Definitions for inputs, Advanced Planner fields, optimizer sections (tradeoffs, stress test, recommendations, strategies), and results.
- Expected return
- Nominal annual investment return you assume before inflation. It drives portfolio growth in the accumulation phase.
- Inflation
- Annual inflation rate used to translate between nominal dollars and real (purchasing-power) outcomes.
- Tax drag
- Percentage points subtracted from expected return to approximate taxes and other frictions on growth (not a tax bracket; a simple drag on the rate).
- Market benchmark
- Return assumption for the comparison (“benchmark”) path on the growth chart. It does not change your plan math unless you use it as a reference line.
- Safe withdrawal rate (SWR)
- Percentage of your portfolio you plan to withdraw in the first year of retirement (e.g. 4%). Used with spending needs to estimate how large a portfolio must be.
- Life expectancy (age)
- Last age included in the retirement spending and drawdown projection (longevity horizon).
- Retirement age
- Age at which you stop working and begin drawing from the portfolio under this plan.
- Desired monthly income
- Target pretax monthly spending in retirement when not using the replacement-ratio method.
- Replacement ratio
- Percentage of your pre-retirement income you want to replace in retirement. Used only when “Use replacement ratio” is enabled.
- Buffer
- Extra monthly dollars added on top of your income target as a cushion.
- Simple vs Advanced planner
- Simple mode uses total current savings and one monthly contribution. Advanced mode splits balances and contributions across 401(k), Roth IRA, traditional IRA, taxable, and other accounts, with optional employer match, growth rates, and catch-up.
- Account balances & contributions (Advanced)
- Each bucket has its own balance and monthly employee contribution. The engine rolls them into one accumulation path; total savings and total contributions shown are derived from these fields.
- Employer match (% of deferral / % of salary)
- Match is modeled as extra dollars to the 401(k): a percentage of your deferral, optionally capped as a percentage of salary. It increases effective savings but follows the simplified rules shown in the form.
- Contribution growth (%/yr)
- Annual percentage increase applied to employee contributions over time in Advanced mode (e.g. raises or auto-escalation).
- Salary growth (%/yr)
- Annual growth rate for salary used when match limits depend on salary or when scaling income-based fields.
- Catch-up ($/mo)
- Optional extra monthly deferral when catch-up is enabled (simplified stand-in for age-50+ additional contributions).
- Social Security (% of income)
- Estimated Social Security as a percentage of pre-retirement income, used to reduce how much must come from the portfolio.
- Social Security claim age
- Age at which you begin benefits (62–70 in this model). Before that age in retirement, Social Security is treated as $0; from that age on, the modeled benefit applies and grows with inflation each year.
- Pension
- Fixed monthly pension income in retirement (not inflation-adjusted in this simplified model unless noted).
- Maintenance reserve
- Annual housing maintenance allowance as a percentage of income (via the engine’s housing proxy).
- Property tax
- Annual property tax rate applied to the housing cost proxy (see the note under the inputs).
- Insurance ($/yr)
- Annual homeowners insurance included in expense load alongside maintenance and property tax.
- Monte Carlo
- Optional simulation that runs many random return paths to estimate success rates and ending balances.
- Trials
- Number of Monte Carlo paths run; more trials give smoother statistics but take longer to compute.
- Volatility (% annual)
- Standard deviation of annual returns used to randomize paths in Monte Carlo (spread of outcomes).
- Sequence-of-returns stress
- When enabled, stresses early-retirement returns to approximate sequence-of-returns risk (bad markets right when withdrawals start).
- Tradeoff explorer
- Sliders for retirement age, monthly contribution, and desired spending to preview readiness, FI age, and (after load) Monte Carlo success without changing your main plan until you choose Sync from plan.
- Stress test
- Checkboxes that layer adverse assumptions (e.g. crash-style path, lower returns, longer life, higher inflation). Stressed success rate uses the same Monte Carlo settings with those overlays applied.
- Recommended actions
- A short list of changes ranked by estimated impact on Monte Carlo success rate versus your current plan, with a brief rationale for each.
- Strategy comparison
- Save snapshots of your inputs for this session and compare Monte Carlo success, FI age, and readiness in a table. Saved plans are not stored after refresh.
- Preset scenarios (engine)
- Conservative, base, and aggressive presets adjust return, inflation, SWR, and maintenance assumptions so you can compare deterministic projections side by side.
- Insights
- Plain-language notes from sensitivity-style passes on the same engine (e.g. inflation, contributions, retirement age) plus context when Monte Carlo results are available.
- Portfolio needed
- Estimated nest egg required at retirement to support your spending and withdrawal rule, net of other income sources.
- Projected at retirement
- Estimated portfolio balance at your retirement age given contributions and return assumptions.
- Readiness
- Ratio of projected balance to required balance (how close you are to the stated goal).
- Years to goal / FI age
- Approximate years until the projected balance meets the required portfolio, and the implied financial-independence age when applicable.
- First-year withdrawal
- Portfolio-funded spending needed in the first retirement year after Social Security and pension.
- MC success
- Share of Monte Carlo trials where the plan did not deplete under the simulated paths (when Monte Carlo is enabled).
- Diagnostics
- Summary of net nominal return, real return, gap vs benchmark at retirement, and annual housing-related costs used in the model.