On this page
The Overview tab shows one steady-return projection of your plan. Its net worth line reads each year at December 31, starting from the balances on your plan’s start date. Choosing a year on the chart also sets the year ledger beside it, the cash-flow diagram and the marker on the income and taxes chart below.
In net worth, pre-tax accounts count at their full balance, homes and other real assets count at their projected value, and spending the plan couldn’t pay is subtracted like a debt.
- Net worth: the projection line, with milestones and events marked on it and listed in a strip below. Show data table lists net worth, income, expenses, taxes and cash flow for every year.
- The year ledger: the selected year’s Year-end balances (each account, real assets, debts, investment growth) and its Cash flow (income, withdrawals, taxes, spending, net cash flow).
- Cash flow: where that year’s money came from and went; see Trace a year of money in and out.
- Income & taxes: calendar-year gross income and full-year taxes, with effective and marginal rates below.
- Estate: what the estate is worth after debts, estate tax and settlement costs at the end of the plan; see Estate tax and net estate.
When the projection relies on simplifications that affect your plan, a Model assumptions and limitations list appears below the ledger. Read it before relying on the affected years.
Choose a year
- Click or tap a year on the net worth chart. Hovering previews a year without selecting it.
- Step one year at a time with the ‹ and › buttons on the ledger, or with the arrow keys after focusing the chart.
- Further down the page, use the age bar that pins to the top once the chart scrolls out of view.
Net worth=Cash and investments+Real assets−Debts−Unfunded spending carried
- Cash and investments is every account’s year-end balance: checking, savings, brokerage, retirement accounts, HSAs and 529 plans. Traditional balances are not reduced for the income tax due when they’re withdrawn. Surplus that no allocation rule takes and that has no cash account to go to is kept as unallocated cash, which also counts.
- Real assets are homes and other property at their projected value. A sold asset leaves, and its proceeds arrive in an account; see Homes and other real assets.
- Debts are remaining loan balances after the year’s payments; see Mortgages and loans.
- Unfunded spending carried is spending the plan couldn’t pay, carried until later cash repays it; see When a plan runs short.
Each year’s income tax is settled within that year, so year-end net worth carries no tax bill or refund.
| Cash and investmentsChecking $20,000 · Traditional 401(k) $176,257 · Brokerage $101,812 | $298,069 | |
|---|---|---|
| + | Real assetsHome, opening value $400,000, growing 3% a year | $412,000 |
| − | DebtsMortgage, opening balance $250,000 | $245,550 |
| − | Unfunded spending carried | $0 |
| = | Net worthUp $64,519 from $400,000 on January 1 | $464,519 |
A 46-year-old saving from a $120,000 salary, projected in future dollars with 6% stock growth.
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Change | Net worth minus the previous year-end’s, or minus opening net worth in the first year. |
| Investment growth | Balance growth from returns, dividends and interest, including growth on money deposited or withdrawn during the year. |
| Withdrawal rate | Withdrawals ÷ cash and investments at the start of the year. |
| Effective rate | Full-year taxes ÷ calendar-year gross income, including taxable withdrawals, employer contributions and realized gains. |
| Marginal rate | The federal ordinary-income bracket your taxable income reaches. It excludes state tax. |
| Net cash flow | Cash left over, or needed, after taxes and spending and before savings rules and withdrawals. |
| Savings rate excl. payroll | Positive net cash flow ÷ income; a year without a surplus shows 0%. Checkup’s rate adds payroll contributions. |
| Partial year | In a first year that starts after January 1, the share of the year covered, with full-year income and spending paces. |
To see how Spending, Effective tax rate and Savings rate excl. payroll are defined, open OverviewOverview display preferences at the bottom of the tab.
The Future dollars and Today’s $ switch above the net worth chart changes the dollars on the net worth chart, the year ledger, the income and taxes chart, and the annual and printable reports. Today’s dollars are dollars of the plan’s start year, deflated by your inflation assumption; see Today’s dollars and future dollars.
The cash-flow diagram, the Tax tools tab, the Estate card and recorded actual balances always show future (nominal) dollars. The cash-flow header adds “nominal” while today’s dollars are on.
Keep forecast for comparison freezes the current projection as a dashed baseline. Edit the plan and the chart shows both lines; the header states the difference in net worth in the last year both cover. Compare with another plan… draws one of your other saved plans as the baseline instead. The comparison clears when you reload or switch plans; Stop comparing clears it now. For a lasting comparison, see Copy a plan and compare changes.
When a projection needs attention, a label appears under the plan name with an explanation below it:
- Spending unfunded from a year: cash and investments ran out and some spending went unpaid. See When a plan runs short.
- Net worth negative from a year: spending stays funded, but debts exceed everything owned.
- Projection invalid from a year: a balance grew beyond any plausible value, usually from a loan rate, growth rate or payment entry. Don’t rely on any figure until it’s fixed.
A funded plan shows no label. It means spending is paid in every year of this one projection with steady returns, not that the plan is likely to succeed; see Why the projection and success odds differ.