FAQs

Got Questions? We’re Here to Help.

It all sounds great, but what does this App actually do?

This app helps people to determine if they can become financially independent and helps to see what it would take to become financially independent.

I’ve seen other Apps that serve similar purposes. What makes yours the best?

This app is simple and easy to use. Designed for users who want to run through retirement scenarios and be able to spot issues that might arise from financial and investment choices today.

How often are there updates to the App?

We are always working to improve the app and make it more useful and simple. There are updates at least every few weeks.

How does the surplus feature work?

The surplus determines whether or not the user has to dip into their pocket to cover spending needs each year (when negative surplus), or if there is a positive surplus left after spending it is then added to the capital. The capital is divided into retirement and non retirement money. If the money is withdrawn from retirement funds it shows as a RetDistr (retirement distribution).

What is RetContr?

RetContr stands for retirement contribution and it is money(cash flows) that are being invested into retirement accounts from either wages or self employment income. It is treated as an expense so it is labeled in red, but the money is added to retirement accounts so it doesn’t have the same effect as taxes and expenses as these are payable to others, whereas the retcontr is payable to the user.

What is RetDistr?

RetDistr stands for retirement distribution and it is money(cash flows) that is being withdrawn from retirement accounts. Money that is withdrawn (distributed) from retirement accounts is counted as income (except Roth distributions) and figured into the tax calculations.  The amount of the retirement distribution each year is figured from spending needs each year and whether or not the user is retired or not.

How do the assumptions under the "capital" tab work?

• Begin/end dates with capital-use the assumptions to adjust the begin and end date of the various cash flows. For capital the begin date defaults to the previous month. If the user expects an inheritance, settlement, sale of a property, or any other inflow of cash in the future the begin date can be adjusted to the future, otherwise it is best to leave it alone.

• Growth Rates in capital-use the growth rate assumptions to reflect the future compounded growth rates the user expects from the various cash flows. For capital use a rate that is lower than your expectations as using a high growth rates could create an unrealistic or “rosy” future projection and make retirement look better than it really is.

How do the assumptions under the "income" tab work?

• Annual Increase in Income-For income use the annual increase to reflect cost of living increases or estimated business revenue increases into the future. It is also best to use a conservative measure of annual increases as this feature could also make a users projected income increase at a fast rate and create an unrealistic future projection

• Begin/end dates with income-use these assumptions to show when certain incomes start and stop. The retirement date that is input into the info tab will cause the end dates to all incomes except social security and pension to end at this date. The begin dates for the social security and pension will default to start at this date as well, provided the users age is at least 62. Each income should be carefully analyzed to make sure that it is starting and stopping in the correct date. Dividends or rental income typically can be used to help a user retire so make sure to adjust these dates according to the users cash flow.

How do the assumptions under the "spending" tab work?

• Begin/end dates with spending-use these assumptions to adjust the start and stop date of certain expenses. The default date of expenses is the current month or recent month end. Use the begin end dates to adjust certain one time purchases such as a vehicle or other large one time purchase. Also use the begin end dates to simulate health care cost changes when leaving an employer or starting medicare. The loan expenses should be set manually to the end date of the payment based on your current payment plan. If you aren’t sure about how many payments are left use any free mortgage calculator online and enter your interest, principal (balance), and monthly payment to find the number of payments left. This will work with credit cards and other loans as well.

• Inflation-In expenses all of the categories except for loan payments have an inflation option. The default inflation is 3% but certain items like healthcare can be as high as 8%. The 3% compound rate on expenses will make the expenses increase each year. This means that in 24 years the expenses will double.

Do you still have questions? Our support forum is designed to help you get answers to question and solutions to problems not discussed here.