: compares every pair of claiming ages using your life expectancies, spousal and survivor benefits. Real discount rate (%) says how much you value money now over later (0 to 3 is common). Apply best copies the best ages into your plan.
The grid shows lifetime household benefits in thousands, today's money. Rows are the first person, columns the second.
Working while collecting before FRA can hold back some benefits (the "earnings test"). The plan models this and pays it back at FRA.

9. Taxes, RMDs & Roth tab

Lifetime taxes, First RMD (first required withdrawal and its age), Years with IRMAA (years with Medicare surcharges), Highest bracket, ACA credits, QCDs, 72(t) SEPP draws, Gains harvested, and Contributions over IRS limits (money you planned to save above legal limits, which is not invested).
Taxes, IRMAA and marginal rate chart: taxes by year and your tax bracket.
RMDs and Roth conversions chart: required withdrawals (starting at 73 or 75 depending on birth year) and conversions.
Tax optimizer: choose Maximize after-tax estate or Minimize lifetime taxes, then Run optimizer. It tries 40 combinations of withdrawal order, Roth conversion and gain harvesting. Apply copies a combination into your plan.
Estate & legacy: gross estate, federal and state estate tax, net legacy and lifetime giving. Few families owe federal estate tax ($15 million per person exemption in 2026).
Roth conversion strategy explorer: compares no conversions with each bracket and IRMAA strategy. The highlighted row leaves the largest after-tax estate. Apply uses it.

10. Compare scenarios & assumption sets

Scenarios (what-ifs)

Choose a plan in the top-bar list. Click Duplicate.
Rename the copy (for example "Retire at 62"). Change one thing.
Open Compare scenarios. Tick the plans and click Compare selected.
The table shows chance of success, net worth at retirement, lifetime taxes and more. The chart shows the median net worth of each.

Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.

Assumption sets

On the Dashboard, click Compare assumption sets to see your plan under Pessimistic, Base and Optimistic market views. If the plan still works in the pessimistic set, it is robust. Edit the sets in Plan inputs → Assumption sets.

11. Holdings & fees tab

Fill in Holdings first. Then you see:

Total holdings.
Weighted expense ratio: your average fee. Amber if above 0.4%.
Annual fees in dollars.
Fee drag: how much less you would have at the end because of fees. Red if over 10%.
Allocation chart and per-fund table. Apply allocation, fees and balances to matching accounts copies these into your account rows.

Low-cost index funds often charge under 0.1%.

12. Progress tab

Every month or quarter, enter the Month, your actual Net worth, optionally Investable assets (accounts only) and a Note.
Click Add entry. Prefill from plan inputs fills today's numbers for you.
The table shows actual vs. projected and the difference. The message says "✓ Ahead of plan" or "⚠ Behind plan". The chart puts your entries on the projected line.

Being behind for one entry is normal (markets move). Look at the trend.

13. FIRE tab

"FIRE" means Financial Independence, Retire Early. This tab uses a simple rule of thumb, separate from the main plan.

Safe withdrawal rate (%): the share of savings you would spend yearly (4 is common).
Real return (%): growth after inflation. 4 to 5 is a common, cautious choice.
FIRE number: spending ÷ withdrawal rate. At 4%, that is 25 times your yearly spending.
Progress, Years to FI, Coast FIRE number (savings needed today to stop saving and still reach the goal by retirement) and Coast FIRE reached?

It ignores Social Security and pensions. The main plan includes them.

14. Budget (CSV) tab

Learn what you really spend, using files from your bank. Nothing is sent anywhere.

In your bank's website, download transactions as a CSV file. It needs Date, Description and Amount (or Debit/Credit) columns.
Click Choose CSV file(s), or paste the text and click Import pasted CSV. Load sample data shows an example. Importing the same file twice skips duplicates.
Transactions are sorted into categories automatically. Add Categorization rules: a Category and a Pattern of words separated by |, for example gym|fitness. You can also change a category in the Transactions table.
Recurring charges lists subscriptions and bills that repeat.
Set monthly budgets per category, or click Set budgets to 6-month averages. The summary shows spending, income, savings rate (green above 15%) and whether last month was under or over budget.
Use averages as plan expenses replaces your plan's expense list with these averages. Remove housing and healthcare rows afterwards if they are already entered elsewhere.
Export transactions CSV saves them; Clear all transactions deletes them.

15. Report & printing

The Report tab is a one-page summary with key numbers and charts. Click Print / save as PDF (or Print report in the top bar). In the print window, choose "Save as PDF" as the printer to keep a file. This manual can be printed too.

16. Every warning and what to do

Warnings appear as ⚠ lines on the Dashboard or as coloured results. This is the full list.

Warnings about your inputs (Dashboard)

Message	What it means	How to fix
"…: buy age N is before today, so it is treated as already owned (no purchase)."	You entered the age you bought a home you already own.	Nothing needed. Or set Buy age to 0. Enter what you paid in Cost basis.
"…: sell age N is not after buy age M; sale ignored."	The home would be sold before it is bought.	Make the sell age later than the buy age, or blank.
"…: sell age N is already past; sold in the first plan year."	The sell age is younger than you are now.	If you already sold it, delete the row. Otherwise enter a future age.
"…: sell age N is past life expectancy; it stays in the estate."	You would not live to that age in the plan.	Fine if you mean "never sell". Otherwise lower the age.
"…: payment is below the interest, so the loan grows."	The monthly payment does not cover interest.	Check the Payment/mo and Rate %. Or leave Payment blank to calculate it.
"…: retirement age N is not after current age M, so the salary of X is not counted."	This person is treated as already retired.	If they still work, raise their Retirement age. If not, set Salary to 0.
"…: survivor N% never pays, because the end age … comes at or before the owner's life expectancy …"	The pension stops before the spouse could inherit it.	Leave End age blank for a lifetime pension.
"…: X is charged every year for N years (ages A–B). For a single purchase set "For years" to 1."	An expense event repeats yearly.	For a one-off cost, set For years to 1. For a car every 10 years, add separate events.

Coloured results

Where	Meaning	What to do
Status "✗ At risk" (red) / "⚠ Borderline" (amber)	Success below 70% / between 70% and 85%.	See How to improve it.
"With average returns, money runs short at age N (year)."	Even with steady average returns, savings run out.	Spend less, work longer, save more, delay Social Security.
Red numbers / Shortfall column in the year table	A negative value, or money the plan could not cover.	Find the first shortfall year and adjust.
"Years with IRMAA" (amber)	Your income two years earlier triggers Medicare surcharges.	Use smaller Roth conversions or "Stay under IRMAA tier"; spread out big gains.
"Contributions over IRS limits" (amber)	You planned to save more than the law allows; the excess is not invested.	Lower Contrib/yr, or move the extra to a taxable account.
Federal / State estate tax (red)	The estate exceeds the exemption.	Talk to an estate professional. Consider giving or trusts.
Weighted expense ratio (amber) / Fee drag (red)	Fees above 0.4% / fees eat more than 10% of the ending value.	Look for lower-cost funds.
"Coast FIRE reached? Not yet" (amber)	Savings are below the coast number.	Keep saving; it shows how far you are.
Savings rate (amber) / Budget "over by" (red)	Saving 15% or less / overspent last month.	Review the categories on the Budget tab.
"⚠ Behind plan"	Your latest recorded net worth is below the projection.	Watch the trend; update the plan if it persists.
Scenario / historical table "No" or red success	That scenario or start year ran out of money.	Compare what differs and adjust.

Pop-up and status messages

Message	Meaning and fix
"Could not import: …" / "No plans in file"	The file is not a plan export from this app. Use a file made with Export JSON.
"Imported N plan(s)."	Success. Imported plans are added to your list.
"Could not save (storage full or blocked)"	Your browser blocks storage (private mode, or settings). Allow site data or use a normal window. Export JSON to keep your work.
"Keep at least one plan."	You tried to delete your only plan. Create another first.
"Delete …?" / "Delete all imported transactions?" / "Replace this plan's expense list …?"	Confirmation before a change that cannot be undone. Click Cancel to keep things as they are.
"No transactions found. Need Date, Description and Amount (or Debit/Credit) columns."	The CSV columns were not recognised. Rename the header row to these names.
"Plan expenses updated from your transactions." / "Accounts updated from holdings."	Success messages.

17. Saving, exporting, importing

Automatic saving: every change is stored in this browser on this device.
Several plans: use the plan list and New, Duplicate, Rename and Delete in the top bar.
Export JSON: downloads one file with all your plans and budget data. Do this regularly as a backup.
Import JSON: loads such a file, for example on another computer. Imported plans are added to your list and nothing is deleted. A plan that is already in your list (same plan ID) is skipped, not replaced. To load a changed copy, first delete the old plan.
Print report: see Report & printing.

Important: clearing your browser's history or site data deletes your plans. Keep an exported file.

18. Privacy

Everything runs inside your browser. Your numbers are never sent to a server.
There is no account, no login, no tracking and no advertising.
Bank CSV files are read on your device only.
Your data is visible to anyone who uses this browser profile. On a shared computer, export your plan and then clear the site data.

19. Limitations & not financial advice

This is an educational estimate, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check important decisions with official sources (IRS, SSA, Medicare) and a qualified professional.

Tax rules are simplified and based on 2026 law. Laws change.
State tax is simplified. Local and city taxes are not included. Some retirement-income exclusions are approximate. State estate tax is an upper-bound estimate.
Outside the US, only national rules are modelled. Provinces and regions use one flat rate. You must enter your state pension yourself as an income.
The plan works year by year, not month by month. Mortgages use yearly payments.
Returns and inflation are assumptions. The future can be worse than any test.
Social Security: spousal benefits are not reduced by the earnings test.
The ACA subsidy is estimated from the previous year's income.
72(t) plans do not model penalties for breaking the schedule.
Reverse-mortgage limits and life-expectancy factors are approximate.
Home sales do not check the "lived there 2 of 5 years" rule or depreciation on rentals.
There is no live bank connection. Use CSV import.

20. FAQ

Do I enter amounts before or after tax?

Before tax. Salary and pensions are gross amounts. The app works out taxes.

Should I include my mortgage in expenses?

No. Put it under Real estate. Otherwise it is counted twice.

My success rate is 100% but I am not rich. Is something wrong?

Perhaps not. Check spending, events (For years), and the "Real salary growth" field. A high real growth makes future pay grow very fast.

Why does the success rate change a little when nothing changed?

On the Monte Carlo tab, a different Seed or number of Runs gives slightly different random futures. Keep the seed the same when comparing.

Why does the average-returns line say "funded" but success is low?

Average returns hide bad years. A crash early in retirement can do lasting damage. The success % includes those cases.

When should I claim Social Security?

Use the claiming-age optimizer on the Social Security tab. Waiting usually helps if you expect a long life. A spouse with the bigger benefit waiting also protects the survivor.

What life expectancy should I use?

Plan long, such as 92 to 95. Running out of money late in life is the bigger risk.

Can I use the app on my phone?

Yes. Your plans on the phone are separate from your computer. Use Export and Import to move them.

Where is my data stored? Can you see it?

Only in your browser. Nobody else can see it.

I live outside the US. Can I use it?

Yes, choose UK, Canada, Australia or Custom under Tax regime. Enter your state pension as an income. US-only features (Medicare, Social Security, US states) are then not used.

How do I start over?

Click New for a fresh sample plan, then delete old plans.

21. Glossary

401(k) / 403(b): A workplace retirement account. Money goes in before tax; withdrawals are taxed.
72(t) SEPP: A rule that allows penalty-free early withdrawals if you take fixed yearly amounts.
ACA: The Affordable Care Act: health insurance you buy yourself, with subsidies based on income.
AFR: An interest rate set monthly by the IRS. Used for 72(t).
Annuity: A contract that pays you a set income, often for life.
Assumption set: A group of market guesses (returns, inflation): pessimistic, base or optimistic.
Basis (cost basis): What you paid for an investment or home. Only gains above it are taxed.
Bond: A loan to a government or company that pays interest. Steadier than stocks.
Bracket (tax bracket): A band of income taxed at one rate. The "marginal" rate is the rate on your next dollar.
Capital gain: Profit from selling something for more than you paid.
COLA: Cost-of-living adjustment: a raise that keeps up with prices.
Essential expense: A need you cannot cut, such as food or utilities.
Estate: Everything you own when you die.
Expense ratio: A fund's yearly fee as a percent of your money.
Fan chart: A chart showing a range of possible outcomes over time.
FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early.
FPL: Federal poverty level. Used for ACA subsidies.
FRA: Full retirement age for Social Security (67 for people born 1960 or later).
Glide path: Moving gradually from stocks to bonds as you age.
Guardrails: A spending rule that cuts or raises spending when your portfolio moves a lot.
HECM (reverse mortgage): A loan for people 62+ against their home. Repaid when the home is sold.
HELOC: Home equity line of credit: borrow against your home's value.
Home equity: Home value minus the mortgage.
HSA: Health savings account. Tax-free for medical costs.
Inflation: The rise in prices over time.
IRA: Individual retirement account. Traditional (taxed on withdrawal) or Roth (tax-free on withdrawal).
IRMAA: Extra Medicare premiums for higher-income people, based on income from two years earlier.
Liquid / investable assets: Money in accounts you can spend, not counting your home.
Median: The middle result: half are better, half worse.
Medicare (Part B, Part D, Medigap): US health insurance from age 65. Part B covers doctors; Part D covers drugs; Medigap fills gaps.
Monte Carlo: Testing a plan against many random futures to see how often it works.
Net worth: Everything you own minus everything you owe.
Nominal: Actual future dollars, before adjusting for inflation.
OOP: Out-of-pocket costs: what you pay yourself beyond premiums.
Percentile: The 10th percentile is the result that only 10% of runs did worse than.
PIA: Primary insurance amount: your Social Security benefit at full retirement age.
Portfolio: All your investments together.
QCD: Qualified charitable distribution: giving straight from an IRA after 70½, tax-free.
Real (return, growth): After subtracting inflation.
RMD: Required minimum distribution: the yearly amount you must take from traditional accounts starting at 73 or 75.
Roth: An account funded with taxed money. Growth and withdrawals are tax-free.
Roth conversion: Moving money from traditional to Roth and paying tax now.
Rule of 55: Leaving your job at 55+ lets you take from that job's 401(k) without penalty.
Seed: A number that makes random results repeatable.
Sequence risk: The danger of bad markets right when you start withdrawing.
Social Security: US government retirement income based on your work history.
Standard deduction: Income that is not taxed for everyone ($32,200 for couples in 2026).
Stock: A share of a company. Grows more over time but swings more.
Success rate: The share of tested futures in which money lasted.
Taxable account: A normal brokerage account. You pay tax on dividends and gains.
Today's money (today's dollars): Amounts shown in what money buys now, removing inflation.
Traditional account: Pre-tax retirement account (401(k), IRA). Taxed when you withdraw.
Volatility (SD): How much returns swing from year to year.
VPW: Variable percentage withdrawal: spend a share based on years left.
Withdrawal rate: Yearly withdrawals as a percent of savings.

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